Chapter 96: Cultivation Speed Skyrockets

Under the pitch-black night sky, the green flame at first glance gave a feeling of heart palpitations, yet smelling the rich fragrance of elixirs in the air, one could also sense the vibrant vitality emanating from the stillness.

Gu Qiming stood at the railing on the ninth floor of the Medical Department building, looking down at First Street, which was completely shrouded in green light, his expression somewhat grave.

Behind him stood Yuan Tianchou and Mu Qingying.

Yuan Tianchou: "Master, what is the green flame inside the lantern?"

Gu Qiming shook his head, indicating he didn't know either.

Mu Qingying interjected: "The green flame gives off a strong elixir fragrance—could it be the Elixir Fire mentioned in the *Handbook of the Medicine Ancestor*?"

Hearing this, Gu Qiming and Yuan Tianchou both looked at Mu Qingying.

Gu Qiming: "Elixir Fire..." As he spoke, a glimmer lit up in his eyes, and he quickly said to Yuan Tianchou and Mu Qingying, "Tianchou, Qingying, go to my office right now and refine elixirs—refine the spirit elixirs you've been struggling with."

Yuan Tianchou and Mu Qingying understood Gu Qiming's meaning, nodded in agreement, and quickly went downstairs.

Watching his two disciples leave, Gu Qiming looked back at First Street, which was wrapped in green light, a startling brightness flickering in his eyes.

Elixir Fire is formed from the condensation of Elixir Radiance.

Blade masters and sword masters, when trained to the extreme, can cultivate Blade Intent and Sword Intent; when alchemy skills are refined to the extreme, the elixirs produced can emanate Elixir Radiance.

Elixir Radiance contains the Dao rhyme of alchemy, and the Elixir Fire condensed from Elixir Radiance is the best spirit fire to help alchemists achieve mastery and break through bottlenecks.

Elixir Radiance only emanates from nearly perfected supreme-grade elixirs. The person who broke into the Medical Department must be an alchemist, and the first-grade spirit elixirs they refine have reached a transcendent level—only the Elixir Radiance clinging to their body could condense into Elixir Fire and ignite the lantern.

"Who is that person?"

"Is he someone from the Medical Department?"

Gu Qiming ran through all the pharmacists in the Medical Department who could refine spirit elixirs, then shook his head.

No, it's not someone from the Medical Department.

If the Medical Department truly had such a remarkable alchemist, he would definitely know.

"Where did that person come from?"

"Could another mysterious family have emerged and set their sights on the Medical Department?"

Thinking about how the Medical Department had drawn attention from various forces, Gu Qiming felt a headache coming on. If he weren't a trusted subordinate of the Heaven Division Minister, his position as Director of the Medical Department might not be secure.

Just then, a fluctuation of spiritual energy came from a room on the ninth floor. Gu Qiming sensed it, his expression shifting, and he quickly walked over.

"Shumo, are you all right?"

With a *creak*, the door opened.

Gu Qiming entered the room and looked at the young man sitting cross-legged in the center, meditating. Sensing the powerful spiritual energy fluctuation on him, he said in surprise, "Shumo, are you a Core Formation cultivator now?"

Pei Shumo had a clear look of joy on his face and nodded at Gu Qiming, then his expression darkened: "Director, the concentration of spiritual energy in the Medical Department surged twice today."

"Once during the day, and once just now."

"The current spiritual energy concentration in the Medical Department is at least ten times what it was before. If not for the sudden surge, I wouldn't have succeeded in condensing my inner core."

Gu Qiming's expression trembled. When he returned today, he had noticed that the spiritual energy in the air seemed somewhat richer, but because he was in a hurry to see Gu Xing, he hadn't had time to think further.

Just now, his mind had been completely focused on the Elixir Fire, so he hadn't paid attention to anything else.

Gu Qiming immediately sensed the spiritual energy concentration in the air—it was indeed just as Pei Shumo had said; it was far denser than before.

Then he fell into thought.

What caused the spiritual energy concentration to surge twice?

The incident tonight was most likely related to the Elixir Fire, but what about the one during the day?

"What happened during the day?"

Gu Qiming told Pei Shumo to focus on solidifying his cultivation, then quickly left the room to find someone and ask about what had happened during the day.

Upon learning that nothing particularly special had occurred in the Medical Department during the day, Gu Qiming thought of the incident of Gu Xing being driven away: "Could it be related to the Old Courtyard?"

Gu Qiming carefully recalled the scene of his meeting with Gu Xing today. It was no different from the previous times—Gu Xing was as silent as ever, and the Old Courtyard was just as usual, with no changes.

Suddenly, Gu Qiming's eyes lit up: "Three wooden plaques are missing!"

Today, before him, at least three people had entered the old compound.

The wooden tokens in the old compound might look like they were just hanging on the wall for anyone to take, but they were not easy to obtain. He had entered and left the old compound ten times in total and had gone to great trouble to finally take down one wooden token.

He didn't know what the wooden token was actually for, but he could sense that it was extraordinary. So every time he went to the old compound to see Gu Xing, he would pay special attention to the number of wooden tokens.

Recalling that earlier in the old compound, the wooden tokens on the wall had all lit up with a white gleam, Gu Qiming's eyes flickered.

When the wooden tokens emitted a white gleam, it should have coincided with the moment the Dan fire was ignited. Was there any connection between the two?

Gu Qiming remembered that he still had a wooden token, so he returned to his office. As soon as he entered, he smelled a strong fragrance of elixir.

"Master, junior sister has refined a Primordial Spirit Pill!"

Yuan Tianchou happily handed over the ten Primordial Spirit Pills refined by Mu Qingying for Gu Qiming to see.

Mu Qingying also said excitedly from the side, "Master, that green flame really is a Dan fire that aids alchemy. Before, I could never condense the medicinal paste into a pill, but I never expected to succeed all at once this time."

Gu Qiming looked at the elixir and was also very happy. "Although it is only a low-grade pill, it is still successfully refined. Qingying, from this moment on, you are a true first-grade alchemist."

Cultivators' need for elixirs is enormous, but alchemists who can refine spirit pills are pitifully few.

The alchemists he knew were either trained by the imperial family or by a few established noble houses. To obtain spirit pills, one had to pay a great price to trade with them.

Mu Qingying looked at Gu Qiming. "Master, since that green flame is Dan fire, then the person who broke into the Medical Office tonight probably isn't a bad person, right?"

Gu Qiming looked at his disciple. "Qingying, you must remember that people cannot be simply defined as good or bad. In many cases, judgments of good and bad are merely a matter of different standpoints."

"The person who broke into the Medical Office tonight ignited the Dan fire on First Street. From your standpoint, he is a good person; but from your master's standpoint, he is an intruder."

Mu Qingying's smile faded. "Master, your disciple understands your meaning."

Gu Qiming hummed in acknowledgment and didn't say more. Some things had to be experienced oneself; otherwise, too much talk from others was useless. "By the way, did your wooden tokens show anything unusual today?"

Yuan Tianchou: "It suddenly lit up tonight."

Mu Qingying echoed, "It was a white gleam. When the white gleam shone, a pattern flashed on the wooden token, but the gleam disappeared quickly, and your disciple didn't clearly see what the pattern was."

After hearing this, Gu Qiming quickly took out his own token from a wooden box on the bookshelf, examined it carefully, and found that there was no change.

This time, he didn't put the wooden token back; instead, he wore it on his person.

At this moment, spiritual energy fluctuations came from outside.

Gu Qiming knew it was the few cultivators who had gone to pursue the person returning. He told his two disciples to continue alchemy and quickly walked out.

"Office Chief."

Gu Qiming saw that they had returned on their own and had not caught the intruder, and he was not surprised at all.

An alchemist capable of igniting Dan fire definitely had no low cultivation level.

The Medical Office had nine cultivators stationed there. The highest cultivation level was Pei Shumo, who had advanced to the Core Formation realm tonight. The others: four were at the Qi Sea realm, and four were still at the Qi Refining realm.

Unless Pei Shumo acted personally, perhaps there was a chance to catch the person.

"You didn't catch the person, but did you clearly see his build and features?"

The several cultivators all shook their heads.

"That person's speed was too fast; we only saw an afterimage that flashed past and disappeared."

Gu Qiming frowned. "Even if his speed was fast, you had spirit detection tools. Couldn't you track him?"

"Office Chief, before we even chased him out of the inner city, the spiritual energy fluctuations disappeared. That person either cultivated a concealing aura technique or had a magic artifact that blocked spiritual energy."

Gu Qiming took a deep breath. An alchemist capable of igniting Dan fire having more tricks was understandable.

However, thinking about the cultivators he would face in the future who would have more and more tricks, his expression turned somewhat grave.

"It's been a hard night. You all go back and rest."

After the several cultivators left, Gu Qiming closed his eyes and sensed the dense spiritual energy in the air, murmuring under his breath, "Could the rumor be true? Is this place really a sacred land?"

The mystery of the Medical Office—he had noticed it on his very first day entering the Medical Office, but he had never found concrete evidence.

But tonight, the Dan fire had ignited in the two lanterns at the center of First Street. He had a strong feeling that a crack had been opened in the mystery of the Dan Saint Hall.

At this moment, Gu Qiming was somewhat excited and stirred, yet also somewhat anxious and panicked.

The excitement came from the thought that if the Medicine Department truly was a sacred land, his benefits as its director would be unimaginably great.

The anxiety and panic came from facing uncertain, unknown matters, giving him a feeling of losing control.

Before today, he believed he had complete control over the Medicine Department, but now, looking at those two lanterns burning with Pill Fire, there were things he could not control.

Perhaps, in the near future, he would no longer be able to control the Medicine Department.

After shaking off the few cultivators chasing her, Hua Changxi cautiously sneaked back to the Chores Hall.

Returning to her own courtyard, Hua Changxi's heart was still pounding violently.

Green flames, Dan fragrance...

Hua Changxi thought of something, quickly took out the "Dan Saint's Notes" from Jiang Laodao's storage ring and started flipping through it. Soon, her expression shook: "Pill Fire, the green flames are actually Pill Fire!"

After learning what the green flames were, Hua Changxi showed an expression of having suffered a great loss.

Pill Fire could help alchemists achieve clarity of thought and improve their alchemy skills, yet she had helped the Medicine Department light the Pill Fire on First Street without gaining any benefits.

"Pill Fire is condensed from Dan Ze, and Dan Ze is emitted from supreme-grade pills."

"Dan Ze..."

Hua Changxi took out a first-grade supreme-grade pill she had refined and looked at the Ze charm lingering on the pill.

"Eh, that's not right."

According to the rank hierarchy of the Nine Streets, the highest status was First Street, and the lowest was Ninth Street.

The pill she refined was first-grade, so she should have lit the lantern on Ninth Street.

But now she had lit the Pill Fire on First Street. What did this mean?

It meant the Medicine Department had it reversed; Ninth Street was the highest status street, corresponding to ninth-grade pills; First Street was the lowest, corresponding to first-grade pills.

Following this deduction, the entire status distribution pattern of the Medicine Department would have to be turned upside down.

Hua Changxi thought again of the Old Courtyard and the Stone Tripod: "So, the Old Courtyard is the most core and most important place in the Medicine Department."

If the Old Courtyard was the core, then following the principle of decreasing importance, Qihuang Hall was even more important than the Nine Streets.

"What exactly is Qihuang Hall for?"

Hua Changxi took out the wooden token and saw that a silver-white sword pattern had appeared in the center of the token. Her eyes widened: "Caused by lighting the Pill Fire?"

"And what does this sword represent?"

Hua Changxi felt somewhat exasperated, as if the Medicine Department was a maze she had stumbled into.

To investigate why the wooden token had flashed, she had inadvertently lit the Pill Fire on First Street. If she continued to pursue the purpose of the sword, would she cause an even bigger commotion?

The more Hua Changxi thought about it, the more her head ached. Finally, too lazy to rack her brains, she put away the wooden token and lay down on the bed to cultivate.

An hour later, Hua Changxi sat up excitedly.

Her cultivation speed had skyrocketed!

After cultivating for one hour, her cultivation level had increased to two hundred thousand points!

[Realm: Core Formation 35.05 million / 10 million]

During this period, by teaching pharmacology to the people of the Chores Hall and absorbing the incense fire from Five Finger Mountain, her cultivation only increased by a thousand points per day.

After two months of accumulation, her cultivation speed had increased to a point where she could raise her spiritual power by one hundred thousand points per hour.

Yesterday alone, it had skyrocketed by one hundred thousand points.

What had she done? Just lit the Pill Fire.

It seemed that lighting the Pill Fire had still brought her benefits.

Hua Changxi immediately felt less like she had suffered a loss, and at the same time found another good way to increase her cultivation.

The Medicine Department had nine streets, and the Pill Fire on the remaining eight streets was still unlit—all of these were territories she needed to conquer.

"The spiritual energy in the Medicine Department seems much richer too."

No wonder her cultivation speed had increased so much—she was definitely riding the wave of the spiritual energy revival.

After all that fussing around, her cultivation speed shot up dramatically, and Hua Changxi was pleased: "As the old saying goes, life lies in fussing around."

If she hadn't fussed around, could her cultivation speed have improved so quickly?

The mystical side of this world still required her to explore it bravely.

Intruders had broken into the Medical Bureau again and also lit two lanterns on First Street. This news spread like a tsunami to all interested parties.

Early the next morning, a heavyweight figure arrived at the Medical Bureau—Wei Zhenjie, the Minister of the Heavenly Department.

After learning from Gu Qiming about what had happened the previous night, Wei Zhenjie went to the Square Old Yard to see Gu Xing.

The next day, Hua Changxi, as usual, gave half an hour's lecture on pharmacology to the Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh Bureaus. After class, hearing the servants buzzing about the previous night's events, she calmly prepared to go study the Qihuang Hall.

On the way there, she saw many people heading toward the square. Worried that Gu Xing might be in trouble again, she followed along.

Unfortunately, before she could even get close to the square, she was stopped by someone.

Only then did Hua Changxi learn that the Minister of the Heavenly Department had arrived.

"It seems the intruders who broke into the Medical Bureau last night are no small fry, to have attracted even the Minister of the Heavenly Department."

Hua Changxi looked toward the direction of the voice and found it was disciples from the Disciple Hall discussing the matter; judging by their words and demeanor, they were likely from noble families.

As she withdrew her gaze, Hua Changxi noticed a young woman inside actually smiled and nodded at her, as if greeting her.

Hua Changxi took a serious look at her, didn't recognize her, and decisively looked away.