Chapter 95

Chapter 95: Breakthrough

"Third Young Lady!"

Bumped into her, Zhou Luo bowed deeply.

Although he was her Senior Brother, and his talent in alchemy was higher than hers, she was the legitimate daughter of the Lin Family, while he was merely an outsider son-in-law.

To continue staying in the Lin Family from then on, it was necessary to pay attention to status and hierarchy.

Lin Xin glanced at him, thought back to what her good sister had told her the night before, and felt boundless curiosity welling up inside.

But remembering Wang Yu Wei’s advice, she held back from asking about the two of them, and instead inquired, "How many kinds of potions did you refine?"

"Six kinds," Zhou Luo lied.

"So many?" Lin Xin’s voice lifted, and a flash of shock crossed her face.

She had not rested for a moment that day, and even until then had only refined four kinds.

As a result, he had refined two more kinds than she had.

Could his talent really be that high?

Zhou Luo lowered his head without speaking.

She was so surprised by just six kinds; if she knew he had finished all ten kinds, and even found time to refine six Gathering Spirit Potions.

Wouldn’t this Third Young Lady go crazy?

To avoid provoking her, Zhou Luo changed the subject by saying, "Third Young Lady, what are you planning to do now?"

"I need to get some fresh air."

Finished speaking, Lin Xin swiftly turned around and dashed straight into her room.

Bang—

The door slammed shut, and Zhou Luo looked utterly bewildered.

Just getting some fresh air?

He shook his head and walked toward the opposite room.

Inside the room, Lin Xin, shaken from the setback, stood before the furnace, her proud little face filled with deep resentment.

After consecutive failures in refining potions, she had originally wanted to go out to ease her mood and relax.

But now her mood turned even heavier.

Lin Xin tried her best to calm her emotions, focused her mind, and continued refining potions without the slightest slack.

She really did not want to fail her potion refinement homework on the very first day.

…

After returning to his room, Zhou Luo closed the door and let Little White out.

Though worried that the Immortal Sect might discover Little White’s identity, as long as they were only in the room, they surely would not be bored enough to investigate.

Little White, having dashed out, obediently lay on Zhou Luo’s lap, squinting its eyes, and enjoyed Zhou Luo’s stroking.

Zhou Luo took out a Spirit Beast potion and placed it into its mouth.

Meow——

After consuming the magic potion, Little White emitted a faint light all over its body, which soon subsided.

At the same time, its body temperature rose sharply, and spiritual energy circulated within, releasing a turbulent aura.

This magic potion could help it mature more rapidly, and unlike humans, Spirit Beasts didn’t have to worry about overdosing.

Zhou Luo decided he’d feed Little White one magic potion every day from now on.

After all, this little one had the potential to advance to the Third Level.

Little White fell into a deep slumber after eating the potion, slowly absorbing its medicinal effects.

Zhou Luo placed it on the bed and re-affixed the soundproof symbols to the wall.

After all this, he chose not to take the Gathering Spirit Potion for now, preferring to wait until after submitting his assignment.

He then left the room and returned to the alchemy room.

Feeling idle, he picked up the logbook and went through it once more to ensure it revealed no flaws.

He also kept all the "evidence" he had preserved separately.

As the sun set in the west, everyone began filing out of the alchemy rooms.

Zheng Ting Tao arrived gracefully, clad in a green robe, and began inspecting everyone’s achievements.

Zhou Luo kept his head lowered, a bit anxious.

He worried the other person might discover he had secretly taken herbs to refine the potion.

Fortunately, Zheng Ting Tao showed no reaction; apparently, he hadn’t noticed.

Only Lin Xin was unlucky.

Because she had only completed the refinement of eight potions, failing to achieve the target.

After inspecting, Zheng Ting Tao showed no mercy to this sole newcomer who hadn’t fulfilled the task.

He deprived her of the right to dinner.

The potions refined by everyone else were all handed over.

On this point, Zhou Luo couldn’t help but mentally complain about how stingy this Immortal Sect was.

But thinking it over, he could understand.

Though the Qinyuan Sect was immensely wealthy, the refining herbs provided to them were limitless – if they didn’t submit these potions…

For a day or two, it might be manageable, but over a year, even an Immortal Sect would feel the pinch.

Handing over these potions was merely a way to recoup some losses.

Fundamentally, the Sect wasn’t actually profiting.

After Zheng Ting Tao left, Lin Xin stood rooted to the spot, her lips tightly pressed together, disappointment and resentment plain on her face.

Wang Yu Wei softly comforted her by her side.

Meanwhile, Zhou Luo swiftly made his escape, afraid of incurring the Third Young Lady’s bad mood.

Inside the house.

Little White was still dormant, yet continuously emitted a soft glow. Faint spiritual energy fluctuations rippled across its silken fur.

To prevent others from noticing the anomaly, Zhou Luo swiftly stuffed it back into the pet bag.

Then, he settled into a cross-legged position atop the meditation cushion.

Previously, lacking materials, he hadn’t succeeded in refining any potion capable of effectively boosting his cultivation.

Now, gazing at the Gathering Spirit Potion in his palm, a surge of delight washed over him. He decisively swallowed one pellet.

The potion dissolved instantly upon entering his mouth, flowing directly into his body.

Zhou Luo immediately activated the Spirit Gathering Technique. Simultaneously, the Fire Spirit Ring on his left ring finger blazed with crimson light.

As the technique took effect, the spiritual energy of heaven and earth began converging upon him.

At the same time, the Gathering Spirit Potion’s efficacy erupted. A torrent of potent energy burst from within him, surging through meridians toward his organs.

Zhou Luo sensed boundless spiritual energy abruptly manifesting. Like a breached river, it roared uncontrollably through his meridians, cycling naturally without his guidance.

This flood of energy inevitably swept up the spiritual energy drawn by both the Spirit Gathering Technique and the Fire Spirit Ring.

The advantage was astronomical speed as this merged flow charged into his Qi sea.

The disadvantage, however, was his frail meridians’ inability to endure such intensity. They violently expanded.

Veins bulged across Zhou Luo’s pale skin; once hidden vessels surfaced, presenting a fierce, dreadful spectacle.

A grunt of pain escaped him. It felt like rampaging floodwaters threatened to burst his organs apart. The forcibly expanded Qi sea and meridians inflicted excruciating agony.

Face pallid, he could only feverishly cycle the Spirit Gathering Technique, striving to rapidly consume the colossal energies within him.

Minutes crawled by. Having endured the peak torment, Zhou Luo gasped heavily. Beads of sweat erupted on his forehead.

Fortunately, aided by the Spirit Gathering Technique, he narrowly managed to digest the absorbed spiritual energy.

His cultivation, previously stagnant at mid-stage of Qi Refinement level three, effortlessly broke through to the late stage.

Zhou Luo’s eyes snapped open abruptly. His chest heaved, and full-body agony lingered.

He stared at the remaining Gathering Spirit Potion with lingering dread.

The combined force of the potion, technique, and magical artifact had unleashed such a terrifying effect.

He hadn’t been prepared at all.

Thankfully, it remained within tolerable limits – though the experience was brutally unpleasant.

"When Heaven bestows great responsibility upon an individual, it first fortifies their resolve through suffering…"

A passage from ancient times in his previous life came unbidden to Zhou Luo’s mind.

He looked down, opening his purple and gold robe. Beneath, his white inner robe was drenched shockingly bright with streaks of blood.

Pulling out a cleaning symbol, Zhou Luo purged the filth. He felt instantly refreshed.

Huuuh—

He expelled a deep, turbid breath, stored the remaining Gathering Spirit Potion, and rose stiffly from the cushion. Moving to a nearby table, he brewed himself some spiritual tea.

True cultivation demanded steady progression: accumulating insights and magical power, enabling a formidable foundation for decisive breakthroughs.

Reliance on potions alone offered swift, visible advancement but inevitably eroded one’s foundation, striking at the core of cultivation itself.

Therefore, medicinal potions only played a supporting role and couldn’t be used frequently.

Sipping the spiritual tea, Zhou Luo felt the physical pain gradually dissipating.

It was just a pity that although the medicinal ingredients here were complete, he still lacked several heavenly treasures required for the Second Level of the Bear Body Refinement Technique. Otherwise, he could have broken through to the Second Level during this year.

Currently, he had already completed the tempering of the first level of the Bear Body Refinement Technique, and his physical body could withstand attacks from cultivators at the fifth layer of Qi Refinement.

But that was far from enough.

After witnessing how comprehensively stocked the Immortal Sect was with medicinal ingredients,

Zhou Luo thought that if he could find all the rare materials for the later stages of the Body Refinement Technique here, it would be a massive stroke of luck.

After all, several of those materials were extremely scarce on the market and often out of stock.

Regrettably, he couldn’t leave this place.

If only he could get someone to go out and buy these materials for him.

Zhou Luo pondered whether he should try befriending those Immortal Sect disciples in the front yard…

But soon, he resolutely abandoned this idea.

They were Immortal Sect disciples—he was an outsider, and their statuses were worlds apart.

If he actually visited to curry favor, they would undoubtedly look down on him.

Then, being rejected while trying to ingratiate himself would just be awkward.

Withdrawing his thoughts, Zhou Luo continued his cultivation.

This cultivation session wasn’t as intense as initially, and he still needed to slowly digest the residual spiritual energy.

This was a long-term process.

…

In the days that followed,

Everyone had to go to the area adjacent to the training ground daily to collect their "assignments," submitting the spiritual pills they refined before sunset.

For Lin Xin, who hadn’t completed her assignment on the first day, this posed a major challenge.

Fortunately, with Wang Yu Wei’s guidance, her pill refining gradually got on track.

As for the other newcomer among the two, Zhou Luo felt no pressure at all.

He could practically complete the Immortal Sect’s tasks by late morning, though it was unfortunate he couldn’t freely refine pills like he did on the first day.

Still, while refining those pills, he consistently skimmed off some medicinal ingredients.

Even after realizing the Immortal Sect hadn’t noticed, he grew bolder.

He stopped even pretending to have failed at the start—he simply recorded failed potions in the logbook before pocketing all the ingredients.

During this period, with the aid of the spiritual pills, Little White grew about twice his original size and his ability strengthened notably.

Once, as Zhou Luo tested the illusion Little White created, he got trapped within it for half an hour.

And that was even after mentally preparing himself.

For Zhou Luo, pill refining days were always tedious and stretched endlessly—the only comfort was his steadily improving pet and cultivation realm.

That day, Zhou Luo finally encountered the most uplifting event of this period:

The monthly assessment was approaching!

Yes, unaware, he had already stayed a month at the Immortal Sect.

Per the Immortal Sect’s arrangement, everyone held a monthly "examination" at month-end, where top performers earned rewards and access to the third and fourth floors of the library.

Zhou Luo vividly remembered Wang Yu Wei mentioning that the fourth floor contained clues to various heavenly treasures.

If he could go there and uncover vital traces, it would prove immensely beneficial to himself.

For this "examination," he absolutely had to secure first place!