True Person of Myriad Phenomena

The old man stared dumbfounded as a naked Mysterious Peak Sect disciple, his bare bottom exposed, was plunged into the Pill Furnace, which was still bubbling with heat and the aroma of medicine.

If it's simply a matter of enjoying bathing in the Pill Furnace, he can't agree with it, but at least it's within his understanding; who knows, there might be someone who enjoys it.

However, what he couldn't understand was that above the other person's head, there was actually a convergence of the auras of a dragon and a tiger.

This is the pace of forming the Innate Pill.

As the saying goes, the dragon is the liquid of fire and the tiger is metal; when water and fire meet, they forge the ultimate sound.

Slowly purify the jade marrow with gentle fire, and firmly hold the spirit heart with fierce fire.

The dragon's roar echoes softly around the quiet altar, the tiger's howl follows lightly into the deep mist.

Let not these two things drift apart, but unite in a timeless hymn of perfect harmony.

Could it be that the other party is some reincarnation of a thousand-year-old ginseng spirit, using himself to refine elixirs?

But the ginseng spirit isn't sick; who would bother using themselves to make elixirs?

"Dan Yin has come out?"

The old man's ears twitched, and he suddenly heard a sound coming from inside the Pill Furnace. At first glance, it sounded like the sound of an elixir being refined and striking the fireplace, but upon closer listening, it seemed different; it sounded like the sound was coming from inside the other person's body.

Tiger and Leopard Thunder Sound?

The sound did not originate from the other person's throat, but rather resonated simultaneously from his bones, tendons, skin, and flesh, as if an invisible tiger and an invisible leopard were roaring deep within his body, carrying an indescribable shock and pressure, causing the air in the shaking room to tremble slightly.

"Is this alchemy or body tempering?"

The old man couldn't tell them apart; he genuinely couldn't.

He had refined pills for so many years, including many Innate Pills and even immortal pills, but he had never encountered such a strange situation.

Even more bizarrely, as thunderous sounds continued to emanate from the opponent's body, the Yao Qi energy within the opponent's body was visibly completely digested.

Then, a fluffy red tail suddenly emerged from the Pill Furnace, one after another, until finally eight large, fluffy tails grew out.

The eight tails, like eight red ribbons, swayed, moved, and intertwined slowly in the heat of the Alchemy Chamber, exuding an indescribable eeriness and beauty.

Red Moon, Red Moon, to put it bluntly, isn't it just a blood-red moon?

"Huh?" The old man was bewildered again. A fox refining pills?

The Hu Mang opened its eyes with satisfaction. This time it had truly reaped great rewards. Not only had it successfully refined the "Flesh Fox" from the Four Refinements, but the Crimson Moon Fox bloodline had also grown eight tails due to the absorption of so much demonic energy. It was now only one tail away from the legendary "Heavenly Fox Realm".

As soon as Hu Mang opened his eyes, he saw an old man with the head of a peach staring at him intently from close range.

Holy crap, there's a freak in the Mysterious Peak Sect!

He remembered that the formation was closed when he was refining the elixir! Did this attempt to break the formation even work!?

Hu Mang didn't scream while crossing his arms; he was a half-demon who perceived himself as male, not a transvestite.

He didn't actually lay a hand on the spot. If someone just glances at you, you're bound to beat them to death. That's pretty perverse in a way, and at the very least, you won't be able to go to the public bathhouse anymore.

Moreover, this old man gave him a feeling of unfathomable depth. The last old man who gave him this feeling was Elder Cui from the Underworld Bureau.

Moreover, the fact that the other party can freely enter and exit the Li Flame Mountain formation means that he is most likely a big shot in the Li Flame Mountain lineage. Although he is not under their jurisdiction as a disciple of Spring Thunder Ridge, the Alchemy Chamber and Pill Furnace belong to them. Since he is taking advantage of their Pill Furnace for free, it seems that they are also taking advantage of his pectoral muscles for free.

Old man, have you been staring for too long?

Staring is one thing, but you even reached out and touched it.

The Hu Mang couldn't take it anymore. It slapped away the hand that was reaching out to it and said rudely, "Old man, you're a pervert! Even if you have homosexual tendencies, I don't have a fetish for older men."

The old man snapped out of his daze, his beard bristling and eyes wide with fury. "You crazy brat! You crawled naked into the Pill Furnace, and before I've even said anything, you're already turning the tables on me!"

"Which sect rule says I'm not allowed to refine pills naked? And what rule says I can't refine pills in the Pill Furnace? I haven't been refining anyone else's pills," Hu Mang said righteously.

"How would I know about any ridiculous rules of the Mysterious Peak Sect? I'm not a member of the Mysterious Peak Sect."

"What? You're not from the Mysterious Peak Sect?"

Hu Mang's eyes immediately turned dangerous. Could this be a spy sent from elsewhere, or rather, an old pervert who came here specifically to peep at the female disciples—no, the male disciples—while they were bathing?

"Wait," Hu Mang suddenly smelled the extremely pure medicinal fragrance on the other person, and saw the other person's white hair and youthful face.

"You must be Xu Nuoning's grandfather, the old ginseng spirit."

"What old ginseng spirit? I've refined countless thousand-year-old ginseng roots. And that little girl is a ginseng spirit too? I've never refined any."

Holy crap, the Demonic Path?!

With a dangerous glint in his eyes, Hu Mang instantly made his move, his martial arts intent of "Shattering the Void" instantly enveloping the entire Alchemy Chamber.

The atmosphere was like an invisible cage, suddenly spreading out from the Hu Mang's body and enveloping the entire Alchemy Chamber. The air in the Alchemy Chamber instantly froze, and even the flames of the earth fire seemed to be suppressed by the atmosphere, frozen in place. The medicinal liquid in the Pill Furnace stopped churning, like a frozen mirror, reflecting a layer of warm luster.

The sound of glass being scraped against glass rang out from the old man.

The old man looked down and, sure enough, saw cracks in the void appear on his body, immobilizing him.

"You've got some serious ruthlessness, kid. You actually dared to lay a hand on me—"

However, the next moment, the "void" exploded, a dragon and a tiger converged, and rose slowly from the crack in the void. The Nine-Character Great Hand Seal seemed to cross the void, and the slender palm pressed on the other's chest.

Nothing can be avoided!

A deafening, earth-shattering sound resounded, causing the array in the mountain wall to hum and ripple. Waves of spatial energy echoed throughout the small Alchemy Chamber, and the Pill Furnace in the center of the Alchemy Chamber was swept away by the aftershocks, exploding on the spot and shattering into pieces.

The old man wasn't made of iron either; he was blasted to the ground.

Hu Mang took the opportunity to put on his clothes, while letting out a soft exclamation.

A large dent appeared on the old man's chest, but he seemed completely unconcerned, as if he were savoring the sensation.

"The convergence of dragon and tiger, the birth of Dao Yang —it certainly has the flavor of a genuine Innate Pill, but why does it have a slightly off-putting taste? It's like the relic of those bald monks. Kid, you haven't been practicing any strange Cultivation Method, have you?"

Does the Cultivation Method the Buddha of the Form Realm count?

"No wonder it was originally a good pill, but now it's mixed with impurities, a hodgepodge, just like those half-baked monks in the Zen school, who can never refine a true elixir."

The old man stood up, looking at Hu Mang with a regretful expression, as if he were looking at a elixir of good quality but with a flaw.

Following the other person's gaze, the old man looked at his chest and hummed in response.

"My true body isn't here. This is just a wisp of my consciousness. Even if it's destroyed, it won't matter. If it were my true body, let alone your current cultivation level, even if your cultivation were ten times stronger, you wouldn't be able to harm a single hair on my head, although I don't have any hair."

Who exactly are you?

The other party was neither from Li Flame Mountain nor Mysterious Peak Sect, but they didn't seem like an enemy who had infiltrated.

"You don't recognize me?"

The old man looked at Hu Mang with surprise, thought for a moment, and said, "Do you know Li Fire boy?"

Hu Mang, the True Person Li Fire, naturally recognized him Southern Peak Venerable of Li Flame Mountain. When Hu Mang first entered the sect, this old man had been very enthusiastic in recruiting him.

"I naturally acknowledge Southern Peak Venerable among the Five Lineages."

"If they acknowledge it, things will be easier."

The old man rummaged around in his sunken bosom and quickly pulled out a communication talisman. After activating the talisman, a fiery Primordial Spirit charged into the mountain's belly in less than ten breaths.

This Primordial Spirit was enveloped in a layer of crimson flames, like a walking fire god. As soon as it entered, the temperature inside the mountain visibly rose, and the flames around it transformed into countless tiny fire snakes, slowly swirling, coiling, and dancing around the Primordial Spirit, carrying an indescribable heat and agility.

Like a sun ignited, it possesses an indescribable heat and ferocity.

It seemed even hotter than any Yang Spirit Hu Mang had ever seen.

"True Person of Myriad Phenomena, what business do you have with me? You can simply instruct my disciples from the Mysterious Peak Sect, or is it something that I cannot handle and require your personal attention?"

True Person Li Fire was extremely enthusiastic, just as enthusiastic as when he recruited Hu Mang, which made Hu Mang even wonder if the old man was this enthusiastic to everyone he met.

"Oh, it's nothing really, just some arrangements for your sect's disciples that I need to trouble you with," the mysterious old man said lazily, his chest no longer showing signs of discomfort.

"Disciple arrangements? I wonder what disciple arrangements are in question? Oh, it's you."

True Person Li Fire clearly recognized Hu Mang; his Primordial Spirit's facial features showed a slight surprise. "What are you doing here?"

"Reporting to my master, this disciple is here... researching alchemy."

"You have achieved the Three Flowers Perfection and refined two of the Five Qi. Your cultivation is progressing quite rapidly," the Flame Primordial Spirit said, its eyes flashing with fire. It discerned the other's cultivation level with just a glance.

"Thanks to my senior brother's guidance..."

Hu Mang originally wanted to say that his master had given him guidance, but that was too far-fetched. It would be more accurate to say that his senior brother had given him guidance.

"Yes, Chunwuzi is a reliable person, it's a pity she got an unreliable master."

True Person Li Fire looked at Hu Mang with pity, his meaning clear: this unreliable old Ge Wen was shared by all of them, his fellow disciples.

True Person Li Fire quickly remembered who had summoned him and immediately turned around to say:

"By the way, True Person of Myriad Phenomena, what brings you here?"

"Hmm, hasn't your sect leader been urging me to look for any exceptionally talented alchemists within your sect?"

The mysterious old man, or rather, the True Person of Myriad Phenomena, raised his chin.

"There he is."

"Does this child have a talent for alchemy?" asked True Person Li Fire.

"This person has some talent. Their alchemy techniques are... rather unique and innovative. They are a promising talent, or rather, a promising one."

True Person of Myriad Phenomena carefully considered his words.