Chapter 188: The Double Soul Pills Are Complete

"He Daofriend, how confident are you?"

Bai Long Daoren looked at He Pingsheng with eager anticipation.

He Pingsheng glanced at him, paused briefly, then said: "Hard to say, but I have over a fifty percent chance."

"Ladies and gentlemen, since I have never before refined this 【Double Soul Pill】, I must return home to meditate for three days!"

"Only after three days will I officially begin the refining process!"

"Please wait for me a few more days!"

At these words, the others refused.

Zi Xian Daoren instantly blocked He Pingsheng's path: "He Daofriend, what do you mean? Are you trying to embezzle it?"

"He Daofriend!" Xuan Yuan added: "Though the Double Soul Pill is only a second-rank elixir, its value is immense—even a low-grade one will become a hot item at any merchant guild auction!"

"It's not that we don't trust you, but this matter is too critical!"

"You may seclude yourself," Bai Long said, "but you must do so under the supervision of all three of us!"

"Or better yet, right here in Xuan Yuan Daofriend's place!"

He Pingsheng shook his head.

He could never cultivate in someone else's sect grounds.

"How about this…" he thought, then said: "I have a small courtyard in this city. I'll return there to seclude myself. If you three truly can't trust me, come with me and supervise me there!"

"This…" the other three exchanged glances, then each nodded.

"Fine!" Xuan Yuan said: "Then let's not delay—let's go now!"

He Pingsheng's request for three days of seclusion was not unreasonable.

It made perfect sense.

If it were Xuan Yuan Changgeng himself, he wouldn't start refining immediately either—he'd need to seclude himself first to study the Double Soul Pill formula.

The four set out again, and soon arrived at He Pingsheng's courtyard.

The courtyard was simple: just one building and a few arrays.

"Ladies and gentlemen…"

He Pingsheng looked at them and said: "You may inspect it first."

"If everything's fine, rest on the first floor. I'll go to the third floor and begin refining in three days."

The three thoroughly checked the small building inside and out. It was simple by nature—nothing but arrays and space, no hidden tricks.

So after half a stick of incense, He Pingsheng sat on the third floor and began his meditation.

He activated each array one by one, isolating the third floor completely.

Even those below could not ascend.

Of course, during his meditation, He Pingsheng also placed the Double Soul Pill's ingredients into the Treasure Basin.

After one day of meditation, He Pingsheng gained some confidence in refining the 【Double Soul Pill】.

Meanwhile, the ingredients in the Treasure Basin had doubled from one set to two.

Then he lit the furnace and began refining.

Though upstairs and downstairs, the third floor was shielded by arrays, so those below could not sense his refining.

Old rule!

To ensure success, he added another drop of 【Golden Bee Sacred Juice】.

Even if the refining failed, it would prevent an explosion—so at worst, he'd still get waste pills.

The result was acceptable.

The first batch succeeded!

But the quality was low.

Twelve pills: only four were mid-grade, the rest all low-grade.

He Pingsheng was not discouraged; instead, he chuckled.

Achieving this quality on his first attempt at the Double Soul Pill was already extraordinary.

Proceed to the second batch!

For the second batch, He Pingsheng did not add the Golden Bee Sacred Juice.

He thought it wasteful.

The Golden Bee Sacred Juice itself was already extremely valuable.

The pills without it would be lower in quality, but as long as they formed, it didn't matter.

The result disappointed him.

The refining failed.

Though failed, waste pills still formed—twelve in total.

After completing both batches, He Pingsheng placed the twelve waste pills and the first batch's successful pills together into the Treasure Basin and left them in the room.

Night fell, and lunar essence gathered.

He Pingsheng stared intently at the Treasure Basin, waiting for its transformation.

About an hour later, it changed!

The twelve waste pills instantly became twenty-four; the four mid-grade became eight, and the eight low-grade became sixteen.

He Pingsheng did not rush to retrieve them.

He waited.

Another hour passed, and the pill qualities shifted again.

Waste pills became low-grade, low-grade became mid-grade, mid-grade became high-grade.

Only then did He Pingsheng reach out and take twelve mid-grade pills.

The rest remained in the basin for further strengthening.

After one night, He Pingsheng obtained thirty-six supreme-grade pills and twelve mid-grade pills.

One set of ingredients became two sets, two batches became four.

Perfect!

He Pingsheng smiled as he put away the Treasure Basin and the supreme-grade pills, then took the twelve mid-grade pills and stepped out of the array, heading downstairs.

Seeing He Pingsheng descend, the three seated below instantly rose.

"He Daofriend, have you completed your meditation?"

"It's not even three days yet—can you refine already?"

"How did it go?"

The three asked quickly.

He Pingsheng chuckled and placed a jade vial on the table: "Here… it's done."

"What?"

"Done?"

"Already refined?"

Xuan Yuan Changgeng, stunned, hurried to the table and upended the vial.

Twelve pills total.

All mid-grade.

"Damn…" Xuan Yuan Changgeng said: "All mid-grade…?"

"Excellent!"

"Hahaha…"

"Hehehe…"

The three rejoiced like children.

They had only hoped for any success at all—low-grade would have been a miracle.

Now they got mid-grade outright!

Perfect.

"Impressive, truly impressive…" Xuan Yuan Changgeng was genuinely convinced.

He bowed deeply to He Pingsheng: "He Daofriend's pill-refining skill far surpasses mine. Today, I finally understand that beyond the sky lies higher sky, beyond people lie greater people!"

"Hehehe!"

He Pingsheng remained humble: "Xuan Yuan Dao Brother flatters me—it was all luck."

Luck?

Xuan Yuan didn't believe it.

At over a hundred years old, he knew well the difference between luck and true skill—others merely spoke politely.

"Enough!" he waved his sleeve: "Now that we have the pills, let's divide them as agreed—I'll take four."

Without delay, Xuan Yuan took four pills.

"I'll take two, hehehe…" Bai Long Daoren grinned slyly, stepped forward, and took two.

Zi Xian also took two.

The remaining four in the vial naturally belonged to He Pingsheng.

"He Daofriend!" Xuan Yuan looked at him with respect: "Would you be interested in joining my pill shop? If so, future profits will be split four to six between us—how about it?"

"You don't need to manage it."