As a newcomer, Nan Qiao looked at the small courtyard, which seemed clean and tidy.
She quietly took care of the clothes and tidied up the household chores inside the room.
From now on, this would be her new home.
The night passed in silence.
However, Nan Qiao had a strange feeling.
Big Brother Zhou seemed to be getting stronger and stronger.
Initially, the two of them could fight on equal terms, but later, she found herself defending more than attacking.
Today, she had no power to fight back at all. It had become a scene of complete suppression.
Nan Qiao fell into a deep sleep around the early hours of the morning.
Yet her daughter’s figure kept flashing through her mind, and tears unconsciously fell from her eyes.
Zhou Chen, however, did not rest as he usually did.
After reaching the seventh layer of Qi Refining, he basically did not need to rely on sleep for rest anymore.
Simply by circulating his cultivation technique, he could offset his body’s fatigue.
Zhou Chen got up and put on his clothes.
Activating a spiritual seal with his right hand, the formation emitted a faint ripple of spiritual qi, isolating the room and the courtyard into two separate worlds.
He then briefly checked the medicinal field to confirm that none of the spirit medicines had any issues.
Only then did he take out the medicinal ingredients from his storage pouch.
Half an hour later.
Zhou Chen held three smooth medicinal pills in his palm.
"Body Tempering Pill."
With his current abilities, he was still unable to let Nan Qiao step onto the path of immortality.
Not to mention that cultivation techniques were hard to find, he also did not know yet if Nan Qiao had a spiritual root.
But at the very least, he had to make Nan Qiao’s body healthier.
Firstly, the system still needed her.
Secondly, Nan Qiao always fainting halfway through was simply not right.
After finishing the Body Tempering Pills, Zhou Chen refined four more batches of Spiritual Energy Pills.
Twenty six high grade Spiritual Energy Pills and fourteen top grade Spiritual Energy Pills.
As he performed alchemy more frequently, he could produce one or two top grade pills in every batch.
The next day, early morning.
Zhou Chen opened his eyes, a sharp light flickering within them.
"Peak of the seventh layer of Qi Refining. If I take another Spiritual Energy Pill, I will be able to break through to the eighth layer of Qi Refining."
The thick spiritual qi in his body had increased by nearly ten percent compared to last night.
"It looks like it is time to find a new pill formula."
Medicinal pills are things one can build a resistance to.
If the same type of pill is taken too many times, one will become immune to it, and it will eventually lose its effect entirely.
Otherwise, would those personal disciples not be able to advance to the Foundation Establishment Stage extremely quickly just by relying on Spiritual Energy Pills?
Zhou Chen could clearly feel that the efficacy of the Spiritual Energy Pills was becoming less and less.
It had weakened by nearly five percent. He estimated that by the time he broke through to the ninth layer of Qi Refining, the Spiritual Energy Pills would have no effect at all.
"I should be satisfied."
If it were not for the fact that he had not taken a Spiritual Energy Pill for nearly ten years after the pill toxins entered his body, with the amount of pills he had swallowed previously, even high grade Spiritual Energy Pills would likely have lost their effect on him long ago.
When he was in Moyu City before, he had wanted to look for other pill formulas to improve his cultivation.
That place was quite remote, located on the west side of the Yin Yang Sect, and the spiritual qi was extremely thin.
Jiangdu City on the east side was where the cultivators truly gathered.
Just as Zhou Chen was calculating his plans, the formation was gently touched.
"Someone is here."
The formation he had set up had been triggered.
Zhou Chen put away the pill furnace and turned to walk outside.
A young girl in white was standing outside the courtyard gate.
Her jet black long hair fell over her shoulders, her legs were perfectly proportioned, and her waist was so slender it seemed it could be held in one hand.
Upon seeing Zhou Chen, the girl’s small face scrunched up, and she said aggrievedly,
"Senior Brother Zhou, I am still missing a stalk of Thunder Flame Grass for my sect mission. Please help me out."
As the little girl spoke, her slender and long index finger reached out and already gripped Zhou Chen’s sleeve.
Her red lips pouted slightly, putting on a pitiful appearance.
She had a posture that suggested she would not leave unless Zhou Chen agreed.
Seeing her, Zhou Chen rubbed his brow with a headache.
"Bai Xue, I am responsible for looking after the herb garden, but this entire herb garden belongs to the sect. You are making things very difficult for me."
Bai Xue was an introductory disciple who had entered the sect in recent years.
She had a cute and clever appearance and was usually well behaved in front of others.
Seeing his business like attitude, Bai Xue’s hands gradually climbed up his arms.
But she stopped at just the right point, not touching anything she should not.
A pair of pitiful puppy eyes looked at him helplessly.
"Senior Brother Zhou, please just help me. You have looked after the herb garden for many years. No one will blame you if one or two low grade medicinal herbs go missing.
Just think of it as taking pity on me. My cultivation talent is not good, and if I cannot complete the sect mission, I will be expelled from the sect.
You do not want to be unable to see your cute and clever junior sister in the future, do you?"
Being an outer sect disciple of a large sect was not easy.
The personal disciples of the sect master and elders naturally did not lack resources. In the early stages, they only needed to cultivate in peace.
As for inner sect disciples, they also had to do missions occasionally.
Not to mention the outer sect disciples.
There was a required number of missions every year, some hard and some easy.
If one failed to complete missions multiple times, they would lose their status as an outer sect disciple.
After all, the sect did not support idle people. If you wanted to cultivate in the sect and use the sect’s name, you had to let people see your value.
But Zhou Chen was not deceived by her sweet appearance.
This girl always liked to take on missions related to spirit medicine.
Whenever she could not complete a mission, she would run over and cry to him.
The spirit medicine garden Zhou Chen looked after was itself the lowest grade of spirit medicine garden.
Spirit medicines with real age or rare types of spirit medicine were all in the inner sect area, and it was not his turn to look after them.
Moreover, the inner sect disciples who regularly came to check the herb garden and collect the medicinal herbs had received favors from Zhou Chen in the early years. Out of consideration for their past relationship, they would not be too pedantic.
Even if one or two spirit medicines were missing, the higher ups would not blame him.
Zhou Chen felt the little girl had an outstanding appearance and might have some achievements in the future.
So he helped her out twice, and then the little girl, having tasted the benefits, had been pestering him ever since.
Just as Zhou Chen was about to refuse, a notification from the system came into his mind.
[Detected a female within a ten meter radius of the host with a comprehensive attribute score exceeding eighty points.]
[Name: Bai Xue]
[Age: Twenty two years old]
[Cultivation: Seventh layer of Qi Refining]
[Cultivation Technique: Illusion Moon Art]
[Charm: Eighty six]
[Spiritual Root: Three Spiritual Roots]
[Comprehensive Points: Eighty points]
A Three Spiritual Roots talent was mediocre at best.
The more cluttered the spiritual roots in a cultivator’s body, the more difficult it was to cultivate.
This was also why a genius with a single spiritual root was called a Heavenly Spiritual Root.
However, there were exceptions. A talent with five perfected spiritual roots far surpassed a Heavenly Spiritual Root.
But Zhou Chen’s Five Spiritual Roots were not perfected. They were just a cluttered mess of Five Spiritual Roots.
Although Bai Xue’s talent was much better than Zhou Chen’s, it was still only at a mediocre level.
Zhou Chen’s eyes instantly lit up, and his gaze swept over her indifferently.
"Junior Sister, do you really want the Thunder Flame Grass?"
However, he still had some doubts in his heart. Does the comprehensive score not look at spiritual root talent?
If a Three Spiritual Roots talent has a score of eighty, would the heroines with Heavenly Spiritual Roots not all have scores in the nineties?
Or could it be that, in the system’s judgment, spiritual roots are not that important?
Although Zhou Chen’s expression did not change at all, Bai Xue could not help but shiver, and the strength in her hand relaxed a bit.
"Um, yes, Senior Brother Zhou."
She could also spend spirit stones to buy this Thunder Flame Grass.
But it would cost at least two spirit stones, so it was naturally better to get it for free from Zhou Chen.