Chapter 53: Mid-Grade, Seeking Elixir

Metal, Wood, Fire, Earth!

He Pingsheng cultivated four cultivation techniques.

Yet he possessed only three spells.

Fire Crow Spell, Fire Shield Spell, Earth Armor Spell.

Two of them were defensive, one offensive.

Combined with the Green Wood Shield he had already refined, he now had four defensive methods.

But his offensive method was still only the Fire Crow Spell.

A bit too few.

He flipped through several cultivation texts but found no better spells to cultivate.

Yet for He Pingsheng, this was sufficient for now—he believed that with his four dantians, he could crush any opponent of the same level.

His last battle had taught him one truth: talismans were crucial.

If necessary, he should buy more talismans.

What should he do next?

Continue cultivating to break through to Qi Refining seventh level, or seek a fifth cultivation text to complete the Five Elements?

He Pingsheng had no obsessive tendencies, but he felt that if he gathered all Five Elements, it would surely bring benefits and no harm.

Then let’s go take a look!

He opened his courtyard gate and stepped outside.

This time he did not go to the Treasure Tower behind, but went straight down the mountain to the shop on the second floor of the Outer Gate Hall.

“Senior brother… p-please… what would you like?”

The Outer Gate disciple bowed deeply upon seeing He Pingsheng.

He Pingsheng unleashed his spiritual sense without restraint.

He had no need to consider the other’s feelings.

The disciple’s cultivation base was not low—he was Qi Refining fifth level.

“I want two sets of materials for Golden Bone Elixir!”

The Golden Bone Elixir was the first elixir He Pingsheng had ever encountered; when he was a laborer, Sister Luo Yu gave him two pills, which he later upgraded into a supreme-grade Golden Bone Elixir.

Consuming a supreme-grade Golden Bone Elixir can instantly heal any flesh wound.

Extremely miraculous.

This item was vital—swallowing one at a critical moment could save your life.

After his last fight, He Pingsheng decided he must stock up on Golden Bone Elixir.

After obtaining two sets of Golden Bone Elixir materials, He Pingsheng wandered around the hall.

He looked around but saw no Water-element cultivation text.

“No Water-element text?” He Pingsheng asked.

“None!” The Outer Gate disciple smiled weakly: “Outer Gate resources are scarce… but if Senior Brother needs a Water-element text, I have a way!”

“Oh?” He Pingsheng looked at the disciple.

The disciple whispered: “I myself cultivate a family-transmitted Water-element text… if Senior Brother wants it, I can copy a copy for you!”

“Hehehehe…”

The disciple smiled, appearing simple and earnest, as he watched He Pingsheng.

He couldn’t bring himself to say it outright.

But He Pingsheng understood—he thought for a moment and said: “Outer Gate texts usually sell for thirty-five spirit stones. If it’s a complete Water-element text, I’ll give you thirty.”

“If it includes a Water-element spell, I’ll give you fifty.”

Low-tier texts sometimes came with spells, sometimes didn’t.

It varied.

That’s why He Pingsheng made this offer.

“Fine!” the disciple said: “I’ll copy it first—Senior Brother come back in a few days!”

“Don’t worry, my text includes a Water-element spell!”

“Mm.” He Pingsheng nodded. After agreeing on the place and time, he returned to his small courtyard on Xiuzhu Peak.

Continue refining elixirs.

Because he had monthly quotas.

For the next several days, He Pingsheng refined elixirs nonstop.

He first refined two batches of Golden Bone Elixir—and to his surprise, all succeeded, no failed pills.

Moreover, in one batch, four out of the finished products were mid-grade.

This delighted He Pingsheng immensely.

Though for him, quality didn’t matter—he had the Treasure Basin to enhance them—yet producing mid-grade elixirs meant his refining skill had improved, which was worth celebrating.

After finishing the Golden Bone Elixir, he refined Qi Gathering Elixir.

One batch!

Two batches!

Three batches!

His success rate didn’t improve much—he still only succeeded in about one-third of his Qi Gathering Elixir batches.

But he noticed that four out of the five batches he completed contained mid-grade pills.

Each batch yielded four mid-grade and eight low-grade pills.

He Pingsheng didn’t hoard them—he handed all the elixirs over to Zhao Linger.

When Zhao Linger inspected them and found so many mid-grade pills, she was overjoyed: “Little brother… you… you can now produce mid-grade Qi Gathering Elixir?”

This was excellent news.

Mid-grade elixirs were vastly superior to low-grade ones.

First, potency.

A single mid-grade Qi Gathering Elixir had more than double the potency of a low-grade one.

Second, toxicity.

All medicine carries some poison, and elixirs were no exception.

Whether high, mid, or low-grade, all elixirs contained impurities—the source of their toxicity.

The toxicity of mid-grade elixirs was one-tenth that of low-grade ones.

Thus, mid-grade elixirs were far more popular among cultivators.

“Maybe it’s because I’ve refined so much—my skill just improved!” He Pingsheng grinned, scratching the back of his head with a simple look: “Sister, I’ve been in the sect for two years, refining for two years—my skill improving is normal!”

“Yes, yes, yes!” Zhao Linger said: “This is wonderful news…”

“Come on, let’s report this to Master!”

The two entered Yuning Palace. Yuning True Person was also pleased and rewarded He Pingsheng with two hundred spirit stones.

After leaving Yuning Palace, He Pingsheng went back down the mountain to the Outer Gate.

Because the agreed time with the disciple had arrived.

Outer Gate, a secluded spot.

“Senior Brother… look, this is my family’s cultivation text—this is the copy I made for you!”

“Compare them!”

He Pingsheng picked up both texts and compared them.

He had to be meticulous!

Cultivation texts were special—no single character could be wrong.

It took him half an hour to verify every single character, then he said: “Good… no errors!”

“Here are fifty spirit stones!”

“Don’t tell anyone about this.”

“Senior Brother, rest assured!” the disciple said: “This is my family’s secret text—I’m ashamed to even admit I have it, how could I spread it?”

“Alright.” He Pingsheng bowed: “Goodbye!”

Back at his Xiuzhu Peak courtyard, He Pingsheng said nothing—he immediately threw the Water-element text into the [Treasure Basin] and began enhancing it.

Less than half a stick of incense passed when he heard noisy commotion outside.

Along with loud, rude knocking: “Senior Brother He… Senior Brother He, are you in… come out quickly!”

He Pingsheng frowned slightly: Impolite.

He remembered clearly—he had just hung a “Closed for Seclusion” sign on his gate.

He saw I was in seclusion, yet still knocks like that?

Still, since someone was calling, he had to go see.

Reluctantly, He Pingsheng rose and opened the courtyard gate.

Outside stood a woman in red robes. She saw He Pingsheng and blurted: “You’re He Pingsheng? Perfect… here, I have ten sets of materials—refine ten batches of mid-grade Qi Gathering Elixir for me!”