Creating a paradise in an ant nest

Chapter 37 Qi Refining Level 2

The next day.

When Li Liangtian returned from visiting his relatives, Liu He handed him a jade porcelain bottle containing half a Qi-boosting pill.

Li Liangtian didn't even open it to check; he simply put it in his pocket.

"Aren't you going to take a look? What if I give you too little, or switch it out with a different kind of pill?"

Liu He joked.

"How could that be? You wouldn't hurt me."

If Li Liangtian didn't trust Liu He, he wouldn't have given him fifteen spirit stones to buy Qi-boosting pills.

"You'd better be more careful, just in case."

Liu He was quite pleased, but he still advised Li Liangtian to be on guard.

However, this saved Liu He the trouble of explaining.

He gave Li Liangtian not half a Qi-boosting pill, but 60% of a full Qi-boosting pill.

If he offered it to Li Liangtian openly, Li Liangtian would definitely not accept it.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Qixia Peak.

Li Liangtian returned to his room after finishing his shift.

He took out the jade bottle containing pills and poured out half of a Qi-boosting pill.

"This is the Qi-Boosting Pill worth thirty spirit stones?"

He sniffed carefully, inhaling the sweet aroma of the elixir, and a look of utter delight appeared on his face.

"If we were outside, so many spirit stones would be enough to save countless lives and exchange for a fortune of silver."

He sighed.

He had a profound understanding of the difference between "immortal and mortal realms".

Just as he was about to take the Qi-boosting pill, he realized something was wrong.

"Wait, this half of a Qi-Boosting Pill?"

He had never taken Yiqi Dan, so he had never seen what a complete Yiqi Dan looked like.

However, a single elixir is perfectly round and complete.

"This cut doesn't look like half. It feels like more than half a elixir."

"Did Liu He give me more than I should have? That doesn't make sense."

Li Liangtian became increasingly puzzled.

Friendship is friendship, and spiritual stones are spiritual stones. This distinction must be made.

"Ask him tomorrow."

Li Liangtian took the Qi-boosting pill and began practicing his cultivation techniques.

He circulated his cultivation technique over and over again, with one thought in his mind: "I cannot waste a single drop of the medicinal power of the pill."

This was bought with spirit stones, so it must be used to its fullest potential.

Li Liangtian continued his practice for three hours before finally stopping.

The effects of the Qi-Boosting Pill allowed him to improve his cultivation level by four or five months overnight.

This is his special talent; the effects of elixirs are stronger on him than on ordinary people.

This was the case before with the Meridian Opening Pill.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

In the following period of time, Liu He's cultivation began to advance by leaps and bounds.

He first spent three days fully digesting the medicinal power of a Qi-boosting pill, and his cultivation level improved by half a year.

Then take the second Qi-boosting pill.

Like the Meridian Opening Pill, the effect of taking a second pill of the same kind will be weakened.

The degree to which the effect diminishes varies depending on the length of the time interval.

For someone like Liu He who took the pill repeatedly, the effect of the second Qi-boosting pill was almost halved.

But Liu He didn't care.

He had so many Qi-boosting pills that he couldn't finish them all, and he ate them one after another without worrying about wasting them.

Three more days passed, and he finished digesting the second Qi-Boosting Pill, increasing his cultivation level by three months.

Then came the third Qi-boosting pill.

Half a month later, after he had digested the medicinal power of the fifth Qi-Boosting Pill, he successfully broke through to the second level of Qi Refining!

"Buzz~~"

The dantian (lower abdomen) resonated with energy, and spiritual energy circulated.

When breaking through the bottleneck, the dantian suddenly expanded by one size, reaching the two-inch dantian of the second level of Qi Refining.

The spiritual energy once again nourishes the meridians, acupoints, internal organs, and dantian of the whole body.

"Finally, I've reached the second level of Qi Refining."

"As the dantian expands, the amount of spiritual energy it can hold increases, and the power of spells released also increases accordingly."

"It's not easy."

Liu He sighed.

He took five Qi-boosting pills in a row, and he became a little scared of them.

By the fifth pill, the effect of the Qi-Boosting Pill had become very weak, only increasing cultivation for about ten days.

"Compared to Wang Yarong, who has a medium-level spiritual root, I was only a little over two months slower to reach the second level of Qi Refining."

Five Qi-Boosting Pills are worth 150 spirit stones.

Which handyman disciple could afford to hire one?

Only Liu He could take pills to improve his strength without any burden.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

A few days later.

When Wu Shao gathered everyone to assign tasks, they learned that Liu He had also broken through to the second level of Qi Refining.

Of the ten menial disciples who joined the sect in the same year, Liu He was the third to break through.

"Congratulations, Senior Brother Liu."

"Senior Brother Liu is truly talented. Does he possess some kind of special spiritual body?"

"In a year and a half, when the Spirit Plant Peak selection takes place, Senior Brother Liu will also be able to compete."

"..."

While outwardly flattering Liu He, the crowd chatted idly, discussing the selection of miscellaneous disciples from other forest areas and the selection process for the Spirit Plant Peak.

The so-called Spirit Plant Peak Selection is the process by which Spirit Plant Peak selects individuals with exceptional talent to join the peak.

The disciples who were doing odd jobs in the outer mountain forest farm all had the goal of entering the Spirit Plant Peak.

The selection process for Lingzhi Peak, like the selection process for entering the Qian Yuan Holy Sect, is held every three years and takes place simultaneously.

Every three years, the Qian Yuan Holy Sect opens its gates wide to recruit ordinary people from the outside world to test their spiritual roots. Anyone with spiritual roots can enter the sect as a trial cultivator or a menial servant.

The selection process for Lingzhi Peak is conducted among all disciples of the sect, and is not limited to menial laborers in the outer mountain forest farms.

To be precise, not only the menial disciples, but all disciples, including both outer and inner disciples, can participate.

The competition is not about cultivation level, but about talent in the path of spiritual plants.

The selection process for miscellaneous disciples, outer disciples, and inner disciples is separate.

Disciples in the menial service compete with other disciples in the menial service, while outer disciples compete with each other.

There are many miscellaneous disciples in the outer mountain forest farm. Not only are there miscellaneous disciples like Liu He who have been in the sect for a year, but there are also miscellaneous disciples who are more senior than them, who have been in the sect for four years, or even earlier.

The term of service for menial disciples in the sect is ten years. If they fail to be promoted to outer disciple, they will be eliminated from the sect.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

"Each time Spirit Plant Peak selects miscellaneous disciples, there are only about ten people. Senior Sister Wang Yarong has a medium-level spiritual root, so she will definitely take one of the spots."

"There's a Su Miao with the Kui Shui spirit body in the neighboring forest area, she also needs to take a spot."

"And Meng Kaizhou..."

"I heard that there are two other people with medium-level spiritual roots among those who joined the sect in the same batch at our Waishan Forest Farm."

"..."

Having been in the outer mountain forest farm for a long time, they had all heard of those with good spiritual roots or special spiritual talents.

While everyone was chatting, Wu Shao arrived.

Wu Shao was somewhat absent-minded. After perfunctorily arranging tasks for each forest area, he finally noticed that Liu He had advanced to the second level of Qi Refining.

He offered his congratulations, his attitude completely different from that towards Meng Kaizhou and Wang Yarong.

He was "flattering" towards Meng Kaizhou and Wang Yarong, but not so obsequious towards Liu He.

"Once the tasks are assigned, everyone else can leave, but Song Qian will stay."

Wu Shao called out Song Qian's name.

Song Qian looked unwell, her face cold as she barely spoke the entire time.

Others didn't know what was going on with this couple; some were curious and gossipy, while others didn't care much.

The crowd dispersed.

Only Wu Shao and Song Qian remained.

"When are you going back?"

Wu Shao asked in a cold voice.

Some time ago, Song Qian moved back to her room on Qixia Peak and has not returned to Wu Shao's residence on Wangyue Peak.