Woman, you dare curse me

With that thought, Mu Yunxi devoted all her energy to refining pills.

Spiritual energy abounded in the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Realm, and a faint herbal fragrance mingled with the air, leaving her feeling especially refreshed and clearheaded.

Without a fire seed, Mu Yunxi simply put an ordinary fire into the Heaven and Earth Cauldron, but it went out every time it landed inside. Only after she issued a fierce threat did the Heaven and Earth Cauldron finally preserve the fire intact.

From the memories in her mind, she knew that alchemists were particularly esteemed on the Mysterious Heaven Continent. Becoming an alchemist not only imposed extremely strict requirements on one's own attributes and talent, but also required powerful mental strength to sustain the process.

Precisely for this reason, there were only a handful of alchemists in the entire Eastern Tomb Kingdom.

And among all those alchemists, only the East Ling Imperial Academy had a fourth-rank alchemist.

The Origin Stabilizing Pill that Mu Yunxi needed to refine this time was a second-rank pill.

As its name suggested, the Origin Stabilizing Pill stabilized one's vital energy, nourishing the foundation of Mu Yunxi's body, which had been weak to begin with!

Having already committed the steps and methods for refining the Origin Stabilizing Pill to memory, Mu Yunxi took a deep breath and began refining the pills in an orderly fashion.

Having researched so many medicinal preparations and solutions in her previous life, refining pills in this life did not seem so difficult.

Time trickled past!

Two hours, four hours...

After six hours, Mu Yunxi finally breathed a sigh of relief, her previously grave expression relaxing as a faint smile curved her lips.

"Success!"

A rich medicinal fragrance instantly drifted into every corner of the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Realm. Even Xiao Kun was drawn over by it.

The instant he saw the pills inside the Heaven and Earth Cauldron, his eyes lit up and he pounced.

But a pair of slender, fair hands moved a step faster. With a reach and a withdrawal, the pills inside the Heaven and Earth Cauldron were already in her palm.

"Little master, Baby wants some! They smell so good!" Xiao Kun hurriedly hugged Mu Yunxi's leg, acting coy as he gazed at her eagerly.

Already in soul form, Xiao Kun looked even more heart-melting to Mu Yunxi with his eyes darting about. She took out a pill and gave it straight to him.

"Awoo, so fragrant! Little master is so good to me!" After eating it, Xiao Kun found it delicious and continued gazing eagerly at Mu Yunxi.

"No more. I need to keep these two for myself!" There had only been three in total. After giving Xiao Kun one, she had just two left for herself.

Although all three were low-grade second-rank pills, she was certain that her second attempt would definitely produce mid-grade or high-grade ones.

If anyone else had heard these thoughts of Mu Yunxi's, they might well have burst into curses.

Damn, not only had she refined second-rank Origin Stabilizing Pills on her very first attempt at alchemy, she had made three at once!

Not only had she made three at once, all three were low-grade second-rank pills! Where on earth had this infuriating monster sprung from? Was she going to leave any room to live for those alchemists who could only refine low-grade first-rank pills after a lifetime of practice?

At Mu Yunxi's words, Xiao Kun's bright eyes showed clear disappointment.

"I'll give you a few more to eat the next time I refine some!" Unable to bear Xiao Kun's disappointed expression, Mu Yunxi comforted him generously.

The moment Xiao Kun heard this, he hugged Mu Yunxi's leg and began swaying, his face full of contentment.

"Little master is so good to me!" He was going to cling tightly to his little master's thigh. Awoo, awoo, awoo!

"Stop flattering me. Too much and you'll wear a hole through it. Be good and stand guard for me. I'm going to cultivate for a while!" Mu Yunxi said.

"Don't worry, little master. No one besides you and me can enter the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Realm to disturb you. Cultivate at ease!"

Mu Yunxi nodded, found a place where the spiritual energy was most abundant, and sat cross-legged to meditate before swallowing an Origin Stabilizing Pill.

This cultivation session lasted a full five days inside the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Realm. The instant she opened her eyes on the fifth day, a shimmering sharpness flowed from their depths. Then she gathered power in both palms and sent a thunderous strike toward a mountain peak.

"Boom-"

Violent tremors rumbled out as the mountain crumbled and rocks shattered. Startled awake, Xiao Kun came running over in a panic.

"Awoo, awoo, awoo! An earthquake! The mountain's collapsing! Run, little master! Huh? Little master, you've advanced! You're a high-stage Martial Master now!"

The goofy Xiao Kun came running over with a great fuss. Only when he drew close and looked did he realize that his little master had finished advancing. Seeing her strength rise another step filled him with joy!

"Mm, I've advanced. The results were pretty good!"

Although Mu Yunxi still felt that her current strength was far too weak, thanks to the Origin Stabilizing Pill, her poorly grounded body had at least recovered bit by bit.

"Right, what time is it now?"

"Counting from when you entered the spiritual realm, little master, it's been five days and six hours in total. By the time outside the spiritual realm, it should be a little over ten hours!"

"What? It's already that late? I'm heading out. Be good and watch the house, Xiao Kun!"

After saying this to Xiao Kun, Mu Yunxi immediately left the spiritual realm.

Her advancement had left her covered in a black, sticky substance that made her quite uncomfortable, so she simply ran straight to the natural hot spring behind the Mu Clan estate to wash.

Only when her entire body was immersed in the warm spring water did Mu Yunxi let out a comfortable sigh, feeling utterly refreshed.

"You've advanced an entire major stage. Not bad. But, woman, you've been naughty!"

The sudden voice, eerily cool and devilishly alluring, reached her ears, instantly startling Mu Yunxi into opening her eyes.

Before she could dress, that tall figure, noble and otherworldly, looking down upon all living things, had already drifted down beside her.

There was the same silver mask, the same fathomless black eyes, the same suffocatingly powerful aura. He seemed like the bright moon descending upon the world-domineering and languid, wickedly unrestrained and cold, enough to make all things bow their heads and the earth submit!

"You damned man, it's you again!"

Being mercilessly molested last time had filled Mu Yunxi with fury. She had never expected this man to appear again and peep at her bath. He really was scum, a filthy, perverted piece of scum!

"Woman, you dare curse me!"

The silver-masked man leaned in, instantly bringing his face close to Mu Yunxi's. Face-to-face, their noses almost touched!

Under the man's black gaze, as cold and deep as an icy pool, Mu Yunxi abruptly leaned back. Beneath the spring water, she had already summoned the Pangu Demon Needles from within her body and thrust them straight at his weak point.

The man seemed to have anticipated Mu Yunxi's anger. Reaching out with one large hand, he abruptly scooped her entire dripping body into his arms, not caring in the slightest that his silver robes were getting wet.

Instead, the instant he felt that fragrant, silky softness, supple as though boneless, settle into his embrace, his arms inexplicably felt full. Even his body gave a slight, uncontrollable tremor.

It made him unable to resist holding the woman in his arms even tighter.

"Let go of me, you damned pervert!"