"Our most important task as pill refiners is to break through our mental limitations. Pills don't necessarily have to boost the user's strength. Take this 'Three Ox Strength Pill' I crafted, for example."
On the lecture stage, Wu Xiangming spoke eloquently, explaining the principles of pill refining in an accessible way.
The disciples below took notes diligently. Such valuable pill-refining insights were hard to come by in the outside world.
In the outside world, pill refiners emphasize tradition.
As the saying goes, 'If you teach your apprentice too well, the master starves.' Thus, learning the art of pill refining outside was incredibly challenging.
But Grass and Wood Peak was different.
Here, they eagerly shared everything, openly teaching their new junior brothers and sisters all their insights.
Pill refiners outside adhered to tradition, believing that the ways of their ancestors must not be changed.
As a result, outsiders found it hard to understand the methods of Grass and Wood Peak.
Seeing his junior brothers and sisters listening attentively, Wu Xiangming felt quite proud.
"Many cultivators have a habit of taking pills during battle, unleashing strength several times greater than their own.
This sudden burst of power often catches opponents off guard, securing victory."
"Victory is all well and good, but doing this makes the multiplied strength rush through the meridians."
"Meridians only have so much width, so forcefully pushing this power through them causes significant damage, and severe cases can harm one's foundation, hindering cultivation."
"Our duty as pill refiners is to heal and help others, so we must prevent this kind of harm whenever possible."
"To that end, I put a lot of effort into this. I even visited a friend who specializes in summoning formations, and after much research, I finally crafted this Three Ox Strength Pill."
"This pill contains a micro summoning formation, which, upon consumption, uses the body as a medium to summon three oxen to aid in battle."
"Senior Brother Wu, where are these three oxen summoned from?" asked an attentive and curious junior sister.
Wu Xiangming smiled. "They're summoned from the spirit fields."
The food at the cafeteria and restaurant mostly came from the Great Love Sect's own spirit fields.
Growing such high-quality crops required strict standards for soil, fertilizer, and farming techniques.
Working tirelessly in these fields were the Green-Eyed Water Buffalo clan, a group of immensely powerful spirit beasts.
They ranged from the Black Iron Realm to the Platinum Realm, and they even had an elder king at the Diamond Realm—a truly formidable creature.
The Green-Eyed Water Buffalo clan loved to butt heads with their horns.
Wu Xiangming had reached out to them to see if they'd be willing to aid in battle when summoned, and they readily agreed.
"As pill refiners, you must learn to think from the perspective of the pill user. Consider why they take the pill, any side effects, and if there's a better solution."
Wu Xiangming even wrote a paper on the Three Ox Strength Pill he developed.
He submitted it to the renowned pill-refining journal *Pillfire*.
The editor was astounded by Wu Xiangming's unconventional ideas and sent it over to a top journal in the summoning field.
It was now successfully published.
Wu Xiangming knew his ideas were a bit ahead of their time, and that cultivators might need some time to adapt.
…
Yuan Liang was deep in thought.
If one were to say this pill was a fake, it indeed granted the user the strength of three oxen, exactly as described, with no exaggeration.
But if you were to say the pill was legitimate, there was something that didn't sit right.
What was off about it?
He couldn't put his finger on it.
The three oxen, large and powerful, charged toward the black bear with impressive force.
Facing these oxen, the black bear—though half a step into the Silver Realm—wouldn't dare take a hit from them, let alone if it were in the Golden Realm.
The black bear, known for its strength, couldn't match the power of these oxen spirits.
Seeing this, Xiang Dun and Nie Zhengyu relaxed their stances.
The battle was decided; the black bear was powerless to fight back.
Its eyes widened, fur bristling, as it seemed to realize it couldn't defeat the three oxen.
In that case, it would take one down with it!
At that moment, a loud crash echoed as the Mountain God Temple collapsed.
The temple, already on the verge of falling, crumbled at the oxen's mere charge.
Dust and rain mixed together, obscuring the view.
The black bear seized the opportunity, mustering all its strength to leap high, dodging the oxen and lunging toward Yuan Liang with the swiftness of lightning!
If one of these humans had to die, it would be him!
The oxen, heavy and slow, couldn't react in time.
Xiang Dun and Nie Zhengyu gasped, caught off guard, with no time to save Yuan Liang.
Everyone present panicked, except Yuan Liang, who remained calm.
He had anticipated that the black bear would make a desperate move, trying to take him down with it.
One must remember that a cornered beast is most dangerous!
Yuan Liang instantly crouched down.
The black bear's pounce missed, and Yuan Liang found himself directly beneath it, channeling green spirit energy into his bamboo staff, concentrating it at the tip.
"Pierce!"
The sharp bamboo spear broke through the black bear's thick hide with a squelching sound, piercing through its belly, the bloodied tip protruding from its back.
He had learned this move at Green Bamboo Peak when Elder Huo, seeing him idle one day, decided to teach him.
During the battle, Yuan Liang had already discerned the black bear's weak point.
The center of its belly was its least protected spot.
Yuan Liang released his spiritual energy, sending countless spirit threads through the bear's body, like long needles piercing the beast.
The black bear's body crackled as the force traveled up its spine to the crown of its head.
The bear bled from its seven orifices, collapsing to the ground.
Yuan Liang, exhausted, leaned against the wall, while Xiang Dun and Nie Zhengyu helped Dong Meng subdue another monster.
Seeing her cub dead, the mother black bear's fury surged, making her all the more dangerous. Dong Meng struggled to hold her down.
Xiang Dun and Nie Zhengyu hadn't yet joined the new fight when the oxen turned and charged at the mother bear.
Caught off guard, she was trampled into a bloody pulp by the oxen.
The battle was over.
Dong Meng opened her mouth to speak but recalled the strange rumors she'd heard about the Great Love Sect. Though she'd doubted them before, she was now seventy percent convinced.