Lu Li quickly returned to the bottom of the sky pit, not daring to delay for even a moment as he rushed straight to the depths of the cave. When he saw the large basin full of shimmering milky-white liquid, Lu Li relaxed slightly.
He then squatted by the stone basin, took out a large pile of jade bottles, and using both hands began quickly collecting the Earth Milk Essence.
A short while later, Lu Li had completely collected all the Earth Milk Essence from the stone basin, then eagerly stored it in the second-layer Space Hall. After counting, he found it filled over one hundred and thirty bottles.
According to the pill formula, this Earth Milk Essence was only for neutralizing medicinal properties, and only one drop was needed each time. With over a hundred bottles, he didn't know how many Piercing Acupoint Pills he could refine.
Lu Li wasn't doing this because he needed so much Earth Milk Essence, but because he didn't want to leave it for Zhang Song.
Now he actually couldn't understand why Zhang Song was guarding this Earth Milk Essence without taking it.
Could he be deliberately waiting for me to take it to set an ambush?
Thinking this, Lu Li immediately felt his hairs stand on end, thinking this old man was truly sinister. After looking around and finding no other treasures in the pit, Lu Li turned and ran.
After exiting the sky pit, Lu Li didn't go in the previous direction, but instead rushed southward toward the mountains.
According to the map, the main range of the Lightning Fire Mountains was the boundary between Liangzhou and Dongzhou. North of the main range was Liangzhou, and south was Dongzhou. That White Sun Stronghold was one of the three major strongholds in the north. Since his task of collecting materials for the Piercing Acupoint Pill was already completed, there was no need to risk going north.
Even if he wanted to return to the Qingyang Sect, he should first avoid Zhang Song's attention. What if the other party set an ambush at the sect entrance?
Finally arriving at the dark blue forest south of the grassland, Lu Li slightly slowed his pace. By now, his True Qi was completely exhausted and urgently needed recovery. Dragging his tired body, he searched throughout the forest, wanting to find a hidden place.
"Eh, there's Lightning Fire Orchid here too?"
Not long after walking, Lu Li suddenly discovered a dark blue plant not far ahead, wondering if this might belong to another stronghold. After hesitating, he still couldn't resist and pulled it up by the roots, thinking, "I'll just take one plant; it shouldn't be discovered."
Walking further, Lu Li found another plant.
Forget it, two plants should be fine.
......
A short while later, Lu Li looked at the Lightning Fire Orchid in the distance and twitched the corner of his mouth: "I've already pulled three hundred plants, so it won't make a difference with one more."
After pulling this Lightning Fire Orchid, Lu Li found he had arrived at the junction of the main range and a massive crimson branch range, thinking he wouldn't have to struggle with this decision anymore.
He looked around and suddenly noticed what seemed to be a small cave opening on the stone slope of the branch range ahead. Overjoyed, he quickly ran down.
Looking closer, it was indeed a cave opening, but the entrance was very small, only large enough to crawl through.
Lu Li stepped on a redwood tree as thick as a bowl to look inside the cave, discovering the interior seemed quite spacious. Thinking this was a good place, he released his Divine Sense to inspect the surroundings, finding the Spiritual Qi here was much denser than in White Sun Town, so he decided to hide here for a while.
He broke off a branch with dense leaves from the redwood, then dragged the branch backward as he crawled into the cave. After crawling until he couldn't reach anymore, Lu Li inserted the branch at the cave entrance, blocking the opening.
Retreating another two or three feet inward, the space finally became more open.
Standing up, he discovered this place seemed like someone had specifically crafted it. Inside was a space about two zhang in radius, complete with stone stools and a stone bed.
Lu Li didn't think too much about it, directly sitting cross-legged on the stone bed and beginning to recover.
After recovering somewhat, he sank his Divine Sense into the medicinal garden space. To his delight, the medicinal garden space had grown larger again, reaching a full five li in radius. Inside was full of vitality, with dense medicinal fragrance filling the entire space.
Most inside were Lightning Fire Orchids, numbering over four hundred plants. Next were the Emerald Bamboo Grass.
There were only sixteen Emerald Bamboo Grass plants, making Lu Li feel somewhat unsatisfied. Sixteen plants meant he could only refine Piercing Acupoint Pills sixteen times, making it the shortcoming among the medicinal materials, since there were fifty Scarlet Flame Fruits.
Moreover, the Scarlet Flame Fruit tree had begun budding flowers again, meaning it should bear more fruit soon.
He transformed into his physical form and walked to the Emerald Bamboo Grass, examining it carefully. After looking for a while, he found one Emerald Bamboo Grass that grew more vigorously, broke it into two sections, and then planted the broken-off section nearby.
Lu Li wanted to test whether this could take root.
After doing all this, he entered the Time Hall to begin Secluded Cultivation. To avoid being spied on, Lu Li put away the God-Concealing Jade before entering.
Here, the Spiritual Qi was dense, and he still had over fifteen thousand True Essence Pills unused. This time he planned to attempt breaking through to the fourth level.
The fourth level of Qi Refining was a watershed. Entering the fourth level meant entering the mid-stage of Qi Refining, with strength far surpassing the third level.
As Lu Li activated the Great Profound Scripture, the surrounding Spiritual Qi immediately swarmed toward him, instantly filling his Dantian. Lu Li thought the Spiritual Qi here was truly dense, and quickly began to refine it.
After one round of refinement, he suddenly discovered that within the Lightning Fire Mountains' Spiritual Qi, lightning and fire attribute Spiritual Qi accounted for much more than other attributes, making him secretly delighted.
The lightning attribute barrier was relatively difficult to break through. This way, his hope of breaking through increased significantly.
On the other side.
Zhang Song chased Wu De to the area belonging to Drifting Snow Stronghold, then suddenly felt something was wrong and hurriedly returned to the sky pit. When he saw the empty stone basin, his anger surged, and he spat out a mouthful of old blood. His sparse gray hair fell over his face as he said with furious hatred:
"Kid... you're so vicious! I waited for you five years, five years... why do this to me? I just wanted the pill formula....."
"No, I can't give up like this... I must catch you. You won't escape."
Then, Zhang Song clenched his fists and quickly left the sky pit, heading straight for White Sun Town.
At the massive courtyard in White Sun Town's center, inscribed with the three characters 'White Sun Stronghold', Zhang Song walked straight in with a gloomy face.
"Greetings, Second Chief!"
The guards at the entrance saw Zhang Song and hurriedly saluted respectfully. If Lu Li were here, he would definitely be terrified, not expecting Zhang Song to be the White Sun Stronghold's Second Chief. When he first came to White Sun Town, it was essentially like a wolf entering a tiger's den.
Zhang Song couldn't even be bothered to respond, passing through the square and directly entering the main hall.
Inside the main hall, a blue-robed elder sat in the high seat, discussing something with everyone. Seeing Zhang Song enter, he was startled, hurriedly walking down and smiling as he greeted: "Old brother, you're back? Could it be... you got what you wanted?"
Everyone looked at Zhang Song with fearful expressions.
Zhang Song narrowed his eyes, scanning everyone, then said, "I encountered him, but didn't catch him. Coming down the mountain this time is precisely for this matter......"
He roughly explained the previous events to the White Sun Stronghold members, then looked at Bai Sheng and continued: "Help me catch that kid, and you know the benefits."
Then he took paper and brush, drawing two portraits-one of an old man without a bamboo hat, and one of a young man wearing a bamboo hat. "I've seen this old man once, but I didn't clearly see this young man's face. The old man can be caught opportunistically, but this young man must be captured. You understand, right?"
When they saw the portraits, everyone's expressions immediately became somewhat strange.
Wasn't this old man the old thief they were pursuing some time ago?
And this young man... also seemed somewhat familiar?