Chapter 068

Chapter 68: The Greatest Helper

As the disciples emerged from the cultivation rooms, their numbers grew steadily, each carrying the same puzzled expression. Soon afterward, Elder Deng from the Outer Sect arrived swiftly on a flying sword. With a calming gesture, he quieted the murmuring crowd, instructing them to wait patiently as he went inside to investigate the situation.

Seeing the Elder had arrived, the disciples fell silent. It was comforting to know someone was managing things.

Two quarters of an hour passed, and Elder Deng had still not returned. Just as the crowd began whispering among themselves again, Elder Deng reappeared, his face grim as he addressed everyone:

“All disciples should leave for today. There’s been a minor issue in the cultivation hall, and it will remain closed. Any spirit stones or contribution points spent today will be returned. When the hall reopens, disciples will be notified.”

“Yes, Elder!” the disciples answered respectfully, bowing before dispersing in small groups, each quietly speculating about the issue.

Yun Xi returned to her courtyard, confusion lingering on her face. Noticing that Wei Yun Ying’s door had a “Closed for Cultivation” sign, she entered her own room. After activating her isolation array and the third-rank formation disk, she stepped carefully into her secret space.

Holding the small, vibrant-green Immortal Spirit Herb in her palms, Yun Xi asked cautiously, “Little Immortal Herb, what exactly did you do in the cultivation hall?”

The little Immortal Spirit Herb rustled its leaves gently, responding silently but revealing nothing.

Yun Xi rubbed her noticeably thinner cheeks and ventured cautiously, “Little Immortal Herb, you… you didn’t happen to absorb the entire spirit vein buried beneath the cultivation hall, did you?”

She asked nervously, half hoping not to receive an answer. But this time, a clear, childish voice echoed softly in her mind:

“Of course I did! That low-grade spirit vein wasn’t even enough to fill my teeth. After I filter out all impurities, that bit of spirit energy can barely sustain your cultivation for one year!”

Hearing this, Yun Xi’s hand trembled, nearly tossing the herb away. She managed to steady herself with great effort, forcing a smile onto her face as she said weakly:

“Little Immortal Herb, now that the cultivation hall is shut down, do you think they might trace this back to…me?”

“No way!” the herb replied confidently, shaking its leaves proudly. “I am a true immortal herb, far superior to the ordinary spirit plants here. They won’t be able to trace anything back to us.”

Relief flooded through Yun Xi. Even so, she gently pleaded, “Little Immortal Herb, can we agree on something? Next time you do something like this, could you please let me know in advance?”

“Oh, fine,” the herb responded haughtily. “Since you’re my master, I suppose I can reluctantly agree.”

Yun Xi wiped imaginary sweat from her forehead, carefully comforting the little Immortal Spirit Herb. As she prepared to leave the space, the herb quickly transmitted a message:

“Once you’re somewhere safe, you can let me out! I can provide you with purified spirit energy for cultivation.”

Yun Xi shook her head gently, “Not right now. I’m planning to avoid the cultivation hall for a while, to prevent suspicion.”

The little Immortal Spirit Herb rustled its leaves reluctantly. It knew it had no choice but to remain hidden in this space. After all, if its master was too weak, being discovered would mean disaster for both of them. Staying hidden like this was, admittedly, safest for now.

Exiting her hidden space, Yun Xi carefully dismantled the third-rank array and began drawing talismans. For the next year, she lived quietly and discreetly, cultivating diligently and completing missions without drawing attention.

After the incident at the cultivation hall, she reduced her visits there significantly. Her caution proved wise, as all Outer Sect disciples who had been present that day were investigated thoroughly over the year, the sect deeply concerned a demonic cultivator had infiltrated to sabotage their resources.

Yun Xi remained steady in her practice. During this year, her most frequent visits were to the Pill Refining Hall, where she began learning alchemy.

The sect offered rental alchemy rooms equipped with earth fire and furnaces, perfect for beginners or those without fire spiritual roots. Publicly, Yun Xi acknowledged having a fire root, but explained she couldn’t afford a personal furnace as a Qi Refining disciple. Renting a room from the sect, which accepted pills as payment, proved far more practical. She maintained a steady pace, renting once per month.

Alchemy required spirit plants, however, and even if she had plenty of spirit stones, extravagant spending would draw unwanted attention. Her current frequency struck a good balance.

Fortunately, Wei Zong Hao had taken up cultivating spirit plants. He supplied Yun Xi with the most common ingredients, especially those that didn’t require specific maturity. Yun Xi simply settled accounts with him after refining the pills. Being family, their arrangements were comfortable and flexible.

Currently, Yun Xi’s cultivation only allowed her to refine first-rank pills. Attempts at second-rank pills always depleted her spiritual energy prematurely, so she chose not to force it, instead mastering various first-rank pills whenever she could gather suitable ingredients.

Since achieving complete self-sufficiency in Fasting Pills, her life had become much easier. Inspired by Wei Zong Hao, she even improved the bland flavor, quickly earning a loyal clientele who preferred tasty fasting pills at the same price.

All the Wei family sisters, except Wei Yun Qing, eagerly traded for Yun Xi’s special Fasting Pills.

Wei Yun Qing, whose cultivation had stagnated completely over three years, chose another path. Having gained favor from Senior Brother Ye of Alchemy Peak, she quietly sold low-level spirit plants, accumulating a tidy sum of spirit stones and improving her circumstances significantly.

Relations between Wei Yun Qing and the other Wei family siblings remained distant, each side content with the mutual indifference. Though all remained Outer Sect disciples, they rarely crossed paths.

In these three years, Wei Zong Hao had reached Qi Refining level eight, surpassing Wei Yun Qing as the highest cultivator in the family. Yun Xi herself had stabilized her cultivation at Qi Refining level seven.

Zong Yu and Zong Jin also made steady progress, both reaching Qi Refining level six. Only Wei Yun Ying lagged slightly behind.

Today, in the alchemy room, Yun Xi had just refined two successful batches of Nourishing Spirit Pills, each batch producing a perfect ten pills. She carefully separated out the premium pills for her own use, then sorted the remaining pills by quality. After cleaning the furnace and extinguishing the earth fire, she released the Immortal Spirit Herb to begin cultivation.

In truth, over these past three years, she had approached Qi Refining level ten countless times, but she persistently held herself back, channeling spiritual energy repeatedly to refine every meridian, even the smallest ones. It was fortunate her spiritual consciousness was strong; otherwise, she could have easily injured herself.

After polishing her meridians, she began guiding spirit energy into her organs for a new phase of body refinement. This was a delicate and careful process, given how fragile her internal organs were. Indeed, almost all the spirit energy absorbed by the Immortal Spirit Herb from that low-grade spirit vein had been meticulously consumed by Yun Xi to strengthen her body.