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

The Fifth Elder lay sprawled on the ground, his trousers a bloody mess. The hall was deathly silent; everyone stared at the bloody hole in the floor.

The Grand Elder's face was grim. He had seen all sorts of insidious magical artifacts. Soul-extracting, corpse-refining, poisoning, curse-killing—the tricks were endless. But this beast that specifically targeted and bit a man's genitals was a first for him.

What the hell kind of breed is this?

Shen Yifei squatted down and slapped the little monster on the head.

"Who told you to bite him? I haven't even said anything and you've already started biting me. Don't you have any manners?"

The little monster's head tilted to the side after being slapped, its eyes rolled around twice, and it let out a pitiful whimper.

Shen Yifei stood up and looked at the Grand Elder.

"Elder, I'm sorry, the beasts I keep at home don't know any manners. Please forgive them."

The elder's lips twitched twice.

The seven elders remaining behind him had unknowingly taken three steps back.

The elder took a deep breath and turned his gaze away from the little monster.

"Shen Yifei, do you think this beast can intimidate me?"

He raised his hand, his five fingers spread, and a ball of blood-red light surged from his palm. The ball of blood-red light spun in his palm, faster and faster, emitting a buzzing sound. The temperature in the hall suddenly dropped, and the torches on the wall were pressed down by an invisible pressure, their flames flickering erratically.

The oppressive aura of the Nascent Soul stage.

Shen Yifei felt a weight on his shoulders, as if someone were pressing down on him with an iron burden. His early Golden Core cultivation was indeed no match for that of a Nascent Soul cultivator; the mere pressure from the Nascent Soul cultivator was enough to make him breathless.

But he didn't back down.

The little monster sensed the oppressive force; the scales on its neck stood on end, and a low growl escaped its throat. It braced its four short legs against the ground, leaning forward, ready to pounce at any moment.

"Don't move." Shen Yifei gently kicked it with his toe.

The little monster stopped moving, but its mouth remained open, its fangs bared, and its eyes fixed on the elder's crotch.

The blood-red light in the Grand Elder's palm had solidified. It was a blood bead the size of a fist, its surface covered with fine, blood-red lines, like a living heart, pulsating in his palm.

"Blood Soul Pearl." Yin Wuxie stood up from the stone chair!

The Grand Elder snorted coldly, "Even a lion uses its full strength to hunt a rabbit. This kid has too many strange traits; I won't give him any chance to turn the tables."

With a push of his palm, the Blood Soul Pearl flew out of his hand.

The bead flew slowly, like a blood-red bubble floating in the air. But with each foot it floated, the blood-red patterns on its surface brightened a little more. When it was halfway there, the entire bead shone like a blood-red lantern, illuminating the hall in a crimson glow.

Shen Yifei felt the spiritual energy in his dantian being pulled outward by an invisible force.

The Blood Soul Pearl was absorbing his spiritual energy.

Not only him, but everyone in the hall was leaking their spiritual energy. The elders standing on both sides changed their expressions drastically and quickly circulated their cultivation techniques to lock their dantian. The fifth brother and Han Yue, who were lying on the ground, were in even worse shape. They were already on the verge of unconsciousness, and the leakage of their spiritual energy caused them to faint directly.

The seven elders behind the Grand Elder were unharmed. They had taken Spirit-Locking Pills beforehand, which effectively locked away their spiritual energy.

"Boy, once the Blood Soul Pearl is activated, all the spiritual energy within a ten-foot radius will be drained." The Grand Elder stood with his hands behind his back, his face regaining its calm and composed expression. "No matter how strong your beast is, without the support of spiritual energy, it's just an ordinary beast. I'd like to see what you can use to stop it."

Shen Yifei felt the spiritual energy in his dantian gushing out like water from a burst dam.

The spiritual energy in the early stages of the Golden Core realm is already limited; at this rate, it would be completely drained in less than half an incense stick's time.

The little monster squatted at his feet, its eyes fixed on the Blood Soul Bead that was slowly floating over, its mouth open and its tongue lolling out, showing no sign of nervousness.

The Blood Soul Pearl floated to a stop three feet in front of Shen Yifei.

Shen Yifei felt that 70% of the spiritual energy in his dantian had been absorbed. The Blood Soul Pearl also grew larger and larger, eventually becoming the size of a washbasin.

Just then, the little monster moved.

With a push of its four short legs, it leaped into the air, opened its mouth as wide as possible, and swallowed the Blood Soul Pearl in one gulp.

Everyone in the hall was stunned.

The elder's smile froze on his face.

The Blood Soul Pearl was his natal magic weapon, which he had spent fifty years refining. It contained the essence and soul of ninety-nine Golden Core cultivators.

Let alone swallowing it, even touching it will cause a backlash from the power of the blood soul, resulting in severed meridians at best, and instant death at worst.

Did that little beast swallow it whole?

The little monster landed on the ground and let out a burp.

A cloud of blood mist spewed from its mouth, condensed into a small heart shape in the air, floated twice, and then dissipated.

It licked its lips, turned its head, stared at the elder, opened its mouth again, stuck out its tongue, and panted twice.

The expression seemed to be telling the Grand Elder, "I haven't had enough, have another one!"

"This...this is impossible." The Grand Elder took a step back. "The blood soul power within the Blood Soul Pearl is enough to overwhelm any cultivator below the Nascent Soul stage. How could it possibly..."

Before he could finish speaking, the little monster's belly suddenly swelled up.

It was like something exploded inside its belly.

The little monster looked down at its belly, then looked up and let out an even bigger burp.

This time, what spewed out wasn't blood mist, but a cloud of black smoke. The black smoke contained countless tiny, blood-red specks of light, drifting away like shattered fireflies.

The little monster smacked its lips twice, looking completely satisfied.

The Grand Elder's face turned completely green.

The Blood Soul Pearl was connected to his mind, and he sensed something was wrong when the pearl was swallowed. Now that the pearl has been refined inside the monster's belly, that mental connection has been completely severed.

Fifty years of painstaking effort, the essence, blood, and souls of ninety-nine Golden Core cultivators—all gone.

"What...what exactly are you?"

The little monster tilted its head and glanced at him, then turned around, facing him with its rear end, and wagged its tail.

Shen Yifei almost burst out laughing.

The Grand Elder has lived for hundreds of years. When has he ever been humiliated by a beast?

"Good, good, good." He said "good" three times in a row. "If I don't tear you two to pieces today, I'm not a Han."

He clasped his hands together, and his black robe fluttered without wind, releasing all his Nascent Soul stage cultivation without reservation.

Shen Yifei was forced back three steps by the oppressive force, and only regained his balance after his back hit a stone pillar.

The little monster was also blown around on the ground twice, its four short legs kicking wildly in the air, and it did several somersaults before finally getting up.

Shen Yifei knew that the Grand Elder was going to fight to the death, so he didn't dare to delay any longer and shouted, "Refine him!"

Upon hearing the command, the little monster's eyes lit up, its tail wagged twice, and then it leaped forward with all four legs, transforming into a blur as it charged toward the Grand Elder.

With a kick of its four legs, its body transformed in mid-air, turning into a huge mouth!

The mouth suddenly inhaled, and a tremendous suction force pulled the elder over. His feet plowed two furrows in the ground, shattering the bricks and scattering sparks, but he couldn't stop himself from moving.

"No..." His scream was only half-finished before he was sucked into someone's mouth.

The mouth closed.

The main hall was eerily quiet.

Everyone witnessed the Grand Elder being swallowed. But what happened next was something they would never forget.

The giant mouth quickly transformed into the shape of a pill furnace, and with a thud, it fell to the center of the main hall.

Shen Yifei walked over, touched the top of the furnace with both hands, and shouted loudly.

"Refine!"