Immortal Refiner

What could Li Qing offer to persuade Senior Bai Ling to refine a Spirit Nourishing Pill for him?

After agonizing over the question for a long time, Li Qing remained stumped.

He finally decided to ask directly. Rather than racking his brains, he would simply inquire about Dao Lord Bai Ling’s needs.

”Senior Bai Ling,” Li Qing said solemnly, ”I wish to request your assistance in refining a pill. What price must I pay to secure your help?”

As soon as the words left his lips, a wisp of green smoke drifted from the Immortal Spirit Green Gold on Li Qing’s body, quickly coalescing into a slender, slightly ethereal figure.

Dao Lord Bai Ling smiled faintly. ”You wish to trade with me?” he asked. ”How intriguing. I thought you would simply ask me to fire up the furnace and refine the pill for you.”

Li Qing couldn’t bring himself to exploit past favors. ”Do you truly see me as such a shameless person, Senior?” he replied.

”I’ve troubled you repeatedly already. Even if you were willing, I would feel too embarrassed to ask again.”

”Therefore, I wish to know if you have any lingering desires I might fulfill. What can I do for you?”

Unfortunately, Dao Lord Bai Ling’s answer was dismissive. ”I’m merely a lingering obsession,” he said casually. ”Apart from finding a suitable disciple to inherit my legacy, I have no other desires.”

”Alas, this old one is now merely a lingering obsession in this world. My only desire is to find a suitable disciple to inherit my legacy.”

”Once this matter is settled, I shall dissipate into heaven and earth.”

”Even if I had any unfulfilled wishes in life, what could you possibly accomplish with your current cultivation level?”

Dao Lord Bai Ling had been a formidable cultivator in the divine transformation stage, standing at the pinnacle of the entire immortal realm. His every action could easily send ripples throughout the cultivation world.

Even if such a being had left behind unfulfilled wishes, Li Qing, in his current state, could never hope to fulfill them.

Hearing this, Li Qing inwardly chuckled bitterly, realizing that his proposal of an equal exchange had indeed been rather presumptuous.

Yet he refused to give up. The Lingyun Sect’s situation was dire, and he desperately needed to advance his cultivation quickly.

”Senior Bai Ling, though I am currently only at the core formation realm, I may yet have opportunities to witness greater glories on the dao in the future.”

”The world is unpredictable. Who knows? Perhaps one day I too might reach the divine transformation stage?”

Dao Lord Bai Ling’s smile deepened. He nodded.

”You cultivate the Soul Refinement Scripture and possess remarkable fortune. I have no reason to doubt your words. In fact, I believe you, young man, will one day break through the shackles and ascend to the upper realm.”

”But by then, this old man will have long returned to the earth. What meaning would any of this hold then?”

”When the body dies, the Dao vanishes. Old grudges and past grievances should dissipate like smoke. Even if you genuinely wished to do something for me, it would likely be of little consequence.”

Hearing Dao Lord Bai Ling’s wistful words, Li Qing sighed inwardly.

It is said that one who desires nothing is invincible. If a person has no desires or ambitions, there is truly no way to manipulate them.

Senior Bai Ling, for example, now seeks only to find a suitable disciple to inherit his legacy, ensuring that the inheritance of Dao Lord Bai Ling will not be completely severed.

Beyond this, he desires nothing else. No matter how eloquently Li Qing pleads, he will not be moved.

”Heh, why are you so insistent on an equal exchange? You needn’t be so formal. Just ask me directly, and I might just agree,” Dao Lord Bai Ling said with a chuckle.

Li Qing shook his head firmly. ”There’s no such thing as a free lunch in this world. I once heard someone say, ’Every gift of fate comes with a price, secretly marked in advance.’”

Dao Lord Bai Ling nodded in admiration. ”Every gift of fate comes with a price, secretly marked in advance...?”

”Exactly. You’re truly to my liking, young man, showing such awareness.”

”It’s a pity your talent in cultivation arts other than artifact refinement is so lacking. Otherwise, I would have gladly passed on my entire legacy to you.”

After a long moment of contemplation, Dao Lord Bai Ling spoke again:

”Very well, I’ll refine the pills for you. But if you ever reach the divine transformation stage, you must find time to visit Bright King Valley in the Flame Domain.”

”There’s a Hua clan in Bright King Valley. If any cultivators from that lineage still exist, please look after them for me.”

Hearing this, Li Qing’s heart surged with joy. He clasped his hands in a fist and bowed respectfully.

”Thank you, Senior Bai Ling! If I ever reach the divine transformation stage, I will certainly fulfill your request!”

”To prove my sincerity, I’m willing to swear a great heart demon oath.”

But before Li Qing could finish, Dao Lord Bai Ling waved his hand, interrupting his attempt to swear the heart demon oath.

”Alright, alright. I trust your character, young man. No need for any great heart demon oaths.”

”What spirit pill are you refining? Do you have a pill formula? Show it to me.”

Without hesitation, Li Qing immediately presented the pill formula for the Spirit Nourishing Pill.

Dao Lord Bai Ling’s ethereal figure drifted forward, quickly approaching Li Qing. He carefully examined the formula’s contents.

”A spirit pill to enhance the mana of core formation realm cultivators? Refining this type of pill shouldn’t be too difficult.”

”Hmm, the Spirit Nourishing Pill... using demon beast inner cores and Heaven Origin Flowers as its primary ingredients? A pill formula I’ve never encountered before.”

”Using various spirit herbs as auxiliary ingredients to neutralize the malevolent energy within the demon beast inner cores... an interesting and somewhat ingenious approach.”

Dao Lord Bai Ling’s mastery of Pill Refinement was exceptionally profound. His pill refinement techniques had undoubtedly reached the fifth-tier level!

Such an unfathomably skilled pill refiner quickly grasped the intricacies of the Spirit Nourishing Pill formula.

As for the refinement methods detailed in the formula, Dao Lord Bai Ling needed no further study. A mere glance was enough for him to understand how to refine this type of spirit pill.

”Hmm, the refining process itself isn’t particularly difficult, but I’ll still need your assistance,” Dao Lord Bai Ling replied.

Li Qing was taken aback, not expecting Dao Lord Bai Ling to have thoroughly reviewed the lengthy pill formula so quickly. He asked, ”Senior Bai Ling, when should we begin the Pill Refinement?”

”Heh, we can start anytime. If you’re eager, we could even begin right now.”

These words gave Li Qing a new understanding of fifth-tier pill refiners.

A mere third-tier pill truly posed no challenge to someone of that caliber.

”Alright, let’s begin now then!” Li Qing nodded.

Since returning from his sea voyage, he had gathered all the necessary primary and auxiliary ingredients for refining the Spirit Nourishing Pill, and in ample quantities, enough for many batches.

Time flowed leisurely, and half a month passed in the blink of an eye.

Inside Li Qing’s cave abode, an ancient, black forge stood silently, its mouth continuously venting scorching heat.

Within the forge, pitch-black spiritual flames surged and burned, their fiery tendrils writhing like living entities, constantly spreading across the inner walls.

Yet, under Li Qing’s mental control, these flames remained perfectly contained within the forge, never leaking out.

If other pill refiners or artifact refiners were to witness the scene inside the forge, they would be utterly astonished.

For within this forge, clearly designed for artifact refinement, Li Qing was not refining any magic artifacts or weapons. Instead, he was practicing Pill Refinement!

Beside him, Dao Lord Bai Ling’s ethereal form materialized, intently observing the furnace’s interior. Periodically, he drew pure spiritual energy from Li Qing’s body and channeled it into the Black Furnace.

”The Pill Liquid has stabilized. Prepare to divide the pills. Your fire control this time is much better than the previous two attempts. The medicinal liquid hasn’t been wasted as much.”

”You can try dividing it into five to eight pills this time. If luck holds, this batch should yield six Spirit Nourishing Pills.”

Dao Lord Bai Ling nodded approvingly as he instructed Li Qing.

Indeed, under Dao Lord Bai Ling’s guidance, Li Qing had already attempted refining Spirit Nourishing Pills twice before.

Even with Dao Lord Bai Ling’s meticulous guidance and assistance, Li Qing, as an artifact refiner, made numerous mistakes. His fire control was poor, his techniques for blending medicinal liquids were clumsy, and various other issues plagued his efforts.

Asking an artifact refiner to practice Pill Refinement was proving to be quite a stretch.

Fortunately, Dao Lord Bai Ling’s pill refinement skills were truly extraordinary. On several occasions when failure seemed imminent, he personally intervened, swiftly drawing spiritual energy from Li Qing’s body to stabilize the spirit pill’s condition within the furnace.

It was precisely because of this intervention that Li Qing’s first attempt at pill refinement didn’t end in failure.

However, the results were far from ideal. Due to his poor fire control during the first two batches of Spirit Nourishing Pills, excessive medicinal liquid was lost, yielding only a handful of pills.

The meager yield, combined with the waste pills that had turned to slag during the final refinement stage, meant that Li Qing only harvested five usable pills from his first two batches.

Worse still, two of those five pills were of extremely low quality—clearly inferior-grade pills!

This outcome left Li Qing feeling deeply pained. He had consumed two full sets of materials, yet only obtained three finished Spirit Nourishing Pills and two inferior-grade ones.

Fortunately, Li Qing wasn’t too discouraged. After all, this was his first time refining pills, and he was attempting a third-tier pill. Such a result would have astonished countless pill refiners.

Every pill refiner starts with the basics. How could someone like Li Qing directly begin refining third-tier spirit pills?

Li Qing understood that his high starting point was entirely due to Dao Lord Bai Ling’s personal guidance.

Without the senior’s meticulous instruction, he wouldn’t have been able to refine even a low-grade Spirit Nourishing Pill. Even after refining ten furnaces, he would have ended up with nothing but slag and waste.

Boom!

Inside the Black Furnace, the Spirit Devouring Demon Flame, controlled by Li Qing, began to slowly contract.

The large mass of molten medicinal liquid at the center gradually thickened and solidified.

Guided by his divine sense and drawing on his previous experience, Li Qing began dividing the liquid into pills.

Following Dao Lord Bai Ling’s instructions, he separated the large mass of molten spirit herb essence into seven smaller portions.

Each portion contained a concentrated essence of spirit herbs. With the pills divided, all that remained was to continue refining them until they solidified into pills.

Having learned from his previous two attempts, Li Qing knew what to do this time, even without Dao Lord Bai Ling’s guidance.

The contracted Spirit Devouring Demon Flame began to expand evenly, enveloping each portion of medicinal liquid with the spirit fire’s heat.

Through repeated cycles of contraction and expansion, the portions of liquid gradually solidified, showing faint signs of crystallization.

Li Qing soon noticed one of the pills trembling violently, as if on the verge of collapsing.

His heart leaped, and he nearly lost control of the flames in the furnace.

”Don’t panic,” Dao Lord Bai Ling instructed calmly. ”Maintain the spirit fire’s activation and keep it steady. This is a common occurrence during Pill Refinement. It’s perfectly normal. You were a bit hasty when separating the medicinal liquids earlier, preventing that spirit pill from fully stabilizing.”

”To remedy this, simply divert a small portion of your focus and channel a strand of pure spiritual energy from within your body to stabilize the situation.”

As he spoke, Dao Lord Bai Ling acted. He drew a strand of pure spiritual energy from Li Qing’s body and channeled it directly into the Black Furnace.

Almost immediately, the pill that had been on the verge of collapse stabilized.

Li Qing exhaled in relief and continued maintaining the Spirit Devouring Demon Flame’s activation.

After a long interval, Dao Lord Bai Ling declared, ”Hmm, the time is right. It’s time to form the pills!”

At these words, Li Qing instantly cut off the black demon flame erupting from his palm and switched to channeling pure spiritual energy from within his body into the forge.

Buzz!

The Black Furnace began to tremble gently, a tremor that persisted for quite some time. A rich, intoxicating pill fragrance wafted from within.

The fragrance was remarkably pure and potent, so intoxicating that merely inhaling it felt like a profound indulgence.

Anticipation bloomed on Li Qing’s face. This batch of pills had undoubtedly been a resounding success!

But to determine the exact number of pills produced, he would need to open the Black Furnace.

His gaze swept over the interior, where seven warm, plump pills lay nestled at the bottom.

Suddenly, one of the pills trembled, then collapsed into a small cluster of black powder.

This pill had clearly failed to refine, becoming a waste product.

Li Qing felt no disappointment. The remaining six pills remained intact, radiating their unique, refreshing pill fragrance.

This batch had yielded six successful pills!

”Excellent! Six pills refined, with only one being a low-grade product. The other five are all high-quality spirit pills—a truly perfect outcome.”

Hearing Dao Lord Bai Ling’s praise, Li Qing felt a surge of joy. This single batch of pills had already surpassed the combined yield of his previous two attempts.

However, he dared not grow overly proud or complacent. All this success was due to Dao Lord Bai Ling’s guidance. If he were to refine pills alone now, he still lacked confidence in achieving a successful outcome.

Pill Refinement was a vast and profound cultivation art, encompassing an immense body of knowledge. Merely succeeding with meticulous guidance or even hands-on assistance from others meant little in the grand scheme of things.

In particular, Li Qing still struggled with timing. He remained unsure when to separate the pills and when to fuse them. Dao Lord Bai Ling’s guidance remained absolutely essential.

”Hah... Thank you for your guidance, Senior!”

As he spoke, Li Qing carefully collected all six pills from the furnace, handling them with utmost care and satisfaction.

(End of the Chapter)