Cautiously Cultivating Immortality in a Strange World

Chapter 16: Inferior Pill

The ten spirit stones had indeed broken the female cultivator's bottom line, and because of Chen Lin's words, she even showed some gratitude.

"Thank you, fellow Daoist. If we meet again in the future, I will definitely repay your kindness today."

The female cultivator spoke from the heart, and with these ten spirit stones, she could first pay her rent and wouldn't have to worry about being kicked out of her residence.

Now it was Chen Lin's turn to feel a bit embarrassed, and he nodded quickly before leaving.

If he could really refine one of the two spiritual treasures mentioned in the ancient book, he would be extremely lucky, and this deal would be considered a huge profit.

Having bought something good without spending much money, Chen Lin's excitement rose, and he began to carefully examine each item on the stalls.

Unfortunately, he didn't find anything good this time, mostly initial Qi Refining stage materials, which were beneath him as a mid-stage Qi Refining cultivator.

Next, he hesitated for a moment before walking back into the store, buying some materials, and then heading towards the outer city.

After another round of twists and turns, he returned to his residence and restored to his original appearance.

There were two bags, a small one containing materials to attempt refining a material mentioned in the Weapon Refining book, which wasn't very valuable.

The larger bag, on the other hand, contained materials for refining the Enlightenment Pill.

Looking at the full bag of materials, Chen Lin felt like he had really gone crazy.

He had actually spent nearly three hundred spirit stones on these things!

Logically, with his normally cautious personality, he shouldn't have done this, so why had he been so impulsive today?

After self-doubting for a while, he could only sigh helplessly.

"Since I've already bought them, I might as well make the most of it and try!"

Muttering to himself, he began preparing to refine the Enlightenment Pill.

The Weapon Refining matter wasn't urgent.

Currently, the most important thing was to master Object Manipulation Technique and flying skills; the Weapon Refining ancient book could be researched slowly later.

He carefully studied the alchemy formula for a while and then processed the materials.

After the preparations were complete, the sky had already darkened.

Chen Lin didn't rest. He put the fuel under the iron pot furnace and started to make the pill.

The situation of refining the Initial Yuan Pill occurred again, and he failed three times in a row, filling the room with a burnt smell.

He didn't care about it and continued refining after taking a rest.

He refined two more times before stopping again.

This time, he didn't continue, but instead went to the window, opened it, and looked outside.

Because his alarm had gone off.

Chen Lin focused his gaze towards the sky.

He looked for half a day but still couldn't see a single red thread, and instead, a strange feeling appeared, as if something was being pulled out of his body.

Ever since he was pulled by the thread, his body would experience this phenomenon every night, but he couldn't find anything abnormal.

This change was extremely subtle, and he wouldn't have noticed it if he hadn't paid attention.

A quarter of an hour later, the state disappeared.

He turned back to the cauldron with an expressionless face and continued to refine the pill.

He refined it nine times in a row, but still didn't succeed. On the tenth attempt, he finally cheered up.

"Whether it succeeds or not, it's all up to this attempt."

Chen Lin muttered to himself, took a deep breath, controlled the fire, and began to add the materials step by step.

When he added the last drop of Pointed Spirit Grass juice, his expression became tense.

All his previous failures had occurred at this stage, and success or failure depended on this moment.

Boom!

As soon as the juice dropped in, the liquid in the cauldron suddenly started boiling and splashing out.

Chen Lin instinctively dodged backward, and then discovered that the familiar scene had finally appeared.

A mysterious power suddenly emerged, drawing the splashing liquid back into the iron cauldron.

A faint light flashed, and a round, rolling object appeared inside the cauldron.

"Success!"

Seeing this, Chen Lin was overjoyed and immediately took the pill out of the cauldron.

"What kind of thing is this?"

As he held the pill up to his eyes, Chen Lin realized something was off.

The Initial Yuan Pills he had refined before were all white, round, and smooth, with a faint medicinal fragrance, and they didn't look like ordinary pills at all.

But this pill was irregularly shaped, had a dark surface, and was covered in small bumps, looking nothing like a spiritual pill.

According to the alchemy formula, each refinement could only produce one pill, so the quantity wasn't a problem, but the quality was too poor.

This was still the most perfect refinement state he could achieve with his innate abilities; otherwise, it would be even harder to look at.

He brought it to his nose and sniffed, and a pungent, slightly acidic smell entered his nostrils, making Chen Lin's eyebrows furrow even deeper.

"Is this thing really an Enlightenment Pill?"

Chen Lin was momentarily unsure.

Mainly because he had never seen a real Enlightenment Pill before and had no basis for comparison.

After studying it for a while, he put the pill into a delicate box and began to clean up the mess.

Since his innate abilities had allowed the pill to form, it meant the alchemy formula was reasonable, and the refining method wasn't a problem.

It was just impossible to determine whether it was a real Enlightenment Pill or not.

When the sky brightened, Chen Lin packed up and left the room.

He still changed his appearance midway, transforming into a white-skinned man, and arrived at the Water Moon Pavilion.

"Do you want to consult about Enlightenment Pill information?"

It was still the middle-aged woman, looking at him with a scrutinizing gaze.

Chen Lin nodded, since the woman had mentioned the Enlightenment Pill last time, she must have some knowledge about it.

Getting related information and comparing it with his own refined Enlightenment Pill would allow him to make a rough judgment.

"What, do you really plan to buy an Enlightenment Pill to cultivate Object Manipulation Technique?”

“You're really generous with your wealth, fellow Daoist!”

“One Enlightenment Pill would at least cost tens of mid-grade spirit stones, and as far as I know, none of the shops in Kaiyuan City sell it. Could it be that fellow Daoists have some secret purchasing channels? "

The woman's expression became somewhat strange, her two eyes staring at Chen Lin.

"Name your price, I want to know about Enlightenment Pill information and possible purchasing channels, how many spirit stones?"

Chen Lin didn't want to waste words and spoke directly.

After all, he had changed his appearance, and no one would recognize him after he left.

The woman suddenly revealed a sly smile, winking her eyes and saying, "Alright, this information isn't too secret, let's say twenty spirit stones."

Chen Lin gritted his teeth, painfully taking out a spirit stone bag.

After receiving the spirit stones, the woman's smile broadened, and she twisted her body to walk into the house, soon returning with a booklet, opening it to a certain page and placing it in front of Chen Lin.

"This is the information about the Enlightenment Pill, but it's just general information, not the alchemy formula.

As for the purchasing channel, I advise you to give up, even the alchemists of the five major families don't have the ability to refine this pill, and it's impossible to buy it in Kaiyuan City."

The woman's white, slender fingers pointed to the book page, pouring cold water on Chen Lin's enthusiasm.

Chen Lin said nothing and looked at the page expressionlessly.

After a while, he nodded and stood up, gave the woman a bow and left in a hurry.