Accident

Night fell.

Liu Xi sat cross-legged atop the Green Lotus Seat. With a brush of his finger over his Storage Ring, he took out a jade bottle containing an Earth Fire Lotus Seed. Gazing intently at the azure lotus seed within, which radiated pure Fire Attribute energy, he slowly said, "Worthy of being called the essence of Fire Spirit—the Earth Fire Lotus Seed truly contains such pure power!"

With that, Liu Xi opened the bottle and tipped the Earth Fire Lotus Seed into his mouth. Vast Fire Attribute energy continuously spread out, flowing through every Meridian in his body. He fully circulated his Cultivation Method, absorbing and refining that Fire Attribute energy until it finally flowed into the azure Dou Crystal within his Dantian.

As the Earth Fire Lotus Seed's Fire Attribute energy was absorbed, the aura emitted by Liu Xi's Dou Qi became increasingly similar to that of the Green Lotus Core Flame. As a result, his control over the Green Lotus Core Flame grew ever stronger.

After cultivating through the night, the Earth Fire Lotus Seed's power was finally completely exhausted. Only then did Liu Xi slowly awaken. He rose and leaped down from the Green Lotus Seat, sensing the lively Dou Qi within his body. A satisfied smile appeared on his face as he said, "Not bad. Fully refining the energy of one Earth Fire Lotus Seed is equivalent to a month of my usual cultivation. As expected, there are shortcuts to cultivation after breaking through to the Dou Wang realm."

Liu Xi pushed open the door. Qing Lin had already prepared water and a face towel, waiting outside his room. Upon seeing him emerge, she greeted him with a smile.

"Young Master, good morning!"

With Qing Lin attending to him, Liu Xi was in a cheerful mood. He smugly thought, Qing Lin is obedient, sensible, and well-behaved. She can serve as a bodyguard when needed and a maid when not. She truly is a treasure of a girl!

After washing up, Liu Xi, refreshed and invigorated, left with Qing Lin. Once they had eaten a desert-style breakfast, they returned to Hai Bodong's shop. Today, he was going to prepare to refine pills.

Hai Bodong was the same as ever, still making maps behind the counter.

Perhaps it was because he pursued the Demon Fire Fragment Map that Hai Bodong was sealed by Queen Medusa, losing most of his cultivation. Maybe that was why he developed this hobby. He really had it rough, Liu Xi thought.

Liu Xi walked up to the counter, looked at Hai Bodong, who was diligently making a map, and said, "Give me all the medicinal ingredients you prepared. Also, prepare a quiet room for me. Today, I'll refine the Po E Pill for you!"

Upon hearing this, Hai Bodong accidentally drew a long gash across the map he had been working on because he used too much force. Looking at the ruined map, he sighed deeply. Then he looked up at Liu Xi and said hesitantly, "How about you study the pill formula a little longer? I can wait a while more!"

Seeing Hai Bodong suddenly become indecisive at this point, Liu Xi could only reassure him. "Don't worry, I'm confident. I don't want to search for Sand Mandara again!"

Hai Bodong thought about it and found that reasonable, so he agreed. Then, with a flick of his finger over his Storage Ring, a large pile of assorted High-level Medicinal Materials appeared on the table.

Many of them were rare medicinal materials that were rarely seen on the market. They generally did not circulate openly and would only appear at certain auction houses. News would be released in advance to wealthy factions or High-level Alchemists, allowing them to compete freely. The highest bidder would win, maximizing their value.

Liu Xi carefully inspected every medicinal ingredient, ensuring that none of the required materials were missing. Quite a few ingredients had two or three extra portions prepared, greatly increasing the room for error in pill refinement. With a sweep of his sleeve, Liu Xi stored all the medicinal ingredients in his Storage Ring.

Then Liu Xi looked at Hai Bodong, whose face was filled with pain and hesitation, and said, "Let's go see the room where I'll refine the pill. A Sixth-grade pill will take at least two or three days to refine. I don't want to be disturbed during the process—not even by you. Otherwise, if something goes wrong, forget about recovering your Dou Emperor cultivation!"

Hai Bodong stood and nodded to show that he understood, then led Liu Xi toward a side door at the back of the shop.

The corridor was rather dim. After following Hai Bodong for some distance, they stopped outside a door deep within the corridor.

When the door was opened, the lighting inside was fairly good. The room was also quite clean and appeared to be regularly tidied. After entering, Liu Xi looked around. At any rate, it suited his taste.

Hai Bodong smiled and said, "Then please refine the pill here, little friend. I will stand guard outside the corridor. During this time, you will have all the peace and quiet you need. No one will disturb you."

"Mm," Liu Xi replied.

Once Hai Bodong saw that Liu Xi was satisfied, he left. At the doorway, he gently pulled the door shut behind him. At this point, Hai Bodong had no mind to watch over the shop. He dragged over a chair in the corridor, sat down, and waited.

Inside the room, Liu Xi released his soul power, enveloping the entire room to ensure that it was safe. At the same time, he saw Hai Bodong sitting in the corridor, staring eagerly at the room. Liu Xi smiled and said, "He really is invested in this!"

Then, with a brush of his finger over his Storage Ring, he first took out a fiery red Medicine Cauldron. As soon as it appeared, the temperature in the room seemed to rise slightly. Next, he took out all the medicinal ingredients, sorted them, and arranged them one by one before the cauldron. Finally, he brought out the Green Lotus Seat. This was the source of Liu Xi's confidence in raising his success rate in pill refinement by another ten percent.

With the Green Lotus Seat assisting him, not only could it reduce Liu Xi's consumption during pill refinement, it could also improve his control over the Green Lotus Core Flame. It was killing two birds with one stone.

Once his preparations were complete, Liu Xi stepped forward and sat cross-legged on the Green Lotus Seat. At a thought, a streak of Green Flame appeared in his hand. He extended his hand toward the diamond-shaped fire inlet of the Medicine Cauldron, and the Green Flame leaped straight into it.

Liu Xi watched the constantly dancing Green Flame within the Medicine Cauldron, then selected a medicinal ingredient and tossed it inside. The Green Lotus Core Flame immediately surged over and wrapped around it, beginning the refinement. There was no helping it—this was Liu Xi's first time refining a Sixth-grade pill. No matter how confident he was, he had to proceed with utmost caution.

Therefore, to be safe, he refined the medicinal properties one plant at a time. Once a medicinal ingredient's physical form had completely vanished within the Medicine Cauldron and transformed into a thick medicinal liquid that gave off a medicinal fragrance, Liu Xi moved it aside and continued warming it with the flame. Only then did he begin refining the next ingredient.

Only after the final—and only—portion of Sand Mandara had been thoroughly refined did Liu Xi put it away and let out a sigh of relief. Three problems had arisen during the earlier refinement stages, but fortunately, there had been spare ingredients, so he only had to refine them again. Thankfully, the single portion of Sand Mandara had been successfully refined.

Having spent an entire day refining all the medicinal ingredients, Liu Xi was quite exhausted. To ensure that nothing went wrong during the subsequent pill-forming stage, he first needed to recover his depleted mental energy and Dou Qi. Still seated cross-legged on the Green Lotus Seat, he swallowed a pill and entered a cultivation state.

About an hour later, Liu Xi felt that his essence, energy, and spirit had mostly recovered, and he awoke. Looking once more at the dozen or so clusters of differently colored medicinal liquids wrapped in Green Flame within the Medicine Cauldron, he took a deep breath and formed hand seals. All the medicinal liquids in the cauldron began to gather, and liquids with differing medicinal properties started to merge.

Within the tidy room, Green Flame churned violently inside the fiery red Medicine Cauldron. The medicinal liquids wrapped in flame continuously clashed and merged as their differing medicinal properties collided, sending out waves of invisible energy that vanished without a trace whenever they struck the cauldron's inner walls.

Within the churning flames of the Medicine Cauldron, a pale purple pill embryo the size of a thumb gradually began to take shape under the refinement of the flames. At the same time, a faint medicinal fragrance began to drift out from the cauldron. Though not especially strong, its scent lingered for a long time.

All that remained was to keep warming it. As long as nothing unexpected happened, the Po E Pill would be complete.

Yet at this very moment, a group of unwelcome guests arrived in Desert City. Judging from their attire, they were clearly not people who had lived in the desert year-round.

After entering the city, an elderly man who appeared to be their leader, with a cold and vicious expression, suddenly stopped. A wave of energy spread from his body, accompanied by bursts of a bloody stench.

With his eyes closed as though sensing something, he slowly turned in place. When he faced a certain direction, he stopped. Then he opened his eyes, and an uncontrollable, excited smile spread across his face.

The direction he was looking toward was Liu Xi's residence. At this moment, only one person was there—Qing Lin.