The pressure of the Spirit Martial Realm was still climbing.
On the first floor of the Pill Pavilion, the air seemed to solidify.
The porcelain bottles on the counter trembled incessantly, producing a string of crisp clinks.
Several weaker martial artists turned pale and retreated several steps. Only when their backs met the wall could they barely catch their breath.
This was the strength of a true disciple.
Pressure alone was enough to rob ordinary Body Tempering Realm martial artists of the ability to resist.
Gazes fell on Chu Yunfei from every direction.
Some gloated, while others silently shook their heads.
Of all the people he could offend, he had to provoke Yan Guining in public.
Wasn't this like the god of longevity hanging himself-complaining that his life was too long?
Yet several breaths passed.
The scene everyone had expected, of him kneeling and begging for mercy, never came.
Chu Yunfei still stood there.
His face was somewhat pale, fine beads of sweat seeped from his forehead, and his robes clung tightly to his body, but his back never bent in the slightest.
"Hmm?"
Yan Guining frowned slightly.
He actually hadn't yielded?
He had some backbone.
But that was all.
Spiritual power surged within Yan Guining, and the pressure bearing down on Chu Yunfei soared once more.
"Let's see how long you can hold out."
Crack!
The bluestone floor beneath Chu Yunfei's feet gave way first.
Cracks spread outward from beneath his feet, soon joining into a web.
Chu Yunfei's chest tightened, and his body trembled slightly.
A metallic sweetness rose in his throat.
This woman was serious!
With his current cultivation, taking the pressure of the Spirit Martial Realm head-on was ultimately too much of a strain.
But making him bow his head?
Dream on!
Chu Yunfei gritted his teeth, a trickle of blood escaping the corner of his mouth.
If Yan Guining failed to kill him today, sooner or later, he would collect this debt with interest.
Just as he was about to lose his struggle to remain standing, the Boundless Creation Scripture suddenly began circulating on its own within him.
Boom!
The vortex of spiritual power in his dantian spun rapidly.
Guided by the cultivation technique, the force pressing down on Chu Yunfei's shoulders flooded into his meridians, then dispersed inch by inch throughout his limbs and bones.
His meridians stung.
His bones trembled.
It felt as though someone were striking his flesh with a heavy hammer, blow after blow.
The Boundless Creation Scripture could not only absorb Spiritual Qi, but also temper his body through external force!
His cultivation technique was actually treating Yan Guining's pressure as nourishment for tempering his body.
Although Chu Yunfei's current physique could not convert it completely, dispersing just a portion was enough to let him straighten his back.
He raised a hand to wipe the blood from the corner of his mouth, then looked up at Yan Guining.
"Senior Sister Yan."
"Your pressure doesn't seem all that impressive."
The first floor of the Pill Pavilion fell silent for a moment.
Then gasps sounded one after another.
"He withstood it?"
"How could someone in the Body Tempering Realm withstand Spirit Martial Realm pressure head-on?"
"Didn't they say his cultivation had fallen to the Body Tempering Third Layer?"
The way everyone looked at Chu Yunfei changed completely.
Their earlier contempt and pity vanished, leaving only shock and doubt.
Could the former greatest genius of the Azure Mystic Sect not truly be crippled after all?
Yan Guining found it hardest to accept.
She stared at Chu Yunfei without speaking for a long time.
The presence within him clearly had not reached the Qi Condensation Realm.
How could a Body Tempering Realm martial artist withstand her pressure?
A cultivation technique?
Impossible.
The Azure Mystic Sect had no such technique.
Then there was only one explanation.
A protective treasure!
Chu Yunfei must have a treasure hidden on him that could withstand pressure.
At this thought, Yan Guining's anger burned even hotter.
She raised her hand, spiritual power rapidly gathering in her palm.
So he could withstand pressure?
She would see whether Chu Yunfei could withstand a real Spirit Martial Realm attack!
"Stop."
Just as Yan Guining was about to strike, an aged voice came from the second floor.
It was not loud, yet it reached everyone's ears clearly.
Everyone looked toward the voice, and an old man in gray robes, his hair and beard entirely white, appeared between the two.
No one saw how he had appeared.
The gray-robed elder gave Yan Guining an impassive glance.
Yan Guining stiffened.
The spiritual power she had just gathered in her palm was dispersed by that single glance.
Her heart sank slightly.
This elder's cultivation was far above hers!
"Miss Yan."
The elder stood with his hands behind his back, his tone even.
"The Pill Pavilion has its own rules."
"This is not the Azure Mystic Sect. If you wish to fight someone, please go outside."
Yan Guining's expression shifted several times.
The Azure Mystic Sect was a major sect in the region around Qingyang City, but the Pill Pavilion did business throughout the Eastern Continent, and its backing was unfathomable.
Never mind her.
Even if the sect master of the Azure Mystic Sect came in person, he would not dare cause trouble in the Pill Pavilion lightly.
"Fine."
Yan Guining suppressed her anger and looked coldly at Chu Yunfei.
"Chu Yunfei, count yourself lucky today."
"The outer sect assessment is in three days."
"If you really can pass the assessment and reenter the inner sect, I'll apologize to you in front of everyone."
A few muffled laughs came from the surrounding crowd.
How was this a wager?
It was plainly a public execution.
Who didn't know that Chu Yunfei's cultivation had plummeted, leaving him at the very bottom of the outer sect?
The annual outer sect assessment was not something he could get through by scraping a passing grade.
To return to the inner sect, Chu Yunfei had to either break through to the Qi Condensation Realm or place in the top three in the assessment.
He had only three days left.
What could he possibly win with?
But Chu Yunfei smiled.
"An apology?"
"Boring."
Yan Guining narrowed her eyes.
"What do you want, then?"
Chu Yunfei's gaze lingered on her beautiful face for a moment.
"Let's change the stakes."
"If I pass the assessment and return to the inner sect in three days, you won't need to apologize, Senior Sister Yan."
"Give me a kiss in front of everyone."
"How about it?"
The first floor of the Pill Pavilion instantly fell silent.
Everyone turned to look at Chu Yunfei in unison.
They had seen plenty of bold people.
But this was their first time seeing someone bold enough to publicly demand a kiss from a sect's true disciple.
This went beyond boldness.
He was hopping back and forth along the brink of death.
Yan Guining froze at first.
When she recovered, her pretty face rapidly flushed crimson, the redness spreading even to her ears.
"Chu Yunfei!"
She pointed at Chu Yunfei, her chest heaving violently.
"You're shameless! Filthy!"
Chu Yunfei's expression remained unchanged.
"Are you afraid, Senior Sister Yan?"
"Who says I'm afraid!"
Yan Guining was already furious. How could she withstand such provocation?
"I accept this wager!"
"I'd like to see how an arrogant braggart like you gets out of this in three days!"
With that, she shot Chu Yunfei a fierce glare, turned, and left.
Her skirt swept across the threshold, stirring a fragrant breeze.
Only after her figure had vanished completely did the first floor of the Pill Pavilion grow noisy again.
"Now we'll have a show to watch."
"Yan Guining is the sect master's true disciple. Once word of this wager gets back to the Azure Mystic Sect, the outer sect assessment will probably be packed to bursting."
"I think Chu Yunfei knows he can't win and just wants to run his mouth before he dies."
Chu Yunfei ignored the surrounding chatter.
In three days, it was still uncertain who would be laughing at whom.
He turned and cupped his hands toward the gray-robed elder.
"Thank you for helping me out of that predicament, Senior."
The gray-robed elder studied him for a moment.
"It's no bad thing for the young to have a sharp edge."
"But an edge that's too sharp can easily snap."
Chu Yunfei smiled.
"Thank you for the reminder, Senior."
He changed the subject.
"There's something else I'd like to ask."
"Does the Pill Pavilion buy pill formulas?"
Some of the calm faded from the gray-robed elder's face.
"Pill formulas?"
Every complete pill formula represented a steady source of resources.
The higher the grade of the formula, the harder its value was to measure.
But how could this fallen disciple of the Azure Mystic Sect before him possess a pill formula?
"That depends on the formula."
The gray-robed elder did not refuse outright.
"If it is merely something commonplace, the Pill Pavilion has no reason to buy it."
Chu Yunfei glanced around.
The gray-robed elder took the hint and raised his hand, setting up a soundproof barrier.
The clamor was immediately shut out.
Only then did Chu Yunfei lower his voice.
"An ancient pill formula."
"For a second-grade Blood-Replenishing Pill."
The gray-robed elder's hands, which had been resting behind his back, suddenly clenched.
"An ancient pill formula?"
His breathing grew noticeably heavier.
Many pill formulas circulating today had undergone repeated revisions by later generations. Some medicinal ingredients had already gone extinct, and the refining methods were incomplete, leaving their success rates far below those of ancient times.
A complete ancient pill formula was worth far more than an ordinary one.
Even a mere second-grade formula would be enough to earn the Qingyang City branch a major merit.
The gray-robed elder forced himself to steady his emotions.
"Young friend, is that true?"
"Whether it is true or false, you will know once you look, Senior."
Chu Yunfei remained composed.
The gray-robed elder stared at him for a few breaths before quickly making his decision.
"Young friend, please come with me."
He personally led the way, taking Chu Yunfei through the first-floor hall toward the Pill Pavilion's rear courtyard.
The Pill Pavilion's rear courtyard was very quiet.
Water flowed past ornamental rockeries, and bamboo shadows swayed.
A woman in a white dress sat in a pavilion.
She looked no older than twenty, with cool, aloof features and skin fairer than snow. Her black hair was loosely pinned up with a white jade hairpin.
Her white silk dress hugged her waist, outlining a mature, stunning figure.
Unlike Yan Guining's proud flamboyance, this woman possessed the composure of someone long accustomed to holding a position of authority.
Simply by sitting there, she seemed to make her surroundings a little quieter.
Chu Yunfei glanced at her and silently gave his assessment.
Ninety-five points.
The remaining five were withheld for fear she would grow conceited.
The gray-robed elder approached the pavilion and bowed slightly.
"Young Miss."
Then he quietly recounted what had just happened.
Only after hearing him out did the woman in white raise her head to look at Chu Yunfei.
Her gaze held no hostility, but it carried an intense scrutiny.
"Chu Yunfei."
"The former number one genius of the Azure Mystic Sect's inner sect. I have heard of you."
Her voice was cool and pleasing to the ear.
"You say you have an ancient pill formula?"
"That's right."
"You should know the consequences of deceiving the Pill Pavilion."
As her words fell, an invisible pressure enveloped the pavilion.
This pressure was heavier than Yan Guining's, and more restrained.
Chu Yunfei's heart tightened slightly.
This woman's strength was far above Yan Guining's.
Still, no panic showed on his face.
"Whether it is true or false, one look will tell."
The woman in white watched him for a moment, then raised her hand in a gesture.
The gray-robed elder quickly fetched paper and a brush.
Chu Yunfei took the brush and wrote down the formula in his sea of consciousness in full.
The medicinal ingredients required for the Blood-Replenishing Pill, their proportions, the order in which they were added, the changes in heat, and the most crucial pill-condensing technique-not a single item was missing.
A short while later, he set down the brush.
"Please take a look."
The gray-robed elder accepted the formula with both hands and presented it to the woman in white.
The woman's gaze fell on the paper.
At first, her expression remained calm.
But as her gaze moved from the ingredient proportions to the order in which they were added, the fingers resting on the stone table gradually stilled.
One breath.
Two breaths.
She read it over again from the beginning.
This time, she read more slowly.
Several ingredients whose medicinal properties seemed to clash could actually neutralize one another when added in a particular order.
Three of the changes in heat were completely different from current refining methods.
Yet when examined through medicinal principles, every step held up.
The woman in white's grip on the formula tightened slightly.
"The medicinal properties reinforce and counteract one another, and the proportions are precise."
"I have never seen this refining technique before, yet it accords with the medicinal principles of the Dao of Alchemy."
She raised her head, and when she looked at Chu Yunfei again, her gaze was completely different.
"At least judging by the formula itself, there are no problems."
"This may very well be a complete ancient pill formula."
Beside her, the gray-robed elder's breathing immediately quickened.
If the pill could actually be refined successfully, the Pill Pavilion would truly have stumbled upon a treasure this time.
Chu Yunfei was not surprised in the least.
Although he knew nothing about pill refining, this formula had come from Xiaoxiao Dragon.
Given that ancient female dragon's breadth of knowledge, she was hardly likely to get a second-grade pill formula wrong.
Xiaoxiao Dragon.
Chu Yunfei asked inwardly, If this thing is so valuable, how about selling a few more formulas whenever I run short of resources?
"Do you think you've lived too long?"
Xiaoxiao Dragon said irritably, "An ordinary man is innocent, but carrying a jade makes him guilty. If you bring out one ancient pill formula, you can still say you obtained it through a fortuitous encounter."
"If you produce eight or ten at once, people's first thought won't be to do business with you. It'll be to capture you and search your soul."
"Keep a low profile, understand?"
Chu Yunfei was rather speechless.
Wasn't this same dragon the one who kept egging him on to stir up trouble?
"Besides, this queen wasn't an alchemist in the past."
Xiaoxiao Dragon added, "There are only a handful of pill formulas I can remember. You can put your grand money-making plan on hold."
Chu Yunfei: "..."
His road to riches had barely begun before it died on the spot.
By then, the woman in white had put away the formula.
She rose and took the initiative to introduce herself:
"My name is Wen Jiao."
"The Pill Pavilion will take this formula."