Chapter 41 - Effects of Spirit Refinement
There were no rats on the Scented Cloud Mountain. It was a land of cultivation, and rats, who were not spirit beasts, had no place there. However, in the mountains, quite a number of ants dwelled.
These ants were animals of nature, and their daily activities in the cracks of mountain rocks bothered no one. They were seen as a part of the mountain, and no one paid much attention to these little creatures.
But this day near the Medicine Refinement Pavilion, the sentries stationed there abruptly stood up as an immeasurable amount of ants streamed out from the ground, heading for the pavilion.
“W-what’s happening?” A sentry took in a deep breath as he gazed at the endless swarm of ants, frightened.
At the same time, the rooms in the Medicine Refinement Pavilion were full of disciples refining pills. Upon seeing the ants, all of them jumped up as even more swarms of ants filled the room despite the protective formations. After all, the pavillion was part of the mountain, and the ants had plenty of cracks here and there to enter from.
And the entirety of the swarm was headed in a single direction.
This direction lead to the room where Bai Xiaochun was. At the moment, Bai Xiaochun was curiously inspecting the black pill in his hand when rumbling sounds suddenly came from outside. He blinked, realizing that swarms of ants were entering his room.
These crazed ants charged at Bai Xiaochun.
“An ant crisis in the Scented Cloud Mountain!” Bai Xiaochun jumped up, feeling uncomfortable from the sight of these ants. The ants, to his surprise, jumped with him, aiming for the black pill in his hand.
Bai Xiaochun’s hair stood on end after witnessing such a scene. For him, it didn’t matter whether the black pill was useful or not. Without hesitation, Bai Xiaochun tossed the black pill out of his hands, and as soon as the pill left his hands, the ants madly charged towards where the pill was thrown.
Once it touched the ground, the pill was covered in ants within the blink of an eye. A huge sphere formed, causing Bai Xiaochun’s face to pale.
In the next moment, the sphere made of ants collapsed, and the countless ants retreated into the cracks, leaving not even a trace of the pill behind.
The entire pavilion was void of ants from that point onwards. The ants came and left just as fast. The sentries didn’t feel comfortable about that ant invasion, but seeing that nothing was damaged or lost, they didn’t give it much thought, and didn’t report it either.
After all, only Bai Xiaochun witnessed the ants’ insanity. To others, it was just a great number of ants passing by.
Bai Xiaochun picked up the pill he was refining, his thoughts still filled with ants. There didn’t seem to be a problem, until he realized he was way too attentive toward the details. He wanted not just success, but utter perfection.
“Could it be that the pill I refined is suitable for ants?” Shaking his head, Bai Xiaochun couldn’t help but feel proud from the fact that he could make pills not only for humans, but even for ants.
Upon leaving the room, he saw other disciples who were just leaving as well. The surrounding rooms were full of whispers and moaning, which was partly Bai Xiaochun’s fault, so he left in a haste.
A few days later, after seeing that nothing about the ants was being discussed, Bai Xiaochun went back to the pavilion, and exchanged his pills for contribution points. He picked another room and started refining once again.
This time, he started refining the Longevity Incense Stick.
Refining incense sticks and refining pills may sound similar, but the technique involved was very different. After all, one inhales from an incense stick, but pills were consumed..
With the experience from his last refinements, Bai Xiaochun was much more careful and calm when he was refining the incense stick. After two months, he had finished seven.
He left with satisfaction, taking the seven Longevity Incense Sticks with him. In his wooden cabin, the three successive refinements resulted in a deep purple hue on the incense sticks. The patterns on the sticks dulled, but they were still standing out. These incense sticks were on a completely different level compared to before.
Bai Xiaochun was deep in thought as he held the sticks in his hand. He was different now. His knowledge of spirit medicines had vastly expanded, and as he refined them, it increased even further. He knew that any medicine that came out after refinement had impurities inside them. The impurities weren’t supposed to be consumed, but they were extremely difficult to separate from the medicine. But nonetheless, if impurities entered the body, they would build up and coagulate into toxicity referred to as medicine toxicity.
This was also the reason why many of the sect elders were unwilling to let the disciples consume pills. The underlying problems, theoretically, shouldn’t be too serious as a certain amount of the medicine toxicity wo