After quietly waiting for one hour,
Wang Yu's fingers twitched slightly. A small amount of alchemy experience and sensation appeared in his mind, as if he had personally started a furnace to refine pills once, but failed.
This feeling was different from before because he had no foundation in alchemy. The experience gained from direct practice was poor, showing a trend towards intuitive-style learning.
"So this is what it feels like..."
Muttering to himself, Wang Yu didn't dwell on it further. He usually read more books on medicinal principles and properties; he would eventually fill the gaps in his foundation.
The task process had entered its latter half, with two months remaining. The spiritual power within Wang Yu's body had mostly solidified, with only the final three strands of spiritual power not yet merged.
The final breakthrough time was roughly as estimated earlier.
The movements from Tantai Chan's secluded room grew increasingly noticeable each day. The temperature near the room rose higher, accompanied by waves of pill fragrance spreading.
Life in the herb garden was very peaceful; no troublemakers dared to cause issues.
Thus, Wang Yu experienced his most stable period.
When the time reached the **189th day**,
while sitting cross-legged in meditation, the air around Wang Yu twisted, and spiritual energy gathered at a visible rate. In the silence, a soft *pop* seemed to sound.
His aura ascended a level, his bones crackling all over as if undergoing a second growth spurt, completing a minor transformation.
An unbearable itch appeared between his eyebrows, as if invisible tentacles had finally broken through the limitations of flesh, allowing him to sense the outside world.
This was the characteristic of spiritual sense leaving the body. Within a ten-foot radius centered on his body, everything was revealed in minute detail, hardly different from seeing with the naked eye.
**Fourth layer of Qi Refining, achieved!**
A hundred strands of spiritual power transformed into ten more condensed flows, much denser, already having a mist-like quality. Though fewer in number, they could overwhelmingly surpass his previous self.
Most importantly, both the Ice Sword Art and Ice Shield Art were mid-grade spells. This meant Wang Yu could finally fully unleash the power of both spells, drastically increasing his combat strength.
The aged appearance originally caused by rapid lifespan loss also recovered with the breakthrough, no longer showing the previous衰老 (shuāilǎo -衰老) state.
Most of his hair remained white, with only the roots showing a bit of black. He estimated it would fully turn black only after breaking through to Foundation Establishment.
Wang Yu felt very excited.
After all, for someone with a Waste Spiritual Root aptitude, reaching the mid-Qi Refining stage often required a lifetime.
He was only seventeen this year and had plenty of time to cultivate. The Placement Rack deserved the primary credit!
Calming his mind, Wang Yu tried activating the Night Concealment Curse.
His aura instantly reverted to the third layer of Qi Refining, without any flaws. The qualitative change in spiritual power greatly increased the effective duration to three incense sticks' time, making it quite usable.
Cultivation at the fourth layer of Qi Refining continued into the stage of accumulating spiritual power.
Accumulating from ten flows to three hundred flows would allow a breakthrough to the fifth layer of Qi Refining.
Based on the quantity of ten strands merging into one flow, this meant 2,900 strands of spiritual power. The difficulty of cultivation increased by more than just several times. According to the Placement Rack's efficiency, with only one technique placed, it would feedback only one strand of spiritual power every two days.
It would take 5,800 days—over sixteen years—to complete the spiritual power accumulation and smoothly break through. This number made Wang Yu's scalp tingle.
The disadvantage of his aptitude was becoming increasingly apparent. One Placement Slot was no longer enough; even with two slots working together, it would take over eight years. Improving his aptitude was urgent.
The "Coldblood Art" had a slight effect in this regard, but it would only manifest after achieving perfection.
"Right, the Placement Rack might have new changes after breaking through to the mid-Qi Refining stage..."
Just as Wang Yu was about to check, he sensed Tantai Chan's aura appearing in the open hall. He quickly activated the Night Concealment Curse and went to greet her.
Compared to the agreed six months, she was a few days late.
Meeting again, after inspecting the herb garden, Tantai Chan released her aura to summon Wang Yu. Seeing his handsome, pretty-boy appearance, Tantai Chan frowned deeply.
"Wang Yu?"
"It's me. Greetings, Senior Tantai."
"Your appearance..."
Wang Yu had prepared for this. Feeling the Foundation Establishment spiritual sense sweep over him, he cursed inwardly but remained calm outwardly.
"Wang Yu started as a spirit slave, severely depleted his lifespan, hence the premature aging. Fortunately, True Disciple Su promoted me, allowing me to luckily advance to outer disciple. Over the past six months, with proper recuperation and taking many blood and energy replenishing spiritual pills, I've recovered my original appearance."
Tantai Chan ignored all the explanations, only catching a few key words—**[Valued by True Disciple Su!]**
Indeed, cases of spirit slaves being promoted to outer disciples were extremely rare. A special promotion must have other reasons. Tantai Chan dismissed the thought of deducting the reward, and her icy expression suddenly became much kinder.
"I hadn't heard you mention your relationship with True Disciple Su."
"Senior Tantai didn't ask, so Wang Yu naturally didn't dare to say more."
"Very well."
She took out her steward token, lightly tapped it against Wang Yu's Black Blood waist token, and two hundred contribution points were transferred. The three hundred belonging to the Ice Snow Pavilion had already been deducted.
"Thank you, Senior Tantai." Wang Yu bowed, then added, "I would like to purchase two 〈Ice Nine-Leaf Grass〉 from the herb garden. I wonder if you would be willing to sell them."
Tantai Chan agreed after only a moment's thought.
"Fine. If you are collecting spiritual herbs for alchemy, you can come to me after gathering everything. With my second-grade mid-tier alchemist rank, helping you... is more than sufficient."
Wang Yu could only thank her again. After breaking through in realm and roughly calculating the time needed to reach the fifth layer of Qi Refining, spiritual pills like the Coldblood Pill that could assist cultivation became very important.
Things going into his own stomach—he couldn't trust others to refine them. This was one reason he insisted on learning alchemy!
The demonic path environment was too harsh; vigilance must be maximized.
Rubbing his hands, Wang Yu's expression became hesitant.
"Then, may I ask... the price?"
Tantai Chan was silent for a moment.
"Two Ice Nine-Leaf Grasses. Since they are relatively rare, the exchange price in the sect's treasure vault is one hundred twenty contribution points. How about I charge you one hundred spirit stones per plant?"
The value of spirit stones was generally considered half a grade lower than contribution points, so this price was quite a bargain, especially since it was the main ingredient for the Coldblood Pill. The auxiliary ingredients would be cheaper. Wang Yu nodded repeatedly.
Coincidentally, he had come into a windfall half a year ago and, apart from food, hadn't spent it. The spirit stones Wang Yu offered were mixed with eighty jin of Spirit Sand, looking quite shabby.
After obtaining the desired items, he sealed them in jade boxes.
Preserving spiritual herbs was also a technical skill. Jade sealing was the most common and cheapest method. Slightly more advanced methods used talisman sealing, and there were also cauldron sealing, stone sealing, wax sealing, and other techniques.
Some experienced alchemists had their own unique skills. Any field of study in the cultivation world had existed for endless years,衍生 (yǎnshēng -衍生) so much content that one couldn't learn it all in a lifetime.
Therefore, cultivators often specialized in only one or two arts as supplements.
However, as their realm gradually improved, their range of knowledge would also broaden. With a high perspective, it was normal for a Nascent Soul cultivator to be proficient in the first and second grades of the Four Arts.
(End of Chapter)