The Yuanming Sect has a Spirit Mountain specifically for outsiders to rest, and Li Zhirui and his group have been staying there these days.

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Compared to the other three who had already started alchemy, Li Zhirui was still deducing the Pill Recipe of the Water Refinement Pest Extermination Powder, with his progress unknown for how much slower it was.

Fortunately, because Li Zhirui hadn’t applied for Spiritual Medicine for practice but was just holed up in his room, the people of the Yuanming Sect did not have much to say about it, although they did not have much hope for him either.

However, an alchemist with the surname Zhu from Yuanming Sect had already successfully refined the Insect-Extinguishing Powder. Although there wasn’t enough to completely exterminate the black bugs, it effectively curbed the speed at which the black bugs devoured the Spiritual Objects.

It’s important to note that, in the several days before the Insect-Extinguishing Powder emerged, the black bugs had advanced another ten or so miles, reaching a Spirit Mountain at the edge of a certain family’s territory, and had devoured all the Spiritual Objects within the mountain! Find more to read at novelbuddy

If the Insect-Extinguishing Powder hadn’t appeared in time, it’s quite possible that this family would’ve suffered the same fate as the previous two families, their ancestral lands developed over many years turning into barren grounds.

The other alchemists, under the guidance of Zhu Yiming, successively refined the Insect-Extinguishing Powder over the next few days. Although their success rate wasn’t high, it greatly relieved Zhu Yiming’s pressure.

"Has that Li fellow stayed behind closed doors this entire time?" In half a month, they hadn’t seen Li Zhirui a second time.

"He claimed he was altering the Pill Recipe, but who knows if it’s true or not," another Loose Cultivator said casually.

Jiang Yongxin curled his lips in disdain and said, "Him? How long has it been since his Foundation Establishment breakthrough? And he only knows how to refine the Consolidating Yuan Pill, yet he dares speak of altering Pill Recipes? Pure arrogance!"

The two Loose Cultivators exchanged a tacit glance but didn’t respond to Jiang Yongxin’s words. Although they also doubted Li Zhirui’s success, they didn’t want to get involved in the feud between the two families.

Unlike the conflict between the three families on the eastern edge of Da Rong Island, the rivalry between the Li family and Jiang Family was a commercial one. They disliked each other because each thought the other was stealing their business.

After all, before the Li family brought out the Jade Spirit Pill, most of the first-grade pills in Yunping State came from the Jiang Family. But with the Li family’s sudden emergence, they took away a significant portion of the Jiang Family’s business, so naturally, their relationship wasn’t good.

"Eh? Li, have you finished altering the Pill Recipe?" A certain Loose Cultivator called out to Li Zhirui, who was walking down the mountain.

Li Zhirui turned around and smiled, "Theoretically, there should be no problems, but I won’t know if it can be refined until I try it."

He hadn’t expected to improve a second-grade Pill Recipe so quickly either, perhaps because the Insect-Extinguishing Powder was easier to handle since it was designed to eliminate pests and didn’t require such strict measurements.

Surprise flickered in the eyes of the two Loose Cultivators. If what Li Zhirui said was true, then in just over a dozen days, he had modified a Water Refinement Pill Recipe, and such alchemy skills certainly deserved respect.

"My friend, that’s quite the talent!" Without questioning or doubting him, the person politely said, "Don’t mind us, you go ahead with your business."

"I take my leave!" Li Zhirui now wanted to quickly test his modified Pill Recipe to see if it could be successful, noting that this was the first second-grade Pill Recipe he had improved, although it wasn’t very challenging.

"Tsk!" Who would have thought, just as Li Zhirui had turned around and taken a few steps, a sound of disdainful sneering came from behind him.

"Some people really do love to boast; now they even want to use lies to obtain Spiritual Medicine, utterly shameless!"

Jiang Yongxin said without restraint, "If you ask me, the Yuanming Sect is too lenient, not even bothering to screen and allowing certain fame-seekers to take advantage of loopholes."

Li Zhirui rolled his eyes; Jiang Yongxin’s hair had already gone white, clearly indicating him to be at life’s twilight.

For such an old man to utter such words, his two hundred-plus years truly amounted to a dog’s life that had gone to waste.

Of course, it couldn’t be ruled out that he was doing this deliberately, feeling that Li Zhirui, being young and impetuous, might get provoked by him?

"Did the three fellow Daoists hear that burst of dog barking just now? It gave me such a headache. If I run into it, I’ll certainly give it a good lesson," Li Zhirui said, massaging his temples and feigning irritation.

Jiang Yongxin’s expression turned extremely dark in an instant. If they hadn’t been on Yuanming Mountain, he would have already made his move!

’Old bastard.’ Seeing Jiang Yongxin remain silent, Li Zhirui immediately felt bored and muttered to himself disdainfully before continuing down the mountain with a sneer.

After obtaining materials for twenty portions of Insect-Extinguishing Powder from a disciple of Yuanming Sect, Li Zhirui returned to his room to start refining them.

Regrettably, he didn’t encounter Jiang Yongxin and his companions on his way up the mountain, thwarting Li Zhirui’s plan to take a dig at them.

Li Zhirui locked himself in his room again, but this time he came out rather quickly.

"How did your refinement go?" On his way, he happened to run into two Loose Cultivators who were assigned to deliver the Insect-Extinguishing Powder, and they casually asked him.

Li Zhirui smiled and said, "It should be fine. It’s just that my abilities are inadequate, and I haven’t finished refining it yet."

Unexpectedly, this remark was overheard by Jiang Yongxin, who proceeded to mock him with scathing sarcasm, causing the two nearby Loose Cultivators to feel quite awkward. The timing was too coincidental, almost as if the three had conspired.

Li Zhirui felt perplexed. What was Jiang Yongxin’s purpose in repeatedly trying to provoke him?

Regardless of his intentions, Li Zhirui couldn’t be bothered to care. After all, on Yuanming Sect’s territory, Jiang wouldn’t dare to confront him directly.

Besides, he had a much brighter future ahead than this old wretch, so there was no need to get annoyed with him.

’Damn it, how can this kid be a young prodigy? He doesn’t even get angry when mocked so!’ Jiang Yongxin watched Li Zhirui grow more distant, feeling a rush of frustration.

What he didn’t know was that his behavior was too unusual. How could a man with graying hair, who had lived for more than two hundred years in the cultivation world, put on such an act?

Moreover, if that were truly the case, then when Li Zhirui taunted him a few days earlier, he should have been furious and confronted Li Zhirui directly, instead of just sitting there with a displeased expression.

A few days later, Li Zhirui had again squandered all the materials he received, but this time, he didn’t go to collect materials empty-handed anymore.

"Is this the Insect-Extinguishing Powder you refined, senior?" The disciple in charge of distributing materials and recording Spirit Pills asked with a dubious expression.

It wasn’t surprising that the person hesitated, because the Insect-Extinguishing Powder that Li Zhirui refined wasn’t in powder form, but rather a jet-black Spirit Pill.

Refining it into powder in Spirit Water would be too exhausting for Li Zhirui’s Divine Sense, so he simply merged the essence of the Spiritual Medicine into a mass and managed to create this Spirit Pill, without even bothering to separate it into doses.

Li Zhirui nodded and said, "This is the Insect-Extinguishing Powder that I refined, and if everything goes well, its effects should be better than the other powders."

The disciple was skeptical of Li Zhirui’s claim but still took the Spirit Pill and handed over thirty portions of materials to Li Zhirui.

Li Zhirui noticed the disciple’s disbelief but offered no explanation, as the results would soon become evident.

All he was thinking about now was for this plague of insects to end soon so that he could go to Yuanming Sect’s Scripture Pavilion to select a Pill Recipe.