Chapter 48: To Practice an Evil Art
Chapter 48: Chapter 48: To Practice an Evil Art
Finally, Li Ping said something that came as a pleasant surprise to the other four members, excluding Zhang Tie and Gumu Sheng. "Oh, by the way," he began, "I recently got a few bottles of pills from a good friend of mine. They help early and mid-stage Qi Refining cultivators improve their cultivation. Take these back and focus on your training."
Of course, these were all pills Li Ping had refined himself. He claimed they were from a friend mainly because he didn’t want to reveal his own skill in alchemy.
’Being able to refine Tier One Middle Grade pills after only a few days of studying alchemy... that was simply too astounding.’
In fact, he could now refine even Tier One Upper Grade pills with a hundred percent success rate.
However, considering he needed to absorb the ’Innate Qi’ in a step-by-step manner, he wasn’t in a rush to refine Tier One Upper Grade pills.
Thus, Zhang Tie and Gumu Sheng could only watch with envy as the other four members happily accepted the pills from Li Ping.
Bai Qing received two bottles of Qi-Replenishing Pills, while the other three each received two bottles of Qi Gathering Pills.
The Qi Gathering Pill is a type of pill that helps Middle-stage Qi Refining cultivators advance their cultivation.
Overjoyed, they quickly thanked him, "Thank you, Big Brother."
Li Ping smiled and nodded.
He gave them these pills for improving cultivation in the hope that they would train hard and reach the Peak of Qi Refining as soon as possible.
Once the other six members of the Friends Association had each gotten their chance at Foundation Establishment, his oath would be fulfilled. He would no longer be bound by the "joint Foundation Establishment" pledge.
The Western Wilderness had no Tier Four Spirit Veins and couldn’t support a Nascent Soul Cultivator. To walk further on the path of the Immortal Dao, he would likely have to leave the Western Wilderness one day.
’Ideally, I’ll have all of this finished before I leave the Western Wilderness.’
Besides, these Low-Tier pills were all ones he had refined himself, so they hadn’t cost him many Spirit Stones.
Furthermore, he wasn’t short on Spirit Stones for the time being, so there was no need to sell these pills.
Although he had just contributed 300 Spirit Stones to the Foundation Establishment Fund in one go, which seemed like a significant blow to his finances, in reality, he was the one managing the Fund. If he ever desperately needed Spirit Stones, he could simply borrow from it and replenish the amount later when his funds were more plentiful.
’After all, I never swore not to privately borrow from the Foundation Establishment Fund!’
’Of course, the Foundation Establishment Fund belonged to everyone. He was just safeguarding it for them, 24/7.’
...
In truth, even if he were to sell pills, Li Ping had no intention of selling them to the Meng family. He had no desire to expose his peerless talent for alchemy before them.
He planned to wait a while, then go sell them in the marketplace under a hidden identity.
Suspecting that Fairy Miaorou of the Spirit Treasure Pavilion wanted to lure him out of the city, Li Ping hadn’t visited the pavilion for a very long time.
Now, it seemed that might have been a misunderstanding. Perhaps Fairy Miaorou really couldn’t get away back then and had no choice but to ask for his help escorting a shipment of goods.
Li Ping still had a certain fondness for this Fairy who dared to "boldly show off her figure," and he didn’t mind maintaining a friendly relationship with her.
"Don’t you two be envious," Li Ping said, smiling at Zhang Tie and Gumu Sheng. "That friend of mine is already attempting to refine Tier One Upper Grade pills. At the year-end gathering, I’ll get a few bottles for you two as well."
Their faces lit up. "Thank you, Big Brother!"
...
After seeing everyone off, Li Ping went back to his pill furnace and continued refining. He also instructed the Meng family to deliver more Spirit Medicines to him.
The Meng family knew he had purchased alchemy techniques and a Pill Furnace, so he didn’t need to hide his acquisition of Spirit Medicines. Having the Meng family purchase them also saved him the trouble of running the errands himself.
Over the next ten-odd days, as Li Ping refined pills with frantic dedication, his Storage Bag filled up with several hundred bottles of Tier One Lower Grade and Tier One Middle Grade pills.
After absorbing the ’Innate Qi’ from so many pills, his Nourishing Life Skill Power began to feel faintly saturated.
Clearly, he had absorbed enough ’Innate Qi’ from Tier One Lower Grade and Tier One Middle Grade pills.
It was worth noting that, for the sake of convenience, Li Ping had refined the same type of pill for both the Tier One Lower Grade and Tier One Middle Grade batches.
After all, as far as the Nourishing Life Skill was concerned, the ’Innate Qi’ from any pill of the same tier had the exact same effect.
...
Li Ping sat cross-legged. A vibrant, cyan-colored Nourishing Life Skill Power flowed continuously through his body, repairing every meridian, organ, piece of flesh, bone, and strand of hair to its most perfect state.
He could clearly sense that his lifespan was now fixed at exactly 240 years.
Moreover, under the nourishment of the Nourishing Life Skill Power, his body would not age, but would instead remain in its absolute peak condition.
Only at the very moment his life limit was reached would he instantly pass away.
Until that time, as long as he wasn’t killed on the spot, his Nourishing Life Skill Power could restore him to perfect condition, no matter how severe his injuries.
Damage to his Origin, injured meridians, a crippled Dharma Body, ingested toxins... all negative conditions could be completely reversed by the miraculous effects of his Nourishing Life Skill Power, restoring him to his original state.
Of course, the Nourishing Life Skill was powerless against the natural limit of his lifespan. This seemed to involve some fundamental law of heaven and earth.
Li Ping had once thought that Core Formation Masters might possess methods to extend their lives, but now he understood. When the laws of heaven and earth were involved, it was likely that not even a Nascent Soul Cultivator could prolong their own lifespan.
...
In short, for the current Li Ping, unless he was killed instantly without any chance to heal, he could rely on the miraculous effects of his Nourishing Life Skill Power to return to a perfect state.
His survivability was practically maxed out.
Of course, since he had only absorbed enough ’Innate Qi’ from Tier One Lower Grade and Tier One Middle Grade pills, the recovery speed of his Nourishing Life Skill was still relatively slow.
If he were truly crippled in a fight, he likely wouldn’t get the chance for a dramatic comeback while being hunted down.
However, once he absorbed enough ’Innate Qi’ from Tier Two, Tier Three, and even Tier Four pills, the recovery speed of his Nourishing Life Skill would increase dramatically. At that point, he estimated he might truly possess an indestructible body.
...
’The Nourishing Life Skill’s healing only affects the physical body,’ Li Ping mused. ’If I encountered some insidious technique that targets the Divine Soul, I’d have no way to counter it at all.’
’Given the properties of the Nourishing Life Skill, the most suitable things for me to cultivate are actually Secret Techniques that cause immense physical damage in exchange for a rapid, short-term boost in combat power. Even if a technique consumes my Origin or shortens my lifespan, as long as I can kill the enemy or escape successfully, I can rely on the Nourishing Life Skill to restore myself completely.’
’However, even with the Nourishing Life Skill protecting me, Dharma Artifacts have no eyes and Magic is without mercy. Engaging in Magical Combat is still dangerous.’
But then Li Ping shook his head. ’No, the best thing would be to cultivate an Escape Technique with extreme side effects that allows me to instantly flee hundreds of miles. That way, I wouldn’t need to engage in Magical Combat at all. I could just run away whenever I sense danger! After escaping, I could rely on the Nourishing Life Skill to eliminate the Secret Technique’s side effects.’
At this thought, Li Ping couldn’t help but reflect with a sigh, ’If not for the requirement to research alchemy and absorb the ’Innate Qi’ from pills just to break through bottlenecks, the "Wetland Water Nourishing Skill"—based on its healing effects alone—would absolutely be classified among the most top-tier Cultivation Techniques in this world.’
Of course, if that were truly the case, a Cultivation Technique like this would never have fallen into his hands to begin with.