Chapter 13: Advancement

"This pill is made from the beast core of a rank 2 emerald peacock. When it was being hunted, it was at the peak stage of the second rank. Unlike other pills, it doesn't have any elements attributed with it, only a tremendous amount of qi. Because of its abundance of qi, refinement was difficult, and our alchemists were only able to achieve a purity of 83%." The staff explained.

"I'll take it. How much?" Yang Gang asked.

"It'll be 90 gold coins sir." She politely replied.

Yang Gang shook his head. "A purity of 83% is quite poor, and on top of that, this pill doesn't have any element. 77 gold coins. Any higher I'm not buying it." He countered.

The staff hesitated. The pill was only worth between 65 to 70 gold coins, so 77 gold coins was around the lowest acceptable amount. Normally, she would haggle a bit more, but it appears that her client knew the real price.

"Alright 77 is fine." She finally relented.

After sorting it out with the manager, Yang Gang paid the 77 gold and left the store with a jade bottle containing the pill.

"With this pill, Yang Bin should be able to reach the fifth rank of body tempering." Yang Gang smiled to himself.

****

"Brother, are you done yet?" Yang Mengyao's bored voice resounded. As a lively and energetic girl, she couldn't sit still and read a book for a very long time. She had wandered the entire floor for the past several minutes, and now that she had discovered everything that was to be discovered, she came to bother him.

Yang Bin gave a helpless smile and lowered his book. "Mengyao, I'm almost done. Why don't you find a book to read?"

"I don't want to." Yang Mengyao shook her head.

"Mom paid 5 silver coins to come here." Yang Bin said, hinting at something.

"And I ate some snacks." Yang Mengyao proudly said. At a corner of the second floor, far away from all the bookshelves, there were small snacks and candies laid out. Since they were free, she took the liberty to take a couple.

"The snacks aren't what we came here for..." Yang Bin facepalmed. "Fine, just give me five more minutes and then I'll be done."

For the next five minutes, Yang Bin quickly flipped through his book, as Yang Mengyao continued to pester him.

"I'm done." Yang Bin gently set down the book and stretched.

Hearing that, Yang Mengyao immediately stood up with an excited expression. "Good, let's go find mom." Saying that, she fluttered off. Smiling helplessly, Yang Bin carefully placed the books back onto the bookshelves.

****

Li Jing was studying Yang Bin's book, Four Elemental Rune. Unlike Yang Bin, she understood how precious this notebook was. She had heard of many attempts in creating reusable talismans, but none succeeded.

There were two constraints that prevented runes from being indefinitely reusable. Rune engraved on talismans are much more complicated than the runes engraved on armor and weapon, so when activated, the talisman would immediately burn away from the activation energy. When that was solved, another issue arouse: rune decay. Every time a rune is activated, it deteriorates. Runes on weapons and armor don't deteriorate much, but rune on talismans deteriorate a significant amount, making it unusable. 

Curiously, Li Jing studied the material of the book. Soul bamboo! She thought.

Most plants are simulated by qi, but soul bamboo reacts to spirit power. The only way for it to grow is to feed it spirit power. The more spirit power one feeds it, the faster it grows, but soul bamboo grows very slowly. To have enough soul bamboo to make the book, it would take 10 heaven spirit cultivators 30 years of constant feeding.

Closing her eyes, Li Jing tried injecting her spirit power into the book, but there was no response. In fact, the book seemed to be rejecting her spirit power.

Li Jing frowned a little. Seems like only Son would be able to access this book, she thought. Noticing Yang Bin and Yang Mengyao approaching her, Li Jing closed the book.

"Finished?" She asked with a smile.

"Yeah." The two replied in unison.

"Good. Your dad has probably finished buying a pill by now. Let's go meet up with him." Li Jing put the book in her bag and stood up.

Anticipating the gift, Yang Bin couldn't help but grin. Yang Gang rarely bought gifts for Yang Bin, but each time Yang Gang did, Yang Bin was never disappointed.

Soon after they left the library, the three met up with Yang Gang.

"Son, you are in luck today." Yang Gang patted Yang Bin's shoulder. "I found a vitality pill made from an advanced stage rank 2 emerald peacock. The specialty of this pill is that it has an abundance of qi. With this you should be able to reach the fifth rank of body tempering."

"Fifth rank!" Yang Bin cried in shock. He hurriedly composed himself. "Thank you dad."

Hearing his cry, Yang Gang laughed. "Haha, don't forget that you'll need to reach the ninth rank before the entrance exam starts." Yang Gang said jokingly.

However, contrary to Yang Gang's expectation, Yang Bin took it seriously. "I'll definitely do my best." He said in a serious tone. A subtle gleam flashed through his eyes.

Seeing his determined expression, Yang Gang was a little taken aback. "Are you really that confident?"

"I'm pretty confident." Yang Bin responded.

Yang Gang smiled. "Good."

For the next hour, they visited many different stores: clothes, accessories, and herbs. Of course, they didn't buy anything, only looked, but it was enough to appease Yang Mengyao, and after a lot of nagging from her, Yang Gang decided to dine at a restaurant for dinner.

"That was delicious!" Yang Mengyao exclaimed after devouring her meal. There was oil and sauce all around her lips.

"With how fast you devoured it, I doubt you were able to taste the food." Li Jing laughed, as she wiped Yang Mengyao's face with a napkin.

Li Jing and Yang Gang didn't order much for themselves, so they finished first and watched the two eat.

"It was very enjoyable." Yang Bin agreed, as he finished his meal. "We should order more and take it home." He subtly sent glances at Yang Gang.

"Since both of you are done, we will leave now." Yang Gang said, completely ignoring the signals Yang Bin was sending him.

They left the restaurant and returned to their carriage. By the time they reached home, the sun had almost setted.

Yang Bin sat on his bed. In his hands lay a jade bottle. This tiny bottle contained the gift Yang Gang gave Yang Bin: the vitality pill. He hesitated, as he stared at it. A part of him wanted to use it to break the fourth open meridian, but another side was worried about how much of the energy it would consume.

To open the third meridian, I used about 80% of a hundred year herb. Even if it gets exponentially harder the more meridian I open, a peak rank 2 pill should be more than enough to open the fourth. Yang Bin thought. But if I do use it to open my fourth meridian, I don't think I'll be able to reach the fifth rank of body tempering.

In the end, he decided to use the pill for cultivation to not disappoint his father.

Yang Bin uncorked the lid and a sweet scent wafted out. As the scent permeated the room, he felt his qi fluctuate.

"Wow, what a potent pill. Even the scent makes my qi surge." Yang Bin said in amazement. Rolling the pill out onto his palm, he studied it for a second. Then he consumed it.

Unlike the herbs he has eaten before, the absorbing process wasn't swift. After eating it, Yang Bin immediately assumed a meditating pose and activated his 3 meridians, waiting for the pill to take effect. Eventually, he felt the pill release qi into his body.

Yang Bin, sitting cross legged on his bed, felt a comfortable heat spread from his stomach. As his three meridians rapidly devoured the energy, the heat became hotter and hotter. Soon, beads of sweat began to appear on his face, as an expression of pain was shown.

Painful! Yang Bin thought as he grit his teeth. He urged his meridians to work even faster.

Ten minutes later, Yang Bin felt himself rapidly approaching the fourth rank of body tempering. The heat slowly became unbearable, and in an instant, the barrier to the fourth rank was broken through. Immediately after the break through, the heat dropped to a more manageable level, but it was nowhere near done.

After an hour, Yang Bin also broke through the fifth rank of body tempering. Finally, the heat began to subside.

"It's finally over." Yang Bin mumbled to himself. Exhausted, he collapsed onto his bed and very quickly fell asleep.