After everyone was reborn, I was strictly disciplined.

Before Liu Qingwan could finish speaking, Xie Xingran's spoiled and sarcastic voice abruptly interrupted, "But it would be a waste for you to use it; you might as well not use it at all!"

He peeked out from beside Liu Qingwan, his round eyes glancing sideways at Lu Chengyuan, his disdain undisguised.

"The Marrow Cleansing Pill can indeed improve aptitude, but your aptitude is just too poor, isn't it?"

Xie Xingran scoffed, her tone full of disdain. "Others who use the Marrow Cleansing Pill can at least purify their three spiritual roots into two, and if they're lucky, they can directly transform into a single spiritual root, achieving instant success. But what about you?"

He paused deliberately, his gaze lingering on Lu Chengyuan's face as he observed the humility and embarrassment on his face with amusement, his eyes filled with even more mockery:

"Even if you take the Marrow Cleansing Pill, it will only be a matter of barely purifying your mixed ten spiritual roots into five spiritual roots."

"What's the difference between wasting a Marrow Cleansing Pill and ending up as a useless piece of trash?"

After saying that, Xie Xingran snorted coldly, stopped looking at Lu Chengyuan, and leaned into Liu Qingwan's arms, wrapping her arms around her neck. However, she still stole glances at Lu Chengyuan out of the corner of her eye, waiting to see him become angry and embarrassed.

He watched clearly as Lu Chengyuan's face gradually turned from flushed red to ashen, then from ashen to jet black, until finally it was as white as paper. His lips were bitten so hard they bled, and his aura became stagnant.

But the system notification that should have been ringing in his mind never came, not even the slightest sound.

"Damn it! What's going on?!"

Xie Xingran couldn't help but curse inwardly, filled with doubt and frustration.

"Could Lu Chengyuan really be crippled? Where did his former self-esteem go? Where did his pride go? He only stayed in the Lin family for three years, and I've already gone to such extremes, yet he didn't show the slightest reaction? Didn't he utter a single word of rebuttal or even get angry once?"

The more he thought about it, the more agitated he became. His nose wrinkled slightly, and his gaze toward Lu Chengyuan became more impatient.

Liu Qingwan felt the restlessness of the child in her arms, and then looked at Lu Chengyuan, whose face was pale but who was still trying to hold on. Her tone became serious, and she raised her hand to gently pat Xie Xingran's little bottom: "Ranran, don't be naughty."

"Hmph! I was just telling the truth!"

Xie Xingran curled her lip dismissively, snuggling even closer into Liu Qingwan's arms, her face full of resentment. "He was never very talented to begin with, using the Marrow Cleansing Pill would be a waste. Am I wrong?"

Liu Qingwan sighed helplessly, refraining from scolding Xie Xingran further. Turning to look at Lu Chengyuan, she offered a gentle but firm piece of advice, every word of which was true:

"What Ranran said just now wasn't entirely unreasonable. With your current aptitude, even if you used the Marrow Cleansing Pill, it probably wouldn't change much."

She explained in detail, "The effects of a low-grade Marrow Cleansing Pill are limited. It can only purify your ten spiritual roots into five spiritual roots, which is already the limit. It is absolutely impossible to go any further."

"Moreover, you should know how difficult it is for cultivators with five spiritual roots to cultivate. Their spiritual energy is mixed and their absorption of spiritual energy is as slow as a tortoise crawling."

"Even if one cultivates with all one's might, one can only remain at the Golden Core Perfection level for the rest of one's life, and will never be able to break through the bottleneck and reach higher levels such as Nascent Soul or Deity Transformation."

"If you want to truly change your destiny and go further, then you need the Supreme Marrow Cleansing Pill."

Liu Qingwan paused, a hint of difficulty on her face, "The effects of the top-grade Marrow Cleansing Pill are powerful. It might be able to directly transform your aptitude into three spiritual roots, and if you're lucky, it might even transform into two spiritual roots."

"The materials for refining the top-grade Marrow Cleansing Pill are extremely rare and precious. Each one is something you can only come across by chance and cannot obtain. Our Holy Land rarely refines them on a regular basis."

"Usually, the employer finds all the materials themselves and then entrusts us to refine them."

Liu Qingwan's words were already very clear, without any ambiguity.

While a low-grade Marrow Cleansing Pill isn't exactly cheap, it's not exorbitantly priced either. Given the Lin family's status as the foremost cultivation family in the Northern Territory, providing one for Lu Chengyuan wouldn't be difficult.

However, Lu Chengyuan had been with the Lin family for three whole years, and the Lin family head, Lin Feng, who was also his great-grandfather, had never thought of giving him a Marrow Cleansing Pill, and had never even mentioned it.

The implications are self-evident.

Lin Feng ultimately didn't value his adopted great-grandson, whom he had taken in halfway through his life. Perhaps, in his eyes, Lu Chengyuan's inferior aptitude wasn't worth the Lin family spending a single Marrow Cleansing Pill.

The Lin family has just experienced a fierce battle between immortal sects, and its strength has been greatly depleted. It is precisely the time for them to recuperate and stockpile resources.

Every bit of cultivation resource in the manor must be carefully managed and used wisely to cultivate more talented disciples and help the Lin family restore its former glory as soon as possible.

Under such circumstances, how could the Lin family possibly have spare money and resources to buy a low-grade Marrow Cleansing Pill with little effect for Lu Chengyuan, who has poor aptitude and a bleak future?

Instead of wasting it on him, it would be better to give this Marrow Cleansing Pill to other disciples in the manor with decent aptitude. Perhaps, it could even cultivate another genius with a single spiritual root, adding a boost to the Lin family. That would be truly making the best use of it.

Lu Chengyuan understood these principles; he had already figured them out from the moment he asked for the Marrow Cleansing Pill.

He took a deep breath, slowly raised his head, and tried to suppress the resentment and bitterness surging in his heart. The bitterness was like vines, winding around his heart, dense and painful, making it almost impossible for him to breathe.

However, he maintained a humble and respectful demeanor, bowed deeply to Liu Qingwan, and said calmly, "Thank you for reminding me, Senior Liu. I understand your meaning."

He paused, then raised his head, his gaze fixed firmly on Liu Qingwan: "This junior only wants to know how much a low-grade Marrow Cleansing Pill costs, and how many top-grade spirit stones it requires."

He knew in his heart that he had already offended Xie Xingran. Before coming, he was prepared to be ridiculed and harassed by Xie Xingran.

Therefore, although he heard Xie Xingran's harsh and hurtful words and felt pain in his heart, he did not feel too sad or angry.

But when he learned from Liu Qingwan that even after taking the Marrow Cleansing Pill, his aptitude would only change from ten spiritual roots to five, and he would still find it difficult to achieve anything, an indescribable despair instantly overwhelmed him.

Seeing Lu Chengyuan's stubborn appearance, Liu Qingwan slowly spoke and gave a number: "If it is a low-grade Marrow Cleansing Pill, the market price is about 50,000 high-grade spirit stones."

Fifty thousand top-grade spirit stones.

For him now, 50,000 top-grade spirit stones are an astronomical figure, an amount he might not be able to accumulate even if he spent his entire life on them.

He is now just a down-on-his-luck member of the Lin family, ignored by everyone, with no cultivation resources and no source of income, let alone 50,000 top-grade spirit stones.

That was an amount he wouldn't even dare to dream of; it was simply impossible for him to take out so many top-grade spirit stones to buy a low-grade Marrow Cleansing Pill.

"What if I go find the materials myself—"

"Chengyuan, what are you doing here?" At this moment, Lin Feng walked over from the connecting corridor and saw Lu Chengyuan, a slight displeasure showing on his face.