Fairy, help me cultivate.

"I need a quiet room."

She only said this one sentence to the three elders.

The three elders, Lin Er and his brother, quickly found someone to make arrangements.

"What kind of pill is that? How can it be used like a magical artifact?"

Chen Yao was curious about Jiang Bailian's methods and couldn't help but ask.

Jiang Bailian glanced at him with a vacant look in her eyes: "Just because other people's pills can't work doesn't mean mine can't."

Chen Yao was stunned. Senior sister, that was such a pretentious thing to say!

The two then listened to Lin Er talk about some evil spirits, the content of which was much the same as what they had heard before and had no value.

After having a meal with the villagers at noon, Jiang Bailian instructed that no one should disturb them before she and Chen Yao went into the quiet room.

"Senior sister, my alchemy isn't urgent. Let's search for traces of the evil spirits first..."

Looking at Jiang Bailian's proud and elegant face, Chen Yao knew that she was still unconvinced by his claim that he could refine pills.

Jiang Bailian frowned: "This evil spirit is ominous. To find it, I need to refine a dangerous elixir. I need your protection, but we'll have to see if you have enough talent for alchemy."

What if that's not enough?

Jiang Bailian casually pointed out a scarlet pill, which instantly vanished upon contact with Chen Yao's chest.

Chen Yao felt a wave of nausea: "What is this?"

Jiang Bailian's lips curled up, his blank expression mixed with a hint of mischief, making him look playful: "This is the Gathering Blood Pill, which will activate in three hours and is most favored by evil spirits in the world. If Junior Brother Chen cannot protect me, then I will have to trouble you to act as bait and help me attract the attention of evil spirits."

In her heart, she had actually planned to use Chen Yao as bait all along.

After all, this guy dared to talk so arrogantly about alchemy in front of me, so I had to teach this brat a lesson.

Chen Yao stared blankly at Jiang Bailian, who seemed both dazed and insane.

He's definitely a wolf in sheep's clothing!

Chapter 43 Refining Pills Behind Closed Doors

Jiang Bailian sensed Chen Yao's dissatisfaction and knew he was criticizing her, but she felt inexplicably pleased.

With a flick of her wrist, she took out a slightly damaged sandalwood alchemy furnace, a jade slip listing the ingredients and refining method for Qi-restoring pills, and a set of materials from her mithril ring, and tossed them onto the table in front of Chen Yao.

She didn't say much, only two words: "Refine it."

Chen Yao looked at the broken alchemy furnace in front of him, then glanced at Jiang Bailian, and thought to himself, "You gave me a broken alchemy furnace, are you deliberately trying to prevent me from completing the alchemy process?"

Jiang Bailian curled his lips: "Little Purple is the alchemy furnace I've been using since I entered the peak. It's just that I lost control of the heat when refining the Profound Origin Pill last time, which damaged its appearance. It won't affect a mere Qi Returning Pill."

Her tone revealed the superiority and pride of a Daoist master over a layman.

Chen Yao picked up the jade slip, channeled his spiritual energy into it, and began to carefully review the refining method and precautions.

It must be said that he truly deserves to be called the outstanding disciple of the new generation of the Danfang lineage. Even his pill formula is extraordinary. Not only are the annotations detailed, but the precautions are also clearly marked after the formula.

After glancing through it, he silently memorized it, picked up the furnace core, and began to light the fire to warm the furnace.

Seeing his movements vaguely, Jiang Bailian frowned, her beautiful eyes flashing with deep dissatisfaction.

This guy didn't even bother with the proper rituals of offering incense and praying to the elixir before refining it! He completely disregards the Dao of alchemy, displaying arrogance and conceit—truly infuriating!

Hmph, the Gathering Blood Pill will take effect in three hours, but the formula I gave you was vague and many key details were not specified. I don't believe you can make it in three hours!

When that time comes, you'll be used as bait and tormented by the evil spirits. I'll need to wait a while before making my move...

Chen Yao was unaware of Jiang Bailian's ulterior motives and simply added the rootless water and various spiritual materials step by step.

This broken alchemy furnace may not look very good, but he finds it quite easy to use.

During the refining process, Chen Yao discovered that although the annotations on the jade slip were detailed enough, unexpected situations would always arise during actual operation.

Fortunately, he has now acquired the insightful term, which allows him to discern the quality and timing of alchemical materials. Therefore, in such situations, he can flexibly adjust the amount of water or the intensity of the fire.

Jiang Bailian, who was sensing the alchemy furnace, frowned more and more, her cherry lips slightly parted, and her unfocused eyes stared blankly at Chen Yao.

Although his movements were chaotic... he truly possessed a talent for alchemy...

At this moment, the lid of the sandalwood alchemy furnace was suddenly sprayed up by pale blue steam, and then the fire at the bottom of the furnace went out instantly.

Chen Yao frowned, carefully examining what the problem was.

Jiang Bailian's lips curled up slightly. This was the most crucial issue in refining my improved Qi-restoring pill.

Because the improved Qi-restoring pill has increased Qi-restoring efficiency, the most stable and purest fire flow is needed at critical moments; ordinary pill fire won't work. It depends on you…

???

Jiang Bailian felt Chen Yao remove something from his wrist, and then an extremely pure heat burst forth in the room, causing the sandalwood alchemy furnace to hum. Soon, the room was filled with the fragrance of elixirs.

A beam of blue light burst forth from the furnace, the furnace lid rose, and the fire subsided.

The Qi-restoring elixir is complete.

Chen Yao summoned the little snake back to his wrist, took out six Qi-restoring pills and held them in his palm, feeling a great sense of accomplishment.

The fine blue substance flowing on the surface of the cinnabar clearly indicates that it is of excellent quality.

Jiang Bailian's face was now blank with astonishment; she even felt a sense of her faith crumbling.

A person who had never been exposed to alchemy before... refined a high-grade pill...

And it only took fifteen minutes...

A quarter of an hour...

She could feel the veins on her forehead trembling slightly.

He didn't offer incense, didn't worship fire, and didn't respect alchemy... yet he still managed to concoct a top-grade elixir in a flurry of activity and haphazard attempts...

The Way of Heaven has collapsed to this extent!

Chen Yao walked up to Jiang Bailian and presented her with the Qi-restoring pill: "Senior Sister Jiang, it should be considered successfully refined, right?"

Jiang Bailian didn't look at the pills, but stared blankly at Chen Yao's face, her beautiful eyes blinking incessantly.

……

……

Jiang Bailian reluctantly fed Chen Yao a calming pill to counteract the effects of the aphrodisiac pill. Then, she carefully explained to him when he needed to add water, extinguish the fire, and restart the furnace while protecting him...

After carefully listening to these precautions, Chen Yao glared at Jiang Bailian with a smirk.

I didn't expect that each type of pill had its own complicated precautions and procedures. You didn't mention a single word about it on the jade slip for the Qi-restoring pill...

He immediately revealed a mischievous look, wanting to play a trick on Jiang Bailian in some steps that wouldn't significantly affect the quality of the pill, but Jiang Bailian's next casual remark made him give up the idea.

"The Anger-Relieving Pill only mitigates the majority of the effects of the Fish-Gathering Pill."

Seeing the mischievous expression on Jiang Bailian's face when she said those words, Chen Yao couldn't be mischievous anymore.

So, the two of them took out a bronze alchemy furnace from Jiang Bailian, burned incense and worshipped the furnace, then closed the door and began refining.

Three days passed in the blink of an eye, and Jiang Bailian was still sitting cross-legged in front of the alchemy furnace, concentrating on controlling the fire.

Chen Yao watched the flames in the alchemy furnace sometimes dim and sometimes blazing, and his heart was filled with the same anxiety.

Today is the day to meet the contact person in Xiaosang Village.

He felt an itch on his back and realized that his contact was controlling the demonic mark.

Although the demonic mark can no longer cause him to fester, at least the contact person can still use it to locate him.

Therefore, Chen Yao was in a great hurry.

However, he could tell that Jiang Bailian was now at a critical moment in alchemy, and he himself still had remnants of the Gathering Blood Pill in his body, so he could not leave.

Just as he was at his wit's end, the bronze alchemy furnace suddenly hummed, the lid rose up, and a wisp of purplish-black smoke rose from the furnace. The fire dimmed, and Jiang Bailian opened her eyes.

She gently raised her jade-like hand and took out a purplish-black pill from the alchemy furnace, observing it from a distance.

Chen Yao looked at her strangely, thinking, "You're very nearsighted, you probably can't see anything clearly at this distance, right?"

"The texture is fine and the cracks are clear. There are probably eight or nine pill worms. The color is almost transparent. Hmm, this refining is very successful," Jiang Bailian commented on the pill, then turned his head and stared blankly at Chen Yao. "Junior Brother Chen, I'm so sorry to have troubled you."

As she spoke, she tossed over a Qi-Clearing Pill to eliminate the residual effects of the Gathering Fish Pill.

The Qi-Clearing Pill landed in Chen Yao's arms, and he was stunned for a moment before he caught the pill.

Isn't she severely nearsighted? How could she describe the medicinal properties of this pill in such detail from so far away?

As he pondered, he looked at Jiang Bailian's eyes with a puzzled expression. Suddenly, he noticed a faint, glassy ring around the outer edge of her iris that was slowly rotating, with what appeared to be fine markings on it, before quickly disappearing.

So... her eyes weren't nearsighted, but rather like those of a high-powered microscope?

"Alright, Junior Brother Chen, let's go and exorcise the evil spirits!"

Jiang Bailian obtained the pill with a single move. The pill flashed with an evil black-purple light, and the room was filled with the sound of ghostly wails.

"Uh, senior sister, I can't go with you..."

Chen Yao tried to speak calmly.

Chapter Forty-Four: Coercion from the Demonic Sect, A Critical Moment of Life and Death

Chen Yao flew alone at high speed towards Xiaosang Village.

He claimed that his natal Fire-Swallowing Python had suffered a backlash while refining the Qi-restoring pill, affecting his mind and making him unable to fight the evil spirits. He said he needed to go to Xiaosang Village to obtain golden silk leaves from the century-old paulownia and mulberry trees to treat the little snake, thus buying himself half a day.

I don't know if Jiang Bailian has noticed anything amiss, but the contact person from the Demonic Sect is clearly much more troublesome, so I can't worry about that now!

A strong wind swept across the ground, and Chen Yao landed on a small hill outside Xiaosang Village on his sword.

He peered out from the mountaintop and looked out over the village. Wisps of smoke rose from the village, and the cows mooed peacefully.

There seemed to be no trace of any cultivators around.

He secretly breathed a sigh of relief and took a step to go down the mountain, when suddenly the sound of ghostly wailing rang out in front of him, and the ground under his feet instantly turned into mud.

It turned into bloodstains.

From the bloodstains, several rotting arms burst from the ground and reached for his feet.