Chapter 15
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Chapter 15: Enlightenment Pill
"Using your brain to fight?" Wang Yulun muttered, as if he had stumbled into unfamiliar territory.
"Big Brother Xu, please teach me."
"Well, this kind of thing usually comes naturally."
"But when your fighting strength hits a bottleneck, it becomes crucial to outthink stronger enemies."
"Even if a beast has strong defenses, there are ways to deal with it."
"And if it’s fast, that’s even easier to handle."
"Don’t worry about advice for now; go back and think more about how to take them down," Xu Fan said with a smile, content to stay at home where life was simpler.
Dealing with two mindless beasts? Their weaknesses are easy to spot.
"I understand."
"Big Brother Xu, I came to challenge the Rock-Armor Mantis again," Wang Yulun said, cupping his hands respectfully toward Xu Fan.
"Simple."
Xu Fan flicked his right hand lightly, and a beam of purple light shot through Wang Yulun’s forehead.
In an instant, Wang Yulun was pulled into an illusion.
Seeing the familiar scene, he confidently sprinted toward the Rock-Armor Mantis in the distant forest.
Xu Fan closed his eyes, sensing the illusion, and smiled with satisfaction.
All his effort in teaching Wang Yulun his self-created spells and guiding him hadn’t been wasted. The kid could now hold his own against the Rock-Armor Mantis, even if he couldn’t land a hit. Everything else looked promising.
"Take your time; he still needs more polishing," Xu Fan said with a confident tone, feeling like he was standing on the shoulders of giants.
Pulling out several new pill recipes he’d acquired, Xu Fan began studying them carefully, running through the alchemy process in his mind.
"For now, I’ll focus on the small spirit pill, disinfecting pill, and body-refining pill."
"The demand is high, and there are plenty of tasks."
As he spoke, Xu Fan glanced at the first artifact he’d received. The mirror displayed alchemy tasks issued by the Alchemy Pavilion.
Small spirit pill: 10 bottles (10 pills per bottle), ordinary quality 150 spirit stones, mid-grade 230 spirit stones, high-grade 400 spirit stones.
Disinfecting pill: 10 bottles (10 pills per bottle), ordinary quality 120 spirit stones, mid-grade 200 spirit stones, high-grade 350 spirit stones.
Body-refining pill: 10 bottles (10 pills per bottle), ordinary quality 200 spirit stones, mid-grade 300 spirit stones, high-grade 600 spirit stones.
Lightness pill: 10 bottles………………
When Xu Fan saw the price for the Enlightenment Pill, his eyes widened in shock.
"An ordinary-quality Enlightenment Pill can fetch 1,000 spirit stones per bottle!"
"A high-grade one? That’s worth 10,000 spirit stones!"
Curious, Xu Fan checked the communication section of the artifact and found the answer. The Enlightenment Pill enhances a cultivator’s understanding of the Dao.
With just that simple description, Xu Fan knew this pill was something extraordinary.
"Can the Enlightenment Pill be refined during the Qi Refinement Stage?"
Xu Fan continued to scroll through the communication section, but found nothing useful. Most of the posts were about refining graded pills, which didn’t help him much at his current level.
"Looks like I’ll have to ask the beautiful teacher tomorrow."
Just then, Wang Yulun broke free from the illusion. According to Xu Fan’s setup, the illusion would only end if either he or the beast was defeated.
"Did you make it?" Xu Fan asked with a hopeful smile, wondering if Wang Yulun had managed to pull off a last-minute victory.
"No, I gave it everything I had, but I only managed to injure its surface," Wang Yulun said, looking frustrated.
"Killing it is just too hard."
"Is it really that tough? Based on the Rock-Armor Mantis’s toughness, you just need to hit the same weak spot three times with the Fire Spear Technique," Xu Fan explained casually.
"That sounds easy enough," Wang Yulun said, pausing for a moment before it clicked.
"Wait, if it’s that simple, I would’ve killed it already!"
"Big Brother Xu, if there’s nothing else, I’m heading back."
Wang Yulun decided he needed to go home and think more about how to take down the other two beasts. Being around Xu Fan was just too discouraging.
"If you really can’t pass the test, let me know."
"If all else fails, I’ll give you a little boost," Xu Fan said with a mischievous glint in his eye. To him, Qi Refinement Seventh Layer beasts were no big deal.
"Thanks, Big Brother Xu."
As Wang Yulun walked away, Xu Fan sighed, "He’s such an honest kid."
As one of Xu Fan’s few friends in this world, he didn’t mind giving him a little help now and then.
The next day, after class, Xu Fan stayed behind.
"Junior Brother Xu, do you have any questions?" Sha Yan asked gently. Ever since her father told her to keep an eye on Xu Fan, she had been paying extra attention to him.
Xu Fan’s impression of her was that she was incredibly low-key. If you didn’t ask around in the Outer Sect, you might not even know he existed.
"Senior Sister, I have a question I’d like to ask you," Xu Fan said seriously, trying not to stare at her too much. He didn’t want to come off as some lovesick fool from his past life.
A woman as beautiful as her was hard to ignore.
"Go ahead, Junior Brother. This is the first time you’ve asked me a question one-on-one, so I’ll tell you everything I know," Sha Yan said, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.
Xu Fan felt his heart racing. He used to be someone who could handle beautiful women with ease, but here he felt completely out of his depth.
He took a deep breath to calm himself.
"Senior Sister, have you heard of the Enlightenment Pill? Can it really be refined during the Qi Refinement Stage?" Xu Fan asked.
"How do you know about the Enlightenment Pill? It can be refined during the Qi Refinement Stage, but it takes a heavy toll on the body," Sha Yan replied.
"Nowadays, very few can refine it at that stage."
"What kind of damage does it cause?" Xu Fan asked, his main concern showing.
"When refining the Enlightenment Pill, the alchemist has to pour a huge amount of mental strength and their own understanding of the Dao into it," Sha Yan explained.
"One small mistake, and you could lose your foundation as a cultivator."
"Right now, only alchemists at the Golden Core Stage can refine it without any harm."
"Are you thinking of refining it, Junior Brother?" Sha Yan asked, giving him a curious look.
"Haha, Senior Sister, you’ve got the wrong idea. I just heard it’s worth a lot, and I got a little greedy," Xu Fan explained.
"Oh, well, Junior Brother, you should work hard. If you really want to earn spirit stones, you should focus on becoming a foundational alchemist," Sha Yan said with a smile. For some reason, she felt a little fondness for this honest junior.
"Then I’ll take your advice, Senior Sister," Xu Fan said with a grin.
Xu Fan visited the steward’s cave to water the Seven-Color Flowers before heading back to his little hill.
Time flew by, and before he knew it, a year had passed.
"Time really flies when you’re cultivating. A whole year just slipped by."
"I still have 132 years before I can become a Foundation Establishment cultivator and over 8000 years until I dominate this realm."
The only good news he heard that year was that cultivators in this world could only stay for a maximum of ten thousand years. The same went for other races—once their time was up, they had to leave.
