Arriving at the location of the Scarlet Flame Fruit tree.
Lu Li fixed his gaze. The Scarlet Flame Fruit had actually ripened, and its quality had far surpassed the first rank. This left him overjoyed.
Looking over at the more than a hundred stalks of Emerald Bamboo Grass and the dense patches of Lightning Fire Orchids, basically all of them had exceeded the first rank as well.
This meant he could set about refining Piercing Acupoint Pills once more.
Lu Li felt that letting these spiritual herbs grow endlessly here was a bit of a waste. Since he still did not have any second-rank pill formulas, even if these spiritual herbs grew to the second rank, they would only be used as first-rank herbs. It was completely unnecessary.
Thus, he decided to first harvest all the spiritual herbs in the entire medicine garden that had reached the first rank and store them in the Space Hall for future use.
It was just like cutting chives-only after reaping one batch would new tender sprouts grow again.
He acted on his thoughts.
He spent over two hours before finally harvesting the entire medicine garden clean. Looking at the bare spiritual herb stumps left on the ground, Lu Li revealed an expectant smile. "Grow quickly. I will come cut you again once you have grown."
He took stock of his harvest.
This time, he had gathered a total of nine hundred and fifty Lightning Fire Orchids.
One hundred and fifty stalks of Emerald Bamboo Grass.
Fifty-five Scarlet Flame Fruits.
Fifty-seven Soul-Calming Flowers.
Seven stalks of Stone Nettle Grass.
He was not lacking materials for the Piercing Acupoint Pill. It would be perfect if he only had more Stone Nettle Grass and Buddha-Heart Fruit. That way, he could not only refine Piercing Acupoint Pills, but also refine some Meridian-Nourishing Pills. He could secretly break through right here in this stone chamber, which would be a beautiful thing indeed.
Clang.
Right at this moment, a harsh sound suddenly rang out from outside.
Lu Li hastily withdrew from the medicine garden. Glancing around, he noticed a square wooden tray had appeared beneath the stone door. The tray held a few plates of food. At the same time, a cold voice drifted in through a small opening in the center of the stone door.
"Send the bowls and chopsticks out from the bottom after you finish eating."
Lu Li did not have much of an appetite. He got up, walked to the edge of the stone door, and pushed the tray right back out. "Take it away. I am not hungry."
The food looked quite ordinary. It probably tasted no better than an Inedia Pill.
"Hah, still quite arrogant," the person outside mocked. Without another word, he pulled the tray back and walked away with a clatter of footsteps.
Lu Li listened closely for a while. Once the movement outside faded completely, he walked toward the pill refining area to begin refining Piercing Acupoint Pills.
According to the Great Elder, he would be assigned his pill refining duties tomorrow. To prevent the work from becoming too heavy and depriving him of time, he decided to refine the Piercing Acupoint Pills first.
This time, Lu Li's refining speed was much faster than before.
It took him about six or seven hours to finish refining all fifty-five sets of materials, yielding a full seventy Piercing Acupoint Pills. If he had enough Meridian-Nourishing Pills, he could immediately break through more than a single minor realm.
Speaking of Meridian-Nourishing Pills, they indeed put Lu Li in a difficult spot.
If the next batch he had to refine was that mysterious pill from the Jinyang Shopkeeper's Mansion, he still had hope of skimming some Buddha-Heart Fruits.
But if it was a different pill, there would be no hope.
Furthermore, refining Meridian-Nourishing Pills also required Stone Nettle Grass.
He had obtained forty stalks of Stone Nettle Grass from Wu De last time and planted them in the medicine garden. However, he had just harvested them over two months ago. Now, the storehouse in the Space Hall only held seven stalks.
Although harvested Stone Nettle Grass grew quickly, it still needed quite some time before it could become a first-rank spiritual herb.
In short, he was in urgent need of Buddha-Heart Fruit and Stone Nettle Grass.
If he could obtain these two spiritual herbs, his cultivation would surge wildly once again.
Early the next morning, not long after Lu Li had lain down, the stone door was opened from the outside. A man in black robes, wearing a blue fanged mask, stood quietly in the doorway. He neither entered nor left.
Lu Li furrowed his brow, rolled out of bed, and walked over. He looked quietly at the masked man, waiting for him to speak.
The masked man sized Lu Li up, a flash of surprise crossing his eyes. Then, he calmly handed over a Storage Bag. "This is today's assignment. According to the Great Elder's orders, if you cannot complete it before midnight, I will reward you with a Heart-Piercing Pill."
"Heart-Piercing Pill?"
"It is a poison refined from a mixture of countless venomous insects. After swallowing it, you will experience the sensation of suffering a thousand cuts. But rest assured... the medicinal power of this Heart-Piercing Pill only lasts for two hours. It will not take your life."
Damn it.
Lu Li's mouth twitched. He rolled his eyes at the man and snatched the Storage Bag over.
"Good luck."
The masked man's voice did not sound very mature. He sounded like a youth. After speaking, he stepped back, pressed a mechanism outside, and closed the stone door.
Lu Li hurriedly opened the Storage Bag. Inside rested three jade boxes and five thumb-sized small jade bottles. There was also a pill formula and a slip of yellow paper detailing today's assignment.
Upon opening the pill formula, Lu Li could not help but beam with joy.
Buddha-Heart Fruit, Cold Jade Marrow, Five Spirit Leaf... Corpse-Nurturing Pill.
This pill formula was almost identical to the one he had refined at the Jinyang Shopkeeper's Mansion. The only difference was that it now had a name: Corpse-Nurturing Pill.
He did not care what this Corpse-Nurturing Pill was used for. As long as there was Buddha-Heart Fruit, it was a good thing.
Next, he opened the yellow paper. It read: "Use five sets of materials to refine two Corpse-Nurturing Pills."
Lu Li's brow furrowed slightly. This requirement was not low. It seemed he had to be careful, or else not only would he fail to hold back any Buddha-Heart Fruits, but he would also have to eat that dog-shit Heart-Piercing Pill.
However, everything went well.
Under Lu Li's careful control, he spent just over two hours smoothly refining the two Corpse-Nurturing Pills. Both attempts succeeded on the first try, allowing him to cleanly pocket three Buddha-Heart Fruits.
After refining the Corpse-Nurturing Pills, Lu Li did not stop. He still had seven stalks of Stone Nettle Grass, which was exactly enough to refine Meridian-Nourishing Pills.
This time, maintaining a gambler's mindset, Lu Li directly refined three sets of materials at once.
Unfortunately, no miracles occurred. The three sets of materials yielded the exact same result as a normal refining session, producing only three Meridian-Nourishing Pills.
Although it was a pity, he was not disappointed. Three Meridian-Nourishing Pills were enough for him to impact twelve acupoints. Compared to normal cultivation, this was many times faster.
It was still early.
Lu Li sat cross-legged on the bed and began taking the Piercing Acupoint Pills.
Before long, he had used two Piercing Acupoint Pills and one Meridian-Nourishing Pill to open four acupoints. By now, he had cleared twenty acupoints on his sixth Qi Meridian. He would soon break through to the mid-stage of the sixth layer.
However, the four newly opened acupoints still had medicinal patches applied to them. He would need to wait three days before he could continue assaulting his acupoints.
Late into the night, the stone door opened. That youth wearing the blue fanged mask had returned.
He remained standing at the doorway, quietly waiting for Lu Li to approach.
Lu Li had been practicing his Gale Steps in the Time Hall. The moment he heard the noise, he immediately withdrew, grabbed the Storage Bag from the bed, and walked over. "Inspect them."
Seeing Lu Li so calm, the youth could not help but feel a little surprised. He opened a jade bottle and peered inside, his eyes immediately lighting up. "Your refining skills are quite good. They are actually all Middle Grade."
"From the looks of it, those old fellows really are a bunch of trash."
"Old fellows?" Lu Li knew full well in his heart that this person was likely referring to Jia Tong and the rest. He could not help but ask, "How are they doing?"
"Hah, how else would they be doing? Naturally, we fed them the Heart-Piercing Pills. Right now, they are still locked inside, clutching their stomachs and howling like ghosts and wolves."
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