Bai Qi did not like that information was withheld, but in the end, he simply accepted that Shuomen City's problems were not his to deal with.

Getting rid of all the damage and exhaustion would probably take over a week, but he decided against simply laying in bed. Even though Xie Fan turned out to be a good caretaker, or that on Elder Deng's order, dozens of pills, foods, and gifts were delivered. Bai Qi only spent a single night since his awakening in bed.

The next morning, when he felt that he had enough strength to stand up and move, he did so. He also exercised his body for a bit, confirming that Grandmaster Li's formation had done its work perfectly.

Afterward, he announced to a protesting Xie Fan that he would close doors for a day, and acted as such.

The battle, if one could call his beating by the Bonejade, had given him more than broken bones and torn flesh. Being subjected to such a strong aura allowed his Soul to stabilize. So now, Bai Qi intended to check the true level he had at the moment.

Limited by the 'Seven Islands' plane limit, he had fused it to a level comparable to a 2nd level or so Warrior Lord. And even though his body could not resist its full power, it had indeed helped him. With no limits acting on it since his arrival, coupled with his breakthrough into the Sage realm, his Soul had recovered further - up to the Saint equivalent that it had currently.

He could not even try to tap into its power, not to mention control it, as a full major realm difference would make him explode or lose control, but he knew that it had not been truly stabilized. Thus creating a dilemma, in which either option wasn't a good one.

And thought calling it a good thing would be strange, the Bonejade's pressure had helped him solve it. Stirred by the hostile suppression, his Soul had settled down, stabilized, and helped him resist the pressure.

***

After some minutes spent preparing himself, Bai Qi opened his eyes and expanded his aura, commanding it to fill up the cultivation room.

If there was an observer, he or she would have sensed a simple 2nd level Sage realm aura. But if the observer had been inside, he or she would be either surprised or outright suppressed by the pressure contained in it.

A pressure that continued growing slowly. Low-level Sage realm. Middle-level Sage realm. High-level Sage realm. Peak Sage. Low-Level Warrior Lord...

It was only on a level comparable to a late 8th level Warrior Lord that Bai Qi's aura stopped increasing in pressure. And he slowly retracted it while muttering "So without harming myself, I can only reach such a level, huh?"

***

After exiting the cultivation room the next day, Bai Qi decided to have a change of pace. Thus, in place of continuing to solve a similar dilemma with his consciousness, he called for Xie Fan and they moved to one of the empty rooms.

"It is time to look at what did I get in the surprise barrels"

"Surprise barrels?"

"Mmm" Bai Qi nodded and while summoning the two barrels he bought, explained how he participated in the small auction for them.

"So you do not know what they have inside? Interesting. Which of them is the cheap one?" Dropping her cold manner, she asked with interest.

"That one, just 18 shards. As for the other one, it cost me a thousand times more"

"What a difference" Although the metallic sounds in her voice prevented most emotions from being heard, she still managed to convey her surprise.

"Yeah, so which we do open first?"

"Let's see what 18 shards can get you"

Both barrels were identical in size, being the usual four feet tall and two feet at their widest. And Xie Fan's suggestion was as good as any.

Recalling that unexpected dangers come from the most unexpected places, he scanned the barrel with his senses twice and feeling no threat or spirituality threw the lid open.

Six common ores, four damaged pills, and eleven stalks on non-spiritual medicine herbs. Until that point, the contents were indeed disappointing, barely reaching a single shard in price. But the next, and last item in the container turned out to be something truly valuable. A stack of thirty empty talismans!

"Is that something valuable?" Seeing Bai Qi's surprise, one that turned into a joyful smile when he held the simple paper pieces in his hands, Xie Fan asked.

"Very! I do not know the prices around here, but I would say that each of them is worth about a low-grade spirit stone"

"That means... 300 shards for all of them?"

"Indeed"

"But what are they?"

"Empty talismans. They are specially treated and created paper pieces capable of being inscribed with a spell, formation, or rune-set" Seeing that Xie Fan still did not understand, not that it was strange considering that the Talismans on Seven Islands were extremely simple, he explained further.

"So they can hold a full-strength attack or defense method indefinitely?" She asked after the explanation.

"Yes, and they will only require enough qi to activate them"

"No matter what method?"

"Yes"

***

"This..." Bai Qi's voice slightly trembled as he took out a simple-looking trinket that looked like a small scroll made of bronze.

"What is it?" Xie Fan immediately asked turning away from the contents of the second barrel, from which every item had been surprising for her.

"It's something far more valuable than even the Earth grade 'Fake Sun' herb you are holding"

"But what is it?" She asked impatiently.

"It's an item called 'Insight Heart', in short, a treasure that allows a cultivator to record his insights on the path he followed as to store it for an inheritor"

"Why not teach them directly?"

"Ah, sorry, I did not explain correctly. It's not an item to be used while one hopes to live"

"Oh"

"Mmm, using such an item cripples a cultivator's soul and mind. In most cases, it's used by a cultivator that reached the end of his lifespan, and has no descendants or disciples"

"And what does it contain?"

"I don't know, or it would be better to say that no one except a Formation Saint with the knowledge of how to inspect one can peek inside"

"So it's just a trinket then" Xie Fan said in a disappointed manner.

"It isn't"

"Huh?"

"As soon as a cultivator absorbs it into his dantian, he will inherit the contents directly" Bai Qi said while continuing to look at the bronze cast scroll from different angles.

"Without knowing what they are? Will you do it? Is it dangerous?" She followed with a barrage of questions.

"Yes, not now, rarely" Bai Qi answered shortly.

"After recuperating entirely?"

"No, only when I reach the peak of the sage realm. 'Insight Heart' requires the user to at least barely sense the dao, so even the weakest creator of one would be a peak Warrior Lord. And no matter what path did the Senior who left this one followed, it will still be a very good help for breaking between realms" He was ready to explain further, but the lack of questions proved that she had understood the idea.

"Then it's probably better to keep it safe and concealed"

Bai Qi just nodded in response before creating a small current of qi to levitate the 'Heart'. He then followed with a series of seals, and the item was sucked into his body.

"Void space?" Having been a Soul realm cultivator, Xie Fan had formed a Void space as well, so she wasn't surprised by Bai Qi's actions.

"Yes. The only way to steal it would be to kill me. And in such case, I would not need it anyway"

"Mmm. What about the rest of the items?"

"The herbs are good and are valuable enough as to cover for the barrel, as for the engraving pen..." Bai Qi willed the small copper pen into his hand and began inspecting it.

"So?" A few minutes later, Xie Fan asked.

"Hmm, very curious. This is not an engraving pen but something else. And before you ask me, no, I do not know what. Probably I will need to ask Grandmaster Li for a favor later to probe it"

"What now?"

"Well, I think we should go and use this and the other herbs I have been accumulating"

"You mean?"

"Yes, it is time for us to start Refining Pills"

What is to refine a pill?

To use fire and a medium, be it a furnace, cauldron, or even a formation to remove impurities from every ingredient?

To carefully dose the cleansed ingredients following the recipe of a pill, and combine them with the help of qi and fire alike?

The final cleansing and forming, one which would determine the grade of the pill?

The answer could be all and none of them.

It could be said that the process was more-or-less simple. Still, there was a reason as to why only a few select cultivators could make progress in the path of the pill.

And this reason was the compatibility of one with the Dao of Pill.

Or the even rarer, found in one refiner amongst thousands, compatibility of mind and soul with the path itself, as well as all the Dao it trod upon.

For the former, they would slowly improve their understanding and advance the path steadily, until they reached their inborn limit.

But the latter? Qi control, Flame control, Sensing the Ingredients... And that was only the most basic of what they required to even start. There were more, dozens of things more along the way, but at the same time, such Pill Masters had no true limit on their path.

Bai Qi had never been a Pill Master per se, simply being interested in pills for the sake of knowledge. He did learn a few hundred recipes and created thousands of pills, but only as a pastime. In short, he never followed the path itself.

Even so, by his late years, during his years as sovereign and a True immortal, to his surprise he found himself being comparable to 1st rank Pill Saint.

Contrary to her talent for material refining, Xie Fan was an absolute disaster with Pills. Even though it was a closely related area, she still managed to fail at every step. Thus forcing Bai Qi to stop trying to teach her.

"Don't be discouraged, your talent for Material Refining shows that you have a very good sense and control, so it's not an issue with what you do. No, the issue comes from the fact that you are a golem, a being of metal... And you are simply unable to connect with the herbs" He used the best possible excuse to avoid breaking her confidence and sent her away just three hours after they started.

In truth, what she lacked was a connection to what she was doing, and regretfully that could not be taught. As for Bai Qi, it only took him a single experiment to begin sensing the ingredients, and only a few pills to recall all of his memories and previous skills.

***

For the next three days, if one entered the storage room where the pill furnace was located, one would have to dodge flying ingredients, flames, and even completed pills that were absorbing qi.

To his surprise, Bai Qi found the process extremely enjoyable. And as his skills were overkill for the Common category pills he had been creating, he began increasing speed, ratio, and even quantity of processes he managed at the same time.

His mind multitasking, his qi serving him as an extra two, three, or dozen sets of hands, thus not only helping him create pills but also increasing his control over qi. And even slightly stabilizing his consciousness!

***

It was only when he finished his entire stock of herbs. Leaving only some reserved for potions and the rare Earth tier ones, that Bai Qi exited the 'Pill Room'.

"You finished?" To be met by Xie Fan, who stood near the door as a guard.

"Mmm"

"Two letters arrived while you were in there" Her closed fist opened allowing Bai Qi to grab the two letters inside.

"Thank you" He said while he read through the letters, which turned out to be invitations to dinner and a drinking party.

"How did the pill refining go?" After a while, as they began walking towards the main building, Xie Fan asked.

"Good, I refined over thirty different recipes, and except for the 'Kirin's Vigor' one, all of them have a few of high rank"

"Kirin's Vigor? I have never heard of such pill"

"It's effect helps one to refine the body, allowing a cultivator to increase the natural speed of one"

"Oh" Xie Fan was always curious about new things, but as soon as she learned something, she immediately lost interest. Well, at least for everything that could not be used by her currently.

Bai Qi perfectly understood her feelings, especially now that he had met an opponent against which he could not do anything. But while he remained alive, Bai Qi was able to continue cultivating and training, thus reaching a point when even the Bonejade would not be a serious threat. As for Xie Fan? She was truly limited to what her Bluesteel body could do, and even after upgrading it, she would hardly be able to defend herself on this plane.

"Come here" Bai Qi suddenly stopped and motioned for her to move closer. As she did, he raised his hand and placed his palm on the visage of her golem.

"Don't move" He instructed her and began passing her a method to strengthen one's soul. Such methods and techniques were unknown on most planes, simply as no cultivator below the Immortal Realm could use the Soul itself. But for Xie Fan, her entire body was moved by the soul, and so it should allow her to feel, and probably be stronger.

He had planned to pass such a method to her before leaving the Manor, and now that Elder Deng invited him to dinner, it seemed that the day was coming closer. Especially with the words "Come Prepared" that were added at the end of the invitation.