Chapter 132: Refined Three Times a Day

"Daoist Friend Lan, take action to help me suppress the Spirit Fire!"

While Lan You was lost in her own thoughts, the Pill Refining had reached a critical juncture; even with Xu Chen's profound Yuan Qi, which was comparable to the middle stage of the Zhenyuan Realm, he was gradually unable to hold on, his face turning pale while beads of sweat rolled down his forehead.

"Oh, o-okay!"

Lan You snapped back to reality, hurriedly taking a few deep breaths to adjust her state of mind and Qi, then stretched out her hands to press them against the Pill Furnace; following the input of a powerful surge of Yuan Qi, the restless Spirit Fire and the vibrating Pill Furnace quickly calmed down.

"Daoist Friend Lan, do not be careless; help me suppress the Spirit Fire with all your might, otherwise this batch of pills will likely be ruined!" Xu Chen warned in a deep voice.

"Rest assured, Daoist Friend Xu, I will give it my all!" Lan You was so nervous that sweat broke out on her forehead.

In just an instant, from the moment her Divine Sense probed into the Pill Furnace, she felt the pill fire churning like a ferocious beast; although she could suppress it, it was in a state of eruption at any moment, and indeed, she could not be the slightest bit careless, or the Spirit Fire would suddenly erupt and incinerate the medicinal paste that had already begun to fuse into ash.

With Lan You's help, Xu Chen observed for a moment, then slowly reduced his own Yuan Qi input, beginning to focus all his attention on driving the rotation of the Combining Pill Array.

Time flew by, and nearly half an hour passed; the fragrance of the medicinal pills was already very rich, and it carried a special aura that was refreshing to the mind and spirit. Xu Chen knew the pills should be fully mature, so he activated the Dividing Pill Array, quickly splitting the medicinal paste into five pill clusters to begin the final Pill Nourishing stage.

Even at this stage, the Spirit Fire still showed no signs of calming down; instead, it became even more restless, causing the entire Pill Furnace to shake with a clattering sound, emitting muffled, thunder-like explosions as if it were determined not to stop until the Spirit Pills were incinerated.

"Can you hold on, Daoist Friend Lan?" Xu Chen asked.

"Rest assured, Daoist Friend Xu, I can hold on!" Lan You's face was also somewhat pale by now, and bean-sized beads of sweat rolled down her cheeks, but her Soul and Qi were stable, and she kept her Yuan Qi input at a steady flow, not yet reaching the point where she could no longer support it.

At this moment, the cyan-white mist above the Pill Furnace had condensed to a point visible to the naked eye, and within it, a phantom image of a cyan flower released a faint spiritual light.

However, because the mountain cave was narrow, this aura was compressed to a height of about a zhang, enveloping both of them and the Pill Furnace, making it almost impossible to distinguish between the pill aura and the strange phenomenon.

As the pill fragrance gradually receded, Xu Chen's expression slowly became much more relaxed.

Lan You, however, was even more horrified, her heart thumping along with the clattering of the Pill Furnace.

Because even though the Spirit Pills were almost completely successful, the Spirit Fire remained incredibly manic, bringing her to a point where she was gradually unable to suppress it.

"I am preparing to extract the pills; Daoist Friend Lan, remember to suppress the Spirit Fire with all your might, or all our efforts will fall short of success."

"Okay!"

After Xu Chen finished speaking, he tapped the Pill Furnace lightly with both hands, and the furnace lid was jolted open; a burst of incandescent white firelight mixed with rich pill aura erupted from the furnace. Xu Chen guided it with his Divine Sense, using his Yuan Qi to roll the five ejected Spirit Pills in front of him, then sank his Divine Sense into the Pill Furnace to quickly close the Array and extinguish the Spirit Fire. Only after the vibrating Pill Furnace became completely quiet did he let out a long breath.

Lan You also stopped inputting Yuan Qi and withdrew her Divine Sense.

The two looked at each other and discovered that both were drenched in sweat and pale-faced.

"Thanks to your help, Daoist Friend Lan, this pill refining was truly exhausting!"

Xu Chen wiped the sweat from his face and raised his hand to grasp the five Spirit Pills.

Just as he was about to observe them closely, he suddenly heard a loud boom outside the cave; he saw a huge bird shadow land at the entrance, followed by a cold, gusty wind pouring into the cave, and then a series of cooing sounds. A massive bird head poked into the cave, and a pair of rice-bowl-sized red eyes emitted a bright light, staring fixedly at the Spirit Pills in Xu Chen's hand.

Xu Chen hurriedly released his Yuan Qi to protect the Spirit Pills.

Lan You also stood up abruptly, pushed her hand out, and pressed a burst of Yuan Qi onto the bird's head, scolding, "Beast, what are you trying to do?"

"Coo, coo, coo, coo..."

With the strength of a Third-Tier Spirit Beast, Lan You could not push it back at all; not only did the large bird not retreat, but it stretched its head further into the cave, opening its mouth wide and making a sound like a hen pecking for food. The sound carried a strong fluctuation of Yuan Qi; if it were an ordinary cultivator of the Kaiyuan Realm, they would likely have been dizzied instantly.

Fortunately, neither of them were ordinary cultivators, and their Souls were incredibly powerful, so they felt no discomfort.

Xu Chen looked at the Spirit Sparrow, then at the Spirit Pills in his hand, and instantly understood; this Spirit Sparrow had been attracted by the Spirit Pills, so he laughed, "So you came to scavenge; just a moment ago, when I asked you for a piece of meat, you glared at me. If you kneel down and beg me, I will reward you with one!"

Lan You was instantly left between laughter and tears.

But unexpectedly, the Spirit Sparrow seemed to understand Xu Chen's words; it lowered its body and actually crouched on the ground, then squeezed most of its body inside, its wide-open beak almost touching Xu Chen's chin.

Xu Chen's eyes nearly popped out; he laughed heartily and flicked his finger, and one of the newly refined Spirit Pills fell into the Spirit Sparrow's open beak.

"Coo, coo, coo, coo..."

With a basket-sized mouth and a finger-sized pill, the Spirit Sparrow couldn't even feel the pill; it opened and closed its beak as if it had swallowed the pill, then opened it even wider, continuing to make the sound of a hen feeding.

Xu Chen was left between laughter and tears; he tossed in another Spirit Pill, then kicked its long, sharp beak heavily with his foot, rolling his eyes and saying, "That's enough, don't push your luck, or I'll slaughter you for a barbecue!"

The Spirit Sparrow hurriedly closed its big beak, retracted its neck, and vanished from the cave. Then, with a flurry of wing-flapping sounds accompanied by another gust of cold, wild wind blowing into the cave, it instantly returned to silence.

"Cough, cough, this damn bird, stingy as it is, its nose is quite sharp; it could smell it from miles away!" Xu Chen, hit by the cold air and covered in dust, couldn't help but cough a few times and mutter.

"Ku, ku, ku, ku..." Lan You turned her back, her delicate body trembling with laughter.

Xu Chen laughed dryly, "Daoist Friend Lan, there are three pills left here; shall we each take one to see how they work?"

"Mm!" Lan You finally stopped laughing and turned around, took the pill, thought about it, and covered her mouth to laugh again.

Xu Chen could only pretend not to see, tossed a pill into his mouth, stored the remaining one in a Jade Bottle, then put away the Pill Furnace, sat cross-legged on a meditation cushion, and closed his eyes to meditate.

Lan You also sat down nearby, but although she closed her eyes, her body would tremble and sway from time to time, and she would even occasionally let out a laugh. It was not until Xu Chen had been in deep meditation for a long time that her aura gradually leveled out and she became quiet.

The night passed without incident, and Xu Chen was awakened by the cooing sounds outside the cave.

Opening his eyes, he discovered a massive bird head stuck inside the cave, blocking most of the entrance.

Seeing Xu Chen open his eyes, the Spirit Sparrow hurriedly opened its big beak, making the cooing sound of a hen foraging for food.

Xu Chen was left between laughter and tears; he thought for a moment, took out the Jade Bottle, tossed the last pill into the big hen's mouth, and kicked its beak, saying, "You're not diligent when it comes to work, but you're the fastest when it comes to eating. It's a good thing you aren't a mount of our Taiyuan Sect, or I'd beat you three times a day!"

"Ku, ku, ku, ku..." Behind him came the sound of suppressed laughter again, and it sounded like she was holding it in very painfully.

After the Spirit Sparrow retracted its head out of the cave, Xu Chen stretched and turned his head, "Daoist Friend Lan, let us set off now!"

Lan You covered her mouth and nodded, "Okay, there is still about a thousand miles to go; we can arrive this afternoon, there is still plenty of time."

And so, soon, the two sat on the bird's back and soared into the air, spreading its wings and continuing westward along the rolling and towering mountains.

However, having gained the Su Xin Plum yesterday, Xu Chen was very interested in the produce of Taiyi Mountain, so he had Lan You control the Spirit Sparrow to lower its altitude, flying low along the mountain forests and canyons, while he released his Divine Sense to search the mountains and plains for Spirit Grass and Spirit Medicine.

Sure enough, as Lan You had said, while treasures were not everywhere in Taiyi Mountain, one could indeed find many Spirit Grass, Spirit Medicine, and Spirit Wood rich in Spirit Qi as long as one looked in those steep, strange cliffs or deep ravines.

And now, just at the turn of spring and summer, the mountains and plains were filled with countless strange flowers and herbs; flying over this lush, boundless wilderness was indeed refreshing to the mind and spirit.

Therefore, the two searched as they flew; whenever they discovered fluctuations of Spirit Qi, they would go down to take a look, and they would inevitably have some gains.

Xu Chen had never gone out treasure hunting like this before; playing and getting rich along the way, his mood was incredibly cheerful, and he completely threw the matter of the Soul Beast to the back of his mind.

Although Lan You did not care for these Spirit Medicines and Spirit Grasses, traveling through the mountains and waters with Xu Chen also made her feel a completely different kind of emotional release.

Although she had been cultivating for nearly ten years and had already reached the middle stage of the Zhenyuan Realm, in reality, while her cultivation was sufficient, her Dao heart was not firm enough; this was a common ailment of disciples from large Immortal Sects like Yuqing Hall.

High-minded but low-skilled, arrogant and self-satisfied.

It was precisely because of this mindset that, after the encounter in the underground cavern of Black Wind Ridge, her Dao heart almost completely collapsed.

Coupled with the entanglement of grievances with Xu Chen, which caused fluctuations in her emotions, her Dao heart became even more fragile.

The current situation was that Lan You herself did not know why her state of mind had become so fragile, much like an ordinary mortal; upon encountering even the slightest fright, her Dao heart would lose its defense, and her thoughts would become chaotic.

However, what surprised her greatly was that after taking a Su Xin Pill infused with white Qi last night, although she could not feel any benefit from the white Qi to her Soul and body, the medicinal effect of the Su Xin Pill itself was incomparably potent; after one night, she discovered that her state of mind had actually stabilized significantly, and the restlessness of her Soul brought about by the encounter deep in the Black Wind Ridge cavern and the terrifying scene of the Soul Beast's mutation a few days ago seemed to have faded away, no longer feeling so fearful and terrified when recalling them.

Although there are many Spirit Medicines in Taiyi Mountain, it can be called a home for wild beasts; various fierce beasts such as wolves, bears, tigers, and leopards are countless, and Demon Beasts and Spirit Beasts can naturally be seen often—those that fly in the sky, run on the ground, burrow in the soil, or swim in the river, as long as it is a species one can think of or has heard of, it can almost be found here.

Moreover, the level of Demon Beasts here is not low; First Stage ones can be said to be commonplace, and one can be found after flying for dozens of miles, while Second-Tier and Third-Tier ones are also quite numerous; in just half a day, Xu Chen discovered at least seven or eight Second-Tier or Third-Tier Demon Beasts.

Even when passing by a large area of jagged, snow-capped peaks, the Third-Tier Spirit Sparrow steered clear from far away.

Xu Chen tried to probe and observe with his Divine Sense, but instantly felt an extremely terrifying aura, which immediately scared him into urging Lan You to drive the Spirit Sparrow to flee in a panic.

This aura was at least that of a Fourth-Rank Demon Beast; if angered, he feared that today both of them and the Spirit Sparrow would all turn into Demon Beast dung and vanish from the world from then on.

(End of this chapter)