Ordinary elixirs in the world have long lost their effectiveness for Core Formation cultivators. Only spiritual pills refined from herbs over several hundred years old or certain naturally occurring spiritual medicines can accelerate their cultivation speed. Thus, most of the time Core Formation cultivators spend on their journeys is dedicated to searching for extremely rare medicinal herbs.
This was precisely why Li Huayuan, upon seeing Han Li emerge from the forbidden grounds with so many spiritual herbs, immediately went to great lengths to take him as a disciple. These heaven-and-earth spiritual medicines were simply too tempting for him!
In fact, even if the team leader had been someone else—be it Lei Wanhe or any other Core Formation cultivator—they would likely not have let go of Han Li’s share of spiritual herbs. Nine times out of ten, they would have employed similar tactics. The only difference was that Li Huayuan was indeed a bit stingy, only willing to accept Han Li as a nominal disciple.
However, consuming elixirs is merely an auxiliary method to enhance spiritual power—it only shortens the time needed for meditation and absorbing spiritual energy. Diligent and arduous cultivation is the true path to converting spiritual energy into one’s own power!
Otherwise, no matter how many elixirs one consumes, if time is not spent refining the contained spiritual energy bit by bit, it would be useless and would not increase one’s power at all. After all, external spiritual energy and one’s own power are fundamentally two different things.
There have even been cases where someone consumed an overpowered elixir found in ancient ruins, resulting in an excess of spiritual energy within their body, causing them to explode and die! Thus, casually consuming elixirs far beyond one’s cultivation level is an extremely dangerous act.
Additionally, when encountering bottlenecks, many cultivators commonly rely on the spiritual power of elixirs to break through. This method has proven to be highly effective.
Cultivators who can break through cultivation bottlenecks without relying on any medicinal assistance are exceedingly rare in the entire cultivation world, and without exception, they are all once-in-a-century geniuses!
Those with Heavenly Spiritual Roots are universally acknowledged as possessing such supreme aptitude. Even those with Heterogeneous Spiritual Roots cannot avoid consuming elixirs to break through bottlenecks, no different from those with ordinary spiritual roots.
And this cultivator, Lei Wanhe, had encountered such a bottleneck. To refine auxiliary elixirs, he had just returned from a journey to search for herbs.
However, his luck this time was rather poor. Aside from a few herbs, he had found nothing else, leaving him filled with frustration!
This was also the main reason he immediately resorted to killing upon encountering the Thousand Bamboo Sect disciples. If he hadn’t vented his anger at that time, his mood likely wouldn’t have improved for a long while. It could only be said that Huang Long and the others were terribly unlucky to have run into this ill-tempered menace.
At this moment, Lei Wanhe’s thoughts were in turmoil.
With over three hundred years of experience in the cultivation world, there was no herb he hadn’t seen before. The moment these two spiritual herbs fell into his hands, he immediately determined their exact age, filling him with immense joy.
It was worth noting that the Increase Yuan Pill he intended to refine currently lacked spiritual herbs over five hundred years old. This was precisely why he had embarked on a journey spanning nearly a year. However, after scouring all the large and small markets in the entire Yue Kingdom, as well as major pharmacies in the mortal world, he had not found a single herb that satisfied him. He could only reluctantly acquire two subpar four-hundred-year-old herbs, planning to make do with them.
Yet he knew well that using such underaged spiritual herbs to refine the Increase Yuan Pill would likely result in greatly reduced efficacy, even if the pill were successfully refined. It would be of little help to him. But what could he do? He simply had no suitable main ingredients on hand.
Continuing the search would only be a waste of time.
If any high-quality herbs truly appeared, they would have long been snatched up by local sects or cultivation families. By the time he arrived, not even a trace would be left. As for searching in the cultivation worlds of nearby countries, being unfamiliar with those places would make the hope even slimmer!
So when he heard outside the cave that this junior had some aged medicinal herbs, he was intrigued and decided to take a look, which led him into this exceedingly simple cave dwelling.
In Lei Wanhe’s mind, what good herbs could a Foundation Establishment disciple possibly have? At best, they would be herbs with two or three hundred years of maturity. After all, even after his long journey, he had only managed to obtain four-hundred-year-old herbs—and that was only because others, recognizing him as a Core Formation expert, dared not compete with him for them.
Now, these two spiritual herbs, fully six to seven hundred years old, had suddenly appeared before his eyes. He could hardly believe it, and his joy knew no bounds!
Thus, although he appeared to be intently examining the two herbs in his hands, as if determining their age, he was actually already considering how to persuade his junior to hand them over. After all, such rare items in the hands of a junior seemed like a waste—they would be put to best use in the hands of a great cultivator like himself.
However, having lived for so many years, he was an old hand at this. In the blink of an eye, he had already devised an excuse.
Clearing his throat twice, he reluctantly placed the herbs back into the box. Then, twisting his nearly invisible neck, he said to Han Li with a kindly expression, “Junior Nephew, these two herbs are truly rare treasures, fully six to seven hundred years old! It must have taken you great effort to acquire them, right?”
“Indeed, Disciple expended tremendous effort to secure them at an auction held by a secret shop! At the time, there was even a thousand-year spiritual herb for sale, but unfortunately, Disciple lacked the means to purchase it and could only watch helplessly as someone else bought it. It was quite a regret!” Han Li said, mixing truth with falsehood.
“A secret shop? And a thousand-year spiritual herb?!” Upon hearing this, the fat man nearly leaped off the stone stool! To him, this was more than just regret—it felt like having a piece of his heart cut out.
As a Core Formation cultivator, he had gone to great lengths to search for spiritual herbs, even visiting seven or eight secret shops across various regions. How had he never encountered such a fortunate opportunity? If he had been present, he would never have let such a treasure slip through his fingers! He would have willingly spent any amount of spirit stones to obtain it!
The thought that such a once-in-a-millennium opportunity had been missed by this young man before him filled the fat man with such anger that he had the urge to grab the other by the neck and demand an explanation! Although he knew well that it was entirely normal for a Foundation Establishment disciple to be unable to afford such an exorbitantly priced item.
“Well, what’s missed is missed! Perhaps there will be another such opportunity in the future,” the fat man finally calmed himself down and, against his true feelings, offered a few words of consolation to Han Li. After all, he still had his eyes on these two spiritual herbs—something he absolutely could not let slip away now.
“Junior Nephew Han, what do you plan to do with these two spiritual herbs? Surely you don’t intend to hand them over to the sect’s alchemists? However, as your Elder, I must remind you—the skills of our Huang Feng Valley alchemists are truly lacking! Entrusting such precious items to them would be a sheer waste, and you would suffer a great loss!” the fat man advised with the demeanor of a well-meaning elder.
“How could I let them refine it! Disciple actually plans to exchange these spiritual herbs for something more useful! You must understand, purchasing these herbs nearly bankrupted me. How could I easily waste them?” Han Li shook his head repeatedly, saying something entirely unexpected to Lei Wanhe, which left the latter momentarily speechless.
However, upon second thought, the fat man realized that his junior’s intention to exchange the herbs for something else suited him even better! Given his status as a Core Formation cultivator, aside from extremely scarce alchemy and artifact-refining materials, was there anything he couldn’t provide to satisfy the other party? This was a perfect opportunity to legitimately acquire the herbs!
Thinking of this, Lei Wanhe’s eyes narrowed even further into a smile, making him appear increasingly amiable.
“I wonder what Junior Nephew Han requires? Your Elder has amassed quite a collection over the centuries! Perhaps I have just what you need,” the fat man said suddenly, blinking his small eyes cheerfully.
“Ah! Does Elder also need these spiritual herbs? If so, Disciple can offer one to you as a token of respect!” Han Li seemed to have just realized this and said with feigned reverence and fear.
Seeing Han Li so quick-witted, offering one of the spiritual herbs to him without even mentioning an exchange, Lei Wanhe was immensely pleased and regarded Han Li even more favorably.
However, the fat man’s goal was to acquire both herbs! He couldn’t bear to let go of the remaining one either.
Thus, Lei Wanhe waved his hand grandly and said, “What kind of talk is that, Junior Nephew Han? Do you think I, Lei Wanhe, am someone who covets the possessions of my juniors? Whatever you need, just say the word. Your Elder will immediately fetch it for a fair exchange—I absolutely won’t let you suffer a loss! Do you wish to exchange for a top-tier magical artifact? Or perhaps elixirs that would be useful to you right now?”
Upon hearing these bold words, Han Li was overjoyed. He had gone through such a roundabout way precisely to elicit this response. However, on the surface, he scratched his head as if deeply troubled and said, “To be honest, Elder Lei, Disciple has always been very interested in the art of alchemy. However, the library in Yue Lu Hall has very few practical pill formulas. Disciple later learned that the alchemy methods left behind by ancient times have almost been lost. The alchemy methods used by our fellow disciples and elders now are either painstakingly developed by families over dozens of generations or occasionally found in ancient ruins. Each is incredibly precious and not easily shared. Thus, Disciple wishes to exchange these two spiritual herbs for a pill formula suitable for my use!”
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