“Is the Five Yin Soul Returning Pill easy to refine?” Qian Duoduo felt a little unsure. Alchemy and Artifact Refining both involved 'refining', but they were completely different Daos.
“It’s not easy to refine, but for me, just extracting the essence is enough,” Liu Boli said, then waved his fingers, setting up several more hidden Formations around them.
He set up the cauldron, took out the spiritual ephedra, Cold Flower Blood Crown Grass, and Black Velvet Soft Purple Artemisia. Liu Boli took a light breath, and with a movement of his left hand, a golden-yellow low flame rose in the cauldron.
Qian Duoduo sat down cross-legged, his eyes wide, watching the inside of the cauldron without blinking.
Liu Boli first refined the root of the Cold Flower Blood Crown Grass. Qian Duoduo thought, perhaps it was because its growing environment had the lowest temperature, so it was refined first.
The root of the Cold Flower Blood Crown Grass turned into a golden-yellow herbal liquid, enveloped by Spiritual Qi, resting quietly in a corner of the cauldron.
The flowers of the spiritual ephedra flew into the cauldron and soon turned into a white crystal. Black flowers turning into white crystals was truly strange.
Liu Boli stopped to rest for a short while, then took the velvet threads from the Black Velvet Soft Purple Artemisia and put them into the golden-yellow herbal liquid. The velvet threads moved like the root system of a spiritual plant, slowly expanding, like a crazily growing black melon.
At this moment, the white crystal suddenly fell into it, and the black melon ruptured, shrinking to the size of a walnut. The walnut continued to grow into a melon, the crystal fell, and it shrunk again.
Although Liu Boli’s Spiritual Qi tightly enveloped the medicinal liquid, a medicinal fragrance still wafted out, making Qian Duoduo feel invigorated.
After repeated compression, the Spiritual Qi began to rotate, driving the three purified Spirit Medicines to continuously compress and mix, and an oval-shaped pill slowly formed in the furnace!
Before the pill could become perfectly round, Liu Boli had already collected it into a jade box.
“It’s done?” Qian Duoduo couldn’t believe it.
Liu Boli nodded, his nostrils flaring as he inhaled the surrounding medicinal aura.
“Master’s cultivation is about to take a big step forward. In that case, I won’t have to fear that purple-robed old man from the Refining Spirit Sect. Hmph, I can start thinking about taking back the money-lending business,” Qian Duoduo thought to himself.
After a while, Liu Boli spoke, “If I were an Alchemist, I could improve the grade of the Five Yin Soul Returning Pill, but it’s already enough now. However—”
Qian Duoduo stared at him, waiting for him to reveal the next twist.
“After I take this medicine, I will enter seclusion for a month at most, or half a month at least,” Liu Boli gently stroked the jade box. “You must be careful with everything. Even after I come out of seclusion, there are a few people in Kongfang City whom I dare not provoke.”
“Is it President Wang Shuhuo?”
“Besides him, there’s also the City Lord and the boss of the Money House.”
Qian Duoduo knew that the City Lord of Kongfang City was Jiao Yueshan, an even more formidable existence than Wang Shuhuo.
He heard the boss of the Money House was Han Shunwen, also a businessman. What capabilities could he have?
“Don’t worry, Master. I’ll just earn my own money, and beat up that fat guy and the floral-skirted girl. I won’t provoke these three people.” Qian Duoduo would certainly not provoke those whom Liu Boli dared not provoke.
Liu Boli’s figure flickered, returning inside the Golden Toad, and he took the Five Yin Soul Returning Pill he had just made. “Thank you, good Disciple.”
Before entering seclusion, Liu Boli’s thanks made Qian Duoduo straighten up. “Between us, Master and Disciple, why talk about thanks? No need to be polite! But, I, Qian Duoduo, am truly a prodigy!”
…
Seven days later, a heavy snow fell from the sky, covering Kongfang City in white.
Cultivators might not fear the cold, but they didn’t mind dressing warmly to save some Spiritual Qi for resisting the cold.
Qian Duoduo’s Refining Spirit Sect store was still as lively as mid-summer.
Selling one Dan artifact at half price each day made the store’s business sky-high. Chu Tianqi set a good rule: as long as you bought one item in the store, you would get a lottery ticket. The lottery tickets were eventually put into a box, and the lucky person who could buy the Dan artifact at half price was chosen by drawing.
Qian Duoduo buried himself in Artifact Refining, ignoring these trivial matters. The Dan artifacts on the first twenty pages of the Hundred Item Recipes had already been refined by him. He took a breath and turned to the twenty-first page. Just then, the Jade Slip vibrated; someone was looking for him.
“Jin Buhuan, a sect mission—” Jin Buque’s gloomy voice rang out.
“Stop. I’m currently on a mission,” Qian Duoduo immediately interrupted him.
“Emergency mission. According to sect regulations, our Mission Hall has the right to conscript Disciples below the Elder level. Little brother Bu Huan, you haven’t been promoted to Elder or Palace Lord, have you?”
Qian Duoduo extinguished the fire in the cauldron. A chilling wind seemed to rise in the secret room, a bone-chilling cold.
“Little brother Bu Huan, your temper is growing. It seems you’re doing quite well as the store manager, secretly raking in a lot of extra money, right? Those shop assistants must have given you plenty of gifts too, no?”
“Tell me the mission—” In the eyes of a poisonous snake, there is nothing non-poisonous.
“The mission, though urgent, is not big. Outer Sect Disciple Wang Longyu went to the Chifeng Mountain Range to investigate a mineral vein and suddenly lost contact two months ago…”
After Jin Buque finished explaining the mission, Qian Duoduo was a little surprised.
Qian Duoduo had met Wang Longyu; he was Wang Meiruo’s older brother. Although not the eldest legitimate son, he was a direct descendant. Within the sect, the Wang Family belonged to a middle-tier Family, and generally, no one would actively cause trouble for the Wang Family.
The Chifeng Mountain Range was in the southwest of the sect, near the Ba Ling Sect, and several times larger than the Phoenix Mountains.
This mission was simply to search the Chifeng Mountain Range and find clues. Wang Longyu not sending back information on time was actually within the normal range, as it could be due to the distance, or he might have simply forgotten, and news might arrive in a few days.
“This is quite ordinary, so why is it an emergency mission?” Qian Duoduo asked Jin Buque. Something was abnormal, and Qian Duoduo felt that Jin Buque was still setting a trap for him.
Emergency missions would be led by an Inner Sect Disciple, accompanied by two Outer Sect Disciples.
“Wang Longyu has a younger sister who is extremely anxious and spent money to find her brother. The more money she spent, the more urgent the mission became.” Jin Buque’s explanation matched Wang Meiruo’s style of using money to clear the way.
From Jin Buque’s words, Qian Duoduo felt that he didn’t know about his relationship with Wang Meiruo.
“Jin Buhuan, are you going to take the mission or not? Stop dragging your feet!” On the other end of the Jade Slip, Jin Buque’s patience ran out.
Thinking of Wang Meiruo’s investment in him, Qian Duoduo blurted out: “I’ll take it.”
If Qian Duoduo wanted to refuse this mission that Jin Buque forced upon him, it wasn’t impossible, especially since he was personally appointed as the store manager by the Sect Leader. It was reasonable not to accept another mission while one was still ongoing.
But if he didn’t take it, he couldn’t get past his own conscience. If Qian Duoduo hadn’t known that the missing person was Wang Longyu, he could have refused. But now that he knew, he couldn’t refuse.
From the other end of the Jade Slip came a barely concealed triumphant laugh, followed by Jin Buque’s voice, “I figured you wouldn’t dare refuse. If you refuse, I’ll make sure you can’t be the store manager. Listen carefully: three days from now, meet outside the city gate in the southwest of Kongfang City. At that time, you’ll follow the arrangements of the Inner Sect Senior Brother.”
Even long after putting down the Jade Slip, Qian Duoduo’s heart continued to pound. He was almost certain that this mission was not simple.
He glanced at the two motionless people inside the Golden Toad—the dead Jin Buhuan and the secluded Liu Boli. Qian Duoduo knew that this mission to find Wang Longyu would be his biggest challenge since coming to the Immortal Cultivation World.
“I won’t become a second Jin Buhuan! Even if my current cultivation is only Qi Condensation Level Five!”
“Unlike Jin Buhuan, I am also a Third Grade High-Level Artifact Refiner.”
“Whoever wants me dead, I’ll make them die first!”
Qian Duoduo thought to himself. He still had three days, and he needed to prepare well.