"You..."

Hearing him speak, the Commandery Princess hastily pushed the cup back onto the table, her gaze fixed on Lin Changheng with a mixture of embarrassment and anger.

This time, her embarrassment was genuine, with not a trace of pretense.

Pampered from birth as a precious daughter of the imperial house, no man had ever dared to get close to her. Now, having embarked on the Immortal Path and mostly left the mortal world behind, she still had very little contact with men.

Lin Changheng was the sole exception, and even he had always been courteous and restrained.

Now, however, she had carelessly shared a cup of tea with the male Cultivator before her. Wasn’t that equivalent to an indirect...

’No, absolutely not!’

Tantai Feiyue, who had always been sharp and composed, found her poise faltering for the first time in the face of this unfamiliar breach of propriety between men and women.

Then, with courage born of desperation, she shot to her feet, slammed her hands on the stone table, and leaned in close to Lin Changheng. She forced a fierce expression, her fingertips digging so hard they nearly cracked the stone. "You... if you dare tell anyone about us sharing a cup today—"

She suddenly realized their noses were barely three inches apart. In the sunlight, Lin Changheng’s warm smile was perfectly clear, and the second half of her weak threat died in her throat.

"I promise you, I will never speak of today’s events to anyone."

Lin Changheng’s smile vanished as he nodded seriously.

Only then did the Commandery Princess relax. She nodded haughtily, clearly satisfied with Lin Changheng’s response, but the tips of her ears still felt hot. After sitting for another moment, she took her leave.

Lin Changheng just laughed it off.

...

Lin Changheng checked his assets, such as the Elixirs and Spirit Stones in his possession. They were indeed substantial.

The Storage Bag, which had been emptied by the purchase of one Middle Grade Spiritual Artifact and one Lower Grade Spiritual Artifact, was once again bulging from the sale of Genuine Pills.

He now had over four hundred Spirit Stones.

The number of Masterpiece Pills on him had increased from over three hundred to more than six hundred and seventy!

And this was after subtracting the ones Lin Changheng had used for his own Cultivation and those he had traded to Tantai Feiyue.

Still, the sheer quantity was staggering.

He also had to acquire thirty or forty Spirit Locking Talismans through various channels, applying them to the wooden boxes to ensure the Elixirs’ medicinal power didn’t fade.

’Now that I have the Earth Escape Technique, I can try going out and selling some of these Masterpiece Pills.’

’Hoarding too many might not be a good thing...’

This was the first time Lin Changheng had thought of venturing out.

In addition,

It was worth mentioning that after Lin Changheng broke through to the Middle Stage Qi Cultivation, his speed of refining medicinal power had more than doubled, and the efficacy of the Masterpiece Red Flame Pills was decreasing in tandem.

After all, the Middle Stage Qi Cultivation corresponded to Tier One Middle Grade Elixirs. Genuine Lower Grade Elixirs had minimal effect; only Masterpiece Pills still had a decent effect, but even that was cut in half.

Therefore, for his monthly Cultivation, Lin Changheng had to increase his intake to five Masterpiece Pills just to barely maintain his previous cultivation speed.

The gulf in quality between grades was undeniable.

Fortunately, Masterpiece Pills had very few impurities and little Pill Poison. Furthermore, Lin Changheng discovered that the Tongming realm of his Poison Transformation Technique could suppress Pill Poison, and the Ascension realm could even refine away the impurities altogether. 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

Only then did he feel at ease taking them.

But this couldn’t go on forever. The true solution was to refine Masterpiece versions of Middle Grade Elixirs as soon as possible.

But Middle Grade Alchemy was truly complex.

The series of steps included Igniting, Burning Furnace, Add Medicine, Purification, Liquid Transformation, Medicine Combination, Hidden Refining, Solidifying Pill, and Extracting the Pill.

The Pill Formulas involved were even more intricate. The three core steps alone required over one hundred and twenty different formulas.

In other words, refining a Tier One Middle Grade Elixir required a total of around eight hundred formulas!

Nearly three times that of a Lower Grade Elixir!

Moreover, the key Pill Formulas were more complex and obscure, sometimes leaving even Lin Changheng scratching his head in frustration.

Thus, his attempts at refining Middle Grade Pills were currently stalled at the final, critical juncture.

He had previously consulted Ink Master and received some guidance and pointers, but it wasn’t appropriate to ask again about these final steps.

On one hand, he needed to keep his progress secret; on the other, he was afraid of putting Ink Master in a difficult position.

After all, he had only been an apprentice under him; Ink Master might not be willing to teach him everything he knew.

But fortunately, the Origin Treasure Seed was about to be completed!

[Spirit Stealing: 94/100]

With the increase in comprehension, everything would surely fall into place.

...

「Half a year flew by in the blink of an eye.」

Two major events occurred in the Outer World.

Outside a Wilderness Valley, the Xu Family and the Chen Family were locked in Magical Combat. The Xu Family already had a great advantage, and though the Chen Family’s defeat seemed imminent, they showed no signs of panic.

Instead, they charged forward, tying down the Xu Family Cultivators.

This was extremely abnormal.

Just then, a group of Cultivators suddenly sped over from the distance.

Their arrival was grand and imposing.

They also wore robes embroidered with the Chen Family’s emblem.

But an elder of the Xu Family recognized the leader. It was a cultivator from the Feiyun Valley’s Qiu Family, a man with a full beard named Qiu Changhe, a Qi Cultivation Ninth Layer Practitioner. He had already summoned his Magical Artifact, his gaze cold and indifferent.

A new Foundation Establishment Clan! The Qiu Family!

’Just as expected, they answered the Chen Family’s plea, disguised themselves as Chen Family Cultivators, and are now interfering!’

"Hahaha, all of you will die today, and the Xu Family will suffer a grievous blow!"

A Late Stage Qi Cultivation Elder from the Chen Family, seeming to be on a massive adrenaline rush, laughed maniacally. He had finally waited for this moment.

He wanted to throw the Xu Family’s morale into chaos, forcing them to reveal an opening so he could charge in for the kill.

But when the Xu Family Cultivators heard this and saw the scene, they didn’t panic. This, in turn, startled the Late Stage Qi Cultivation Elder, and a sense of foreboding began to grow in his heart.

SWISH! SWISH SWISH!...

The next moment, a series of intense whistling sounds erupted from behind the Xu Family’s ranks.

Then, from behind a hill, a group of Cultivators bearing the Xu Family emblem charged out. Ignoring the main battlefield, they had a clear objective, heading straight for the Qiu Family’s contingent from Feiyun Valley.

"Liu Yunlang!"

Qiu Changhe raised a hand to halt his group’s advance. He faced the newcomers from a distance, his expression ugly as he called out a name.

"Qiu Changhe? No, that’s not right. Seeing as you’re wearing Chen Family clothes, you should change your name to Chen Changhe."

Liu Yunlang also halted his troops. Contrary to his scholarly appearance, his words were sharp and sarcastic.

「Meanwhile.」

The Chen Family Elder’s face darkened. ’The Spirit Fox Mountain Liu Family? The Liu Family with two Foundation Establishment cultivators! Damn it, when did the Xu Family silently forge an alliance with them?’

He had no time to dwell on it, and no one was there to answer him, because a Late Stage Qi Cultivation Cultivator from the Xu Family was already advancing to engage him in battle.

After a round of Magical Combat, the Chen Family Elder’s Magical Power was nearly depleted. Unable to hold on, he glanced aside, hoping the Qiu Family would intervene, only to witness a sight that made his eyes widen in fury.

Qiu Changhe had turned and fled without a second glance, not lifting a finger to help, completely abandoning them.

The entire contingent of Qiu Family Cultivators followed suit, breaking their promise and leaving the blood-soaked Chen Family Cultivators stunned and abandoned on the battlefield.

"Hahaha!"

His response was Liu Yunlang’s roaring laughter. The Liu Family Cultivators then joined the fray, and the Chen Family’s forces collapsed like a landslide.

Aside from a few who slipped through the net, they were nearly wiped out, leaving behind pairs of resentful eyes that would not close even in death.

With that, the Xu Family occupied the valley, naming it "Juechen Valley." The war that had dragged on for years finally came to a close.

They also publicly announced that they would share half of the spoils with the Foundation Establishment Liu Family.

This was one of the major events.

...

The other major event was:

The Purple Maple Bay Chen Family, having lost their main fighting force on the battlefield, suddenly had their residence attacked one night by a band of Tribulation Cultivators.

Their Grand Array was breached, and the entire clan was annihilated.