Chapter 96: Cultivation Speed Skyrockets
Under the dark night sky, the green flame, at first glance, gave people a sense of palpitation, but smelling the rich pill incense in the air, one could feel the vibrant life emanating from the tranquility.
Gu Qiming stood on the railing of the ninth floor of the Medical Affairs Department Building, looking down at the First Street, which was completely enveloped in green light, his expression somewhat serious.
Behind him stood Yuan Tianchou and Mu Qingying.
Yuan Tianchou: “Master, what is that green flame in the lantern?”
Gu Qiming shook his head, indicating he didn’t know either.
Mu Qingying interjected, “The green flame emits a strong pill incense. Could it be the pill fire mentioned in the Medicine Ancestor’s Notes?”
Hearing this, Gu Qiming and Yuan Tianchou both looked at Mu Qingying.
Gu Qiming: “Pill fire…” As he spoke, his eyes lit up, and he quickly said to Yuan Tianchou and Mu Qingying, “Tianchou, Qingying, you two go to my office immediately and refine the pills you’ve been struggling with.”
Yuan Tianchou and Mu Qingying understood Gu Qiming’s intention, nodded in agreement, and quickly went downstairs.
Watching his two disciples leave, Gu Qiming looked again at the First Street enveloped in green light, his eyes flashing with astonishing brilliance.
Pill fire is condensed from pill sheen.
Swordsmen and swordsmen, when cultivated to the extreme, can cultivate sword intent; when alchemy techniques are cultivated to the extreme, the pills refined can emit pill sheen.
Pill sheen contains the dao rhythm of alchemy. Pill fire, condensed from pill sheen, is the best spiritual fire to assist alchemists in achieving comprehension and breaking through bottlenecks.
Pill sheen only overflows from supreme-grade pills that are close to perfection. The person who broke into the Medical Affairs Department is an alchemist, and the first-rank elixirs they refined are already superb. The pill sheen attached to them could condense into pill fire and ignite the lantern.
“Who is that person?”
“Is it someone from the Medical Affairs Department?”
Gu Qiming recalled all the pharmacists in the Medical Affairs Department who could refine elixirs and shook his head.
No, it’s not someone from the Medical Affairs Department.
If the Medical Affairs Department truly had such a powerful alchemist, he wouldn’t be unaware of it.
“Where did that person come from?”
“Could it be that another mysterious family has emerged and is targeting the Medical Affairs Department?”
Thinking that the Medical Affairs Department had attracted the attention of various forces made Gu Qiming very troubled. If he weren’t a confidant of the Heavenly Department Minister, his position as the Head of the Medical Affairs Department might not be so stable.
At this moment, spiritual energy fluctuations emanated from a room on the ninth floor. Gu Qiming sensed them, his expression trembled, and he quickly walked over.
“Shu Mo, are you alright?”
With a creak, the door opened from the inside.
Gu Qiming entered the room and looked at the young man sitting cross-legged in the center of the room. Sensing the powerful spiritual energy fluctuations from him, he asked in surprise, “Shu Mo, have you successfully formed your core?”
Pei Shumo had a look of obvious joy on his face. He nodded at Gu Qiming, then his expression turned serious, “Director, the spiritual energy concentration in the Medical Affairs Department has surged twice today.”
“Once during the day, and once just now.”
“Currently, the spiritual energy concentration in the Medical Affairs Department is at least ten times what it was before. If it weren’t for the sudden surge in spiritual energy concentration, I wouldn’t have been able to successfully condense my inner core.”
Gu Qiming’s expression trembled. When he returned today, he had felt that the spiritual energy concentration in the air seemed to have become denser. Because he was in a hurry to see Gu Xing, he didn’t have time to think deeply about it.
Just now, his mind was entirely focused on the pill fire, and he hadn’t paid attention to anything else.
Gu Qiming immediately sensed the spiritual energy concentration in the air. It was indeed as Pei Shumo said; the current spiritual energy concentration was much denser than before.
Immediately, he fell into thought.
The spiritual energy concentration surged twice. What was the reason?
This evening’s surge was most likely related to the pill fire. What about the one during the day?
“What happened during the day?”
Seeing that Pei Shumo didn’t know either, Gu Qiming told him to consolidate his cultivation well and quickly left the room to find someone to inquire about what happened during the day.
Upon learning that nothing special had happened in the Medical Affairs Department during the day, Gu Qiming thought of Gu Xing being driven away: “Could it be related to the old courtyard?”
Gu Qiming carefully recalled the scene of his meeting with Gu Xing today. It was no different from the previous few times. Gu Xing was as silent as ever, and the old courtyard was as usual, with no changes.
Suddenly, Gu Qiming’s eyes lit up: “Three wooden tokens are missing!”
Today, before him, someone had entered the old courtyard, at least three people.
The wooden tokens in the old courtyard, though they looked like they were just hanging on the wall for anyone to take, were not easy to obtain. He had spent great effort entering and exiting the old courtyard ten times before managing to take down one wooden token.
He didn’t know what the wooden tokens were for, but he could feel their unusual nature. Therefore, every time he went to the old courtyard to see Gu Xing, he would pay special attention to the number of wooden tokens.
Recalling that the wooden tokens on the wall in the old courtyard had lit up with white light before, Gu Qiming’s eyes flickered.
When the wooden tokens lit up with white light, it should have been exactly when the pill fire was ignited. Was there any connection between these two?
Gu Qiming remembered that he still had a wooden token and returned to his office. As soon as he entered, he smelled a rich pill incense.
“Master, Junior Sister has refined the Spirit Origin Pill!”
Yuan Tianchou happily handed the ten Spirit Origin Pills refined by Mu Qingying to Gu Qiming to see.
Mu Qingying also said excitedly from the side, “Master, that green flame is indeed the pill fire that aids alchemy. I could never condense the medicinal paste into pills before, but I succeeded in one go this time.”
Gu Qiming looked at the pills and was also very happy, “Although it’s only a low-grade pill, it’s finally been refined. Qingying, from this moment on, you are a true first-rank alchemist.”
Cultivators have a great need for pills, but the number of alchemists who can refine elixirs is very small.
The alchemists he knew were either trained by the royal family or by a few old noble families. To obtain elixirs, one had to pay a great price to exchange them from their hands.
Mu Qingying looked at Gu Qiming, “Master, since that green flame is pill fire, then the person who broke into the Medical Affairs Department tonight should not be a bad person, right?”
Gu Qiming looked at his disciple, “Qingying, you must remember that people cannot be simply defined by good or bad. Often, the judgment of good or bad is just a matter of different standpoints.”
“The person who broke into the Medical Affairs Department tonight ignited the pill fire on First Street. From your perspective, he ignited the pill fire and helped you improve your alchemy techniques, so he is a good person; but from my perspective, he is an intruder with ulterior motives.”
The smile on Mu Qingying’s face disappeared, “Master, your disciple understands what you mean.”
Gu Qiming grunted and said no more. Some things had to be experienced personally; otherwise, no matter how much others said, it would be useless. “By the way, did your wooden tokens have any anomalies today?”
Yuan Tianchou: “It suddenly lit up tonight.”
Mu Qingying echoed, “It was a white light. When the white light appeared, a pattern flashed on the wooden token, but the white light disappeared quickly, and I didn’t see the pattern clearly.”
After hearing this, Gu Qiming quickly took out his own wooden token from the wooden box on the bookshelf and examined it carefully, finding no changes.
This time, he didn’t put the wooden token back but wore it on his person.
At this moment, spiritual energy fluctuations came from outside.
Gu Qiming knew that the cultivators who went to pursue the person had returned. He told his two disciples to continue refining pills and quickly went out.
“Director.”
Gu Qiming saw that the cultivators had returned on their own and had not captured the intruder, and he was not surprised at all.
An alchemist capable of igniting pill fire would definitely not have low cultivation.
There were nine cultivators stationed in the Medical Affairs Department. The highest cultivation was Pei Shumo, who had just advanced to the Core Formation Realm tonight. The others consisted of four in the Qi Sea Realm and four still in the Qi Refining Realm.
Unless Pei Shumo personally took action, it might be possible to capture the person.
“You didn’t catch the person, but did you see their appearance?”
The cultivators all shook their heads.
“That person was too fast. We only saw a fleeting afterimage.”
Gu Qiming frowned, “Even if their speed is fast, you have spirit detecting devices. Can’t you track them?”
“Director, we hadn’t even pursued them out of the inner city when the spiritual energy fluctuations disappeared. That person either cultivates a breath-concealing technique or possesses a magic treasure that shields spiritual energy.”
Gu Qiming took a deep breath. It was understandable that an alchemist capable of igniting pill fire would have multiple means.
Since the battle at Five Finger Mountain, more and more cultivators have emerged, and the methods used by cultivators have also increased. Thinking about the increasingly troublesome cultivators he would face in the future, his expression became somewhat solemn.
“You’ve worked hard all night. You can go back and rest.”
After the cultivators left, Gu Qiming closed his eyes and sensed the dense spiritual energy in the air, murmuring, “Could the rumors be true? Is this truly a Sacred Land?”
He had sensed the mystery of the Medical Affairs Department on his first day of entering, but he had never found concrete evidence.
However, tonight, the pill fire ignited in the two lanterns in the center of First Street, and he had a strong feeling that a crack had been opened in the mystery of the Dan Sheng Hall.
Gu Qiming was currently both excited and somewhat anxious and flustered.
He was excited because if the Medical Affairs Department was truly a Sacred Land, then he, as the Head of the Medical Affairs Department, would undoubtedly benefit immensely.
He was anxious and flustered because he felt a sense of loss of control when facing unknown and uncertain matters.
Before today, he believed he had complete control over the Medical Affairs Department. But now, looking at the two lanterns burning with pill fire, he realized that some things were beyond his control.
Perhaps, in the near future, he would no longer be able to control the Medical Affairs Department.
Hua Changxi, after evading the cultivators pursuing her, cautiously returned to the Labor Department.
Back in her courtyard, Hua Changxi’s heart was still pounding violently.
Green flame, pill incense…
Hua Changxi thought of something and quickly took out the Medicine Ancestor’s Notes from Jiang Laodao’s storage ring and flipped through it. Soon, her expression trembled, “Pill fire! The green flame is actually pill fire!”
Knowing what the green flame was, Hua Changxi put on an expression of having suffered a great loss.
Pill fire can help alchemists achieve thought clarity and improve alchemy techniques. She helped the Medical Affairs Department ignite the pill fire on First Street, yet she gained no benefit.
“Pill fire is condensed from pill sheen, and pill sheen overflows from supreme-grade pills.”
“Pill sheen…”
Hua Changxi took out the first-rank supreme-grade pill she had refined and looked at the sheen lingering on the pill.
“Huh, that’s not right.”
According to the rank and status of the Ninth Street, the highest status was First Street, and the lowest was Ninth Street.
She refined a first-rank pill, so she should have ignited the lantern on Ninth Street.
But now the pill fire on First Street was ignited. What did this mean?
It meant that the Medical Affairs Department had it backward. Ninth Street was the street with the highest status, corresponding to ninth-grade pills; First Street was the lowest, corresponding to first-grade pills.
Based on this deduction, the status distribution pattern of the Medical Affairs Department would be completely reversed.
Hua Changxi thought of the old courtyard and the stone cauldron again, “So, the old courtyard is the most core and important place in the Medical Affairs Department.”
If the old courtyard was the core, and the importance decreased in order, then the Qihuang Hall was more important than the nine streets.
“What exactly does the Qihuang Hall do?”
Hua Changxi took out the wooden token and saw that there was a silver-white sword pattern in the center of the wooden token. She immediately widened her eyes. She had been startled by the sudden ignition of the pill fire and then chased by people, so she hadn’t noticed the anomaly of the wooden token.
“Caused by igniting the pill fire?”
“What does this sword represent?”
Hua Changxi felt a bit dramatic, feeling like she had entered a maze after coming to the Medical Affairs Department.
In order to investigate the reason for the wooden token flashing, she unintentionally ignited the pill fire on First Street. If she continued to investigate the use of the sword, would it cause an even bigger commotion?
Hua Changxi couldn’t help but think of the battle at Five Finger Mountain that was beyond her control, and she still felt a lingering fear. Looking at the sword pattern on the wooden token, she couldn’t be bothered to think anymore. She put away the wooden token and lay on the bed to cultivate.
An hour later, Hua Changxi sat up excitedly.
Her cultivation speed had surged!
After cultivating for an hour, her cultivation had increased to 200,000 points!
『 Realm: Core Formation Realm 35,050,000/10,000,000 』
During this period, she relied on teaching pharmacology to the laborers in the Labor Department and absorbing the incense of faith from Five Finger Mountain. Her cultivation speed increased by only a thousand points per day.
Two months of accumulation had only increased her cultivation speed to the point where she could gain 100,000 spiritual energy points per hour.
Yesterday, she gained 100,000 points in one day.
What had she done? She had ignited the pill fire.
It seemed she had indeed benefited from igniting the pill fire.
Hua Changxi immediately felt less like she had suffered a loss and, at the same time, found a good way to increase her cultivation.
There were nine streets in the Medical Affairs Department, and there were still eight streets whose pill fire had not been ignited. These were all valuable resources for her to improve her cultivation speed.
“The spiritual energy in the Medical Affairs Department also seems to have become much denser.”
Hua Changxi sensed the dense spiritual energy in the air and looked enlightened. No wonder her cultivation speed had increased so much. She had definitely done something that aligned with the general trend of spiritual energy revival.
After all the fuss, her cultivation speed had surged significantly. Hua Changxi was happy, “As the old saying goes, life is about making a fuss.”
If she hadn’t made a fuss, would her cultivation speed have increased so quickly?
She still needed to bravely explore the fantastical side of this world.
The news of a thief breaking into the Medical Affairs Department and igniting the two lanterns on First Street spread like a tsunami to all interested parties.
The next morning, a distinguished figure arrived at the Medical Affairs Department – Wei Zhenjie, the Minister of the Heavenly Department.
After learning about what happened last night from Gu Qiming, Wei Zhenjie went to the Old Plaza Courtyard to see Gu Xing.
Meanwhile, Hua Changxi, as usual, lectured on pharmacology for half an hour to the fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh bureaus. After class, she listened to the laborers discussing last night’s events without changing her expression, preparing to research the Qihuang Hall.
On her way, she saw many people heading towards the plaza and, worried that Gu Xing might be in trouble again, followed them.
Unfortunately, before she could get close to the plaza, she was stopped by a team of guards in military uniforms with long sabers at their waists.
The plaza was under martial law!
Hua Changxi listened to the discussions of the onlookers and only then realized that the Minister of the Heavenly Department had arrived.
“It seems the thief who broke into the Medical Affairs Department last night has quite a background, to have attracted the Minister of the Heavenly Department.”
Hua Changxi looked in the direction of the voice and saw that people from the Disciple Hall were discussing it. Judging by their words and actions, they should be from noble families.
When she looked away, Hua Changxi noticed a young woman inside smiling and nodding at her, as if greeting her.
Hua Changxi carefully observed her, didn’t recognize her, and decisively looked away.
