Chapter 30: Tower of Faint Mist and Sparse Rain

Early the next morning, Luo Chen’s biological clock woke him up habitually.

Feeling his internal state, he was immensely satisfied.

Before sleeping last night, he had circulated the Eternal Spring Art to restore his spiritual power and then consumed a Qi-Nurturing Pill.

In the Qi Refinement Level 4 column, it had increased slightly, rising from one to two.

"As I suspected, it's a progress bar, not a proficiency level."

He confirmed his hypothesis once more: lifespan and cultivation realms were displayed as progress, while cultivation methods, spells, and skills were displayed as proficiency.

"In that case, if I finish all five bottles of Qi-Nurturing Pills I bought, I should be able to push the progress bar halfway."

It was a bit slow, but if combined with the Perfect Eternal Spring Art and a First-Tier Spirit Vein, the progress bar should increase even more.

Compared to his previous snail-paced cultivation speed, this change was nothing short of revolutionary.

After a brief calculation, Luo Chen stopped dwelling on it.

Pulling forty strips of Fire Dog Whip from his storage bag, Luo Chen rubbed his hands together in anticipation.

Because the other raw materials came from the Hundred Herb Hall, he had saved a vast amount of processing time. Next, he only needed to give the main ingredient some special treatment before he could begin refining the Pills of Infinite Wonders.

Time is spiritual stones!

Let's get to work!

Around the hour of Chen, as the sun was about to rise, Luo Chen finally had the medicinal liquids ready.

Next, he just needed to soak the Fire Dog Whips in them for three days and three nights until they were soft and mushy.

As Luo Chen stuffed the Fire Dog Whips into the wooden basins one by one, a foul stench wafted out.

Luo Chen put on a self-made mask and occasionally flipped the whips.

Just as he was working feverishly, the sound of vomiting came from the courtyard.

"Blegh!"

"It stinks so bad!"

Then, the sound of hurried footsteps approached.

*Knock, knock, knock!*

The door was knocked upon.

Luo Chen opened the door, and a somewhat familiar small face came into view.

"Are you... *ugh!*"

The round-faced woman was only halfway through her sentence when the stench wafting from the room forced her into a dry heave.

She braced herself with one hand against the doorway and pointed with the other at the only window of the side room.

"Hurry up and open the Misty Rain Pavilion! *Ugh!*"

Luo Chen quickly channeled a stream of spiritual power, and the artifact given to him by Sun Shou began to hum.

Simultaneously, the various strange odors in the room gradually vanished.

On the outside of the Misty Rain Pavilion, clear droplets of water began to trickle down rhythmically.

This was the first time Luo Chen had activated this artifact; seeing this reaction, he was momentarily stunned.

"A cultivation-version range hood?"

"What range hood? This is a First-Tier artifact developed in Sky Sail City for smoke and odor absorption," the round-faced female cultivator said, before glaring at Luo Chen in anger. "What are you doing so early in the morning? Don't you care if people—*ugh*, it's you!"

After speaking, she looked at Luo Chen hesitantly, only then realizing she actually knew him.

Looking at her bare, unpowdered face, Luo Chen also felt a sense of familiarity.

Suddenly, he remembered.

"You are Miss Ling from the Hundred Herb Hall!"

Bai Meiling wrinkled her nose. "Your surname is Luo, right? What's your name?"

Although she looked petite and cute, she was a genuine Level 7 Qi Refinement cultivator.

Luo Chen was not offended by her bluntness and replied casually, "Junior Luo Chen greets Senior Bai."

"What 'junior' and 'senior'? Am I that old?" Bai Meiling pulled out a handkerchief to wipe her mouth. "And I'm asking you, what on earth are you doing so early? Don't you know others live in this courtyard? You'll get complaints if you keep this up."

It seemed there was some truth to that.

When Sun Shou rented the room to him, he had mentioned it.

The management fee for the spiritual stones included the obligation to handle neighborhood disputes.

"My apologies, I will be more careful in the future. When processing medicinal materials, I will remember to turn on the Misty Rain Pavilion. Senior... Miss Ling, please don't file a complaint against me this time!"

Luo Chen said with a conciliatory smile. He noticed that she didn't seem to mind being called Miss Ling, but she seemed somewhat sensitive to being called Senior Bai.

"Hmph!"

Bai Meiling gave a soft snort, letting the matter drop.

Out of the corner of her eye, she glanced at the wooden basin next to the stove, and her expression suddenly turned strange.

"What are you using to soak that stuff?"

"Uh, trade secret. I can't really say." This was a small trick in the pill recipe that could maximize the release of the medicinal properties contained within the Fire Dog Whip.

Why were aphrodisiacs for cultivators sold so expensively on the market?

It was because the raw material costs were exorbitant.

Luo Chen could use cheap Fire Dog Whips as a substitute without any loss in potency; the secret lay in the processing formula.

Her curiosity unsatisfied, Bai Meiling grew annoyed, and her eyes darted around.

"Are you an alchemist?"

"I believe I am!"

While Inedia Powder could barely be called a pill, the Pills of Infinite Wonders definitely qualified.

Luo Chen had the confidence to claim his profession.

"Then what kind of pills do you refine?"

Luo Chen felt a headache coming on. How could two women ask him this same question in just one day!

"Is it too embarrassing to say? Or are you afraid to say it?" Bai Meiling's eyes narrowed slightly. "You aren't refining some demonic pill, are you? The Jade Tripod Sword Sect is an orthodox sect; they don't allow cultivators to refine those heaven-defying demonic pills!"

Luo Chen's nerves instantly tightened. "It is absolutely not a demonic pill!"

Bai Meiling said, "Then why are you being so evasive?"

Luo Chen began to doubt whether renting this courtyard house was a mistake.

It wasn't that he was thin-skinned and afraid to say what he was refining.

He had discarded his pride long ago when he made the decision to move in.

In front of male cultivators, he could talk eloquently, citing classics and speaking at length.

Because male cultivators were his target customers.

But female cultivators?

That was awkward.

If he told them, he would gain nothing but contempt.

Other women would be fine, but unfortunately, Gu Caiyi and Bai Meiling were to be his neighbors for at least the next three months.

Who would want to live under constant looks of disdain for three months?

"Hmph, I understand pills too, Miss. No matter what you're refining, sell me one once it's out of the furnace. If it turns out to be a demonic pill, I'll report you to the Jade Tripod Sword Pavilion—and there's a reward for reporting, too."

"I have to go to work. Goodbye!"

With that, she hurried out of the courtyard gate.

Only then did Luo Chen notice a burly woman standing by the main gate, seemingly waiting for Bai Meiling.

If nothing went wrong, it was likely Feng Xia, who lived in the other side room and worked with Bai Meiling at the Hundred Herb Hall.

Watching these two female cultivators rushing off to work, Luo Chen felt a strange sense of nostalgia.

They seemed very grounded in everyday life; unlike the cultivators of this world, they felt more like the white-collar professionals of Earth in his previous life.

One could not see the intense pursuit of the Dao in their faces, nor the ferocity of the outer district cultivators.

The only thing they possessed was the simple satisfaction of going to and from work.

Communicating with a low-level Level 4 cultivator like Luo Chen, though blunt, lacked a sense of distance. It was as if they had completely set aside their cultivation realms and were simply two ordinary people interacting.

Between ordinary people, if there are no ulterior motives, why bother with formalities?

"It's a pity that big companies like the Hundred Herb Pavilion and the Spirit Source Studio only hire female cultivators, otherwise, I would have applied too."

Muttering to himself, Luo Chen returned to the busy task of processing medicinal materials.