The lotus platform was moving very fast, constantly shuttling among the peaks. Even so, it took a full half-quarter of an hour before it stopped on the waist of a giant peak surrounded by clouds and mist.

The place where it landed was a small square. Although it was called a small square, it was still about a hundred zhang (a unit of length in ancient China, approximately 333 meters) in circumference.

At the end of the square, there was a row of cave dwellings that looked like cave-houses. The middle one was the most conspicuous, with a cave entrance three zhang wide. The flower beds in front of the cave entrance were filled with all kinds of flowers and plants, and there were also several banana trees.

However, one of the slightly larger banana trees had been broken for some reason.

"Kid, let me tell you something." After landing, Xiao Jue pointed to the slightly smaller cave entrance on the leftmost side of the row of cave dwellings in front and said solemnly, "You'll live in there from now on. Don't run around randomly without my orders."

"Next to you is the place where I refine pills. There's a bell in your cave. When I pull the bell, you must come out immediately. Let me make it clear in advance that if you're even a bit late, I won't forgive you lightly."

"Yes, Elder." Lu Li replied respectfully.

Although he felt that Xiao Jue's words were a bit harsh and unfeeling, his purpose of coming here was to "steal and learn pill refining", so he didn't take it to heart. All he hoped now was that when the old man refined pills, he could teach him a few things by the way.

Seeing that Lu Li's attitude was okay, Xiao Jue softened his tone and said, "I blew up the pill furnace while refining pills just now, so I was a bit irritable when speaking. You go and have a rest first. I'll call you if there's anything."

So that's why.

Lu Li immediately understood when he heard this and thought to himself that it was no wonder he seemed so angry. He cupped his hands in salute and walked a few steps before turning back and asking, "Elder, excuse me. Do I have to stay in the room all the time?"

This kind of cave looked a bit stuffy. Although he used to stay in the Time Hall to cultivate often before, he would come out to the courtyard to get some fresh air almost every day.

Xiao Jue thought for a moment and said, "You can sit at the entrance, but you definitely can't go too far away because I might start refining pills at any time."

"Understood."

Hearing that he could go out to get some fresh air, Lu Li breathed a slight sigh of relief. After saluting, he walked towards the stone cave.

When he entered the stone cave, Lu Li found that it wasn't as small as he had imagined. However, the decoration was relatively simple. There were several stone stools around a stone table, a stone bed, and a small compartment, and that was all there was to the stone cave.

Lu Li pushed open the small compartment and saw that it was a toilet.

Lu Li didn't complain. He sat cross-legged on the bed and entered the Time Hall, and then started another round of practicing the Fireball Technique.

Later in the day, Lu Li suddenly felt hungry and then remembered that he had forgotten to ask where he could get something to eat. So he left the cave dwelling and wanted to ask Xiao Jue about it.

He came to the door of the largest cave dwelling in the middle and knocked on the door, but there was no response from inside.

So he walked towards the cave dwellings on the east side. When he reached the last cave dwelling, Lu Li saw that there was a character "Food" hanging on the door, and the door was open. After a slight pause, he walked in.

Inside, there was a fat man with a bulky figure who limped when he walked. The fat man had a floral apron tied around his waist and was busy doing something beside the stove at that moment.

"Who are you?" Seeing Lu Li come in, the fat man held a water ladle in one hand and looked at Lu Li in confusion and asked.

"I'm the new medicine boy. I'm a bit hungry, so..."

"Oh, so you're the medicine boy." The fat man pointed to the small steaming steamer. "Eat a few of these freshly steamed dumplings first. The stir-fried dishes will be ready later."

"Thank you." Lu Li thanked him and then went to get the dumplings by himself.

"You're quite brave. You dare to take on the job of a medicine boy." The fat man said while he was busy.

Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.

"Why?" Lu Li was sitting in the corner eating dumplings and asked in confusion when he heard this. He thought to himself that Wen Hong had said that this Grand Elder was not easy to serve, but at worst, he would just get beaten up. It wasn't that serious to say he was brave.

Regarding getting beaten up, Lu Li had already prepared himself mentally before coming here. He was tough and could usually withstand ordinary slaps.

Moreover, in the Qingyang Sect, a job that could earn three thousand contributions a month was already the best. Not to mention the servants, even the formal disciples who went out to do tasks, a task that could earn three thousand contributions at a time was definitely extremely dangerous, like licking blood from the edge of a knife.

The fat man shook his head and sighed. "It seems you don't know much about this place. I'll just tell you to be careful when you meet Deng Qingsheng."

After saying that, he didn't pay any more attention to Lu Li and started to be busy on his own.

Lu Li wanted to ask who this Deng Qingsheng was, but seeing that the other party didn't seem to want to explain, he didn't bother himself.

After eating three steamers of dumplings, Lu Li was finally full. Regardless of whether the other party paid attention to him or not, he politely thanked him and then left the cafeteria.

Seeing that Lu Li was so polite, the fat man sighed again.

When he came outside, Lu Li was just about to go back to his room when he saw Xiao Jue hurriedly walking towards him from a small path on the west side. He quickly stood aside and saluted respectfully.

Xiao Jue frowned. "Where have you been?"

"Eating dumplings." Lu Li said with his head down.

Xiao Jue seemed to remember then that Lu Li was a servant and hadn't reached the stage of being able to go without food yet. Without warning, he released his spiritual sense to probe. Then he showed a look of surprise and doubt. "Sixteen years old, at the consummation of the first level of Qi Refining. When did you enter the sect?"

"Reporting to the Elder, it will be three years soon."

"From the last session?" Xiao Jue was even more shocked. "You're quite good, kid. You've reached the consummation of the first level in three years."

The consummation of the first level?

Lu Li thought to himself that wasn't he at the second level?

After thinking for a while, he suddenly realized that although he could release his true qi now, he really couldn't be considered at the second level yet. Because his second qi meridian had just manifested, and he hadn't even broken through the first acupoint yet, so naturally, he couldn't be considered to have entered the second level.

Hearing this, he just said, "Your disciple has just been a bit more diligent in cultivation."

"Diligence is good." Xiao Jue nodded approvingly. "Hard work can make up for clumsiness. It's not impossible for a person with five spiritual roots to reach a high level of Qi Refining. Go back and have a good rest. I'll need your help when I refine pills tomorrow."

"Yes, Elder."

Lu Li continued walking and shook his head. Judging from the other party's tone, it wasn't that easy for even someone with five spiritual roots to reach a high level of Qi Refining. As for himself with nine spiritual roots, well, he didn't know what to say.

"It seems I have to find a way to collect the materials for the Piercing Acupoint Pill."

"This time being able to observe the Elder refining pills can be considered an opportunity. If I can get some guidance from him, that would be even better."

Lu Li made up his mind that he must perform well and steal some pill-refining skills from Xiao Jue so that he wouldn't be in a rush when he refined the Piercing Acupoint Pill in the future.

In the Time Hall.

Lu Li stretched out his hand, and a ball of red fireball slightly larger than a fist immediately appeared in his palm. Although it was a bit unstable, the temperature was not low. The air around the fireball made a sizzling sound, but Lu Li himself didn't feel the heat.

He swung the fireball and threw it forward. In an instant, it flew out quickly and crashed into the wall of the hall with a bang.

The fireball shattered into pieces.

"Is this considered getting started?"

Lu Li's face showed a slight hint of joy. After practicing in the Time Hall for so many days, he could now summon a fireball at will. Moreover, as he continued to practice, each summoned fireball became a bit more solid and its temperature also increased.

He released his spiritual sense to sense the outside world and found that it was already getting light. With the thought of leaving a good impression on Xiao Jue, Lu Li got up directly and walked out of the room.

When he walked outside and saw that the cafeteria was lit up, after a slight hesitation, Lu Li walked towards the cafeteria...