Chapter 19: Swapping Offense and Defense

The next month passed in a blur for Ye Chen. Every day, aside from devoting himself to cultivation, he spent his time refining pills to accumulate spirit stones. After becoming more adept at refining Qi-Nourishing Pills, Ye Chen’s success rate improved. Each time he opened the furnace, he could now refine two to three high-grade Qi-Nourishing Pills.

However, he kept all of them for himself. If he sold them, his earnings would have been even greater. However, the effects of the high-grade Qi-Nourishing Pills were too extraordinary to not use them on himself.

Combined with the strengthening effects of the Dragon Elephant Prajna Technique, Ye Chen could clearly feel his progress every day. Perhaps in no more than six months, he would break through to the fifth level of Qi Refining.

Indeed, cultivation could be accelerated with the right resources. But the key was having those resources.

For instance, Ye Chen consumed high-grade Qi-Nourishing Pills daily, each month costing him six low-grade spirit stones just for those. In addition to the Qi-Nourishing Pills, he also took Elephant Blood Pills for body refinement, also all high-grade.

Elephant Blood Pills were even more expensive, as they were a specialty of the Dragon Elephant Sect. A low-grade Elephant Blood Pill cost one spirit stone for five pills. But a high-grade one was a direct one-to-one trade. At thirty pills a month, that amounted to thirty low-grade spirit stones.

On top of that, Ye Chen couldn’t be bothered to cook, so he also used Spiritual Fasting Pellets for nourishment, taking one each day. Altogether, his monthly expenditure on pills alone amounted to nearly forty low-grade spirit stones. This didn’t even include the resources needed for other spells and techniques. Living this way was ten times better than the life he’d led in his family.

When he did the math, Ye Chen couldn’t help but reflect deeply. Indeed, no matter the world, having money was the key to living well.

In the past month, Ye Chen made it a point to visit Lin Ke’er once a week, bringing her cultivation pills. Ever since Lin Ke’er had first sensed a threat, she had been leading Ye Chen directly to her room whenever he arrived. It seemed she was trying to avoid being seen by Lu Jing.

However, every time Ye Chen finished delivering the pills and was about to leave, Lu Jing would coincidentally step out of her room. She always wore different clothes, unabashedly flaunting her figure. She greeted Ye Chen with extra enthusiasm, much to Lin Ke’er’s displeasure, her face turning sour.

But Ye Chen, as if oblivious to the situation, maintained a pleasant demeanor and chatted amiably with Lu Jing, taking the opportunity to learn more about her. This frustrated Lin Ke’er to no end, and behind Ye Chen’s back, she gritted her teeth in frustration.

Ye Chen, of course, wasn’t blind to Lin Ke’er’s emotions. But he didn’t care, for it didn’t concern him? He wasn’t a true simp! The gifts he was giving were simply to complete the system’s task.

Although Ye Chen had to admit that his actions might appear like flattery to outsiders, he still had the right to choose who he wanted to flatter.

Lu Jing, after all, was doing her best to get something out of him. Her enthusiasm was so evident, and though she only showed a little skin, it was enough to be noticed.

Meanwhile, Lin Ke’er? She was always playing the indifferent, aloof role, never making any moves. The contrast was obvious.

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However, Ye Chen wasn’t planning to switch his attention to Lu Jing just yet. He didn’t want to be too eager. He would wait for Lin Ke’er to enter the mountains first.

Then, once Lu Jing’s advances became more apparent, he could gradually shift his focus to her. After all, if there were two women with a tenfold multiplier, each eager to gain from him, the market would shift in his favor.

Given his system, which could only trigger once a week, Ye Chen was patient. There was no rush. Lin Ke’er had no choice but to accept the situation. After all, it was Ye Chen who was giving the gifts.

Although it had become a weekly routine, Lin Ke’er couldn’t exactly march over to the Pill Shop and tell Ye Chen to give her the gifts directly. That would be too awkward.

So, Lin Ke’er made up her mind. Once she returned from the mountains and had some money in hand, she would immediately move out. She couldn’t stand living with that woman, Lu Jing, any longer. The sense of danger Lu Jing brought made Lin Ke’er fear that Ye Chen might be snatched away from her.