Chapter 96: Cultivation Speed Surges Dramatically

Beneath the pitch-black night sky, the green flames initially induced a sense of palpitation, yet the rich fragrance of pills filling the air conveyed a vibrant vitality thriving within the stillness.

Gu Qiming stood at the railing of the ninth floor of the Medical Bureau building, looking down at First Street, which was completely enveloped in green radiance, his expression somewhat grave.

Behind him stood Yuan Tianchou and Mu Qingying.

Yuan Tianchou asked, "Master, what are those green flames inside the lanterns?"

Gu Qiming shook his head, indicating that he did not know either.

Mu Qingying interjected, "The green flames emit a strong scent of pills; could they be the Pill Fire mentioned in the 'Handbook of the Pill Ancestor'?"

Upon hearing this, both Gu Qiming and Yuan Tianchou turned to look at Mu Qingying.

"Pill Fire..." Gu Qiming murmured, his eyes suddenly brightening as he quickly instructed Yuan Tianchou and Mu Qingying, "Tianchou, Qingying, you two must immediately go to my office to refine pills; refine those spirit pills you have always failed to produce."

Both Yuan Tianchou and Mu Qingying understood Gu Qiming's intent; they nodded in agreement and hastily descended the stairs.

Watching his two disciples depart, Gu Qiming once again gazed at First Street, shrouded in green light, his eyes flashing with astonishing brilliance.

Pill Fire is condensed from Pill Halo.

Just as swordsmen and blade masters, upon reaching the pinnacle of their cultivation, can cultivate Sword Intent and Blade Intent, so too can alchemists who refine their craft to the utmost extreme produce spirit pills that radiate a Pill Halo.

This Pill Halo contains the Dao rhyme of pill refinement; the Pill Fire condensed from it is the optimal spiritual flame for assisting alchemists in achieving thorough comprehension and breaking through bottlenecks.

Pill Halo only radiates from nearly perfect top-grade pills; the individual who breached the Medical Bureau must be an alchemist whose refinement of first-grade spirit pills has reached a state of divine mastery, allowing the Pill Halo staining their person to condense into Pill Fire and ignite the lanterns.

"Who is that person?"

"Are they someone from the Medical Bureau?"

Gu Qiming mentally reviewed every alchemist within the Medical Bureau capable of refining spirit pills, then shook his head.

No, it was not someone from the Medical Bureau.

If the Medical Bureau truly possessed such a formidable alchemist, it would be impossible for him not to know.

"Where did that person emerge from?"

"Could it be that another mysterious family has surfaced, setting their sights on the Medical Bureau?"

Thinking of how the Medical Bureau had attracted the attention of various factions gave Gu Qiming a headache; were it not for his status as a trusted confidant of the Minister of the Heaven Division, his position as Director of the Medical Bureau might not have been secure.

At that moment, a fluctuation of spiritual energy emanated from a room on the ninth floor; upon sensing it, Gu Qiming's expression trembled slightly, and he strode quickly toward it.

"Shumo, are you alright?"

With a 'creak', the door opened.

Gu Qiming entered the room and looked at the young man sitting cross-legged in meditation at the center; sensing the powerful fluctuation of spiritual energy surrounding him, he asked in surprise, "Shumo, have you become a Core Formation cultivator?"

A look of obvious joy appeared on Pei Shumo's face as he nodded to Gu Qiming, but then his expression turned grave: "Director, the concentration of spiritual energy in the Medical Bureau surged twice today."

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

"The current concentration of spiritual energy in the Medical Bureau is at least ten times what it was before; had the spiritual energy not surged so suddenly, I would not have been able to successfully condense my inner core."

Gu Qiming's expression trembled; when he returned earlier that day, he had indeed felt that the spiritual energy in the air seemed somewhat denser, but being in a hurry to meet Gu Xing, he had not given it further thought.

Just now, his full attention had been focused on the Pill Fire, so he had not noticed anything else.

Gu Qiming immediately sensed the concentration of spiritual energy in the air; indeed, just as Pei Shumo had said, the current density was far richer than before.

Consequently, he fell into deep contemplation.

What caused the spiritual energy concentration to surge twice?

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

"What happened during the day?"

Gu Qiming instructed Pei Shumo to solidify his cultivation, then quickly exited the room to inquire about the events of the day.

Upon learning that nothing particularly unusual had occurred at the Medical Bureau during the day, Gu Qiming recalled the incident where Gu Xing was driven away: "Could it be related to the Old Courtyard?"

Gu Qiming carefully recalled the scene of his meeting with Gu Xing earlier that day; it was no different from previous encounters, with Gu Xing remaining silent as always and the Old Courtyard unchanged as usual.

Suddenly, Gu Qiming's eyes brightened: "Three wooden tablets are missing!"

Today, before his arrival, someone had entered the Old Courtyard—at least three people.

Although the wooden tablets of the Old Courtyard appeared to hang on the wall for anyone to take, they were not easily obtained; having entered and exited the Old Courtyard ten times himself, he had expended tremendous effort to retrieve just one tablet.

He did not know the exact function of the wooden tablets, but he could sense their extraordinariness; therefore, every time he visited the Old Courtyard to see Gu Xing, he would pay close attention to the number of tablets.

Recalling how the wooden tablets on the wall in the Old Courtyard had all glowed with white light, Gu Qiming's eyes flashed.

The moment the wooden tablets emitted white light should have coincided with the ignition of the Pill Fire; was there some connection between the two?

Remembering that he still possessed a wooden tablet, Gu Qiming returned to his office; as soon as he entered, he smelled a rich fragrance of pills.

"Master, Junior Sister has successfully refined Spirit Origin Pills!"

Yuan Tianchou happily presented the ten Spirit Origin Pills refined by Mu Qingying to Gu Qiming.

Mu Qingying also spoke excitedly from the side, "Master, that green flame truly is Pill Fire that assists in pill refinement; previously, I could never condense the medicinal paste into a pill, yet this time, I succeeded immediately."

Looking at the pills, Gu Qiming was also extremely delighted: "Although they are only low-grade pills, they have indeed been successfully refined; Qingying, from this moment forth, you are truly a first-grade alchemist."

Cultivators have an immense demand for pills, yet alchemists capable of refining spirit pills are pitifully scarce.

The alchemists he knew of were either cultivated by the imperial family or by several established noble families; obtaining spirit pills required paying a heavy price to acquire them from these sources.

Mu Qingying looked at Gu Qiming and asked, "Master, since that green flame is Pill Fire, the person who breached the Medical Bureau tonight probably isn't a bad person, right?"

Gu Qiming looked at his disciple and said, "Qingying, you must remember that people cannot be simply defined as good or bad; often, the judgment of good and evil depends merely on differing standpoints."

"The person who breached the Medical Bureau tonight ignited the Pill Fire of First Street; from your standpoint, they are a good person, but from your master's standpoint, they are an intruder."

The smile on Mu Qingying's face vanished: "Master, your disciple understands your meaning."

Gu Qiming hummed in acknowledgment and said no more, knowing that some things must be experienced personally, for too many words from others are useless; "By the way, did your wooden tablets show any abnormalities today?"

Yuan Tianchou replied, "They suddenly flashed briefly tonight."

Mu Qingying added in agreement, "It was a streak of white light; when the white light appeared, a pattern flashed across the tablet, but the light vanished so quickly that your disciple could not make out what the pattern was."

Upon hearing this, Gu Qiming quickly retrieved his own tablet from a wooden box on the bookshelf and examined it carefully, discovering that it had undergone no changes.

This time, he did not put the wooden tablet away but wore it on his person.

At this moment, a fluctuation of spiritual energy came from outside.

Gu Qiming knew it was the few cultivators who had gone in pursuit returning; he instructed his two disciples to continue refining pills while he hurried out.

"Director."

Seeing that they had returned alone without capturing the intruder, Gu Qiming felt not the slightest surprise.

An alchemist capable of igniting Pill Fire absolutely possessed high cultivation.

The Medical Bureau had nine cultivators stationed there; the highest in cultivation was Pei Shumo, who had just advanced to the Core Formation realm tonight, while the others consisted of four at the Qi Sea realm and four still at the Qi Refining realm.

Unless Pei Shumo personally took action, there might be a chance of capturing the person.

"You didn't catch the person, but did you get a clear look at their figure and appearance?"

The few cultivators all shook their heads.

"That person was too fast; we only saw a fleeting afterimage."

Gu Qiming frowned: "Even if their speed was great, you possess Spirit-Detecting Devices; could you not track them?"

"Director, we had not yet chased out of the Inner City when the spiritual energy fluctuation disappeared; that person either cultivated a Breath-Concealing Technique or carries a treasure capable of shielding spiritual energy."

Gu Qiming took a deep breath; an alchemist capable of igniting Pill Fire having many tricks was understandable.

Yet, thinking that the cultivators he would face in the future would possess increasingly numerous methods, his expression became somewhat grave.

"You have worked hard all night; go back and rest."

After the few cultivators departed, Gu Qiming closed his eyes to feel the rich spiritual energy in the air, murmuring softly: "Could the rumors be true? Is this place truly a sacred land?"

He had sensed the mystery of the Medical Bureau on his very first day entering it, but he had never found concrete evidence.

However, tonight, with Pill Fire igniting within the two lanterns at the center of First Street, he had a strong feeling that a crack had been torn open in the mysteries of the Pill Saint Hall.

At this moment, Gu Qiming felt both exhilarated and anxious.

What exhilarated him was that if the Medical Bureau truly was a sacred land, then he, as its Director, would undoubtedly gain unimaginable benefits.

What made him anxious was the sense of losing control when facing unknown and uncertain matters.

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

Perhaps, in the near future, he would no longer be able to control the Medical Bureau.

After evading the few cultivators pursuing her, Hua Changxi carefully sneaked back to the Labor Hall.

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

Green flame, pill fragrance...

Hua Changxi thought of something, quickly took out the "Pill Saint's Notes" from Elder Jiang's storage ring, and began flipping through it; soon, her expression shook: "Pill Fire! The green flame is actually Pill Fire!"

Knowing what the green flame was, Hua Changxi wore an expression of having suffered a huge loss.

Pill Fire could help an alchemist achieve mental clarity and improve their pill refining techniques; she had helped the Medical Bureau ignite the Pill Fire of First Street yet received no benefit whatsoever.

"Pill Fire is condensed from Pill Mist, and Pill Mist is emitted by supreme-grade pills."

"Pill Mist..."

Hua Changxi took out a supreme-grade first-rank pill she had refined herself, observing the misty rhyme swirling around the medicinal pill.

"Eh, that's not right."

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

She had refined a first-rank pill, so she should have ignited the lanterns of Ninth Street.

But now, the Pill Fire ignited was that of First Street; what did this signify?

It meant the Medical Bureau had it backwards: Ninth Street was the street of highest status, corresponding to ninth-rank pills; First Street was the lowest, corresponding to first-rank pills.

Inferring thus, the status distribution pattern of the Medical Bureau needed to be completely inverted.

Hua Changxi thought again of the Old Courtyard and the stone cauldron: "So, the Old Courtyard is truly the most core and important location of the Medical Bureau."

If the Old Courtyard was the core, then following the rule of decreasing importance, the Qihuang Hall's importance exceeded even that of the Nine Streets.

"What exactly is the Qihuang Hall for?"

Hua Changxi took out the wooden tablet and saw that a silver-white sword pattern had appeared in its center; she immediately widened her eyes: "Caused by igniting the Pill Fire?"

"What does this sword represent?"

Hua Changxi felt somewhat dramatic, feeling as though entering the Medical Bureau was like entering a maze.

In order to investigate the reason for the wooden tablet's flashing, she had inadvertently ignited the Pill Fire of First Street; if she continued to investigate the sword's purpose, would she cause an even greater disturbance?

The more Hua Changxi thought about it, the more her head hurt; finally, too lazy to rack her brain, she put away the wooden tablet, lay prone on her bed, and began cultivating.

One hour later, Hua Changxi sat up exhilarated.

Her cultivation speed had skyrocketed!

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

[Realm: Core Formation Realm 35.05 million / 10 million]

During this period, relying on teaching pharmaceutical knowledge to the people of the Labor Hall and absorbing incense qi from Mount Wuzhi, her daily cultivation growth speed had been only one thousand points.

Two months of accumulation had only increased her cultivation speed to an improvement of one hundred thousand spiritual energy points per hour.

Yet yesterday, in a single day, it had skyrocketed by one hundred thousand points.

What had she done? She had simply ignited the Pill Fire.

It seemed that by igniting the Pill Fire, she had indeed received benefits.

Hua Changxi immediately felt less aggrieved about her loss, while simultaneously discovering a good method to increase her cultivation base.

The Medical Bureau had nine streets; the Pill Fire of the remaining eight streets had not yet been ignited, and these were all territories she needed to conquer.

"The spiritual energy of the Medical Bureau seems much richer as well."

No wonder her cultivation speed had increased so much; she had definitely aligned herself with the grand trend of the spiritual energy recovery.

After all that commotion, her cultivation speed surged dramatically, making Hua Changxi delighted: "The old saying is indeed true: life lies in making a fuss."

If she hadn't made such a fuss, could her cultivation speed have improved so rapidly?

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

Thieves had broken into the Medical Bureau again and lit two lanterns on First Street; this news spread to all interested parties with the speed of a tsunami.

Early the next morning, a major figure who handled heavy matters with ease arrived at the Medical Bureau—Wei Zhenjie, Head of the Heaven Department.

After learning from Gu Qiming about what had happened the previous night, Wei Zhenjie went to the old courtyard in the square to see Gu Xing.

The next day, Hua Changxi, as usual, lectured the Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh Bureaus on pharmacology for half an hour; after class, hearing the laborers discussing the previous night's events with great interest, she maintained her composure and prepared to go study the Qihuang Hall.

On the way, seeing many people heading toward the square, she worried that Gu Xing might have encountered trouble again and followed them.

Unfortunately, before she could get close to the square, someone blocked her path.

Only then did Hua Changxi realize that the Head of the Heaven Department had arrived.

"It seems the thieves who broke into the Medical Bureau last night are no small fry, having even attracted the Head of the Heaven Department."

Hua Changxi looked in the direction of the voice and discovered members of the Disciple Hall discussing the matter; judging by their behavior and demeanor, they must have come from noble families.

As she withdrew her gaze, Hua Changxi noticed a young lady among them smiling and nodding at her, as if greeting her.

Hua Changxi carefully examined her, realized she did not know her, and decisively looked away.