Refining the Mountains and Rivers

Chapter 5 – Increase in Cultivation

What was going on here?

Qin Yu immediately raised his guard. He tossed away the chicken overlord without much thought, quickly pulled out a minor spirit pill and swallowed it.

After being shined upon by the little blue lamp, the pill had been upgraded and the medicinal efficacy had drastically risen along with it. The pill was now equal to at least three from before. The medicinal efficacy of the pill circulated through his body, rapidly turning into spiritual strength. Qin Yu’s second level Energy Refining magic powers were soon completely restored, and were even a little better than before.

It was too late to regret his choices. So, after taking minor spirit pill, Qin Yu grabbed onto one side of the stone walls and began to slowly make his way downwards. He had already thought over the matter and came to the conclusion that the disposal department was the best path to take, so he couldn’t give up here so easily.

Of course, the most important factor in him making such a hasty decision was the knowledge that the Pill Disposal Department had only gone through 10 people in the last seven years. The one that lasted the shortest period of time had still stayed here for two months. From this, it was clear that while there were dangers within, these dangers weren’t immediately fatal.

The journey to the bottom continued on in peace.

Besides the sounds of his own footsteps, he could hear nothing else in the quiet tunnel. Qin Yu didn’t dare to be careless so he cautiously searched the area several times. After he determined that there was nothing dangerous around him, he finally revealed a thoughtful expression.

Since there were no external dangers, then the traces of digging near the entrance and the blood that was spilled on the ground could only have been left behind by the previous members of the Pill Disposal Department.

Why was that?

Qin Yu was puzzled, but in the end he couldn’t come up with a reason. He quietly paid attention to his surroundings and began to clean up the area. The last person who was here, Senior-apprentice Brother Wang, must have been in agonizing pain during the last moments of his life, so he had left the living area in an utter mess. Although Qin Yu didn’t care much about his living environment, he might as well clean up a little since he would be staying here for a long time in the foreseeable future.

Two hours later, Qin Yu had finally cleaned up the area. He hadn’t found any harvests during the process.

It seemed that there were some things he would need to slowly uncover in the future.

He sat down cross-legged on a round cushion and took out all the minor spirit pills he still had. Counting them, there were 37 left in total. Anticipation lit up within his eyes. He had been patiently waiting all these past days, and now that he finally had a safe and concealed environment, he could no longer hold himself back. Just how much would these 37 minor spirit pills increase his cultivation by?

He swallowed the pills, closed his eyes, and absorbed them!

Qin Yu’s thoughts were completely immersed in his own cultivation. The magic powers within his body grew at an incredible speed, constantly rising.

When the last minor spirit pill turned into rushing magic power that fused with his cultivation, Qin Yu finally opened his eyes. A sharp light flashed in the darkness, incomparably dazzling. Overall he hadn’t changed much, but his cheeks were rosier and his back was straight, causing him to emit a completely different aura from before.

He was calm, steady, and filled with confidence!

As if he had been reborn.

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As he felt the magic powers flowing through his body that were several times stronger than before, he couldn’t help but reveal a bright smile.

Energy Refining, fifth level!

After eating up 37 minor spirit pills he had managed to forcefully raise his cultivation by three boundaries. Of course, this was because his talent was far too poor and his ability to absorb spiritual strength far too low. The rate at which he could absorb spiritual strength was slow and he had wasted a considerable amount of the pills’ medicinal efficacy, otherwise he could have risen to an even higher level.

But this was more than satisfactory for Qin Yu. In the past he never imagined that he would be able to reach the fifth level of Energy Refining. But unfortunately for him, he had used up all the minor spirit pills and he wasn’t sure what uses the other pills had, so he could only stop his cultivation here.

He rose up and stretched his body. His joints emitted loud cracking sounds. He quietly calculated the time that had passed and was left startled. Unexpectedly, he had used up nearly seven days; he hadn’t felt the passing of time at all and had only thought a moment had passed.

“Immortal cultivation has no sense of time. Hundreds of years can pass in the blink of an eye…”

Qin Yu finally experienced just what these words meant. He sighed and gathered his thoughts before moving to another room. When he cleaned up this area he discovered that this was the study room. There were a great deal of ancient pill books here, but at the time he had been eager to cultivate so he didn’t stay here for long.

Now was a good time to read through these texts. If he could determine what sort of pills his remaining ones were then he could continue cultivating. After experiencing the rapid increase in his cultivation, Qin Yu decided he liked this sort of cultivating feeling.

While he called it a study room, it was actually just one of the caves roughly hewn into the stone walls. Besides a few ragged tables and chairs, there wasn’t much else. There was an oil lamp on the table used for light as well some dry ink and a stack of paper to the side. There were some messy scribbles on the papers.

Qin Yu didn’t need to light the lamp. He first looked over the paper on the table. It was covered with virulent curses overflowing with hatred, completely useless to him.

With a swipe of his hand, he pushed it aside. Then, he turned and picked up a nameless book.

He flipped open the first page.

“I, Xu, have pursued alchemy all my life, but my inferior aptitude will make it difficult to ever reach the highest peaks of knowledge. I leave behind my attainments to the future generations, in hopes that they…”

After glancing over the rest, he noticed it was rambling complaints and turned the page.

Soon, Qin Yu sucked in a deep breath.

This fellow surnamed Xu had actually recorded in detail his own alchemy refining process. This book was similar to alchemy notes, and what was even better was that he had written down descriptions of the various pills he had refined. This was what Qin Yu needed the most right now.

He quickly read through it. Perhaps it was because his cultivation had increased but his memorization ability had also been enhanced. After a moment he was able to approximately remember the contents of the book, in particular the descriptions of various pills.

Maybe it was because this Xu fellow’s cultivation wasn’t too high, but he was only able to refine low level pills. But, this was what Qin Yu needed in order to determine what kinds of pills he had.

Still, he wasn’t careless. He took out several other pill books and flipped through them to verify his initial findings. After making sure there weren’t too many discrepancies, he finally determined the three different types of pills he still had. They were called essence augmenting pills, body tempering pills, and fasting pills.

Essence augmenting pills were similar to minor spirit pills; they were pills that increased one’s cultivation. But, they were one grade higher and their medicinal efficacy was much stronger.

The main function of body tempering pills was to enhance one’s blood vitality and mortal body; there was also a minute effect of increasing one’s cultivation.

As for fasting pills, taking a single one meant that he wouldn’t need to eat food for an entire month.

Qin Yu happily smiled. There was no need to mention the essence augmenting pills; they were absolutely good things. As for body tempering pills, they were also useful. It seemed that his weak and sickly physical state would soon be able change.

As for fasting pills, when he was digesting pills there would be spiritual energy entering his body so that he wouldn’t feel hunger. But once these pills were finished, they might find some use.

This could be called a satisfactory harvest.

With that, he continued to cultivate!

But this time Qin Yu didn’t swallow an essence augmenting pill, but instead chose the body tempering pill.

The reason behind this was simple. During the Energy Refining realm his magic powers would be weak and he hadn’t studied any offensive magic arts as well. If he were to stumble into some fatal danger, he would have to rely on his body to struggle his way out.

First he would temper his mortal body and then cultivate his magic power; this would add another level of safety. There shouldn’t be any hidden dangers in the Pill Disposal Department, but with Qin Yu’s character he was naturally suspicious of any possibilities.

The body tempering pill was truly worthy of its name. It was known as an indispensable pill for any cultivator at the Energy Refining realm, and its effects in transforming the mortal body were incredible!

10 days later, all 44 body tempering pills were completely refined. Qin Yu had grown half a head taller and his muscles had become smooth and strong. With his body that overflowed with explosive strength, he could bid farewell to his past weak an emaciated body!

If Lang Tu were to find out about this he would definitely cry out in sorrow. That fellow had suffered so much to attain his current physique but now he might not be any stronger than Qin Yu.

Qin Yu was all smiles. He decided he definitely needed to find a way to give some body tempering pills to Lang Tu later. That fellow’s mind was full of muscles and it would be too difficult for him to walk the orthodox route of cultivation; he was more suited for tempering his body instead.

With the little blue lamp in his possession, Qin Yu believed that he would be able to walk very far on his road of cultivation. But, wouldn’t it be lonely if he didn’t have any friends to accompany him?

And Potato was his good brother of a lifetime!

The dark underground was an absolutely safe environment, and even time seemed to flow faster. When Qin Yu woke up from his cultivation daze again, he found he had been in the disposal department for an entire month already. All of the essence augmenting pills had been changed into his magic power, and his cultivation has soared to the astonishing eighth level of Energy Refining!

In one month he had broken through six levels of Energy Refining.

“Incredible, pills are really a cultivator’s best friend!” Qin Yu couldn’t help but sigh.

He was already sure that the reason Third Senior-apprentice Brother Wei Wei was able to break through seven levels of Energy Refining in 27 days and smoothly enter the Foundation Establishment realm was all because of that little blue lamp. Unfortunately, he had made too great a spectacle of himself, and like a meteor soaring into the skies, he also fell like a meteor from the skies.

“The arrow always shoots the first bird. Wei Wei’s death is proof of this. I have to keep that thought in mind and make sure I remind myself frequently.” Qin Yu said, his eyes earnest and dark. The existence of the little blue lamp had become his greatest secret and he couldn’t expose it no matter what. Otherwise, let alone a little Energy Refining cultivator like himself, even a mighty supreme elder would be torn down.

After using up all his pills, Qin Yu’s cultivation came to a temporary end. Even after staying a whole month in the dark underground beneath the mountain, in a completely enclosed space, he didn’t feel bored at all. His lips curved up. “It seems I’m not completely useless when it comes to cultivation. At least I can withstand loneliness.”

But as his voice fell, Qin Yu’s eyebrows rose up. An image appeared in his eyes. “So it’s you little thing.” What appeared before him was the chicken overlord he had brought to the disposal department. On the day he arrived he had tossed it to the side because of his wariness, and had then forgotten about it as he was cultivating.

At this time, the chicken overlord’s bright and colorful feathers had lost their original luster, and its fire red crown of feathers was dropping downwards. There was no light in its little eyes and it seemed a bit depressed. It looked at Qin Yu, hesitating, as if it wanted to approach him, but was also afraid of him.

Qin Yu immediately understood why. He lifted his hand and looked at his index finger. Indeed, the ghostly green had become several degrees darker. After being in this environment that was filled with pill toxins in the air, the month of time had caused the invading toxins to accumulate to a high enough degree where they had erupted. He was able to manage since he had the little blue lamp and its poison immunity effects, but the chicken overlord wasn’t so lucky.

To not die here even after a month, this chicken must have an astonishing talent. It was indeed worthy of its title as overlord.

Qin Yu thought for a moment. He reached into the chest of his robes and slowly opened them. A deep blue light suddenly bloomed and illuminated the surrounding area for a foot. The chicken overlord’s eyes widened with excitement and its claws began restlessly striking the ground, but it still resisted and didn’t walk over.

This little fellow actually had several degrees of spiritual wisdom!

Qin Yu revealed a brief look of surprise. All sorts of strange and miraculous things were possible in this world. If he could obtain this little blue lamp, who was to say that the chicken overlord couldn’t have its own little fortuitous encounter and develop its own spiritual wisdom? He originally brought it over because he wanted a companion here, and if the chicken overlord had its own spiritual wisdom then that would make things even better.

“Hey little fellow, come over here, I’ll help you dispel the poison.”

The chicken overlord seemed to understand his words. Its eyes rolled up and it fell to the ground with a thump.

It fainted?

Qin Yu didn’t know whether to laugh or to cry. It seemed that this little fellow had already noticed him but had been resisting approaching. If so, then its spiritual wisdom couldn’t be considered too low.

He walked over and picked up the chicken overlord. As he bathed it in the light of the little blue lamp, faint threads of black energy rushed towards its claw, turning it black.

He pinched the chicken overlord with his hands. It was fat and plump, and from the feel of it, it was much heavier than when he first brought it in.

Qin Yu rubbed his chin. He hadn’t seen the chicken overlord this past month, so just what had it eaten during this time?

The black energy stopped surging; the poison had been dispelled. The chicken overlord’s eyes were still closed without any sign that they would wake up soon.

However, if you are unconscious, why are a few of your long tail feathers shaking so hard?

Qin Yu intentionally lifted it up, a diabolical grin on his face. “How fat. Now that your poison has been dispelled, it’s time to cook you!”

Pa pa pa!

The chicken overlord began to violently struggle. If Qin Yu hadn’t braced himself then it might have already escaped. After a moment, the chicken overlord discovered that the two hands holding it were like two iron hoops, completely unbreakable. The chicken overlord looked at Qin Yu with large and pitiful eyes, tears streaming down its face.

This little fellow, it really had developed a spirit!

A wild chicken spirit?

This sort of name left him feeling inexplicably joyed.

Qin Yu faintly smiled.

The chicken overlord immediately changed its attitude, trying to act like a spoiled little child. It was fine if its feathers were shining, but why was its tail shaking like a windmill?