What does my ancestor's pregnancy have to do with me, a mere servant?

Lin Yuan's smile froze.

"Holy crap... the Sunflower Manual, a cultivation version?"

He almost thought he'd misheard. Transform into a woman after cultivation? This is some kind of cultivation technique?

"This woman is definitely black inside," Lin Yuan cursed inwardly.

However, he forced himself to maintain a composed expression.

"Thank you so much, senior sister! I think being born a man is great, really great, so you don't need to worry about it!"

Lin Yuan refused through gritted teeth.

Seeing Lin Yuan's humiliated expression, Lin Feilu's pent-up sense of humiliation seemed to dissipate somewhat.

On that usually aloof and cold face, a genuine smile, without any pretense, unexpectedly bloomed.

It wasn't mockery or sneer, but rather a heartfelt, somewhat childlike sense of triumph and pleasure.

With curved eyebrows and slightly upturned lips, her phoenix eyes reflected the soft white light of moonstone, like two pools of melting spring water.

That smile, like the first melting of ice and snow, even brightened the dim and cramped cave.

Lin Yuan saw this and his heart stirred slightly.

When this woman isn't smiling, she's like an ice queen; but when she smiles, she's like a banished immortal descended to earth, so beautiful that you can't take your eyes off her.

But it only lasted for a moment.

He quickly composed himself and got straight to the point: "Stop joking. Since Senior Sister is already at the Foundation Establishment stage, why is she still vying for that damned Saintess position? How exactly are the qualifications for entering this Crimson Forbidden Land determined? It can't just be whoever has the highest cultivation level who gets in, can it?"

Lin Feilu's smile vanished, and she reverted to her usual aloofness.

She stared coldly at Lin Yuan, seemingly already guessing his thoughts, but determined to see him say it out loud before he made a fool of himself.

"You want to go in?"

"Don't even dream about it. The Crimson Forbidden Land is not only a place for gathering herbs, but also contains the inheritance of an ancient demonic sect. Historically, places are extremely scarce, and only core geniuses or direct disciples of elders can obtain the jade token for entry."

Lin Feilu clasped her hands together, looking down at Lin Yuan as if he were a delusional ant.

"Given how much those inner disciples covet the spots, someone like you, a mere outer disciple farming the land, has absolutely no chance."

Lin Yuan frowned.

As expected, the official channels were blocked.

"but."

Lin Feilu changed the subject, her tone now carrying a subtle undertone.

"According to tradition, the Holy Son and Holy Daughter bear the heavy responsibility of entering the ancient temple to obtain the inheritance. The sect allows them to each bring one attendant into the forbidden area for support."

"You mean..." Lin Yuan's eyes lit up slightly as he grasped the key point, "As long as you become the Holy Maiden, I can sneak in as her attendant?"

"That's right." Lin Feilu nodded.

But then she frowned.

"But now the situation is terrible. Originally, it was a foregone conclusion that I was the only candidate for the Holy Maiden after the fox spirit died."

"But those old fogies at the top of the sect, wanting to be on the safe side, were afraid that if something happened to only one candidate, it would be impossible to make up for it, so they temporarily nominated a new candidate yesterday."

"Lingcui Peak, Moon over the Yangtze and Huai Rivers".

When this name was mentioned, Lin Feilu's tone noticeably turned somber.

"This woman's talent is no less than mine, and her cultivation has reached the mid-Foundation Establishment stage, a minor realm higher than mine. Her foundation is extremely solid, and she is skilled in manipulating and refining corpses, with ruthless methods."

"What's even more deadly is—"

Lin Feilu lowered her phoenix eyes slightly and her voice became a few decibels lower.

"I was severely injured by Senior Sister Wen two days ago, and my dantian and meridians were damaged. Even though I have tried my best to recuperate these past few days, I have only recovered about 60% to 70% of my combat strength. In this state, my chances of winning a head-on confrontation with Jiang Huaiyue, who is in the mid-Foundation Establishment stage, are less than 30%."

"The election is in two weeks. The rules are simple: I can only get the Saintess Jade Token by defeating her fair and square in the ring."

Her phoenix eyes suddenly turned to Lin Yuan, her gaze intense.

"You have to help me."

Lin Yuan crossed his arms, leaned against the stone wall, and raised an eyebrow: "How can I help? I'm just a Qi Refining stage cultivator, I can't possibly go up to the arena and fight a mid-Foundation Establishment cultivator for you, can I? With my cultivation level, I probably wouldn't even be able to withstand a single move, and I'd be carried off the stage on the spot."

"Do your best!"

"I don't care what methods you use. Pills, formations, talismans, whatever. Your unpredictable alchemy skills can't possibly only produce low-level pills like Qi Gathering Pills, can they?"

"If I lose to Jiang Huaiyue, not only will you not be able to enter the Crimson Forbidden Land, but we will also be unable to complete the spiritual medicine task assigned by Senior Sister Wen."

"If we don't get the Frost Marrow Lotus, once the three-month deadline is up, you know very well what Senior Sister Wen's methods are. At that time, not only will I be trapped, but you will also have to join her in the Thousand Soul Banner. Then, we will both be trapped like turtles in a jar, with no way to escape."

Lin Yuan stroked his chin and remained silent for a few moments.

This is indeed a very real problem. That crazy woman, Wen Yuci, is not one to reason.

Moreover, he himself needs the opportunities presented by the Crimson Forbidden Land. Whether it's the Heavenly Dao Foundation Building Technique or high-grade spiritual herb seeds, they are all vital to his future development.

Lin Feilu lost, and he's finished too.

"Helping you is no problem." Lin Yuan spread his hands, his tone frank and self-assured. "But Senior Sister, do you have any extra spirit stones on you?"

Lin Feilu was taken aback.

A look of bewilderment flashed across her stunningly beautiful face, followed by wariness, and finally disbelief.

"What do you want to do?"

"Alchemy! You want to bridge the gap of a minor cultivation level within half a month, while also repairing the dantian meridians and damaged essence caused by Wen Yuci's attack? How could you possibly keep up with that by just meditating and breathing exercises?"

"I can refine top-grade pills for you that can quickly restore your spiritual power and even allow you to unleash your potential in a short period of time. With my skill, you can rest assured about the quality. However..."

Lin Yuan spread out his two empty palms, a look of sincere embarrassment on his face.

"As a lowly outer sect disciple who farms the land, my monthly salary is only ten low-grade spirit stones. The spiritual materials needed to refine those pills are not cheap, and I simply don't have enough spirit stones to buy precious spiritual materials from the Pill Treasure Pavilion."

"You can't expect me to get something for nothing, can you? That's not fair, senior sister."

He paused, then added.

"Why don't you ask Wen Yuci for some funds? Just say it's for expenses in preparation for the Holy Maiden Election. That woman should be willing to pay."

Lin Feilu's chest heaved violently.

She understood.

This shameless thing not only forcibly used the main seal of the Soul Devouring Technique to control her and used her as a cauldron to replenish her energy every night, but now he even makes her pay for the medicine she needs to fight in the war!

Are there really such shameless people in the world?

Have.

He stood right in front of her, his face full of sincerity.

What frustrated Lin Feilu even more was that every word this bastard said made perfect sense. She did need the pills, he did not have any spirit stones, and she was indeed richer than him.

The logic is closed and flawless.

It's infuriating!

She took a deep breath, then slowly exhaled, swallowing back the profanities that were rising in her throat.

He slammed his hand hard on the storage bag at his waist.

"Splash—"

A small pile of low-grade spirit stones, radiating pure spiritual energy, appeared out of thin air and landed precisely on the bluestone table, forming a small mountain.

"This is my salary and savings for the past six months!"

"One thousand dollars, not a penny more. If you dare use it for anything else, I'll risk being poisoned by the Soul Devouring Technique and carve ten turtles on your face!"

After saying that, Lin Feilu didn't want to stay in that suffocating cave for even a second longer.

She turned and strode out of the stone gate, the hem of her Taoist robe billowing in the night wind.

The cave returned to silence.

Lin Yuan stood in front of the table, looking down at the small pile of spirit stones neatly stacked, and swept them with his divine sense.

"A whole thousand low-grade spirit stones."

He slowly grinned, revealing a row of white teeth.

"A rich woman is a rich woman. Even a single hair on her body is thicker than my waist."

He put the spirit stone into his storage bag, casually weighed it in his hand, and the heavy feeling made him feel happy.

"However, to be fair, my senior sister is reasonable. Despite her scolding, she still paid the money. We should cherish this kind of partner."

The night was deep and all was quiet.

Lin Yuan sat cross-legged back on the stone bed.

He didn't immediately start researching how to deal with that Jiang Huaiyue. Sharpening the axe doesn't delay the work, and one must be strong enough to forge iron. Rather than wasting time advising Lin Feilu, he should first push his own cultivation level higher.

With a flick of his wrist, five white jade bottles appeared in front of him.

These are ninety top-grade Qi Gathering Pills newly refined today.

Lin Yuan uncorked the first bottle, poured out nine emerald green pills with double-layered cloud patterns, and swallowed them in one gulp.

"boom!"

The immense medicinal power exploded within the dantian, transforming into a torrent of spiritual energy that surged into the meridians.

He immediately activated his cultivation technique, guiding his spiritual energy along a predetermined path to break through the barrier of the eighth level of Qi Refining.

The vast river of spiritual energy surged toward that invisible barrier.

Then--

It was like a huge wave crashing onto a reef, splashing water everywhere, but not even scraping off a layer of the reef's surface.

The spiritual energy was running out and was simply not enough to break through the rock-solid meridian barrier of the eighth level of Qi Refining.

The medicinal effects washed over the meridians more than a dozen times, eventually dissipating completely like the receding tide.

Lin Yuan opened his eyes, his expression calm, but his brows furrowed slightly.

The absorption rate of low-grade spiritual roots is shockingly low.

The immense medicinal power of the nine top-grade Qi Gathering Pills, after being absorbed by his crude meridians, was probably less than 30% actually converted into usable spiritual energy. The remaining 70% was completely dissipated during the conduction process in his meridians, like pouring water into a leaky bucket.

"No wonder low-grade spiritual roots are called useless spiritual roots." Lin Yuan sighed inwardly. "The same pill, one high-grade spiritual root pill is worth more than three of my pills."

Without hesitation, he uncorked the second bottle. He swallowed nine pills.

The spiritual energy filled his dantian once more, violently colliding with the barrier.

The barrier remained completely unmoved.

not enough.

The third bottle.

The torrent of spiritual energy roared and surged through the meridians, while the vortex of spiritual power in the dantian spun wildly, crushing, compressing, and injecting every bit of medicinal power into that stubborn barrier.

Fine cracks, as thin as spider silk, finally appeared on the walls of the meridians, but it was far from enough.

The fourth bottle.

The medicinal power of all thirty-six top-grade Qi Gathering Pills converged into a raging dragon of spiritual energy, coiling and gathering momentum in the dantian before crashing headlong into the already cracked barrier.

"Click—"

A crisp cracking sound came from inside the body.

That barrier, which had separated countless cultivators with low-grade spiritual roots for their entire lives, finally crumbled under the bombardment of violent pills.

A torrent of spiritual energy swept past, pouring into the new meridian realm and forming a more solid and larger vortex of spiritual energy in the dantian.

Eight layers of Qi Refining.

Lin Yuan slowly opened his eyes and exhaled a breath of stale air.

The turbid air transformed into a white mist under the dim light of the moonstone, and then dissipated.

He looked down at the four empty white jade bottles beside him, a hint of helplessness flashing in his eyes.

Thirty-six top-grade Qi Gathering Pills—if Lin Feilu, with his exceptional spiritual root, were to consume them, he wouldn't just break through to the eighth level of Qi Refining; he could probably reach the ninth level directly, or even touch the edge of the Great Perfection of Qi Refining.

And what about him? Despite all that effort, he's still far from even reaching the threshold of the ninth level of Qi Refining.

The utilization rate of spiritual energy by low-grade spiritual roots is outrageously low. They are both cultivators, yet the difference is so great that they seem like two different species.

He picked up the last white jade bottle and weighed it in his hand.

There are still nine top-grade Qi Gathering Pills left. But judging from the rate at which they were consumed just now, this amount of medicinal power is barely enough to consolidate the foundation of the eighth level of Qi Gathering, let alone break through to the ninth level of Qi Refining.

Lin Yuan swallowed the last nine pills to stabilize his newly broken-through realm, and then sat cross-legged to regulate his breathing for half an incense stick's time.

After confirming that his cultivation level had completely stabilized, he stood up and stretched his slightly sore muscles and bones.

"It seems that the Qi Gathering Pills are no longer sufficient to break through to the ninth level of Qi Refining. I must switch to the more potent Qi Condensation Pills."

The Condensing Essence Pill is a mid-grade pill specifically for cultivators in the late stage of Qi Refining. Its medicinal power is more than five times that of the Gathering Qi Pill, and the corresponding spiritual materials are naturally much rarer, making its price several times that of the Gathering Qi Pill.

With his current skill as a seventh-grade alchemist, he could forcefully start a furnace to refine the Qi Condensation Pill. However, the requirements for controlling the heat and blending the medicinal liquids for this grade of pill have suddenly increased. Even if a seventh-grade alchemist were to attempt to refine it, the success rate would be at most 60%, and a small amount of pill toxins would inevitably remain in the pill, making it impossible to achieve the pure and flawless state of a top-grade Qi Gathering Pill.

If a cultivator ingests pills containing toxic substances over a long period, the toxic substances will gradually accumulate in their meridians, forming stubborn blockages. For those with top-grade spiritual roots, their powerful self-purification abilities might be able to gradually resolve these blockages.

But for someone with such a low-grade spiritual root, that would be a form of slow suicide.

"My spiritual root aptitude is already poor, my meridians are crude, and my absorption of spiritual energy is slow. If my meridians are further blocked by the poison of the pills, my future cultivation will be completely ruined."

Lin Yuan clasped his hands behind his head, lay back on the stone bed, and stared at the crack in the cave ceiling that was leaking water.

"We must find a way to refine a top-grade Qi Condensation Pill that is free of toxic substances. And to achieve this..."

With a slight thought, he summoned the control panel.

The familiar golden lettering appeared in my eyes.

[Seventh-Rank Alchemist: 0/10000 (Points can be added)]

To advance from rank 7 to rank 6, you need 10,000 attribute points.

Lin Yuan rubbed his temples and began to silently plan in his mind.

One can gain 100 attribute points by engaging in face-to-face arduous training with Lin Feilu, who is in the early stages of Foundation Establishment.

Ten thousand points equals one hundred times. At a frequency of once a day, it would take one hundred days. That's more than three months.

Three months? That's too late. The Holy Maiden Selection is in half a month, and the Crimson Forbidden Land opens in three months. He can't even refine a Qi Condensation Pill; what will he use to break through?

Suddenly, Wen Yuci's stunningly beautiful face popped into his mind.

Hmm... that crazy woman is at the half-step Golden Core stage, her realm is more than a whole major realm higher than Lin Feilu's. According to the panel's pattern, a single face-to-face intensive training session will definitely yield far more than one hundred attribute points. Even a conservative estimate would be at least three hundred points. That's a three-fold increase in efficiency.

Lin Yuan thought about it seriously for two seconds.

Then I shivered, as if someone had poured a bucket of ice water on the back of my neck.

No, no, no.

That female demon kills without blinking an eye, and can turn people into puppets with a smile. If he dares to bring up such a thing with Wen Yuci, that woman will most likely rip his soul out on the spot and stuff it into the Thousand Soul Banner, making him suffer ten thousand years of reincarnation inside.

This isn't about grinding attribute points; this is about walking into someone's death.

Just as Wen Yuci's thought was extinguished, another figure flashed into her mind at an inopportune moment.

Wearing a bright red, high-waisted ruqun (a type of traditional Chinese dress), her figure was breathtakingly voluptuous. Leaning languidly against a soft couch, her long, snow-white legs were prominently displayed—

Li Yang, manager of Danbao Pavilion.

A cultivator at the Core Formation stage.

If only I could have a face-to-face arduous training session with her...

Lin Yuan's Adam's apple bobbed involuntarily.

Then, he slapped the idea out of its bud before it even sprouted.

What are you thinking? That's a Core Formation stage ancestor! One slap and he'd be smashed into mincemeat! Besides, that woman is cunning to the core; she already secretly scanned him with her divine sense in the Pill Treasure Pavilion today. If she discovers anything amiss, he won't even know how he died.

Lust is a double-edged sword, and in the world of cultivation, this sword is even more ruthless, capable of cutting through iron like mud.

Lin Yuan took a deep breath and cleared his mind of all the messy thoughts.

After much thought, the safest, most stable, and least risky source of attribute points is the sheep, Lin Feilu.

Although it only yields 100 points each time, its advantage lies in its stability.

Moreover, the opponent was completely under the control of the Soul Devouring Technique and couldn't cause any trouble.

"One hundred at a time, then let's increase the frequency." Lin Yuan stroked his chin and began precise mathematical calculations.

Cultivators possess physical constitutions far superior to mortals, with abundant energy and astonishing recovery abilities. This is especially true for Foundation Establishment stage cultivators, who can go a whole night without sleep without any effect.

Twice a day is too conservative.

Three times a day is okay, but it's not very efficient.

Five times a day? That's a bit much, but not a big problem.

Seven times a day?

Lin Yuan nodded silently.

Reasonable.

In that case, you get 700 attribute points per day. In fifteen days, you can accumulate 10,500 points, enough to raise your alchemy master to the sixth rank.

Just before the Saintess Election.

At that time, not only will they be able to refine top-grade Qi Condensation Pills to break through to the ninth level of Qi Refining, but they will also be able to prepare a trump card for Lin Feilu to deal with Jiang Huaiyue.

perfect.

"But this will probably make things difficult for my senior sister." Lin Yuan symbolically expressed his apology in his mind. "I'll refine her a few more bottles of recovery pills later as compensation."

Having finalized the plan, Lin Yuan got out of bed.

He slipped on the large black hooded cloak and fastened the snap buttons at the collar.

A wooden mask covered his face, obscuring half of it.

The "Formless Transformation Technique" is in operation.

The spiritual energy fluctuations of the eighth level of Qi Refining within his body began to drop rapidly.

Eighth floor, seventh floor, sixth floor, fifth floor, fourth floor—

Ultimately, it remained steadily at the third level of Qi Refining, like a stagnant pool, without any ripples.

Lin Yuan pushed open the stone door, and a cold night wind rushed in.

He lowered the brim of his hat, hunched his back, and silently blended into the night like an old man nearing the end of his life.