After resolving Jiang Qihe’s affairs, President Song noticed that the flock of Huanhui birds hovering above the Fulong Mountain Range had dispersed, and immediately decided to resume their journey.
Before departing, he looked at Jiang Qihe with a warm expression and said, “Brother Jiang, thank you for your hospitality last night.”
Jiang Qihe hurriedly replied, “Senior Song, you’re far too polite. It was only my duty.”
Pausing, he added, “You saved my life and resolved the trouble with my clan. I will engrave such immense kindness in my heart.”
“Hehe,” President Song patted his shoulder. “Don't talk about immense kindness. You looked after little girl Yu, and we remember that friendship. When you visit the main city next time, we'll share wine and have a good chat.”
Jiang Qihe cupped his hands and bowed. “Naturally. I will certainly pay you a visit then.”
With that, he looked at Shi Yu beside them. A warm smile reappeared on his genial face as he bowed deeply and said earnestly, “I won't waste words. If you ever need me in the future, I will go through fire and water without hesitation.”
Shi Yu hurriedly helped him up, knowing his words were no mere pleasantries. She responded seriously, “Very well. If that day comes, I won't stand on ceremony with you, Manager Jiang.”
Only then did Jiang Qihe straighten his back.
President Song summoned the cloud boat with a wave of his hand. “Brother Jiang, farewell for now.”
“Safe travels to you all.”
...
Back on the cloud boat, Shi Yu nested in her room, intending to attempt refining a Tier-3 pill again. Because the medicinal properties of Tier-3 pills reacted much more violently, she worried about accidents during the attempt, so she asked Qingzhou to set up a barrier in the outer room to guard her.
Blue light traced ripples in the air, transforming into a circular water curtain that enveloped the room. It isolated everything inside from the outside world, making it nearly impossible for anyone to perceive Shi Yu's aura or sound while she was concocting pills.
Furthermore, water spiritual energy possessed qualities of moistening, nourishing, and cleansing. Being inside the barrier also helped calm her mind and focus her spirit.
This was Qingzhou's innate divine ability, named Water Curtain Celestial Canopy. After erecting the barrier, he sat cross-legged outside, closing his eyes to circulate his energy and maintain the flow of spiritual power across the water curtain.
Shi Yu took out the Tier-3 pill furnace gifted to her by Liang Guan and once again began attempting to refine the Heart-Clearing Pill.
After warming the furnace, she tossed the spiritual plants inside one by one. The surging Void Fissure Spiritual Flame pounced upward; in an instant, the emerald-green leaves turned scorched yellow and curled, slowly melting into a dense pool of dark green medicinal liquid.
Locking onto the furnace's interior with her spiritual sense, Shi Yu reflected on her previous failure and made more meticulous adjustments to her flame control this time, striving to minimize her spiritual energy consumption.
As tongues of flame flickered, impurities precipitated from the liquid bit by bit, settling as pitch-black ash at the bottom of the furnace.
Seeing that the refining process was progressing smoothly, Shi Yu felt a spark of hope.
By the time she finished refining all the required spiritual plants, her spiritual energy was mostly depleted. Exhaling a long breath of turbid air, Shi Yu dared not delay. She quickly took out a Qi-Restoring Pill to swallow, then took a large gulp of diluted Life Spring water.
The refined medicinal liquids could not sit for too long; if the thermal essence within them dissipated, fusing them together would become nearly impossible. Thus, after consuming the Qi-Restoring Pill and Life Spring water, Shi Yu couldn't afford to sit in meditation. Allowing the 《Fate-Tapping Record》 to operate on its own to slowly replenish her spiritual energy, she immediately proceeded to the next step of the alchemy process.
Silence filled the room as the pill furnace radiated a faint glow. Inside, the golden Void Fissure Spiritual Flame, speckled with crimson spots, surged upward and tightly enveloped the pools of liquid. Under the suppression of Shi Yu's spiritual sense, the liquids drew closer to one another. The moment they touched, a sizzling sound erupted along their edges as if resisting the fusion.
Shi Yu's gaze hardened. Forming hand seals, she suddenly unleashed her spiritual energy, using it as fuel to stoke the flames and forcefully squeezing the liquid medicinal pools together.
Wisps of white mist billowed from the top of the furnace, constantly expanding outward.
Ripples swept across the Water Curtain Celestial Canopy, gathering the mist to avoid obscuring Shi Yu's view. However, she had no attention to spare for this; her entire mind was focused on the pill embryo taking shape inside the furnace.
Her spiritual energy was nearly exhausted, and she was pushing through sheer willpower to complete the final steps of forming the pill and infusing energy into it.
The consumed Qi-Restoring Pill and Life Spring water continuously converted into spiritual energy to replenish her dantian and meridians, but it fell far short of her consumption rate. With expenditure far exceeding replenishment, faint throbs of pain echoed from her meridians.
Shi Yu bit her lower lip tightly, cold sweat beading on her forehead.
Finally, a pitted pill embryo emerged inside the furnace. Though bizarre and ugly—hardly even round—it invigorated her spirit. Squeezing every drop of her spiritual sense, she gradually compressed the scattered medicinal force inside the furnace and infused it into the embryo.
As the medicinal energy returned and replenished it, the pill embryo gradually rounded out, its pitted surface slowly filling in.
The moment her final trace of spiritual energy was spent, a burst of white light flashed inside the furnace. A surge of energy violently erupted outward—the residual medicinal properties Shi Yu hadn't managed to draw into the pill embryo in time.
The energy surge rattled the furnace lid with a dull clatter before blasting outward in all directions. Being closest, Shi Yu took the brunt of it. Depleted of spiritual energy, she couldn't shield herself, but fortunately, her Flowing Radiance spirit robe automatically raised a barrier that blocked most of the impact. Even so, she absorbed the remaining shock head-on.
Muffled groaning escaped Shi Yu as a trace of blood trickled from the corner of her lips. She anxiously looked around, only breathing a sigh of relief when she saw that the remaining energy shockwave had been intercepted by the Water Curtain Celestial Canopy.
Ripples cascaded across the Water Curtain Celestial Canopy like stones dropped into water. The violent waves gradually smoothed out until they completely vanished a moment later.
Qingzhou dispelled the Water Curtain Celestial Canopy and rushed over anxiously to support her. “Ah Yu!”
“I'm fine.” Shi Yu waved her hand, catching her breath.
She took out a Qi-Restoring Pill and a Vitality-Restoring Pill, swallowed them, and drank two mouthfuls of Life Spring water. The internal injuries caused by the energy shockwave lessened slightly.
Supported by Qingzhou, she stood up, opened the furnace lid, and beckoned the pill inside into her hand.
The moment she clearly saw the pill's appearance, Shi Yu's brows furrowed.
The Heart-Clearing Pill sitting in her palm barely qualified as spherical. Rough to the touch, tiny holes and pockmarks were faintly palpable. Its color was equally mottled—a dull, impure light blue tainted with greyish dark spots scattered across the surface.
“I barely managed to form a single pill, and it almost ended up a waste pill.”
She sighed softly.
In terms of quality, calling this Heart-Clearing Pill a low-grade pill was pushing it.
Still, it was within expectations. Her spiritual energy and spiritual sense had run dry, causing the energy surge. Not having the refining attempt fail outright on the spot was already fortunate.
Regardless, it was half a success.
“My cultivation is still insufficient.”
Shaking her head, Shi Yu fell into deep thought. Her cultivation of the 《Soul Tempering Art》 had never wavered, practicing it daily. By now, the Five-Element Qi of Heaven and Earth—Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth—had rotated several cycles. As her understanding and mastery of the technique deepened, the strength of the Five-Element Qi continued to grow, tempering and honing her soul to her current limit.
Though she hadn't tested it precisely, Shi Yu estimated that her soul strength was still some distance from a Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator, but roughly comparable to ordinary ninth layer Qi Refining or Qi Refining Realm Great Perfection cultivators.
For now, she could only ponder how to boost her spiritual energy intensity as much as possible.
A few Dragon Bamboo Fruits remained, and over the past few months, the Dragon Bamboo Grass in the medicinal field inside the Fate-Tapping Bell had produced another crop. However, she had already consumed quite a few; the effects were most pronounced for the first few eaten, becoming diminishingly effective with each subsequent fruit. The remaining Dragon Bamboo Fruits would help her, but they wouldn't raise her cultivation level by much.
“There's still one month left. I'll focus on cultivating and practicing more.”
Beside her, Qingzhou watched her brows furrow and slowly relax, suddenly asking, “Ah Yu, are you troubled over your cultivation?”
Shi Yu didn't hide it from him. “Yes, my current cultivation is still low, making attempts at Tier-3 pills quite taxing after all.”
If her cultivation were sufficient, once she regained her alchemical feel, successfully refining a Tier-3 pill would be no trouble.
Qingzhou lowered his gaze and nodded thoughtfully.
Shi Yu let out a soft laugh. “It's sufficient for now. Don't worry about me—let's cultivate.”
She retrieved a few Dragon Bamboo Fruits, handed a few to Qingzhou, swallowed one, and sat cross-legged to cultivate.
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