Chapter 13 Harvest

A wisp of red flame jumped back and forth on the fingertips.

Lin Mu squinted his eyes, his eyes were blurred, as if the flame in his hand had no temperature, and there was no discomfort on his face.

After two months of hard practice, the "Red Fire Art" finally got what he wanted and advanced to the third level.

Lin Mu loosened the art, and the flame condensed in his hand dissipated silently.

Another two months passed quickly, and the cold tobacco in Nuanyun Valley had matured. Lin Mu decided to go to Nuanyun Valley to ask Zhang Ruoxu for spirit stones and spirit gathering pills.

Along the winding path, Lin Mu walked into Nuanyun Valley with a jade pendant in his hand.

The white mist on both sides of the path seemed to recognize him and automatically parted.

After Lin Mu walked in, the white mist closed again.

From a distance, Lin Mu saw Zhang Ruoxu standing in the spirit field to check the growth of the spirit grass.

Lin Mu smiled and greeted, "Good morning, Senior Brother. Is the harvest of spiritual herbs good this year?"

Zhang Ruoxu stood up and said with a smile, "Thanks to Junior Brother's help, the harvest is at least 20% higher than last year."

Before Lin Mu could reply, Zhang Ruoxu looked at Lin Mu in surprise and said, "Junior Brother has been working really hard recently. In just four months, he has advanced to the fifth level of Qi Refining."

Lin Mu's heart trembled, thinking to himself, could it be that he has aroused suspicion from others? His expression was normal, and he smiled and said, "It was pure luck. Thanks to the easy job that my senior brother gave me, I can spend most of my time practicing. So, my progress is a little faster than before."

Zhang Ruoxu didn't ask any more questions, and smiled and said, "I think my junior brother has been practicing hard."

Lin Mu nodded, and said straight to the point, "Senior brother, this cold tobacco is ripe, I want to get the spirit stones and spirit gathering pills for the past four months."

Zhang Ruoxu suddenly understood, and smiled and said, "Look at my memory. I haven't sent you the spirit stones and spirit gathering pills on time in the past few months. I'm old and useless."

Lin Mu looked at Zhang Ruoxu's smooth and delicate face, and smiled and said, "Senior brother, you are joking again."

Lin Mu was secretly anxious in his heart. It seemed that his rapid progress in cultivation had aroused suspicion from others. Zhang Ruoxu's experience of more than 60 years naturally saw the clues at a glance. Especially since he was a four-element spirit root similar to Lin Mu, he knew the speed of progress in cultivation like the back of his hand.

Zhang Ruoxu smiled slightly, took out twelve low-grade spirit stones and four bottles of pills from the storage bag, and handed them to Lin Mu, saying, "Here, this is your salary for the past four months."

Lin Mu breathed a sigh of relief, and did not refuse. He took it and thanked, "Thank you, senior brother." Putting the spirit stones and pills into his arms, Lin Mu smiled and said, "I was deeply touched when I heard your experience last time. I think you are right. We should use our limited time on cultivation, and build our foundation first. So, I want to quit this job and concentrate on cultivation."

Zhang Ruoxu's expression changed several times, and then he smiled and said, "Everyone has his own aspirations. Since you have decided, I can't force you. Go."

Lin Mu bowed and thanked, "Thank you for your care over the past few months, junior brother. Junior brother is very grateful."

After that, he handed the jade pendant in his hand to Zhang Ruoxu, and smiled and said, "This jade pendant is no longer needed. I will return it to you."

Zhang Ruoxu took it and nodded with a smile.

Lin Mu looked normal, turned around and left slowly.

Back in the quiet room, Lin Mu's face was uncertain and he was panic-stricken. He had seen Zhang Ruoxu's suspicion. No matter how carefully he hid it, his rapidly improving cultivation could not be concealed, and others could see it at a glance. After thinking hard for a long time, Lin Mu couldn't think of any good ideas.

Shaking his head, Lin Mu flashed into the Xuanyue space.

As soon as he entered, Lin Mu's worries disappeared.

Six acres of spiritual fields, fifty kinds of spiritual herbs have all matured. The fragrance of medicine was so strong that Lin Mu almost indulged in it.

Like last time, Lin Mu carefully collected these spiritual herbs. They were all piled up in the hut, and thousands of spiritual herbs occupied half of the hut.

Looking at the pile of spiritual herbs, Lin Mu felt relieved.

After months of hard work, calculations, and caution, he finally got some results today.

This is the capital for his rise.

Lin Mu took out all the spirit stones, counted them, and found that he had a total of thirty low-grade spirit stones and four bottles of spirit-gathering pills.

If these things were used for cultivation immediately, they would definitely have an immediate effect and improve his cultivation. But Lin Mu would not easily do something that would kill the goose that lays the golden eggs.

After taking the spirit stones, Lin Mu went straight to the Sutra Library.

Entering the library, Lin Mu walked towards the place where the jade slips of alchemy were placed.

Also in the corner, Lin Mu found a small rosewood shelf with more than a dozen jade slips on it.

These are the jade slips of alchemy!

Lin Mu picked them up one by one, input spiritual power into them, and selected the jade slips he wanted.

However, Lin Mu didn't like the consecutive ones. They were all "Secret Interpretation of the Way of Alchemy" and "Experience in Alchemy", which seemed very profound, but Lin Mu knew that they were not suitable for him at all.

Until he picked up another one, Lin Mu felt his eyes brightened.

This jade slip is called "Essence of Lihuo Pill". It is especially suitable for beginners of alchemy, as it describes many basic knowledge and requirements of alchemy, such as the ratio of medicinal materials, the length of refining time, the control of the temperature, etc.

What made Lin Mu even more delighted was that the "Lihuo Dan Yao" also recorded the recipes of two first-grade elixirs.

One is the Bigu Pill, a first-grade elixir suitable for cultivators in the Qi Refining Stage. Eating one pill can make a person not need to eat for ten days.

Another one is the Juling Pill!

This is exactly the recipe that Lin Mu dreamed of. However, the price of twenty-six low-grade spirit stones at the back made Lin Mu feel a pang of pain.

Without much consideration, Lin Mu decided to buy it.

He paid the spirit stones to the old man who was guarding the Sutra Pavilion. Lin Mu turned around and walked into the Baiwu Pavilion opposite.

Compared with the deserted Sutra Pavilion, the Baiwu Pavilion is undoubtedly much more lively.

Lin Mu came to the counter, put four bottles of Gathering Spirit Pills on the counter, and asked Gu Chen: "How many spirit stones can these four bottles of Gathering Spirit Pills be sold for?"

Gu Chen smiled and said: "Four low-grade spirit stones per bottle, four bottles for a total of sixteen."

Lin Mu looked normal, reached out and took out a note from the counter, quickly wrote down the names of several spiritual herbs, handed it to Gu Chen and said: "How many spirit stones are there for a portion of such spiritual herbs?"

Gu Chen took it, took a look and said in surprise: "This is obviously the material for refining Gathering Spirit Pills, why do you have to go to such trouble, sell Gathering Spirit Pills to buy materials for refining pills?" Then he came to his senses and smiled: "Brother, do you want to learn to refine pills?"

Lin Mu nodded and smiled: "Smart."

Gu Chen took the note and advised: "Brother, please think twice. I don't want to earn your spirit stones. It takes two low-grade spirit stones to buy a set of materials for refining the Gathering Spirit Pill. A bottle of Gathering Spirit Pill can only be sold for four spirit stones here. In other words, the success rate of refining the pill must be at least more than 50% to ensure that there is no loss. Brother, you are obviously doing this in a thankless job."

Lin Mu smiled and said: "Thank you for your reminder, Junior Brother. I am just slightly interested in refining pills and want to give it a try. If it doesn't work, I will stop as soon as possible. But if it succeeds, wouldn't it be another way to make a living?"

Such an explanation is difficult for anyone to see the flaws, especially when others are not paying attention.

Gu Chen smiled and said: "I hope that Senior Brother can achieve his wish. How many materials do you need?"

Lin Mu took out four spirit stones from his arms and put them on the counter, saying: "Give me ten."

Gu Chen put away the four bottles of Gathering Spirit Pill and four spirit stones, got up and went to the inner room to get the materials for refining the Gathering Spirit Pill.

After a while, the materials were brought and wrapped in green cloth.

Lin Mu opened it and checked it, and found that it was correct. He said goodbye to Gu Chen and headed towards the West Peak.

Just as he arrived at the foot of the West Peak, a figure blocked Lin Mu's way.

Lin Mu looked up and saw that it was Ma Huayuan with an angry face.

Lin Mu's heart tightened.