"Brother Lu!"Seeing Lu Tiandu arrive on time, Xin Ruyin and Xiaomei were overjoyed.
.....
Time flew by, and half a month later, it was time to say goodbye.
During this time, Lu Tiandu had been staying with the two women. During this time, the three of them even dressed up and went to the Tianxing Sect market, buying a lot of things.
At this time, in just half a year, Xiaomei had advanced from the third level of Qi Refining to the sixth level, and although Xin Ruyin had slowed down her practice, she had also reached the fifth level.
The three of them celebrated happily, and before leaving, Lu Tiandu left them a large amount of Bigu Pills he had made from spiritual grains, twelve bottles of Huanglong Pills and Jinsui Pills, six bottles of Yangqi Pills, and several bottles of ordinary pills he had obtained from the three burly men.
This was all the low-level pills he had on him.
Under the two women's reluctant gazes, Lu Tiandu rode away on his flying sword...
After returning to the Lu family, Lu Tiandu visited the Inner Affairs Hall and received a bottle of Qi Condensation Pill. He then traded his monthly allowance of spirit stones for three more, then plunged back into seclusion.
Two months later, Lu Tiandu emerged from the cabin, laughing heartily.
By then, he had reached the Great Perfection of Qi Refining. He soared through the stone bead space on his flying sword for a long time, becoming familiar with the increase in mana and practicing with several magical instruments before finally stopping.
"Ah, this stone bead world is a bit too lonely!"
It was filled with giant trees that had been growing for who knows how many years; it was truly uninspiring.
With nothing else to do, he wandered around his herb garden.
He had now cultivated the herb field to four acres. Watching the various medicinal herbs thriving in this aura-rich space, Lu Tiandu felt the joy of an old farmer.
The number of spiritual herbs now increased significantly compared to a year ago. Some of these were planted by various medicinal species he had purchased, while others were herbs harvested from other people's storage bags. Anything with roots was replanted.
An hour later, Lu Tiandu returned to the cabin and took out a jade slip to examine.
The slip contained recipes for elixirs he had copied from the family's scripture library. These included the formulas for the Nourishing Qi Pill, the Gathering Qi Pill, and the Condensing Qi Pill for the Qi Refining stage, as well as the Qi Harmonizing Pill for the Foundation Establishment stage. Other recipes included Foundation Establishment Pills, the Calming Face Pill, and the Fragrance Condensing Pill.
As a family of immortal cultivators who had once produced a Jindan cultivator, the Lu family possessed a considerable collection, but access to it was limited to those who were not of a certain status.
Lu Tiandu currently ranked among the top ten in the family, and as long as it wasn't a secret that threatened the family's survival, he had the right to view it. Of course, after establishing his foundation, he would also be expected to repay the family appropriately. This was all reasonable.
Months ago, he'd been thinking about developing a second revenue-generating product. Between selling elixirs and spiritual medicines, he ultimately chose elixirs.
After all, in the Tiannan cultivation world, except for a few forbidden areas, high-aged spiritual medicines were extremely scarce. Millennium spiritual medicines, useful even for Nascent Soul cultivators, were too risky for a Qi Refining cultivator to handle.
As for which elixir to refine, Lu Tian ultimately chose the Dingyan Pill over the Heqi Pill.
Both were high-value elixirs, with the Dingyan Pill being more targeted at a niche audience and less risky, less likely to attract the attention of Foundation Establishment cultivators.
Having made his decision, Lu Tiandu began frequenting the stone cave, stone furnace, and herb garden halfway up Tongtian Peak.
The spirit stones in his storage bag dwindled.
It cost fifty spirit stones to synthesize a single drop of green liquid in the Creation Furnace, which could increase the age of a spiritual medicine by a hundred years. Ultimately, Lu Tiandu spent nearly three thousand spirit stones to finally gather the ingredients for a furnace of Dingyan Pills.
Four of these herbs were over a thousand years old, and two were considered precious. It was likely that anyone outside who could obtain them would be reluctant to use them to refine such a useless elixir.
After a bath, Lu Tiandu burned incense and sat in meditation for a while before refining the Beauty Pill.
With years of experience refining fasting pills and having consulted with the alchemists within his clan, Lu Tiandu was confident in this relatively simple elixir, which required no innate true fire.
Sure enough, an hour later, looking at the twenty pink pills spinning in the jade tray, Lu Tiandu compared them with the descriptions on the jade slips and beamed with joy.
"This is my first time refining this kind of elixir. Although a few pills were wasted, it's still pretty good overall!"
After reviewing his progress, Lu Tiandu divided the pills into different jade bottles, intending to use the remaining pill himself.
He had just turned 20, his looks were at their peak, and it was the perfect time to take the Dingyan Pill.
He tilted his head back and swallowed the pill. Half a day later, Lu Tiandu felt nothing.
He didn't mind, taking out a jade slip and learning new techniques before returning to seclusion.
Three months later, Lu Tiandu concluded his retreat. Partly to spend time with Junior Sister Chen, having received numerous transmission notes from beautiful women, and partly to prepare for his upcoming journey.
His main purpose for this trip was to sell his recently refined Dingyan Pills and previously stored talismans at the various sects' imitation markets to earn a large amount of spirit stones for his future cultivation.
Finally, he would visit Han Li at the Ascension Conference and, as agreed, exchange his Ascension Token for Han Li's Millennium Spiritual Elixir.
Upon his return, he would prepare for the trials in the Blood Forbidden Land. The Blood Forbidden Trial Grounds housed numerous young seeds of ancient elixir herbs. Their importance to him was undeniable. It was a must-visit for him, and he didn't mind if it might delay his foundation-building process by a few years.
"Brother Tiandu, how about I accompany you on this journey?"
Chen Qiaoqian leaned against Lu Tiandu's chest, a look of annoyance on her face. After all, it was time to part again, and this wicked brother wouldn't even take her with him.
"Be good, stay home and cultivate well. After we both establish our foundations, we'll go out together to experience the world!"
"Hmph!"
"Be good, look at my gift this time?" Lu Tiandu said with a smile, pulling out a small jade bottle.
"What is it?" The young woman, still visibly upset by Lu Tiandu's departure, looked listless.
"Fixing Yan Dan!"
Lu Tiandu whispered into Junior Sister Chen's ear.
"Ah!"
Junior Sister Chen jumped up, snatched the small jade bottle, and held it to her jade peak. "Is this real? Where did you get this?"
"How could it be fake?" Lu Tiandu chuckled.
"I took one pill too, and tried it. It seems my appearance hasn't changed much in the past few months..."
"Then I'll take it too!"
Chen Qiaoqian, upon hearing that her future Taoist partner had already achieved a fixed appearance, grew even more anxious. With a whirlwind of glance, she asked, "So should I take it now?"
"You're only a little over eighteen now, so you're at the peak of your beauty. It should be alright!"
"What do you mean by alright? Alright?"
The young woman bristled. "Am I not the most beautiful? Or who do you think is more beautiful?" The girl's expression changed faster than the pages of a book.
"Look at what you're saying. How can I give you the Dingyan Pill if you're not the most beautiful?" Lu Tiandu said righteously. "Of course, I think you're the most beautiful, now and in the future. That's undeniable!"
"Hmph, you've passed!" The girl chuckled.
She had decided to take it in a few months. Although her body had become much more perfect thanks to her bad brother's development, her face still had a hint of childishness.
Women dress to please themselves, so naturally she wanted to preserve her most beautiful features!
(End of Chapter)