Chapter 45: Ting Ting’s breakthrough

Hours later.

The old alchemist could be seen sitting on the floor in front of the cauldron. Several ceramic bottles were on the ground before him.

The formation wasn’t heating up anymore and the temperature of the room had reduced. The old alchemist was breathing heavily; his robe was drenched in his sweat, and his hair was sticking to his skin.

He was completely exhausted. Nevertheless, a relieved smile could be seen on his face as he picked up one of the ceramic bottles and turned to Feng Shuran, who was still sitting on the pillow with her eyes closed.

After several hours of pill making and burning countless batches of ingredients, he had finally managed to make a meridian cleansing pill of level 5 Earth-grade quality.

This was a great feat for the old alchemist, so he was both happy and relieved that he was able to succeed in the end. He feared that things might not have ended well if he failed.

"Senior Invisible Killer, here is the pill you asked for." He said while presenting the bottle to Feng Shuran.

The other bottles around him contained the results of his previous attempts. They were all successful and could sell for a good price, but none had met the requirements for Feng Shuran’s request; only this one in his hand made the cut.

Feng Shuran slowly opened her eyes. Her crimson eyes gleamed like pure glass as the bottle reflected in them.

She waved one of her hands and the bottle flew over before disappearing.

She didn’t need to check, as she had been paying attention all this while and had seen the pill when it was made.

After storing away the bottle, Feng Shuran stood up and looked at the numerous bottles around the place. Each bottle contained an Earth-grade meridian cleansing pill, although their levels varied.

"How much is it?" She asked tonelessly.

The old alchemist had burned a lot of materials in the process of making this pill; she at least wanted to give him some compensation so he didn’t suffer too much loss.

Hearing this, the old man jolted and looked at Feng Shuran strangely. He couldn’t believe that the ruthless Invisible Killer wanted to pay for a pill.

It was already a miracle that she didn’t kill him for taking so long to succeed.

"Haha, please don’t mention such things. Senior is an honorary elder of our guild; we don’t have to talk about things like payment." The old man laughed and said after a while.

He wasn’t an idiot. Compared to making some money, it was more valuable to do a favour for such a person.

It could come in handy in the future.

Feng Shuran looked at him for a second and then turned around without saying anything. Since he didn’t want money, she wouldn’t force him.

With that, she left the pavilion and flew into the air, quickly disappearing into the distance.

Some time after Feng Shuran left, the old alchemist dropped to the ground and passed out from exhaustion.

Pill making was more difficult than fighting; his qi reserve was completely drained.

.....

Feng Shuran returned to the Bloody Rose sect after some time and flew directly to Gu Chen’s mountain peak.

It took her only a few seconds to locate Gu Chen and Ting Ting.

At the moment, Gu Chen was sitting on a wooden chair which Feng Shuran didn’t know where he got it from. A bag of his favourite chips was in his hand, and he slowly ate from it.

Some distance away, Ting Ting was performing her technique for him.

"Ha!" Ting Ting swallowed a mouthful of air and shouted while jumping forward.

Lightning covered her slender hands as the image of a giant gorilla appeared behind her, easily towering above the surrounding trees.

She threw a punch at a nearby tree, and a fist made of lightning flew out.

BAM!

The lightning fist crashed into the huge tree and easily blasted a hole through it. After some seconds, the upper half of the tree tilted slowly before dropping to the ground.

Ting Ting immediately turned to Gu Chen.

"Uncle Chen, how is it now?" She asked with a bright look on her face.

"Hmm, it’s more powerful now, and your movements are faster. Here’s a bag of chips for you." Gu Chen said while nodding.

A bag of chips, similar to the one he was eating, appeared in front of him, and he tossed it towards Ting Ting.

Ting Ting caught the bag and opened it with swift movements. She grabbed a handful of its contents and stuffed it into her mouth. Her eyes flashed with surprise as she chewed; the taste had surprised her.

"Thank you, Uncle Chen!" Ting Ting said through chewing.

Feng Shuran "...."

Still standing in the air, Feng Shuran watched everything with a strange look on her face. The scene before her felt wrong.

Her master was also so serious, even though he was gentle sometimes. He was very calm most of the time; why was he suddenly acting like a parent, even handing out those strange but tasty chips?

Moving her gaze around, she noticed that several trees in the surroundings had holes in them, and quite a few were broken.

It was obvious that this had been going on for quite some time since she left.

Still wearing the strange expression, Feng Shuran drifted towards Gu Chen on the ground.

"Master," she called out as she landed beside his chair.

Gu Chen turned towards her.

"You’re back. Where’s the pill?" He asked right away.

Feng Shuran moved her right hand, and a ceramic bottle appeared above her palm before floating over to Gu Chen.

Gu Chen grabbed the bottle and opened it; he nodded after looking inside.

"Good job, want some?" He said to Feng Shuran before offering her the rest of the chips he was eating.

"Yes," Feng Shuran nodded with a serious look on her face.

Gu Chen raised an eyebrow, wondering why her expression was like that. She was usually all smiles when talking with him. Anyway, he handed her the remaining chips before turning to Ting Ting.

"Ting Ting, come here." He called.

With her mouth still full, Ting Ting walked over quickly and bowed towards Feng Shuran.

"Welcome back, sect master." She greeted respectfully.

Feng Shuran slowly nodded while placing a chip in her mouth.

"Here, eat this." Gu Chen’s voice pulled Ting Ting’s attention to the pill on his palm.

Both women stared in confusion.

Ting Ting didn’t know anything about pills, so she was curious as to what this pill was.

As for Feng Shuran, she was in doubt and stared at Ting Ting, then at the pill.

Why give her a meridian cleansing pill?

’Never mind, master always has a reason,’ she thought and returned to eating her chips.

This was the bag of chips that Gu Chen had been eating from before; it was more significant than getting a new one!

"Okay," Ting Ting replied and took the pill from Gu Chen’s palm, then she placed it inside her mouth.

Both Gu Chen and Feng Shuran watched her as she did.

The moment the pill touched her tongue, it dissolved into a wave of cold air that rushed down Ting Ting’s throat.

"Mmm," Ting Ting made a sound and closed her eyes. The pill felt like she took a bite of a tasteless cold cloud.

However, a look of shock appeared on her face as she suddenly felt a strange energy floating through her body.

Feng Shuran was surprised too. She could sense the qi in the air rushing towards Ting Ting like a wave.

As for Gu Chen, he knew that something was happening from the girl’s expression.

Seconds later.

Boom!

A burst of qi exploded from within Ting Ting. A weak shockwave rushed in all directions; Feng Shuran easily blocked the shockwave when it came near her and Gu Chen.

Meanwhile, the air around Ting Ting was constantly creating visible ripples as changes happened within her.

Feng Shuran could sense it too; the girl’s strength was increasing!

QI Gathering Realm stage 6!

QI Gathering Realm stage 7!

QI Gathering Realm stage 8!

QI Gathering Realm stage 9!

....

Ting Ting’s strength soared from stage 6 to stage 9 in just a few moments, which was the peak of the QI Gathering Realm!

With just a little push now, she could break through to the Foundation Establishment Realm!

Feng Shuran was totally speechless upon realising what this meant. She couldn’t help but look at her master.

A Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator under twenty years of age; it was almost unheard of. Only the young generation from holy lands in power regions could achieve this.

Her master had helped her reach the Nascent Soul Realm with a godly pill when they first met; now he had increased the strength of this disciple with just a meridian cleansing pill.

How?

If Gu Chen knew her thoughts, he would have explained that it wasn’t because of him or the pill. Well, they had helped since he had discovered the problem and the pill had opened the passage.

The main reason was that Ting Ting’s body already had enough qi to reach the Foundation Establishment Realm.

However, due to her blocked meridians, the qi in her body wasn’t able to flow and got stuck in different areas.

As for how she was able to reach the 6th stage of the QI Gathering Realm, that was thanks to her special bloodline.

As for how the bloodline worked, Gu Chen wasn’t clear on it either.

"U-Uncle Chen!"