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

Song Hongliao jumped to her feet!

She stood up too abruptly, causing the chair to tip backward and crash to the ground with a thud. Her ponytail lashed out and struck Shen Yifei's face, making him wince in pain.

"What are you doing?" Shen Yifei asked, rubbing his face.

"What are you talking about?" Song Hongliao glared at him, her hand already on the hilt of her knife. "If you push that hand up an inch more, you won't be leaving this door alive today."

"My hand is on your shoulder, about three inches from your chest. Look how scared you are! I'm your doctor now, and in my eyes, you're a patient!"

Song Hongliao's voice rose eight octaves, "Patient! Who knows what you're up to? Let me tell you, don't think I won't touch you just because you're some damn sect leader. This is the Heavenly Mystery Pavilion, not your Qingyun Sect."

"I know this is the Heavenly Mystery Pavilion, your territory, and I wouldn't dare to act recklessly! I'm only clearing your meridians because I see you suffering so much from the cold poison."

"Who's pitiful?"

"Aren't you pitiful? Over a hundred years of accumulated cold poison in your body, your hands and feet are always ice-cold, and when you cultivate, the demonic energy travels through your meridians like it's walking on a knife's edge. Doesn't it hurt?"

Song Hongliao's lips twitched, but she didn't say anything.

Shen Yifei righted the chair that had fallen to the ground.

"Fine, if you don't want to get it treated, that's fine too. Anyway, you're the one in pain, not me. Go back and think it over carefully, and come back anytime when you've made up your mind."

Song Hongliao stood there, her hand still on the hilt of the knife, but she didn't pull it out. She stared at Shen Yifei for a few moments, then turned and left.

I paused for a moment when I reached the door.

"Is what Green Ivy said true?"

"What's real or fake?"

"She said you helped her clear her meridians, the tightness in her chest dissipated, and her demonic energy flowed much smoother during cultivation."

"Can't you tell if it's real or not?" Shen Yifei crossed his arms, looking indifferent as if he didn't care whether I treated him or not. I said, "I just massaged your arm. Is your left arm lighter than your right arm now? Is the demonic energy moving less sluggishly than before?"

Song Hongliao raised her left arm and moved it around a couple of times, and it did feel much lighter.

Before, when I raised my arm, I always felt like something was dragging down on it, but now that feeling is much lighter. The flow of demonic energy through my left arm is much smoother now, unlike before when it felt choppy.

"Feel it for yourself, whether what I said is true or not," Shen Yifei's voice came from behind.

Song Hongliao bit her lip, didn't turn around, and pushed open the door to go out.

Liu Mengli floated out of the cauldron and rode on Shen Yifei's neck.

"Master, you almost succeeded just now."

"We almost failed."

"She'll come again next time," Liu Mengli said with experience. "The more she thinks about it, the more comfortable it feels when you put your hand on her arm, and the more uncomfortable she feels from the cold poison in her body. She'll just come to you on her own."

"You seem to understand women quite well."

"I am a woman, of course I understand women." Liu Mengli licked her lips. "Master, when you were massaging her arms just now, I observed that Song Hongliao is more well-endowed than Luoluo. Her chest was tied tightly, so it was hard to tell, but look at her waist, it's as thin as a wasp's waist, and her hips are wide."

"You have a keen eye for detail."

"I'm just helping you choose. Let me tell you, women with slim waists and big hips are the most difficult to deal with!"

Shen Yifei pulled her off his neck. "I'm not afraid of troublemakers. Don't you know my strength?"

The three arrived precisely at midnight that night.

Song Hongliao walked at the front, her dark blue dress replaced with a black one, her ponytail still high, and the two short knives still at her waist. Before entering, she tapped the knife handles on the door frame, and the copper rings jingled.

"What are you banging on?" Shen Yifei sat in front of the alchemy furnace without even looking up.

"I was afraid you'd fall asleep."

"I'm asleep, so I won't hear you knocking."

Song Hongliao snorted and led the two inside, each taking their place. Green Ivy sat on the left side of the alchemy furnace to control the fire, Yellow Oriole squatted in front of the pile of medicinal herbs to arrange them, and Song Hongliao sat cross-legged in front of the furnace, staring at the temperature mark.

"Let's try a different refining method today." Shen Yifei stuffed the first piece of demonic ore into the furnace. "Yesterday's furnace was too hot; the medicinal properties were forced out before they could be fully incorporated. Today, the fire needs to be steady, and the medicine needs to be prepared slowly. It's like a woman taking off her clothes; you can't just start tearing them off all at once, you have to take them off one piece at a time."

The three women looked up at him at the same time.

Song Hongliao frowned. "If you're going to refine pills, just do it. Can you please stop using these analogies?"

"I'm stating the facts." Shen Yifei placed his hand on the furnace wall, and dark golden spiritual energy surged from his palm. There were a few more strands of black silk in the spiritual energy than yesterday. "Rushing things will damage the elixir, just like a man will hurt himself if he rushes. You are all women, you should understand this principle."

Green Ivy lowered her head, her ear tips turning red. Yellow Oriole buried her face behind the pile of herbs, only her eyes showing. Song Hongliao stared at him, her mouth opening and closing again.

"Control the fire." Shen Yifei glanced at Green Luo. "Don't use five strands twisting into one today. The force of five strands is different, and the resulting strands will be thick and thin. Use three strands instead: thumb, index finger, and middle finger. The magic energy from three fingers is the most stable."

Green Ivy tried it out, and three wisps of black smoke emerged from her fingertips, twisting together in the furnace. The fire was smaller than yesterday, but much more stable, and the temperature inside the furnace rose at a steady pace.

"Yes, that's right. You can't force it; you have to coax it. Like coaxing a woman, you can't rush it; you have to take it slow. You need to know when it wants something and when it doesn't. If the temperature is too high, it won't be happy; if the temperature is too low, it won't be happy either. When it's neither too high nor too low, neither too high nor too low, it'll be comfortable."

Song Hongliao frowned. "Can't you speak properly? You're bringing up coaxing women when you're refining pills."

"I'm telling the truth. Think about it yourselves, isn't your demonic energy like this too? When you cultivate, the harder you try to press it into your dantian, the more it pushes outwards. When you relax, it goes back in on its own."

The three women exchanged glances without speaking, but their expressions showed that Shen Yifei was right.

As Shen Yifei refined the pills, he kept describing them aloud.

"The Cold Marrow Flower blooms whole. This thing is delicate; it melts when the temperature is too high and doesn't melt when the temperature is too low. You have to figure out its temperament. It's like kissing a woman; too light and you won't feel anything, too heavy and you'll bite your tongue."

When he put the flower into the oven, he rubbed his finger on the petals, and the petals trembled, slowly curled, and black sap seeped from the edges.

"See? When it's comfortable, it starts to leak fluid on its own."

Song Hongliao finally couldn't hold back any longer.

"Could you phrase it differently?"

"What do you mean by 'in other words'? This is professional terminology. In alchemy, the 'flowing water' refers to the extraction of the active ingredients from the medicinal herbs. What did you think it was?"

Green Ivy's hand trembled, and the fire in the stove suddenly surged.

"Watch your hand! Keep it steady! Watch your speed!"

Green Ivy took a deep breath, stabilized the demonic energy, and the fire finally subsided slowly.

Song Hongliao's brows furrowed deeply, but she didn't say anything more. She found that the more she talked, the more excited Shen Yifei became.

He calmed down when he didn't speak.

But Shen Yifei would never let such a good opportunity slip by; he was determined to show these three girls his power tonight.