Pill Complete, Gu Stirs

Inside the secret chamber, earthfire surged.

Elder Hua focused completely, controlling the firepower of the Earthfire Array. Before him, an ancient bronze pill furnace emitted a deep hum.

The furnace body glowed crimson, heat waves rolling off it. From the gap in its lid, faint seven-colored radiance and a refreshing medicinal fragrance spilled out.

"The Thousand-Year Snow Jade Lotus is extremely cold by nature. Its outer layer of ice essence must first be melted away with a gentle flame, then its essence slowly extracted with the earthcore yang fire... The Earthcore Fire Ganoderma is fierce in nature; it must be added just as the snow lotus essence is nearly formed but not yet complete, using the harmony of yin and yang to balance them..."

Elder Hua muttered under his breath, his hand seals constantly shifting, fine beads of sweat already appearing on his forehead.

Even with the exquisite pill formula Lu Chen had provided, refining an earth-tier pill was by no means easy. It posed an immense test to one's mind, true essence, and control of fire.

In the quiet room next door, Lu Chen sat silently by Yun Qingyue's bedside, his eyes slightly closed. Yet his divine sense was like the most precise probe, constantly sensing every subtle change within her body while maintaining a delicate connection with Elder Hua in the pill room, ready to take over at the most appropriate moment.

Time slowly passed amid the oppressive silence and the humming of the pill furnace.

About three hours later.

"Hum—!"

The pill furnace suddenly shuddered. Its lid automatically lifted open a crack, and a stream of milky-white pill qi flecked with pale golden motes shot into the air. It gathered into a small patch of auspicious clouds beneath the pill room's ceiling, and its exotic fragrance assailed