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

Foundation Establishment Pills are grade three pills, one grade higher than Qi Gathering Pills. Inner disciples rely on this when attempting to break through from the Foundation Establishment stage to the Golden Core stage. A high-quality Foundation Establishment Pill can sell for over five hundred spirit stones.

Shen Yifei pondered that once he had enough spirit stones, he would try to obtain some ingredients for Foundation Establishment Pills. If he succeeded in refining them, that would truly be a windfall.

Three days later, Li Ruolan came again.

This time, as soon as she entered, she took out a hundred spirit stones and slammed them on the table.

"Junior Brother Shen, give me two more!"

Shen Yifei smiled at her eager expression: "How's the result?"

"That's wonderful!" Li Ruolan lowered her voice, but couldn't hide the excitement in her eyes. "My husband ate it, and that very night he broke through one level, jumping directly from the eighth level of Qi Refining to the ninth level! He couldn't believe it himself, he thought he was dreaming."

Shen Yifei thought to himself, this is just the modified version; if it were the original, it could probably skip directly to Foundation Establishment. No, wait, his little Daoist partner could even explode his body!

He took out two and handed them to Li Ruolan.

Li Ruolan smiled and accepted the pills, then said, "By the way, Junior Brother Shen, could you sell me a few more of these pills? My wife has a few friends who also want to buy some."

Shen Yifei's heart skipped a beat, but he remained outwardly calm: "How many people?"

"Three or four, all at the Qi Refining stage, and their families have spirit stones."

Shen Yifei thought for a moment: "Okay, but it has to be kept secret. The source of the pills cannot be mentioned at all."

"I understand, I understand." Li Ruolan nodded repeatedly. "Don't worry, I'm very tight-lipped."

After Li Ruolan left, Shen Yifei did some calculations.

Two pills, with almost zero cost, yielded a net profit of one hundred spirit stones.

The problem is, too many pills can't be released at once. Scarcity increases value; too many will diminish their worth. And if word gets too widespread and attracts the attention of the Enforcement Hall, it will cause serious trouble.

We need to control it carefully and let it flow gradually.

For the next two weeks, Shen Yifei lived a very comfortable life.

He kept the alchemy room in perfect order, with medicinal herbs neatly categorized and the alchemy furnace gleaming.

Li Ruolan came twice more, buying a total of six pills. Adding the two from the first visit, Shen Yifei made a net profit of four hundred spirit stones.

With four hundred spirit stones, Shen Yifei felt much more at ease.

That evening, Shen Yifei had just returned from the market when he heard someone knocking on the door.

When I opened the door, I saw Liu'er standing outside, wearing a pink dress, her face flushed, and carrying a small bamboo basket.

"Senior brother!" Liu'er's eyes lit up when she saw him. "I've come to see you!"

Shen Yifei ushered her into the house, took the bamboo basket and looked inside. It contained several spiritual fruits and a small pot of wine.

"Where did you get all this?"

"I saved up spirit stones for a long time to buy this." Liu'er followed behind him, her eyes glancing around. "Senior brother, your courtyard is really big, much bigger than our outer sect courtyard."

Shen Yifei put down the bamboo basket and poured her a cup of tea: "Sit down, don't stand."

Liu'er sat down, holding her teacup, and kept her head down without saying a word.

Shen Yifei understood what was going on when he saw her expression.

"What's wrong? Missing me?"

Liu'er blushed even more and nodded.

Shen Yifei smiled and reached out to pat her head: "I missed you too. How have you been these past few days? Has your cultivation improved?"

"It's gone up!" Liu'er looked up, her eyes sparkling. "I'm at the fourth level of Qi Refining now! It's all thanks to my senior brother..."

Shen Yifei was taken aback: "Thanks to me? I didn't give you anything."

Liu'er blushed again, and after stammering for a long time, she finally whispered, "It's just... it's just that after that night, when I went back to cultivate, I found that my speed was much faster. Later I thought, it might be because of you, Senior Brother... you..."

Shen Yifei understood.

The medicinal scent emanating from him was so alluring that it stirred up all sorts of fantasies. Liu'er smelled it all night and then cultivated with him; perhaps she really did benefit from it.

"Great job, that's a good thing." Shen Yifei laughed. "Come on, let me see what the fourth level of Qi Refining looks like."

Liu'er stretched out her hand, and a wisp of spiritual energy, a faint blue color, gathered in her palm.

Shen Yifei took a look and confirmed that it was indeed the fourth level of Qi Refining, with a fairly solid foundation.

"Not bad, not bad. At this rate, you'll be able to reach the late stage of Qi Refining next year."

Liu'er felt embarrassed by the praise and withdrew her hand.

Seeing her shy expression, Shen Yifei felt a tickle in his heart.

Although this girl's cultivation level is low, she is young and beautiful, so delicate she looks like you could squeeze water from her. Moreover, she is completely devoted to him; what man wouldn't like a girl like that?

Just as he was about to say something, he suddenly heard a knock on the door.

He told Liu'er to sit down and went to open the door himself.

The door opened, and standing outside was Qin Wan.

Qin Wan smiled faintly, "Junior Brother Shen, it's been a long time."

Shen Yifei's mind went blank for a moment. He thought to himself, "Oh no, how did we all end up like this?"

"Senior Sister Qin, what brings you here?"

"What, you're not welcome?" Qin Wan smiled and walked inside.

She saw Liu'er sitting in the room, and the things on the table.

Liu'er also saw her.

The two women exchanged a glance, then simultaneously looked at Shen Yifei.

Shen Yifei felt a chill run down his spine, but he still had to pretend to be nonchalant: "Come, come, let me introduce you. Senior Sister Qin, this is Liu'er, an outer disciple. Liu'er, this is Senior Sister Qin Wan."

Liu'er quickly stood up and bowed: "Greetings, Senior Sister Qin."

Qin Wan looked her up and down, her gaze sweeping over her face before settling on her chest, then smiled and said, "Outer sect? You're quite pretty."

Liu'er felt a little uncomfortable under her gaze and lowered her head.

Shen Yifei quickly smoothed things over: "Please sit down, please sit down. Don't stand. Liu'er brought some spiritual fruits, Senior Sister Qin, would you like to try some?"

Qin Wan didn't stand on ceremony. She sat down at the table, picked up a spiritual fruit, and took a bite.

"Hmm, not bad, quite sweet."

Liu'er stood to the side, unsure whether to sit or stand.

Shen Yifei pulled her to sit down, and then sat down himself. For a moment, none of the three spoke.

The room was so quiet you could hear someone breathing.

After Qin Wan finished eating a spiritual fruit, she wiped her mouth with a handkerchief and looked at Shen Yifei: "Junior Brother Shen, I have two things to tell you."

Shen Yifei hurriedly said, "Senior sister, what is it?"

Qin Wan smiled, glancing at Liu'er: "Is it convenient to talk about it?"

Liu'er's expression changed, and she stood up to leave: "Senior brother, I'll go first..."

"No need." Shen Yifei grabbed her and pressed her back into her seat. "Senior Sister Qin, Liu'er is no outsider. Just say what you want to say."

Qin Wan glanced at him, then looked at Liu'er, and smiled gently.

"Alright, then I'll get straight to the point." She took out a small porcelain bottle from her bosom and placed it on the table. "I still have two of the Acacia Pills you gave me last time, but I couldn't bear to eat them. Later, I showed them to a friend, and she said that these pills are of extremely high quality and can't be bought on the market at all."

Shen Yifei breathed a sigh of relief; it turned out they had come to buy pills.

"Yes, there is, but..." He glanced at Liu'er, "Senior Sister Qin, shall we talk about this another day?"

Qin Wan understood, and stood up with a smile: "Okay, then I'll come again another day. I'll be going now."

She walked to the door, then suddenly turned back and smiled at Liu'er: "Little sister, your senior brother is quite capable. Serve him well, and you'll benefit from it."