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

Shen Yifei and Shi San lowered their heads and walked quickly toward the temporary dark shed at the deepest part of the backyard.

There was an iron cage in the shed, covered with a thick black cloth.

Shen Yifei lifted a corner of the black cloth, revealing Hongxiu locked inside.

Hongxiu's hands were chained above her head, her long hair was disheveled, covering half of her face, and the half of her face that was exposed was indescribably charming.

Originally, this role was meant for Liu Mengli, but Liu Mengli insisted on taking the lead, saying that she had to intimidate Xuanming right from the start!

Shen Yifei begged Ye Ling again, but Ye Ling refused no matter what, and wouldn't even go into the cage.

Helpless, they had no choice but to let Hongxiu take the lead. Hongxiu was a rare member of the Xuanpin bloodline, and Xuanming had probably never seen her before!

When Hongxiu saw Shen Yifei, she raised an eyebrow and complained in a low voice, "Young Master, this iron chain is hurting my wrist."

"Sister Hongxiu, bear with it. We'll see if you can bewitch that old man in a moment. If you can distract him for even a few moments, he'll surely die today." Shen Yifei adjusted her gauze dress again, deliberately pulling down the shoulder area.

Shi San, standing to the side, said timidly, "Sir... that Xuan Ming... he looks so scary. His eyes are like knives. He just glanced at me, and my legs went weak..."

"What are you going to do about your legs going weak? You transform into a fire qilin and hold that burly man back!"

Shi San, with a mournful face, said, "Sir, that knife of his... I... I feel like wetting myself just looking at it!"

Shen Yifei patted the back of his head. "They should be afraid of you. Remember, after you transform, don't worry about anything else, just breathe fire at him as much as you can!"

The two pushed the cage out of the dark shed and walked towards the center of the courtyard. Xuanming was holding a teacup, slowly blowing on the tea foam and taking a few sips, looking to be in a very good mood.

Hearing the sound of iron wheels rolling over the bluestone slabs, he put down his teacup and looked up into the cage.

Upon seeing this, his hand holding the teacup paused slightly.

The woman in the cage, half-covered by a gauze dress and chained, exuded a demonic aura. But this demonic aura was unlike anything he had ever seen before!

Xuanming squinted, bent down and leaned closer to examine the cage carefully.

He stared at it for several moments before slowly straightening up and looking at Hou Wanshan, a rare hint of satisfaction in his voice: "My lord, this is indeed quite good. What is its origin?"

"Your Excellency has a keen eye." Hou Wanshan quickly bowed. "This woman was found in an ancient ruin. She is said to be a descendant of an ancient demon race with an extremely special bloodline. I lost more than a dozen skilled men and went through a great deal of trouble to capture her alive."

Xuanming nodded, a hint of greed in his eyes: "Descendants of the ancient demon race... I've never seen this bloodline before, hmm..."

As he looked at it, he reached out to unlock the cage.

"Please wait a moment, sir!" Hou Wanshan quickly stepped forward to stop him. "This woman is very fierce. It took me a lot of effort to capture her. It would be safer for you to keep an eye on her through the cage. It would be unseemly if she scratched or injured you."

"Fierce? Heh, she really is fierce!" Xuanming glanced sideways at Hou Wanshan upon hearing this, and sneered, "The harder a horse is to tame, the better it feels to ride..."

He reached out and pulled open the cage's lock. In that instant, Hongxiu suddenly took a deep breath, and the Xuanpin Qi shot out of her mouth like a sharp arrow straight into Xuanming's head!

Xuanming was indeed a great master in the mid-stage of the Ascension Realm. Although Hongxiu was fast, he was even faster!

He tilted his head, and the mysterious female energy just grazed past his nose before striking a blue stone post behind him where horses were tethered.

"Sizzle..."

The bluestone pillar seemed to have been splashed with strong acid, and within two breaths it turned into white smoke!

In that moment of hesitation, Xuanming felt a sudden chill run down his spine!

Hou Wanshan slapped him on the back from behind!

Xuanming flew into the air, and the half of his mask tilted, revealing a deep scar that ran diagonally from his brow to his cheekbone, looking like a centipede crawling across his face.

Hou Wanshan gave him no chance to breathe, soaring into the air and engaging Xuanming in battle!

The burly man and the woman with the bone flute moved at the same time.

Shen Yifei then summoned the Soul-Locking Bell to block the Bone Flute Woman's path!

Shen Yifei shouted to Shi San, "Shi San, go!"

In the corner, Shi San watched as the burly man charged toward Hou Wanshan. The large cleaver terrified him, and his teeth chattered.

Liu Mengli, having escaped the cage, shouted at him, "Shi San, so many women are watching you, don't back down!"

Upon hearing Liu Mengli's scream, Shi San felt a surge of heat rush to his head. He closed his eyes and cried out, "Aaaaaah..."

A series of crackling sounds erupted from his body, and his thin, small frame instantly swelled into a fiery unicorn with crimson scales all over its body!

He pushed off with all four legs and blocked the strong man's path in mid-air!

The burly man was rushing to support Xuanming with his sword when he saw a giant beast covered in red scales suddenly appear out of thin air and block his way. Its pair of red-gold eyes were wide open, and he was startled.

He was, after all, one of Xuanming's men from the Myriad Spirits Palace. Although he had never seen such a monster before, he quickly regained his composure, held his thick-backed cleaver horizontally in front of him, and sneered, "Beast, you dare to block your grandpa's path?"

Upon hearing the word "beast," Shi San's newly formed anger deflated by half.

He was indeed afraid; the burly man's murderous aura was suffocating him.

He opened his mouth as if to breathe fire, but no spark came out of his throat.

Seeing that Shi San had been groaning and sputtering for a while without making any moves, the burly man grinned maliciously and swung his thick-backed cleaver horizontally. Shi San had no time to dodge and was struck in the back by the blade's force, rolling three zhang (approximately 10 meters) through the air.

He scrambled to his feet again, and apart from a slight pain in his back, he didn't seem to be injured at all!

The burly man, having landed a successful blow, couldn't help but feel smug. "Haha... so he was just a piece of trash!"

However, he used seventy percent of his strength in that strike, and as a result, he didn't even manage to damage the monster's fur!

It seems the scales on this monster are valuable; peeling them off and making a set of defensive armor would be quite good.

After thinking it over, he lunged forward, this time using all his strength, determined to peel off the scales from Shi San's body!

Seeing that Shi San didn't react, Liu Mengli shouted, "Relax, inhale, exhale!"

This is the intensive training Liu Mengli has been giving Shi San these past few days, the five-word mantra!

Shi San practiced countless times, and under normal circumstances, he had already mastered the skill of breathing fire as soon as he opened his mouth.

This was Shi San's first real battle, and facing a formidable enemy, he had long forgotten the five-word mantra.

Reminded by Liu Mengli, the five-word mantra became an automatic response: Relax... Inhale... Exhale!!!

Suddenly, a pillar of fire shot out from the mouth of the fire qilin.

The pillar of fire was moving extremely fast. The burly man, who was charging headlong at it with his knife in hand, crashed into the pillar of fire.

The poor burly man didn't even let out a scream before turning into smoke along with his broadsword.

With a gust of wind, the strong man vanished from the world, leaving only the lingering smell of roasted meat in the air.

Fire Qilin Shi San stared in disbelief at everything that was happening before him, hardly able to believe that his strength was so terrifying—a single burst of fire could kill a master!

He glanced at Shen Yifei in the distance, who was locked in a fierce battle with the woman, holding his own.

Looking at Hou Wanshan's battle against Xuanming, although Xuanming was slightly injured by Hou Wanshan's sneak attack, he actually had the upper hand at this time, and Hou Wanshan was having more and more trouble!

The Fire Qilin is no longer the same Fire Qilin as before; it has gained a deeper understanding of its own strength.

He let out a howl and lunged at Xuanming.