Lin Xueying also had a courtyard at Danbao Pavilion. It was not far from Zhou Xun's place.
Zhou Xun brought the refined Pigu Pills and arrived outside the courtyard gate.
"Knock, knock—"
He rapped the door knocker.
A moment later, a maid in a green dress and embroidered shoes emerged, fair-skinned, long-legged, and delicately pretty.
Seeing Zhou Xun, the young woman dipped slightly in greeting.
"Greetings, Pill Refiner Zhou!"
"Is Miss Lin in?" Zhou Xun returned the salute with cupped hands, refined and courteous.
"She is inside. Please enter, Pill Refiner Zhou!"
Zhou Xun then stepped through the gate.
The courtyard was filled with spiritual flowers and exotic herbs, giving off a faint medicinal fragrance. A slender figure stood among them, carefully tending to the plants.
Not only was Miss Lin highly accomplished in pill refinement, she also possessed considerable skill in the art of spiritual cultivation.
"Greetings, Miss Lin!" Zhou Xun said with a slight cupped-hand salute.
Hearing his voice, the young woman lifted her lovely face and rose to look at Zhou Xun.
"Pill Refiner Zhou, you have come. Have the Fire Barrier Pills been refined? This time, your pill completion rate must have been the highest again!" The young woman smiled brilliantly, making the surrounding hundred flowers pale in comparison.
Zhou Xun remained composed. With a pat of his Storage Pouch, he took out more than ten bottles of pills and handed them over.
Without even looking at them, the young woman put them away in her Storage Pouch.
"Fifteen bottles of completed pills. I have recorded them already. The spirit stones will be distributed together with your monthly stipend, and I have credited the Contribution Points to your name!"
Zhou Xun nodded at her words. Just as he was about to take his leave, the young woman called out to stop him.
"Wait, Pill Refiner Zhou. Come chat in the pavilion!" The young woman pointed toward a nearby pavilion.
Then she instructed the maid.
"Xiao'e, brew a pot of Spirit Mist Tea!"
Though Zhou Xun did not understand her intentions, he still followed the young woman to the pavilion and sat down.
"Pill Refiner Zhou, your pill-refining skills have grown increasingly profound. In another year or two, you will likely enter the ranks of middle-grade refiners!" Lin Xueying parted her crimson lips, admiration gleaming in her starry eyes.
In her view, the man before her possessed an elegant temperament, like orchids, mushrooms, and cassia trees. His pill-refining arts were also far from shallow. In the future, he would most likely advance to become a High-Grade Pill Refinement Master.
There was even a sliver of hope that he might become a second-rank pill refiner.
Such talent was exceedingly rare even among the Four Great Clans.
"You flatter me, Miss Lin," Zhou Xun said modestly.
"I invited you here because there is something I need your help with." After exchanging a few pleasantries, the young woman came to the point.
"I wish to refine middle-grade Fire Barrier Pills, but among all middle-grade pills, this pill is truly among the most difficult to refine. By my strength alone, I fear I will find it difficult to complete."
"Therefore, I need someone to assist at my side and handle some of the spiritual herbs for me!"
During the refinement of middle-grade Fire Barrier Pills, two different batches of medicinal liquid had to be condensed at the same time. The spiritual herbs used for these two batches possessed incompatible properties and could not be refined in the same pill furnace simultaneously.
They had to be handled separately in two pill furnaces, then poured together during the liquid-condensing stage.
Although Lin Xueying was a middle-grade pill refiner, her cultivation was still at Mid-Stage Qi Condensation. She had yet to awaken divine sense and could not control two pill refining furnaces at once. Thus, she needed an assistant to help her process the herbs in the other furnace.
Among the three refiners of Fire Barrier Pills, Zhou Xun possessed the greatest pill-refining skill, making him the most suitable candidate.
"Since Miss Lin has need of me, Zhou naturally has no objection. But the task of refining low-grade Fire Barrier Pills..."
Zhou Xun considered it and did not refuse, but refining low-grade Fire Barrier Pills brought him generous rewards.
"For every middle-grade Fire Barrier Pill successfully refined, there will be a subsidy of fifty portions of Spirit Essence and five Contribution Points!" The young woman's face instantly cooled as she spoke expressionlessly.
"In that case, Zhou will gladly let Miss Lin command him!"
This was also an image Zhou Xun had deliberately cultivated.
He vaguely sensed that this Miss Lin was being somewhat overly warm toward him.
A beautiful woman could bring calamity. He would set aside personal considerations and handle everything strictly as business.
"Tomorrow, come directly here. We will begin refining middle-grade Fire Barrier Pills!"
"Yes!"
After leaving, Zhou Xun did not return to his home in Green Willow Alley. Instead, he went to Mystic Talisman Pavilion and found Lan Song, purchasing several first-rank middle-grade Defense Talismans from him.
Fire Barrier Pills only had the effect of resisting fire-element power. Miss Lin's invitation made him feel that beneath the bright surface of Red Leaf Square, some undercurrent was stirring.
Afterward, he went to Hundred Treasures Pavilion and bought three sets of body-refining materials.
During this period, his body-refining technique had progressed smoothly. After a few more attempts, he expected to successfully enter the beginner stage.
His cultivation, however, remained stuck at the peak of the third level of Qi Condensation. Still, he had not stopped cultivating during this time. He had a strong feeling that the day of his breakthrough was not far off.
The next day, Zhou Xun arrived early at Lin Xueying's courtyard.
Looking at the spiritual herbs filling the courtyard, Zhou Xun's eyes burned with envy.
These were all spiritual herbs. There were even quite a few rank-grade ones among them.
He had even spotted several first-rank middle-grade spiritual medicines, and this was only Lin Xueying's secondary residence.
"A first-rank middle-grade spiritual plant cultivator!" Zhou Xun guessed.
"Pill Refiner Zhou, you came early. Have you eaten breakfast?" Lin Xueying arrived just then.
Today, she had changed into a plain horse-face skirt and tied up her hair, giving her a dashing, heroic air that made Zhou Xun glance at her twice more.
"I have," Zhou Xun answered with a nod.
"Then let us begin. Follow me." Lin Xueying's tone was calm, carrying a faint sense of distance.
Zhou Xun followed after her.
Two pill refining furnaces had already been set up inside the Alchemy Room.
Unlike Zhou Xun's own furnace, these two were at least middle-grade.
Zhou Xun even suspected that Lin Xueying's furnace had reached high-grade.
Several sets of spiritual herbs for refining Fire Barrier Pills had been placed before the furnaces, along with low-grade Silver Spirit Charcoal to provide the fire.
"The portion you are responsible for is no different from refining low-grade Fire Barrier Pills. The key lies in the timing. The medicinal liquid you refine must leave the furnace at precisely the same moment as mine."
"Otherwise, the two medicinal liquids will not fuse perfectly during condensation, and it will be difficult to refine genuine Fire Barrier Pills!"
The young woman parted her crimson lips and carefully explained the key points of refinement.
Zhou Xun listened attentively.
"Looks like the key to success lies in the tacit understanding between the two of us!"
"Enough talk. Let us first refine one furnace and get a feel for it!" The young woman's tone was cool.
Zhou Xun nodded.
"Light the fire and warm the pill furnaces," the young woman said.
Zhou Xun did as instructed. He placed the Silver Spirit Charcoal beneath the pill furnace and casually cast a Fire Seed Art. The Silver Spirit Charcoal instantly ignited, and a blue-green flame sprang up.
As Zhou Xun worked, the young woman's gaze turned toward him.
Seeing his movements flow like drifting clouds and running water, ordered and precise, she could not help nodding inwardly.
"Though this man loves wealth, his foundations in pill refinement are extremely solid!"
"Open the furnace lid and refine the spiritual herbs!" the young woman continued giving orders.
With a beckoning gesture, Zhou Xun sent the furnace lid flying up. Then, with a sweep of his hand, the spiritual herbs flew into the pill refining furnace, and the lid closed on its own.
At that, Zhou Xun began forming Mystic Gestures, sending one into the Silver Spirit Charcoal.
The blaze instantly surged. The flames changed completely from blue-green to pure green.
On the other side, Lin Xueying also began refining her batch of spiritual herbs.
The two progressed at nearly the same pace.
"Pill Refiner Zhou, I will finish refining in a quarter of an hour!" The young woman looked toward Zhou Xun and reminded him.
"So will I," Zhou Xun replied succinctly.
Soon, the refinement neared its end, and the young woman could not help speaking up again.
"Pill Refiner Zhou, ten breaths remain!"
"Rest assured, there will not be the slightest difference!" Zhou Xun was as calm as drifting clouds and gentle winds, every word brimming with composure.
As he refined, Zhou Xun used his divine sense to constantly monitor Lin Xueying's progress, adjusting his own refining pace accordingly.
At the final moment, the two pill furnaces opened at the same time, their timing not differing by a hair.
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