Demoness, Stop! - Chapter 30 - Chapter 30 – Strength Advancement

Time flew by in the blink of an eye—half a month had passed in a flash.

During these two weeks, Li Yu had been very busy.

Every day, he was either refining pills or on his way to refine pills.

Since agreeing to help Senior Brother Zhao with pill refining, people came to visit Li Yu’s small courtyard every day.

Under Elder Han’s command, besides dozens of newly inducted disciples, there were also some older disciples who had joined much earlier. Every month, they all had pill refining tasks to complete. If they failed to deliver on time or with the required quality, Elder Han would deduct spirit coins from them.

These older disciples like Senior Brother Zhao had spent many years exploring the path of alchemy. Although their pill success rates were higher than those of the new disciples, Elder Han’s standards were quite strict, and completing the monthly tasks satisfactorily was difficult for them.

Under Senior Brother Zhao’s recommendation, these people came to ask Li Yu for help with refining pills.

With pill materials brought to him and spirit coins to be earned, Li Yu naturally did not refuse. Basically, whenever someone came, he agreed. He had the perfect advantage of three spiritual veins suited for pill refining and so many materials to practice with. His pill refining skills advanced rapidly. By now, when refining these low-level pills, he could reliably produce ten pills per batch, with a superior-grade success rate of more than half.

He had even refined two top-grade pills all by himself.

Alchemy requires half talent and half experience. With practice comes skill, and the more he refined, the better he became.

In a small courtyard somewhere, Li Yu handed a bottle of pills to a senior sister. She held his hand and thanked him, “Junior Brother Li, thank you so much. Why don’t you come inside for some tea…”

Li Yu subtly withdrew his hand. Over the past half month, he had become familiar with Elder Han’s older disciples. Some senior sisters would take the opportunity to make advances when he delivered pills, sometimes even hinting at more.

Li Yu, of course, rejected all of them.

Compared to Senior Sister Zhou, these senior sisters were no match. Aside from the pill transactions, he had no other thoughts.

He also didn’t know how Senior Sister Zhou was doing at Biyun Peak. He had been too busy in the past month to visit her.

However, after today, Li Yu would have some free time because he had already refined all the pills that the senior brothers and sisters needed this month. If he wanted more work, he would have to wait until next month.

“Junior Brother Li…”

“Good afternoon, Junior Brother Li.”

“Junior Brother Li, would you like to come in and have a seat?”

On his way back to his residence, people greeted Li Yu from time to time, and he responded with a smile to each.

Now, at least among Elder Han’s disciples—and not to mention the whole Danding Peak—his network was impressively broad. Even disciples who had been in the sect for ten years treated him politely.

Not only that, but on the Feilai Peak lower-level disciple trading platform, the pills he refined had already gained quite a reputation.

After all, his pills were priced the same as the official sect-grade pills but of much higher quality, so he had many repeat customers.

Back at his residence, Li Yu brought the pills he had refined for Elder Han and went to the main hall where Elder Han lived.

Elder Han opened the pill bottle and smiled, saying, “Ten pills, four of which are superior-grade. The three spiritual veins really are extraordinary. When it comes to refining low-level pills, even I can’t match you…”

Li Yu smiled shyly and said, “Elder Han, you can’t say that. No matter how well low-level pills are refined, they are still low-level pills. I’m far from being comparable to you.”

Hearing this pleased Han Tiancheng’s heart. He laughed heartily and said, “You don’t need to belittle yourself. Your talent is much better than mine. Not to mention others, even among first-tier alchemists, most wouldn’t be able to refine low-level pills as well as you…”

He had clearly noticed Li Yu’s progress. After laughing, Han Tiancheng continued, “How about this—from next month onward, all the low-level pill refining tasks here will be handed over to you. After all, they’ll come to you in the end anyway…”

Han Tiancheng was obviously aware that Li Yu had been helping the older disciples refine pills, but his tone was not accusatory. He smiled and said, “I won’t let you help for nothing. I’ll give you an extra 200 spirit coins every month.”

A little over a month ago, 200 spirit coins was a staggering amount for Li Yu—more than he and Jiang Li could save in two years.

But now, by helping a senior brother or sister refine pills, excluding payment, the materials saved alone could earn him 400 spirit coins.

Of course, this was something he couldn’t tell Elder Han. Li Yu only smiled and said, “I’m happy to serve.”

Han Tiancheng then said, “With your current success rate, two sets of materials should be enough to produce one batch of pills, right?”

Li Yu inwardly sighed with some regret. Sure enough, it was impossible for him to keep reaping such easy benefits. Given his current skill in alchemy, there was no way Elder Han would continue letting him use just five sets of ingredients to produce one batch of pills.

He didn’t hesitate long and replied, “It depends on luck. When luck is good, two batches are enough; if not, it takes three batches.”

Han Tiancheng didn’t doubt this. In fact, producing one batch of pills from three sets of materials was basically the accepted standard in the alchemy world. He said to Li Yu, “Then I’ll give you three sets of materials. Those useless ones can have five sets and still can’t refine anything—it’s simply a waste of sect resources…”

Li Yu calculated: from three sets of materials, he could earn 200 spirit coins. Elder Han needed about fifteen bottles of pills each month, so Li Yu could earn roughly 3,000 spirit coins, enough to buy three Meridian Clearing Pills.

On average, one pill per spiritual vein. If things went smoothly, in five or six years he could cultivate all three spiritual veins to the peak of Qi Refinement.

Even among the low-level disciples of Kunlun, such cultivation speed was extremely impressive.

Cultivation resources were limited. Besides those genius disciples, the sect wouldn’t pour so many resources into one person. Li Yu had no powerful master behind him and no wealthy Dao companion. His cultivation depended entirely on himself.

Returning to his residence, feeling the surging spiritual power inside him, Li Yu smiled.

In the past half month, he had been refining pills furiously, and while his alchemy skills improved, he also amassed thousands of spirit coins.

Most disciples at Kunlun were at the Qi Refinement stage, and low-level pills were in short supply. Especially the pills Li Yu refined, the lowest quality was still high-grade, with each bottle containing at least two superior-grade pills, making them very popular among low-level disciples.

His pills would be sold out immediately upon being put on display, and the average selling price was even slightly higher than the sect’s official store.

In half a month, Li Yu had exchanged enough spirit coins for seven Meridian Clearing Pills, greatly accelerating his strength during this period.

Now, the acupoints in his body had already been opened thirteen in total.

Li Yu’s current cultivation was as follows:

—Primary cultivation: Fire Spiritual Vein — 4 acupoints opened.
—Secondary cultivation: Water Spiritual Vein — 4 acupoints opened.
—Secondary cultivation: Wood Spiritual Vein — 5 acupoints opened.

His Wood Spiritual Vein was developing slightly faster than the others, but it didn’t matter. Each Meridian Clearing Pill was fair; since this time the Wood Spiritual Vein opened one more acupoint, next time it would definitely be one of the Water or Fire Spiritual Veins opening. Li Yu had gained plenty of experience with this kind of thing.

If he only cultivated one spiritual vein, he would now be at the second layer of Qi Refinement, nearly reaching the third layer. Now he could only watch helplessly as the benefits of the Meridian Clearing Pills were shared evenly, and the Foundation Establishment stage still seemed far away…

The pill refining tasks for the month were completed, and Li Yu finally had some free time.

He planned to go to Biyun Peak to see Zhou Zixuan. It had been more than a month since they last met, and he missed her quite a bit.

Cultivation also required a balance of work and rest. Over the past month, he had been too busy and mentally tense, so he needed to see a beauty to relax his eyes.

Just as he stepped out of the small courtyard, someone came toward him. Senior Brother Zhao greeted Li Yu warmly, saying, “Junior Brother Li, heading out?”

Li Yu smiled and said, “Going for a walk around Biyun Peak.”

“Biyun Peak?” Senior Brother Zhao was momentarily surprised, then happily put an arm around Li Yu’s shoulder, saying, “Perfect, I’m going to Biyun Peak too. Let’s go together…”

Danding Peak and Biyun Peak were dozens of miles apart. The two flew together while chatting leisurely.

Senior Brother Zhao was sent by Elder Han to Biyun Peak to fetch medicinal herbs. Biyun Peak cultivated herbs, while Danding Peak refined them. Their daily cooperation was very close.

Li Yu also learned that Senior Brother Zhao had a lover at Biyun Peak and planned to formally become dual-cultivation Dao companions in a few years.

Within the Kunlun Sect, disciples were allowed—encouraged, even—to engage in free romance. Among ordinary people, those with cultivation aptitude were rare, and finding someone suitable was like finding gold in sand. But the children of cultivators had a far higher chance of being spiritually gifted. These kids, raised in the sect from childhood, could be formally accepted once they reached the Qi Gathering stage. Those with talent could become core disciples; even those without might still find a stable post in the sect and live comfortably.

Senior Brother Zhao sighed, “With my talent, I’ll probably stop at Foundation Establishment in this life. After a few years, I’ll have a child with Sister Zhang. If the child has good talent, maybe we’ll benefit a bit too. If we’re lucky enough to reach Golden Core, I’ll have no regrets…”

Then he looked at Li Yu and said, “Junior Brother Li, with your looks and alchemy skills, finding a dual-cultivation partner in the sect is as easy as pie. Want me to help you? My Sister Zhang has many young and pretty new disciples under her. I can ask her to set you up…”

Li Yu smiled and said, “Thanks, Senior Brother Zhao, but I’m still young, no hurry…”

Senior Brother Zhao replied, “Fair enough. With your talent, you might become a first-tier alchemist in the Qi Refinement stage. Then, who knows how many young pretty junior sisters will throw themselves at you? You can take your time choosing—or take them all. Let me tell you, some alchemists in the sect have seven or eight dual-cultivation partners alone. Truly enviable…”