Having made up his mind, Zhou Chen no longer hesitated.
"System, upgrade first rank talisman master to second rank perfection."
[The host consumes forty favorability points to upgrade to a second rank spirit talisman master.]
[The host consumes sixty favorability points to upgrade to second rank perfection.]
It was getting late, and Zhou Chen did not plan on performing alchemy anymore.
After swallowing another Soul Nurturing Pill, he took out the Great Expansion Technique.
"I want to see if this sect protecting cultivation method of the Puppet Sect is truly as miraculous as described."
Under his mental perception, the contents of the scroll quickly merged into his mind.
The divine soul is essentially a cultivator’s highly condensed mental strength, used to perceive and investigate the outside world.
This is also one of the manifestations of highly condensed mental strength.
The area where mental strength resides is called the sea of consciousness.
This is also the source of mental power and the place that carries one’s will.
However, after studying it carefully for a while, Zhou Chen put away the Great Expansion Technique once again.
"A soul stone. Where should I look for such a thing?"
He had never even heard of a soul stone before.
But to cultivate the Great Expansion Technique, the assistance of a soul stone was mandatory.
Whether it was refining mental strength or expanding the mental sea of consciousness, the help of a soul stone was required.
Although he really wanted to see how profound the Great Expansion Technique would be once successfully cultivated, for now, he had to set it aside.
"Perhaps I should take Nan Qiao to see Xiao Ling’er?"
Nan Qiao’s favorability was stuck at eighty eight points, which was already extremely high.
Once favorability breaks through ninety, it reaches the level of sharing life and death, never to be parted.
But the further favorability points go, the harder they are to increase.
However, if he took Nan Qiao to see Xiao Ling’er, in the joy of the mother and daughter’s reunion, Zhou Chen was sixty percent sure that Nan Qiao’s favorability could break through ninety points.
The problem was that the Hidden Moon Sect was too far away, and the danger along the way was too high.
"Forget it. I will think about this after I break through to the Foundation Establishment Stage."
A whole night passed.
He refined another seven batches of medicinal pills: two batches of Spirit Origin Pills, three batches of Lihuo Pills, and two batches of Shenxing Pills.
Zhou Chen swallowed a Shenxing Pill.
A vast amount of wind attribute spiritual qi circulated methodically within his body.
His whole body felt as light as a feather, an unprecedented sense of ease.
Zhou Chen simply started sprinting at full speed in the courtyard.
But as soon as his body took a step, he appeared at the top of the wall.
Fortunately, the Five Elements Covering Heaven Formation activated automatically, and the spiritual qi shield bounced him back.
Otherwise, with his physical body, if he really slammed straight into the wall, he would have definitely smashed a hole through it.
"Three times, or five times the speed?"
As expected of a second rank pill.
With such a speed boost, even an early Foundation Establishment Stage cultivator would not be able to catch him easily.
After all, although flying on a sword is fast, it also consumes a great deal of spiritual qi.
Moreover, besides medicinal pills, he could also supplement them with the power of spirit talismans.
As for the Pomo Pill, since he had not encountered any evil cultivators yet, he had not had the chance to test it.
The days passed methodically.
At noon, Li Yan came by and went into the room to catch up with Chen Tingwan.
No one knew if they would come out of this trip to the Xue Jin Secret Realm alive.
Seeing the Senior Brother Li she had been longing for, Chen Tingwan could not help but burst into tears.
"Senior Brother Li, maybe you should not go."
Even if you go, you might not find the necessary spirit herb.
Even if you find it, you might not be able to come out alive.
If that is the case, why gamble your life to save a dying person like her?
Li Yan did not answer her question. Everyone has their own path to choose.
And the path he chose was to save his dao companion.
Even if it meant sacrificing his life, he would not hesitate.
"Junior Sister Chen, if I cannot return alive, having Senior Brother Zhou look after you will fulfill one of my wishes."
Thinking of Zhou Chen’s care for her, Chen Tingwan’s thoughts were complicated, and she rarely showed a faint smile.
"Yes. Senior Brother Zhou is a good person."
But soon Li Yan noticed something was wrong and said in astonishment.
"Junior Sister Chen, your fire poison has been expelled?"
In the past, if one got even slightly close to Chen Tingwan, they would feel a wave of scorching heat hitting them.
Today, even at such close proximity, he did not notice anything unusual.
Chen Tingwan smiled bitterly and said, "No. But Senior Brother Zhou found a Hundred Year Profound Ice Pill for me to help suppress the fire poison."
As she spoke, she took out a whole bottle of Hundred Year Profound Ice Pills.
After taking one last night, her body had not felt any abnormalities until today.
When Li Yan heard Hundred Year Profound Ice Pill, his brow twitched violently.
"A second rank Hundred Year Profound Ice Pill?"
With his entire net worth, he probably could not even afford to buy this bottle of Hundred Year Profound Ice Pills.
After all, unlike medicinal pills that improve cultivation, the Profound Ice Pill has a single use, is rare, and its price is over ten spirit stones.
"I do not know if I will ever have the chance to repay Senior Brother Zhou’s great kindness in this life."
But this way, he was completely at ease.
Even if he did not return, at least Junior Sister Chen would not have to suffer the torment of fire poison in her final days.
It was not that he had not thought about looking for the third rank Thousand Year Profound Ice Pill.
But that thing was too rare. Ordinary alchemists simply would not know how to refine it.
The connections of a third rank alchemist are at least at the Golden Core Stage, and they could even get to know Nascent Soul Stage cultivators.
How could a mere Qi Refining Stage cultivator have the chance to know such people?
Li Yan did not stay long and left silently.
This time he did not look back, making his final preparations with a determination of no return.
Zhou Chen sighed.
However, he soon put the matter out of his mind and focused on refining talisman paper.
In the cultivation world, death is a common occurrence.
Fortunately, he had purchased hundred year wolf demon beast blood and a new demon beast writing brush in advance.
"Spirit talisman master is truly a money burning profession. No wonder they are even rarer than alchemists."
Buying these things was not much cheaper than ordinary medicinal herbs.
Not to mention that the higher the level of a talisman master, the more precious the materials required.
Take the simplest yellow talisman, for example. Spirit talismans above the fourth rank simply cannot be drawn on a yellow talisman.
They must be on specially made demon beast hides to withstand the massive spiritual power.
Yesterday, he had sent away Li Ronger and Bai Xue.
He estimated that no female cultivators would come looking for him in the next couple of days.
Thus, just as he was about to enter secluded cultivation, a weak fluctuation of spiritual qi came from the side room.
This made Zhou Chen feel a surge of joy.
"Nan Qiao succeeded."
Since he did not know if Nan Qiao had three spiritual roots or four spiritual roots, he did not know exactly how long it would take for her to successfully draw qi into her body.
Therefore, he was not sure of the specific timing.
[Congratulations to the host. Nan Qiao’s favorability +1. Current favorability is eighty nine points.]
[The host currently has ten favorability points available for use.]