“Can a pill refined by an alchemy apprentice actually be eaten?” Lin Donglai was deeply skeptical.
“It can, it can. Roger and Yu Jiang both bought some—meridian-strengthening pills called Refined Tendon Pills, made from a low-grade spirit plant called wolf tendon grass. One spirit stone buys ten pills. After taking them, practicing the Tendon Transformation and Marrow Cleansing Stake Method becomes much more effective.”
“The assessment is coming up soon. Even if there's only three days left, cramming at the last minute is worth a try.”
Thinking about it, Lin Donglai had to agree. After all, he had the lowest-grade Five Spirit Roots, so his cultivation progressed slowly. And before the mysterious seed in his mind was refined with essence blood, it merely provided some minor synergy when he practiced the Vital Cultivation Breathing Art.
“Alright, I'll go with you. We'll repay the spirit stones together when the time comes.”
The moment the two spirit stones, each the size of a small chicken egg, arrived in his hands, the mysterious seed in his mind sent out a thought of “craving.”
Over these past days, whenever the dao seed craved sunlight, Lin Donglai would go sunbathe—even the skin had tanned a little.
When the dao seed craved water, Lin Donglai would drink two or three kettles of water in one go, and strangely the water didn't settle in his stomach.
When the dao seed craved earth qi, Lin Donglai walked around barefoot, and the earth qi would pour in through his Yongquan acupoints and enter the space where the dao seed resided.
The only cost was that Lin Donglai was secretly mocked: a mud-legged peasant stays a mud-legged peasant…
The seed was Lin Donglai's greatest secret. In front of Ding Zhen, Lin Donglai ignored the seed's craving for spiritual qi.
He only quietly soothed it: “Don't be impatient. Once I get spirit stones, I'll feed them all to you!”
Besides, buying pills was the priority right now. Only by finishing the tendon-transformation stage early could he begin marrow cleansing, and only after marrow cleansing could he condense essence blood.
Moreover, Lin Donglai still had to think of the Hundred-Day Assessment first. If he got demoted to a menial servant, he feared it would be even harder to find a suitable cultivation environment. These two years of the Immortal Seedling Cultivation period were something Lin Donglai took very seriously.
Once qi was drawn into his body, then he could consider the matter of this little ancestor wanting to absorb spiritual qi. After all, at that point he would be able to cultivate himself, and the qi used in cultivation was also spiritual qi.
Holding the spirit stones, ignoring the mysterious seed's craving, Lin Donglai and Ding Zhen walked down the mountain path together. Gazing at the distant scenery, they felt refreshed and carefree.
Three months of training had not been without gains—at the very least, his strength had grown, his complexion was ruddy, and he looked far better than before.
Cultivating the body, nurturing the temperament—it came to no more than this.
Their steps were light as they descended, and in just two quarter-hours the two reached the foot of the mountain. There was only one road here, leading to Lingxi Peak.
Beyond Lingxi Peak lay the various peaks of the Outer Sect.
At the foot of the mountain there were indeed a scattered seven or eight stalls. Calling it a small market was a bit of a stretch, but plenty of people came to look—menial disciples and immortal seedlings alike were all desperately poor.
Ding Zhen had clearly scouted the place out beforehand, and led Lin Donglai straight to a stall run by a bald disciple.
This disciple had no hair on his head—and no eyebrows either. He was the alchemy apprentice selling Refined Tendon Pills here. Besides the pills, he also had some medicinal herbs laid out.
A wooden sign read “Prescriptions Filled, Herbs Dispensed.”
Drinking herbal decoctions, while inferior to pills, was a common practice among mundane Innate martial artists, and the effects were comparable.
“Craving!”
The mysterious seed in his mind sent out a thought again—but not toward the pills. It was toward the herbs, though whether toward one particular plant or all of them, Lin Donglai couldn't tell. The craving was even stronger than its craving for spirit stones.
“Give me ten Refined Tendon Pills.”
“And give me ten Marrow-Nourishing Pills.”
“Three spirit stones,” the bald alchemy apprentice quoted fluently. “Refined Tendon Pills, ten for one spirit stone. Marrow-Nourishing Pills, five for one spirit stone.”
Ding Zhen decisively paid and took two bottles of pills.
Seeing that Lin Donglai made no move to buy any pills, Ding Zhen couldn't help asking, “Donglai, aren't you buying? You borrowed spirit stones—what did you borrow them for if you're not going to use them?”
Lin Donglai shook his head. “I'll just get a prescription and brew a decoction.”
He wanted to see exactly what the mysterious dao seed was craving?
It was surely something among metal, wood, water, fire, and earth.
“Lesser Vital-Cultivating Tendon-Tempering Bone-Forging Decoction—one dose, three benefits. Twelve low-grade spirit herbs and twenty-four semi-spirit herbs carefully balanced. Five doses for only one spirit stone,” the bald disciple recited smoothly.
The herbs were all fresh, roots still intact—one look and you could tell this alchemy apprentice grew them himself.
“Give me five doses of the Lesser Vital-Cultivating Decoction,” Lin Donglai said.
“A decoction? Aren't you afraid of the bitterness?”
Ding Zhen assumed Lin Donglai simply didn't trust the alchemy apprentice's skill. After all, the Records of Cultivation stated that if a pill's quality was too poor, pill toxicity could accumulate. A decoction might be inferior, but as long as you didn't eat the dregs, there was generally no problem—it was just less convenient than pills, and required the trouble of brewing.
“I'm not afraid.”
“Good!” The bald alchemy apprentice selected the herbs and instructed, “One dose can only be brewed once. Don't use iron or copper vessels—use a clay pot, and it must be a new one, never one that has brewed other medicines. Boil five bowls of water down to two. Drink one portion before training, one after.”
“Got it!”
The bald alchemy apprentice quickly gathered five doses of herbs for Lin Donglai. They were indeed twelve low-grade spirit herbs and twenty-four semi-spirit herbs. And unlike the processed herbs of the mortal world, spirit herbs in the cultivation world were more potent the fresher they were—processing actually caused a loss of spiritual qi.
“If there's a Lesser Vital-Cultivating Decoction, is there also a Greater Vital-Cultivating Decoction?” Lin Donglai asked curiously.
“There is, but that one is for people cultivating body-refining techniques. Of course, if you're injured and need recuperation, you can drink it too—it greatly replenishes vital qi.”
Lin Donglai didn't spend the remaining spirit stone, planning to go back and try feeding it to the mysterious dao seed.
Having bought the pills, naturally they wanted to return and test their effects, so neither of them lingered, heading straight back to Immortal Seedling Peak.
After returning, Ding Zhen went to his room to take his pills and cultivate.
Lin Donglai also returned to his room.
He unwrapped the herbs to see what the mysterious seed craved.
He discovered that the seed craved every single herb—only some cravings were strong and some weak.
The strongly craved ones looked very fresh.
The weakly craved ones were somewhat wilted.
Lin Donglai held the low-grade and semi-spirit herbs in his hand, closed his eyes, and began cultivating the Vital Cultivation Breathing Art.
With each breath, the mysterious seed began breathing as well. Then, from the herbs, a wisp of pale green qi was drawn out, burrowing in through his palm and turning into a stream of coolness that rushed straight to the crown of his head, so comfortable he nearly groaned.
Deprived of that pale green qi, the herbs withered immediately, their vitality severed. The leaves yellowed, black spots even appeared, and they turned entirely into dregs.
And around the mysterious seed in his mind, some color appeared—a faint green mist, shifting like fog.
“Craving!”
The mysterious seed still felt it wasn't enough.
Lin Donglai simply opened the remaining four doses of herbs, held them all in his hands, and continued cultivating the Vital Cultivation Breathing Art.
In a short while, these herbs too had their greenish qi drawn out and entered Lin Donglai's body.
This green qi was then swallowed and breathed out by the seed, which grew even more verdant, the green on its surface seeming almost to flow, its vitality growing even more exuberant.
“Craving!”
The herbs were all gone.
What the seed craved now was the remaining spirit stone.
“You've swallowed so many of my herbs—those were supposed to help me cultivate the Tendon Transformation and Marrow Cleansing Stake Method! And you have no reaction at all?”
Lin Donglai felt utterly cheated! He felt he'd been badly taken in by this seed! If he'd known, he would have brewed the herbs and drunk them.
He still had the Hundred-Day Assessment coming, after all!
“Should I feed it the spirit stone too?”
His expression shifted for a while.
In the end, Lin Donglai made his decision!
Burning the boats!
Gamble! If it really didn't work out, he'd be demoted to a menial servant and just wait patiently for another opportunity!
Lin Donglai held the spirit stone in his hand, closed his eyes again, and cultivated the Vital Cultivation Breathing Art.
Sure enough, with the seed's breathing, a suction force drew the spiritual qi out of the spirit stone. Then this spiritual qi circled through the meridians in Lin Donglai's body before heading toward his mind.
“Crack!”
A faint, slight sound—yet in Lin Donglai's mind it was like a thunderclap, leaving him dazed for a long while.
The seed's shell had split open with a single crack.
The mysterious dao seed did not immediately begin to sprout.
Instead, it first extended a rootlet even finer than a mosquito's leg. This rootlet was white at first, then the green qi attached itself to it, turning it jade-green, and many even finer, fuzzier root hairs grew from it.
This tiny rootlet needed no soil, simply taking root in the void—and it made Lin Donglai's eyes and ears feel renewed, his whole body suffused with comfort!