Chapter 12 - Chapter 12: Chapter 12: Targeted Again?

Fang Lin has fully opened the thirty-six conduits and also one of the seventy-two secondary conduits. This result was a pleasant surprise to him.

Although it was only one of the seventy-two secondary conduits, the significance was tremendous. It allowed Fang Lin to take a significant lead over regular Human Origin martial artists during the initial stage.

Fang Lin was excited. After the conduits were open, he immediately began cultivating.

After all, his current realm was too low, making pill refining very difficult, and whatever he did required sufficient realm support.

The cultivation technique he was practicing was the Pill Saint Palace’s secret skill called the Nine Cauldron Skypassing Spell, and it was the top skill of the Palace. Only the most core, the most vital disciples had the privilege to cultivate it.

Moreover, the Nine Cauldron Skypassing Spell was divided into three sections, upper, middle, and lower. In the entire Pill Saint Palace, only three people had the privilege of cultivating the complete set, and Fang Lin was one of them.

Although the Purple Mist Sect, where Fang Lin resided, also offered cultivation techniques for disciples to practice, he looked down on them. After cultivating the Nine Cauldron Skypassing Spell, it was impossible for Fang Lin to cultivate these lower-level techniques.

However, though the Nine Cauldron Skypassing Spell was an unparalleled skill, it was extremely strict to cultivate. The most important condition was to devour high-quality Pill Cauldrons.

In his previous life, Fang Lin devoured eight high-quality Pill Cauldrons and cultivated the Nine Cauldron Skypassing Spell to the eighth layer, earning him the title of number one within the Pill Saint Palace.

Once the Nine Cauldron Skypassing Spell was cultivated to the ninth layer, one could transform their body into a cauldron, where all things could be refined. Anything could be turned into a pill with a flip of the hand, making it unbelievably miraculous.

However, even with the wealth of the Pill Saint Palace, they couldn’t help Fang Lin cultivate the Nine Cauldron Skypassing Spell to the ninth layer because the requirements for the last Pill Cauldron were too high.

In this life, Fang Lin had to start from scratch, and even he didn’t know whether he could return to his previous heights.

After a ten-day seclusion, Fang Lin finally came out of the room. His realm was still at the second layer of Human Origin, but his energy and spirit felt different.

“Fang, you finally showed up. The Pill Array class for Pill Apprentices is tomorrow. Make sure you don’t miss it.” Xu Shangao was arranging his cultivated herbs in the yard and spoke as he saw Fang Lin come out.

Fang Lin responded and walked over, directly picking a few herbs without regard for Xu Shangao’s reaction.

“Fang, what are you doing?” Xu Shangao asked.

Fang Lin, without turning his head, walked into the Pill Refining Room and said, “Refining pills.”

With that, he closed the door to the Pill Refining Room.

Xu Shangao pulled a helpless face – this is my Pill Refining Room, why are you acting like it’s yours?

However, Xu Shangao didn’t mind. After witnessing Fang Lin’s extraordinary skills, he wouldn’t prevent him from refining pills anymore.

The pill that Fang Lin was refining this time was the Qi Nurturing Pill, which could enhance his cultivation efficiency and quickly promote him to the third layer of Human Origin.

Kang Lu had offered him a bottle of Qi Nurturing Pill in the hope of winning him over, but Fang Lin declined it.

First, he didn’t want to be controlled by others, and secondly, he didn’t like other people’s refined pills.

If he was going to take pills, he should make the best ones himself.

The Qi Nurturing Pill wasn’t a superior pill and was considered mediocre, but it was somewhat superior among the mediocre ones.

With his past life’s experience, even though the current conditions were far from what he had before, refining such a pill was still very easy for Fang Lin.

Four hours later, Fang Lin came out of the Pill Refining Room, holding a jade bottle containing seven Qi Nurturing Pills.

“Xu, here are seven Qi Nurturing Pills, I’ll give you three of them,” Fang Lin said.

Xu Shangao was astonished and said, “You refined Qi Nurturing Pill?”

Fang Lin nodded, then handed three green pills to Xu Shangao.

Xu Shangao carefully took them and saw that these three Qi Nurturing Pills had reached top quality.

“Qi Nurturing Pills of top quality can enhance the cultivation efficiency by three to four times. This is so precious!” Xu Shangao exclaimed excitedly.

A general Qi Nurturing Pill could enhance the cultivation efficiency one to two times, meanwhile a middle quality pill would double the efficiency for certain.

However, top quality pills could enhance the cultivation efficiency three to four times, which was much more valuable than the middle quality Qi Nurturing Pill.

If these pills were put out for sale, the disciples of Martial Sect would certainly scramble for them. After all, Martial Sect disciples valued their cultivation efficiency highly, and top-quality Qi Nurturing Pills were rare.

“Fang, why are the pills you refine always of such good quality?” Xu Shangao couldn’t help but ask.

Fang Lin gave a slight smile, “When you refine a lot of pills, the quality of the pills naturally improves.”

Hearing this, Xu Shangao looked at Fang Lin strangely, thinking to himself, you look like a teenager, how many pills could you have refined?

Fang Lin didn’t immediately take the Qi Nurturing Pill to upgrade his realm. After all, once he took it, he would definitely need several days of solitary cultivation to improve his realm, but he had to attend the Pill Array class the next day.

Therefore, Fang Lin planned to take the Qi Nurturing Pill to break through his realm after he came back the next day.

The Pill Array class was held twice a month, and no Pill Apprentice should be absent, even Fang Lin and Lu Xiaoqing, who had only been following full-time apprentices for six months, were also required to attend.

The next day, Fang Lin went to the Pill Array early in the morning to avoid the mockery of arriving late and having a group of people laughing at him.

Although Fang Lin doesn’t care about the mockery of these Pill Apprentices, it still gets irritating after a while.

Lu Xiaoqing and the other new disciples came one after another. Seeing that Fang Lin was already there, Lu Xiaoqing’s face lit up with joy and she walked over to him.

“Qing, I hope you’re doing well. A day apart feels like an eternity.” Fang Lin said with a beaming smile.

Lu Xiaoqing gave Fang Lin a disdainful look and said somewhat irritably, “It’s only been half a month. Have you missed me that much?”

Fang Lin laughed and said, “Of course I do. You’re the person I’m closest to in the Pill Sect. How could I not miss you?”

Upon hearing his words, Lu Xiaoqing slightly huffed and said, “That’s more like it.”

Seeing Fang Lin and Lu Xiaoqing’s closeness, Sun Hao, not far away, eyed them jealously.

Kang Lu, like always, arrived with a group of Pill Apprentices following him, and sat in his usual spot.

Once Kang Lu arrived, the Pill Array quieted down considerably. Some of the Pill Apprentices stole glances at Fang Lin, their eyes filled with sympathy and schadenfreude.

Leaning into Fang Lin’s ear, Lu Xiaoqing whispered, her breath sweet, “I heard that the elder who’s giving today’s lecture has a close relationship with Kang Lu. It seems that he’s planning to give you a hard time during the lecture. You better be careful.”

Fang hadn’t heard Lu Xiaoqing clearly as he was thinking about other matters and asked subconsciously, “What did you say?”

Feeling quite annoyed, Lu Xiaoqing lightly thumped Fang Lin. Worrying about Fang Lin getting the raw end of the deal later, she leaned in closer, with her lips almost touching Fang Lin’s ear.

“I said, the elder lecturing today has a close relationship with Kang Lu and might very well give you a hard time during the lecture. Watch out, and don’t blame me later for not warning you. Did you hear me clearly now?” Lu Xiaoqing said irritably.

Fang Lin nodded and placed a Qi Nurturing Pill in Lu Xiaoqing’s hand.

Looking down at her hand and then at Fang Lin, Lu Xiaoqing felt a surge of happiness.

“Sigh, there are only three left. I wonder if they’ll be enough,” Fang Lin lamented inwardly. These pills are really running out.

Sitting at the forefront of the Pill Array, Kang Lu looked back at Fang Lin, a chilling coldness in his eyes.

“Brother Kang, let’s enjoy the show of him making a fool out of himself this time,” said the man next to him.

Kang Lu simply nodded, not saying a word, looking forward to what was to come.

The sun was a good way up in the sky when a lean elderly man wearing a gray robe slowly walked onto the stone platform.

“I am Elder Zhao Dengming. Today, it falls on me to give you a lesson,” the lean old man said, his gaze piercing as he scanned the assembled Pill Apprentices.

Fang Lin noticed very accurately that Zhao Dengming’s gaze lingered on him for a moment, which made Fang Lin realize that this old man was very likely planning to give him a hard time.

After paying tribute to the four saint statues, the lecture began. Zhao Dengming’s voice was slightly hoarse and he spoke in a severe, hurried tone. The entire Pill Array echoed only with his voice, with the three thousand disciples underneath daring not even to breathe heavily.

This time, Fang Lin didn’t fall asleep midway through the lecture. Lu Xiaoqing, worried that Fang Lin would doze off like last time, kept a keen eye on him throughout.

In fact, there was a valid reason why Fang Lin fell asleep last time – his physical body was weak and lacked stamina, making him prone to exhaustion.

Now that Fang Lin’s meridians had been unblocked, his spirit was full and his focus, sharp, preventing him from dozing off.

Suddenly, Elder Zhao’s voice on the stone stage paused. “Alright, now I will start asking questions. These questions will be about what I have just taught. If you can’t answer, it will mean you weren’t paying attention, and I will have to punish you!”

Fang Lin squinted his eyes slightly, thinking to himself, ‘Here it comes,’ while Lu Xiaoqing looked at him worriedly.

Kang Lu sneered in his heart; this was the moment he had been waiting for.

As expected, Zhao Dengming looked straight at Fang Lin standing in the crowd and said, “You there, stand up.”

Upon hearing his words, Fang Lin stood up obediently, his face calm, showing no sign of stage fright.

Zhao Dengming paused for a moment before asking, “What’s your name?”

Fang Lin replied, “Disciple Fang Lin, I pay my respects to Elder Zhao.”

Zhao Dengming nodded, showing no obvious bias against Fang Lin.

“I’m going to ask you, in the Herb Garden, there is a medicinal herb that is pale yellow all over, has a pungent smell and feels warm to the touch. It blooms in the morning and wilts in the evening, repeating this day after day until it matures in ten years. What is it?” Zhao asked.

The moment the question came out, all the Pill Apprentices below started to ponder. Even Kang Lu creased his brow, unable to think of an answer on the spot.

Lu Xiaoqing was extremely anxious. The question was too difficult. Even though she frequently studied herb knowledge in the Herb Garden, she couldn’t figure it out at all.

“This Elder Zhao is too much. With so many herbs in the Herb Garden, described so vaguely, how can anyone know what he’s referring to?” Lu Xiaoqing complained in her heart, also feeling worried for Fang Lin.

Many Pill Apprentices shook their heads discreetly; Zhao’s intention to embarrass him was too apparent. It seemed Fang Lin would be punished this time.