Yun Yun's Shock

The campfire gradually burned brighter, orange-red flames licking at the firewood with soft crackling sounds, driving away much of the chill in the cave.

Flickering light and shadow fell across Yun Yun's face, softening her tightly furrowed brows. The fingers clutching her collar slowly loosened, and her breathing became steadier.

Xiao Peng added a thick log to the fire and took out the Companion Purple Crystal Source from his Storage Ring.

Using it directly would be far too wasteful; it would be more practical to refine it into pills.

With that in mind, Xiao Peng took out an Alchemy Furnace and set it firmly beside the fire.

After pondering for a moment, Xiao Peng placed some Medicinal Herbs and the Companion Purple Crystal Source into the Alchemy Furnace and began refining pills.

Yun Yun had awakened at some point, but she made no sound, silently watching him refine pills.

Xiao Peng's movements were remarkably steady. Adding ingredients, controlling the fire, guiding the energy—every step was as precise as if it had been measured.

Firelight reflected off his focused profile, and even the shadows cast by his eyelashes seemed serious.

"Is that... the Companion Purple Crystal Source?" Yun Yun could not help asking softly.

She had seen records of it in her sect's ancient texts. The Companion Purple Crystal Source was an exceedingly rare treasure, yet Xiao Peng had somehow obtained it.

At the same time, Yun Yun's heart ached terribly. Such a valuable thing was being used by Xiao Peng to refine pills.

If he gave it to her, she could take it to Gu He and have him refine pills with it.

Xiao Peng raised his eyes at her words. The flames continued steadily licking the bottom of the furnace, and he did not lose focus because of her question. "Yes. What about it?"

"Nothing..." Yun Yun looked at the surging purple mist within the Alchemy Furnace, her fingertips trembling with heartache.

She caught sight of Xiao Peng's fire-controlling hand seals and grew curious about what kind of Dou Technique they were.

Xiao Peng's fingertips lightly moved above the furnace wall. Mana flowed into the flames like a thin stream, and the fire rose and fell with his gestures, wrapping the purple mist tightly within.

"Your fire-controlling technique..." Yun Yun ultimately could not suppress her curiosity. "It isn't some ordinary fire-controlling Dou Technique, is it?"

Without raising his head, Xiao Peng's fingertips abruptly paused. The furnace fire suddenly contracted, and the purple mist condensed into a spinning vortex at the furnace's core. "Just a miscellaneous family technique. Nothing worth mentioning."

"A miscellaneous technique?" Yun Yun raised a brow.

She had grown up in the Misty Cloud Sect and had seen quite a few high-level Dou Techniques, yet she had never seen such an exquisite method of controlling fire.

"If this is a miscellaneous technique, wouldn't Pill King Gu He's fire-controlling art be nothing more than a child's game?" Yun Yun could not help teasing, though there was more seriousness in her tone.

Xiao Peng finally looked up, the corners of his lips carrying a faint, ambiguous smile. "The Pill King is naturally highly skilled. Mine is just an unorthodox method. It's already good enough if I can finish refining the medicine."

Though his words were humble, his hands never stopped moving.

The Alchemy Furnace suddenly let out a hum. Its body shook violently, as though something were about to burst out of it.

Xiao Peng's gaze sharpened. His hand seals shifted, and the Mana around him surged explosively as he firmly suppressed the furnace lid.

The next instant, nine columns of intertwined purple and gold light burst from the furnace opening and shot toward the cave ceiling. They actually pierced through the mountain cave and exploded into nine dazzling lotus flowers of light in the night sky.

As the light lotuses spun, countless tiny points of light resembling purple crystal fragments fluttered down like a magnificent rain of stars. Even the Magical Beasts in the distant forest were startled by the phenomenon, letting out deep, repeated roars.

Inside the cave, nine pills floated within the pillars of light. Their bodies were translucent like purple crystals, yet flames seemed to flow slowly within them.

Faint golden patterns curled around every pill. They were Pill Patterns, which only appeared when medicinal power had condensed to its absolute limit.

The medicinal fragrance surged over them like a tide, clear and cool yet carrying a scorching heat. With just one breath, even the Purple Crystal Seal on Yun Yun's body began to fluctuate violently.

"A heavenly phenomenon... Sixth-grade Pills!" Yun Yun cried out in shock, her voice filled with disbelief.

She had learned about pills from Gu He. When Sixth-grade Pills took shape, they would trigger changes in heaven and earth.

Even Gu He could not necessarily refine Sixth-grade Pills every time, and he needed to make preparations before each attempt.

Moreover, she remembered that Gu He only produced one pill at a time, while Xiao Peng had somehow produced nine in a single batch. It was simply outrageous.

But that was not even the most important part. The most important thing was Xiao Peng's age. He was so much younger than Gu He, yet he was already a sixth-grade alchemist. It was utterly outrageous.

Some little schemes began to emerge in Yun Yun's mind. She somewhat wanted to introduce Xiao Peng to her disciple, Nalan Yanran.

If Xiao Peng could join the Misty Cloud Sect, the Misty Cloud Sect might reach unprecedented heights.

Xiao Peng was somewhat surprised. He had not expected that casually refining a few pills would actually trigger a heavenly phenomenon.

Remembering that there were still sixth-tier Magical Beasts nearby, Xiao Peng hurriedly activated the array to conceal everything.

The pillars of light and star rain were instantly swallowed by the array, and the cave returned to the faint glow of the dancing furnace fire alone.

Xiao Peng swiftly stored the nine pills in a Jade Bottle. His fingertips had turned faintly red from forcibly suppressing the phenomenon.

"That was too much commotion." Xiao Peng spoke in a low voice, his gaze sweeping toward the cave entrance as his Spiritual Sense spread out. He caught several powerful auras approaching from this direction. "At least three sixth-tier Magical Beasts have been drawn here."

Fortunately, he had set up the Return Home Array beforehand. There was no way those Magical Beasts could find them.

Yun Yun's heart tightened. Instinctively, she tried to circulate her Dou Qi, only to find her meridians sluggish and blocked.

The Purple Crystal Seal was still there. At this moment, she was no different from an ordinary person.

At this moment, outside.

The roars of three sixth-tier Magical Beasts echoed through the forest. Among them, that familiar violent aura belonged to the adult Purple Crystal Winged Lion King.

It had clearly followed the medicinal fragrance and heavenly phenomenon here. The sound of its massive claws crushing dead branches grew closer and closer, carrying fury powerful enough to destroy heaven and earth.

"Roar—"

The Purple Crystal Winged Lion King's roar rolled across the treetops like thunder, shaking leaves loose in showers.

Its enormous body moved through the forest, its purple mane bristling with rage. Every step made the ground tremble faintly, while its nostrils flared greedily as it caught the lingering medicinal fragrance in the air.

The Purple Crystal Winged Lion King stopped a hundred meters from the cave, its golden vertical pupils fixed on the seemingly empty forest ahead.

It could clearly sense that tempting aura nearby, yet it could not find its source no matter what it did.

The trees and vines before it were no different from those of an ordinary mountain forest, but the more normal everything appeared, the more irritable the Lion King became.

That was the instinct of a high-tier Magical Beast. It was certain that its prey was nearby, hidden away by some damned thing.

Two other powerful auras rapidly closed in. One belonged to a giant python whose scales were black as ink, the stench of venom accompanying every flick of its tongue.

The other was a blood-red eagle with a wingspan of several zhang, its talons gleaming with cold light. They had clearly both been drawn here by the pill phenomenon.

"Roar—!"

The Purple Crystal Winged Lion King suddenly turned toward the Blood Eagle and let out a threatening roar. Its former defeated subordinate actually dared to come and snatch its food.

The Blood Eagle let out a piercing screech, whipping up fierce gusts of wind with its wings. It clearly did not take the Lion King seriously.

The Black Scaled Giant Python quietly circled around to the other side, its enormous body slithering through the vines as it tried to find the source of that medicinal fragrance through the gaps.