A thousand enlightenments in one night, starting from being a menial apprentice.

Shang Xiangyu stood there, looking at Zhou Zhang with icy eyes, and said coldly, "Where's the medicine?"

Zhou Zhang had always felt that Shang Xiangyu possessed an imposing aura, and now that cold gaze was directed at him, he felt his heart tremble even more. He hurriedly replied, "All the medicines are here, they're all ready."

Shang Xiang said, "Let me see it."

Zhou Zhang placed the black jar in his hand on the ground in front of Shang Xiangyu and said, "It's all in this jar, my father wrapped it in ice."

Shang Xiangyu's face was gloomy, as if he hadn't heard Zhou Zhang's words. He looked down at the black pottery jar on the ground, opened the jar, and a cold air came out. Then he channeled his energy and several medicines were drawn out of the black jar, along with some ice shards.

Two python gallbladders, two purple ginseng roots, and a blood-red lingzhi mushroom appeared in front of Shang Xiangyu, lined up in a row.

Shang Xiangyu's expression softened upon seeing the quality of the medicinal herbs.

The two gallbladders were the size of a fist and were as black as ink.

The two purple ginseng roots, with a faint hint of blood in their purple color, are clearly old enough.

Shang Xiangyu picked up the blood-red Ganoderma lucidum, sniffed it, and a strange medicinal fragrance wafted into his nostrils.

The last blood-red Ganoderma lucidum, although preserved for many years, had obviously been processed, and its medicinal properties were well locked in, with no loss.

With another gesture, Shang Xiangyu sent several medicinal herbs into the black jar one after another. He then looked up at Zhou Zhang, his expression much more amiable, and said, "These medicinal herbs are all quite good; they can be used."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Zhang felt relieved and said, "Pharmacist Shang, these herbs are not easy to obtain. Moreover, we urgently need them, and it took us a lot of effort to gather them all."

Shang Xiangyu said, "You've worked hard, and you've done a good job." After he finished speaking, he turned to a close attendant beside him and said, "Take Young Master Zhou to find Lu Rang and treat him well."

"Yes," the attendant replied, clasping his hands in a fist salute.

Upon hearing this, Zhou Zhang was immediately delighted and said with a smile, "Thank you, Pharmacist Shang."

The attendant then led Zhou Zhang out of this space.

Shang Xiangyu lifted the black jar with one hand and walked back into the cave behind him. As soon as he entered the cave, a leisurely voice came out. "Both of you come in and work together to process the medicinal herbs."

The other two people in this space also entered the cave, and the stone door immediately closed.

In this tranquil space, only the firelight illuminated the scene. A stone in the shadows of a corner twisted and blurred, then revealed a human figure, who slowly straightened up.

Duan Rong stood in the shadows, his eyes cold.

His divine sense had already penetrated the three caves here.

The cave that Shang Xiangyu and the others had just entered was a cave for processing medicinal herbs. There were all sorts of bottles, jars, and utensils inside, and there were five or six people busy inside at the moment.

The other two caves have different functions. One is a warehouse filled with medicinal herbs, while the other is a place for refining medicine, with a large two-story medicine furnace in the center. It is almost the same size and similar in design as the medicine furnace in the sect.

The attendant led Zhou Zhang out of the cave where the medicine was being refined, and then walked along the mountain wall towards the other end of the village. After walking for a while, they stopped in front of a wooden house.

The attendant walked to the front of the wooden house and knocked on the door.

"Who is it in the middle of the night?" A gruff voice shouted from the pitch-black wooden house.

"Manager Lu, it's me. Li Yan," the attendant said.

The lights inside immediately turned on, and the door creaked open, revealing a burly man with a full beard and bare chest, who glanced sleepily at Zhou Zhang behind his attendants.

Li Yan, the attendant, said with a smile, "Young Master Zhou sent the medicine over overnight. Pharmacist Shang instructed that he should be treated well."

Zhou Zhang bowed slightly and said, "Manager Lu, I apologize for disturbing you."

Seeing that it was Pharmacist Shang who gave the order, Lu Rang didn't dare to be negligent and said, "Wait here, I'll pick out a good one for you."

Zhou Zhang said happily, "Thank you very much, Steward Lu."

Lu Rang then went back to his room, took a large bunch of keys from the wall, and walked towards the wooden house next door.

He picked up a lantern, unlocked the door, and went inside.

A few breaths later, Narurang came out with a lantern, but he was carrying a person on his shoulder, with long hair hanging down and a graceful waist.

Lu Rang put the person on his shoulder down on the ground.

Zhou Zhang was already waiting there. He looked down at the ground and saw a young woman with delicate skin looking at him with a terrified expression.

A solidified desire immediately surged in Zhou Zhang's eyes.

Lu Rang coldly said, "Take her to the secret chamber in the cave first. I'll bring her all the other cultivation items right away."

“Okay, okay…” The woman was shackled on her hands and feet. Zhou Zhang hoisted her onto his shoulder and walked toward another cave entrance on the mountain wall not far away.

Duan Rong stood there, his divine sense penetrating deep into the nearby earth, and soon discovered the subterranean fire.

He finally understood why Shang Xiangyu had chosen this place as the site for alchemy. Besides the secluded nature of the mountains and forests, the most important factor was the local subterranean fire.

Duan Rong did not stay there for long. With a thought, he suddenly took flight, like a ghost, passing through the jagged stone roof above him and rising continuously through the rock layers until he emerged from the ground and arrived at a dark mountaintop.

Duan Rong stood atop a pitch-black mountain, the night wind blowing through his hair. Looking down, he could see the faint glow of firelight emanating from the valley below.

At this moment, he released his divine sense, enveloping the mountain stronghold and several caves.

Even now, amidst billowing smoke, Duan Rong could see the secret cultivation chamber where Zhou Zhang was raping young girls.

He didn't care about Zhou Zhang; after all, he already knew what kind of people the Bloodstained Cult was. His real focus at this moment was on Shang Xiangyu.

Although he had expected it, Duan Rong was still quite surprised when he actually saw Shang Xiangyu.

This person is not only still alive, but has also become an alchemist for the Bloodstained Cult.

Moreover, this mountain stronghold, those caves, and the secret cultivation chambers, including the Renle Pharmacy in Quyang County, all of this seemed to be prepared for Shang Xiangyu.

The Filthy Blood Cult has clearly invested heavily in this pharmacist.

However, the Bloodstained Cult members are not fools. Their willingness to invest so heavily indicates that Shang Xiangyu possesses value. So, for whom exactly is Shang Xiangyu refining the elixir?

What kind of medicine is he refining that would make the Blood Filth Cult willing to invest so much money and prepare such a huge amount of supporting resources for him?
There's clearly something extraordinary about this.

Taking down such a Bloodstained Blood Cult alchemy site would obviously be more valuable than capturing a head altar envoy. However, Duan Rong sensed an even greater stench of bloodshed behind this alchemy site and Shang Xiangyu.

He decided to remain hidden in the shadows and continue pursuing this lead.

Because, upon careful consideration, Duan Rong realized that his ability to track the suspect to this location was merely a coincidence.

This place for alchemy usually has its own methods and supply channels for medicinal materials, which should be centered around Renle Pharmacy. Renle Pharmacy is very successful, and no matter what kind of medicinal materials it purchases, it will not arouse suspicion.

However, there seems to be a problem with the medicine-making process recently; a batch of medicinal herbs is urgently needed.

Since they couldn't get it done at Renle Pharmacy, they had to use other channels within the Filthy Blood Sect to search for those medicinal herbs together.

In other words, the three systems of the Filthy Blood Cult were originally separate, but because of this batch of medicinal herbs, these three systems were temporarily connected.

And that tiny point of convergence is that Blood Spirit Mushroom.

At that time, Duan Rong tracked down Wu Mian, the magistrate of Huangpi County, through the Wutong Temple, and then followed the blood spirit mushroom all the way to this extremely secluded place of alchemy.

As the saying goes, it's all about timing and fate. If he had been a step earlier or a step later, he wouldn't have been able to find this place where the medicine was made.

Just as the three systems converged, Duan Rong arrived in pursuit.

Standing atop the desolate mountaintop in the darkness of night, Duan Rong clearly realized that he might have inadvertently come into contact with the core of the Filthy Blood Cult.

That is, the highest level system, the third layer system of the Filthy Blood Cult built around its leader, Fu Yi.

Who else would receive such treatment, given the elaborate process of refining medicine? It's highly likely that the medicine described by Shang Xiangyu was prepared for Fu Yi.

"The leader of the Filthy Blood Cult?!" In the darkness, the night wind howled and blew into Duan Rong's sleeves.

He immediately had a thought, and a ball of law power surrounded him. With a sway, his figure transformed into a pine tree, standing on the mountaintop, while his divine sense continued to cover the valley and cave below.

As dawn approached, the slightly translucent sky resembled inky black glass.

The guard on the watchtower in the mountain stronghold yawned, glanced at the sky, and knew it was almost time for his shift to end. The torch beside him was almost burned out. Inside the stronghold, the patrol team was conducting their last round of inspections before dawn.

As dawn breaks through the mountains and forests, the chirping of birds begins.

Zhou Zhang emerged from the cave, his face showing both weariness and satisfaction.

Behind him, at the entrance of the cave, two men carried a disheveled, mummified corpse and threw it into the woods over there.

Zhou Zhang was preparing to go back. He had been extremely busy lately, but fortunately, the matter was now settled. He planned to go back and get some rest. In a good mood, he put his hands behind his back, hummed a little tune, and slowly walked towards the gate of the mountain stronghold.

After walking for a while, we arrived at an open space in the mountain stronghold.

There were many tall wooden stakes standing in the open space. In the morning light, one could see that some disheveled women were tied to the five stakes in the middle.

These women had rags stuffed in their mouths, and their eyes showed extreme fear.

Their clothes were torn open around their abdomens, revealing their white, swollen bellies in the dim light of dawn.

Zhou Zhang happened to be passing by when he saw the row of bellies gleaming coldly. His eyes widened slightly in surprise. Coming from a family of doctors, he could easily tell at a glance that the women were all pregnant, and judging from the way their bellies were swollen, they were at least seven or eight months along.

In front of those women, two people were washing the blades with cold water, making them gleam sharply.

Zhou Zhang recognized the two men; they were Shang Xiangyu's close attendants, often by his side, helping him prepare and refine medicines.

Zhou Zhang was wondering what they were up to.

Just then, one of them, holding a gleaming knife, walked up to one of the women.

The woman stared at the knife in the man's hand, its cold, chilling glint in the morning light. In that instant, the fear in her eyes seemed to solidify.

The man's face was ashen. Suddenly, he gripped the knife in his hand, holding the hilt with one hand and the blade with the other, and slowly slit open the woman's stomach. Even though the woman's mouth was stuffed with a rag, her screams could still be faintly heard.

Amidst the bloodstains, the man carefully pinched out a fetus and threw it into a vat of icy water.

The woman had already fainted. The other women tied to the stakes were all deathly pale and struggling incessantly.

Zhou Zhang's face also turned pale. He shuddered and fled as if his life depended on it...

After finishing the dirty work, one of them washed his blood-stained hands in a wooden basin. He stood up, shook the blood off his hands, and said, "I'll take the extracted fetus inside first. You stay here and find a few people to dispose of these corpses."

The man laughed and said, "You know how to pick the easy jobs."

Another person said, "Who told you to dawdle? There are five of us, I'll take three, you'll take two. You're trying to shirk your job of handling the corpses?"

As the man squatted down to wash his hands, he said, "I never said I wouldn't do it. You're the one who knows the numbers perfectly."

The other person also fell silent, picked up the urn filled with ice water and containing five blood fetuses, and walked towards the cave where medicine was being prepared.

He walked deeper into the cave. In the firelight, Shang Xiangyu glanced at him and asked, "Have you taken the blood fetus?"

The man said, "I've taken them all, five in total."

Shang Xiangyu nodded. Not far away, there were already many bottles and jars on the ground, and five or six figures standing there looking exhausted.

Shang Xiangyu's cold gaze swept over them, and he said, "Everyone, perk up, take the medicinal herbs you've prepared, and come with me to the cave by the medicine furnace."

After saying this, Shang Xiangyu turned and walked away.

The man picked up the cold urn and followed behind it. The other five or six figures each began to collect the bottles and jars, walking out at varying speeds.

Shang Xiangyu, accompanied by his alchemy followers, arrived at another cave.

A torch burned on the cave wall, but its light was insufficient to illuminate the vast and deep cavern. However, one could still see a colossal structure standing in the center of the cave—a two-story medicine furnace. (End of Chapter)