High noon on the fifth day.
Inside the great hall, Zhang Song stared at the small cauldron with bloodshot eyes, his expression impossibly grim.
Fan Zhengping, who was controlling the earth fire, kept his head buried, not daring to even glance at Zhang Song’s face.
Over the past five days, they had intermittently tested twenty-five pill formulas. Twenty-four of them had either been ruined by conflicting medicinal properties or resulted in a direct explosion. Fortunately, the pill furnace was of sturdy make; otherwise, they wouldn’t even have a furnace left.
Now, only the final pill formula remained. If it failed again, all the spirit herbs Zhang Song had painstakingly scavenged would undoubtedly go to waste.
“Stop trembling and focus!” Zhang Song barked, seeing Fan Zhengping shaking.
“Yes.” Fan Zhengping forced himself to calm down, struggling to control his hands.
A moment later, a whiff of medicinal aroma suddenly drifted out.
Zhang Song’s face lit up with joy. He rushed over and flung open the furnace lid. Seeing the three dark green pills inside, he immediately let out a long breath. “Good, excellent.”
Fan Zhengping hurried over to inspect them. “Master,” he said, his face alight with equal delight, “these are of the best quality in three years, aren’t they? And there are three of them.”
“Hmm.” Zhang Song nodded, pondering for a moment. “Although the quality is better than the previous batches, it still looks a bit lacking. I don’t know if the fire control was off or if it’s an issue with the medicinal herbs. Go drag that kid out to test them.”
Fan Zhengping nodded in obedience. Just as he turned to leave, his brow furrowed. He looked back nervously. “Ma-Master, those remaining three… they have all Awakened their spirit roots. What do you…”
He had intended to plead for Lu Li and the other two, but under Zhang Song’s oppressive presence, the words caught in his throat.
“Spirit roots?” Zhang Song eyed Fan Zhengping with suspicion. “What do you mean?”
Fan Zhengping trembled, his mind racing. “Th-This disciple was worried about Master overworking, so I took the liberty of feeding each of them five Awakening Pills. They… all Awakened. All of them… they all have Mixed Spirit Roots…”
“Bastard! No wonder my medicinal herbs were always short! You were the one meddling behind my back!” Zhang Song cursed furiously, abruptly driving a fierce palm strike into Fan Zhengping’s lower abdomen.
Fan Zhengping instantly flew backward out of the great hall, crashing heavily in the center of the courtyard. His head lolled to the side, and he spewed a mouthful of blood.
Zhang Song stood at the hall entrance, glaring at Fan Zhengping from afar. “I’ll deal with you later! Go bring those three brats out for me immediately!”
Fan Zhengping’s face turned utterly pale. He finally understood that in his Master’s heart, his life couldn’t compare to the mere promise of a Piercing Acupoint Pill. That palm strike had completely woken him up to reality.
Struggling to his feet, he staggered toward the adjacent room where Lu Li and the other two were imprisoned.
Hearing the door open, Lu Li immediately stood up. Seeing Fan Zhengping’s pale, pained face, surprise flashed in his eyes. “Senior Brother Fan, what happened to you…?” This chapter is updated first at novelping(.)com.
Fan Zhengping shook his head. “Master is back. I couldn’t help you. He ordered me to take you to test the pills. You three… pray for yourselves.”
“Test pills!”
Lu Li shuddered, a roaring sound echoing in his mind. It’s finally here.
He walked out of the room, watching Qin Shouren and Chen Zhong follow him out. Thick dread plastered both their faces.
Fan Zhengping sighed softly and pushed the words out with difficulty. “Let’s go. This batch of pills is of good quality. With enough luck, you might not just survive, but even gain some benefits.”
Seeing the three rooted to the spot, Fan Zhengping added, “Don’t even think about running. Master is the one who beat me like this…”
“Let’s go.”
Lu Li glanced at Qin Shouren and Chen Zhong, muttered softly, and took the lead.
“I-I don’t want to die.” Qin Shouren followed closely behind Lu Li, his hands trembling violently.
“What’s there to fear? We die with our balls facing the sky! If us three brothers die together, the worst that happens is we reincarnate and try again in eighteen years. Maybe next time we’ll even get good spirit roots.” Chen Zhong seemed to have accepted his fate, trying to psyche himself up.
Lu Li’s heart relaxed slightly upon hearing this. “Fatty Chen is right. Sticking your neck out gets it chopped, hiding it gets it chopped too. Maybe Senior Brother Fan is right—what if our luck holds?”
He said it, but Lu Li knew deep down that even if they survived the test, they were already dead men.
According to Fan Zhengping, that pill formula was extremely precious. If the test succeeded, there was no way Zhang Song would let them leave alive to spill the secret.
When the group arrived at the great hall, Zhang Song was already pacing impatiently.
He grabbed Lu Li, yanked him forward, pried his jaws open, and forcefully shoved a pill inside. “Swallow it,” he ordered, his voice cold as ice. “Do not make this old man lose his temper.”
Meeting his gaze, Lu Li felt as though he had plunged into a freezing abyss. His throat convulsed, and he swallowed the pill.
Zhang Song beckoned Chen Zhong and Qin Shouren over, handing each of them a pill. “Eat it.”
Fan Zhengping leaned against the doorway, watching the scene unfold with an indescribable bitterness in his heart.
The moment the medicinal power hit his stomach, Lu Li felt an extremely tyrannical force violently rampaging through his Dantian.
After Awakening a spirit root, a cultivator would manifest their first Qi meridian. The Qi meridian connected to the barrier of the Dantian, and the first acupoint lay squarely upon that barrier. Fan Zhengping had mentioned that the Piercing Acupoint Pill’s purpose was to aid in blowing through these acupoints.
“Argh!”
A heart-piercing agony suddenly struck. Lu Li felt as if someone were gouging his insides with a sharp knife. The moment his concentration faltered, the tyrannical force immediately recoiled, ricocheting violently around inside his Dantian.
He had to risk it!
Lu Li steadied his mind, rallying the power to smash into the acupoint once more.
“Argh!”
Another miserable scream tore from his throat.
Watching Lu Li’s contorted face and hearing his agonizing screams, Zhang Song began to lose hope.
Beside him, Qin Shouren and Chen Zhong also seemed to have discovered the trick to it. Their screams rose and fell in quick succession.
A moment later.
Lu Li suddenly heard a soft pop. Looking inward, he discovered that a hole had actually opened at the top of his Dantian, revealing a pitch-black cavity. The other end of this cavity connected flawlessly to his Qi meridian.
It was open!
Lu Li could hardly believe it. He had actually stepped into the first level of Qi Refining just like that.
They said the first acupoint was the hardest to break through. Who would have thought that a single Piercing Acupoint Pill would help him blast through the most critical bottleneck? Even though there were still ninety-nine acupoints left to open in the first level, he was now, undeniably, a first-level Qi Refining cultivator.
Lu Li swayed unsteadily, his expression gradually returning to normal.
Seeing this, shock and suspicion flashed across Zhang Song’s face. He immediately rushed toward Lu Li.
Not good!
Lu Li’s expression shifted. His mind raced frantically. Without waiting for the old man to draw near, he threw himself backward onto the floor, twisting his face into an expression of utmost agony as he writhed and rolled across the ground.
Beside him, Chen Zhong had also opened his acupoint. He was just about to happily report his success when he spotted Lu Li thrashing on the ground, frantically shooting him meaningful glances. Chen Zhong frowned, realization dawning on him. He immediately slumped to the floor and began rolling around in faked agony.
Qin Shouren, however, had been tightly clenching his fists, his face twisted in pain as he wrestled with the medicinal power. Having finally blasted through his acupoint, he completely missed the visual cues passing between Lu Li and Chen Zhong. He threw his head back and burst into boisterous laughter. “Hahaha! An Immortal! Your daddy is an Immortal now!”
Lu Li was speechless.