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

Ah Qi stood guard outside the door, which was tightly shut.

Yin Wuxie leaned back on the stone chair, rubbing his temples with his fingers.

"You agreed so readily just now. Do you even know what's inside the Blood Soul Cave?"

"The soul of a great demon." Shen Yifei walked up to her. "The Grand Elder just mentioned it."

"He only told half of it." Yin Wuxie opened his eyes, "The Blood Soul Cave contains the souls of twenty-seven great demons slain by successive sect leaders. The lowest level is the peak of the Golden Core stage, and the highest is the late Nascent Soul stage. You, a Foundation Establishment stage cultivator, would just be offering yourself up as food if you went in."

"Then why does the cult leader still want me to go?"

"If I don't let you go, the Grand Elder will have reason to question my favoritism towards you. I became the sect leader through strength, not through reasoning." Yin Wuxie stood up and walked to Shen Yifei. "If you die, I can simply find someone else to help me refine pills. But you are more useful to me if you live."

Shen Yifei mentally cursed her ancestors for eighteen generations.

"Don't curse me in your heart." Yin Wuxie reached out and tapped his chest. "Your heart is beating fast. It's common sense that your heart beats fast when you're cursing."

Shen Yifei took a deep breath and calmed his heartbeat.

"Master, is there any way to get me out alive?"

"have."

Yin Wuxie took out a blood-red jade pendant from her storage bag and handed it to him.

"This is my natal blood jade, containing a wisp of my soul. Carry it with you, and crush it after entering the Blood Soul Cave. My soul fragment will then attach itself to you. A soul fragment at the peak of the Nascent Soul stage is enough to intimidate those powerful demon souls. However, it will only last for the time it takes for an incense stick to burn. Within that time, you must find the exit of the Blood Soul Cave."

Shen Yifei took the blood jade and examined it from all angles. The jade pendant was entirely blood red and warm to the touch, like holding a lump of congealed blood.

"Where is the exit?"

"I don't know," Yin Wuxie said frankly. "The terrain inside the Blood Soul Cave changes every time it opens, and the location of the exit is not fixed. I only know that there is a blood-red light gate at the exit, and if you find it, you can get out."

"That's all?"

"That's all." Yin Wuxie patted him on the shoulder. "Good luck."

Shen Yifei put the blood jade into his storage ring and turned to walk towards the door. He stopped at the door and glanced back at Yin Wuxie.

"Master, if I die in there, I will haunt you even as a ghost."

"I'm not afraid of you living, so why would I be afraid of you dying?" Yin Wuxie waved his hand at him. "Go on, don't be late."

Shen Yifei returned to the alchemy room, closed the door, and took the Myriad Things Cauldron out of his ring and placed it on the ground.

The monster on the cauldron opened its eyes, its blood-red pupils darting around, and its mouth slightly opened, revealing two rows of fangs. Ever since it swallowed the embryo of the Blood Furnace, the monster's eyes had changed from emerald green to blood red, making it look much fiercer than before.

"Mengli".

Liu Mengli floated out of the cauldron and sat cross-legged in mid-air. She still had that lazy look on her face, her green eyes half-open and half-closed, and a smile on her lips.

"I heard everything about the Blood Soul Cave inside the cauldron. Twenty-seven great demon souls, the lowest being the peak of the Golden Core stage and the highest the late Nascent Soul stage. You, a Foundation Establishment cultivator, would be nothing more than cannon fodder if you went in."

"What you said is exactly the same as what Yin Wuxie said." Shen Yifei sat down on the futon. "Can't you say something new?"

"Fresh?" Liu Mengli tilted her head. "Fresh ones are available too. The great demon souls in the Blood Soul Cave aren't a threat to you; they're nourishment."

"tonic?"

"The Cauldron of All Things can refine living people, and it can also refine souls. If you collect the souls of those great demons into the cauldron and refine them, you will not only be able to come out alive, but you can also use their soul power to break through to the Golden Core stage."

Shen Yifei thought for a moment and said, "Twenty-seven great demon souls, the lowest being the peak of the Golden Core stage and the highest the late Nascent Soul stage. You expect me, a Foundation Establishment cultivator, to consume the souls of late Nascent Soul stage cultivators as a tonic? Liu Mengli, have you been cooped up in the cauldron for too long and gone mad?"

"What are you afraid of?" She squatted down and poked Shen Yifei's forehead. "Those great demon souls have been sealed in the Blood Soul Cave for hundreds of years. Without a physical body to nourish them, their soul power has long been worn down. They are said to be in the late Nascent Soul stage, but in reality, they are lucky if they can exert the strength of the early Golden Core stage."

"I can't even beat someone in the early stages of the Golden Core realm."

"Who told you to fight them?" Liu Mengli rolled her eyes. "I told you to use the Cauldron of All Things to collect them. The cauldron is now high enough to refine living people in the Nascent Soul stage. What's a few remnant souls? Just put the cauldron in the Blood Soul Cave, and those souls will come running in by themselves. It's like fishing; you don't even need to put bait in."

Shen Yifei thought about it and felt that there was some truth to it.

After the Cauldron of All Things swallowed the embryo of the Blood Furnace, the monster's eyes turned red, and its fangs grew longer, making it look much more formidable than before. Perhaps it really could be used to collect the souls of powerful demons.

"Even if the Cauldron of All Things can collect them, I still need to find those souls first, right? The terrain inside the Blood Soul Cave changes every time it opens. Once I'm inside, I can't even tell which way is which. Where am I supposed to find them?"

"You can't find them, but they can find you."

"What do you mean?"

"The medicinal fragrance on you, the scent emanating from you, is an aphrodisiac for female cultivators and a powerful tonic for souls. Those great demon souls, sealed for hundreds of years, will pounce on you the moment they smell your scent, without you even having to look for them."

How did you know?

"I guessed." Liu Mengli said matter-of-factly.

Shen Yifei really wanted to stuff her back into the cauldron.

"Don't look at me like that." Liu Mengli straightened up and paced around the alchemy room. "Although I'm guessing, I'm not just guessing blindly. The medicinal fragrance on you comes from the Cauldron of All Things. The Cauldron of All Things can refine all things, and the medicinal power it produces permeates your entire body. Souls are naturally sensitive to the aura of the Cauldron of All Things, like moths to a flame. If you bring the cauldron into the Blood Soul Cave, plus your own medicinal fragrance, those great demon souls won't come looking for you. I'll twist my head off and let you kick it around like a ball."

"You might as well keep your head; using it as a football is too creepy." Shen Yifei stood up, put the Myriad Things Cauldron back into his ring, and said, "I'll try out the Blood Jade that Yin Wuxie gave me first."

"Are you sure you want to use this?" Liu Mengli leaned closer to take a look. "Yin Wuxie's divided soul is attached to your body, so your body is now under her control. If she gets malicious and takes you deeper into the Blood Soul Cave within the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, you'll never be able to get out."

"She wouldn't dare." Shen Yifei carefully put away the blood jade. "If I die, she must die too!"

Liu Mengli pouted and floated back into the Cauldron of All Things. "Fine, I'll go with you into the Blood Soul Cave tomorrow. Anyway, the contract will automatically terminate when you die, so I won't lose out."

Shen Yifei ignored her and sat down cross-legged to begin meditating. He needed to be in peak condition tonight before entering the Blood Soul Cave tomorrow.

He closed his eyes and circulated his spiritual energy throughout his body. The spiritual energy in his dantian was much more abundant than before, thanks to his dual cultivation with Yin Wuxie.

Although he himself said he didn't gain any benefit, that's a lie.

Yin Wuxie's pure Yin body, which had been intact for over three hundred years, was completely infused with pure Yin energy after his virginity was broken, directly pushing his cultivation level from the mid-Foundation Establishment stage to the late-Foundation Establishment stage, just one step away from the peak of Foundation Establishment.

It seems that finding the right person to practice dual cultivation with is the fastest way to improve one's cultivation level.