"Is it tasty?"

"Mhm."

Di Nü Feng sat on the chair, stuffing small pastries into her mouth.

Li Xuanxiao lifted her black robe, revealing the skin beneath her arm.

He pressed along the bluish-purple veins.

Then he exposed her back.

Di Nü Feng obediently allowed him to manipulate her.

Just as Li Xuanxiao was about to continue lifting further down,

Di Nü Feng suddenly turned her head, her beautiful large eyes wide open as she stared at Li Xuanxiao.

Then somewhat shyly pulled her clothing tighter.

"Don't move, I'm examining you," Li Xuanxiao said.

"Oh..."

Di Nü Feng lowered her head while eating, a blush creeping up her cheeks that quickly spread across her skin.

"Do you need to see the thighs too?"

"Mhm."

Di Nü Feng blinked, glanced at Li Xuanxiao again, and said seriously:

"You're a pervert."

"I'm not."

"Not letting you see."

Di Nü Feng covered her legs with the fabric.

Li Xuanxiao said, "It's not like I haven't seen them before."

"Not letting you see!" This time Di Nü Feng's attitude was extremely firm, even taking the pastry out of her mouth.

Li Xuanxiao frowned, not understanding why Di Nü Feng was suddenly acting like this.

Di Nü Feng had already moved aside.

Li Xuanxiao followed her, "Stop fooling around."

"Mmm... no... you go away!"

Di Nü Feng resisted strongly.

"I'll bite you."

Li Xuanxiao ignored her, lifting the black robe beneath her skirt to look at the bluish-purple veins on her thighs.

They were increasing. Some time ago, there were only a few on her fair legs.

Now they had connected into patches.

No wonder Di Nü Feng didn't want him to see.

She was afraid they looked too ugly.

Looking at the increasingly dense bluish-purple veins, Li Xuanxiao feared that if they didn't hurry, he would truly be powerless.

"Finished looking?" Di Nü Feng looked like a girl who had just been insulted, full of anger.

Only when Li Xuanxiao nodded did she quickly cover her legs with the black robe and went off to sulk alone.

Li Xuanxiao sighed silently and comforted:

"Don't worry, it will get better soon."

Di Nü Feng glanced at Li Xuanxiao, "Even if I die, I don't want to die this ugly. If I really have to die, you need to stay far away from me.

No! No one can see me like this."

Di Nü Feng muttered to herself.

"So unlucky....."

Li Xuanxiao said solemnly: "I've implicated you."

Di Nü Feng scoffed, "Who do you think you are? This lady acts according to her own principles, it has nothing to do with anyone."

Li Xuanxiao smiled and couldn't help but gently stroke Di Nü Feng's hair.

Di Nü Feng seemed already accustomed to this touch, not finding it unpleasant but rather enjoying it greatly, leaning her head against Li Xuanxiao's chest.

As if this could bring her some comfort.

Feeling the warmth in his embrace, Li Xuanxiao said softly yet firmly: "Don't worry, I won't let anything happen to you."

"............"

Snowveil Commerce, back mountain.

"This time I'll have to trouble Brother Cao to protect me during my meditation."

Cao Changjing said: "Rest assured, unless I die, I definitely won't let anyone disturb Brother Li's alchemy."

Li Xuanxiao nodded.

Through their interactions along the way, he felt relatively assured about Cao Changjing's character.

But not trusting anyone one hundred percent was Li Xuanxiao's principle in handling affairs.

So he left himself a slight backup.

This alchemy attempt was extremely perilous.

If he died, the great plan of revenge...

would truly have to be left to his self-corpse.

Thinking of this, Li Xuanxiao couldn't help but smile.

The time was almost upon them.

Li Xuanxiao gazed at the silent alchemy cauldron before him.

Ancient and mottled with age.

This was a superior cauldron obtained from Tian Sha Hall when they departed Zhongzhou for Cangzhou.

Li Xuanxiao quietly awaited the opportune moment.

Waiting for the zi hour when yin and yang exchanged, when the earth's fire would be purest and its energy most violent, using the clear and turbid energies from the beginning of heaven and earth as catalyst.

The first fire, to make a good beginning.

Now centered around Li Xuanxiao's alchemy site:

Three doppelgangers, dozens of puppets deployed.

Formation mechanisms, poison traps had long been prepared, though somewhat rushed.

Still, Li Xuanxiao had prepared everything possible.

He gave a final sweeping glance: Crimson Sun Dragon Blood Crystal, its vast and mighty pure yang heat waves distorting the surrounding air.

Nearby, the Millennium Snow Lotus seeds transparent like ice souls, the two's cold and heat intermingling, steaming with faint white mist.

Seven Orifices Nether Mushroom, Ten Thousand Year Empty Green Stone Milk... various spiritual materials and poisonous substances placed separately on jade plates, their auras colliding.

The air filled with various scents - pungent, clear, decaying - interweaving into a strange medicinal aroma.

The time had come.

Li Xuanxiao's eyes shone like swords as he waved his hand, spiritual power shooting directly into the cauldron. Newest update provided by N0v3l.Fiɾe.net

Light the fire, begin alchemy!!

"............."

Cao Changjing sat outside the cave, opening his wine gourd to take a large drink.

Counting days on his fingers, forty-nine days had already passed.

Li Xuanxiao said the alchemy might require several months.

Perhaps even longer.

Cao Changjing didn't understand alchemy, he only knew that since he promised a friend, he must guard here.

Guard until Li Xuanxiao finished refining the pills.

"BOOM—!!!"

Cao Changjing felt wave after wave of heat assaulting him.

Actually, this heat had started appearing several days prior.

But as time passed, this heat grew more immense.

Several more days passed.

All of Snowveil Commerce's alchemists were startled.

Miao Zhishun stood atop the mountain peak, gazing into the distance, staring at the distant mountain range's faint silhouette.

His vision seemed to transcend temporal boundaries, landing on those indistinct mountain shadows.

Suddenly, his eyes narrowed slightly, a strange light flashing within them.

As his magic eye activated, the distant mountain's silhouette gradually became clearer in his vision.

Yet what surprised him was that within that silhouette, a massive, illusory cauldron vaguely appeared.

This cauldron resembled a towering mountain peak, though merely an illusory existence, it emitted a vast, boundless aura.

Within the cauldron, raging spiritual flames burned violently.

The spiritual flames resembled a roaring fire dragon, tumbling and dancing within the cauldron, the blazing fire illuminating the interior in crimson.

Miao Zhishun swallowed hard, "This... what is being refined here?"

Several more days passed.

Now Miao Zhishun completely couldn't sit still.

He had no choice but to order all personnel from Snowveil Commerce's back mountain to evacuate quickly, as the surrounding temperature had risen to levels cultivators could no longer endure.

And that enormous illusory cauldron grew larger, increasingly visible to the naked eye.

Those who discovered it inevitably increased.

Soon it spread throughout the entire region, various major and minor factions learning that Snowveil Commerce seemed to be refining some kind of pill.

Thus, they came to investigate in droves.

Several factions on good terms with Snowveil Commerce came directly to visit.

Miao Zhishun looked at the gigantic illusory cauldron in the sky, unable to help wiping sweat from his forehead.

The situation... seemed somewhat beyond his control.

"Old Miao, not very considerate, never heard you mention this before."

Miao Zhishun could only offer an awkward smile.

.....