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

Shen Yifei stood up and stretched his limbs, his bones cracking a few times.

"Keep an eye on Song Hongliao while she's refining pills tonight. That woman is acting strangely."

"Something's not right?"

"The way she looked at me today was strange. Before, she would glare at me, but now she's glancing at me. Glaring and glancing are different. Glaring is like she wants to gouge my eyes out, while glancing is like she wants to look at other parts of my body."

Liu Mengli laughed, "She's attracted to your three legs. She wants to see how you became a three-legged toad!"

The pothos plant came back in the evening.

This time he wasn't carrying a plate; instead, he was clutching a bulging cloth bag in his hand.

"Senior Brother Shen, I sewed you a new coat." She placed the cloth bag on the table, her head bowed. "I noticed your outer robe was torn, so... I sewed this one."

Shen Yifei opened the cloth bag, inside was a light blue robe, made of good material with fine stitching.

"You can sew clothes?"

"My fellow students and I learn to make it when we have free time."

Shen Yifei unfolded the robe and held it up to his body; it was the perfect size.

How did you know my size?

Green Ivy blushed. "Today I...I estimated it."

Shen Yifei folded the robe and put it into his storage ring. "Alright, I'll take it. Did you tell your senior and junior sisters when you got back?"

"I did mention it this afternoon when I was chatting with some senior sisters. They said that Senior Brother Shen can cure illnesses and expel cold toxins, but I didn't mention dual cultivation..."

Shen Yifei nodded. "That's fine. Let them figure it out themselves. They'll come to me when they understand."

Green Ivy responded and turned to leave, but stopped at the door.

"Senior Brother Shen, um... shall I come to the alchemy session tonight?"

"Are you alright?"

"It's still a little sour, but much better than during the day." Green Ivy lowered her head. "I was thinking... I could hand you the medicinal herbs from the side."

"Okay, come if you don't mind the fatigue."

Green Ivy nodded, pushed open the door, and went out.

Shen Yifei leaned against the headboard, and Liu Mengli floated out of the cauldron and sat cross-legged on his stomach.

"Master, you've got a good plan. Once Green Vine goes back and tells everyone, all the women in the Heavenly Mystery Pavilion will be very shrewd. If her senior and junior sisters ask, and she tells them about your excellent medical skills, who knows, someone might come knocking on the door tonight."

"It would be better if they came to our door; it would save me the trouble of searching for them one by one."

"You're that confident?"

"Tch, they don't even have that much confidence, what a waste of their talent!"

At midnight, the door of the stone house was knocked on precisely on time.

Shen Yifei opened the door, and three women stood outside in turn.

The three women filed in and each found their place. Today, Shen Yifei didn't have them follow yesterday's assignments; instead, he rearranged them.

"Green Ivy, you sit and rest, and keep an eye on the temperature of the alchemy furnace for me. Song Hongliao, you pass on the medicinal herbs. Yellow Oriole, you control the fire."

Song Hongliao frowned. "I didn't hand over any medicinal herbs."

"I've never done this before. Passing medicinal herbs is simpler than controlling the fire. You're quick-witted, so you'll learn fast."

Song Hongliao snorted and didn't say anything more, squatting down in front of the pile of medicinal herbs.

Huang Ying sat down on the left side of the alchemy furnace, placing her hand on the furnace wall, and demonic energy emerged from her fingertips. Her demonic energy was gentler than that of Luo Luo; five strands of black energy twisted together and spread out in the furnace, making the fire even.

"Hmm, you have a good foundation in fire control." Shen Yifei walked up behind her. "Have you practiced it before?"

"No, it's just... I pay more attention to controlling the precision of my demonic energy when I cultivate." Huang Ying's voice was very soft and gentle.

Shen Yifei leaned against her from behind, pressing tightly against her back, and placed his hands on Huang Ying's hands.

Huang Ying's breathing became erratic. The medicinal scent emanating from Shen Yifei wafted into her nose, carrying an indescribable warmth that rushed from her nasal cavity to her forehead. Her hand was held down by Shen Yifei; she wanted to pull it away but couldn't, and she wanted to push it forward but couldn't.

Even more frightening, she clearly sensed something strange behind her.

"Don't release all the demonic energy from your fingertips. Leave 20% on your fingertips and draw it back." Shen Yifei was still explaining seriously, seemingly unaware of Huang Ying's strange behavior.

Song Hongliao squatted in front of the pile of medicinal herbs, squeezing the black thread grass in her hand until it was almost juicy.

"Are you going to hand it over or not?" Shen Yifei turned his head to look at her.

"You haven't said you'd let go yet."

"Put it out now."

Song Hongliao threw the black-thread grass into the furnace, the motion of throwing it carrying a burst of fire. The grass bounced once in the furnace and rolled to the edge of the furnace wall.

"Be gentle! This isn't a dart, it's medicinal herbs. You have to use your hand to place it, be gentle. Throwing a woman onto the bed like that, that's rape!"

Song Hongliao's face flushed crimson, even the roots of her neck seemed to burn. She stared at Shen Yifei for a couple of breaths, her lips trembling, but she couldn't utter a single word.

Shen Yifei whispered in Huang Ying's ear, "Come tonight, and I'll help you get through to the top."

Ignoring Huang Ying's reaction, he released her after speaking.

Shen Yifei approached Song Hongliao and said, "If the pills aren't refined well tonight, I'll tell the Pavilion Master and have her punish you by making you my bed warmer!"

"Say it again?" Song Hongliao's voice was squeezed out from between her teeth.

"I said, if the alchemy doesn't turn out well tonight, I'll tell the sect leader and have her punish you by making you my bed warmer. You'll have to make my bed and fold the blankets every day, warm my bed at night, and empty my chamber pot in the morning."

Song Hongliao suddenly stood up and threw the half-cut black thread grass in her hand at Shen Yifei's face.

Shen Yifei turned his head to dodge, but the grass root grazed his ear and flew past, embedding itself deeply into the wooden door behind him.

"You fucking want to kill me!"

"Shen Yifei!" Song Hongliao's hand was already on the hilt of the knife. "If you keep talking nonsense, I'll turn you into two legs tonight."

Upon hearing her words, Shen Yifei knew that she had figured out the meaning of three legs after going back.

Green Ivy squatted beside the alchemy furnace, glancing at Song Hongliao one moment and Shen Yifei the next, her mouth opening and closing repeatedly. She wanted to say something to ease the tension, but she really didn't know what to say.

Huang Ying sat on the left side of the alchemy furnace, her hand still pressed against the furnace wall. Her demonic energy had not been withdrawn, and the small flame in the furnace flickered back and forth, as chaotic as her heartbeat.

Shen Yifei didn't care. If a fight really broke out, he wouldn't care at all. Apart from Gu Wuyou being in a league of her own, he could easily defeat the other female disciples.

However, this was not his original intention. He believed that conquering these women could not be done with force, but with his wisdom and talent!

"I'm telling the truth. The sect leader said that if I can't refine a top-grade item in three days, she'll cut off three of my legs. But if the responsibility lies with you, I don't know how you'll be punished. Being my maid is the least of your worries!"

Song Hongliao glared at him, her cheeks puffed out like a pufferfish. She placed her hand on the hilt of the knife, pulled it out half an inch, then pushed it back, repeating this several times.

She knew that Shen Yifei was bluffing her, but Gu Yunyan had instructed her to follow Shen Yifei's arrangements as much as possible and prioritize alchemy.

Suppressing her anger, Song Hongliao returned to the medicine potion and obediently began putting the medicine into the furnace.

After that, Shen Yifei stopped flirting with them and started refining pills step by step.

An hour later, six pills were produced. This time, the quality was much better than the last time, but they were still only of medium grade.

Shen Yifei took out three pills and, without even looking at them, distributed them directly to the three women.

Song Hongliao knew her stuff; she recognized that the quality of this batch of pills was much higher than the last.

Her eyes widened. "Give it back to us this time?"

Shen Yifei didn't even look at her directly. "Fine, then don't. It'll save you the energy to kill me!"

Song Hongliao hurriedly put away the pills and turned to leave; she didn't want to stay here any longer.

The pothos followed closely behind, swaying and waddling along.

After the two left, Huang Ying walked up to Shen Yifei and asked, "Senior Brother Shen, do you still stand by your promise to smooth things over for me tonight?"