After his secret trip down the mountain, the next two days passed relatively peacefully and easily for Lin Feng. Every day when he delivered pills to the spirit beasts, they would come out on their own to wait for him. Making the rounds to all the locations took less than four or five hours total, after which he could return home and arrange his own time.
Lin Feng's main activity, of course, was tirelessly repairing those waste pills. The number of waste pills he was supposed to deliver daily to the spirit beasts numbered in the hundreds, but he only needed to give them less than a hundred top-grade pills. The rest, therefore, were his to keep. With ample materials, he had already repaired nearly a thousand various top-grade pills in just those two short days.
Additionally, it was worth mentioning that the Purple-Crowned Thunder Crane hadn't ventured out since returning that day. It had remained steadfastly in its nest. During Lin Feng's visits over the past two days to deliver pills, he noticed it seemed to be in a rather excited state. Its powerful aura could be sensed from far away, almost as if it couldn't quite control it itself.
Initially, Lin Feng thought it was still recovering from the injuries it sustained earlier. But later, he began to discern something else—it didn't seem like the crane was suffering from unhealed wounds, but rather… it seemed like it was preparing to advance to the next tier!
This discovery surprised Lin Feng quite a bit. However, since he wasn't entirely certain yet, he didn't report it immediately, deciding to observe for a while longer.
…
On the morning of the third day after returning, Lin Feng wasn't cultivating or repairing pills. Instead, he sat in the main hall, reviewing the introductory pill-making jade slip, all the while seeming to be waiting for someone.
Today was the first day of the new month, the day when the four branches of the Lingyue Sect delivered waste pills.
Lin Feng was definitely looking forward to this. What others brought were the waste pills produced by the numerous disciples of the Lingyue Sect during their failed pill concoctions. But in his eyes, each one was a potential top-grade pill. It was practically like waiting for someone to deliver a mountain of gold and silver—of course it was worth anticipation.
Close to noon, a disciple from the North Branch indeed arrived, leaving behind several hundred bottles of waste pills. Not long after, a senior martial sister from the East Branch also came, delivering nearly four hundred bottles.
The Lingyue Sect boasted over a thousand inner disciples. Each of the four branches had three to four hundred members. Although not every disciple engaged in pill concoction daily, the monthly accumulation of waste pills was enormous. Only a well-established, large-scale pill sect like this could withstand such consumption. For ordinary small forces, the cost of nurturing even a single apothecary was immeasurable, which was why apothecaries were so highly sought after.
A while later, two more people arrived together. When Lin Feng saw one of them, his brow furrowed slightly, and a hint of annoyance flashed in his eyes—it was Xue Zigi.
The young man accompanying Xue Zigi was a West Branch disciple, also there to deliver waste pills.
Xue Zigi adopted a haughty posture upon seeing Lin Feng and delivered a stream of sarcastic remarks. However, seeing that Lin Feng completely ignored him, he found it rather pointless. Finally, he left behind a meaningful, cold sneer and departed with the West Branch disciple.
On the way back, the West Branch disciple instinctively glanced back and then said to Xue Zigi beside him, "Junior Brother Xue, how did that guy offend you?"
Xue Zigi certainly couldn't admit he'd been slapped and kicked by the other party. He snorted coldly, "Hmph! That person is nothing but trash—a low-grade fire spirit root. He only got into the sect through connections. And he puts on such a self-important, arrogant air. I just can't stand the sight of him, so I want to teach him a lesson."
Without waiting for the young man to ask more, he flipped his hand and produced a spirit stone pouch, handing it over with a smile. "Thank you for helping me with this, Senior Brother. A small token of appreciation, please don't think it too little."
The young man's eyes lit up immediately. He pretended to refuse politely before accepting it. Seeing it contained upwards of a hundred low-grade spirit stones made him even happier. He grinned, "Junior Brother Xue, you are truly generous! Don't worry! I won't tell a soul about today's matter!"
Xue Zigi replied, "Then I sincerely thank you, Senior Brother!! Please, when it's time to deliver waste pills next month, call me. We'll come together again."
The young man clearly understood Xue Zigi's intention and nodded. "Alright, no problem at all!"
After parting ways with the young man at a fork in the path, Xue Zigi ensured he was alone. He retrieved several pill bottles from his storage ring, poured out all the waste pills inside, channeled his true essence, and summoned a ball of flame in his palm, incinerating the pills into ash. As he destroyed them, he looked back towards the direction of the spirit herb garden, a venomous gleam flashing in his eyes.
"I said I wouldn't let you off easy. Next time pills are delivered, I'll bribe people from the East and North Branches too. Without enough pills, those spirit beasts will get hungry and cause trouble… Let's see how you handle that!"
…
Meanwhile, back in the main hall, Lin Feng was staring at the four storage rings in his hand, a slight frown on his face.
The two rings on the left were from the North and East Branches. Each contained roughly four hundred bottles of waste pills. However, the two batches delivered by the South and West Branches on the right only had about three hundred bottles each—a noticeable gap. Was it a coincidence? Or...
Lin Feng instinctively glanced in the direction Xue Zigi had left, a trace of mockery lifting the corner of his mouth. The amount of waste pills delivered monthly by each branch did indeed fluctuate—sometimes more, sometimes less. Yet he couldn't shake the feeling that Xue Zigi might be involved.
"Trying to deliberately reduce the pills to sabotage my work feeding the spirit beasts?" Lin Feng couldn't help but chuckle softly. "Well, I'm afraid your wish won't be granted..."
…
Pushing aside thoughts of Xue Zigi's petty schemes, Lin Feng sorted the newly arrived waste pills and placed them onto the shelves in the pill storage. He was meticulous in his work. Every day, he strictly followed the rules, taking from the shelves only the exact amount of waste pills needed for that day's delivery to the spirit beasts. This way, even if someone investigated, they wouldn't find any discrepancy.
After organizing the pills, Lin Feng headed out to the South Branch cafeteria for lunch before entering the mountain forest behind the sect to deliver the pills to the spirit beasts. Afterwards, he returned home to delve into his studies on introductory pill-making knowledge.
Tomorrow would mark the tenth day since he joined the Lingyue Sect—the day for assessing his grasp of the introductory pill-making knowledge. Di Xuan had mentioned he would personally explain true pill-concocting techniques then, something Lin Feng was genuinely looking forward to.
…
The next morning, apart from Xia Xin who was already the personal disciple of Elder Zhou Xiantai, Lin Feng and the other twenty-plus newly recruited South Branch disciples were gathered together. Di Xuan, the senior disciple of the South Branch, conducted their first official lesson since joining.
However, much to Lin Feng's disappointment, the lesson didn't yield much substantive knowledge. Di Xuan didn't even perform a live concoction demonstration. He merely lectured on various essential points of pill-making—all theoretical knowledge, most of which was already covered in the introductory jade slip.
Thinking about it, it made sense. Any craft started with theory. Expecting to jump straight into practice right away was obviously impossible. Lin Feng later learned that true, hands-on pill-concocting practice wouldn't commence until two months later, after everyone had adequately mastered the theoretical foundations.
After lecturing for half the day, Di Xuan dismissed the group. He informed them there would be a collective lecture every ten days going forward, and during the rest of the time, they were to study independently and could seek guidance from senior martial brothers and sisters.
But Lin Feng's situation at the Spirit Beast Garden was unique—he was the sole person stationed there. Clearly, there were no senior disciples nearby he could consult. Di Xuan seemed utterly unconcerned about this arrangement. Lin Feng also realized he was becoming isolated. Not only did Xue Zigi harbor thoughts of revenge and Di Xuan give him a hard time, but even his fellow new recruits seemed to exclude him. They all seemed to look down on him, this 'backdoor entry' with his mere low-grade fire spirit root.
Discovering this situation, Lin Feng didn't dwell on it much. What he desired most right now was peace and quiet. This isolation actually suited him. With no disturbances, he could focus more peacefully on his own affairs.
…
Over the next several days, Lin Feng's life settled into a stable rhythm. He knew obtaining the Snow Sprout Pill couldn't be rushed. Since his cultivation was yielding no visible progress, he decisively shifted his focus to repairing pills. Having a steady daily 'income' of top-grade pills was a satisfying endeavor.
Moreover, he held onto another hope: by using his Repair Technique unceasingly every single day, perhaps it would 'level up' again at some point. This was something he had always fervently wished for.
Five more days of this peaceful routine passed. That night, Lin Feng had just finished repairing the batch of pills acquired that day and was taking stock of his remaining spirit herbs when...
BOOM!!!
Suddenly, a deafening clap of thunder crashed without warning, shaking the heavens and earth. Lin Feng jumped in fright.
"Thunder? Is it going to rain?" Lin Feng stared blankly, finding it strange. The sky during the day hadn't looked like rain was coming. Just as he puzzled over it, he sensed a familiar, powerful aura radiating from far behind his dwelling, deep within the mountains. This aura belonged to...
"This is... the Purple-Crowned Thunder Crane!" Lin Feng's expression shifted slightly as he exclaimed in realization, "No! That wasn't ordinary storm thunder! It was caused by the Thunder Crane!"
"Could it be... the Thunder Crane is advancing?!"
The moment this possibility struck him, Lin Feng's heart leaped into his throat. He immediately sprang to his feet and rushed out the door, dashing toward the dense forests of the mountain behind...