When Chen Fan stepped out of the stone chamber, he happened to see the five women gathered outside the door to Bald Bird's alchemy room, waiting quietly.
Xiao Hei had somehow been called out as well. He hovered in midair, waiting in silence.
As for Little Medicine Boy, he was still cultivating in seclusion within his own stone chamber.
Over the past year, with Chen Jingjing and Qin Xian'er teaching him Dao cultivation, coupled with the formidable art of talismans, Little Medicine Boy's cultivation and strength had grown by the day. His aptitude had astonished everyone—it was even higher than Chen Jingjing's and Zhang Rumeng's. He had leaped from the Qi Refining Second Layer to the Qi Refining Ninth Layer in one stroke, only a single step away from Foundation Establishment.
Yet Qin Xian'er and Chen Jingjing had both stopped him, telling him to steady his mind and spend another year consolidating himself before considering Foundation Establishment.
Little Medicine Boy naturally obeyed without question. He was also diligent, knowing that he had no real combat experience and could only make up for the gap in strength by working hard to reinforce his foundations.
Thus, although today was the day the Youth-Preserving Pills emerged from the furnace, it had nothing to do with him. He remained in seclusion, cultivating.
Chen Fan quietly calculated the time. It should be about time for the pills to emerge. There had been no movement at all during these three months, so Bald Bird must have proceeded smoothly. Yet the final pill-condensation stage was the crucial point; many alchemists fell at precisely this final step.
Boom—!
Just as Chen Fan thought this, a tremendous crash suddenly rang out from within the stone chamber. Invisible airwaves rippled outward, passing through the formation Bald Bird had set up