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

Shen Yifei returned to the stone house and closed the door. Liu Mengli floated out of the cauldron, sat cross-legged on the alchemy platform, rested her chin on her hands, and tilted her head to look at him.

"Master, you're going to cause trouble again."

"What do you mean by 'causing trouble'? I asked her to help me. Refining the Demon Pill requires demonic fire, and I don't have any right now. Gu Yunyan's little bit of demonic energy isn't even enough to ignite a spark. If Song Hongliao could lend me some more demonic energy, maybe I could succeed in making the pill."

"You're just pretending." Liu Mengli rolled her eyes. "Do you think I don't know what you're up to? First, you seduce people and have them throw themselves at you, then you use the guise of alchemy to get them to work for you. And then, while they're working together, you end up in bed with them."

"I have never forced any woman to sleep with me! They all did it voluntarily."

"That medicinal smell on you is like catnip to women. Didn't you see that Song Hongliao staring wide-eyed at your collar just now?"

Shen Yifei raised his arm and sniffed, but still couldn't smell anything.

"Would you call this talent?" Shen Yifei lowered his arm.

"I agree." Liu Mengli floated up from the alchemy platform and landed on his shoulder, her lips close to his ear. "Master, if you used this talent to open a brothel, you'd be guaranteed to make a fortune every day."

"I'd never run a brothel."

"Then you can continue to molest innocent women. I enjoy watching you molest people. You can molest them in front, and I'll help you push your buttocks from behind."

"Can't you have any shame?"

"What's the point of having a face? Can a face feed you?" Liu Mengli said matter-of-factly. "Master, do you need my help to take down Song Hongliao tonight?"

"Who said I was going to win her over?"

"You were thinking to yourself. When you were watching that person's ponytail swinging back and forth, your eyes were practically glued to their butt."

Shen Yifei pulled her off his shoulder. "Alright, alright, stop talking nonsense. You go back first, I'll study the formula for the Demon Pill."

Liu Mengli reluctantly retreated into the Myriad Things Cauldron. Shen Yifei took out the jade slip, probed it with his divine sense, and the contents of the pill formula unfolded in his mind.

The refining process for demon pills is indeed different from that for spirit pills.

The essence of elixirs lies in the synergistic and antagonistic relationships between medicinal materials. By controlling the heat, the medicinal properties of different materials are combined to form a complete cycle of medicinal power.

Magic pills are different. The core of a magic pill is magic essence, and the role of medicinal herbs is to assist the magic essence in taking shape. It's like building a house: magic essence is the bricks and tiles, and medicinal herbs are the mortar. Once you have the bricks, the mortar holds them together, and the house is built.

The prescription listed seven medicinal herbs, all of which can be found on Mount Cangwu. Gu Yunyan said to use any herbs she liked, and that she would have to go to the herb garden to pick some later.

The key is the heat control.

The magic pill needs to be calcined with demonic fire. The temperature of demonic fire is lower than that of spiritual fire, but it has strong penetrating power and can directly burn into the inside of the medicinal materials, forcing out the medicinal properties.

Shen Yifei did not possess demonic fire. However, he had Gu Yunyan's three strands of demonic essence and spiritual fire stored in his dantian. He was now in the early stage of the Nascent Soul realm, and the temperature of his spiritual fire was much higher than before.

Could we use spirit fire as a base and demonic energy as a catalyst to create a flame with the characteristics of demonic fire?

He sat cross-legged and guided the spiritual energy in his dantian. The dark golden spiritual energy enveloped the three wisps of black energy, circling twice within his dantian. The black energy, enveloped by the spiritual energy, slowly seeped into it, transforming the dark golden color into a dark golden color with black patterns.

He channeled his spiritual energy to his fingertips, and with a "snap," a wisp of flame ignited at his fingertips.

The color is wrong; it's neither the gold of a spirit fire nor the black of a demonic fire. It's a dull gold, with black streaks mixed in, like a piece of gold that has been smoked.

The temperature is also wrong; it's lower than the spirit fire but higher than the demon fire, stuck in the middle.

He brought his finger close to a piece of wood in front of him, and the flame licked it. The surface of the wood began to smoke, but it didn't catch fire. After a while, the wood turned into a piece of charcoal. It didn't change shape, but it crumbled when he squeezed it with his hand.

All the moisture inside was forced out; the substance is still there, but its properties have changed.

Shen Yifei stared at the piece of charred charcoal for a few moments.

This fire is interesting. Spiritual fire burns, demonic fire stews, but this fire simmers. It doesn't rush to burn things away, but slowly forces out what's inside.

It should be fine for alchemy.

He extinguished the flames, stood up, and left the stone house. The herb garden was right behind the stone house. Pushing open the door, he saw that the herbs grew haphazardly, mostly wild.

All seven medicinal herbs listed in the recipe were available on Mount Cangwu. He collected five portions according to the recipe's dosage, enough for five refining attempts. The first few attempts would definitely fail, so he needed to prepare several more portions.

After gathering the medicinal herbs and returning to the stone house, it was already getting dark.

Tonight, Shen Yifei knew he couldn't use the Myriad Things Cauldron for alchemy. He moved the alchemy furnace left behind by the Heavenly Evolution Sect to the center of the room and inspected it thoroughly. The furnace chamber was clean, without any cracks, and the outlet for the elixir was clear. Although the furnace was old, it was still usable.

He arranged the medicinal herbs in order, separating them into five portions, each wrapped in paper with the name and quantity of the herbs written on it.

Then he sat in front of the alchemy furnace, closed his eyes, and meditated.

It's still early past midnight, but Song Hongliao has a fiery temper and might arrive early.

Shen Yifei had just closed his eyes when he heard footsteps outside the door. It wasn't just one person, but several; the footsteps were very light, making a soft, fragmented sound on the ground.

"Master, someone's here, several women. Your grand plan for tonight is going to be ruined," Liu Mengli said from inside the cauldron.

Shen Yifei opened his eyes, and the door creaked open.

Three women stood at the door. Song Hongliao was in the lead, followed by two unfamiliar faces. Both were young and beautiful women, and they didn't look very old. One wore a green dress and the other a yellow dress, and both had short knives tucked into their waistbands.

"I've brought you some helpers." Song Hongliao walked in casually. "You can't manage refining pills all by yourself, so I've found you two assistants. This is Green Ivy, and this is Yellow Oriole. They're both my junior sisters."

The woman in the green dress nodded to Shen Yifei, while the woman in the yellow dress smiled, revealing two small tiger teeth.

Shen Yifei glanced at the two women, then at Song Hongliao.

He originally only wanted to be alone with Song Hongliao, but this woman brought two more people over, which shows she doesn't really trust him.

"Miss Song is very thoughtful." Shen Yifei stood up. "Perfect, I need three people. One to control the fire, one to hand over the medicinal herbs, and one to watch the temperature of the alchemy furnace. The formula your senior sister gave me states that the demonic pill requires precise control of the fire; even the slightest deviation will not work."

Song Hongliao was taken aback, looking at the alchemy furnace in front of her. "So you really want to refine pills?"

"You think I'm joking?"

"I thought you..." Song Hongliao swallowed her words halfway through, her ears turning slightly red.

Shen Yifei pretended not to see, "Did you bring the magic elemental ore?"

Song Hongliao took out five dark stones from her storage bag and placed them on the table.

The stone was about the size of a fist, and the demonic energy inside seeped out through the stone's surface, giving the room a cool and gloomy atmosphere.

"Is five dollars enough?"

"Five pieces are just right." Shen Yifei picked up one piece and weighed it in his hand. "How much magic energy is in this ore?"

"Sixty percent," Song Hongliao said. "The highest quality ones dug out from under Cangwu Mountain are seventy percent; this is just ordinary stuff."

"Sixty percent is enough." Shen Yifei placed the ore next to the alchemy furnace. "Let's begin. Green Ivy controls the fire, Yellow Oriole delivers the medicinal herbs, and Miss Song monitors the furnace temperature."

Under Shen Yifei's direction, the three women each found a place to sit.

"Everyone, this may be your first time practicing alchemy. Follow my instructions exactly, and don't deviate even slightly."

Shen Yifei claimed he was refining pills, but in reality, he was planning his next move.