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

Liu'er was an outer disciple who hadn't learned any cultivation techniques and had a low cultivation level.

In the latter half of the night, Liu'er felt her spiritual energy was running low. Shen Yifei was alright, except for a dry mouth, so he got up and poured himself a bowl of cold tea.

Liu'er lay on the bed, "Senior brother, your...your skill is amazing."

Shen Yifei chuckled, climbed into bed, and hugged her: "Sleep well, we still have to travel tomorrow."

Liu'er snuggled into his arms, found a comfortable position, and quickly fell asleep.

Shen Yifei, however, did not sleep.

He held Liu'er's soft body in his arms, but his mind was on something else entirely.

The girl reacted to his scent, and Qin Wan had also mentioned that he smelled of medicine. Something's not right.

He spent three years tending the fire in the alchemy room. If he had any smell, it should be the smell of smoke and fire, not the smell of medicine.

Unless... unless it's because of the refinement of those two women.

Ye Hongling and Zhao Xin, one in the mid-Foundation Establishment stage and the other in the late-Foundation Establishment stage, were refined into spiritual liquid and swallowed by him using the Myriad Things Cauldron.

Qin Wan said that the smell was so alluring that it made people have impure thoughts. Liu'er had an immediate reaction after smelling it.

What the hell is this? A benefit given to me by the Cauldron of All Things?

Shen Yifei lowered his head and sniffed his armpits. Apart from a slightly sour smell, he couldn't smell anything else. But Liu'er and Qin Wan could smell it, which meant that the smell was real.

If he were to meet a female cultivator in the future and she were to become aroused simply by smelling his scent, wouldn't he become a human aphrodisiac?

As Shen Yifei thought about it, he chuckled to himself.

This benefit seems pretty good; there's no need to worry about women for dual cultivation in the future.

The next morning, the two got up and washed up. Liu'er was still a little unsteady on her feet, but she was in good spirits. She looked at Shen Yifei with watery eyes, as if she were looking at a treasure.

"Senior brother, after we return to the sect, will I still be able to come see you?"

Shen Yifei nodded: "Come on, I live in the courtyard on the east side of the inner courtyard, the one with the alchemy room."

Liu'er wrote it down, her eyes crinkling with laughter.

A few days later, the two returned to the Hehuan Sect.

Liu'er was an outer disciple and had to return to the outer sect. Before parting, she held his hand, looked at him for a long time with reluctance, and then left, turning back every few steps.

Shen Yifei returned to his courtyard, closed the door, and collapsed onto the bed.

This trip was very fruitful.

A second-tier demon core, mission complete. He refined an Ironback Wolf, gaining a free talent for fur; now his hide is impervious to blades and spears among those of the same cultivation level. He also incidentally rescued an outer sect girl, getting a free night of pleasure.

That bald guy was taken in by the Myriad Things Cauldron, but it hasn't had time to refine him yet.

Shen Yifei took out the Cauldron of Myriad Things and probed it with his consciousness.

The bald man lay motionless in the hazy space, like a dead pig.

Shen Yifei silently recited the word "refine" in his mind.

A short while later, after the bald man screamed in agony, he turned into a shiny, black pill with a faint, fishy smell.

Smelling the aroma, Shen Yifei hesitated for a moment, but still opened his mouth and swallowed it.

Immediately afterwards, some more information came to mind.

"Body strengthening has slightly increased physical strength."

Is that all the effect? ​​Shen Yifei was somewhat disappointed. But then he thought about it and understood.

She already possessed the Ironback Wolf talent, and her physique had been greatly strengthened; the bald man was merely icing on the cake.

He then remembered that question: Why does the Wanwu Ding work sometimes and sometimes not?

That day in the Black Pine Forest, I smashed the Ironback Wolf with the cauldron, and it was captured. I smashed the Crimson Flame Fox with the cauldron, but the fox wasn't captured; it was just stunned.

Later, they smashed the bald man with a cauldron, and he was taken back inside.

There must be a pattern here.

Shen Yifei sat cross-legged on the ground and went through his experiences using the cauldron from beginning to end.

He finally figured out a pattern: it was a matter of level of understanding!

Zhao Xin, Ye Hongling, Baldy, and Ironback Wolf were all difficult for me to fight, so their cultivation levels were definitely higher than mine, while Crimson Flame Fox was about the same level as me.

This cauldron only accepts pills refined from those of higher cultivation levels; those refined from lower levels are useless.

However, using this cauldron to smash people every time doesn't seem like a good solution. Those whose cultivation levels are much higher than his can't even get close.

It seems we need to do some more research.

The next morning, Shen Yifei went to the mission hall to hand in his mission.

Shen Yifei placed the Crimson Flame Fox's demon core on the table: "Senior Sister Li, this is a second-tier Crimson Flame Fox. Please take a look."

Senior Sister Li picked up the demon core, examined it against the light, and then probed it with her spiritual energy.

"You're quite something. You managed to kill a second-tier demon beast in the early stages of Foundation Establishment and returned unscathed. You've got some skills."

Shen Yifei humbly replied, "It's all luck, just good luck."

Senior Sister Li put away the demon core, made a note in the ledger, and then took out her jade token and pressed it onto a jade plate.

"Twenty contribution points have been credited to your account."

Shen Yifei accepted the jade token, thanked him, and turned to leave.

"Hey," Senior Sister Li called out to him, "would you still accept a similar mission next time?"

"Of course I'll answer," Shen Yifei said with a smile, turning around. "But I'll have to rest for a couple of days. I'm a bit tired from this trip, so I need to take a break."

After leaving the mission hall, he went straight to the library.

It was the same old man. Seeing him arrive, the old man raised his eyelids slightly: "You got contribution points this time?"

"Got it, got it." Shen Yifei handed over the jade token. "Twenty points, go to the second floor."

The old man took the jade token, pressed it onto a jade slip, and handed it back to him: "Go in, it's the third row on the left on the second floor. The jade slips on alchemy are all there. One hour, or you'll lose contribution points."

Shen Yifei thanked the old man and pushed open the door to the library.

It was bigger than he had imagined, three floors, with an empty center and bookshelves all around, reaching to the ceiling beams. It was dizzying to look at.

He found the stairs and climbed to the second floor.

The second floor was smaller than the first, but it still had a lot of books, with rows and rows of bookshelves packed tightly together. Following the old man's instructions, he found the third row on the left, and sure enough, the entire row of bookshelves was filled with jade slips on alchemy.

Shen Yifei's eyes were blurry from looking at these jade slips.

He first picked up the book "Basic Introduction to Alchemy" and stuck it on his forehead.

A flood of information rushed into my mind.

The process of alchemy, the types of alchemy furnaces, the identification of medicinal materials, the control of fire, the application of alchemy techniques... a whole bunch of densely packed basic knowledge.

After reading it, Shen Yifei's head was buzzing.

So alchemy is this complicated?

He originally thought it was just a matter of throwing the medicinal herbs into the furnace and burning them, and whatever the result was, that was fine.

Only now do I realize that alchemy emphasizes the roles of the principal, assistant, and adjuvant elements, the mutual generation of the five elements, and the different levels of heat (gentle and vigorous fire) and time (longer and earlier). A slight miscalculation can ruin the entire batch of elixirs.

He then picked up "Detailed Explanation of the Qi Gathering Pill" and stuck it on his forehead.

This time the information is more detailed.

The Qi Gathering Pill, a second-grade elixir, uses Longyang Grass as its main ingredient and Poria, Ganoderma, and Blood Ginseng Root as auxiliary ingredients. Longyang Grass is hot in nature and belongs to the Fire element; Poria is neutral and belongs to the Earth element; Ganoderma is warm and belongs to the Wood element; and Blood Ginseng Root is hot and belongs to the Fire element. The combination of the principal, assistant, and adjuvant herbs, the order of the five elements' mutual generation, the control of the heat, and the timing are all crucial…

The more Shen Yifei looked, the more guilty he felt.

Using the Myriad Things Cauldron to refine pills before was practically a fluke. If he were to refine them himself, he wouldn't be able to refine even one Qi Gathering Pill, let alone ten.

He memorized the contents of the two jade slips and then picked up the "Danhuo Jue" (a book on alchemy and fire).

The Elixir Fire Technique is a fire-based spell specifically used for alchemy, far more sophisticated than ordinary fireball spells. It is divided into three types: gentle fire, powerful fire, and alternating gentle and powerful fire, each with its own unique techniques and incantations.

Shen Yifei memorized the set of rules and felt a little more confident.

An hour passed quickly, and he left the library and headed straight to the market to buy medicinal herbs.