You're not worthy!

Chu Xingchen supported Li Xingtian and laid him on his own wooden bed.

After swiftly probing Li Xingtian's condition with his Spiritual Power, Chu Xingchen frowned slightly. His injuries really were far from promising.

The Clearwind Sect elder was a Golden Core cultivator, after all. Even though he had held back, intending to drag Li Xingtian back and turn him into a human wick, that blow was still more than a Qi Refining cultivator could withstand. Li Xingtian's internal organs had all suffered severe damage.

His meridians, in particular, had been battered by the powerful Spiritual Power and were now riddled with holes.

Yet when Chu Xingchen looked at Li Xingtian's face, he found no sign of pain.

As expected of someone reborn. What a tough guy.

Still, recovering on his own in this condition would be a tall order. I'd better give him some carefully refined healing medicine.

"You're pretty tough, kid," Chu Xingchen praised him, then turned to Li Yingling. "Disciple, get the pot going. We're refining pills."

Li Yingling's eyes lit up. Although she utterly loathed taking her master's pills, that did not stop her from wanting to watch someone else take them.

She eagerly agreed. "Yes, Master!"

Looking rather pleased, she went over to the pot, lit the fire, and began boiling water.

Chu Xingchen checked the spiritual plants left over from before to see whether any could still be used for healing.

As luck would have it, there were still a few medicinal herbs suitable for healing in his storage ring.

Another potful for my future disciple! Once he takes it, he'll be so overwhelmed with gratitude that he'll bow down on the spot.

After simply removing the roots, Chu Xingchen began refining the herbs in his usual crude, straightforward fashion.

As several lush green spiritual plants went into the pot, the clear water began turning green and cloudy.

A foul herbal smell began spreading.

Li Yingling showed no discomfort at all. In fact, she watched the increasingly murky pot of medicine with considerable delight.

After all, she was not the one who had to drink it this time.

When half the water had boiled away, Chu Xingchen added the final ingredient, the blue moon flower.

As the vivid, alluring blue blossom entered the pot of green water, dark green liquid began bubbling up with a gurgle.

Chu Xingchen nodded in satisfaction, then cranked up the heat to reduce the liquid. He wrapped the final extract of his miraculous healing medicine in Spiritual Power and lifted it out.

Looking at this drop of medicine, whose color was even more outrageous than hers had been, Li Yingling felt deeply reassured.

She now believed her master had not been trying to torment her before. This was simply what happened when you refined pills in an iron pot.

Her master had been right. Nothing written in mortal storybooks could be trusted.

You had to experience immortal cultivation yourself to understand it!

Still gritting his teeth against the pain, Li Xingtian propped himself up and saw the dark green drop suspended in Spiritual Power. It looked utterly murky.

An ominous thought slowly arose... Surely that isn't meant to be swallowed?

Chu Xingchen guided the medicine toward Li Xingtian's mouth and said with a smile, "Come on! Open up. My pill-refining skills are decent enough. Swallow this, and I guarantee you'll be fine."

Li Xingtian, who could endure pain without a change of expression, finally lost his composure.

That's just a blob of nasty green water. How does that look anything like a pill?

And who ever heard of refining medicine in a cooking pot?

A true man could face bloodshed and pain, but not a broom smeared with shit.

He agonized. He resisted. Words rose to his lips, only to falter.

Had the man before him not saved his life, Li Xingtian would absolutely have fought back and stuffed this strangely reeking drop of medicine into the other man's mouth.

But seeing the senior's utterly confident expression...

Li Xingtian could not bring himself to refuse. He simply closed his eyes, put on the face of a man marching bravely to his execution, and opened his mouth.

At worst, I'll just give him back the life he saved!

Sure enough, the medicine's flavor lived up to its color.

A rotten taste, carrying a horrifying bitterness, burst from the tip of his tongue straight into his soul.

Li Xingtian's expression grew increasingly contorted.

Yet to his surprise, even as his gullet violently rebelled and burned...

The ingredients within the medicinal liquid began slowly nourishing his veins and damaged internal organs.

The pain in his body abruptly receded.

Yet Li Xingtian felt even worse after swallowing the medicine.

Never mind that bitterness was now the only thing left in his mouth.

All the way down his gullet to his stomach, his entire body fiercely rejected the liquid.

Naturally, Chu Xingchen also knew this stuff probably did not taste very good. He gave a light cough and consoled him. "Good medicine tastes bitter, after all. Bear with it, and it'll pass."

As the first test subject, Li Yingling deeply sympathized. "Master... yours isn't something that passes just because you bear with it."

Chu Xingchen turned and cast a brooding glance at his eldest disciple.

Noticing her master's gaze, Li Yingling promptly followed her survival instincts. "It actually tastes quite acceptable! There's no need to bear with anything."

Of course, Chu Xingchen would not make a fuss over such a trivial matter. Their outing had gone so smoothly in large part thanks to this eldest disciple.

After checking that Li Xingtian was more or less all right, he began questioning Li Yingling:

"I see you've gotten a foot in the door with that divine ability. How does it feel?"

At her master's question, Li Yingling thought about how she had spent so many days only to barely grasp the basics.

She assumed her master was being sarcastic again, but could hardly argue back.

Li Yingling's right hand unconsciously wound around her glossy black hair. Her lovely face flushed slightly, and she turned her head, looking a little embarrassed. "It's very powerful. Just a little difficult."

Chu Xingchen was taken aback. You learned it after cultivating for just a few days, and you call that difficult?

As expected of my eldest disciple with her genius trait. Showing off with humblebrags right in front of her master.

Chu Xingchen coughed lightly and assumed a master's dignified air. "Ahem. Just keep practicing diligently!"

"Yes, Master!"

Night had fallen, and they sat before the campfire in the ruined temple.

Chu Xingchen gave the roasted rabbit's head directly to Li Yingling, the greatest contributor that day, then handed half the rabbit to Li Xingtian.

Li Xingtian was largely recovered and could already sit up.

Aside from its rather unpleasant taste, the medicinal liquid had actually worked very well.

Li Xingtian thought it was more effective than ordinary healing pills.

Looking at the appetizing half-rabbit on the plate before him, Li Xingtian glanced again at Li Yingling, who was happily gnawing on the rabbit's head.

He had to admit, watching a beautiful fairy gnaw on a rabbit's head left quite an impression.

Li Xingtian did not reach for the food. He simply stared at the steaming half-rabbit before him.

It was not that he was not hungry. It was that this rabbit... he had no reason to accept it.

"Eat," Chu Xingchen said quietly, looking at the silent Li Xingtian. "This rabbit doesn't come with a contract selling yourself into servitude."

Li Xingtian naturally caught the implication in Chu Xingchen's words. But that truly had not been on his mind just then, and he hurried to explain:

"No, that's not it. It's just that I haven't yet repaid you for saving my life, Senior..."

Watching Li Xingtian earnestly explain himself, Chu Xingchen smiled and nodded in acknowledgment. Under the table, however, his hand was frantically signaling to Li Yingling.

My dear disciple! Quick, give me an assist!

Li Yingling was happily gnawing on the rabbit's head when she caught Chu Xingchen's gestures from the corner of her eye. She immediately understood what her master wanted.

Li Yingling, who considered herself her master's little padded jacket of comfort, never undermined him at a crucial moment.

She set down the rabbit's head, her tone turning cold again:

"Enough. No need to explain. You're penniless now. Never mind that my master saved your life-even the opportunity you rely on most was handed over to you by him."

"You keep thinking our illustrious Heavenly Dao Alliance of the Central Continent is trying to fool you. But put your hand on your heart and ask yourself: are you even worth the trouble?"

"My master's willingness to offer you a chance is an honor for you. I don't understand what he sees in you, but personally, I think..."

"With your aptitude, you're not worthy of joining our Heavenly Dao Alliance!"