The Hehuan Sect cultivates alchemy; my senior sister helps me refine alchemy throughout the world.

The head of the Heavenly Mystery Pavilion is an unparalleled beauty.

When Shen Yifei first saw her, he didn't think she was particularly beautiful, but rather that this woman was truly wild!

She sat askew on the chair in the center of the hall, one leg draped over the armrest, the other dangling, her bare foot exposed. The neckline of her black dress was very low, revealing a patch of snow-white skin below her collarbone, so white it was almost dazzling.

She was fiddling with Shen Yifei's bottle of pills in her hand; the lid was already open.

"A top-grade Qi-strengthening Pill." She poured out one pill, smelled it, and said, "The quality is quite good, much better than those sold outside."

Shen Yifei stood in the center of the hall and carefully examined the area.

This woman had delicate features, but there was an indescribable wildness in her eyes. Like an untamed horse, she might kick you at any moment.

Shen Yifei couldn't fathom her cultivation level. His divine sense probed her, but it was like a mud ox sinking into the sea—not even a sound was heard.

"Don't bother. You're only at the early stage of the Nascent Soul realm. If you want to see through my cultivation level, you'll have to cultivate for another eight hundred years."

Shen Yifei withdrew his divine sense and stood motionless in the center of the hall.

The woman chuckled, took her legs off the handrail, stepped barefoot onto the stone slab, stood up, and walked to Shen Yifei.

She was half a head shorter than Shen Yifei, but she had a powerful presence. She circled around Shen Yifei once.

"Shen Yifei, the new sect leader of Qingyun Sect, is from Hehuan Sect. He cultivated with two demon kings in the Hundred Thousand Mountains and killed Chen Yunhe of Jinwu Sect. Your experiences this year are more exciting than most people's entire lives."

Shen Yifei's anus tightened. How did she know all this?

"Don't be nervous." The woman walked back to the chair and sat down, then crossed her legs. "The Heavenly Secrets Pavilion may not be good at much else, but it's incredibly well-informed. I know about any slight movement in the cultivation world."

"The Pavilion Master is indeed incredibly powerful."

"Stop flattering me." The woman threw the bottle of pills on the table. "Top-grade pills, did you refine them?"

"Yes."

"What kind of elixirs can you concoct?"

"We can refine anything that's common. As for anything uncommon, we can refine it if we have the recipe."

The woman squinted and stared at him for a few moments.

"Tell me, what brings you to the Heavenly Mystery Pavilion? You didn't just come here to give me two bottles of pills, did you?"

"I'll do business with you in the form of elixirs!"

"The elixir business? What does that mean?"

Shen Yifei chuckled, "My Qingyun Sect can refine top-grade pills in large quantities. If the Tianji Pavilion needs them, I can provide them to you. As you know, my top-grade pills are rare, and their prices outside are ridiculously high."

The woman was silent for a moment, then said, "The Heavenly Mystery Pavilion is not short of spirit stones, but it is short of pills, especially top-grade pills."

She paused for a moment, then said, "Do you know why?"

"I would like to hear the details."

"Because we don't know how to refine pills," the woman said bluntly. "The art of alchemy relies on inheritance. The Heavenly Mystery Pavilion has no alchemists."

Shen Yifei's heart skipped a beat. "The Heavenly Mystery Pavilion suddenly appeared more than ten years ago and occupied Cangwu Mountain. Rumor has it that you have quite a background, and even the major sects dare not provoke you. How come you don't even have a single alchemist?"

The woman glanced at him, a slight smile playing on her lips.

"Are you trying to trick me into telling me?"

"I wouldn't dare. I'm just curious."

"We lack the spiritual energy needed for alchemy!"

Shen Yifei was taken aback for a moment, then realized, "The cultivation techniques you practice don't use spiritual energy?"

"What we use is called demonic energy. Spiritual energy is poison to us; we can't touch it."

Shen Yifei's heart skipped a beat.

It turns out that the Heavenly Mystery Pavilion is a demonic sect, the most taboo existence in the cultivation world.

Hundreds of years ago, during the great war between the righteous and the demonic forces, countless people died. Even now, the major sects still grit their teeth in hatred at the mention of demonic cultivators. If word gets out that the Heavenly Mystery Pavilion is actually a den of demonic cultivators, the major sects could join forces to wipe it out.

"Scared?" The woman tilted her head to look at him, a smile playing on her lips.

"What's there to be afraid of?" Shen Yifei laughed. "I'm not a righteous person."

"You're not a righteous person? The sect leader of Qingyun Sect comes from Hehuan Sect, a true righteous person."

"Can the righteous path cultivate with a demon king? Can the righteous path eliminate an elder of the Golden Crow Sect? What are the things the righteous path capable of?"

The woman stared at him for a few moments, then laughed. When she laughed, her eyes curved, and she lost some of her wildness, gaining more femininity.

"You certainly don't seem like someone from the righteous path. My name is Gu Yunyan, the head of the Heavenly Mystery Pavilion."

Shen Yifei didn't stand on ceremony and plopped down on the chair next to him.

"Sect Leader Gu, your Heavenly Mystery Pavilion has occupied Cangwu Mountain for over a decade, just to hide here?"

"Hide? Do we, the Heavenly Mystery Pavilion, need to hide?" Gu Yunyan snorted.

"Then what are you all doing huddled here?"

"Is it any of your business?"

Shen Yifei wasn't annoyed by the rebuff. He took out several bottles of pills from his storage ring and arranged them in a row on the table.

"Supporting Essence Pills, Nourishing Essence Pills, Gathering Spirit Pills, and Barrier-Breaking Pills—all top-grade. Ten pills per bottle, fifty in total. Consider it a small gift."

Gu Yunyan glanced at the bottles but didn't touch them.

"Those who offer unsolicited favors are either treacherous or thieves."

"What you're saying, Pavilion Master Gu, is exactly what I'm looking to do business with the Heavenly Mystery Pavilion. You're short of pills, and I have pills—what a great deal!"

What do you need?

"Spiritual herbs, medicinal materials, spirit stones, anything is fine, and you can even exchange your information."

Gu Yunyan picked up a bottle of pills, poured out one, and examined it in her palm. The pill emitted a pale golden luster, a characteristic only found in top-grade pills.

"What do you want to know?"

"The matter of the Tianyan Sect."

Gu Yunyan paused, looked up at her, and said, "The Tianyan Sect has been wiped out for over a decade. Why are you asking about this?"

"I have some connection with the Tianyan Sect! I want to know the real culprit behind the Tianyan Sect's massacre!"

Gu Yunyan leaned back in her chair. "You want to investigate the Tianyan Sect and find the murderer who wiped out the entire sect back then? Fine, I'll give you the information, and you give me the pills. It's a fair trade."

Gu Yunyan paused, "As far as I know, the annihilation of the Tianyan Sect is related to the Golden Crow Sect, the Xuanbing Palace, and the Heavenly Sword Manor. You don't even know this?"

"These three sects joining forces are still not enough to destroy the Heavenly Evolution Sect. I think there's another mastermind behind this, and it must be the strongest one!"

Gu Yunyan chuckled, "You guessed right, there really is a mastermind behind it all."

"Could you please tell me, Master Gu?"

"Of course you can, but you think you can just trade these few bottles of pills for it? Aren't you underestimating my Heavenly Mystery Pavilion?"

Shen Yifei took out five more bottles of pills from his storage ring and neatly arranged them on the table.

"Fifty becomes one hundred and fifty. Is that enough?"

Gu Yunyan glanced at the medicine bottles and a slight smile appeared on her lips.

She put her legs down from the handrail, stood up barefoot on the stone slab, and walked to Shen Yifei.

"Your pills are useless against us!"

"What?" Shen Yifei suddenly realized that he had made a huge mistake.

As they say, what demonic cultivators need is demonic essence; spiritual energy is poison to them.

It's incredibly foolish of me to be using these pills as bargaining chips here!

"Master, what do you want?" Shen Yifei had lost the confidence he had when he arrived.

"I want you to help us refine magic pills!"