The Desire to Be Eternal

Chapter 41: The Effectiveness of Spirit Enhancement

There were no rats or mice on Fragrant Cloud Peak. Such things could not exist in a cultivation location like this, unless they were truly spirit beasts. However, ants were common in the mountains.

Ants are a common part of nature, and usually live in large rock crevices and crevices that may exist throughout the mountain. They posed no problems for cultivators, and were basically just an ordinary part of mountain life. Because of this, only a few people noticed them.

However, today, the disciples who served in the Medicine Conferred Pavilion were shocked to find that countless ants were crossing the ground towards the pavilion itself.

The disciples on duty were panting; there were so many ants that it was impossible to determine how many they were. The sight itself was enough to make their scalps numb. "What ... what happened !?"

At the same time, many disciples in the various pill-making workshops were shouting out loud, and the sound of explosions caused by the failed pills could be heard. Although the pill-making workshops were protected by incantation formations, they were also built on the side of the mountain, which meant that ants could easily enter it through various small gaps that shook the mountain.

They all headed for one particular workshop.

It was of course the workshop occupied by Bai Xiaochun, who wore an inquisitive expression when he looked at the black medicinal pill. It was around this time that he noticed the commotion outside, and suddenly realized that the workshop he was in was filled with ants.

The ants seemed to have gone mad, and they all headed straight towards him.

"The ant priesthood has attacked Fragrant Cloud Peak!" Bai Xiaochun screamed, jumping to his feet. Unexpectedly, even when Bai Xiaochun jumped to his feet, so did the ants, heading straight towards the black medicinal pill he was holding.

Bai Xiaochun's scalp was completely numb, and the first thing he could think of was disposing of the medicinal pill. Almost as soon as he left his hand, the ant changed direction, pouncing on him.

The pill was instantly swallowed, turning into a ball of ants, a sight that caused blood to flow from Bai Xiaochun's face.

A moment later, the ball of ants suddenly collapsed, and the ants rushed back into the cracks and crevices. There was no trace left of the medicinal pill.

In fact, there were no ants left in the entire Medicine Making Pavilion. The ants came quickly, and disappeared quickly. Of course, many disciples who lost the spirit medicine they were working on felt a little depressed by what was happening, but there was nothing they could do about it. Furthermore, the disciples on duty, after determining that no major losses had occurred, decided not to report the strange incident.

Bai Xiaochun knew exactly why the ants were going crazy, but for everyone, the only thing they saw was a mass of passing ants.

Bai Xiaochun's heart was still pounding in fear. There seemed to be nothing strange about the pill he had just made. However, he had been very focused on doing the perfect job, a job that was even better than his previous efforts. Now that he thought about it, he realized that he had actually made some adjustments to the ratio in the final Spirit Refilling Pill.

"Could the final Spirit Refilling Pill be something that is very beneficial to the ants?" Bai Xiaochun shook his head as he thought about how extraordinary he was. Not only could he concoct a shocking medicinal pill, but he also made a pill that drove the ants crazy.

After leaving the workshop, he heard the muttering of the other disciples who were depressed, and felt a little guilty. Down, he quickly left.

A few days passed, during which Bai Xiaochun confirmed that the incident in the Medicine Concocting Pavilion did not cause waves in the sect. Finally, he returned, paid his merit points, then chose a different workshop to concoct medicine.

This time, he started working on the Long Life Incense.

Concocting incense pills and concocting were two different things, and required the use of different techniques. Pills are consumed, while incense is inhaled. Of course, the final form was also different, one being a pill, the other being an incense stick.

Recalling what happened last time, Bai Xiaochun was very careful in the way he worked on the Longevity Incense. Two months passed, and after using the ten ingredients batch, he produced seven servings.

He left with quite a satisfied feeling, seven portions of Longevity Incense in his hands. Back in his log cabin, he performed a triple spirit enhancement, after which the Longevity Incense turned into a deep purple color. Although the threefold spirit designs were somewhat faint, they were still visible. Furthermore, the feeling he got when he saw the incense was completely different from before.

Bai Xiaochun looked seriously at the Longevity Incense, and realized that he himself was also very different from before. Previously, he had not understood much about spirit medicine at all, but after concocting himself, he was much more knowledgeable. For example, he knew that all kinds of spirit medicines would have impurities, impurities that should not be absorbed into the body, but were difficult to separate. Such feces can accumulate in the body and eventually become a medicinal poison.

That was why many experienced members of the Inner Sect were hesitant to recommend that less experienced disciples consume medicinal pills. In theory, many medicinal poisons could be removed from the body. However, if one consumed too many medicinal pills and piled up too many medicinal poison, it could affect the future of their cultivation.

Therefore, depending on how much impurities were present in the spirit medicine given, it would be classified as one of six different levels.

If the medicine was about eighty percent impure, it would be considered low grade, which was the most common type of spirit medicine. Sixty percent of impurities were considered intermediate level, and such drugs were not common. In fact, only true master apothecaries were known to manufacture such medicines.

Drugs that are only forty percent impure are high-grade, and rare. As for medicines that were twenty percent impure, they were considered high-grade, and if they were only ten percent impure, they were high-grade. It was medicines that usually only appeared at large auctions.

Then there were spirit medicines that had no impurities at all, legendary highest level medicines.

Previously, he had not really understood what he was doing when he was doing spirit enhancement on spirit medicines. But after closely scrutinizing Longevity Incense, he realized that it did not make it stronger, as it did to magical objects. Instead ... it actually improved the quality of spirit medicine!

The Longevity Incense he was holding right now was only forty percent impure, meaning it was a high-grade medicine!

As soon as he realized this, Bai Xiaochun became extremely excited. Then he considered it a bit more, and decided to travel to the Violet Cauldron Peak. His goal was not to visit Big Fatty Zhang, but, to visit the only Spirit Enhancement Hall that existed on the southern edge of the Spirit Stream Sect.

There, the disciples of the Outer Sect could spend merit points to get help from the elders in the Spirit Enhancement Hall to perform spirit enhancement. Although there was still a possibility of failure, many disciples visited the place.

After taking a look at the Spirit Enhancement Hall, and also making some secret questions, Bai Xiaochun was able to confirm that performing spirit enhancement on spirit medicine did indeed reduce impurities and make it more effective.

After returning to Fragrant Cloud Peak, Bai Xiaochun looked excitedly at the incense he had made, then finally lit a single stick and took a deep breath. Almost instantly, he felt full as if he had eaten a big meal. Moreover, as the aura of incense spread within him, he felt warm and comfortable. It was as if the flame of his life force had ignited, and was now burning a little hotter.

Continuing to inhale the incense, he continued to develop the Eternal Life Technique. As soon as the hunger hit him, he took a deep breath, and the feeling quickly faded.

The seven stalks of Longevity Incense allowed Bai Xiaochun to cultivate the Eternal Life Forever Technique for half a month. During that time, he could feel his Eternal Iron Skin growing harder and stronger.

Feeling very excited, he arranged his bag to hold, then went to the market and sold some of the items he had obtained from Chen Fei and his friends. Using his advantage, he bought ten more sets of ingredients for Longevity Incense, and once again started making medicine.

Thanks to his caution and attention to detail, his success rate in concocting Longevity Incense increased, rising from seventy percent to eighty, and finally reaching one hundred percent.

However, he was still not satisfied. Although his success rate had reached one hundred percent, the quality of the spirit medicine produced was only low-grade.

His skill was not something that could be changed in a short period of time, leaving only one option: use spirit enhancement to remove impurities. When he used the Longevity Incense in cultivation, he would breathe deeply and feel the true happiness that could be obtained in Heaven and Earth.

His Deathless Eternal Life Technique improved every day, as did his cultivation base, which was now approaching the great circle of the sixth level of Qi Condensation.

His greatest progress was with the Eternal Life Technique. With just a little more work, he would be able to achieve great success with his Undying Iron Skin. Bai Xiaochun's body was much tougher and more durable than before, and when he used the Throat Crushing Grasp, his fingers were black even deeper than before.

At that moment, the Longevity Incense began to slowly lose its effectiveness. In the end, it barely did anything, causing Bai Xiaochun to sigh. He was aware that if you take enough spirit medicines of any kind, the body will eventually adapt to it, and it will lose effectiveness.

If he wanted to continue his cultivation, he would need spirit medicines that were even better than Longevity Incense. Unfortunately, the formula for such spirit medicines was tightly controlled. It was impossible to buy them on the market; they could only be obtained with merit points after being promoted to a day-worker apothecary.

The only other option was to go to a larger market, but such places were a bit far from the sect. After considering the matter, Bai Xiaochun lit up with determination.

"I will be promoted to a day-worker apothecary!"

Given his experience concocting medicine, as well as his skills with plants and herbs, it shouldn't be too much of a problem to qualify for the promotion. However, to be safe, he spent the next few days purchasing some random medicinal formulas. After concocting each of them a few times, then analyzing his failure, he felt much more confident, and went to take the daily worker apothecary promotion test.

Of course, a promotional test is not something that is held for one person. Only when enough people sign up will the test be held. After waiting another month, even as he pondered a few things regarding spirit medicines, his identity medal within his bag began to tremble. When he took it out, an ancient voice filled his mind.

"By dawn, come to the Journeyman Apothecary Hall, where the examination for the promotion of the day worker pharmacist will be held."