Inside the Chiyang Peak alchemy room.
Nan Mingzi sat cross-legged in front of the alchemy cauldron. His fingers flew as he sent one alchemy seal after another into the cauldron.
Xue Mingzhao squatted to the side and watched for a full quarter of an hour.
She had originally wanted to ask for more inside information about the Evernight Demon Domain, but half a day had passed, and his hand seals showed no signs of stopping.
Finally, she couldn't help but ask, “Master, does one always have to form so many alchemy seals to refine pills?”
Without stopping his movements, Nan Mingzi patiently explained, “Alchemy seals guide the flow of spiritual energy, helping the alchemist control the heat, fuse the medicinal properties, and seize the final moment of pill formation.”
“Once your cultivation reaches the Pill King realm, your divine sense will be sufficient to control every single change inside the cauldron, allowing you to discard some of the seals.”
“But the Tianyan Continent hasn't seen a Pill King in nearly a thousand years. Currently, the most powerful ones are only ninth-rank alchemists.”
Xue Mingzhao nodded, half-understanding.
“So the alchemy seals are different for every type of pill?”
“Naturally.”
“What if you can't remember them?”
“Practice more.”
“And if you still can't remember even after practicing?”
Nan Mingzi fell silent for a moment. “Then it means that person has no affinity for alchemy.”
Xue Mingzhao: “...”
She suddenly felt that the profession of alchemy was filled with malice toward cultivators with poor memories.
Nan Mingzi cast another dozen or so alchemy seals. The flames inside the cauldron shifted accordingly, sometimes burning fiercely, sometimes flickering weakly.
Xue Mingzhao watched, her eyes completely dazzled.
“Master, what kind of pill is this? Why is it so troublesome?”
“A Meridian-Reconnecting Pill.”
At the mention of this pill, Nan Mingzi's expression darkened slightly.
“This is being refined for your Eldest Senior Sister. The Meridian-Reconnecting Pill has extremely high requirements for heat control and medicinal fusion; not a single fire-controlling hand seal can go wrong. Even for me, I only succeed in five or six out of ten batches.”
Only then did Xue Mingzhao remember.
She had been at Chiyang Peak for so long, yet she didn't seem to have met any of her fellow disciples.
“Master, how many senior brothers and sisters do I have?”
“Two.”
Nan Mingzi stared at the cauldron, his voice dropping low.
“Your Eldest Senior Sister was severely injured in a mystic realm a few years ago, and her meridians were completely shattered. Now, as long as she uses spiritual energy, her injuries will backlash against her. She can only rely on the Meridian-Reconnecting Pill to barely suppress it.”
“Your Second Senior Brother was also severely injured during a sect trial while blocking an attack for a disciple of Yuheng Peak. Although his life was saved, his cultivation has been stagnant at the Golden Core realm, unable to advance even an inch.”
At this point, Nan Mingzi's shoulders slumped.
The originally sage-like old man now looked like a suddenly wilted cabbage.
Xue Mingzhao tactfully refrained from questioning further and comforted him, “Don't worry, Master. Eldest Senior Sister and Second Senior Brother will definitely get better.”
“Now that my brother and I are here too, our Chiyang Peak will surely flourish with people in the future, growing bigger, stronger, and scaling new heights of glory!”
Nan Mingzi was amused by her words.
“I do not ask for you to make us big and strong. As long as you run to dangerous places less often and stay safely in the sect to cultivate, that will be enough.”
“I will find a way to provide you with cultivation techniques, pills, and resources.”
The smile on Xue Mingzhao's face instantly froze.
She silently swallowed the words “Evernight Demon Domain” back into her stomach.
If she let Nan Mingzi know that she was planning to venture into a place where even Golden Core cultivators faced a near-certain death, let alone getting the qualification to sign up...
Nan Mingzi might build a cage overnight and personally hang her from the rafters of Chiyang Peak.
Xue Mingzhao quickly changed the subject. “Master, there seems to be some movement in the cauldron!”
Nan Mingzi focused his mind and cast the final alchemy seal.
The cauldron fire slowly went out.
He raised his hand to lift the cauldron lid, and a rich medicinal fragrance instantly poured out.
Three Meridian-Reconnecting Pills lay quietly at the bottom of the cauldron.
Two mid-grade, one high-grade.
Nan Mingzi sighed.
“Only three were produced. What a waste of this thousand-year meridian-reconnecting vine.”
He placed two of the pills into a jade bottle and stored the remaining one in his storage ring.
Standing up, he instructed, “Yue'er, wait here first. I am going to deliver the medicine to your Eldest Senior Sister. I'll be back shortly.”
Xue Mingzhao nodded obediently.
“Alright, Master. Safe travels.”
Once Nan Mingzi's figure had completely vanished, Xue Mingzhao turned to look at the long table nearby.
On the table, ten sets of medicinal ingredients for the Meridian-Reconnecting Pill were arranged neatly.
Silverleaf grass, earth marrow root, dragon blood grass...
Each one of them was so expensive on the outside that it would make an ordinary rogue cultivator weep on the spot.
In the jade box right in the center, there were also ten segments of thousand-year meridian-reconnecting vine.
Xue Mingzhao stroked her chin.
Master can only produce three pills from one batch, and the success rate is only fifty percent.
How much money is being wasted?
Since she had seen it, she couldn't just stand by and watch her master continue to burn spirit stones in the cauldron.
She might as well help her master refine a few more and secretly slip them into the medicine bottle. He probably wouldn't notice anytime soon.
The more Xue Mingzhao thought about it, the more feasible it seemed. She immediately retrieved the Hunyuan Cauldron and placed it next to Nan Mingzi's cauldron.
“Silverleaf grass, earth marrow root, dragon blood grass...”
“The most important thousand-year meridian-reconnecting vine is also here.”
“All set.”
As she counted the ingredients, she listened to Cang Jue calling out the sequence in her sea of consciousness. She casually lifted the lid of the cauldron closest to her and dumped all ten sets of ingredients inside.
Light the fire.
Close the lid.
Her movements were smooth and seamless, completed in one single breath.
Cang Jue remained silent for two breaths.
“Boss.”
“What is it?”
“Did you put them in the wrong cauldron?”
Xue Mingzhao looked down.
Her Hunyuan Cauldron sat quietly on the left, its lid not even opened.
On the right, Nan Mingzi's cauldron was already burning.
“...”
“Holy crap!”
Xue Mingzhao threw herself in front of the cauldron. “Put out the fire, quick!”
“You can't,” Cang Jue immediately stopped her. “The ingredients have already heated up. If you put out the fire now, all ten sets of materials will be ruined.”
Looking at the raging flames inside the cauldron, Xue Mingzhao's heart bled with pain.
If these ingredients were sold, they would be enough to replace all the drafty roofs of the Grand Primordium Sect.
“Then should I open the lid now, scoop the ingredients out, and pour them into the Hunyuan Cauldron?”
“You can't open the lid.”
“What if I just tip the whole cauldron over into it?”
“That won't work either.”
“Then what do I do?”
Cang Jue fell silent for a moment.
“Continue refining.”
Xue Mingzhao pointed at herself. “Me?”
“You just watched the entire process of Nan Mingzi's alchemy. I will guide you from the side. If you form the alchemy seals according to the method he described, you might still be able to save it.”
Xue Mingzhao thought of Nan Mingzi's hands, which had moved so fast they almost threw off sparks, and her vision went black.
“I didn't even remember the first seal.”
“Don't panic. I will teach you.”
Xue Mingzhao could only brace herself and sit in front of the cauldron.
“Form the spiritual fire seal with your left hand, and condense the medicine seal with your right.”
Following Cang Jue's guidance, she twisted her fingers with great difficulty.
“Wrong, that's the fire-dispersing seal.”
Xue Mingzhao quickly changed it.
“Wrong again. You cast the cauldron-opening seal.”
“What's the difference between these two?”
“One controls the fire, and the other is used to lift the cauldron lid.”
“They look exactly the same!”
“The position of the middle finger is different.”
“It's only off by a tiny bit, who could tell the difference!”
“The cauldron can.”
“...”
Half an hour later.
Xue Mingzhao's ten fingers were almost twisted into pretzels.
During this period, she made mistakes on twenty-seven alchemy seals, missed thirteen, and because her left and right hands failed to coordinate, she even formed one into the cupped-fist salute used when cultivators greeted each other.
The cauldron fire finally went out slowly.
One person and one cauldron stared at the alchemy cauldron. Neither of them spoke.
A moment later.
“Boss.”
“Yeah.”
“Prepare yourself mentally.”
“Is it going to explode?”
“Not to that extent.”
Xue Mingzhao let out a sigh of relief.
Cang Jue added, “At most, all ten sets of ingredients will turn to charcoal together.”
Xue Mingzhao's heart leaped back into her throat.
She took a deep breath. Just as she was about to lift the cauldron lid, Nan Mingzi's voice suddenly came from behind her.
“Yue'er, what are you doing?”
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