Chapter 23: Fourth Layer of Qi Refinement

An hour passed in quiet waiting.

Wang Yu's fingers twitched slightly as a small amount of alchemy experience and sensation flooded his mind, as if he had personally operated a furnace for a single session, albeit a failed one.

This feeling was different from anything he had experienced before. Because he had no prior foundation in alchemy, the direct experience was quite poor, giving him the sense of an intuitive player discovering a new trend.

"So that's what it feels like..."

Muttering to himself, Wang Yu stopped worrying about it. If he read more books on pharmacology and medicinal properties in his daily life, he would eventually be able to compensate for his lack of foundation.

The task process had reached its latter half, with two months remaining. The spiritual energy within Wang Yu's body was almost fully solidified; only the final three strands of spiritual energy had yet to merge into one.

The final breakthrough time was roughly as he had previously estimated.

The commotion from Tantai Chan's seclusion room grew louder with each passing day. The temperature near the building rose higher and higher, accompanied by bursts of medicinal fragrance drifting through the air.

Life in the herb garden was very peaceful; no one foolish enough dared to come looking for trouble.

Thus, Wang Yu spent his most tranquil days.

When the time reached the 189th day.

As Wang Yu sat cross-legged in meditation, the air around him suddenly distorted. Spiritual energy converged toward him at a visible speed, and in the silence, a soft "pop" seemed to ring out.

His aura leaped across a threshold, and his bones creaked loudly, undergoing a minor metamorphosis akin to a second growth spurt.

An unbearable itch erupted at the center of his brow, as if invisible tentacles had finally broken through the physical limitations to sense the outside world.

This was the hallmark of Divine Sense leaving the body. Within a radius of about ten feet centered on his body, everything was as clear as day, indistinguishable from what the naked eye could see.

Qi Refinement Level 4, achieved!

The hundred strands of spiritual energy had transformed into ten much denser strands. They were so thick they possessed a misty quality; though fewer in number, they could utterly overwhelm his previous self.

Most importantly, both the Ice Sword Technique and the Ice Shield Technique were Mid-grade Spells, meaning Wang Yu could finally exert the full power of both techniques, causing his combat strength to soar.

The premature aging of his skin, caused by the rapid loss of lifespan, also recovered with the breakthrough, and his previous haggard appearance vanished.

Most of his hair remained white, with only a hint of black emerging at the roots; he estimated he would need to reach the Foundation Establishment stage before it turned completely black.

Wang Yu was immensely excited.

After all, with a Waste Spiritual Root, reaching the middle stage of Qi Refinement often took a lifetime.

He was only seventeen this year and had plenty of time to cultivate. The "Idle Slot" was his greatest asset!

Steadying his mind, Wang Yu attempted to activate the Night Hiding Curse.

His aura instantly reverted to Qi Refinement Level 3 without any flaws. The qualitative change in his spiritual energy had greatly increased its duration; it could now last for the time it takes to burn three sticks of incense, which was serviceable.

With Qi Refinement Level 4, his cultivation entered the stage of accumulating spiritual energy.

He would need to accumulate from ten strands to three hundred to break through to Qi Refinement Level 5.

Based on the scale of ten strands merging into one, that meant 2,900 strands of spiritual energy. The difficulty of cultivation would increase many times over. According to the efficiency of the Idle Slot, with only one cultivation method active, it would take two days to feedback a single strand of spiritual energy.

It would take 5,800 days—over sixteen years—to complete the accumulation and break through. This figure made Wang Yu's scalp tingle with dread.

The disadvantage of his aptitude was becoming increasingly obvious; one Idle Slot was no longer enough. Even with two Idle Slots working together, it would still take over eight years. Improving his aptitude was an urgent matter.

The *Cold Blood Manual* had subtle effects in this regard, but they would only manifest once he reached perfection in its cultivation.

"Right, as my cultivation breaks through to the middle stage of Qi Refinement, perhaps the Idle Slot will undergo new changes..."

Just as Wang Yu was preparing to investigate, he suddenly sensed Tantai Chan's aura appearing in the Wind-Piercing Hall. He hurriedly activated the Night Hiding Curse before going to greet her.

Compared to their six-month agreement, she was a few days late.

Upon meeting again, Tantai Chan inspected the herb garden before releasing her aura to summon Wang Yu. Seeing his handsome, youthful appearance, her brow furrowed deeply.

"Wang Yu?"

"It is I. Greetings, Senior Tantai."

"Your appearance..."

Wang Yu was prepared for this. As he felt the Foundation Establishment Divine Sense sweep over him, he cursed inwardly while remaining composed outwardly.

"Wang Yu was born a spiritual slave, and his lifespan was severely depleted, causing premature aging. Fortunately, he was promoted to the outer sect through the patronage of True Disciple Su. After proper conditioning over the past six months and consuming many medicinal pills to replenish his blood and qi, he has returned to his original state."

Tantai Chan ignored the rest of the explanation, only catching a few key words—[True Disciple Su values him!]

It made sense. Cases of spiritual slaves being promoted to the outer sect were extremely rare; such a specific promotion must have other reasons. Tantai Chan abandoned any thought of withholding his rewards, and her cold expression suddenly softened considerably.

"I had not heard you mention your relationship with True Disciple Su."

"Senior Tantai did not ask, so Wang Yu naturally did not dare to say much."

"Very well."

She took out her Deacon Token and tapped it lightly against Wang Yu's Black Blood Waist Token. Two hundred contribution points were credited to him, with the three hundred belonging to the Ice Snow Pavilion already deducted.

"Thank you, Senior Tantai." Wang Yu bowed and added, "I would like to purchase two stalks of 'Nine-Leaf Frost Grass' from the herb garden. I wonder if you would be willing to sell them?"

Tantai Chan agreed after only a moment's thought.

"Very well. If you are collecting spiritual herbs for alchemy, come find me once you have gathered them all. With my status as a Second-Grade Mid-tier Alchemist, I can assist you... with more than enough ease."

Wang Yu could only thank her again. Having calculated the time needed to reach Qi Refinement Level 5 after his breakthrough, spiritual pills that aided cultivation, such as the Cold Blood Pill, had become extremely important.

He didn't feel comfortable leaving things meant for his own stomach to be refined by others; this was one of the reasons he insisted on learning alchemy!

The environment of the Demonic Path was too harsh; his vigilance had to be at its peak.

Rubbing his hands together, Wang Yu's expression became awkward.

"Then... what would be the price?"

Tantai Chan fell silent for a moment.

"Two stalks of Nine-Leaf Frost Grass are quite rare. The exchange price in the sect's treasury is one hundred and twenty contribution points. How about I charge you one hundred spirit stones per stalk?"

The value of spirit stones was generally considered half a step lower than contribution points, making this price quite a bargain—especially since they were the primary ingredient for the Cold Blood Pill, meaning the auxiliary ingredients would be even cheaper. Wang Yu nodded repeatedly.

Having come into a windfall six months ago, he hadn't used the money for anything other than food. The spirit stones Wang Yu provided were even mixed with eighty catties of spiritual sand, looking quite meager.

After obtaining what he wanted, he sealed it in a jade box.

Preserving spiritual herbs was a technical skill. Jade sealing was the most common and cheapest method; more high-end methods involved talisman sealing, cauldron sealing, stone sealing, or wax sealing.

Some veteran alchemists even possessed unique secret techniques. Any field of study in the cultivation world had existed for endless ages, giving rise to content too vast to learn in a single lifetime.

Therefore, cultivators often specialized in only one or two auxiliary skills.

However, as their realms gradually increased, their scope of knowledge would broaden. It was normal for a Nascent Soul cultivator to be proficient in one or two of the four major arts.