Chapter 113: What do you think of Mi Junping?

The pill room door was wide open, and pill-nurturers were coming in and out holding wooden trays.

Gu Caiyi, who had arrived early, was sending people to count the pills refined today, for the convenience of putting them into storage later.

"Eighty-seven low-grade Jade Marrow Pills, thirty-five middle-grade Jade Marrow Pills."

"Put them into the pill-nurturing room."

After counting, Luo Chen washed his hands in the small pond formed by the mountain spring.

Gu Caiyi walked over, "Are you going home today?"

Luo Chen shook his head: "No, I've been leisurely for several days, and now my hands are a bit itchy. I'll stay here tonight, look at the pill books, and experiment with some new ideas."

After hearing this answer, Gu Caiyi didn't say much.

She was going home today; she had been watching over this place recently, and she was truly a bit tired.

Walking to the cliff edge outside the Pill Hall, Luo Chen looked into the distance.

In his mind, however, he was still on the attribute panel.

"Limited by the large-scale refining of low and middle-grade Jade Marrow Pills, the proficiency of the Jade Marrow Pill is being brushed slower and slower."

Luo Chen had already explored the characteristics of the attribute panel.

At every stage, one must refine pills of the corresponding level, otherwise, the proficiency cannot be improved.

The entry and proficiency stages are mainly low-grade.

The mastery and perfection stages require a large number of middle-grade pills.

And after reaching the master stage, one must refine five hundred high-grade pills to advance to the Great Perfection.

This characteristic is very reasonable.

In the cultivation world, being able to stably refine hundreds of high-grade pills of a certain type is enough to be called a pill-refining master.

Top-grade pills are all obtained by chance!

In fact, Luo Chen had also experimented with the refining of Great Perfection-level Grain Bigu Powder.

The success rate for refining top-grade Grain Bigu Powder was only ten percent.

And this was already very high.

Sighing, Luo Chen no longer tangled with this matter.

For now, middle-grade Jade Marrow Pills were enough to satisfy Mi Shuhua.

The high-grade Jade Marrow Pills he secretly embezzled were also enough to satisfy Luo Chen himself.

It was just that the Zhongmiao Pill had been stuck at the master level for so long, and he didn't know what effect it would have after reaching Great Perfection and refining top-grade Zhongmiao Pills.

Fellow Daoist Zeng Wen is probably looking forward to it more than I am!

With a light laugh, Luo Chen put away his thoughts and looked at the scene in Xieyue Valley.

Cultivators who had finished work were taking advantage of the bright sky, either performing the Wind-Riding Technique or driving magic tools, leaving in groups.

Under his gaze, Gu Caiyi also met up with Murong Qinglian, who had finished her work, and went home together.

Before long, Xieyue Valley, which had been bustling during the day, was left with only a batch of middle and late-stage cultivators remaining.

These people were not all exposed on the surface.

Some were lurking in the dark, some were patrolling outside, and some were resting, ready to replace their companions at any time.

"Mi Shuhua is paying more and more attention to Xieyue Valley!"

Sensing the more rigorous defensive power than before, Luo Chen felt much more at ease.

Returning to the stone house, he activated the first-order Water Wave Array to cover the house.

Then he opened the floor, and Luo Chen fell into the crisscrossing mine tunnels.

Following his memory, he went all the way down.

Soon, he arrived above the spiritual vein cave.

He didn't rush down, but took out several array flags from his storage bag.

Inserting the array flags around and leaving enough spirit stones, Luo Chen breathed a sigh of relief.

This set of first-order array flags was a trophy from Lu Huaiben's storage bag, and it only had one function: to conceal spiritual power fluctuations.

Although it could not control the leakage of spiritual energy in the cave, being able to cover this place was always good.

He believed that even if Mi Shuhua came to the Pill Hall and used his spiritual sense, he should not be able to detect the spiritual vein cave.

A Foundation Establishment cultivator's spiritual sense is not omnipotent; it will be blocked by mountains, soil, water flow, and many other things.

Now with the concealment array, this spiritual vein cave could be considered foolproof.

"Perhaps, even if he discovered it, he wouldn't care about this small branch vein!"

After all, he is a Foundation Establishment cultivator; even the main vein of a first-order spiritual vein is barely enough to supply his cultivation, so how could he look down on a small branch vein.

Luo Chen laughed at himself and went down into the cave.

First, he set up the Ziyun Copper Cauldron to brew the Peiyuan Spirit Liquid.

After the spirit liquid was brewed, he removed the firewood.

Luo Chen took a deep breath, took out the array flags of the Small Spirit Gathering Array, and his gaze fell on the cyan array flag.

He cast the technique, the array flag buzzed and trembled, and then the cyan array flag fell to the center.

In this way, the Small Spirit Gathering Array would focus on absorbing the surrounding wood-attribute spiritual energy, making it more suitable for the operation of his Changchun Technique.

Burning incense, bathing in medicinal liquid, taking pills.

Calming his mind and concentrating, his hard cultivation began.

After a night, Luo Chen put away the pill cauldron and array flags and left the cave gracefully.

As expected of the Small Spirit Gathering Array!

The improvement was actually that great!

Without considering the pills, the effect of the Changchun Technique alone in absorbing and converting spiritual power had improved by a large margin.

His original master-level Changchun Technique had a cultivation efficiency comparable to that of a three-element spiritual root cultivator, about four times that of the five-element spiritual root period.

After the blessing of the spiritual vein cave, it increased by about one time, reaching five times the efficiency.

After using the Small Spirit Gathering Array last night, the efficiency increased by another three times, and now it possessed eight times the cultivation efficiency.

What is the concept of eight times?

Luo Chen guessed that this cultivation efficiency was infinitely close to, or even equal to, a dual-element spiritual root cultivator!

There are many legends in the cultivation world, some true and some false.

But many are based on experience.

For example, a Heaven-grade spiritual root cultivator can reach Foundation Establishment in ten years; this is recorded in history, and it is without taking pills.

And dual-element spiritual root cultivators are said to reach Foundation Establishment in just twenty or thirty years.

Eight times the cultivation efficiency fits this time very well.

After getting this guess, Luo Chen's tight mindset on cultivation finally relaxed a little.

Before, with five times the cultivation efficiency, it would take at least fifty or sixty years to barely reach the critical point of Foundation Establishment.

And his lifespan was strangely stuck at seventy-five years from his previous life.

Fifty or sixty years later, he would be old and frail, where would he have the energy to impact Foundation Establishment.

But now, with the help of the Small Spirit Gathering Array, this time was shortened to within thirty years.

By then, he would only be fifty-something.

He would be in his prime, with vigorous blood, and would have enough strength to impact Foundation Establishment.

And!

All these calculations were without considering the consumption of pills and many cultivation auxiliary resources!

If those things were added, this time would be shortened crazily.

After all, how can active refining and absorption compare to pills that are concentrated spiritual power.

"Mi Shuhua is really good to me!"

Luo Chen sighed as he went up the mine tunnel.

When he was about to leave, his body paused, and he looked at the crisscrossing mine tunnels around him.

That thought that had popped into his mind last time surfaced again.

Perhaps it was indeed possible to dig another exit leading to other directions?

With a thought, Luo Chen released the puppet beast Little Pangolin and, based on his good memory, walked toward a mine tunnel facing the Xiaoyue Mountain Range.

"Hall Master, you seem to be in a good mood today?"

Tang Quan leaned over and said flatteringly.

"Oh, is that so?"

Luo Chen's mouth curled up.

He was indeed in a good mood; the increase in cultivation efficiency had truly allowed him to see the hope of Foundation Establishment.

And exploring the mine tunnel in the early morning had finally led to the discovery of a small path that had been dug very far away before.

That mine tunnel was very narrow, only enough for one person to pass through.

But after comparing, Luo Chen found that the mine tunnel was the closest to the Xiaoyue Mountain Range.

If he took some time later to dig a little every day, perhaps there would be an exit leading directly to the outside world.

By then, if Xieyue Valley encountered cultivators or spirit beasts that could not be resisted, he could retreat calmly.

With hope for both cultivation and an alternative path to survival, his mood was naturally great.

Glancing at Tang Quan, Luo Chen suddenly said: "Your uncle Zeng Wen asks me every day when I will refine the Zhongmiao Pill. But now you also know that the Gang Leader asked me to refine Jade Marrow Pills with all my strength, so where would I have time to refine Zhongmiao Pills for him."

Tang Quan nodded, wondering why Luo Chen was saying this.

Then, Luo Chen's next words made his expression a bit colorful.

"Mili and Luo Erduo are now refining Grain Bigu Powder quite well, and it's not a good thing for you to be mixed in the pile of herbs every day."

"Why don't you refine the Zhongmiao Pill for me instead!"

"Ah!" Tang Quan was dumbfounded.

"Ah what ah!" Luo Chen pulled him into the pill room and pointed to the Xuanyun Cauldron, saying: "Take advantage of the free time, I'll teach you a few tricks."

After speaking, he looked back at Mili and the others.

"You can also take a look; if you have any ideas, you can also come and try your hand."

Teaching the refining of the Zhongmiao Pill to the people below bit by bit.

In fact, it was also an idea that Luo Chen had had vaguely a few months ago.

At first, he held the idea of cherishing his broom and didn't want to teach anything to others.

But as pill refining work took up too much cultivation time, he knew he couldn't be like that anymore.

Therefore, he taught out the techniques for handling medicinal herbs, controlling heat, and even collecting and storing pills bit by bit.

Three months ago, he also taught some insights on Grain Bigu Powder to Mili and the others.

Actually, Grain Bigu Powder was fine; the pill recipe itself was common goods.

At that time, in the loose cultivator market, Luo Chen wasn't the only one selling Grain Bigu Powder.

Compared to Grain Bigu Powder, the pill recipe for the Zhongmiao Pill was undoubtedly very precious and belonged to commercial secrets.

Logically speaking, Luo Chen shouldn't let others know.

But now, his mindset had changed.

Cultivation is the foundation of a cultivator, and the hundred arts of cultivation are just services for cultivation.

After carefully weighing the pros and cons, Luo Chen finally felt it was better to let his subordinates learn.

For one thing, if they learned to refine the Zhongmiao Pill, they could maintain the types of pills produced by the Poshan Gang's Pill Hall.

For another, it could save him a lot of time to use for cultivation.

Thirdly, to be honest, the market for the Zhongmiao Pill was really limited.

Even now that it was stably producing middle-grade Zhongmiao Pills, the market was only limited to the Dahe Workshop.

Mi Shuhua had also tried to promote it to places like Taishan Workshop and Liuguang Workshop, but the price could never go up there.

So Mi Shuhua finally made up his mind to let Luo Chen refine Jade Marrow Pills with all his strength.

It was really because the profit in the Zhongmiao Pill was too small.

It was barely enough to support Luo Chen's solo cultivation before, but as a main product of a gang, it wasn't enough.

Finally, there was another very important reason.

A pill refiner doesn't necessarily refine good pills just because they have a pill recipe.

With the aptitude of Tang Quan, Mili, and others, even if they were given enough raw materials and enough time, it would be difficult for them to refine high-grade Zhongmiao Pills in their lifetime.

In other words, the core competitiveness was actually still in Luo Chen's own hands.

Luo Chen wouldn't do the stupid thing of teaching his apprentices and starving himself to death.

He would always keep a few tricks up his sleeve.

Huff, huff.

Tang Quan's nose moved in the pill room, and he smelled a burnt smell.

He turned his head to look at Luo Chen, only to see Luo Chen shrug his shoulders.

"Why look at me, pill refining failure is a common thing."

"Clean up the pill cauldron; there is still Jade Marrow Pill refining work in the afternoon."

After speaking, he turned and left.

In the pill room, only Tang Quan, Mili, and others were left, cleaning up the pill cauldron with sad faces.

Walking out of the pill room, Luo Chen didn't return to the stone house, nor did he wander around Xieyue Valley.

Instead, he greeted Zhou Yuanli and flew toward the forest behind Xieyue Valley.

"I was able to get started with the Zhongmiao Pill basically because of the system's entry, and even so, I failed many times."

"Tang Quan and the others, I'm afraid they don't know how many times they will have to fail before they can grope their way to the first success."

"Let them fail; anyway, it's the Poshan Gang's raw materials that are being wasted."

Luo Chen laughed lightly, descended from the sky, and came into the forest.

Glancing back, Luo Chen withdrew his gaze.

If there were no accidents, Zhou Yuanli and the others should all be protecting him in the dark.

So be it; anyway, he was just here to test the magic tools, so there was nothing that couldn't be exposed.

Luo Chen's trump card now was not these magic tools in his hand.

But the many spells he had cultivated through hard work.

Great Perfection Fireball Technique, incomparably fast escape speed, and Entanglement Technique that had reached the master level.

Even the Heavenly Maiden Scattering Flowers, which had just entered the entry level, relied on the Great Completion Hunyuan Bead technique and cooperated with the hundreds of discarded Jade Marrow Beads he had collected, all had extraordinary power.

By comparison, these magic tools were just to make his combat methods more rich and diverse.

"I'm probably the only one who can calmly and quickly cast many spells during the Qi Refining period!"

After the last battle, Luo Chen was very satisfied with the thickness of his spiritual power.

The power of spells was never weaker than magic tools!

What was weak was just the person.

Swoosh!

A simple and gray long spear landed in Luo Chen's hand.

Injecting spiritual power, the gray long spear gradually became crimson, and gradually Luo Chen felt a scorching high temperature on his hand.

"High-grade Fire-Pointed Spear, known for its powerful attack."

"At that time, the defense of my Four Symbols Cauldron fully deployed almost didn't block it. If the enemy was unprepared, under one shot, ordinary high-grade magic robes wouldn't be able to block it."

The defensive power of magic robes was far inferior to specialized defensive magic tools.

With a wave of his hand, the long spear flew out like a meteor.

The target was a hundred-year-old tree a hundred meters away.

With a bang, the tree shook suddenly.

Dust rose, and Luo Chen looked up; the tree had already turned into powder.

Reaching out and beckoning, the Fire-Pointed Spear flew back toward Luo Chen domineeringly, and when it reached him, it stopped nimbly.

The master-level traction technique made Luo Chen extremely fast at getting started with magic tools.

"The power is indeed extraordinary!"

After testing, Luo Chen got the result.

The penetration was not as good as the Soul-Breaking Nail, but in terms of instantaneous explosion and range damage, the Soul-Breaking Nail was far inferior.

With this spear, Luo Chen had the means for frontal combat.

From now on, the Jade Blade would just be the second choice.

It was a pity about that high-grade flying sword!

That flying sword was ice-attribute; for such a flying sword, one either had to have a corresponding ice spiritual root or have an excellent water spiritual root to master it.

Luo Chen didn't have an ice spiritual root.

Although he had a water spiritual root, it was all five elements, and it was not outstanding.

Especially the cultivation technique he practiced, the Changchun Technique, was also wood-type.

With wood-type cultivation technique as the main one, the cultivator's spiritual power would basically be biased toward the wood type.

According to the principle of mutual generation and mutual restraint of the five elements, wood generates fire, and too much wood makes fire flourish, so Luo Chen would also have good adaptability to fire-type spells and fire-type magic tools.

By comparison, water generates wood, and the two are difficult to reverse.

Therefore, Luo Chen didn't have such good adaptability to water-type spells and magic tools.

But Luo Chen couldn't bear to sell the high-grade magic tool, so he simply left it in the milk tea shop to be used as an "ice maker."

If he needed it in the future, he could take it back at any time.

"What is this bell for?"

Taking out the pair of emerald bells, Luo Chen felt a bit strange.

Injecting magic power, the bells glowed with green light, but apart from that, there was no reaction.

He thought for a while and shook his hand slightly.

"Ding-dang!"

With a light sound, Luo Chen, who was unprepared, felt his brain go slightly dizzy.

"Eh, it's a sonic magic tool!"

"This is rare!"

Luo Chen was delighted to see it; he blocked his ears with spiritual power in advance and then shook the bells quickly.

Ding-dang, ding-dang, ding-dang.

Plop!

A large snake fell directly into the forest in front.

Luo Chen just glanced at it and remained unmoved.

It was just a grass snake, even among first-order spirit beasts, it was extremely weak.

The spiritual power was thin, and usually, if taken out, the meat wouldn't even sell for a price.

"Although it's only a middle-grade magic tool and the power is very poor, sonic attacks are very rare."

"Caught off guard, perhaps it will have a decisive effect."

In an instant, Luo Chen thought of the most suitable way to use this bell in combat.

It wasn't to cooperate with the Fire-Pointed Spear, but to cooperate with the Soul-Breaking Nail, which was also good at sneak attacks.

"Since that's the case, let's just name you the Soul-Losing Bell!"

Luo Chen smiled slightly and put the Soul-Losing Bell into his storage bag.

Then, he tested the other magic tools one after another.

Unfortunately, they were all very ordinary low-grade magic tools, far from being powerful.

As for that white board, Luo Chen had long ago inquired about its specific effects from the Wanbao Tower.

That thing was actually sold by the Wanbao Tower, but it was specially supplied for the environment of the Snow Lotus Workshop.

Snow-Stepping Board!

A flying magic tool.

But the flying speed was very average, just like an ordinary middle-stage cultivator performing the Wind-Riding Technique.

However, if it was in a place of ice and snow, or on a big river or sea, the Snow-Stepping Board could borrow the geographical advantage, and the speed would soar several times, reaching the flying speed of a late-stage Qi Refining cultivator.

Luo Chen didn't intend to sell it.

Such magic tools were still useful sometimes.

Next, Luo Chen went several thousand meters deep, entering the inner part of the outer forest.

Once there, the traces of spirit beasts were relatively more frequent.

With the help of these first-order spirit beasts, Luo Chen began to familiarize himself with the Fire-Pointed Spear and the Soul-Losing Bell he had obtained.

It had to be said that some of the wonderful uses of magic tools had to be realized in actual combat.

That Fire-Pointed Spear, besides being used to fight the enemy, could also emit powerful fire rain when activated with spiritual power in the hand.

Large clusters of sparks flew out, falling like a sky full of fire rain.

The attack intensity was low, but it won by having a large attack range.

Under large-scale strikes, almost every spark had the power of a low-grade magic tool.

As for the most suitable combat method for the Fire-Pointed Spear, besides frontal combat, the "returning horse spear" was the best move.

"No wonder Lu Huaiben didn't use this magic tool at the first moment, but only used it when I was chasing him."

"For one thing, I guess he was scared out of his wits by me killing two enemies instantly, and for another, he wanted to make a contribution in one fell swoop, killing me with one shot when I was relaxed."

"Unfortunately, I was always maintaining the defense of the Four Symbols Cauldron at that time."

Stepping on the white Snow-Stepping Board, Luo Chen flew back to Xieyue Valley slowly.

And behind him, Zhou Yuanli and Liu Qiang looked at each other.

The Hall Master seems to have a lot of combat talent!

Just now in that forest, he encountered three first-order spirit beasts in succession, and he easily defeated them all.

You know, those magic tools were clearly just started with.

When using them, there was always a sense of unfamiliarity.

But later, he became more and more proficient in driving them, and even some special wonderful uses were dug out by him.

"Perhaps, those three enemies who chased and killed the Hall Master were really killed by the Hall Master himself?" Zhou Yuanli couldn't help but say.

Liu Qiang was skeptical; after all, those were three enemies of the same realm as Luo Chen!

Returning to Xieyue Valley, Luo Chen found Sikong Shoujia.

"Entrust the gang to sell these low-grade magic tools?"

Sikong Shoujia examined those low-grade magic tools and shook his head: "I guess they won't sell for a few spirit stones."

Luo Chen was puzzled: "No way, these pieces are all in good condition, and there is no damage. Moreover, the Dahe Workshop has always had a high demand for magic tools!"

"The Dahe Workshop has a high demand for magic tools, but other places don't!"

Sikong Shoujia rolled his eyes and explained to Luo Chen.

It turned out that the Jade Cauldron Domain, ever since the Sword Sect established its dominance in this domain, except for the first hundred years, had gradually become peaceful in the following three hundred years.

Conflicts decreased, the demand for pills became higher, but the demand for magic tools had repeatedly dropped.

Coupled with the fact that magic tools are durable, old seniors can pass them on as inheritance after they kick the bucket, so that there are more and more magic tools in the cultivation world.

If it were a magic treasure, it would be even more powerful.

Cultivators can use spiritual power to nourish them, and the power and grade can even climb again and again.

So that over the years, the price of magic tools in the Jade Cauldron Domain has been on a downward trend.

It was only because the Dahe Workshop was close to the Million Great Mountains of the Eastern Wilderness, and the style of hunting spirit beasts was prevalent, that the price of magic tools remained high.

But over the years, the price of magic tools in other places had gradually affected the Dahe Workshop.

This point, in fact, Luo Chen had already come into contact with it a long time ago.

The Wanbao Tower recycled magic tools, and it was always half price at most; for those seriously damaged, they wouldn't even give half price.

When Wang Yuan set up a stall, most of what he sold were also middle-grade magic tools.

Low-grade magic tools were few and far between.

"With your ordinary goods, even if you take them out to set up a stall, not many people will look at them. Those who look at them must be early and middle-stage cultivators, and they can't give a high price."

"I'm thinking, it would be the limit to sell for a few hundred spirit stones in the end."

Luo Chen was furious!

"These are magic tools I earned at the cost of my life, and they only sell for a few hundred spirit stones; are you dismissing a beggar?"

"Who told you that this is the nth hand! And they are the most rubbish low-grade magic tools!"

Sikong Shoujia curled his lips and then gave Luo Chen three suggestions.

"Either give them to friends and get a friendship price."

"Or take them to the Wanbao Tower; others will just treat them as scrap and give you a cost price."

"Or, you can hand them over to the gang and convert them according to merit."

Luo Chen directly ruled out the first one.

He didn't have any friends around him who needed low-grade magic tools.

Even Yuan Xiaoyue, who was at the third level of Qi Refining, didn't actually lack magic tools.

Her grandfather, as well as her dead father, had left her a whole set of middle-grade magic tools.

Luo Chen hesitated about the second one.

As for the third one?

"Merit? What's the use?"

"You can use it to exchange for some cultivation techniques collected by the Merit Hall! Or buy pills directly from the Merit Hall... uh, well, the pills in the gang are all refined by you."

Sikong Shoujia paused for a moment; for a while, he really couldn't think of any good things in the gang that Luo Chen needed.

Mainly because this guy Luo Chen was very shameless; relying on his status as the Pill Hall Master, he would freeload on any magic techniques in the gang whenever he could.

Merit?

He didn't care at all.

"Forget it, I'll keep them for now!"

It was just a few magic tools, and they didn't take up much space.

What if the price of magic tools goes up in the future?

After making up his mind, Luo Chen was no longer in a hurry to sell the magic tools; he didn't lack those few spirit stones now.

Just as he was about to leave, Sikong Shoujia held him back.

Looking at the old man who was hesitant and wanted to speak but stopped.

Luo Chen was strange, "What's wrong, are you constipated? Then I recommend you go to the Mixue Bingcheng on the White Stone Plaza and buy a cup of undiluted Fuzhu milk tea; it moistens the intestines and promotes bowel movements, and the effect is excellent!"

"Get lost!"

Sikong Shoujia scolded, then deliberated and said:

"What do you think of Mi Junping, the Hall Master of the Merit Hall?"