CH 27

“Isn’t it a little too conspicuous to reach the mid-stage Qi Refinement realm in just three months?”

After Jiang Li hid the ghostwood trees under the ground, he did not immediately run out of the graveyard. Instead, he found a place to sit down and began to think.

His spiritual root aptitude was only at the medium-grade. In the eyes of ordinary people, using the graveyard to cultivate to reach the cultivation speed of high-grade spiritual root aptitude was already very impressive.

2

If he directly surpassed a high-grade spiritual root and reached the cultivation speed of a top-grade spiritual root, that would be a huge problem. He would definitely receive the attention of many people.

If he was valued, he could directly join the inner sect.

What he was afraid of was that he would become meat on someone else’s chopping board. In the end, he would be dissected and refined into a pill. It would be a tragic sight.

Judging from the reaction of that red-haired elder, it was not impossible.

Hence, for safety’s sake, he had to control his cultivation level. It would be best if he could expose this after Yu Banxia and the others broke through to the mid-stage.

But every seven days, he had to go to the Pill Chamber to test the pills.

Relying on the few aura concealment techniques he and Yan Hong had gathered, there was no chance of hiding it from a powerful sect elder.

2

“Looks like I’ll have to use this thing.”

Jiang Li took out a small porcelain bottle from his bosom. When he opened it, what came out was not a medicinal fragrance, but an unpleasant burnt smell.

[Name: Waste Pill]

[Type: Trash]

[Grade: None]

[Note: Waste pills are created from failed refinement attempts.]

After pouring them out, he saw that they were black pills with uneven surfaces.

These were waste pills that Jiang Li had gotten from the red-haired elder.

After all, the other party had to paint a rosy picture for him. Since Jiang Li wanted these worthless things, then there was naturally no reason for him to refuse.

Although he did not know what Jiang Li wanted to use it for, the red-haired elder still instructed him not to eat it no matter what.

“If it’s not necessary, I really don’t want to eat this.” Jiang Li muttered to himself, and then he picked up a useless pill and placed it into his mouth.

[Consumed a waste pill. Added Status: Pill Poisoning]

[Pill Poisoning: All attributes reduced by 20%, spiritual qi strength decreased by 30%, spiritual qi recovery speed decreased by 30%, cultivation speed decreased by 10%. Duration: 2 years] (− +)

2

Ugh…

The smell of burnt food would cause a severe reaction in the intestines, and the body would feel uncomfortable.

It was extremely difficult to expel the poison from the body, and the duration was extremely long.

This was pill poisoning!

A useless pill not a pill burnt by accident.

It was because during the process of refining pills, an alchemist would deliberately use a method to transfer most of the pill toxins produced during the refinement process to a portion of the pills, resulting in the creation of waste pills.

Therefore, eating waste pills was an extremely unwise action.

For others, the pill toxins accumulated from eating pills accumulated over a year, two years, or even ten years might be equivalent to eating a single useless pill.

“The consequences are serious. No wonder the cultivation world fears pill poisoning so much.”

“This thing can really destroy a person if it accumulates too much. I wouldn’t dare to eat it if I didn’t have the ability to get rid of statuses.”

However, the effect of this one pill did not seem to be enough.

Helpless, he could only take another useless pill.

[Pill Poisoning: All attributes reduced by 40%, spiritual qi strength decreased by 50%, spiritual qi recovery speed decreased by 50%, cultivation speed decreased by 30%. Duration: 5 years] (− +)

The aura on Jiang Li’s body had completely fallen back to before his breakthrough. His face still looked sickly.

He was totally the kind of person who ate too much medicine and ended up becoming crippled.

Just looking at himself made him feel pity for himself.

Now, not to mention the red-haired elder, even stronger cultivators would not be able to see his true strength.

This was because Jiang Li’s true strength had indeed fallen back to the initial-stage of Qi Refinement. He was not even disguising himself, so how could he reveal any flaws?

It was just that this attribute that affected his cultivation speed was not too good. In the future, when he was cultivating, he had to first remove this status. When he needed it, he had to consume the useless pills again. This was really a kind of torture.

1

After leaving the graveyard, Jiang Li first visited the trading area for two hours.

Yan Hong had already laid out quite a lot of things in the stall. As he continued buying and selling in this trading area, they were finally starting to have a stable income.

After farming the appraisal skill, Jiang Li walked towards the mission area.

“Jiang Li!” He had just walked through the door of the Mission Hall when a voice sounded from behind him, causing him to stop in his tracks.

Several men and women who were also wearing outer sect disciple robes caught up to him from behind.

Jiang Li saw that they were all familiar faces.

“We saw that the person walking in front looked like you. I told them it was you, but they didn’t believe me.”

“What do you think? I’m not wrong, am I?”

It was naturally Yu Banxia, Lu Qianqian, and the rest.

They looked travel-worn, as if they had just returned from a long journey.

“Jiang Li, you’ve also started to come to the Mission Area to accept missions. Are you alone?”

Yu Banxia and the others looked at Jiang Li in surprise. There were seven or eight of them at the initial-stage Qi Refinement realm. They only dared to come to the Mission Area to accept missions and earn spirit stones.

Jiang Li was alone. It did not seem like it was his first time.

“Jiang Li, you look terrible. Are you sick?”

Jiang Li’s sickly expression was very obvious. Some people would even believe that he was beyond cure.

“Regarding this… my cultivation method is a little special. I became like this after being corroded by Yin qi in the graveyard for a long time. I’ll be fine after I break through to the mid-stage Qi Refinement realm.”

Everyone had been envious of Jiang Li for having the convenience of cultivating in the graveyard. But now, it seemed that it was not as easy as they had imagined.

Jiang Li randomly came up with a reason, and then looked at them and conversed.

“I have taken a few simple missions. After all, the resources given by the sect are not enough.”

“What about you guys? Seems like you guys came back from outside, did you take a mission that required you to leave the sect?”

This time, it was Jiang Li’s turn to be surprised. The missions involving leaving the sect were all quite risky, so how could ordinary disciples have the courage to do so?

“That’s right. The first ten to become Qi Refinement disciples have all been rewarded with a spell technique. The cultivation speed of our high-grade spiritual root is also fast. In fact, we are already stronger than many of the older disciples.”

“Yu Banxia is still the best. He has already completed a few inner sect missions and brought us along to accept this mission.”

“Let me tell you a secret. We’ve gained quite a lot this time.”

Speaking of missions, they were obviously excited. Each of them showed off the bags behind their backs, beaming with joy.

“Congratulations, is this a harvest-type mission? If you have any additional gains, Yan Hong is doing quite well in the market now. He might be able to give you a better price.”

Jiang Li thought about it and felt that it made sense. In this circle, the ones gathered were the most talented and strongest amongst their batch of new disciples.

Almost every single one of them received the reward of a spell technique. There were only ten such rewards every year. It was only natural for them to possess such strength.

After Jiang Li congratulated them, he helped Yan Hong solicit business.

“Actually, I have the same intention.”

“Also, Jiang Li, are you interested in accepting missions with us?”

Yu Banxia scratched his head and looked embarrassed. He then invited Jiang Li.

“Is it also a mission that requires going outside? I would like to give it a try, but I’m afraid that won’t be possible for now.”

Jiang Li did some calculations. He still had some things he had not finished recently. Furthermore, it was likely for him to go out on a mission for ten days to half a month. He would not be able to leave before Elder Red Hair was done.

“It’s fine, we’re planning to rest for a while.”

“Moreover, I have a feeling that I’ll be able to break through to the mid-stage Qi Refinement realm in about a month’s time. At that time, we can all take on an even more rewarding task together.”

When Yu Banxia said this, the pride in his eyes almost turned into sparks.

If he could be the first amongst this batch of new disciples to break through to the mid-stage Qi Refinement realm, he would be proud enough.

“You’re about to break through?”

“Then we’ll have to rely on you from now on.”

When Jiang Li said this, everyone also praised him.

“Then it’s settled. We’ll talk again next time. We’ll go submit the mission first.”

“Yeah. Talk to you next time.”

After Jiang Li made an agreement with them, they separated.

“About a month. I’ll follow behind him and succeed in my ‘breakthrough’ as well.”

This sickly state made him very uncomfortable. It was better to be liberated sooner rather than later.

Jiang Li walked into the hall and ran to the counter of that inner sect senior sister, “Senior Sister Su Xuewei, help me register.”

He handed the outer sect identity token over. Without saying anything, the other party understood.

After all, Jiang Li came once a week for three months consecutively, and he accepted the same mission every time. If she still could not remember it, there would be an issue with her brain.

“It’s you again, Junior Brother Jiang Li! My goodness! You look horrible! Do you really intend to accept this mission?”

Jiang Li: I think… I should put some powder on my face before going out next time.

“Thank you for your concern, Senior Sister, but that pill formula is about to be completed. I really don’t want to give up halfway.”

Su Xuewei nodded. She felt a little sorry for Jiang Li’s persistence and intelligence. Even if the pill formula really succeeded, what did it have to do with him?

Why did he have to sacrifice himself for it?

However, she still quickly registered Jiang Li’s information regardless.

The reason why Jiang Li had to come here to receive missions every time he tested the pills was mainly to guard against the red-haired elder.

Even though the red-haired elder would welcome him if he did not take the mission, and would also reward him handsomely, once he accepted the mission, the sect would record it down.

Under the supervision of the sect, even sect elders would restrain themselves a little.

Without this restriction, Jiang Li was afraid that the other party would do something extreme.

“Hahaha, Jiang Li, you’re here!”

“I modified five pill formulas this time. One of them must be correct. Come, come! Quickly come and try!”