Within the secret chamber of the attic, Lin Tianming sat on the stone bed.
He was like an old monk in deep meditation, with specks of spiritual light slowly converging above his head.
After being forced to kill the man in the red robe, he hastened back to Qingfeng Town. His internal injuries were severe, and he had no time to recover his depleted spiritual power or heal the wounds in his meridians.
He summoned his divine sense to inspect the condition of his body and meridians, and it was only upon close examination that he realized the extreme danger he had been in.
The external wounds on his body were not a major concern; although the skin was ripped and flesh burst open, these could gradually heal by themselves, and some of the wounds had already started to scab over.
However, the internal injuries were far worse than he had imagined, with several meridians on the verge of snapping at any moment. If he had continued to forcefully engage in battle, it was likely he would have ended up either dead or crippled, and even if he had recovered, his path of cultivation would have become extremely difficult to progress any further.
Unknowingly, Lin Tianming had been sitting in the secret chamber for over a month, not moving a single step.
After a month of healing, his meridians had slowly recovered from the brink of breaking, and his body's condition had reached its peak.
His cultivation had also made significant progress through life-and-death battles, reaching the pinnacle of the Fifth Level of Qi Practice. He could even catch a glimpse of the realm of the Sixth Level, and if he persisted in cultivating for another month or so, he should be able to break through.
Lin Tianming did not rush to go into seclusion and make a breakthrough, instead choosing to inspect the storage bags of the Jin surname cultivator and the man in the red robe.
His injuries were quite severe at the time, and he was in constant danger, leaving him no time to check the contents of the two storage bags. Now that he had recovered, of course, it was time to take stock of his gains.
First, he took out the storage bag of the Jin surname cultivator and wiped away the residual divine sense imprint.
The Jin surname cultivator was dead, and his divine sense imprint was easily erased. Lin Tianming extended his own divine sense to check the contents of the Jin surname cultivator's storage bag.
"Good heavens... this guy was too rich!" Lin Tianming couldn't help but exclaim.
Six Lingshen Pills, fifty-five low-grade spirit stones, three Huiyuan Pills, one Huadu Pill, and two Consolidating Essence Pills.
There were also materials for concocting Lingshen Pills—twenty sets in total, three stalks of Golden Flower Grass, three stalks of Fire Element Grass, and more than thirty stalks of other lower-order spiritual medicine.
The Consolidating Essence Pill is a healing pill for Qi Training Cultivators, a First Order Superior Grade elixir. If one were to take this pill to aid in recovering from injuries, it would at least halve the time needed to heal.
Clearly, the Jin surname cultivator was also an alchemist, having collected a good number of elixirs and spiritual medicine materials.
Golden Flower Grass and Fire Element Grass are both First Order Superior Grade spiritual medicine materials, each stalk valued at ten low-grade spirit stones and are main ingredients in concocting the Xisui Pill; with only three main medicinal herbs left to find, he could begin to concoct the Xisui Pill.
There was also one First Order Superior Attack Talisman, three First Order Medium Grade Spirit Swords, and two Jade Cylinders.
Lin Tianming tirelessly searched through the Jade Cylinder for the cultivation technique owned by the Jin surname cultivator. He had personally witnessed its divine power, the Three Stars Spirit Sword Technique—a Sword Array formed by the overlapping of three Spirit Swords with formidable attacking strength, which nearly killed the man in the red robe outright.
After taking the Technique and contemplating it for a quarter of an hour, he gained a certain understanding of it.
This was a Metal Attribute Profound Grade Technique, which could be cultivated up to the Late Stage of Core Formation with notable power.
Although its grade was not below the Fire Origin Decision he practiced, he was unable to cultivate it himself and could only hand it over to his family.
The family did not yet have a Metal Attribute Profound Grade Technique, and this technique should earn him quite a reward—it would only be known after he handed it in.
Putting away the Technique, he continued to search through the remaining Jade Cylinder, which turned out to contain Alchemy Experience.
The Alchemy Experience was left by a Third Order Low-grade Alchemist at the Core Formation Stage. It was this alchemy heritage that had allowed him to swiftly become a First-Order Medium Grade Alchemist, amassing a substantial amount of resources and thus advancing to the Ninth Level of Qi Refinement.
The family had never produced a Third Order Alchemy Master; Tian Ming decided to set aside the alchemy experience for further study later on, which he could submit to the family. The cultivation technique and the alchemy experience should be exchangeable for a large amount of merit.
This inheritance was tantamount to that of a Profound Grade Technique; its value was immeasurable.
After inventorying the storage bag of the Zhou surname cultivator, the loot he obtained took Tian Ming by surprise; the cultivator's possessions were not a small amount more than what Tian Ming had when he left Green Bamboo Mountain.
Amidst his astonishment, he could not help but look forward to inspecting the red-robed man's storage bag even more.
He skillfully wiped away the remaining consciousness imprint on the storage bag and sent out his divine sense.
Two Lingshen Pills, one Huiyuan Pill, one Consolidating Essence Pill, one Huadu Pill, thirty Low-Grade Spirit Stones, one Shuiyun Grass plant, more than ten First Order Inferior Spiritual Medicines, one First Order Superior Defense Talisman, one jade tube, and one map.
Shuiyun Grass was also a First Order Superior Grade Spiritual Medicine, a main ingredient for concocting the Xisui Pill, with each plant valued at ten Low-Grade Spirit Stones. With two main medicines and more than ten First Order Inferior Spiritual Medicines still needed, he would be able to collect all the ingredients necessary for concocting Xisui Pills.
He picked up the only jade tube present. The golden runes that twined around it indicated that it was no ordinary item—likely the Profound Grade Technique practiced by the red-robed man.
After attempting to refine it, he extended his divine sense and ceaselessly bombarded the rune barriers on the Cultivation Technique Jade Cylinder, spending half a day and always falling just short of breaking through.
It seemed that his divine sense was not strong enough yet; he estimated that at least the Sixth Level of Qi Refinement would likely be required to break those rune barriers.
Having no other choice, Tian Ming set it aside for the time being and planned to attempt it again once his cultivation reached the Sixth Level of Qi Cultivation.
Reluctantly putting away the Cultivation Technique Jade Cylinder, Tian Ming acknowledged that this technique must be extraordinary for it to have such high entry requirements. The red-robed man must have only just begun practicing it yet already possessed such formidable power, and Tian Ming couldn't help but anticipate the day he would unlock it.
He took out the remaining half-zhang-sized map; the map was made of beast skin, adorned with several markings on its surface and traces of blood that had not quite dried, clearly indicating that it was not made more than five years ago.
The bendy routes on the map traversed through mountains and rivers.
According to the map, the cave dwelling was located about five hundred li west of Qingfeng Town, in a valley within the core area of the Purple Cloud Mountain Range.
With Tian Ming's current level of cultivation too low to safely explore the cave dwelling, he would need to reach at least the Seventh Level of Qi Cultivation before attempting it.
It would be best to wait until he unlocked the red-robed man's Profound Grade Technique and acquired some life-saving measures before heading there. Otherwise, venturing into the Purple Cloud Mountain Range would be courting death.
Packing up all of the spoils of war, he placed them into his own storage bag.
Now, with an exceptional surplus of elixirs, including those gained from looting—sixteen Lingshen Pills, seven Huiyuan Pills, three Consolidating Essence Pills, four Huadu Pills, and one hundred and twenty-five Low-Grade Spirit Stones—Tian Ming was truly wealthy.
Apart from that, he also acquired a not-inconsiderable amount of Spiritual Medicine Materials; he already had four sets of Fasting Pill materials and thirty-five sets of Spirit Essence Pill materials, and with the loot, he now had fifty-five sets of Spirit Essence Pill materials. With three types of main herbs for the Xisui Pill already collected, he was only two herbs short of being ready to start alchemy.
In terms of offensive measures, in order to slay the red-robed man, he had used one First Order Superior Attack Talisman and one Defense Talisman. From their possessions, he obtained one First Order Superior Grade Talisman and one Defense Talisman each, leaving him with two First Order Superior Attack Talismans and two Defense Talismans.
The greatest gains of this battle were the large quantity of Spiritual Medicine Materials, but the most valuable were the cultivation technique and alchemy experience, followed by the Spiritual Medicine Materials.
The status of the cave dwelling marked on the map had yet to be explored; it could belong to someone at the Foundation Establishment Stage or even the Core Formation Stage, which would only be confirmed once explored.
Tian Ming had a multitude of resources at his disposal, all of which had been planned for use, so there was no longer any need to be frugal.
His cultivation had reached the peak of the Fifth Level of Qi Practice, and he could take a Lingshen Pill at any moment to break through to the Sixth Level.
With his mind set, Tian Ming decided to first advance to the Sixth Level of Qi Cultivation before planning further cultivation arrangements.
Sitting cross-legged, he took out a Lingshen Pill and swallowed it, then began his attempt to break through to the Sixth Level of Qi Cultivation.