Lin Chi

After Yan Chihuo left, the disciple wrapped up the Snake Pearl and eighty Jade Crystals and went to a stone room. "Senior Brother Lin, please open the door."

With a creak, the cave door opened. The disciple stepped inside and found two men in white. One had hair like a bird's nest and bloodshot eyes. He was none other than Senior Brother Lin.

The disciple was used to this sight. "Senior Brother Lin, there's a deal to make some Heavenly Heart Pills. Will you take it?"

Senior Brother Lin was irritated to the extreme. "I'm an alchemist, not a hired hand. You bring me a deal for ordinary Heavenly Heart Pills? Besides, Junior Brother Chen, you know how to make them too. You take this job."

The Pill Pavilion disciple looked awkward. The other Junior Brother Chen shook his head. "Senior Brother Lin, you're asking too much of me. I may know a thing or two about alchemy, but the success rate for Heavenly Heart Pills is terribly low. If I ruin them, won't that tarnish our Pill Pavilion's reputation?"

As he spoke, he picked up the Snake Pearl and Jade Crystals. The disciple grimaced. Heavenly Heart Pills were truly difficult to make, and ordinary alchemists didn't dare take on the job. Only a handful, including Senior Brother Lin, had the necessary skill. But Senior Brother Lin was an alchemy fanatic. He had long since learned to make Heavenly Heart Pills and was now studying how to make pills that only Qi Gathering Stage alchemists could produce. He thought of nothing but alchemy, barely ate, and stayed up all night, which was why he looked like this.

That was also why he had long since lost interest in making Heavenly Heart Pills. The other alchemists capable of making them were either away from the sect or in seclusion, so the Pill Pavilion disciple had come to Senior Brother Lin.

If the Chen alchemist took the job, the disciple had no grounds to object. But then, how would he explain things to Yan Chihuo seven days later?

The Chen alchemist picked up the Snake Pearl first. "This is quite fine quality. Who wants the pills made?"

"A disciple of Elder Ping, named Yan Chihuo," the disciple replied.

At that, the Chen alchemist's hand paused as he turned the Snake Pearl over. Then he said, "You can go. I'll persuade Senior Brother Lin to make them. With my skills, I'd never dare take this job myself."

The disciple finally relaxed a little and left the room.

Once he was gone, the Chen alchemist said, "Lin Chi, you have to make these Heavenly Heart Pills."

Lin Chi looked astonished. "Why?"

"Don't ask why. Have you forgotten our agreement? We provide the ingredients and you make the pills, but you have to follow our instructions. All these years, we haven't asked anything unreasonable of you, have we?"

Lin Chi snorted but didn't argue. The Chen alchemist continued, "Don't worry. Making these pills will still improve your alchemy. I'm not asking you to make ordinary Heavenly Heart Pills. You need to add this bottle of something to the mix."

As he spoke, he took a jade bottle from his robes. Lin Chi accepted it and removed the stopper. He took one look inside, and his expression changed. "Bone-Corroding Spirit Liquid. Once it's added, the Heavenly Heart Pills will look completely different. No one will be fooled."

"I know. Tomorrow, I'll give you a Heart-Lock Orchid. Add that herb as well, and the pills will look and smell exactly the same as usual."

"But if Yan Chihuo takes one, he'll be poisoned to death. People will surely find out."

"Just insist that you had nothing to do with it. The Cloud Soaring Sect has no other evidence, so they won't punish you."

"Why are you so intent on killing this Yan Chihuo?"

The Chen alchemist's face darkened. "That's none of your concern. All that matters is that Yan Chihuo must die! Otherwise, once he learns about the relationship between you and me, neither of us will live to see another day!" With that, he pushed open the door and left.

Seven days later, Yan Chihuo arrived at the Pill Pavilion. Seeing him, the disciple said, "Senior Brother Yan, you're here to collect your Heavenly Heart Pills, right?" He took out a jade bottle.

Yan Chihuo took it, pulled out the stopper, and tipped it into his palm. Three emerald-green pills rolled out. He frowned. "Why are there only three?"

The Pill Pavilion disciple hurriedly explained, "These were personally made by Senior Brother Lin Chi, our sect's foremost alchemist among the Body Tempering Stage cultivators. There may not be many, but they're far more potent than the pills made by the other senior brothers. Look."

He took out another jade bottle and poured out a green pill. It was also a Heavenly Heart Pill. The difference was obvious at once: its medicinal potency didn't even come close to half that of the pill in Yan Chihuo's hand. The pills Yan Chihuo held also carried a fierce, explosive quality.

Pills were generally supposed to have mild, balanced medicinal properties. But pills like the Heavenly Heart Pill, which helped one break through a realm, needed a fierce, explosive quality. Achieving that required not only potent ingredients but also the right alchemical technique, which came down to the alchemist's skill. Yan Chihuo was quite satisfied with the three pills. He thanked the disciple, left the Pill Pavilion, and headed straight for the rear mountain.

He followed a narrow path to a cave. Its entrance consisted of two doors, each more than three zhang tall and one zhang wide. This was Water-Fire Cave, a sacred cultivation site reserved for Cloud Soaring Sect cultivators seeking a breakthrough and those who had rendered great service to the sect. Yan Chihuo had learned of it only through Ping Qi's guidance.

As he reached the cave entrance, a voice called out, "Stop. Who are you?"

He halted and answered respectfully, "I am Yan Chihuo, a disciple of Elder Ping. I've come here to cultivate and hope to break through to the Body Forging Late Stage."

"Elder Ping? You mean Ping Qi?" the voice asked.

"That's right. He is my master," Yan Chihuo replied.

The cave doors opened, and the voice said, "Come in."

Yan Chihuo stepped inside and saw a yellow-faced man seated at a table. His expression changed when he sensed the man's cultivation. The yellow-faced man had reached the Qi Gathering Stage!

"If you're Ping Qi's disciple, do you know who I am?" the yellow-faced man asked.

Yan Chihuo immediately understood. This man was the Spirit Ape, one of the Three Mountain-Protecting Spirits, in human form. He bowed. "You must be Uncle-Master Yuan. My master asked me to give you his regards."

The yellow-faced man nodded. "I see you practice the Spirit Jade Vajra Art too. Let me warn you: although the cultivation power it produces is deeper and purer than that of other arts, it has one flaw. Breaking through is harder than with other arts, so without some kind of spirit pill, your chances of success aren't high."