When Hun Changqing saw how much Gu Xun'er cared about Xiao Yan, a less-than-rigorous plan surfaced in his mind-one that could even be called simple and crude.
It could be said that with the slightest carelessness in this plan, Hun Changqing would capsize and be utterly doomed! But... if it succeeded, he would undoubtedly reap an astonishingly valuable reward!
A brilliant light flashed in Hun Changqing's eyes, though it quickly faded into a sigh.
Sigh, the risks are simply too massive, and there are far too many uncertain factors. I'm not suited for step-by-step scheming anyway. Sigh, let me think on it a bit more. There's still some time before Gu Xun'er leaves the Xiao Clan; I'll head back and break through to Dou Zong first.
Hun Changqing shook his head, pushing the thoughts aside as he picked up the small beast and left.
The moment he stepped into the secret chamber, Hun Changqing sensed something amiss. The Dou Qi in the air had grown exceptionally dense, faintly converging toward a single direction-the location of the Duan Pill Cauldron. Hun Changqing formed some speculations in his heart.
Suppressing his presence, he moved to the spot where Yao Chen was refining pills. He saw Yao Chen floating above the Duan Pill Cauldron, his Soul Power extending out of his body to control the Bone Spirit Cold Flame, continuously injecting it into the ancient Duan Pill Cauldron below.
A white flame billowed and coiled inside the pill cauldron, enveloping a medicinal pill that emanated a silvery-gray eerie glow. The temperature in the air plummeted sharply, and frost had already begun to form in many corners of the secret chamber.
Yao Chen's ten fingers danced rhythmically and nimbly before him, controlling the temperature of the Bone Spirit Cold Flame within the cauldron, steadily pressing the flame's temperature down to its absolute minimum...
Clearly, this had reached the final step before pill formation.
Hun Changqing narrowed his eyes as he watched the scene, his hands hidden within his black sleeve robes already clenched tightly, squeezing out beads of cold sweat.
Even though Hun Changqing possessed absolute confidence in Yao Chen's alchemy skills, no matter how sublime an alchemist's mastery was, there would always be times when a refinement failed.
That was why people asking alchemists to refine pills always prepared three portions of materials. Yet, his current net worth was only enough to refine this medicinal pill twice. Once both attempts failed, Hun Changqing could directly declare bankruptcy!
Moreover, Yao Chen's Soul Power had yet to recover to its peak state, and among Seventh-Order pills, this particular medicinal pill was exceptionally difficult to refine. It truly made Hun Changqing unable to help but worry!
Soon, the radiance upon that medicinal pill grew increasingly intense, directly illuminating the entire secret chamber in a sheet of silvery-white. Then, the intense silver light slowly constricted, and the pill was about to form.
Seeing this, joy blossomed in Hun Changqing's heart as his tightly clenched fists slowly loosened.
Alas, he had rejoiced a bit too early.
The medicinal pill, which was about to have its beams of light draw inward and gradually stabilize, suddenly began to tremble frantically.
Yao Chen's surrounding Soul Power, which had previously been stable, regular, and rhythmically transmitted to the medicinal pill, was completely disrupted at this moment, turning violent.
The pill cauldron also trembled incessantly, emitting a buzzing sound before seemingly reaching a critical threshold. The medicinal pill instantly burst apart, and the terrifying frigid yin Qi within the pill immediately scattered in all directions, freezing the entire secret chamber into a wintry wasteland.
Yet this did not stop; the terrifying chill, as if unable to find an outlet for its release, darted about wildly and furiously battered the array barrier within the secret chamber. For a moment, the entire chamber shook frantically.
Not daring to ponder further at the sight, Hun Changqing flashed to Yao Chen's side in a flash. He first formed a barrier around Yao Chen using the Supreme Yin True Qi to protect him, preventing him from being injured by the terrifying chill.
Then, he appeared in the center of the secret chamber, sitting cross-legged. With a finger pointing toward the center of his brow, a gray droplet of water appeared between his fingertips, and he opened his palm.
The water droplet instantly multiplied into thousands, transforming into water vortices within his palm. A massive suction force erupted from the vortices, frantically drawing in the terrifying yin Qi scattering throughout the chamber.
Those wisps of yin Qi were instantly sucked into the water vortices. Upon contact with the vortices, the yin Qi was decomposed and assimilated into the Supreme Yin True Qi, which was instantly inhaled into Hun Changqing's body upon formation and refined in a split second.
After an unknown passage of time, the previously turbulent secret chamber finally calmed down. Not a trace of the terrifying yin Qi remained, and even the frost previously condensed from the yin Qi had vanished.
At this moment, Hun Changqing, sitting cross-legged in the secret chamber, slowly opened his eyes. Sensing the state of his own body, he could not help but sigh.
"Though most of the medicinal efficacy was absorbed, no pill was ultimately formed. Without the miraculous effect of the pill itself, it was just the medicinal efficacy of ordinary herbs, only allowing my Supreme Yin True Qi to advance by another fraction. It didn't allow me to successfully break through to Dou Zong. Ah, what a pity."
Seeing Hun Changqing wake up, Yao Chen hurried forward, drooping his head and saying with utmost shame, "This old man is ashamed!"
Hun Changqing squeezed out a faint smile, forcing a grin to comfort Yao Chen.
"Yao Lao need not be like this. Such occurrences are common in pill refinement, not to mention that you haven't fully recovered yet. I've also absorbed most of the medicinal efficacy, so those materials weren't wasted much.
Right now, I am only a hair's breadth away from Dou Zong. Even without the aid of a pill, I'll be able to break through in a few days. Yao Lao, you can set your mind at ease and not blame yourself too much.
There is still one portion of materials left; just do your best, Yao Lao. I will go search for more materials in a few days, and by then things won't be as distressing as they are now."
Yet, Hun Changqing's heart was bleeding. Half of his fortune was gone, and he felt that he was the one who needed comforting right now; unfortunately, he could not show any abnormality.
In his cooperation with Yao Chen, he had to maintain absolute confidence at all times and could not lose his composure. Only thus could he retain the dominant position in their partnership.
"Right, Yao Lao, I did find some things during my trip out this time. Take a look and see if any of these are useful to you. If they're of no use, we might as well sell them."
With that, Hun Changqing took out the harvest from this trip all at once, placing it before Yao Chen's eyes.
"Oh!"
Yao Chen flew over to that piece of silver Spirit-Receiving Stone, then glanced at the purple crystal beside it.
"Beast Flame?"
"Companion Amethyst Source?"
Yao Chen could not help crying out in astonishment.
"Indeed. I killed some Fifth-Order magical beasts and an Amethyst Winged Lion King on this outing. Magical beasts like the Amethyst Winged Lion King are extremely rare, and the items they leave behind are quite valuable. I wonder if you have any need for these, Yao Lao. If not, we'll have no choice but to sell them."
Hun Changqing said calmly.
"An Amethyst Winged Lion King, indeed quite rare. I didn't encounter many during my lifetime, either. These items are extremely scarce on the market and can fetch a good price.
I have no personal need for these things, but I think you can put them away first. Anyway, buyers are never lacking for such items, and you won't have to worry about them not selling. Who knows, they might come in handy somewhere down the line."
Thinking it over, Hun Changqing realized it made sense, so he put the items away and produced another storage ring, handing it to Yao Chen.
"This is the other portion of materials. I'll have to trouble you once more, Yao Lao."
"Rest assured, I will definitely succeed this time. I assure you!"
After taking the storage ring, Yao Chen gave Hun Changqing a solemn promise. After all, the two of them were starting a business together; if he kept failing and dragging them down, that wouldn't do. With that, he turned and floated away to refine pills.
Having dismissed Yao Chen to refine pills, Hun Changqing narrowed his eyes, a ruthless glint flashing within them alongside an extremely terrifying radiance.
"The greater the risk, the greater the harvest, as they say. There is no foolproof plan in this world, nor are there people who can calculate every contingency. Hesitating and looking backward will inevitably cause one to miss the first opportunity.
This failure caused me heavy losses, but it also resolved me to execute the plan. Since I lack the talent for scheming against people, I'll just use simple, crude strength to accomplish it! Gu Xun'er... humph!"
With a cold snort, Hun Changqing rose and left the secret chamber.