Chapter 14: Tenth Level of Qi Refining

Wang Jianqiang felt a chill run through his entire body and instinctively took a step back, forcing a smile as he said, "Private fights are forbidden within the Hehuan Sect; I suspect you wouldn't want to break the rules here."

"Hehe, since you're so good at guessing, why don't you guess whether anyone would know it was me if I killed you?"

Yan Qingxuan let out a delicate laugh.

Wang Jianqiang suddenly noticed his surroundings beginning to blur.

The walls, the bed, the table and chairs... everything was fading and disappearing.

It was as if this space were being rapidly peeled away from the real world.

In the blink of an eye, he found himself in an endless space, surrounded by nothingness; there was nothing at all.

What remained unchanged was that the red-clad figure before him had not moved a single bit from start to finish.

Wang Jianqiang looked at her with uneasy suspicion.

An illusion, an Array, or a spell?

But regardless of which it was, it indicated that the other party's strength was far above his own.

Thinking of this, Wang Jianqiang swallowed with difficulty.

"This junior believes I have not offended you, Senior; I wonder what instructions you might have for coming here?"

"Instructions are hardly the word; I just find you quite interesting and came to take a look."

Yan Qingxuan looked Wang Jianqiang up and down, her expression peculiar.

Ever since she discovered Dong Yue's special care for Wang Jianqiang, she had kept an eye on him.

During this period, she had been lingering in the Outer Sect, secretly investigating Wang Jianqiang.

The results had left her very surprised.

Wang Jianqiang, nearly 96 years old, with talent so poor it was rare in the world, the bottom of the barrel among those with a Five-Element Waste Spirit Root, the fighter jet of trash.

Having cultivated for seventy years, his cultivation had only reached the third level of Qi Refining.

However, these were only the perceptions of the vast majority of Outer Sect Disciples.

She had also learned from a very small number of Outer Sect Disciples that Wang Jianqiang had become enlightened in his old age, awakening a peculiar talent in the way of alchemy, capable of refining Perfect Pills without Pill Poison.

A Perfect Pill—this was a legendary item.

Even the person with the highest attainments in alchemy within the Hehuan Sect could not refine one.

A piece of trash among the Outer Sect Disciples could actually refine them with ease!

How on earth did he manage it?

Wang Jianqiang felt exposed and a bit unnerved by her gaze.

Just then, Yan Qingxuan withdrew her gaze.

She waved her palm.

Everything around them returned to normal.

She looked at the table beside her, reached out, and the Jade Bottle on the table was drawn over, landing in her hand.

With a tap of her finger on the Jade Bottle, a round, flawless pill flew out from within.

"It is rumored that you can refine Perfect Pills without Pill Poison; this item must be one such Perfect Pill, right?"

She grasped the pill in her hand to examine it, then revealed a look of amazement.

"Truly peculiar."

"The medicinal efficacy is perfectly contained; although I can sense the strength of the medicinal power with my cultivation realm, I cannot distinguish its specific effects!"

Having said that, without waiting for Wang Jianqiang to respond, she prepared to toss the pill into her mouth.

"Senior, wait!"

Wang Jianqiang was startled and hurriedly spoke up to stop her.

"What?"

"Are you even reluctant to part with a mere First-tier Pill?"

Yan Qingxuan glanced at Wang Jianqiang.

"It's not that."

Wang Jianqiang shook his head.

"It's just a First-tier Pill; even a poisonous pill wouldn't matter."

Yan Qingxuan curled her lip and continued to move the pill toward her mouth.

"Wait!"

Wang Jianqiang bit the bullet and blocked her again.

Yan Qingxuan's brows furrowed, and she looked at him expressionlessly.

Clearly, Wang Jianqiang's repeated obstruction had already made her very dissatisfied.

Wang Jianqiang's heart tightened, and he laughed dryly, "Senior, this pill is something this junior obtained by chance; its effects are unknown."

As he spoke, he took out a Perfect Cloud Glow Pill, "Please eat this one instead; this one not only has stronger medicinal effects, but it also tastes better."

"No need, I'll take this one."

Yan Qingxuan smiled contemptuously.

Having said that, she swallowed it in one gulp.

What a joke.

Was she eating the other party's pill for the sake of its medicinal effects?

It was merely a First-tier Pill.

Even if it were a Perfect Pill, so what? It would have no effect on her whatsoever.

She simply wanted to taste what a Perfect Pill was like.

Yan Qingxuan sneered inwardly, just about to lecture Wang Jianqiang a few words, when she suddenly sensed something was wrong.

She immediately realized what she had eaten.

"How could this be?"

Yan Qingxuan opened her eyes abruptly and barked at Wang Jianqiang, "Give me the antidote, quickly."

Wang Jianqiang swallowed a mouthful of saliva and said bitterly, "I already told you, the Pill Formula for this Pill was something I obtained by accident; I had no idea what its effects were beforehand."

"You bastard!"

Upon hearing this, Yan Qingxuan gritted her teeth and turned to flee.

But she neglected her current state; as soon as she turned, she lost her footing and fell backward.

Wang Jianqiang was right behind her and reflexively caught her.

Yan Qingxuan threw her arms around him.

Wang Jianqiang held his hands out, not daring to put them down, feeling miserable in his heart.

A great beauty throwing herself into your arms is a good thing, but what about a great beauty who could easily crush you to death?

Touched?

Of course he didn't dare to be.

But while he didn't dare to move, he couldn't stop Yan Qingxuan from moving.

He could only endure it, pained yet happy.

……

Half an incense stick later.

Yan Qingxuan finally regained a sliver of reason.

She tapped her body several times with her fingers, and Spirit Light flickered all over her.

A hidden, unreleased sense of oppression made Wang Jianqiang's scalp tingle.

A moment later.

The terrifying pressure receded.

Only then did Wang Jianqiang dare to turn his head to look; by now, Yan Qingxuan had changed out of her torn long dress into a new red one.

Yan Qingxuan looked coldly at Wang Jianqiang.

"Consider today's events as having never happened. If this gets out... you know the consequences."

After speaking, her figure flickered and she vanished.

Seeing that Yan Qingxuan had left, Wang Jianqiang let out a long sigh of relief.

What kind of situation was this?

It seemed he was the victim, right?

His Pill was snatched, all eleven of his fingers had cramped, and he had nearly been turned into a dried corpse.

Yet in the end, he became the bad guy.

Fortunately, this woman was still somewhat reasonable.

Otherwise, if she had slapped him to death in her shame and anger, who could he go to for justice?

When it comes down to it.

Weakness is the original sin.

If he were a legendary Nascent Soul Ancestor, would he still need to worry about so much?

What if he kneaded her?

What if he bumped into her?

Wouldn't it all be at his own whim?

If anyone dared to be unreasonable with him, he would have to have a good talk about reason with them.

"Cultivate!"

Wang Jianqiang gritted his teeth.

His desire to cultivate had become much stronger yet again.

……

Ten days later.

Wang Jianqiang's body shook, his aura surged, and a large amount of foul-smelling impurities were expelled from his body.

He opened his eyes, a look of joy on his face.

"Qi Refining Tenth Layer."

A surge of Spirit Qi on his body shook off all the impurities on his skin.

He silently felt the increased power for a moment.

Then he closed his eyes again and continued to cultivate.

One hour later.

He opened his eyes again.

"The cultivation speed has indeed slowed down quite a bit."

At the current rate of progress, if he wanted to reach the limit of the Qi Refining Tenth Layer, which is Qi Refining Perfection, it would take at least three months of hard cultivation.

However, he had anticipated this situation, so he wasn't too surprised.

Although three months was a bit long, it wasn't unacceptable.

Next, he didn't continue to cultivate, but instead fell into deep thought.

Qi Refining Perfection was just around the corner; the most important thing next was to prepare for Foundation Establishment.