Unsolvable Situation

Chen Lin sighed inwardly—just as he had suspected, the other party had noticed him from the very beginning.

To end up at this point, he had still been careless in his actions.

But now he had calmed down as well, and said, "I can try to help you refine it, but you need to swear a Heart Demon Oath. As long as I produce the pill, you cannot harm me, and you must protect me and take me away from here!"

Seeing that the other party did not answer immediately, he immediately stiffened his neck and said forcefully, "If you don't agree, then go ahead and make your move. Either way, dying early or late is still dying—it doesn't matter if it's a day or two."

The Old Man was silent for a moment, then suddenly broke into a smile. "Fine, then let it be as you wish. I hope you can give me a surprise."

With that, the Old Man pointed to the sky and swore the Heart Demon Oath.

Chen Lin finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Of course, even so, he wouldn't truly entrust his safety to the other party. As long as he found an opportunity, he would still escape. Everything now was just a delaying tactic.

"Time is short. I've already prepared enough materials. Fellow Daoist Chen, please begin!"

The Old Man patted his Storage Bag, and a pile of alchemy materials appeared on the table.

Chen Lin glanced at them—there was enough for at least ten or twenty attempts.

It seemed the other party was telling the truth; he had indeed made ample preparations to obtain the Blood Demon Pill.

His eyes flickered slightly, and he suddenly spoke, "Fellow Daoist Yu, as an alchemist, you should know that alchemy requires absolute focus. So I need to refine it in my own room. Otherwise, if I fail, don't blame me."

The Ten Times Certain Hit ability made the forced success of item creation too obvious—he needed to conceal it as much as possible.

Otherwise, it would be hard to explain.

Unexpectedly, the other party agreed very readily.

"Fine, then please do as you wish, Fellow Daoist Chen. I only want the Blood Demon Pill. How you refine it is none of my concern."

With that, he took out a bag, packed all the materials along with the Alchemy Furnace, and made a gesture for Chen Lin to proceed.

Chen Lin nodded, silently picked up the bag, and walked toward the door.

Suddenly, he felt a ripple of magical energy behind him, and a slight sting on his shoulder, as if something had bitten him.

He was about to demand an explanation when the other party's voice rang out.

"An honest man does no underhanded deeds. I have left a Dao Mark on you, Fellow Daoist. It will not harm you. Once you finish refining the pill, I will remove it. However, during this time, do not leave this courtyard, or unpleasantness may arise."

Chen Lin's expression shifted, but he said nothing and walked out silently.

Back in his own room, he threw the bag to the ground with a scowl, his hands clenched so tightly that veins bulged.

But slowly, he calmed down.

Raging in vain was meaningless. To break the deadlock, he had to endure.

Now, what troubled him was whether to actually refine the Blood Demon Pill.

If the other party used the Blood Demon Pill to cultivate the Blood Demon Art, with its sinister nature, the chance of successfully reaching Foundation Establishment was extremely high.

Once the other party became a Foundation Establishment expert, his hope of escaping would be even slimmer.

Moreover, to keep the secret of cultivating the Blood Demon Art, the other party might very well kill him to silence him.

The Heart Demon Oath did have binding power, but he couldn't stake his life on a mere vow.

But if he failed to produce the pill, the other party, in great disappointment, would certainly kill him out of spite.

After thinking for a long time without coming up with a good plan, Chen Lin decided to take it slow and refine the pill gradually, stalling for a few more days.

The Blood Demon Pill required many ingredients, but the main component was only one: the Essence Blood of a Demonic Beast.

As for Demonic Beasts, neither the original owner nor Chen Lin himself had ever seen one—only heard of them.

According to the pill formula, the Essence Blood needed had to come from a second-tier or higher Demonic Beast, and it had to be extracted from a living specimen.

There was no specific requirement for the type, but Essence Blood from different kinds of Demonic Beasts would produce pills with slightly different effects after use.

As he understood it, this pill was essentially an alternative to the Foundation Establishment Pill. After consumption and refinement through the Blood Demon Art, it actually altered one's very nature—it was hard to say whether the user could still be considered human.

It was precisely because of this that it ignored bottlenecks and allowed rapid cultivation.

Of course, the cost was also great—it essentially traded lifespan for cultivation.

As for other drawbacks, that was beyond his knowledge. His understanding came entirely from the original owner's memories, and the original owner didn't know much either.

A night passed.

Chen Lin did not refine the pill. He simply processed the materials briefly and then rested.

The next morning, he first washed up, then cooked a pot of Spirit Rice Porridge. Only after eating and drinking his fill did he set up the Alchemy Furnace, add Fuel, and prepare to start the fire.

Several times during this, he peered through the window crack at Yu Yuehai's room. Each time, he saw the man standing at his door, staring grimly in his direction.

It seemed he hadn't slept all night.

This was also why he dared not delay any further.

Before lighting the fire, Chen Lin carefully inspected the Alchemy Furnace.

It was a proper furnace, inscribed with runic arrays. Not only did it maintain a stable temperature, allowing for the refinement of high-grade pills, but it also provided a boost to the success rate.

Among Magic Artifacts, Alchemy Furnaces were the most expensive.

Alchemy furnaces also had grades, but even the cheapest Low-grade Alchemy Furnace was likely worth several hundred Mid-grade Spirit Stones.

In a Foundation Establishment clan, it could be passed down as a family heirloom.

Tracing his fingers over the Array Patterns carved into the furnace, Chen Lin's heart burned with desire—if he had a furnace like this, he could attempt to refine higher-grade pills.

Suppressing the greed in his heart, he went to the window again and glanced outside. Yu Yuehai still stood there with a gloomy face, cold light flickering in his eyes.

He took a breath, turned back, and sat down before the furnace, lighting the fuel.

The Blood Demon Pill required many ingredients, and the steps were tedious. On top of that, it was his first time using a real Alchemy Furnace. He failed to control his spiritual power input, and just as he started the furnace, a bang rang out—all the materials he had put in turned to nothing.

Chen Lin winced but didn't mind. Instead, he calmly got up to clean the furnace.

After all, dragging things out was the plan.

Outside.

Yu Yuehai stood at his own door. Hearing the noise from Chen Lin's room, the corner of his mouth twitched involuntarily.

"Senior Brother, are you sure this person can refine the Blood Demon Pill?"

A woman's voice sounded from inside the room, and then a figure stepped out—it was the female boss of Water Moon Pavilion.

"I'm not sure, but there's no other choice. You know the characteristics of the Blood Demon Pill—the success rate is too low, entirely dependent on luck. I've refined it dozens of times myself and never succeeded once. I only have a little over twenty portions of Demonic Beast Essence Blood left from before. I know I have no hope, so I have to let him try."

Thinking of all the materials he had wasted, even he—a man of considerable wealth—couldn't help but frown.

"But from the looks of it, he hasn't even used a Magic Artifact-grade Alchemy Furnace before. He ruined a batch of materials before the furnace's formation was even activated. Did this person really refine your improved First Origin Pill and Enlightenment Pill?"

The woman's face was thick with suspicion.