"Spiritual roots too mixed?" Qin Shouren was startled for a moment, then exclaimed in surprise, "You can perform internal vision already!"
Internal vision.
Upon hearing this, Lu Li quickly focused his Divine Sense inward, and his face instantly became quite animated, "I... holy shit!"
"What's wrong?"
"N-nine, nine spiritual roots!" Lu Li looked at his nine-colored Qi channels, his face twitching violently, "I fucking have nine spiritual roots..."
Metal, wood, water, fire, earth, wind, thunder, light, darkness-all of them were present. Lu Li had no idea what to say anymore. No wonder he had eaten over seventy Awakening Spirit Pills before finally awakening his spiritual roots. Could there be any spiritual roots more trash than this?
"Con-congratulations." The Qin Shouren next door burst out laughing, clutching his stomach as he rolled on the ground, rolling over to the other side, "Hey, fatty, fatty, let me tell you something."
Chen Zhong was currently cultivating and had a bitter expression on his face. Hearing Qin Shouren's words, he immediately became impatient, "If you have something to say, say it. If you have a fart to let out, let it out."
"Mean, mean as hell." Qin Shouren cursed before saying, "I'm telling you, don't tell anyone else. Mud Monkey, Mud Monkey... he has nine spiritual roots, hahahahaha...!"
"What?" Chen Zhong was stunned for a moment, scratching his head, "I thought my seven spiritual roots were already trash enough. I didn't expect Mud Monkey to have something even more trash than mine?"
"You, you have seven spiritual roots?" Qin Shouren's smile disappeared, "I'm not talking to you anymore. This old man hasn't successfully condensed his Divine Sense yet."
Lu Li heard their laughter from afar, thinking to himself that these two guys were really heartless.
However, Lu Li wasn't too disappointed either. Although his spiritual roots were too useless, at least he could cultivate, and he had the Time Palace. He could completely use time to accumulate progress.
Saying he'd do it, he did it.
Lu Li directly sat down cross-legged. After calming his mind and focusing his spirit, he had a thought, and his Divine Sense instantly entered the Time Palace. The moment he entered, his Divine Sense directly transformed into a human form identical to Lu Li.
With a soft thud, he landed inside the Time Palace.
Looking around, this was truly a large hall, but the hall was empty. Besides a meditation cushion in the center, there was also a standing scale on the left side of the hall.
The scale had a pointer, and the number it currently pointed to was 'ten,' representing tenfold flow rate. This meant cultivating here for ten days was only one day in the outside world. Moreover, as the medicinal garden on the first floor of the pagoda expanded, this flow rate would also increase, which was quite miraculous.
The only drawback was that he could only enter with his mind to cultivate in place of his main body. Although everything cultivated would truly reflect on his main body, his main body was actually still outside and couldn't be used as a hiding tool.
Of course, with disadvantages come advantages. This way, he could cultivate openly in front of others, and outsiders couldn't discover at all that he was using the Time Palace.
Lu Li sat down cross-legged in the hall and began using his Divine Sense to sense the Spiritual Qi of heaven and earth. Although he was currently sitting in the Time Palace, the Time Palace had no Spiritual Qi. What he sensed was only the Spiritual Qi from the outside world.
After several dozen breaths, he suddenly 'saw' a wisp of deep blue aura wandering around him. That aura was very wild and contained various violent attributes.
Lu Li understood in his heart. It seemed this was the so-called Spiritual Qi of heaven and earth. He had sensed the Spiritual Qi, but he had no method to absorb and refine it. Helpless, he could only withdraw his Divine Sense and retreat his mind from the Time Palace.
Now everything was ready except for the cultivation method.
Lu Li lay on the dry grass, thinking about how he could obtain a cultivation method.
"I wonder if there's any chance to leave. If I could join the Qingyang Sect, that would be great." Lu Li muttered to himself.
Before he knew it, the sky had brightened again.
With a clang, a meal basin was pushed in.
This time, Fan Zhengping didn't open the door to let them out for fresh air, which made Lu Li's heart tighten again. Could it be... that the hope he had finally seen was about to disappear just like this?
Disappointed as he was, Lu Li wouldn't do something like starving himself. After eating, Lu Li began fiddling with his Divine Sense again.
Since he couldn't cultivate, the only thing he could play with was this Divine Sense.
And so, another seven days passed in the blink of an eye.
During this time, Qin Shouren also successfully condensed his Divine Sense and saw his first Qi channel. Like Chen Fatty, he also had seven spiritual roots.
On this day.
Lu Li felt extremely bored when he suddenly remembered that there seemed to be a strange plant in the Spiritual Materials Hall. With a thought, the scene inside the first-floor space instantly appeared in his mind.
It was exactly that space he had accidentally entered in the water last time.
The main body couldn't enter any space of the Three Treasures Glazed Pagoda. Last time, when the Glazed Pagoda first acknowledged its master, what was pulled into the first-floor space was actually his soul. Otherwise, his main body wouldn't have sunk to the river bottom and swallowed a bellyful of water.
However, the first-floor Spiritual Materials Hall could indeed keep living creatures alive, provided these living creatures had signed a soul contract with him.
At this moment, that emerald-green plant had already grown to three feet tall. Its branches and leaves were increasingly lush, and it had produced ten small green fruits. The fruits also had flowing light swirling on them, appearing somewhat dreamlike.
"What exactly is this thing? Could it be an Immortal Fruit? Eating one would lead to enlightenment and ascension to immortality?"
Lu Li wanted to pick one to taste, but it seemed this thing wasn't ripe yet. After thinking about it, he decided to forget it.
"Over twenty days have passed. That old monster is probably really going to return." Lu Li withdrew his Divine Sense from the first floor of the Glazed Pagoda, looking at the window with inexplicable worry.
Lu Li's intuition was truly frighteningly accurate.
In the evening, Zhang Song actually rushed back covered in dust and travel fatigue, with a somewhat solemn expression on his face.
Fan Zhengping had been looking out the main door every evening these past few days. His master had done so many heinous things that he always felt somewhat uneasy inside. Only when he saw Zhang Song return safely did he finally sigh in relief, hurriedly welcoming him, "Master, you've finally returned. I was worried sick."
Zhang Song nodded, pleased, "I originally planned to catch a few more mortals for pill testing along the way, but unexpectedly ran into some trouble. I was noticed by people from the Qingyang Sect. We need to move as soon as possible."
"Noticed?" Fan Zhengping's expression changed, somewhat panicked, "Master, then let's leave quickly."
"Not urgent." Zhang Song waved his hand, "This master has already used a trick to shake them off. They won't be able to track here for a while. Besides, those who came are just a few juniors. Even if they come, who wins and who loses is still unknown."
"Moreover, finding a place with earthly fire isn't easy. Let's finish refining these few batches of pills before we leave."
Master and disciple hurried back to the main hall.
Zhang Song tossed several packages onto the offering table. Strong medicinal fragrance wafted from the packages, "These are all what I snatched from those small medicinal-gathering cultivators. See what Spirit Herbs are there and record the combinations."
"Yes, Master." Fan Zhengping sorted the Spirit Herbs while recording the combined pill formulas with a brush. Three flavors had already been determined, and only the last Spirit Herb was variable.
"Master, there are quite a few medicinal materials this time. Some herbs I don't even recognize." Fan Zhengping suddenly said.
Zhang Song sat cross-legged in the hall, somewhat tiredly saying, "Just draw the ones you don't recognize. This time, being noticed, I didn't have time to check them either. I'll rest for a while first."
"Yes, Master." Fan Zhengping shook his head, simply drawing the unrecognized Spirit Grasses on the pill formula.
The Piercing Acupoint Pill was only a first-tier pill, specifically for Qi Refining stage cultivators.
The cultivation world's recognized realms were: Qi Refining, Foundation Establishment, Golden Core, Nascent Soul, Soul Formation, Divine Separation, Body Integration, Great Ascension, and Tribulation Transcendence-nine major realms. Apart from Qi Refining being divided into twelve or fourteen layers, all others were divided into four minor realms: early stage, middle stage, late stage, and peak stage.
Therefore, medicinal materials and pills were similarly divided into nine tiers.
Pills were further divided into four common qualities based on their color and impurity content: Low Grade, Middle Grade, High Grade, and Top Grade. It's said there are even higher qualities above these, but no one can refine them.