Elder Yang took out a wooden box containing a single pill.
“Stingy, just one pill?” Ling Xiao teased.
Of course, he knew this pill was extraordinary. Having examined it, he recognized its luster and aura.
This was at least a yellow-grade high-tier spirit pill, coveted even by Mortal Realm Ninth Layer experts.
It was called the “Mortal Body Shaping Pill.”
Swallowing it wouldn’t temper the body or boost cultivation.
But it had a remarkable effect: it improved martial arts aptitude, reshaping the body to better suit the Mortal Realm.
In simple terms, for a half-step master, it increased the chance of breaking through to the Mortal Realm by 50%.
For a Mortal Realm Ninth Layer martial artist, it boosted the odds of ascending to the Heavenly Human Realm by 20%.
Such a powerful pill—and Ling Xiao called it stingy? Purely a joke.
This old man was truly generous to him.
“Stingy? Fine, don’t take it!” Elder Yang retorted.
“No, no, I want it!” Ling Xiao laughed.
Who’d refuse such a treasure? That’d be foolish.
Now at the early Ninth-Grade Martial Vein Martial Master stage, his cultivation would naturally progress to half-step master.
Breaking into the Mortal Realm, however, was a hurdle.
With this Mortal Body Shaping Pill, that hurdle was essentially leveled. With steady cultivation and growing true essence, advancing to the Mortal Realm would be seamless.
“Senior Sister, no reward from you?” Ling Xiao turned to Lan Yuer, grinning brightly.
He expected a refusal, but she pulled out a shimmering, multicolored stone.
“This is a Refining Stone!” Ling Xiao exclaimed excitedly.
“You’ve got a good eye. You use a sword, but the rare treasure weapon you got from Li Anle is a spear, unsuitable for you. With this Refining Stone and a skilled artificer, you can reforge the spear into a sword,” Lan Yuer said with a smile. “Of course, you’ll need a common-grade treasure weapon as a mold.”
“Hey, thanks, Senior Sister!” Ling Xiao hadn’t expected the icy, aloof Lan Yuer to be so thoughtful, preparing exactly what he needed.
“No need to thank me. You promised to cook for us,” she replied, smiling.
“Right, I’ll get to it!” Ling Xiao said.
“Ling Xiao, I have a gift too. It’s a ‘Martial Essence Herb’ I cultivated myself. It’s not valuable or special, a bit modest, but it’s my heartfelt gesture,” Dai Yuling said, offering her gift.
As a new special disciple of the Moonlight Sect, she couldn’t compare to Lan Yuer or Elder Yang, so her gift was simple but sincere.
“Senior Sister Yuling, you’re too kind. I love this gift,” Ling Xiao said.
He valued sentiment over cost.
Who says men and women can’t be true friends? Dai Yuling was the kind of person who could be a great companion.
“Martial Essence Herb can only be cultivated by plant martial souls. It doesn’t exist in nature,” Lan Yuer explained. “Under a hundred years, it has no special effects. But after a hundred years, it becomes a treasure—a universal herb that can substitute for various rare herbs in alchemy.”
“So, I’ve got a treasure!” Ling Xiao laughed.
“You’d need to live past a hundred years first. Work on reaching the Mortal Realm—it adds a hundred years to your lifespan,” Lan Yuer said.
Ling Xiao thought secretly, *In my Mountain River World, one year equals a hundred outside. So, cultivating this herb for a year inside will achieve that effect.*
He kept that to himself.
Later, Ling Xiao cooked, using hundred-year-old ginseng, wild chicken, garlic, deer antler, and spices to make a large pot of ginseng-deer antler-chicken soup.
After one bowl, Dai Yuling rushed back to her room to seclude herself.
The spiritual energy was so potent it likely triggered her breakthrough.
She was already at the peak Eighth-Grade Martial Vein, close to advancing.
“Senior, Senior Sister, I’ll head to my cave abode to check it out and use the Refining Stone and Mortal Body Shaping Pill,” Ling Xiao said, taking his leave.
“Alright, you fought hard today. Rest well. Come back tomorrow—I have something important to discuss,” Elder Yang said mysteriously.
“Can’t you tell me now?” Ling Xiao asked, curious.
“No.”
“Fine, see you both tomorrow!” Ling Xiao said.
That day, he returned to his cave abode. Though not as luxurious as inner disciples’, it was far better than ordinary housing.
After a brief rest, he consumed the Mortal Body Shaping Pill alongside the remaining Qianyuan Bone-Changing Pill.
His growing strength and fortified body allowed him to handle increasingly potent medicinal effects with ease.
What once would’ve been overwhelming now felt gentle, flowing through his meridians into his organs, blood, flesh, and bones, steadily absorbing.
To use an imperfect analogy, his old meridians were like small streams—too much water would break the banks.
Now, they were like great rivers; the same water was a mere trickle.
This allowed the medicinal power to enter his body smoothly, like a nourishing tonic, absorbing quickly without overwhelming him.
Others, like Dai Yuling or Ming Tian, might’ve suffered excruciating pain from such potency.
Ling Xiao circulated his high-grade gold-tier defensive martial art and near-gold-tier inner skill, accelerating absorption while further strengthening his body.
During the process, he felt only a slight tingling—no pain.
Using soul introspection, he clearly saw his body being reshaped by the Mortal Body Shaping Pill.
This wasn’t just a surface change but a transformation at the cellular level.
Simultaneously, he activated his Mountain River Martial Soul.
A cool energy flowed from it, merging with the pill’s power, further enhancing and reshaping his body.
He’d long discovered the Mountain River Martial Soul’s ability to improve his physique.
His natural aptitude was decent but not prodigious—by the Moonlight Sect’s standards, a divine-grade treasure body, comparable to Ming Tian or Leng Hao.
