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The cauldron spun. The formations on its body flashed, and billowing hot steam rose, causing the temperature in the room to rise rapidly.
Fan Tianyou poured the medicinal herbs into the cauldron one by one.
Inside, the herbs levitated and spun, grinding into powder. The surroundings were pitch-black, looking like a vortex in a starry sky, exceptionally brilliant. When the last of the herbs was poured in, the powder was incinerated by the fierce fire, becoming a wheel of wind and fire.
“Senior Brother, cover the cauldron.”
Sui An’s spiritual energy was being consumed quickly. If he didn’t cover the cauldron, she couldn’t proceed to the next step. Seeing him in a daze, she could only hold her breath and give him a reminder before focusing again on controlling the flow of her spiritual energy.
After Fan Tianyou covered the cauldron, he locked the lid and removed the ladder.
His gaze never left Sui An. The way he stared, unblinking and focused, would make anyone who didn’t know better think he was gazing at her with deep affection.
[Host, try to send wood spiritual energy to gently nurture the medicinal liquid until the pill is formed.]
Sui An frowned, her breathing uneven. Just controlling the fire was extremely difficult for her right now; how could she divide her attention to nurture the medicinal liquid?
The rhombus-shaped formation on the cauldron began to spin.
Seeing this, Sui An formed a circle with her hands, gathering the surrounding spiritual energy. Her fingertips intertwined, and she injected the spiritual energy into the three formations.
Just maintaining the three formations made it difficult for her to stabilize her spiritual energy. Suddenly, she felt the spiritual energy in her body surge. Her Fire spiritual root flared brightly, and her meridians1 swelled, unable to bear the expansion.
She was all too familiar with this feeling. She was about to break through. At the critical moment of pill formation, she was about to break through!
Sui An took a deep breath, suppressing her spiritual energy, wanting to delay the breakthrough. But at this moment, her Wood spiritual root also began to shine, fanning the flames of her Fire root. She couldn’t suppress it at all.
Her spiritual energy continuously expanded and flowed out. The formations on the alchemy cauldron spun at high speed, causing the temperature to rise sharply. The room grew intensely hot. This commotion attracted some disciples from outside, who stared at Sui An.
She was drenched in fragrant sweat, her expression grave. That youthful face had become mature at this moment. The sweat soaked the hair at her temples, making it cling tightly to her skin, inadvertently attracting everyone’s gaze, stirring a pity in their hearts and a desire to help her.
Even Fan Tianyou couldn’t help but be momentarily dazed. After coming to his senses, he silently recited the Mind-Calming Art and fixed his gaze on the cauldron. Seeing the circular formation on the cauldron turn to a dangerous position, he knew this pill was probably ruined.
Although this pill wasn’t valuable and its grade was low, it was precisely for this reason that it was enough to shatter an alchemist’s budding confidence.
He smiled.
The spiritual energy in Sui An’s body became chaotic. Seeing the indicator on the circular formation reach a dangerous position, she gritted her teeth, flipped her wrist, and sent the expanding wood spiritual energy into the cauldron.
Seeing this, Fan Tianyou let out a soft sneer, but this happiness didn’t last long. The vibrating cauldron miraculously stabilized, and the speed of the three rotating formations gradually returned to normal.
Fan Tianyou’s head was buzzing. He raised his hand and secretly sent a weak stream of spiritual energy into the cauldron. When he realized what he had done, his face turned deathly pale. He was clearly regretting that unconscious act of jealousy. This was a great taboo for cultivators. A single misstep could lead one astray.
The stabilized cauldron began to shake violently again.
Sui An had completely lost control of her spiritual energy and was continuously pouring it out. She saw the cauldron’s mystic gate open, and a large amount of smoke billowed out. With a kaka sound, a crack appeared!
Sui An cursed inwardly. This is bad, this is the prelude to a pill explosion. But her spiritual energy was completely out of control. If she withdrew it, she would probably be burst apart by the spiritual energy in her own body.
This was a situation she had never encountered in her previous life. Perhaps it was because she had practiced that Yin-Yang Spirit Heart Art, causing the spiritual energy in her body to become overabundant and expand. Her spiritual roots truly generated and restrained each other.
“There’s no other way. I can only break through,” Sui An said, intertwining her hands and gathering the surrounding spiritual energy.
The swirling mist followed the ambient spiritual energy and circled Sui An, making it seem as if she were in a spirit spring2. The mist half-concealed her, creating a charming atmosphere that stirred the heart.
The people at the door saw this and all exclaimed, “Is Senior Sister An about to break through?”
“It looks like she is. This is the first time I’ve seen someone break through so directly. I must watch carefully and learn.”
“Yes, yes, me too.”
Fan Tianyou’s hands tightened.
Sui An compressed the spiritual energy in her body into a ball of mist, one part red, one part green. A torrential rain began to fall from the mist, nourishing her body and her over-expanded meridians.
Crack! A large fissure appeared on the cauldron’s body.
Seeing this, Fan Tianyou shouted towards the door, “Run! The cauldron is going to explode!”
The disciples at the door were stunned for a moment. Someone let out a terrified scream, and everyone snapped back to reality, turned, and ran.
Bang! The alchemy cauldron exploded.
Shards flew everywhere, some piercing through the wooden door. Smoke billowed out from all directions, squeezing through the doorway.
From a distance, Kong Yue heard the sound and flew back.
The disciples who had run far were unharmed. “Shizun, Senior Sister An is still inside.”
Kong Yue waved his sleeve, and a strong wind blew away the smoke.
The room was in a mess. Even the herbs on the shelves had been knocked over. As soon as he entered, his eyes searched for Sui An’s figure.
“Shizun, Junior Sister An’s cauldron exploded during alchemy just now.” Fan Tianyou walked out from another door.
Kong Yue glared at him. “Do you think I’m blind? Can’t I see the cauldron exploded? The important thing is that she’s alright.”
Fan Tianyou pursed his lips.
Sui An then walked out from behind him. “Elder Kong, it was thanks to Senior Brother pulling me away in time just now. Please don’t scold him.”
Sui An’s clothes were covered in a lot of dust, and her arm had a cut. The wound wasn’t large, only oozing a thin trickle of blood.
Kong Yue breathed a sigh of relief. “It’s good that you’re alright. Thankfully, it was only a Human-rank pill. Otherwise, the force of the explosion would have been enough to destroy this building.”
“Elder Kong, I’m sorry. I lost control during the alchemy process. I don’t know how I suddenly broke through,” Sui An said, lowering her eyes, her mind calculating how much she would need to compensate for the cauldron. She didn’t notice Fan Tianyou’s stiff expression.
“Not bad, not bad at all. Reaching the Foundation Establishment stage at such a young age, you are a rare talent,” Kong Yue said, his eyes filled with admiration. “You can’t be blamed for the cauldron exploding. Many alchemists also break through during alchemy. With this experience, you just need to be more careful next time.”
There were indeed not many who reached the Foundation Establishment stage at Sui An’s age, but that was because she had been propped up by pills. Fan Tianyou had just refined a Foundation Establishment Pill, and his aptitude was better than Sui An’s. Breaking through was only a matter of time for him. He absolutely could not lose to Sui An, who had appeared out of nowhere.
Fan Tianyou stood to the side with his head down, looking like a child who had done something wrong and was waiting to be reprimanded. No one could guess his thoughts at this moment.
“Elder Kong, I will earn the money to compensate you for this cauldron.”
Fan Tianyou smiled faintly. A large, Yellow-rank high-grade cauldron like this, and one forged by the Heavenly Secret Sect at that, would cost at least several hundred thousand high-grade spirit stones. With Sui An’s ability, she wouldn’t be able to pay it back in a short time. The sect urgently needed a new cauldron, so in the end, wouldn’t the Sect Master just cover it for her?
Kong Yue looked at the cauldron reluctantly. A cauldron he had used for several hundred years was now in pieces. It was impossible to repair. He let out a long sigh, feeling as if he had aged several hundred years, just short of lying in a coffin.
“You don’t need to compensate me. I still have a few hundred thousand spirit stones. Besides, this cauldron has been used for so long, I really should have replaced it. It’s good that it exploded,” Kong Yue said, then turned to look at the disciples who were watching from the door. “Do not speak of today’s events. Do you all hear me?”
The few people at the door nodded obediently.
Fan Tianyou’s eyes turned cold. His Shizun usually seemed easygoing and loved to drink, but he was extremely strict with them, especially during alchemy, where no carelessness was allowed. Could it be that because Sui An was the Sect Master’s disciple, he could be so biased!
“You few, hurry up and clean this place.”
The messy pill room was not easy to clean up, especially the destroyed medicinal herbs, which couldn’t be grown back in a short time. Kong Yue would probably have to go and buy them all back one by one.
Sui An’s hands tightened.
She felt so useless, always causing trouble for people. But this money, she would definitely pay it back to Kong Yue.
Kong Yue then said to Sui An, “I’ll be going out for a bit later, to the Treasure Field. Don’t feel guilty. That is also a taboo for cultivators, understand?”
“I understand.”
The Treasure Field. This was a free trade market that every major city had. Cultivators from all over gathered there, either to exchange treasures, to find treasures with a discerning eye, or to secretly buy information.
Anyone who entered the Treasure Field was forbidden from using force to buy or sell. Otherwise, the few Nascent Soul cultivators guarding the Treasure Field would kill the troublemaker on the spot. After death, the cultivator’s treasures would belong to the guarding cultivators as an extra reward. They were practically hoping for someone to cause trouble.
As for the master behind the Treasure Field, some said it was controlled by the mortal royal family, trying to leap into the ranks of cultivation families. Others said it was a courtesan from a brothel who controlled a large amount of information that others wanted, and gradually formed this Treasure Field by profiting from it. Still others said it was the descendant of some exterminated family, who gradually gained fame by exchanging their clan’s treasures.
In short, no one had ever seen this master, so many who wanted to get a piece of the pie had no way to start.
But Sui An knew from the novel that the master behind the Treasure Field was a woman who liked to wear red. She appeared only a few times, but she always gave Sui An the feeling that she was not mentally sound.
This person seemed to have nothing to do with Tan Yun, yet every time she appeared, she would target Tan Yun. She didn’t know what feud the two had that would make this person haunt Tan Yun like a ghost.
And Huaiyang, in her memory, was rebellious, but also extremely patient with women, polite and courteous3. No matter how she thought about it, he was different from the kind of man in the novel who had a woman on each arm.
Before leaving, Kong Yue secretly sent her a sound transmission, telling her to stay here during this time and not run around, and to discuss any matters with Tan Yun after she returned.
Hearing this, Sui An smiled with relief. Whether it was Huaiyang or Tan Yun, she had decided to stay far away from these two protagonists of the book. If she couldn’t afford to offend them, she could at least hide. As for the system’s talk of completing missions to earn karmic luck points, she had some doubts about this mission that revolved around Tan Yun.
Perhaps, once the system got the karmic luck points and repaired the so-called damaged data, she would know a thing or two.
“Junior Sister, here you go.” Fan Tianyou handed her a broom. “I’m going outside to cut some wood to make medicine racks. You can start cleaning with the junior brothers and sisters.”
“Okay,” Sui An said, taking it.
She followed the other disciples and began to clean the pill room.
The moment Fan Tianyou stepped outside, a dark smile appeared on his face. He circulated his spiritual energy and ran out of the mountains at top speed.
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Reika’s Notes:
- Well, that ending wasn’t ominous at all, was it? 😏
- This text was translated by RudeGirl and given to BC Novels for publication.
- I helped with the footnotes, formatting, grammar, etc., the usual stuff that is needed to post this on the website.
- Please let me know if there are any errors. Thanks for reading!
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- 筋脉 – The network of channels through which spiritual energy (qi) flows in the body in traditional Chinese medicine and cultivation lore.
- 灵泉, língquán – a spring or source of water that is naturally rich in spiritual energy.
- The phrase 做事有分寸且又专注 (zuòshì yǒu fēncun qiě yòu zhuānzhù) means “to do things with a sense of propriety and focus.”
Wow this guy is really a piece of work. I really hate it that his meddling went unnoticed and unpunished. What an asshole.
He is so jealous of her and for what? This is a cultivation world. There are plenty of people who are younger yet stronger and more advanced than him. But he is so obsessed over being superior to our MC specifically. Like dude, touch some grass, eat a chill pill, I don’t know. This is not healthy and in cultivation setting it’s dangerous. He can very well fall into demonic path from malice or damage his cultivation due to impure thoughts.
I know! He’s so annoying! I hope he gets what’s coming to him, or he repents.