Self-Torture
Yue Qianchou exclaimed "Ah!" He had heard Guan Yu say that the Palace Master of Hundred Flower Palace was the daughter of the previous sect leader on Fu Xian Island. Recently, he also learned that the current sect leader was the disciple of the previous sect leader, Guan Wei Wu was the son of the previous sect leader, Grandma Ma Jiu was of an even higher generation, being the previous sect leader's aunt. No wonder Yan Zixia called Grandma Ma Jiu "Great-Grandmother," that's quite an old generation.
"Why did you come to join Fu Xian Island when you were doing just fine in Hundred Flower Valley?"
Yan Zixia shook her head and said, "I don't know the specifics. It was a plan my father and mother discussed. My brother went to the Myriad Demon Palace to learn Law Technique, while I came to Fu Xian Island to learn alchemy."
Yue Qianchou nodded thoughtfully. He explained that the previous sect leader of Fu Xian Island was forced to abdicate due to his daughter's situation, but in reality, he passed the position to his disciple Feng Xiangtian. It seemed that few people on Fu Xian Island knew Yan Zixia's true identity. If everyone knew she was from the Hundred Flower Palace, they probably wouldn't have allowed her to join Fu Xian Island. No wonder Yan Zixia was so low-key on Fu Xian Island, almost unknown to outsiders. He guessed her brother's situation was similar in the Myriad Demon Palace. A son and a daughter joining the number one sect of the demonic path and the number one sect of the Righteous Path respectively—that was quite interesting.
The two arrived at the foot of the cliff by the sea. Yue Qianchou had just rolled up his sleeves to climb up when Yan Zixia lifted him up and flew him up. This greatly hurt the former's pride as a man, and he secretly vowed to achieve Foundation Establishment as soon as possible.
The alchemy chamber inside the mountain was scorching hot. Although Yue Qianchou was still struggling to endure it, he gradually became able to bear it after coming here many times. However, his True Qi was being consumed severely, but with a large amount of Spirit Stone to replenish it, he was able to recover quickly.
As promised, Yan Zixia kept her word, and Yue Qianchou's wish to refine pills himself was fulfilled. The former took out a large quantity of ordinary spiritual herbs that her Great-Grandmother had prepared for her from her Storage Bag, allowing the latter to squander them to her heart's content.
After trying it himself, Yue Qianchou discovered that it was very different from the theory. Putting aside his technical proficiency, observing and controlling the refining of pills with his Divine Sense in the scorching Pill Furnace was a very painful thing.
The first time Yue Qianchou 'Divine Sense entered the blazing Pill Furnace, he let out a loud Divine Sense and quickly withdrew it. His skin turned bright red as if scalded, and as a result, his Divine Sense was damaged, leaving him utterly weak. This startled Yan Zixia, who then remembered that her Great-Grandmother had said that those below the Foundation Establishment Realm were not suitable for learning alchemy.
Yue Qianchou immediately took out a high-grade Spirit Stones and absorbed all its Spiritual Qi to restore his damaged Divine Sense. Yan Zixia felt sorry for him and told him what her Great-Grandmother had said, advising him not to try again.
Yue Qianchou stubbornly shook his head and said, "Didn't your Great-Grandmother say that although the Qi Refining stage is not suitable for alchemy, as long as one's Divine Sense is trained to be strong enough, one can still refine pills? Since others can do it, I believe I can do it too."
With each scream of agony, Yue Qianchou's Divine Sense lingered longer and longer within the Pill Furnace. Seeing him so cruelly torturing himself, Yan Zixia felt heartbroken, but unable to dissuade him, she could only stand by his side and shed tears.
As time passed, he realized that the time his Divine Sense spent inside the Pill Furnace was still insufficient to control the time it took to refine a single batch of pills. In his discouragement, he was pleasantly surprised to discover that his Divine Sense could extend to a place dozens of meters away, and he could observe all the movements within a radius of dozens of meters. Moreover, his control over his Divine Sense was becoming more and more effortless.
The three-day alchemy agreement couldn't be fulfilled, Yue Qianchou returned to the Golden Pearl Chamber to solemnly apologize to Guan Yu and Chen Feng. After repeated assurances, he finally gained their forgiveness. Afterward, he stayed in the alchemy chamber for a long time. Yan Zixia also asked her Great-Grandmother for leave to stay by his side.
His Divine Sense was injured time and again, and he took out high-grade Spirit Stones one by one to heal his wounds. When Yan Zixia first shifted her attention from him to the high-grade Spirit Stones in his hand, she was taken aback.
If she remembered correctly, Yue Qianchou had probably used over a thousand Spirit Stone to heal in the past month! Heavens! Over a thousand high-grade Spirit Stones, how was that possible? How could a Qi Refining stage disciple have so many Spirit Stones? Even if she were the Palace Master of Hundred Flower Palace's biological daughter, it would be difficult for her to casually produce so many Spirit Stones; that was equivalent to ten million low-grade Spirit Stones! She grew up in Hundred Flower Valley and knew the market prices for many items, so she naturally understood how much that number could buy in the Cultivation World.
Later, seeing him still able to pull out one high-grade Spirit Stones after another, Yan Zixia was no longer surprised, but she was curious where he got so many Spirit Stones. However, this was a bit too extravagant. Although the Spiritual Qi contained in high-grade Spirit Stones could repair damaged Divine Sense quickly, one high-grade Spirit Stones was enough to buy nearly fifty pills for repairing Divine Sense.
When Yue Qianchou was delighted to discover that his Divine Sense could extend to a radius of nearly 100 meters, the two of them had unknowingly stayed in the cave for three whole months. During this time, only Yan Zixia occasionally went out to fetch food and water, while Yue Qianchou never left the cave.
When he was covered in sweat, Yan Zixia would fetch cool water, wet a handkerchief, and gently wipe him down. When he was too tired to move, she would feed him. But Yue Qianchou, ever since he was certain that Yan Zixia liked him, took it all for granted, as if taking care of him was his duty.
From his initial screams of pain at the loss of his Divine Sense, to a muffled groan, and then a slight furrow of his brow, Yue Qianchou 'Divine Sense had been able to remain inside the Pill Furnace for a whole day. Although Yan Zixia had never experienced the pain of Divine Sense injury, she had heard of it, saying it was far more painful than a physical injury. She couldn't understand why he would do this, and when she couldn't bear to watch, she repeatedly urged him to stop.
Unexpectedly Yue Qianchou smiled slightly and said, "No rainbow without rain. How can you accomplish something without suffering? Not everything can be achieved easily. As a man, sometimes you not only have to be ruthless to others, but if you want to succeed, you should be even more ruthless to yourself."
Although he spoke lightly, Yan Zixia's heart trembled. She looked at him with complicated emotions and never tried to persuade him again. She simply did what she thought was right and took good care of him.
If someone familiar with her identity were to witness this, they would be utterly astonished—the dignified young lady of the Hundred Flower Palace would actually be doing such menial tasks. Yue Qianchou, however, didn't see it that way. "I only know that people care about status and social standing when it comes to marriage," he thought. "What does dating have to do with status!"
The amount of ordinary spiritual herbs he used in three months could be counted in piles. Fortunately, there were plenty of such spiritual herbs on Fu Xian Island, so no one cared. Unfortunately, his success rate in alchemy was still very low. Twenty batches could barely produce one batch, and each batch could only produce a maximum of ten pills, all of which were ordinary pills used in the Cultivation World to treat superficial injuries.
At his success rate, even if he went out and refined pills for free, he'd probably scare people away. The cost of refining a single batch of pills was far too high. Yue Qianchou, however, felt it was about right. He estimated that even with the worst results, a hundred portions of spiritual herbs could yield three or four batches! Besides, with enough spiritual herbs as a backup, the time was ripe to refining Foundation Establishment Pill. He decided to rest for a day, adjust his mental state to its best, and then begin refining pills.
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