Pill Complete

The icy, sinister aura stabbed Chen Lin between the brows like needles.

Only then did he see clearly that the dark light was actually a delicate Flying Sword, pitch-black all over and glinting with a soul-chilling radiance.

"I told you not to try leaving the courtyard. Otherwise, unpleasant things will happen. This is the first time. Next time, there will be a hole in your head too!"

Yu Yuehai's icy voice rang out. The Flying Sword trembled as it turned into a streak of dark light, vanishing from before Chen Lin's eyes.

Such razor-sharp methods, such a high-grade Magic Artifact, filled Chen Lin with a profound sense of helplessness.

If the other man wanted his life, he could take it anytime, anywhere.

"I only wanted to bury her. I can't exactly leave her rotting here forever, can I?"

Chen Lin turned around, intending to press his case once more.

Yet the other party merely snorted coldly, walked up to him, and seized the corpse.

A faint gleam flashed from the Storage Bag at his waist, and the corpse disappeared.

Then Yu Yuehai raised a hand, sending several water arrows shooting toward the window where the sallow-faced female cultivator had died, cleaning away the bloodstains there.

"You don't have much time left. I advise you to obediently refine the pills. Don't force me to use extraordinary measures!"

Yu Yuehai threatened Chen Lin again, then walked toward his own room with his hands clasped behind his back.

Several times, Chen Lin wanted to launch a sneak attack from behind, but restrained himself each time.

He no longer had any Magic Artifacts. Even if he hurled every Fireball Talisman on his person, he still could not do anything to the other man.

After his expression shifted for a while, he could only lower his head in silence and return to his room.

When Yu Yuehai reached his doorway, he sneered again, took out a chair, and sat down at the entrance.

The Water Moon Pavilion woman also came out and stood behind Yu Yuehai.

Neither spoke, nor did either show the slightest discomfort, as though what they had just killed was not a person, but an insect.

Through the window, Chen Lin saw the Water Moon Pavilion woman.

He was not surprised.

He had long guessed that the two were in league with each other.

The things he had thought were concealed had actually all been following the path they had designed for him. Thinking about it now was truly laughable.

Drawing back his gaze, he sat in a daze for a while before returning to the pill furnace to continue refining pills.

However, he did not devote all his attention to pill refinement. As he refined pills, he also sorted through the materials for making Thunderclap Beads.

After one batch of pills failed, he took the opportunity to begin refining a Thunderclap Bead.

The method for refining Thunderclap Beads was not particularly complicated to begin with. The main difficulty was grasping the balance between several materials, but Chen Lin did not consider that at all. He simply brute-forced it by repeatedly trying.

In less than a quarter of an hour, he had refined an egg-sized Black Sphere.

Judging by the color of the Array Patterns on it, it had already reached the level of perfection recorded in the manuals.

There were no conditions for testing it at the moment, but since it was something produced by his own talent, there was surely no problem.

Carefully putting away the Thunderclap Bead, he resumed refining pills.

Still sorting materials while refining pills, he used the gap after finishing the second batch to refine another Thunderclap Bead.

Midnight.

A bell rang out.

Though the bell was faint, it certainly could not have escaped Yu Yuehai's senses.

Chen Lin rose and went to the window. He looked up at the sky, then toward Yu Yuehai's residence.

There was nothing unusual in the sky, and Yu Yuehai was still sitting there.

The Water Moon Pavilion woman, however, was gone. He did not know whether she had returned to rest or had already left for Water Moon Pavilion in the Inner City.

Yu Yuehai noticed Chen Lin watching him, but merely gave a cold sneer without making any other move.

Chen Lin dearly wanted to ask how the other man could see those red threads, how he could squint and sneer coldly without being controlled by them, and what exactly the method he had mentioned for escaping this city was.

But he knew the other man would not tell him.

At least, not before the Blood Demon Pill was successfully refined.

There was also a way to resolve the side effects of the Enlightenment Pill. He did not know whether he could obtain that either.

The other man had not lied. Just before the bell sounded, Chen Lin's head had ached again, even though he had not used an Enlightenment Pill.

That proved the other man was telling the truth. Even if he never used that improved Enlightenment Pill again, the headache aftereffects would remain. He just did not know whether they would grow worse or gradually ease.

After standing there for a while, he gathered up his chaotic thoughts and lay down fully clothed.

A dead pig was not afraid of boiling water anyway. Besides, someone was keeping watch for him, so he slept soundly through the night.

He did not get up until quite late the next day.

After washing up, he began eating. Once he had finished, he truly could not find anything else to do, so he continued refining pills.

Even moving as slowly as he did, he still completed two batches that morning.

He had already refined seven batches. With three more, the Blood Demon Pill would be complete.

He checked the materials. There was still plenty left—enough for another dozen or so batches without any problem.

He rose to his feet and looked out the window.

The entire courtyard was silent. Yu Yuehai was gone, replaced by the Water Moon Pavilion woman sitting guard at the entrance.

This woman's cultivation was also very high, so Chen Lin did not act rashly.

Although Yu Yuehai allowed him to refine pills alone, the surveillance was exceedingly tight. Two great Late Qi Refining experts keeping watch over a little mid-stage Qi Refining fry like him was truly giving him plenty of face.

He could neither resist nor escape. Nor had the Five Great Families' managers he had once hoped would come by to collect rent or inspect the situation appeared. Chen Lin knew he had no choice left.

He could only refine the Blood Demon Pill.

More than half of the three-day deadline had already passed. If he failed to produce it, Yu Yuehai would, under the weight of his immense disappointment, kill him without question—he might even torture him to death.

After all, the Blood Demon Pill concerned whether the other party could leave this strange land.

In truth, if the other party had shown even a little integrity and kindness, Chen Lin would have been more than willing to cooperate. He wanted to leave this place as well.

But the man was ruthless and savage, treating human lives as less than blades of grass. Chen Lin had no way to trust him.

After delaying for a while longer, with no changes still appearing, Chen Lin put away his thoughts and began refining pills.

This time, he did not drag things out. Instead, he pressed on in one burst and refined three batches in succession.

A dark-red medicinal pill, carrying a dense stench of blood, appeared in his hand.

He carefully examined the Blood Demon Pill but found nothing unusual about it. Yet this single pill could give birth to a Foundation Establishment expert.

Even a short-lived Foundation Establishment was still Foundation Establishment.

He glanced out the window. The Water Moon Pavilion woman was still standing guard.

She did not seem to understand pill refinement, and had not sensed that the Energy Fluctuation from this successful batch differed from the previous ones.

Chen Lin's eyes flickered. He took out a Medicine Bottle and swiftly placed the pill inside.

He did not dare hide it on his person. Instead, he placed it in the hidden compartment in the corner where important items were stored.

Afterward, he calmed his tense emotions and continued refining pills.

This time, he refined them normally, with no intention of delaying at all. If anything, he sped up.

Naturally, he continued refining Thunderclap Beads as well.

But before long, the materials for the Thunderclap Beads were exhausted. He had refined ten in total.

That was quite a number.

If their power truly matched what was recorded in the ancient texts, then activating all ten at once would likely be more than even a Late Qi Refining cultivator could withstand.

Unfortunately, these things were not small. Throwing two or three at a time was already his limit; to launch all ten at once, he would need two more hands.

Moreover, he could not guarantee that all ten would explode at the same instant and at the same point. He did not possess that level of precision.

Thus, their ability to threaten a Late Qi Refining cultivator was only theoretically possible. As for using these things to blow Yu Yuehai to death, the hope was slim—especially since there were two of them.