Fourth-Turn Pills, Merit Reduced by Three

The man refining the pills looked frustrated. "Damn it, what's wrong with this fire? This furnace of pills should have been successfully refined..."

Luo Xuan went over and observed it carefully for a moment, his brows lifting slightly.

"Blazing Fire Shrouded in Dust... What powerful aura."

Just then, the door to the pill-refining room was suddenly thrown open with a loud bang.

"Greetings, Old Ancestor." Everyone lowered their heads when Suiren Shi entered.

Suiren Shi directly pulled Luo Xuan out of the pill-refining room, looking somewhat worried.

"Luo Xuan, a woman came to Shouyang Mountain just now and specifically asked for you."

"A woman?" Luo Xuan's eyes became thoughtful.

Suiren Shi nodded. "I couldn't see through her cultivation, but several Golden Immortals were following behind her."

"She looks quite imposing. Could the Demon Race have come seeking revenge?"

As he spoke, Suiren Shi glanced at Dang Hu's corpse.

Luo Xuan smiled. "Rest assured, Old Ancestor. She shouldn't be from the Demon Race."

Seeing Luo Xuan's cheeky grin, Suiren Shi immediately grew furious. "You still have the nerve to laugh? Hurry and find somewhere to hide. We'll think of a way to stall her."

"Don't worry, Old Ancestor. If I'm not mistaken, that woman should be the Witch Clan's Ancestor Witch, Hou Tu."

Seeing Suiren Shi's anxious expression, a warm current passed through Luo Xuan's heart.

Suiren Shi's eyes widened. "The Witch Clan's Ancestor Witch?"

Luo Xuan smiled. "Didn't I mention some time ago that someone from the Witch Clan would come to discuss pills?"

"But you never said it would be an Ancestor Witch."

What kind of figure was an Ancestor Witch?

They were existences whom the human race could not even hope to meet under normal circumstances—figures on the same level as the Three Pure Ones.

It was only pills, yet it had actually brought an Ancestor Witch here?

When had Luo Xuan gained such influence?

The more Suiren Shi thought about it, the more shocked he became.

Under Suiren Shi's guidance, Luo Xuan finally met a beautiful woman.

Her wheat-colored skin and slender body seemed to conceal tremendous power.

This should be Hou Tu, right?

As Luo Xuan thought this, he saw Hou Yi and several burly men behind her.

Every one of them possessed the cultivation of the Golden Immortal Realm.

"This must be Luo Xuan," Hou Tu said, cupping her hands.

While Luo Xuan sized them up, Hou Tu was also observing Luo Xuan.

However, no matter how Hou Tu looked at him, Luo Xuan was merely an Innate Human Race member in the Profound Immortal Realm.

Luo Xuan smiled. "There's no need for pleasantries. Since Ancestor Witch Hou Tu has come to Shouyang Mountain, I assume you're also interested in our pills."

"Straightforward."

Seeing Luo Xuan get right to the point, Hou Tu felt a trace of goodwill toward him.

"Since you had Hou Yi pass on a message asking to meet us Ancestor Witches, I assume you thought there were some matters that would be pointless to discuss with Hou Yi?"

"Tell me, what do you want? As long as it isn't excessive, I can satisfy you."

"Good!"

Luo Xuan smiled and raised two fingers. "First, provide the human race with spiritual roots and earthly materials for refining pills."

"Second, protect the human race from the other living beings of the Primordial World, especially the Demon Race."

Hou Tu's gaze narrowed slightly, and she said in a low voice, "You certainly have plenty of demands."

In an instant, vast Laws of Earth seeped from Hou Tu's body, thread by thread, wrapping around Luo Xuan.

The atmosphere in the room immediately grew heavy.

Luo Xuan acted as though he felt nothing at all and smiled. "We're responsible for refining the pills, while you provide the materials. That's only reasonable."

"As for protecting us, Ancestor Witch Hou Tu, you wouldn't want the Demon Race to learn of this and exterminate us all, would you? If that happened, no one would refine pills for you anymore."

He's only at the early stage of the Profound Immortal Realm, yet he can resist my Laws of Earth?

Hou Tu stared at Luo Xuan expressionlessly, but her interest in him grew stronger.

A moment later, the Laws of Earth withdrew into Hou Tu's body like a receding tide. She said, "Those two requirements are fine."

"However, seeing is believing. Although Hou Yi said that your pill-refining skills were extraordinary, I still want to witness them personally."

"Lady Hou Tu, didn't you already eat that Thunderfire Pill earlier..." Hou Yi muttered.

"Shut up!"

Hou Tu shot Hou Yi a reproachful glance, forcing him to swallow the rest of his words.

Luo Xuan smiled indifferently. "Since Ancestor Witch Hou Tu wants to see it, naturally she can. I happened to come up with a new pill formula recently, but it requires Witch Clan blood."

"It also needs Witch blood? Absolutely not!"

As soon as Luo Xuan finished speaking, a member of the Witch Clan behind Hou Tu immediately objected.

Hou Tu also looked hesitant. When she had exchanged pills with the Three Pure Ones, they had used essence blood, and in the end it had not been very useful.

Luo Xuan looked at the Witch Clan member and smiled. "Blood from a Golden Immortal Realm Witch will do as well."

"Fine." Upon hearing this, Hou Tu no longer hesitated.

Luo Xuan's eyes brightened slightly.

The pill he intended to refine was precisely the Body Tempering Pill that everyone in the pill-refining room had been refining earlier.

He was curious what would happen if he used Witch Clan blood to refine it.

After that Witch Clan member extracted several drops of essence blood from his body, Luo Xuan immediately began refining the pill.

"What rich blood qi. This is far more potent than Dang Hu's flesh and blood."

Listening to the faint sounds that occasionally came from the Alchemy Furnace, Luo Xuan's eyes grew increasingly bright.

"Withdraw!"

At a certain moment, Luo Xuan swallowed the Skyfall True Flame into his mouth.

At that same instant, golden auspicious clouds gathered over Shouyang Mountain once again.

When the Skyfall True Flame was withdrawn, everyone could clearly sense the dense power of blood qi within the Alchemy Furnace.

Hou Tu looked at the Alchemy Furnace in surprise.

She had only sensed such dense blood qi from Hou Yi and the other Great Witches.

The Nine Revolutions Mysterious Technique was the Witch Clan's supreme method. Each revolution brought a tremendous improvement to the Witch Clan.

To achieve the accomplishments of a Golden Immortal, one had to reach the fifth revolution. It truly involved being tempered a thousand times over.

Yet Luo Xuan had merely used several spiritual roots, earthly materials, and Witch Clan essence blood to temper such dense blood qi?

While everyone marveled, Luo Xuan frowned slightly.

"Still not enough..."

According to his expectations, after refining it, the blood qi should have been contained within the pill. The Elixir Qi seeping out should not have been this faint.

Hah!

Luo Xuan gave a low shout. The pill within his body began spinning rapidly, causing his purple-gold Immortal Power to spread outward.

Luo Xuan raised his hand, enveloping the Alchemy Furnace completely.

The blood qi immediately grew much thinner.

Only then did Hou Tu and the others come back to their senses.

When they opened their eyes, they saw that the room was filled with golden clouds of mist.

"Merit?" Shock flashed through Hou Tu's eyes. Then she saw the merit split into two streams and surge toward the pill in the Alchemy Furnace and Luo Xuan.

It was only refining a pill, yet it could actually draw down merit?

Hou Tu was even more astonished.

If she knew that this was not Luo Xuan's first time drawing down merit, but his third, who knew what she would think?

[The host has been detected refining nine four-revolution Earth Blood Body Tempering Pills. Due to absorbing merit, their quality has risen from low-grade to high-grade.]

[Congratulations, host. You have obtained three Innate Spiritual Root Yellow Middle Plums.]

Luo Xuan collapsed to the ground and wiped away the fine sweat on his forehead.

He felt as though his body had been completely drained.

"It was only a four-revolution pill. This can draw down merit too?"

Hearing the unconcerned tone in Luo Xuan's voice, Hou Tu no longer knew what to say.

She had only wanted to witness his pill-refining skills. Who would have thought that he would directly draw down merit?

Kunlun Mountain.

The Three Pure Ones stared at one another.

"Merit again?"

"And it's that brat Luo Xuan?"

The three of them looked at one another in bewilderment.