Chapter 23: Apportionment

Chen Ci stroked his chin, first taking out the red jade bottle to examine it for a while.

The design of this jade bottle was truly quite good; although it was only the size of a palm, its color was as red as flame and it felt like grease to the touch. If sold in the mortal world, it could easily be worth a thousand taels of silver.

But that was all; this jade bottle was not some Spirit Material or Dharma Artifact, merely a jade object of decent quality.

How stingy. He reckoned that since he had offered up a Corpse Ganoderma, they felt it wouldn't be appropriate not to reward him with something, so they used this trinket to dismiss him.

Tsk tsk.

A look of disdain appeared on Chen Ci's face as he casually set the jade bottle aside and put it away carefully.

It was worth a catty of Five Elements Divine Sand, after all.

But when Chen Ci opened the small booklet, he stood up with a 'whoosh'.

"This can't be, right?"

"That Hutou Daoren is actually aiming to certify an Upper Grade Dao Foundation!"

Chen Ci's expression changed slightly. If one were to certify an Upper Grade Dao Foundation, it meant that during the Qi Refining Stage, one had to be able to smelt three hundred acupoints; even if one couldn't reach that number, at the very least, one had to be close.

Three hundred acupoints—at Chen Ci's previous speed of cultivation, it would take him at least two hundred years.

That was assuming he even had a top-tier Qi Refining method.

"Damn it."

But a person capable of certifying an Upper Grade Dao Foundation should be in the Inner Gate of the He Mountain Sect; how could they be wallowing in the mortal world?

Chen Ci suppressed the confusion in his heart and first scanned the Dharma decree.

Order from the Red Dragon Temple of the Liang Kingdom, He Mountain Sect.

Chen Ci of the Sanyin Temple, He Mountain Outer Transmission, is to receive this order: before the fifteenth of every month, send one hundred drops of Essence Refining to the Fuhu Altar in Xishan Prefecture to serve as tribute.

If there is any delay, one shall receive the punishment of the Five Evils.

Every one hundred drops of Essence Refining can be recorded as one merit, to be exchanged at the Fuhu Altar for various pill methods and talisman books.

At the very end, there was also a method for refining a Dharma Artifact called a Spirit Nourishing Bottle; it was only at the level of a first-layer Prohibition, but it could preserve Essence Refining for a month without loss, counting as a sort of auxiliary item.

Damn it, they wouldn't even let him take advantage of the one catty of Divine Sand!

Chen Ci looked at the Red Dragon Dharma seal at the end of the decree, thought for a moment, and imprinted his own True Qi onto it: "This Apprentice accepts the Dharma decree."

There was no other way; what else could he do if he didn't accept it?

His own meager foundation was only held together thanks to the He Mountain Sect.

"I've been assigned sect labor, but fortunately, they give a stick and then a sweet date to eat."

Chen Ci looked at the last sentence, 'Every one hundred drops of Essence Refining can be recorded as one merit, to be exchanged at the Fuhu Altar for various pill methods and talisman books,' and his heart stirred slightly.

The He Mountain Sect has a thousand mountains and a thousand methods; he himself had only received three, and furthermore, his own Three Yin Qi-Eating Method was only a low-grade Qi Refining technique. Since that Hutou Daoren dared to attempt an Upper Grade Dao Foundation, he naturally had some depth.

It was just that he didn't know how many merits the various pill methods and talisman books would cost.

He imagined it wouldn't be too cheap.

"There's less than a month left until the end of the year, which means after the New Year, I have to start transporting the Essence Refining to the Fuhu Altar. But thanks to the reminder from Fatty Ding, I prepared a month in advance, so it's not too bad."

Chen Ci put away the Dharma decree. In the future, besides his cultivation, he would have to set aside time to condense Essence Refining. However, spreading one hundred drops of Essence Refining over the whole month meant he would only need to spend a little more effort each day, which wouldn't be too much of a drag on his cultivation.

"Time to practice."

"Once my cultivation is profound, perhaps one day I will also have people providing for my cultivation."

Late night, backyard.

After Chen Ci finished practicing his Three Yin True Qi, he took the red jade bottle and began to study the refining method for the Spirit Nourishing Bottle.

Refining this kind of first-layer Prohibition Dharma Artifact was not very difficult, but if he made a mistake, it would be a waste of silver, and Chen Ci was unwilling to waste it for nothing.

"Must be buried in a yin location, away from the sun, nurtured with True Qi for ten days; when the Prohibition is formed, rub a drop of Essence Refining over the bottle body—it's still a delicate job."

Chen Ci naturally wouldn't think of trying to innovate; if he made a mistake, it would be wasted effort. He honestly dug a pit in the place where the Corpse Ganoderma was nurtured and buried the red jade bottle inside.

From now on, every day at the Hour of the Ox, after finishing the Three Yin Qi-Eating Method, he would refine the Spirit Nourishing Bottle; he was truly a master of time management.

Ten days later.

Chen Ci toyed with the Spirit Nourishing Bottle in his hand, using a bottle stopper he had carved from Yin Locust Wood according to the refining method to cover it, sealing it tightly.

The jade bottle, which had originally been as red as flame, now had a much deeper color, looking somewhat like an antique toy stained by foul blood. It felt icy to the touch, and if held for a long time, it even felt a bit stiff.

A little useful, but not much.

Spirit Nourishing Bottle: First-layer Prohibition/Perfected

Chen Ci glanced at the content displayed on his Gold Finger; as his thoughts moved, this line of information gradually faded away and no longer appeared.

Such a trinket was really not worth occupying space on his panel.

However, the Dharma Artifact Chen Ci was going to refine today was not this one.

Five Yin Evil Qi Bag: Fifth-layer Prohibition/99/100

Nearby, two large wild boars were tied up, full of wild spirit, with no obvious external wounds on their bodies, retaining their vital energy.

These were wild animals that had come down the mountain to forage in winter and had just happened to fall into a hunter's trap; they had been drugged and sent to Sanyin Temple. Today, he would give the Five Yin Evil Qi Bag some wild game to eat, which could be considered giving it an extra meal.

As the two wild boars were swallowed in one gulp by the Five Yin Evil Qi Bag, an inexplicable sense of satisfaction appeared in Chen Ci.

The general meaning was: full.

The Three Yin True Qi in his body was slowly injected into the Five Yin Evil Qi Bag. Following a strange breathing rhythm, he could clearly feel his own Three Yin True Qi being absorbed by the pitch-black space he sensed in his mind. The egg-shaped space was slowly expanding. When it reached a certain critical point, he heard a soft 'hum', and a new strand of Five Yin Black Evil was squeezed out under the nourishment of the Three Yin True Qi.

"Finally done."

Accompanied by the loss of a large amount of True Qi, Chen Ci slowly opened his eyes. Not only did the Five Yin Evil Qi Bag at his waist seem a bit thicker, but the mysterious patterns on the bag itself had also become more complex and compact.

Five Yin Evil Qi Bag: Sixth-layer Prohibition/1/100

"Not easy; this child was raised for three months and finally born."

With a thought from Chen Ci, the six strands of Five Yin Black Evil rushed out together, circled him a few times, and then all returned to the bag.

"Controlling six strands of Five Yin Black Evil at the same time not only consumes a lot of True Qi, but it's also not as flexible as having one strand of Black Sha. However, in some situations, it can form a barrier, so it's not bad."

Chen Ci made a comparison; it was only natural that the greater the power, the more True Qi it consumed, but when using the Five Yin Evil Qi Bag against an enemy, he could not output it mindlessly; he had to adapt to the situation and control his True Qi.

"My cultivation is too low; if I were given a high-grade Dharma Artifact, I might not even be able to activate it, heh."

Chen Ci called out, and before long, an Apprentice brought in two fat pigs and an old ox, all of which were large livestock purchased a few days ago; today, taking advantage of the Five Yin Evil Qi Bag's advancement, it was just the right time to extract some Essence Refining.

There was about one month left before he had to transport the Essence Refining to Fuhu Altar, so it was time for him to prepare.

Chen Ci patted the Five Yin Evil Qi Bag, swallowing the fat pigs and the old ox into it; he only needed to send in a little True Qi and wait for the Essence Refining to form.

If one were to say that He Mountain Sect Apprentices were no good at alchemy or talisman-making, they were nonetheless all self-taught when it came to skinning, deboning, collecting filthy Qi, extracting Essence Refining, and refining vengeful spirits; Chen Ci was already considered one of the better ones, as at least he only practiced with beasts, which could somehow be considered a breath of fresh air amidst a mudslide.

After a little less than an hour, Chen Ci withdrew his Three Yin True Qi, and the Five Yin Evil Qi Bag opened its mouth of its own accord; with a "Ptooey" sound, a small clump of Essence Refining landed accurately into the Spirit Nourishing Bottle.

Chen Ci took back the Spirit Nourishing Bottle, plugged it with the Yin Locust Wood stopper, and gave it a gentle shake by his ear.

"This amount isn't right, is it?"

It was almost non-existent.

Chen Ci's expression turned somewhat unpleasant as he pinched the Five Yin Evil Qi Bag and shook it for a while: "You little brat, did you embezzle it? Why is there only this little bit? Spit it out for your master, spit it out!"

After shaking it for a long time, the mouth of the Five Yin Evil Qi Bag was shaken open, and there really wasn't a single drop left.

These one hundred drops of Essence Refining didn't seem like a small task!

(End of chapter)