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

Green Ivy gradually withdrew the demonic energy, and the flames in the furnace slowly died down.

The lid of the alchemy furnace popped open automatically, and a burst of hot air rushed out of the furnace, carrying a mixture of medicinal fragrance and burnt smell.

Three pills lay at the bottom of the furnace. Two were grayish-brown, and one was black.

Shen Yifei picked up the pill, looked at it, and placed it on the table.

"Did it work?" Song Hongliao leaned over to take a look.

"What a load of rubbish." Shen Yifei pointed at the dark, unremarkable pill. "This one barely qualifies as a low-grade magic pill. It's full of impurities, and while it might work, it has severe side effects. Those two aren't even low-grade; they're useless."

"So, do you consider this a successful or unsuccessful attempt?" Song Hongliao asked, looking at him.

"I guess you've managed to refine it, but the quality isn't good enough." Shen Yifei put away the three pills. "We'll try again tomorrow. It's too late today, you should go back and rest."

The three women were now stiff all over; they had been sitting for two hours, and their legs were numb.

Green Ivy rubbed her knees, Oriole stretched her shoulders, and Song Hongliao stomped her feet, making the copper rings jingle.

"What time tomorrow?" Green Ivy asked.

"It's still midnight. I need to think about tonight's experience and make improvements tomorrow."

The three women left the stone house, and their footsteps gradually faded into the distance.

Shen Yifei closed the door, and Liu Mengli floated out of the cauldron, laughing so hard she couldn't stand up straight.

"Master, when you touched that person's wrist just now, Green Ivy's face turned red. And that Oriole, when you pinched her shoulder, she trembled like she'd been struck by lightning."

"That was proper teaching."

"Does proper teaching require touching wrists and forearms? Massaging shoulders and upper arms? Smoothing hair down the back of the neck?"

"You're quite observant." Shen Yifei lay down on the bed. "Alright, enough nonsense, let's sleep."

"Sleep?" Liu Mengli floated onto the bed and nestled against his chest. "Master, are you planning to wait for Green Ivy to come back?"

Shen Yifei kept his eyes closed and didn't say anything.

"I saw Green Ivy glance back at the stone house as she left, and her eyes looked strange," Liu Mengli whispered in his ear. "That woman has taken a liking to you; she'll definitely be back tonight."

Shen Yifei pulled her off him. "Aren't you tired of thinking about these things every day?"

"I'm not tired. I just love watching you wreak havoc on people."

"I'll say it again, that's not a menace."

"Alright, alright, that's not a menace, that's saving an innocent girl." Liu Mengli rolled over and lay down next to him. "Master, what are you planning to do to win over Green Ivy when she comes back later?"

"Who said she was coming back?"

"I bet you, she'll knock on the door within the time it takes to brew a cup of tea."

Shen Yifei closed his eyes and ignored her.

Liu Mengli began to count, "One, two, three, four..."

When they counted to forty-eight, there was a knock on the door of the stone house.

"Senior Brother Shen, it's me, Green Ivy."

Shen Yifei opened his eyes and glanced at Liu Mengli. Liu Mengli shrugged, with an expression that said, "What did I say?", and shrank back into the cauldron.

Shen Yifei got out of bed, straightened his clothes, and pushed open the door.

Green Ivy stood at the doorway, still wearing her green dress, the short sword at her waist removed. Her hair was down, draped over her shoulders, giving her a more feminine air than before.

"Green Ivy, why are you back again?"

"Um... about my arm, you said you could help me clear it up." Green Ivy raised her hand, the inside of her wrist facing him. "When I was cultivating, I did feel that the demonic energy would pause here, but I never paid much attention to it. It only came to my mind today after you mentioned it."

Shen Yifei glanced at her and stepped aside to clear the doorway.

"Come in."

Green Ivy entered the stone house with her head down and stood in the center of the house.

"Sit down," Shen Yifei said, pointing to the edge of the bed.

Green Ivy glanced at the bed but didn't move.

Shen Yifei chuckled, "I only have one bed here. If you don't like it, you can stand up. But you have to sit to unblock the meridians, so I can't do it if you're standing."

Green Ivy bit her lip, walked over and sat on the edge of the bed, only a third of her bottom was on the bed, her back was straight, her hands were on her knees and she was holding her skirt.

Shen Yifei dragged a chair over and sat down opposite her, then reached out and took her wrist.

Green Ivy's wrists were slender, her skin pale to the point of being bluish, with a few blue veins faintly visible beneath the back of her hands. Her fingers were long, her nails neatly trimmed, and completely clean, without any paint.

Shen Yifei pressed his thumb against the inside of her wrist, and dark golden spiritual energy seeped in from his fingertips, flowing along her meridians.

The spiritual energy touched the demonic energy in her meridians, and the two forces collided. Shen Yifei's spiritual energy contracted, and Green Luo's demonic energy also contracted, then slowly and tentatively approached, like two dogs sniffing each other.

"Your demonic energy is a bit restless." Shen Yifei looked up at her. "Do you usually feel tightness in your chest when you cultivate, especially around midnight?"

Green Ivy paused for a moment, "How did you know?"

"I felt it out." Shen Yifei pushed her wrist upwards with his thumb. "The demonic energy in your dantian is too dense, it's all piled up and can't be released. It's like a group of people crammed into an alley, those in front can't move, and those behind are pushing forward, no wonder they're restless."

His hand stopped in the middle of his forearm, and his thumb pressed down on one spot.

Green Ivy let out a muffled groan and frowned.

"pain?"

"It's a little sour."

"That's right, it'll be sour. It's blocked here, the demonic energy can't get through, it's all piling up in the back. I'll clear it for you, and it'll be fine once it's cleared."

Shen Yifei increased the input of spiritual power, and the dark golden spiritual energy enveloped her demonic essence, pushing it forward. At first, the demonic essence was disobedient, trying to rush back and forth, but its retreat was blocked by the spiritual energy, so it could only grit its teeth and squeeze forward.

Green Ivy bit her lip, a fine layer of sweat beading on her forehead. Her knuckles were white as she gripped her skirt, and her legs were trembling.

Shen Yifei's hands didn't stop, pushing from the forearm to the upper arm, from the upper arm to the shoulder, and from the shoulder to the chest.

When his hand touched her chest, Green Ivy froze.

"What...what are you doing?"

"The meridian runs from beginning to end without interruption. If the Bai Tong point is interrupted, you have to start all over again."

Shen Yifei's hands didn't stop moving as he spoke; his palms were pressed against her chest, and spiritual energy seeped into her from her Tanzhong acupoint. Shen Yifei's palms rose and fell with her breath, and he could feel her heart pounding rapidly beneath his palms.

"Your heart is beating too fast," Shen Yifei said. "Relax."

"How...how can I relax?" Green Ivy's voice trembled slightly.

"Think about something else. Don't think about where my hand is on yours, think about something happy."

Shen Yifei lingered on his chest for a long time; even through the clothes, he could still feel the touch clearly.

The green ivy's chest wasn't large, just enough for Shen Yifei's palm to cover.

Through that thin green dress, you could feel the skin underneath was very taut, and the soft flesh below the collarbone was slightly hot.

Shen Yifei pressed down, and a slight tremor came from his palm, as if he had pressed down a startled sparrow.

"Don't be nervous." Shen Yifei's voice was calm. "The meridians fork here, one going towards the dantian and the other towards the heart meridian. You need to learn to control which path the demonic energy takes. When controlling fire, it goes through the heart meridian, making the fire intense. When controlling temperature, it goes through the dantian, making the fire stable. By branching out the two paths, your fire control level will improve significantly."

As Shen Yifei spoke, he rubbed his chest, rubbing one side and then the other. Green Luo couldn't possibly listen to any of his questions about whether or not there was a difference in their opinions.