Chapter 16: Inferior Pill

Ten spirit stones truly broke the female cultivator's bottom line, and because of Chen Lin's words, she even appeared somewhat grateful.

"Thank you, Fellow Daoist. If we meet again in the future, I will certainly repay your assistance today."

The female cultivator spoke with sincerity. With these ten spirit stones, she could pay her rent first and no longer worry about being evicted from her residence.

Now it was Chen Lin's turn to feel a bit embarrassed; he nodded and quickly left.

Having bought something good without spending much money, his spirits rose, and he began to inspect the stalls one by one.

Unfortunately, his luck had run out this time. After wandering for a long while, he found nothing worthwhile; most items were for the early stages of Qi Refinement, which were somewhat beneath his dignity as a mid-stage Qi Refinement cultivator.

Next, after a moment of hesitation, Chen Lin stepped back into the shop. After purchasing some materials, he headed toward the outer city.

After another series of detours, having restored his original appearance, he returned to his residence.

He placed the purchased materials on the table.

There were two bags. The smaller one was intended for attempting to refine a specific item mentioned in that weapon-refining manual, and its value was not high.

The remaining large bag contained the materials for refining Enlightenment Pills.

Looking at the large, overflowing bag, Chen Lin felt he was truly going mad.

He had actually spent nearly three hundred spirit stones to buy these things!

Logically speaking, given his habitually cautious personality, he shouldn't have done this. Why was he so impulsive today?

After a bout of self-doubt, he could only let out a helpless sigh.

"Since I've already bought them, I might as well treat a dead horse as a living one and give it a try!"

Muttering to himself, he began preparing to refine the Enlightenment Pills.

There was no rush regarding weapon refining.

The most important thing currently was to master the Arts of Object Manipulation and Flight; he could study the weapon-refining classics slowly later.

He spent a while carefully studying the pill formula before processing the materials.

By the time the preparations were complete, night had fallen.

Chen Lin did not rest. He placed fuel under the iron cauldron furnace and began the refinement process.

The situation with the Primordial Pills recurred; three consecutive batches of materials were ruined, leaving the room smelling of scorched debris.

He didn't care about this; after a short rest, he continued refining.

After refining two more batches, he stopped again.

This time, instead of continuing, he walked to the window, opened it, and looked outside.

His alarm had gone off.

Chen Lin exerted his visual strength to peer into the sky.

After watching for a long time, he still could not see a single red thread. Instead, a strange sensation appeared, as if something were being drawn out from within his body.

Ever since he had been led by the thread, his body experienced this every night, yet no abnormality could be detected.

This change was extremely subtle; if one didn't specifically focus on it, it would be impossible to notice.

A quarter of an hour later, the sensation vanished.

Expressionless, he turned back to the furnace and continued refining the pills.

He refined nine times in a row without success. On the tenth attempt, he finally rallied himself.

"Whether it succeeds or not, it all comes down to this!"

Chen Lin muttered to himself, took a breath, and while controlling the fire, began adding the materials step by step.

When he reached the final stage of adding the Spirit-Pointing Grass juice, his expression became tense.

Every previous failure had occurred at this exact moment; success or failure rested here.

*Bang!*

Just as a single drop of juice dripped in, the liquid in the cauldron surged violently, splashing outward.

Chen Lin instinctively ducked back, only to find that the familiar scene had finally appeared.

A mysterious force manifested out of thin air, pulling the splashed juice back into the iron cauldron.

With a flash of faint light, a round object appeared inside the cauldron.

"It worked!"

Seeing this, Chen Lin was overjoyed and immediately grabbed the pill from the cauldron.

"What on earth is this?"

Holding the pill before his eyes, Chen Lin realized something was wrong.

The Primordial Pills he had refined previously were all pure white and smooth, carrying a faint medicinal fragrance that clearly marked them as high-quality goods.

But this pill was not only irregularly shaped, but its surface was dark and covered in tiny pits; no matter how he looked at it, it did not resemble a divine medicinal pill.

According to the records in the formula, this pill was indeed supposed to produce only one pill per batch, so the quantity was correct, but the quality was far too poor.

This was the most perfect refinement state he could achieve using his innate ability; otherwise, it would likely have been even more eyesore.

He held it under his nose to sniff; a pungent, slightly acidic odor entered his nostrils, causing Chen Lin's brow to furrow even deeper.

"Is this thing really an Enlightenment Pill?"

For a moment, Chen Lin was uncertain.

Mainly because he had never seen what a real Enlightenment Pill looked like, so he had nothing to compare it to.

After studying it for a while longer, he placed the pill into an exquisite box and began cleaning up the mess.

Since his innate ability had caused the pill to form, it meant the formula was reasonable and the refinement method was correct.

It was just that he couldn't determine if it was a true Enlightenment Pill.

When day broke, Chen Lin left his room with his bundle on his back.

He disguised himself halfway through, transforming into a fair-skinned man, and arrived at the Water Moon Pavilion.

"You wish to consult information regarding Enlightenment Pills?"

It was the same middle-aged woman, looking at him with a scrutinizing gaze.

Chen Lin nodded. Since she had mentioned Enlightenment Pills to him last time, she must have some knowledge of them.

By obtaining relevant information and comparing it with the pill he had refined, he could make a rough judgment.

"What, do you really intend to purchase Enlightenment Pills to practice the Art of Object Manipulation?"

The middle-aged woman spoke in confusion, then sized Chen Lin up from head to toe. "Fellow Daoist, you are certainly quite wealthy. A single Enlightenment Pill costs at least dozens of mid-grade spirit stones. Furthermore, as far as I know, no shop in the entire Kaiyuan City sells this pill. Could it be that you have some secret purchasing channel?"

After speaking, the woman stared into Chen Lin's eyes, her intent to probe quite obvious.

"Name your price. I want to know information about Enlightenment Pills and any possible channels to purchase them. How many spirit stones?"

Chen Lin did not want to waste words and spoke directly.

Regardless, he was in disguise; no one would recognize him after he left.

The woman suddenly revealed a half-smile, blinked her eyes, and said, "Fine. This information isn't particularly secret. Let's say twenty spirit stones."

Chen Lin gritted his teeth and, feeling the sting in his heart, produced a bag of spirit stones.

Taking the stones, the woman's smile instantly widened. She swayed her body into the room and, after a moment, brought out a booklet. She opened it to a certain page and placed it before Chen Lin.

"This is the information on Enlightenment Pills, but it is only general information, not the formula."

Pausing, she continued, "As for purchasing channels, I advise you not to bother. Even the alchemists of the five great families do not have the ability to refine this pill. Don't expect to buy it in Kaiyuan City."

The woman's fair finger tapped the page, dousing Chen Lin with a cold shower of reality.

Chen Lin said nothing, looking at the pages expressionlessly.

After a while, he nodded, stood up, cupped his hands toward the woman, and left in a hurry.