Chapter 100: Wanhong Fruit

Upon first seeing the small red fruit, Lin Dong’s immediate thought was—spirit fruit!
“Do you know what this is?” Ren Qingsong asked teasingly.
Lin Dong replied without hesitation, “It’s something great!”
Ren Qingsong cleared his throat and said helplessly, “This fruit is called Wanhong Fruit, a seventh-tier spirit fruit.”
“Seventh tier?” Lin Dong exclaimed, “It’s a seventh-tier spirit fruit?”
Clearly satisfied with Lin Dong’s reaction, Ren Qingsong picked up the teacup on the table, took a sip, and smacked his lips. Seeing that Lin Dong couldn’t resist asking further, he calmly explained, “Wanhong Fruit is the main ingredient in crafting Baili Dan, a seventh-tier spirit pill. Baili Dan has extraordinary effects—taking it can expand the capacity of one’s dantian. You must be aware of the benefits that come from expanding the dantian capacity, right?”
Lin Dong hesitated for a moment before asking, “If the dantian capacity increases, more spiritual energy will be needed to break through to the next realm, which means it will take longer to achieve that breakthrough. In that case… will the effects of Baili Dan disappear after the breakthrough?”
Ren Qingsong praised him, “Smart! Once the effects of Baili Dan fade, the dantian will return to its normal state. The extra spiritual energy from the previous realm, after being compressed by the still-developing dantian, will become even purer along with the original spiritual energy.”
Lin Dong was overjoyed. A higher realm represented a quantitative leap, while a lower realm meant a qualitative change. With each breakthrough to a lower realm, the spiritual energy was compressed to one-ninth, meaning it became nine times purer. After a breakthrough, the initial stage of cultivation was the most difficult, as more spiritual energy flowing through the meridians allowed for more external spiritual energy to enter them.
It took 100 days to progress from the fifth level of the Lingdong phase to the fifth level’s second sub-stage, but only 50 days to go from the fifth level’s second sub-stage to the third sub-stage. It took just over 30 days to advance from the third to the fourth sub-stage. The reason was that the spiritual energy at the fifth level’s second and third sub-stages was twice and three times that of the first sub-stage, respectively, so the speed at which external spiritual energy could be absorbed was also twice and three times faster.
If factors like the use of spirit stones and the greater likelihood of encountering impurities in the meridians with more spiritual energy were not considered, the time from the first to the second sub-stage of the Lingdong phase accounted for nearly one-third of the total time. Even when all factors were taken into account, each progression from one sub-stage to the next still took nearly one-fifth of the total time.
This meant that by taking Baili Dan just before a breakthrough, one would have more abundant spiritual energy in the dantian than others. After the breakthrough, they would have more spiritual energy in the early stages of cultivation, giving them a higher starting point.

The cost is merely that the progress in the previous realm will be slower. But the starting point for that realm is a dantian filled with spiritual energy before taking the Baili Dan; filling the additional capacity takes little time. After thinking this through, Lin Dong quickly asked, “How much can the Baili Dan expand the dantian’s capacity?” Ren Qingsong replied with a smile, “About twice as much!” Lin Dong was surprised. If he took the Baili Dan at the fourth level of the Lingdong period, it might delay his breakthrough to the fifth level by about one and a half days. However, the time needed to progress from the fifth to the sixth level of the Lingdong period could be reduced by one-fifth, saving at least seventeen or eighteen days. “Dean Ren, what other materials are needed for the Baili Dan?” “Forget about the Baili Dan,” Ren Qingsong said bluntly. “Not only is the method of crafting it a secret of the Tiandan Sect, but even if you knew the materials and method, as it’s a seventh-tier spiritual medicine, you wouldn’t be able to find a high-level alchemist to help you craft it, even if you had the materials.” Lin Dong was stunned. If he didn’t know the materials or the method, why bring up the Baili Dan at all? “But…” Ren Qingsong closed the wooden box and said calmly, “Eating Wanhong fruits alone can also expand the dantian. It’s said that one Wanhong fruit can be used to craft five Baili Dans. If divided into five portions, the effect is far less than that of a Baili Dan, but eating the whole fruit is equivalent to half a Baili Dan.” Lin Dong let out a long sigh. Even half the effect could expand half of the dantian. While a seventeen- or eighteen-day advance wasn’t possible, seven or eight days wasn’t hard to achieve. With a thought, Lin Dong asked, “What if I eat two at once?” Ren Qingsong was amused and exasperated. “Once the teacup is full, pouring more is pointless. By your logic, if you ate a hundred or eighty Baili Dans or Wanhong fruits at once, wouldn’t you leap straight to a higher realm after the breakthrough?” Lin Dong looked disappointed. “Here!” Ren Qingsong placed the wooden box in Lin Dong’s hands. “Isn’t this a nice surprise?” “Indeed,” Lin Dong nodded, hopingly. “Where did Dean Ren get these? Can I get more? If it needs to be exchanged for something, I’ll cover the spiritual stones and silver.” “If I could get more, why would I wait until you reach the fifth level of the Lingdong period to give them to you? It’s better to give them to you at the fourth level,” Ren Qingsong said helplessly. “The head of the Autumn Wind Mansion’s martial testing institute likes to grow spiritual materials. I pestered him hard before finally getting two.” “Would he refuse even if exchanged?” Lin Dong pressed further.

“All spiritual materials are his treasures. Unless you can exchange them for better ones, he won’t care about spiritual stones or silver,” Ren Qingsong shook his head. “Moreover, the higher the grade of the spiritual material, the stricter the cultivation conditions. He’s only transplanted one so far. Besides, the Wanhong Tree matures once every seventy years, and since he planted a young tree, with a very low fruiting rate, he might only harvest about twenty fruits at a time. Over the past twenty-odd years, he must have given some away. If it weren’t for our decades-long acquaintance, you wouldn’t even get half of them.”

Hearing this, Lin Dong gave up the idea of asking for more Wanhong fruits, but he secretly resolved that just because this head of the Qiu Feng Mansion’s Martial Testing Institute might have seeds that the Gu Huan Sect couldn’t obtain, he would definitely visit him in the future.

Placing the wooden box on the mobile counter, Lin Dong said, “Dean Ren, I’m troubling you for my cultivation.”

“Don’t be polite. I’m also trying to get promoted sooner,” Ren Qingsong waved his hand. “Remember to eat the Wanhong fruits at the seventh and eighth stages of the Lingdong period. That way, you can gain benefits earlier.”

“Mm!” Lin Dong nodded. If it weren’t for the fact that these Wanhong fruits were given by Ren Qingsong, he would even have waited until after breaking through the Lingdong period to eat them for better effects.

“By the way, make sure not to use anything other than these items to store them,” Ren Qingsong explained. “The wooden box I gave you was made from branches of the Wanhong Tree, and the leaves inside are also Wanhong leaves. Without these two things, the Wanhong fruits will gradually lose their medicinal effects over time.”

“Understood!” Lin Dong nodded again.

Taking out a porcelain bottle from his storage spirit ring, Ren Qingsong handed it to Lin Dong. “Inside is a supply of Lingdan pills for three months, which should be enough to help you reach the fifth stage of the Lingdong period. If you run out before then, I won’t be able to surprise you anymore, but I’ll definitely find ways to give you more spiritual stones.”

“Uh, I guess Dean Ren can save quite a few spiritual stones.”

Lin Dong smiled bitterly. If the inn system could reach level 4, his cultivation speed could be accelerated by over twenty days. But the problem was that if he couldn’t come up with a solution to this upgrade task, it would take at least three to five months to complete.