Fairy, don't be afraid, I, Wang Daqi, am truly an honest man.

"Brother Taibing, what a coincidence! I never expected you to be hiding here having fun!!!"

Before they even went upstairs, Xu Sheng's hearty laughter had already echoed throughout the second floor.

In his view, if Xia Chunlian was there, then Xu Taibing must also be there.

But when he and Xu Ying pushed open the door and saw the faces of the three people sitting at the table, they were all stunned.

Xu Taibing is not here.

"Young Master Xu Sheng, Miss Xu Ying."

Xia Chunlian stood up without changing her expression, nodded slightly, and said, "If we're looking for Tai Bing, I'm afraid we'll disappoint you both. After we left the Xu family, Tai Bing went off on his own mission."

"Oh?"

Xu Sheng raised an eyebrow, his gaze sweeping across the table before finally settling on Xu Yan. He asked suspiciously, "Why didn't the soldiers take you, their personal maid, with them when they went out?"

Although Xu Yan was anxious, she responded with a serious expression: "Reporting to Young Master, my master said that the mission is a top secret of the sect, involving the whereabouts of demonic cultivators, and it would be inconvenient for me to take him along, so he ordered me to return to the market first to wait."

"Top Secret Mission??"

Xu Ying, with her keen intuition, swept her sharp eyes across Xia Chunlian and Xu Yan's faces, her tone suspicious, "I just met with Tai Bing yesterday, and he didn't mention any top-secret mission."

Xia Chunlian coldly replied, "Some of the sect's secret orders are of extremely high level. Not to mention you, even we fellow disciples wouldn't know the specific details unless we were involved in the mission."

"Yes, I would love to risk my life to follow you, but my master thinks my cultivation is too low and is afraid I will hold him back." Xu Yan showed a hint of grievance at the right time.

Seeing that the two men spoke with reason and evidence, and their expressions did not seem to be fake, most of the doubts in Xu Sheng's eyes dissipated.

He turned his head to look at Wang Daqi, who had been sitting quietly beside him, and asked in a calm tone, "And this gentleman is...?"

"This is my junior brother, Wang Daqi," Xia Chunlian introduced first. "We happened to run into him when we returned from our mission, so he hosted a welcome dinner for us."

Xu Sheng glanced at Wang Daqi and, upon discovering that the other party was merely a minor cultivator at the sixth level of Qi Refining, completely lost interest.

In his eyes, cultivators of this level were not even worthy of his attention.

Seeing this, Wang Daqi bowed respectfully and invited, "Since we've met here, it's fate. If you two don't mind, why don't we sit down and have a drink together?"

"No need," Xu Ying said coldly without even thinking.

As a privileged young woman, she had extremely high standards and looked down on Wang Daqi's mediocre cultivation.

Xu Sheng chuckled and waved his hand, saying, "No need for drinking. We're here to visit Fellow Daoist Shen Ruyan of the Shen family; business is important. Since Taibing isn't here, I'll take my leave."

After saying that, the two of them didn't linger and turned to go downstairs.

Watching the two figures ride away into the distance, Wang Daqi secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

He couldn't wait for these two big shots to leave, because too much talk can lead to mistakes, and if Xu Ying's keen senses detected anything, things would get really messy.

"Phew...that scared me to death." Xu Yan patted her chest, her face pale with fright. "Xu Ying's eyes looked like she wanted to eat me alive."

"Ignore them." Wang Daqi picked up his chopsticks again and calmly served food to the two of them.

At this moment, he also felt a sense of urgency.

strength!!

With his own strength, dealing with experts at the Qi Refining level would be a piece of cake.

However, it's completely inadequate against Foundation Establishment cultivators.

"If I were powerful, I wouldn't need to be so cautious."

Thinking of this, Wang Daqi tightened his grip on the chopsticks.

He looked up at Xia Chunlian, and a thought struck him.

Xia Chunlian was, after all, a Foundation Establishment cultivator, whose vision and knowledge far surpassed his.

She must have unique insights into how to quickly and steadily improve one's cultivation level.

"Senior Sister, I have something I'd like to ask you." Wang Daqi put down his chopsticks and said seriously, "I've recently saved up some spirit stones and plan to buy some spiritual herbs or pills to improve my strength as soon as possible. However, I'm really a novice when it comes to the properties and selection of pills. I wonder if Senior Sister has any suggestions?"

Upon hearing this, Xia Chunlian smiled slightly, took an elegant sip of the spiritual tea, then put down the teacup, cleared her throat, and began to speak in a leisurely manner.

"Junior Brother's ambition is commendable. You are currently at the peak of the sixth level of Qi Refining, a crucial juncture. If you wish to break through to the seventh level of Qi Refining in one fell swoop, the ordinary Qi Gathering Pills will not be enough. I suggest you take the Profound Origin Opening-the-Aperture Pill in combination with the Spirit Gathering Powder."

She paused, her eyes revealing a hint of expertise: "This Profound Origin Opening Meridian Pill has a gentle yet long-lasting effect, making it ideal for breaking through late-stage bottlenecks. However, taking such a potent pill places extremely high demands on a cultivator's foundation. If the foundation is unstable, forcing a breakthrough will only damage the meridians."

Wang Daqi listened attentively and subconsciously asked, "Then, senior sister, what do you think of my foundation...?"

Upon hearing the word "foundation," Xia Chunlian involuntarily recalled the scene of the two of them passionately entwined last night.

During that crazy night, she personally experienced the explosive spiritual power within Wang Daqi's body.

That was the most terrifying and solid foundation she had ever seen among all the Qi Refining stage cultivators.

Thinking of this, Xia Chunlian's pretty face flushed slightly. She awkwardly avoided Wang Daqi's gaze and whispered, "Your foundation... is the best I've ever seen in my life, without exception. Reaching the late stage of Qi Refining is just a natural progression for you."

"Is that so? Then I'm relieved." Wang Daqi didn't notice his senior sister's shyness and felt much more at ease.

Xia Chunlian took a deep breath to calm herself and continued to suggest, "Furthermore, Junior Brother, once you break through to the seventh level of Qi Refining, the quality of your spiritual power will undergo a qualitative leap, and you will generate rudimentary divine sense. At that time, you will be able to barely wield a second-tier talisman. You have plenty of spirit stones on hand, so you can buy two second-tier, low-grade life-saving talismans. Their power is such that even ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivators would have to avoid their edge."

"Second-tier talisman!!!!

Wang Daqi felt a surge of excitement. If he truly possessed such a powerful weapon capable of threatening even Foundation Establishment cultivators, his sense of security would be greatly enhanced.

"Senior sister, there's no time to lose. Could you please take me to the medicine shop later?" Wang Daqi said impatiently.

"Okay." Xia Chunlian nodded gently.

After the three of them had eaten and drunk their fill, they headed straight for the largest medicine shop in the market.

As a Foundation Establishment cultivator, Xia Chunlian also had some knowledge of alchemy.

With her overseeing things, Wang Daqi naturally didn't need to worry about being cheated by those cunning shopkeepers.

Upon entering the medicine shop, Xia Chunlian, a Foundation Establishment cultivator, exuded a slightly oppressive aura. The shop assistant, who had initially treated her with some disrespect, immediately became respectful and quickly invited the shopkeeper out.

Xia Chunlian didn't waste any words. Her eyes, as clear as autumn water, swept across the counter, and she said directly to the shopkeeper, "Shopkeeper, bring me a bottle of the finest Xuan Yuan Tong Qiao Pills, plus three portions of Ju Ling San, all freshly refined this year."

Upon hearing the name, the shopkeeper's eyes gleamed, and he said with a smile, "Fairy, you have a good eye. Both of these are top-grade items for breaking through to the late stage of Qi Refining. A bottle of Profound Origin Opening Aperture Pill costs twenty-five spirit stones, and three portions of Spirit Gathering Powder cost ten spirit stones, for a total of thirty-five spirit stones."

"Thirty-five yuan?!"

Upon hearing the price, Wang Daqi, who was standing nearby, couldn't help but gasp.

If he hadn't struck it rich, he probably wouldn't have even heard of such a high-quality elixir before, let alone been able to buy it.

"No wonder it's so difficult for independent cultivators to advance; the threshold for advancement alone can kill 90% of them."

Wang Daqi was secretly horrified.

In fact, with the various powerful talents he copied, even without taking drugs, he could naturally break through to the seventh level of Qi Refining in at most half a year by cultivating step by step.

But he couldn't wait any longer!

The more strength you have, the more you have to protect yourself.

Only with the ability can you take on more profitable tasks!

All things considered, it's not a loss.

"I'll buy it!!!" Wang Daqi said without hesitation, handing over thirty-five spirit stones in one go. His quick action made the shopkeeper grin from ear to ear.

…………

…………

After returning to the Shen family's residence, Wang Daqi first sent a message talisman to Shen Ruyan to let her know he was safe.

Shen Ruyan replied quickly.

She said she was busy receiving important guests, obviously Xu Sheng and Xu Ying, and told him to rest first.

Without delay, Wang Daqi went straight to the underground training room of his residence.

"Junior brother, although the pills are good, if they are taken incorrectly, not only will most of their medicinal power be wasted, but they may even damage your meridians."

Xia Chunlian's beautiful eyes darted around, and without trying to avoid suspicion, she followed Wang Daqi into the cultivation room.

As for Xu Yan, she went to prepare the food with a somewhat resentful expression.

Well, my husband needs some nourishment after his breakthrough, right?

Her cultivation level is low, so this kind of hard labor can only be assigned to her.

…………

The cultivation room was filled with spiritual energy.

Xia Chunlian sat cross-legged opposite Wang Daqi, earnestly instructing him: "When taking the medicine, you must first apply 'Spirit Gathering Powder' to all the major acupoints on your body to guide the external spiritual energy into microcirculation. After the meridians feel slightly warm, then swallow the 'Mysterious Origin Opening-Aperture Pill.' After taking the medicine, do not rush to break through the bottleneck. Instead, first use your spiritual power to envelop the medicinal power, like peeling silk from a cocoon, gradually guiding it into the Niwan Palace..."

As she spoke, she extended her slender, jade-like fingers and pressed them on several of Wang Daqi's acupoints.

Guide the spiritual energy within him.

Under Xia Chunlian's careful guidance, Wang Daqi felt that the originally violent medicinal power had become extremely obedient, gently scouring the pass along the predetermined route.

He sighed with genuine emotion.

The cultivation world truly values ​​lineage.

This meticulous technique for administering medicine is the culmination of countless years of experience from our predecessors!

If it weren't for Xia Chunlian, a Foundation Establishment cultivator, guiding him, and if he had foolishly swallowed it whole, he would probably already be suffering from reversed meridians and enduring immense pain.

Having someone to give directions versus not having anyone to give directions is like comparing heaven and earth!

As the medicine took effect in his body, Wang Daqi felt that the barrier at the late stage of Qi Refining that had been hindering him for so long was beginning to tremble slightly.

Time flies, and half an hour passes in the blink of an eye.

In the kitchen, Xu Yan worked for a long time before finally finishing the pot of carefully prepared Qi-boosting soup.

The steaming hot vapor carries the refreshing fragrance of herbs, which is very pleasant.

Looking at her masterpiece after working on it for half a day, Xu Yan wiped the sweat from her forehead and gave a sweet smile.

She muttered to herself, "Daqi and Senior Sister have been through so much; they must be starving. Half an hour has passed; shouldn't Daqi's breakthrough be over by now?"

With that thought in mind, she picked up the tray and walked briskly toward the underground training room.

However, just as she reached the door and before her hand even touched it, faint, suppressed yet clear moans seeped into her ears through the crack in the door.

Xu Yan was struck dumb, her delicate body trembled slightly, and she almost lost her balance while holding the tray.

She knew that voice all too well.

"These two people... they've done it again..."

Xu Yan stood blankly at the door, her face stiff, speechless.