60: Chapter 60 His Time Is Mine

Xia Shaoxin lay down for even longer this time. After recovering, he saw his Senior Sister sitting on the meditation cushion, already in deep meditation. He said softly, "Senior Sister, I am leaving."

His Senior Sister seemed not to hear him, so he had no choice but to exit the Danfang Pavilion.

Having learned the Pill Formula, all knowledge regarding the relevant Spirit Medicine was automatically rooted in his mind.

Returning to the place that sold Spirit Medicine, he was surprised to discover that all the ingredients needed for the three-flower spirit gathering pill could actually be found.

Baotong Tower also sold those few varieties of Poisonous Insect, though they were expensive, costing three or four Spirit Stone each.

He secretly estimated the price; if he relied entirely on buying, refining one furnace of three-flower spirit gathering pill would cost more than twenty Spirit Stone.

It was hard to say how many Medicinal Pill one furnace could produce.

Indeed, using this to assist in Cultivate was not cost-effective.

Except for the Poisonous Insect, he had gathered all other necessary Spirit Medicine, and the eight Spirit Stone on hand were completely spent.

He would go back immediately to catch Poisonous Insect and, by the way, convert more, preparing to take them to Baotong Tower to sell when he had free time, and also to buy back the refining method for the qi gathering pill.

It took five days to prepare all the Spirit Medicine.

The procedure for Alchemy was not much different from making herbal pills, except for an extra step of calcination in a Pill Furnace at the end.

However, although the procedures were similar, the difficulty was much greater.

Making herbal pills used ordinary herbs, but Medicinal Pill were all made from Spirit Medicine.

Some Spirit Medicine needed to be stirred and mixed, which was an extremely difficult step.

Those Spirit Medicine were ground into powder and dried; they were fine when kept separately, but once mixed, they caused strange reactions that consumed a great deal of physical strength.

His body at the first level of Qi Gathering was still tortured to the point of near-death.

Fortunately, there were no mishaps, and he gathered all the Spirit Medicine.

Then, he officially began Alchemy.

He added the Spirit Medicine in order, increased the fire, reduced the fire, and had to chant incantations in between—an extremely complex set of procedures where he dared not be careless for even a moment.

This was his first time performing Alchemy, and he felt a bit apprehensive.

All steps were completed perfectly, and he just had to wait for the moment of final pill formation.

The Pill Furnace would give a signal as to whether the pill formation was successful.

If the Pill Furnace made a muffled "poof" sound, that meant the Alchemy had failed.

The most serious failure was called "exploding the furnace," where the entire Pill Furnace could fly into the sky.

Alchemy was an act of seizing the creation of heaven and earth, and the formation of a pill was a highly pleasurable event, so it would emit a pleasant sound.

If it emitted a sound like metal striking metal, it achieved a Low Grade Medicinal Pill.

If one heard a sound like a jade chime, it was a Medium Grade Medicinal Pill.

If one heard the roar of a tiger or the cry of a Dragon, or even saw strange phenomena, that was High Grade.

He burned the Pill Furnace for a total of three hours when suddenly he heard the sound of a jade chime from inside. He was overjoyed; this was a sign of refining a Medium Grade Medicinal Pill.

He hurriedly withdrew the fire, waited for the Pill Furnace to cool down for a while, moved a ladder, and opened the lid.

He saw that the inside of the Pill Furnace looked like a starry sky, with several larger stars flying up and down.

He was greatly shocked in his heart; so this was what Alchemy was like!

His fatigue vanished instantly.

Disregarding the high temperature inside the furnace, he reached in to grab the Medicinal Pill and caught eleven in total.

Holding them up to the light, they were opaque, and the color looked a bit like dried bamboo strips.

He tilted the furnace and dug out three more dull-colored Medicinal Pill from the medicinal dregs; their quality must be Low Grade.

One furnace produced fourteen Medicinal Pill; if he ate one a day, refining two furnaces a month would be enough.

Alchemy had exhausted his physical strength; he was too lazy to even clean the Pill Furnace and went back to his room to sleep.

This sleep lasted until the middle of the night.

After waking up, he rushed to the Jingsi Courtyard.

As usual, he saw Liu Tingting's serene smile: "You are here!"

This smile had always made Xia Shaoxin feel restless during the first few days, but now he knew her smile was ill-intentioned.

Xia Shaoxin did not say a word and walked straight into the courtyard.

He did not wait long before the door to Room Ding opened with a bang, and Senior Brother Chen Jingrao walked out.

There were not many Inner Sect Disciple at Xueyan Cliff, but there were also few Spirit Cave, so everyone's schedule was very tight, just like working shifts.

Xia Shaoxin's time to use the Spirit Cave followed immediately after Senior Brother Chen.

Every time, Xia Shaoxin would take the initiative to call out: "Greetings, Senior Brother Chen."

Every time, Senior Brother Chen Jingrao would nod stiffly, as if he had a neck problem.

Today, after coming out of Room Ding, Senior Brother Chen Jingrao did not leave; he watched Xia Shaoxin enter the Spirit Cave and stood in the courtyard, looking up at the starry sky.

Liu Tingting was curious and asked: "Senior Brother Chen, are you not going to rest? Sleeping at this time is the most comfortable."

Senior Brother Chen Jingrao said indifferently: "Don't worry about me; why don't you go back to sleep? I will watch over this place for you tonight."

"Watching over this place is my duty; how can I let you do it for me?" Liu Tingting said with a grin.

Senior Brother Chen Jingrao looked at Liu Tingting with deep eyes and snorted coldly through his nose.

It was well known that Jingsi Courtyard did not actually need anyone to watch over it. Everyone was fellow Disciple; when it was arranged for them to Cultivate, they would come at that time, and no one would make trouble.

Every mountain peak had Spirit Cave, and there would also be a Disciple responsible for arranging the usage time.

However, on other mountain peaks, everyone conscientiously took turns to Cultivate; only Liu Tingting watched over this place every day.

"Why don't you watch over it during the day?" Senior Brother Chen Jingrao said sinisterly.

"What kind of thing is that to say? I cannot go without sleep day and night, can I?"

"In the morning, Senior Brother Wu, Senior Sister Li, and the others all finish using their Spirit Cave time. It is useless for you to watch over it, so of course you should go to sleep!"

Liu Tingting asked vigilantly: "What are you trying to say?"

Senior Brother Chen Jingrao gestured with his chin toward Room Ding: "This brat has poor Aptitude; he only Cultivate for an hour or so each time. Give me the extra time tonight."

Liu Tingting's heart skipped a beat; had she been discovered so soon? She frowned and said: "Are you not tired?"

"If you are not tired, why would I be tired?"

"I see that every time you finish Cultivate, you have no strength to walk, as if you have been beaten up..."

"Hmph, I have always walked with such light steps; have you not noticed?"

"We immortals-in-training, how could we look like we haven't eaten enough?"

Senior Brother Chen Jingrao was impatient: "Our time for Cultivate is insufficient. You hold the position of Jingsi Courtyard guard, picking up the time others have left over every day; what is wrong with letting me have it once?"

"If you had said so in advance, I would have used it here, but asking me to yield at the last minute is not appropriate."

"I also just thought of this at the last minute."

Liu Tingting said firmly: "No, Senior Brother Chen, you should go back and rest. With your steps floating like that, I am afraid you cannot hold on."

Senior Brother Chen Jingrao's face dropped instantly: "Little girl, you are being rude. Do you believe I will beat you?"

Liu Tingting was stunned. I was telling the truth; why did he turn hostile?

She was immediately unhappy as well and said coldly: "Look, I just said a few words, and you are already restless; your Cultivate will not have any effect."

Senior Brother Chen Jingrao was furious and reached out to grab her, but Liu Tingting dodged nimbly.

The two of them fought in the courtyard, trading blows.

In the end, Liu Tingting was worried about affecting the Elder, so she retreated a few steps and said angrily: "The Elder is in secluded meditation here; I will not lower myself to your level."

Senior Brother Chen Jingrao crossed his arms in front of his chest and arrogantly occupied the entrance to Room Ding.

Liu Tingting gritted her teeth in hatred and whispered: "Fine, I will let you have one night."

Inside, Xia Shaoxin heard the commotion between the two outside and secretly laughed in his heart.

Idiots, one should look at a person with new eyes after three days of separation; I am no longer the same person I was before!

He sat on the meditation cushion and first took one Low Grade "three-flower spirit gathering pill".

A clear stream spread from his abdomen to his limbs and bones, and his spirit was greatly boosted.

He then began Circulating the Heavenly Cycle, feeling more Spiritual Qi being absorbed from the Acupoints on his wrists.

Not only that, but the speed at which the Spiritual Qi circulated within his body also accelerated slightly.

He was overjoyed in his heart; this so-called useless pill had a wonderful effect on him. Today, he would definitely be able to Cultivate for these few hours.