Ten days later, at the White Deer Green Cliff cave abode.
Spiritual Qi wreathed the quiet chamber. Song Yan sat cross-legged, Sword Qi circulating within the Sword Qi Pill Furnace before him.
As the humming gradually subsided, four pills slowly took shape.
At a certain instant, four streaks of light shot out, carrying a subtle fragrance.
Song Yan was ready. With a sweep of his sleeve, he gathered them all into his palm.
The four pills were each the size of a longan, pale purple throughout, with faint streams of dark gold light flowing over their pill garments.
Song Yan concentrated, examining them one by one.
Seemingly still uneasy, he suddenly called toward the other side of the cave abode.
"Xiao He! Come here, I need you."
Before long, a small head poked through the quiet chamber's doorway. It was Snake Treasure.
"What-ugh, what's that smell in here? It's weird. It stinks!"
Song Yan paused at her words.
Was there a smell?
He lowered his head and carefully sniffed the pills in his hand, but only a faint, delicate fragrance lingered at his nose.
The ingredients used to refine these pills were all special spirit plants and a few kinds of algal spirit medicine.
He took one pill and held it out to Xiao He. "Is it this?"
Xiao He leaned closer, her little nose twitching.
"Ugh! That's disgusting-"
Song Yan was rather surprised, but far from being annoyed, he nodded in satisfaction. It seemed there should be no problem.
Xiao He was a third-tier yao. If even she reacted so strongly, the Demon-Avoidance Pills' effects should be reliable.
"What is that stuff?"
Xiao He's voice was muffled as she pinched her nose and asked, "It's like something rotted and then baked in the sun for a hundred days-"
"These