"Bang—!"
A loud explosion rang out as the lid of the alchemy furnace shot into the sky, slamming heavily into the roof beam.
Thick black smoke rolled through the air. Li Nanzhu stood in place, her face covered in soot and ash, but she didn't even pause to wipe it away—she had clearly felt that in the moment before the explosion, the medicinal liquid inside the furnace had formed a subtle, profound balance.
"Is this... a new alchemy recipe?" She stared blankly at the smoking furnace, suddenly realizing that what Xiao Yan had left her wasn't just memories, but countless insights into alchemy that she had yet to fully comprehend.
The courtyard gate was kicked open violently. Feng Weilan rushed in like a bolt of black lightning, his dagger already unsheathed. Right behind him, Feng Qingping's array disk glowed brilliantly, instantly casting a triple protective barrier around Li Nanzhu.
"Little Junior Sister!" Feng Qingping stepped forward quickly and grabbed her wrist to check her pulse. "Are you hurt?"
Li Nanzhu awkwardly wiped her face. "No, no... I'm fine. I just lost control of the heat..."
Feng Weilan walked silently to the still-smoking furnace and lightly tapped the side with his fingertip. With a crack, a fine hairline fracture spread across the body of the furnace.
He turned to look at Li Nanzhu, his eyes showing a rare trace of helplessness. "Old damage."
Feng Qingping inspected the furnace and sighed. "This furnace already had hidden damage; it couldn't handle the strain anymore." She looked at the mess on the ground. "Were you preparing pills for your Foundation Establishment?"
Li Nanzhu nodded, looking a bit frustrated. "I wanted to prepare more cleansing heart pills..."
Feng Weilan suddenly spoke up. "Fourth Senior Brother."
"Right!" Feng Qingping's eyes lit up. "Once Fourth Senior Brother returns from his travels, let him forge a new furnace for you. He’s the best refinery master in our sect; he can forge whatever kind you want."
Li Nanzhu thought of that mysterious Fourth Senior Brother—the original story mentioned him as a eccentric genius obsessed with refining, who spent most of his time traveling in search of rare materials. Looking down at the ruined furnace, she said helplessly, "Then I'll focus on drawing talismans for the next few days."
Feng Weilan suddenly reached into his storage bag and pulled out a portable furnace that was pitch-black. "Use mine first. It's forged from profound iron."
Li Nanzhu took it gratefully, finding that although it was small, it was exceptionally heavy. The walls were covered in intricate runes. She tried channeling a sliver of spiritual energy into it, and the interior immediately glowed with a soft light.
"Thank you, Sixth Senior Brother!" she thanked him sincerely, then remembered something. "But... I think I'll draw some talismans first to adjust my state."
"Drawing talismans?" Feng Qingping's array disk suddenly halted in mid-air, her eyes widening slightly. "Little Junior Sister, you know how to draw talismans?"
Li Nanzhu was using her sleeve to wipe the ash from her face and looked up. "Yes, Master taught me. He explained all the basic talismans."
Feng Qingping and Feng Weilan turned to look at each other simultaneously, surprise flashing in both of their eyes. Suisui lay on the ground, its soul fire jumping curiously back and forth between the two.
"Is there a problem?" Li Nanzhu was surprised by their reaction.
"No," Feng Qingping shook her head with a smile. "It's just that I'm feeling a bit nostalgic. It feels like so much time has passed since those days."
Feng Weilan nodded in agreement.
"I still remember when I first started learning arrays; Master taught me step by step just like that."
Feng Weilan spoke in a low voice, "Master never uses array disks."
This sentence made Li Nanzhu's heart skip a beat. She recalled the scene with Feng Yi in the forbidden area—at that time, he had simply moved his spiritual energy through the air, and the runes had formed naturally. He didn't need external items like talisman paper at all. She never expected that even his arrays were the same.
If that were the case... would refining and alchemy be the same as well?
Li Nanzhu blinked rapidly, bringing her thoughts back to the matter at hand. Judging by the behavior of her Master and her teacher, the two must have been quite familiar. Someone who could get along with Xiao Yan... Li Nanzhu thought of Xiao Yan's occasionally unreliable personality and couldn't help but chuckle.
"Little Junior Sister?"
Feng Qingping's voice brought Li Nanzhu back to her senses. Facing their questioning gazes, her mind raced, and she suddenly remembered something. "I just thought of something... Fifth Senior Sister, I heard that back then, Master threw you into an array eye..." She hesitated, deciding not to mention the 'three days and three nights' part. "Is that true?"
Hearing this, Feng Qingping's face flushed red instantly. "Who told you that? It was clearly..." She gave Li Nanzhu a reproachful look.
Li Nanzhu noticed that Feng Weilan was giving Feng Qingping an appreciative look from behind her. It seemed her Sixth Senior Brother... really enjoyed seeing Fifth Senior Sister like this.
"Alright, alright, stop teasing me. That's ancient history from years ago," Feng Qingping quickly changed the subject, taking a jade box from her sleeve. "There's some soothing incense in here. Lighting it while drawing talismans can help calm your mind." She paused, remembering something else. "Oh, Sixth Junior Brother has..."
Before she could finish, Feng Weilan had already handed over a small cloth bag containing several red stones. "Fire spirit stones. They help with fire control."
Li Nanzhu took them gratefully and noticed Feng Weilan's movements—he first looked at Feng Qingping, and only after confirming she had nothing left to say did he silently step back half a pace. This level of tacit understanding made Li Nanzhu daze slightly.
Feng Weilan seemed to always anticipate Feng Qingping's needs before she even spoke, and Fifth Senior Sister was equally accustomed to his silent companionship.
"The teamwork between you two is so good," Li Nanzhu couldn't help but remark.
Feng Qingping let out a light laugh, her fingertip unconsciously tracing the edge of her array disk. "When you spend enough time together, a connection forms naturally." She turned to look at Feng Weilan, a trace of tenderness in her eyes. "When I first met him, he was a boy who wouldn't say a single word. Now he..."
"He talks even less," Feng Weilan cut in, his tone as flat as if he were talking about someone else.
Li Nanzhu almost laughed out loud, quickly covering her mouth with her sleeve. Suisui paced around her feet, its soul fire dancing happily.
Feng Qingping shook her head helplessly. "You..." Though she spoke thus, there was no trace of blame in her voice.
As the three were talking, a creak came from above. Looking up, they saw that around the dent made by the furnace lid, the wooden beam was starting to crack under the strain.
Li Nanzhu: "...I really didn't do it on purpose."
Feng Qingping burst into laughter. "This is nothing. You haven't seen Third Senior Brother's masterpieces yet." She pointed toward a corner of another courtyard. "See that patch? Last year, Third Senior Brother was testing a new alchemy recipe and blew up half the east wing."
Feng Weilan added quietly, "Eldest Senior Brother made him sleep in the alchemy room for a month."
Li Nanzhu recalled how she had poked holes all over Duan Xianxing's courtyard while practicing the Eight Principles of Yong. Back then, he had joked that she was a 'little demolition expert.' She hadn't expected to inherit that talent in alchemy as well. It was a blessing that Eldest Senior Brother hadn't punished her for the state she had left his place in...
Just as Li Nanzhu was about to say more, the communication jade slip in the storage bag at her waist vibrated gently. She took it out, but a strange, indefinable sense of unease suddenly surged in her heart...
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