[Sturdy Skin: Skin strengthened by 230%, spiritual qi damage resistance increased by 50 points. Duration: ∞] (−)

[Cool Skin: Increases Fire Resistance by 50 points. Duration: ∞] (−)

These two buffs were the result of Jiang Li's hard work and laborious acting.

In addition, as for the [Accelerated Qi Recovery], it was so common that he himself had many of those pills, so it was not considered a gain from today.

He touched his own skin. It was tough and stiff. He could not even pinch his skin.

He took out his longsword. This was his loot from the journey here.

The sharp edge of the blade pressed against his wrist, and he slashed with all his might.

The friction between the edge and the skin was extremely difficult to feel. With a creak, even the slightest bit of force would cause a gap to appear.

After taking the sword away, he observed it carefully. There was a shallow cut on the surface of the skin and the cuticle. It looked like a white line that would disappear after being wiped.

Jiang Li's constitution had already exceeded five points originally, so all aspects of his body far surpassed ordinary mortals.

With the addition of the [Sturdy Skin], his physical defense had increased by more than three times. It was already quite difficult for him to injure himself.

Jiang Li lit another lamp and placed his palm on the flickering flame, allowing it to roast his skin.

It was slightly warm and the temperature was slowly rising. It was not until five minutes later that he felt pain in his palm.

Was 50 points of fire resistance already that terrifying? Although the power of mortal fire and spirit fire was vastly different, as long as he continued stacking them together, one day… hehehe…

Oh right, there were still two bottles of pills.

Jiang Li picked up two porcelain bottles and cursed silently.

He was clearly unsatisfied with these two bottles of pills.

[Name: Clear Sight Pill]

[Type: Medicinal Pill]

[Grade: Medium-Grade Yellow-Rank]

[Note: If your vision decreases, quickly use the Clear Sight Pill.]

[Name: Blood Recovery Pill]

[Type: Medicinal Pill]

[Grade: Medium-Grade Yellow-Rank]

[Note: No need to fear even if you vomit blood now.]

Jiang Li opened it and counted. There were only five in each bottle.

Forget it. Five should be enough.

He opened the two bottles of pills and directly poured all of them into his mouth.

[Overdose of Clear Sight Pills…]

[Overdose of Blood Recovery Pills…]

After obtaining two more statuses, Jiang Li once again began cultivating the 'Ghost Wood Art' and practicing the three Qi Refinement realm spell techniques.

For three consecutive days, Jiang Li did not leave his room. Even his meals were delivered by Yan Hong.

He showed everyone that he was in a very weak state.

Perhaps no one had deliberately monitored him, but many people knew that he was on a pill-testing mission. It would be too suspicious if he was not injured at all.

Three days later, he walked out of the room with a "pale" face and entered the outer sect's graveyard to continue his cultivation.

Although his cultivation speed would no longer be raised further whether he went to the graveyard or not, in the eyes of outsiders, he had to put on a disguise. In addition, he needed to find a corpse to practice the Zombie Puppet Technique.

...

Days passed by like this repetitively. Yan Hong and the other high-grade spiritual root disciples crossed the Qi Refinement hurdle within a month and became initial-stage Qi Refinement cultivators.

They were also in the top ten, and they had also received the reward of a Qi Refinement realm spell technique.

After that, they went to the Outer Sect Cultivation Hall along with Jiang Li and Yu Banxia to further their studies.

Jiang Li did not stop going to Elder Red Hair of the Pill Chamber either. Or rather, it was impossible for the elder to let such a great lab rat like him escape.

In the blink of an eye, three months had passed.

At this moment, Jiang Li was sitting cross-legged on the muddy ground of the outer sect's graveyard.

From time to time, poisonous insects such as centipedes would crawl out of the black and smelly soil. However, after crawling out of the ground, these poisonous insects would quickly fall into an uneasy struggle before curling up into a ball and never moving again.

The cold full moon hung in the middle of the night sky. Under the bright moonlight, the poisonous bugs of all sizes had already piled up to a thin layer on the ground.

Around the area where Jiang Li was seated, fifteen thick ghostwood trees were erected in two circles.

Five ghostwood trees in the inner circle, standing upright.

Ten ghostwood trees in the outer circle, placed with the root-side up.

In the Taoist Feng Shui Theory, among the five elements of Yin and Yang, this represented the basic Yin-Wood array formation. It could also be considered a simplified version or prototype of an immortal cultivation array.

For the past three months, Jiang Li had been testing pills at the Pill Chamber for Elder Red Hair. Every time, he would be 'seriously injured'. Similarly, his income was considerable each time.

He handed a portion of the spirit stones to Yan Hong and asked him to help him collect some of the necessary items.

These fully aged ghostwood trees were one of them.

Under the effect of the Yin-Yang Five Elemental Array Formation, the yin qi in the outer sect graveyard surged like a tidal wave. Even the poisonous insects that lived in the graveyard all year round could not endure it and crawled out of the ground to die.

Jiang Li, who was seated at the center of the Ghostwood Tree Array Formation, did not show any signs of discomfort. He sat down cross-legged and welcomed the incoming Wood-Yin spiritual qi.

Crack!

The sound of something cracking could be heard.

In his consciousness, the seed that he visualized had completely sprouted.

The fresh and tender branches grew upwards to welcome the moonlight, and the strong roots dug into the soil to absorb nutrients.

After a long time, Jiang Li opened his eyes. His eyes were filled with joy.

"I'm finally at the mid-stage Qi Refinement realm!"

Even with the 500% increase in cultivation speed, it took him three months to reach the mid-stage Qi Refinement realm.

Without this bonus, he would probably need another year or so to break through.

He opened his personal interface and took a look.

[Main Class: Qi Cultivator, Level: Mid Stage] (Accelerated Cultivation Speed of 600%)

[Ghost Wood Art Qi Refinement chapter Level 4]

[Wood-Yin Infusion: The cultivation speed of "Ghost Wood Art" will increase by 400%. Duration: ∞] (−)

The Ghost Wood Art had entered Level 4, and his cultivation had also reached the mid-stage Qi Refinement realm.

Because of his breakthrough in the Qi Refinement realm, his various attributes had also increased significantly. He was now a qualified mid-stage Qi Refinement cultivator.

The effect of [Wood-Yin Infusion] had also become stronger because of the formation he had set up. Together with the effect of [Accelerated Qi Nourishment], the cultivation speed bonus of the Ghost Wood Arts had increased to 600%.

However, advancing from the mid-stage of Qi Refinement to the late-stage of Qi Refinement would undoubtedly be even more difficult. This was true even if his cultivation speed had already reached the level of a top-grade spiritual root.

It would take even longer. Half a year? A year? It was hard to say.

Jiang Li formed hand seals with his hands. After concentrating for a moment, a single syllable came out of his mouth.

"Sink!"

As he spoke, the fifteen wooden stakes surrounding Jiang Li began to vibrate and disappear into the ground.

He had not used any spell techniques but only his spiritual qi. This was what he could do as a mid-stage Qi Refinement cultivator.