Fang Yushan quickly prepared the quiet room and personally set out the required spiritual plants. Two neat rows of jade boxes sat on the long table inside the room.
The Mengtian Pill had to be refined using a Heavenly Fire containing the source laws of the Grand Dao. President Song and Master Ji could not offer much direct assistance, but this was a Tier-4 pill after all. Concocting a pill of this tier was enough to stir the spiritual energy of heaven and earth. If the process went awry, the force of a furnace explosion was something an ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivator could hardly withstand. They felt far more at ease keeping watch at her side, so they followed her inside.
Before stepping into the quiet room, Shi Yu paused for a moment. She turned to Fang Yushan, who was planning to wait outside, and said, “Patriarch Fang, the Mengtian Pill is a Tier-4 pill. Spiritual energy will surge violently during its refining, and due to its unique nature of defying the Heavenly Dao, some unexpected mishap might occur. Therefore, would you be willing to stay inside and keep watch over us?”
Fang Yushan suspected nothing and nodded in agreement. Holding Fang Sheng's hand, he followed them into the stone chamber.
President Song and Master Ji, however, exchanged a glance, feeling a bit strange. President Song muttered under his breath, “Little Yu usually dislikes troubling others. Why is she...”
The quiet room was set up with a mind-focusing array. Fang Yushan walked to the array core and activated it using a handful of medium-grade spirit stones. He then stood to the side with his daughter, his eyes filled with anticipation as he looked at Shi Yu.
The array's effect was quite good. Standing in the center of the quiet room, Shi Yu felt her mind clear and her thoughts easily focus, with her five senses growing exceptionally sharp.
She waved her sleeve before the long table, and the numerous jade boxes opened all at once. In an instant, a rich medicinal fragrance flooded the entire quiet room.
Refining the Mengtian Pill required thirty-two types of spiritual plants in total, two of which Shi Yu had never seen before. Although the pill recipe clearly detailed their properties and the required refining techniques, she still took extra care to examine, smell, and taste them before carefully placing them back into the jade boxes.
Taking out her Tier-4 pill furnace, she swallowed a Lesser Extreme Devouring Pill. As the pill's potency dissolved and her cultivation soared, Shi Yu flicked her finger, sending the Void Fissure Spiritual Flame shooting into the furnace chamber.
Just after warming the furnace, she drew in spiritual energy and tossed three spiritual plants into it, slowly refining and purifying the medicinal liquid.
Inside the furnace chamber, the spiritual plants tumbled violently, causing the red-gold flame to undulate in waves.
The space surrounding her also continuously produced a series of fine, subtle ripples. These ripples stemmed from the spatial properties of the Void Fissure Spiritual Flame, spreading outward in concentric circles centered on Shi Yu and the pill furnace, making the figure at the very center appear somewhat distorted and blurry.
Shi Yu had already simulated the liquid purification several times within the space of the 《Illusory Resemblance Art》. Her movements now were orderly and methodical. Aside from a slight unfamiliarity and stiffness while refining the few spiritual plants she was unused to, all the other plants turned smoothly into liquids of various colors, hovering within the furnace chamber as they awaited further purification.
Watching from the side, Fang Yushan saw Shi Yu's gratifying progress, and an extremely restrained smile appeared on his face.
President Song and Master Ji occasionally glanced at him, feeling that something was slightly off. Patriarch Fang's eyes were fixed unblinkingly on the pill furnace, his gaze so fiery that he almost looked... obsessed.
Still, his long-cherished dream of saving his daughter was on the verge of being fulfilled, so such behavior was hardly surprising. The two shifted their gazes away and thought no more of it.
...
This smooth progress did not last long. An unexpected accident suddenly occurred while Shi Yu was refining a spiritual plant named "Sha-Attracting Grass."
Sha-Attracting Grass was abundant in Wanchou Prefecture but rarely seen elsewhere.
Because the Five Elements within Wanchou Prefecture were severely imbalanced, poisonous swamps and toxic miasmas were widespread, and places where dark ruins accumulated fiendish energy were countless. Sha-Attracting Grass grew only in such lands teeming with fiendish energy, serving to draw and gather fiendish energy. Among the thirty-two spiritual plants of the Mengtian Pill, it served as a secondary main ingredient.
It went smoothly at first. Under the roasting of the Void Fissure Spiritual Flame, the Sha-Attracting Grass slowly withered and curled, its medicinal essence gradually seeping out.
However, perhaps because the quality of this particular Sha-Attracting Grass was too high, once all the medicinal essence was extracted, it was not liquid at all. Instead, it transformed into a crystal bead the size of a fingertip. At a glance, a hazy shadow seemed to flicker subtly within the crystal bead, giving off an eerie vibe.
This hazy shadow was the manifestation of condensed, potent fiendish energy.
Shi Yu's expression turned grave. Her hands formed hand seals in rapid succession, continuously casting pill seals as the flame continued to burn against the crystal bead. But at this moment, the shadow within the bead jumped with increasing intensity, becoming clearer and clearer until it slowly condensed into a bizarre, ominous human face.
Suddenly, with a howl, a burst of fierce fiendish energy surged violently outward. The human face actually charged out of the crystal bead, pouncing straight toward Shi Yu!
“Little Yu!” President Song and Master Ji cried out in alarm from the side.
Shi Yu's expression changed, and she took a step back. Before she could react, a sword unsheathed with a sharp clang, thrusting straight toward that face.
Instantly, the fiendish energy cleared, completely dispelled into nothingness.
Shi Yu's chest heaved as she turned her head to look. Fang Yushan had already quickly sheathed his sword.
Seeing this, President Song and Master Ji breathed a sigh of relief and lowered the hands they had raised to cast spells. Fang Yushan had the highest cultivation here, and his strike was lightning fast, leaving no need for them to intervene.
Shi Yu also let out a breath. “Thank you for saving me, Patriarch Fang.”
Fang Yushan shook his head and smiled. “Please do not stand on ceremony, Miss Shi. Staying here was meant to ensure your safety in the first place.”
Shi Yu nodded, paused for a brief moment, and gave a bitter smile. “However... that wisp of fiendish energy was supposed to be incorporated into the pill. Now that it escaped and was dispersed by your sword, Patriarch, it can no longer be used.”
Furthermore, when the fiendish energy escaped just now, it contaminated the other twenty to thirty floating droplets of medicinal liquid. Interrupted in this manner, this first attempt was considered a complete failure.
Hearing this, Fang Yushan offered a bitter smile as well, unable to hide the disappointment in his heart.
A hint of fatigue appeared on Shi Yu's face. “It was my oversight just now; I failed to properly control that wisp of fiendish energy. I will know what to do on the next attempt.”
Fang Yushan hastily nodded. Seeing the tiredness on her face and worried that continuing immediately might affect her performance, he suggested, “Miss Shi, please rest for a while before continuing.”
There were only two sets of spiritual plants in total. Now that the first attempt had failed, only one chance remained. He worried that if Shi Yu forced herself out of eagerness, it would lead to bad results.
Shi Yu nodded. “Very well.”
Fang Yushan spoke a few more words with the three of them before leaving with his daughter. Before departing, he instructed a servant to send over some food.
Shi Yu stared at the entrance of the quiet room, watching Fang Yushan walk further away until he was completely out of sight. Only then did she whisper to President Song, “President, set up a barrier.”
President Song froze, not understanding what she meant. Still, he nodded, pressed two fingers together, and dispersed his spiritual power to form a barrier that enveloped the three of them.
Shi Yu was still not entirely at ease. Borrowing the power of the life scale, she executed Qingzhou's innate divine ability, Water Curtain Celestial Canopy.
Enveloped by two barriers, ensuring that their upcoming conversation would not be overheard by outsiders, her expression relaxed slightly. She lowered her eyes and remained silent.
President Song and Master Ji looked at each other, feeling vaguely uneasy. “What is going on?”
“...” Shi Yu frowned and pondered for a moment before speaking slowly, “The artifact spirit inside Patriarch Fang's natal flying sword was forged using the Soul-Searching and Spirit-Refining Art.”
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