375: Chapter 375 Spirit Gathering Pill

Han Li did not answer.

Su Mingyuan waited for two seconds, realized she hadn't spoken, and followed her gaze.

At this moment, Han Li was crouching on the ground, staring at the skeleton that had been by Chen Rong's feet earlier.

To be precise, she was staring at the object clenched in the skeleton's right hand.

It was grayish, with a rough surface, about a size larger than a peanut, looking like a clod of dirt that had been rolled in the mud.

"Han Li?"

Han Li did not move.

Her eyes were fixed on that mud pellet without blinking, her lips slightly parted, and her breathing had become shallower.

Su Mingyuan had known Han Li for nearly half a year, and he had never seen this expression on her before.

This woman usually wouldn't even frown when her cauldron exploded during Alchemy, but now she looked like she had been nailed to the spot.

"Han Li, is there something wrong with this skeleton?"

Han Li finally moved.

She reached out and carefully pried open the skeleton's fingers one by one.

The bones were already semi-weathered; the fingers shattered upon contact, with fragments falling off with a rustling sound.

The mud pellet fell into her palm.

Han Li held it up to her eyes and gently scraped off a layer of gray grime from the surface with her fingernail.

Beneath the gray grime, a small patch of dark red luster was revealed.

Han Li's hand trembled slightly.

She brought the mud pellet under her nose, closed her eyes, and took a deep breath.

Then she opened her eyes.

"Leader."

"What's wrong? Is there an issue with this mud pellet?"

"This is not a mud pellet." Han Li's voice was a bit tight, "This is a Medicinal Pill."

Su Mingyuan looked down at the dusty thing in her hand; no matter how he looked at it, it didn't look like a Medicinal Pill.

"Are you sure?"

"Sure." Han Li said, "And it's not an ordinary Medicinal Pill."

She held the small scraped-off patch of dark red toward Su Mingyuan.

"I have seen a description of this kind of Medicinal Pill in my Master's handwritten pharmacopeia — 'Gray-brown shell, dark red core, the medicinal fragrance permeates the bones and does not dissipate.'"

She swallowed hard.

"If I haven't mistaken it, this Medicinal Pill is called a 'Spirit Gathering Pill'."

Su Mingyuan didn't have much of a reaction in his mind when he heard these three words.

His knowledge of Medicinal Pills was limited to the few types he had used — the rejuvenation pill could cure illnesses, and the realm breaking pill could help a Martial Artist in the Qi Refinement Stage achieve a Breakthrough.

As for other Medicinal Pills, he couldn't remember most of their names, let alone distinguish their effects.

"Spirit Gathering Pill?" Su Mingyuan repeated, "What is its use?"

Han Li glanced at him, knowing that Su Mingyuan was indeed not very familiar with Medicinal Pills.

She cradled the Medicinal Pill in her palm and said, "Leader, previously when Master and I were organizing the cultivation notes left behind by Immortal Master Yu Ling, there were several Pill Formulas inside. We didn't quite understand most of the Pill Formulas, but there was one Pill Formula that Master read repeatedly many times and even specifically copied one and locked it in a cabinet."

"It is this Pill Formula for the Spirit Gathering Pill."

Su Mingyuan asked, "What is written in Immortal Master Yu Ling's notes?"

"The notes mentioned that in the world of Immortal Master Yu Ling, the Spirit Gathering Pill is not considered a rare item." Han Li said, "Larger Sect Alchemy rooms can all refine it, the production is not low, and it counts as a standard stock Medicinal Pill. To a great Cultivator of the Soul Transformation Stage like Immortal Master Yu Ling, this thing isn't even worth eating; it's about the same as us popping vitamin pills."

She paused for a moment.

"But for us right now, it is completely different."

Su Mingyuan could tell there was more to what she was saying.

"Alright, Han Li, stop beating around the bush and tell me directly what this thing actually does."

Han Li held the Spirit Gathering Pill a little higher.

"This Medicinal Pill can advance cultivation."

Su Mingyuan's eyebrows twitched: "Advance cultivation? What do you mean, the same as the realm breaking pill?"

"Not the same." Han Li said, "The realm breaking pill can only be used in the Qi Refinement Stage. It is useful for Martial Artists from the first to fifth ranks, helping them break through a Bottleneck. But once they reach the Foundation Establishment Stage, the realm breaking pill has no effect; the medicinal power is too weak to support cultivation in the Foundation Establishment Stage."

Su Mingyuan nodded; he knew this. Chen Rong and Lin Wan used the realm breaking pill when they achieved their Foundation Establishment Breakthrough.

"But the Spirit Gathering Pill is different." Han Li's speaking speed increased a bit, "The target for the Spirit Gathering Pill is a Cultivator in the Foundation Establishment Stage. It can help a Cultivator in the Foundation Establishment Stage compress spiritual power, consolidate their Foundation, and accelerate the growth of their cultivation."

"Using Master's exact words: the realm breaking pill handles the road of the Qi Refinement Stage, while the Spirit Gathering Pill handles the road of the Foundation Establishment Stage."

Su Mingyuan paused for a moment upon hearing this.

Foundation Establishment Stage.

Currently, in the entire Great Xia, there are only two Cultivators in the Foundation Establishment Stage — Chen Rong and Lin Wan.

And although Chen Rong and Lin Wan are Cultivators with SSS Root Bone, there have been no signs of them breaking through until now.

You have to know, it only took them a few months from starting their Cultivation to breaking through to the Foundation Establishment Stage.

And now another half a year has passed, and their cultivation can be said to have made no progress; they are still stuck at the Foundation Establishment Stage.

If these Medicinal Pills can truly improve Chen Rong and the others' cultivation, this would undoubtedly be a huge boost to Great Xia's strength.

Su Mingyuan had previously asked Tao Zhe how long it would take for Chen Rong and Lin Wan to touch the threshold of the Foundation Establishment Middle Stage at their current speed.

The answer Tao Zhe gave was — an optimistic estimate of three and a half years.

Three and a half years.

And what kind of situation is Great Xia facing now? Zombie World might still be hiding Daoist Wan Shi, the Gu Mother of the Zerg World is missing, and a fifth Otherworld has popped up. Top-tier combat power is needed everywhere, and people are lacking everywhere.

Three and a half years is too long.

Su Mingyuan looked at the dusty Spirit Gathering Pill in Han Li's hand.

"You mean this Medicinal Pill can shorten the time of Cultivation."

"If the medicinal effect is consistent with what is described in Immortal Master Yu Ling's notes," Han Li said, "one Spirit Gathering Pill can save a Cultivator in the Foundation Establishment Early Stage at least two to three months of arduous Cultivation."

Two to three months.

One pill saves two to three months.

That is to say, as long as there are twenty Medicinal Pills.

All Great Xia Cultivators who have broken through to the Foundation Establishment Stage can break through to the Foundation Establishment Middle Stage, and if resources are sufficient, they can even break through to the Foundation Establishment Late Stage!

Thinking of this, Su Mingyuan let out a long breath.

This breath had been held for a very long time.

He couldn't even remember when he started holding it.

It probably started when he read the four words "Daoist Wan Shi" in Immortal Master Yu Ling's Jade Slip.

Daoist Wan Shi.

He was also a former demonic Cultivator of the Soul Transformation Stage, skilled at refining living people into Walkers; he is the root cause of all the disasters in the Zombie World.

Immortal Master Yu Ling is dead, and Perfected Lord Yushou is also dead, but Daoist Wan Shi and the Gu Mother remain missing to this day.

These two people are like two mines buried underground, and one doesn't know when they will explode.

It wasn't that Su Mingyuan hadn't thought about actively looking for them. His subordinates had suggested more than once whether they should organize forces to penetrate deep into the hinterlands of the Zombie World to find the hiding place of Daoist Wan Shi.

Every time, Su Mingyuan suppressed it.

It wasn't that he didn't want to find them.

It was that he didn't dare to gamble.

Immortal Master Yu Ling was at the Nascent Soul Middle Stage, and Great Xia used five pangu nuclear bomb to blow him up. Perfected Lord Yushou was at the Late Golden Core Stage, and it took two thousand mechs surrounding him to wear him down to death.

And as for the cultivation of Daoist Wan Shi, it is still unknown to what extent it has recovered now.

Although the power of nuclear weapons is great, such a level of existence, if pushed to the limit, does not need to fight you head-on.

He only needs to bring the "virus," pass through the portal, and scatter it in some city in the Main World —

Su Mingyuan dared not think further.

1.4 billion people.

He could not afford to gamble.

So he kept suppressing it. Suppressing the urge to actively provoke, suppressing the urge to go deep and search, and suppressing every subordinate who was eager to make a contribution.

He once said a sentence to Tao Zhe: "Our current strength is not enough to qualify us to touch Daoist Wan Shi. If we touch him, it means putting the entire Great Xia on the gambling table."

"If we win, everyone is happy; if we lose, you and I will both be sinners of Great Xia, to be nailed to the pillar of shame in history forever."

Tao Zhe did not refute him at the time.

Because he also knew that the reason they eliminated the Nascent Soul Cultivator, Immortal Master Yu Ling, was because Immortal Master Yu Ling was arrogant, resisting nuclear weapons head-on; if he had chosen to dodge, Great Xia would have had no way to deal with him at all.

And now, facing a Cultivator suspected to be of the Nascent Soul or even Soul Transformation Stage with Great Xia's current highest combat power — Chen Rong and Lin Wan, at the Foundation Establishment Early Stage — there is a gap of at least ten minor Realms in between.

This is not a gap; this is a chasm.