Alchemy

Xiao Yu sat cross-legged in the alchemy room, firelight flickering beneath the furnace.

Hua Lian stood beside him, stacking spiritwood into a fire pile and lighting it with a smile.

Bai Yue, inside the judgment chamber, heard the crackling flames and said softly, "Ordinary alchemists temper and refine pills with flames mostly catalyzed by spiritual power."

"Right now, none of the three of us can draw qi and turn it into fire. We can only use spiritwood infused with spiritual power to make a fire, manually grind those spirit herbs into the proper form, then put spirit stone powder into the pill furnace and refine it together with the medicinal ingredients!"

"It is somewhat putting the cart before the horse. This refining method greatly damages the value of the spirit herbs, but to deal with tomorrow's inspection, we can only do this."

Following her instructions, Xiao Yu took out some spirit herbs and medicinal materials that were several decades old.

Then he brought over the ingredients he had ground during the day and pondered, "Hmm... it seems Elder Wu knows a new supervisor is coming tomorrow, which is why he had me grind medicinal ingredients."

Hua Lian controlled the heat from the side throughout the entire process.

Still smiling, she helped Xiao Yu place the medicinal ingredients into the pill furnace one after another.

The flames flowed, and the furnace fire burned ever fiercer.

The medicinal ingredients inside the furnace gradually melted, turning into a cauldron of pill liquid.

Bai Yue closed her eyes and focused. "The next part requires manual handling. It is somewhat like the process mortals use to make pills. Let my disciple demonstrate it for you!"

Upon hearing that, Xiao Yu called out, "Miss Hua Lian, your master wants you to demonstrate the next steps!"

Hua Lian immediately got to work, taking out several pieces of spiritwood to adjust the size of the flames.

Then, using a metal pill ladle to guide the pill liquid, she actually condensed the pills into shape.

A faint glow even emanated from the pills.

Xiao Yu stroked his chin in amazement.

One had to know that none of the three of them could use spiritual power now. These two truly deserved to be experts of the Jade Maiden Sect.

They could refine pills even without spiritual power.

Yet the more brilliant their methods were, the warier Xiao Yu became.

From now on, he would keep the two of them from speaking as much as possible. Bai Yue could forget about being alone with the other woman again.

If the two of them took advantage of his inattention to refine pills that could increase cultivation, or poison or something of the sort—

—and then harmed him, he would have no room to fight back.

If they wanted to play petty tricks, then they could not blame him for abandoning martial virtue!

Just then, Xiao Yu suddenly saw Hua Lian pick up a spirit herb he did not recognize. She was about to toss it into the pill furnace.

Xiao Yu hurriedly stood up and snatched the two stalks of spirit herbs from her.

Hua Lian raised her brows and asked softly, "What is it, benefactor... Is there a problem?"

Looking at the two spirit herbs, Xiao Yu asked doubtfully, "Aren't we refining Blood-Staunching Pills? What are these two?"

Hua Lian blurted out, "They are Blood-Coagulating Herbs. Paired with the Bleeding-Stopping Herb used to refine Blood-Staunching Pills, the effect will be better!"

[Detected that the wicked woman Bai Yue intends to refine poison pills to harm the host. Evil value has risen to 98%!]

[Detected that the wicked woman Hua Lian intends to refine poison pills to harm the host. Evil value has risen to 50%!]

Xiao Yu nodded as though he understood, then looked toward the ingredients behind him. "Um, I want to try refining pills myself now. Please trouble yourself to grind some ingredients for me! Let's try to finish refining all the pills before nightfall!"

"I have something important to discuss with you tonight!"

Hua Lian's expression tightened, her right fist clenching the edge of her skirt.

After glancing at the pill furnace, she forced a smile. "All right. If you need any help, feel free to find me anytime!"

With that, she went to the back to grind ingredients.

Xiao Yu watched that woman coldly, then went to a corner and took out Elder Wu's Alchemy Art.

After flipping through several pages, he found the herb Hua Lian had just picked up.

Poisonblood Herb...

It could be combined with Bleeding-Stopping Herb to refine Poisonblood Pills.

Those who consumed it would suffer a poison outbreak once every day at noon. If they did not take the antidote within two hours, their poisoned blood would burst through their bodies, killing them...

When Xiao Yu saw this, the killing intent in his eyes deepened.

If he had truly eaten a Poisonblood Pill, he would be at their mercy.

He did not know how to make an antidote.

Then he could only apologize...

Xiao Yu hated wasting food most of all!

Especially food that looked pretty good!

Bai Yue had listened for a long time in the judgment chamber without hearing Xiao Yu tend the fire. She began to worry. "Um... what is wrong with you?"

Holding the pill Hua Lian had just refined, Xiao Yu pretended to be deep in thought. "Hmm, I'm looking at this pill's flaws. You two are really incredible. You can even refine first-grade pills with minor flaws using mortal pill-refining methods!"

"As expected of the Jade Maiden Sect, famed throughout the world for its Alchemy Art! I'll give it a try too!"

As he spoke, Xiao Yu imitated Hua Lian and started a fire in the same fashion.

Bai Yue exhaled, her face melancholy.

Remembering what her disciple had told her earlier, countless emotions churned in her heart.

At first, she had not wanted to do anything to Xiao Yu. After all, he truly had saved her.

But her disciple had said...

"Master, don't let him fool you. You are the number one beauty among the righteous path's female cultivators. So many men rack their brains to obtain you! Wasn't he fleeing for his life then as well? He knew he could not escape, so he risked his life to save you!"

"Men are all liars! The men of the righteous path are like this, so there is even less need to ask about those of the demonic path!"

"He certainly has beautiful dreams. It is not enough that he obtained the primordial yin of both master and disciple—he even plans to have us teach him cultivation and pill refinement!?"

Bai Yue looked conflicted. "But we are not his match right now... What if we anger him..."

"Master! Obtaining our primordial yin was already a blessing earned through the accumulation of virtue over eight lifetimes for him. Even if we kill him, he will have gotten his money's worth!!!"

"Master, you are the righteous path's holy maiden! If this bastard tells others about our involvement with him, we will likely be mocked by the entire world. If Master does not want to act, then this disciple will! Master can cover for me later!"

"As long as he falls to our poison, he can only be at our mercy!"

Bai Yue had been unable to make up her mind. "But where could we even go..."

"We must find a way to leave. Master simply has not met the right man. Why don't we go to the Jade Maiden Sect's branch? Didn't Junior Sister Ye Zhirou go there? If we find the elder at our branch, won't everything be fine?"

"I know Master has conflicts with the branch elder, but isn't this an extraordinary time?"

"The most important thing now is to control this demonic thief first and make him take us away! Once we reach a safe place, we can kill him. Who would know that we had been involved with the demonic path?"

"Righteousness and evil cannot coexist. So what if he saved us? The demonic path is the demonic path—he must die!!!"

Bai Yue remained in the judgment chamber, recalling what her disciple had said earlier.

Her disciple was right.

The other righteous sects could not be trusted, but the Jade Maiden Sect had a branch.

As long as she went to Donghua Province and found her estranged second junior sister, she could recover to the Golden Core Stage within fifty years.

Then she could rise again from the ashes and avenge her dead disciples!

She had merely lost her primordial yin. Among cultivators of the same generation, how many could truly preserve their chastity?

If one wished to seek immortality and pursue the Dao, affairs between men and women had to be cast behind one's mind.

If she did not destroy the Hehuan Sect, she would surely develop a heart demon.

If she did not avenge her disciples, her thoughts would remain blocked and unresolved!

Her cultivation in this life would end there as well.

Just as Bai Yue was thinking, a wisp of black smoke suddenly rose from the pill furnace.

With a BOOM—!!!

Bai Yue was instantly startled, and Hua Lian, who was grinding ingredients, froze as well.

Seeing Xiao Yu, soot-faced and covered in ash from the explosion, Hua Lian could not hold it in any longer and sneered coldly.

Xiao Yu's entire face was black. Looking at the three pills in his hand, his heart ached terribly.

Hua Lian had refined ten pills with minor flaws in a single batch, while he had spent half the day refining only three?

And their quality was... flawed-grade.

This was purely due to insufficient skill.

Bai Yue asked worriedly, "What happened? Did you fail?"

Xiao Yu shook his head. "Mm... I suppose so. There is only one flawed-grade Blood-Staunching Pill. I'll try again!"

Bai Yue said gently, "Mortal pill-refining methods mainly depend on controlling the heat. Refining even one pill on your first attempt already counts as success; it shows that you have talent for alchemy! Do not be impatient!"

"Bleeding-Stopping Herbs of different ages require different heat levels. Without divine sense, you can only judge with your eyes, and you can only control the temperature by touch!"

"For fifty-year Bleeding-Stopping Herbs, you need to use less spiritwood for the fire, and the spirit stone powder needs to be diluted as well!"

"Do not be impatient..."

Xiao Yu nodded and continued refining.

This time, he did not imitate Hua Lian. Instead, he secretly picked up the Alchemy Art and read it.

Hua Lian's technique was far too advanced, not something a novice like him could control.

After reading it twice, Xiao Yu tried again.

This time, his success rate increased greatly!

Out of five Blood-Staunching Pills, four were flawed-grade, while one had minor flaws.

Again!

He continued refining just like that.

Hua Lian also brought over freshly ground ingredients from time to time.

Before they knew it, night had arrived.

Looking at the pill bottles before him, Xiao Yu put them into his storage pouch with a satisfied expression.

Bai Yue was somewhat shocked as well. She had never expected Xiao Yu's talent in alchemy to be so high.

She was a third-grade alchemist; refining first-grade pills without spiritual power was no challenge for her.

But Xiao Yu had never studied alchemy before. He had not even reached the Qi Refining Stage.

How could his control over medicinal properties and heat be so sharp?

Could this person be an alchemical prodigy?

When Hua Lian saw Xiao Yu finish, she immediately stepped forward with a delighted smile. "Benefactor, you worked hard~ Why not let Master out? We can cure Master's eyes together, then discuss how to leave this place!"

The corners of Xiao Yu's mouth rose slightly as he locked the door behind him. "I think we probably can't leave anymore..."