The primeval forest.
"Pfft, pfft, pfft!"
After being roasted from the inside by the high-temperature fireball,
those originally indestructible scales had already lost much of their defensive power.
Now, struck by Wind Blades specially designed for cutting, they were like butter under a hot knife.
Foul black blood sprayed everywhere.
The Ironback Black Python's enormous body thrashed wildly on the ground.
Its tail lashed about, sweeping several thick trees in half.
Wood chips flew, and dust billowed.
But even so,
the Ironback Black Python wasn't quite dead yet. Its vitality was terrifyingly tenacious.
Ye Xuan wasn't in a hurry to approach.
He stood ten paces away, watching quietly.
A cornered beast was at its most dangerous.
There was no need to risk his life by going up to it now.
He gently rubbed his chin, his gaze fixed on it as if it were a pig waiting to be slaughtered.
Only when the giant python's movements grew slower and slower, until all that remained were nerve-induced twitches, did Ye Xuan step forward.
To be safe, he struck it with another Wind Blade.
A flash of green light.
The massive snake head rolled aside, its severed edge smooth as a mirror.
"That should settle it."
Ye Xuan walked over and kicked the dead snake's head.
It didn't move.
It was well and truly dead.
He didn't immediately bother with the bright red Vermillion Fruit. Instead, he pulled a short knife from his robes.
"Shhk."
He skillfully slit open the snake's belly.
A dark green gallbladder appeared, about the size of a fist, giving off a strange, sweet fragrance.
A good find.
Ye Xuan took out a jade bottle and carefully put the gallbladder inside, then sealed the bottle.
If he took this thing to an ordinary pharmacy, it would be worth ten thousand taels of gold.
Even in the Cultivation World, it was a rare ingredient used to detoxify poison.
Next, he skinned it and removed its tendons.
His movements were smooth and practiced, as if he'd done this a thousand times.
In less than half an incense stick's time,
the Ironback Black Python that had once ruled a ten-li radius had become a neatly arranged pile of materials.
Ye Xuan stuffed everything into the Storage Bag at his waist.
Only after he was done
did Ye Xuan turn toward the Vermillion Fruit.
The bright red fruit was only the size of a thumb, its surface shimmering with a faint rosy glow.
A Hundred-Year Vermillion Fruit.
It wasn't some peerless Divine Medicine, but for Ye Xuan right now, it was the best supplementary ingredient for pill refining.
"I'll take it."
Ye Xuan plucked it without hesitation, roots and all.
Half an hour later,
inside a secluded mountain cave,
Ye Xuan cleared the weeds from the entrance, sprinkled some insect-repellent powder, and casually set up a simple warning trap.
"Clang."
With a dull thud,
Ye Xuan produced a half-man-high Bronze Cauldron.
It was crudely made, with dents all over its surface. Its three legs were uneven, and he had to prop it up with a stone to make it sit level.
This was the pill furnace he'd picked up in Heyang City.
It had cost him five taels of silver.
If those Qingyun Sect disciples who specialized in refining medicine saw it, they'd probably laugh their teeth out.
How could this be a pill furnace?
It was clearly just an oversized incense burner!
Even an ordinary pharmacy's medicine pot was a little better than this.
But Ye Xuan didn't care.
"To do a good job, one must first sharpen one's tools?"
That was for mediocre people.
A true grandmaster could harm others with a leaf or a flower, and even refine divine pills in a broken pot.
Of course,
the main reason was that Ye Xuan had no money right now and no way to get his hands on a good pill furnace.
"I'll make do with this."
Ye Xuan sat cross-legged, his expression turning serious.
The contents of Low-tier Alchemy Mastery appeared in his mind.
It was not merely a skill, but also contained countless pill recipes.
Among them was a pill called the Foundation Replenishing Pill, used to strengthen one's foundations and improve one's cultivation.
Soon,
Ye Xuan first took out the Vermillion Fruit from his Storage Bag.
Then he took out several supplementary ingredients he'd casually gathered in the forest earlier: Purple Leaf Orchid, Earth Root Grass, and Hundred-Year He Shou Wu.
These Medicinal Ingredients were rare treasures in the mortal world, but nothing special in the eyes of cultivators.
Only the Vermillion Fruit was essential.
"Start the fire."
Ye Xuan formed a hand seal with his right hand.
A ball of crimson flame rose in his palm.
This wasn't ordinary fire, but true flame produced by the spiritual power of his Tai Chi Xuan Qing Dao.
He carefully controlled the heat and sent the flame beneath the Bronze Cauldron.
The shoddy furnace heated unevenly.
If the fire was too strong, the furnace might explode.
If it was too weak, the medicinal power wouldn't dissolve.
This required extremely precise control.
Ye Xuan's divine sense wrapped around the cauldron like tentacles, constantly sensing the temperature changes along every inch of its copper walls.
"Fizz..."
He added the supplementary ingredients first.
Under the blazing heat,
the Medicinal Ingredients quickly withered and turned black before finally becoming colorful pools of liquid suspended inside the furnace.
Ye Xuan flicked his fingers one after another.
His spiritual power became invisible threads that picked out the impurities in the medicinal liquids, bit by bit.
Black smoke rose.
A pungent smell filled the cave.
It came from the toxins and waste in the ingredients.
This step was crucial.
If the impurities weren't removed completely, the result would be a poison pill.
Eating it wouldn't improve one's cultivation; at worst, it would leave you running to the privy for three days and nights.
When the medicinal liquid turned clear and began to give off a pure fragrance,
Ye Xuan's gaze sharpened.
"Now."
He grabbed the Vermillion Fruit and tossed it straight in.
"Boom!"
As soon as the Vermillion Fruit entered the furnace, the previously calm medicinal liquid began to boil.
Violent spiritual energy rampaged inside, making the Bronze Cauldron rattle as if it would fall apart at any moment.
This furnace really was too shoddy!
It couldn't even withstand such a tiny surge of spiritual energy.
Ye Xuan remained expressionless and slammed his left hand onto the lid.
His Tai Chi Vital Energy surged out of him, forcibly suppressing the restless furnace.
"Condense!"
Ye Xuan shouted, his voice low.
His spiritual power poured in like a tide, forcing the Vermillion Fruit's violent medicinal power together with the gentler medicinal liquid from the supplementary ingredients.
It was a tug-of-war.
Fine beads of sweat appeared on Ye Xuan's forehead.
Not because he was tired,
but because it pained him to spend so much spiritual power.
He was using up more spiritual power protecting this lousy furnace than refining the pill itself!
It felt like patching a sack with the finest silk. No matter how he looked at it, it was a terrible bargain.
Time passed second by second.
The vibrations inside the cauldron gradually subsided.
The pungent, scorched smell disappeared.
In its place came a refreshing fragrance.
Just one sniff made his pores open and all his fatigue vanish.
It worked.
Ye Xuan put out the flame and let out a long breath.
He didn't lift the lid right away. Instead, he waited quietly for a moment, letting the pill energy inside settle.
"Open."
A wave of his palm sent the lid flying.
Five pills, each about the size of a longan, lay quietly at the bottom of the furnace.
They were perfectly round, pale gold, and faintly etched with three flowing cloud patterns.
Foundation Replenishing Pills.
And top-grade ones at that!
If he'd used a good pill furnace,
the medicinal power of the Vermillion Fruit would have been enough to produce at least ten pills.
Now he'd only made five, losing half in the process.
"What a waste..."
Ye Xuan shook his head, his heart aching a little.
But that feeling soon gave way to anticipation.
He picked up a pill and examined it closely.
The pill was smooth and lustrous as jade, and contained an astonishing surge of spiritual energy.
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