Gifting the Pills

In the courtyard, seeing that everyone had left the Primordial Energy Pavilion, Ward Master Zhou Xuan activated the Ward Master's Seal to shut down the primordial energy earth veins. Instantly, the surging primordial energy of heaven and earth inside the stone pavilion receded like a tide.

“Hehe, congratulations, young friends,” Zhou Xuan said with a smile.

“Thank you, Ward Master.”

Lu Ming, Wang Chen, and the others quickly cupped their fists in salute, thanking Zhou Xuan for the benefit of the empowerment he had bestowed.

Zhou Xuan's smile was gentle. His gaze swept around before resting on Lu Ming. He smiled and said, “Since young friend Lu Ming represented the Thunderfire Hall and stayed until the very end, then according to our prior agreement, the reward that originally belonged to your Thunderfire Hall shall naturally be returned in its entirety.”

It was clear that after discovering Lu Ming possessed a High-grade Divine Ability Bone, Ward Master Zhou Xuan's attitude toward him had become much more serious, rather than as casual as before.

Behind Zhou Xuan, Zhou Fuling's beautiful eyes also sized Lu Ming up carefully.

At this moment, Lu Jin took a step forward and said with a trace of shame, “I wonder if I could trouble the Ward Master to exchange the three Inscription Condensing Pills for High-grade Bone Refining Pills?”

Inscription Condensing Pills were medicinal pills required for Grand Divine Ability Practitioners to forge Divine Ability Dharma Inscriptions. They were of no use to the current Lu Ming. If they took them, they would still have to go to some pill shops to exchange them, which would inevitably result in some loss of value.

Zhou Xuan knew that Lu Jin wanted to concentrate all of the Thunderfire Hall's resources on a promising seed like Lu Ming, so he nodded in understanding and took out a jade bottle from his sleeve.

“There are twelve High-grade Bone Refining Pills inside,” Zhou Xuan said.

Lu Jin was startled and quickly waved his hands. “That is too many, Ward Master. According to market prices, three Inscription Condensing Pills can only be exchanged for ten High-grade Bone Refining Pills.”

Zhou Xuan said gently, “Just consider it a small welcoming gift. After all, he is the first High-grade Divine Ability Bone I have seen since coming to Qingyuan Ward. This is a good omen.”

“Besides, I refined these pills myself for practice during my usual refining sessions, so the cost is lower than the market price. There is no need to fuss over it too much.”

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone looked at Zhou Xuan in surprise. This Ward Master was actually an alchemist as well?

Hearing this, Lu Jin could no longer refuse. He could only nod at Lu Ming. The latter hurriedly stepped forward, respectfully took the jade bottle from Zhou Xuan's hand, and said gratefully, “Thank you, Ward Master, for gifting these pills.”

To the other party, this might have just been a casual favor, but to the current Lu Ming, it was undoubtedly a timely help in his hour of need.

“Cultivate hard. I hope to see you display your strength at next month's Hall Meet, make a splash, and become a young talent of our Qingyuan Ward,” Zhou Xuan encouraged.

Although Lu Ming's performance today had surprised everyone, his actual strength was still far inferior to the top young disciples of the four halls.

Lu Ming nodded in response.

Zhou Xuan looked at the four Hall Masters again and smiled. “For next month's Hall Meet, as a reward, I will activate the primordial energy earth veins to raise the primordial energy of heaven and earth in the area where the champion hall is located to the high tier.”

As soon as these words were spoken, the four Hall Masters all showed expressions of pleasant surprise.

The Divine Ability Halls of Qingyuan Ward were all built on the node paths of the primordial energy earth veins, and the earth veins were controlled by the Ward Master using the Ward Master's Seal. Therefore, he could adjust the concentration of the primordial energy of heaven and earth. The primordial energy levels were divided into three tiers: low, mid, and high.

In past years' Hall Meets, for the Divine Ability Hall that won the title of "champion hall," the Ward Office would raise the primordial energy of heaven and earth in their area to the mid tier. This way, the primordial energy of heaven and earth there would be denser than at the other Divine Ability Halls, and cultivating in such an environment would naturally be more effective than at the other halls.

However, the Ward Office had never released the high tier in the past. They had not expected this new Ward Master to have such boldness upon taking office.

This was undoubtedly a great thing for these Divine Ability Halls of Qingyuan Ward.

“In addition, I will also reward the champion hall with a Lesser Inscription-Transforming Pill in my own name. This is a type of Barrier-Breaking Pill that can help a Divine Ability Practitioner break through the Divine Ability Barrier leading to a Grand Divine Ability Practitioner,” Zhou Xuan added with a smile before the crowd's pleasant surprise could even fade.

This time, the young disciples of the four halls, including Wang Chen, Lü Xiao, and Gao Yu, all gasped softly, their gazes turning extremely burning and fervent.

It was actually a Barrier-Breaking Pill!

When raising a Divine Ability Practitioner's realm, every stage would have a Divine Ability Barrier. Like a bottleneck, it shackled many Divine Ability Practitioners.

There were many Divine Ability Practitioners in the world who might have completed their third bone-refining long ago, yet had been unable to successfully condense a complete Divine Ability Dharma Inscription to break through that iron wall-like Divine Ability Barrier.

Meanwhile, a Barrier-Breaking Pill could provide assistance at this critical juncture to shatter the Divine Ability Barrier.

Thus, Barrier-Breaking Pills were among the most expensive of the many medicinal pills in this world.

The Lesser Inscription-Transforming Pill that Zhou Xuan had brought out was probably worth over five thousand grains of heavenly gold sand. The young disciples of the Divine Ability Halls present had likely never even seen such an expensive item before.

Even Lu Ming could not help but feel his heart pound with excitement. Although he possessed a Sub-Heaven-grade Divine Ability Bone and would naturally cross the Divine Ability Barrier faster than others, who would complain about their cultivation progress being even smoother?

This newly appointed Ward Master was truly generous.

“Thank you, Ward Master, for your deep affection and care for the Divine Ability Halls of Qingyuan Ward,” the four Hall Masters all cupped their fists in gratitude.

Zhou Xuan smiled and waved his hand. He chatted with the four Hall Masters for a good while longer before sending someone to escort the excited crowd out of the Ward Office.

Once everyone had departed, Zhou Xuan let out a lazy sigh and complained, “Being a Ward Master is truly exhausting. This job is not easy.”

Behind him, Zhou Fuling smiled beautifully and said, “Fourth Uncle, with just one move, you have completely won over all the Divine Ability Halls of Qingyuan Ward. Your niece is full of admiration.”

Zhou Xuan rolled his eyes at her flattery and said, “It's just keeping a few Grade 3 Divine Ability Halls in a tiny Qingyuan Ward in check. What is there to admire?”

“On the other hand, what do you think of the disciples from these Divine Ability Halls in Qingyuan Ward? Are there any that catch your eye?”

Zhou Fuling crossed her arms, her green dress compressing a thrilling curve. She shook her head slightly. “They are all of mediocre talent. Only Lu Ming, who possesses the High-grade Divine Ability Bone, is slightly worth looking at. But unfortunately, his background is too poor. What kind of top-tier cultivation resources could he possibly access in this tiny Qingyuan Ward? A High-grade Bone Refining Pill is probably the limit of his knowledge.”

“In such a barren place, even if one's natural talent is decent, they can never catch up to those true top-tier geniuses who have grand backgrounds.”

“Your standards are far too high. If you are this picky, when will you ever find a 'promising seed' that satisfies you? If we fail to complete the task, we won't be able to account for it when Her Highness arrives,” Zhou Xuan said, shaking his head helplessly.

Zhou Fuling curled her lips and said, “Before we came, Her Highness instructed us that she would rather have nothing than settle for less. Her Highness possesses such celestial grace and jade-like bone; how could the ordinary seeds we find ever catch her eye?”

“That person named Zhang Yue who used to be in the Thunderfire Hall should have had some potential. I've read his file, and it didn't seem like a normal High-grade Divine Ability Bone. It might have been a Mutated High-grade Divine Ability Bone. It's a pity the people from the Great Golden Crow Hall beat us to the punch and took him away.”

Zhou Xuan agreed with this. He pondered for a moment and said, “No rush, let's take it slow. I've promised them heavy rewards. Let's see if next month's Hall Meet can produce any eye-catching seeds.”

“Additionally, you can also get in touch with the young generation of the Yan and Li families, the two Divine Ability Clans in Qingyuan Ward, to see their level.”

Zhou Fuling nodded. For now, that was all they could do.

...

Thunderfire Hall.

Upon returning to the hall, Lu Jin summoned the two brothers, Lu Qingyan and Lu Jinglei, and recounted what had happened in the Ward Office.

As expected, when the hot-tempered Lu Jinglei heard how the Red Sand Hall had repeatedly targeted them, he flew into a rage and cursed loudly, his face filled with a savage, murderous aura.

However, his anger did not last long before he became jubilant again due to Lu Ming's outstanding performance in the Primordial Energy Pavilion. He slapped Lu Ming's shoulder with his large hand, praising him repeatedly.

However, Lu Qingyan, who was standing to the side, frowned slightly.

“Father, that Lin Changkong seems to be acting a bit strange.”