Chapter 102: Ren Li's Reply Letter

The bag was very small and looked quite new; Du En had seen it placed in the room the moment he moved in here.

At the time, Steward Shi had even paused for a moment, then acted as if he hadn't seen it.

Du En's condition was now fully recovered, so he took it over during his rest to examine it carefully.

Upon opening it, he found it was actually medicinal pills.

There were three bottles in total, with a note tucked inside.

"Fellow Daoist Du, I cannot express my gratitude for your great kindness in words, and I am too ashamed to visit in person. Please accept these three bottles of Qi Condensation Pills as a meager token of my thanks."

The signature was a single character: Li.

Ren Li had been on the verge of a breakthrough and had suppressed his cultivation realm to rush to the border city to seek enlightenment on profound mysteries.

Ren Li asked back, feeling wary inside, thinking this guy might be up to some mischief.

Even if this guy was indeed trying every possible way to plot against him.

Then, question marks began to pop up in his mind.

The eighth disciple of the Great Cultivator of Yunyi City, Yun Ying of the late Foundation Establishment stage.

Ren Li was somewhat puzzled and raised his hand to take it.

And because he needed to avoid his direct superior, He Bo, he had to be so secretive, sneaking over to the temporary residence Du En had already reserved while the other was away to leave the items there.

"I will go immediately. Does Senior Brother not wish to go pay his respects together?"

Because relying solely on the Shadow Lacquer Dharma Robe made it difficult to mitigate the excessive drain on his mind and spirit.

And Ren Li was naturally in this great city right now, in a closed-door cultivation cave at the city center.

Unlike the medicinal pills from just before that could be explained away, these ingredients were pure contraband!

"Lacking the help of spiritual meals, just refining the pills through cultivation has left me mentally exhausted. The number of cultivation sessions per day will likely drop significantly from here on out."

At the same time, to be on the safe side, he could not exhaust his mental energy.

Of two evils, choose the lesser; although his cultivation had slowed, he had managed to buy time through the cover provided by the stewards. As things stood, he had to count on He Bo being useful enough to drag this period out until he finished his breakthrough.

"This can actually solve some of my urgent needs."

Ren Li listened and smiled, giving no answer, nor did he seem complacent.

Upon hearing the two words "Nanmo," Ren Li's heart skipped a beat.

In other words, the matter of culinary cooking was temporarily suspended.

It was Li Jian's expression of gratitude.

It was none other than his Eighth Senior Brother, Yun Ying!

The two were closest in age and closest in cultivation level, so his conflict with him could be called the most prominent!

The reason was simple: their Great Cultivator master encouraged his disciples to compete with one another; within the same realm, whoever performed the most outstandingly would have the majority of resources tilted toward them.

Ren Li did not hesitate and, in a polite and gentle tone, gave an affirmative reply to Tang Yiping, who had sent the request for verification.

That is to say, according to Ren Li's situation, he would likely be in the middle of a closed-door breakthrough at this moment.

This time, it was because Du En had killed and eliminated the evil cultivator Zhu Er that Li Jian had sent a thank-you gift.

"Yes, the inquiry letter sent from Nanmo Border City. Please take a look at how you wish to reply."

He adapted quickly, focused his mind, asked no questions about external affairs, and did not even find it strange that such a simple matter of verification would take so long.

However, he remained calm on the surface, showing no unusual expression. He took the jade letter of inquiry, channeled his mana to break the seal, and read it using the divine sense he had just developed.

Therefore, as he was still in the middle of closed-door cultivation, he was unable to send a reply letter.

Thus, based on the actual feeling he had while taking the pills and cultivating just now, he felt that twenty sessions of fully focused cultivation per day would be an appropriate number.

So Xiao Jiu actually succeeded!

Yun Ying thought this to himself, stopping in his tracks to watch and wait from afar, seeing the strange phenomenon dissipate and watching Ren Li emerge from seclusion, looking high-spirited and vigorous.

No problem.

Therefore, Yun Ying wore a forced smile and said, "Xiao Jiu, now that you've broken through, why not go pay your respects to Master immediately?"

"Understood, this subordinate understands. It will definitely be delivered via express!"

"Qi Condensation Pill, a first-grade peak-tier medicinal pill. I've heard Ren Li say it has a significant effect on the Qi Condensation perfection stage, can promote the condensation and solidification of gaseous mana, and paves the way for the Foundation Establishment stage. It is a superior type among the peak-tier pills and can only be bought or traded for in the city; it is worth a great deal."

"I know. It is indeed true. I will draft a reply letter now; it must be delivered via express."

However, because he had been given a pointer by Du En before leaving, which helped him jump out of his narrow-minded thinking, he was indeed unwilling to settle for an ordinary Foundation Establishment. So, after returning, he found his master, explained the situation, and after receiving the other's permission, he spent time contemplating his new inspiration.

At this moment, having rested enough, he resumed his cultivation.

The deacon quickly agreed and presented a blank jade letter.

Just as he was sighing to himself, the deacon from the Correspondence Office, who had been waiting for a long time, hurriedly pushed through the crowd of sycophants and arrived before Ren Li.

Because He Bo hadn't come over to make a racket, he had a corresponding guess in his mind.

Based on his understanding of Du En, he dared to swear to the heavens that this was definitely a case of "no visit without a reason."

Just like that, time moved steadily forward.

He was actually gambling a bit on this; after all, relying solely on He Bo to drag out the time always felt unreliable.

The small hidden danger from before had now become an obvious challenge.

Once these words were spoken, the others took the hint and took their leave. Very quickly, only the two of them remained.

Originally, having returned empty-handed, he should have attempted a breakthrough as soon as he returned. If there had been no accidents, he would have already successfully reached the Foundation Establishment stage and could have replied directly.

At this moment, accompanied by the abnormal gathering of spiritual energy, people in this place or the surrounding area suddenly turned their heads in alarm, and then saw the ornamental greenery planted in the distance rapidly sprouting new buds, looking exceptionally full of vitality.

That is, Ren Li's master.

That bunch of evil cultivators was not easy to deal with; even for the Qi Condensation stage, he had to use all his trump cards. If he ran into a Foundation Establishment stage one now, he feared he wouldn't even be able to run away!

The Breath-Concealing Technique I taught him?

When did I ever give him medicinal pills?

One hundred self-destructing magic artifacts, what kind of thing is this?

What do I know, and wait, how is he already at the Great Perfection of Qi Refining?!

Just after finishing writing, he caught a glimpse of someone walking over with their hands tucked in their sleeves, and he couldn't help but frown slightly.

Ren Li looked up and down, left and right, and finally looked up, as if seeing Du En's calm face across the air, standing right in front of him, silently saying six words to him.

Fine, for the sake of your pointers to me, and for the sake of you saving me, I'll block it then!

Thinking of He Bo and the evil cultivators, Du En couldn't help but carefully inspect these medicinal pills, just in case.

"An inquiry and verification for me?"

Du En remained calm, just silently cultivating.

Act as a shield for me.

In these days of being under house arrest, surrounded and shielded by the stewards, it was naturally impossible for Du En to go and be some Spirit-Moving Thief again.

Such a strange phenomenon scene made one of them sink their face slightly.

To outsiders, this is having great composure, not changing one's expression even if Mount Tai collapses in front.

On this day, Yunyi City remained prosperous and peaceful.

It is located in the southeast of the Falling Feather Immortal Gate's territory, a major regional thoroughfare city situated at the confluence of three directions, which is why a great cultivator of the Soul Formation stage is stationed here daily to ensure its functions operate without error.

And this side naturally would not sit idly by, but it was a pity that they ultimately failed to stop it, still allowing Ren Li to successfully achieve a strange phenomenon Foundation Establishment.

Because Du En did not have many food ingredients or spiritual materials left, and considering that guy He Bo clearly wouldn't give up, it was actually not suitable to take out the remaining ingredients to cook next.

What did that brat Du En do again, to actually want to drag me into this?!

"Ninth Master, there is an inquiry and verification sent to you."

After all, if it weren't for Du En's pointers when he was leaving, allowing him to step out of a dead end, he wouldn't have reached a bright new prospect now, and ultimately managed to fight for a decent official starting point.

In fact, the situation is exactly like this.

Therefore, even though Ren Li is a disciple of a great cultivator, he still had to run far away to a border city to take a gamble while in the Qi Refining stage; otherwise, just by ordinary Foundation Establishment, there would be no way to compete with this Yun Ying.

However, this does not mean he had not pondered this matter.

Next, he planned to take one pill every day until all three bottles, totaling thirty pills, were used up.

Very quickly, another January arrived.

This matter dragged on until he finished eating the three bottles of pills, directly increasing his cultivation accumulation by fifteen points, yet he still hadn't received a reply, as if the process had simply stalled.

Many people staying in the vicinity stepped forward to flatter him, spitting out nice words as if they were free.

However, the other party just glanced at the jade letter sealed by magic, then nodded and said, "Just right, I just returned after finishing my business, and indeed need to pay my respects to Master."

Ren Li was even more puzzled, but since the other side had already said so, to avoid any accidents, he still left this place while exchanging hypocritical pleasantries with his senior fellow apprentice.

(End of this chapter)