"Senior, have you been afflicted by the fire poison of a Poison Tail Crab demon beast?"

Qu Rou, who was ascending the stairs, halted her steps.

Standing on the staircase, she looked down at Li Meng with a face full of surprise. She hadn't expected this Outer Disciple to possess such keen eyesight.

"If Senior returns empty-handed, you may seek me out at Little Bamboo Peak in the Outer Sect!"

A flicker of disdain passed through Qu Rou's eyes. A mere sixth-layer Qi Condensation cultivator, yet his tone was so presumptuous.

Her expression turning slightly cold, Qu Rou ignored Li Meng. Her graceful figure hurriedly disappeared from his sight.

Li Meng simply smiled and continued his leisurely stroll around the first floor with an air of contentment. The fire poison of a Poison Tail Crab was not so easily resolved.

Not long after, another Inner Disciple of the Joyous Union Sect hurriedly entered the Thousand Treasure Pavilion. His face was anxious, his steps rushed. Without the slightest pause, he scurried up to the second floor.

"Sir Li, your items are ready!"

A shop assistant approached Li Meng, holding a storage pouch. Li Meng swept it with his Divine Sense. Then, with a wave of his hand, the contents within the assistant's storage pouch flew en masse into the storage pouch at his waist.

"That will be 134 spirit stones in total. Thank you for your patronage!"

134 spirit stones was no small sum. One must remember that an Outer Disciple's monthly stipend was only five spirit stones.

After settling the bill, Li Meng left the Thousand Treasure Pavilion. He had purchased quite a lot this time. Besides the beast blood and hides for crafting talismans, Li Meng had also bought a large quantity of spirit plants around a hundred years old.

Not long after Li Meng departed, a man and a woman descended from upstairs. The female cultivator was none other than Qu Rou, whom Li Meng had approached earlier. The male cultivator beside her supported her as they came down.

"Junior Sister, if it really comes to it, I'll go beg Senior Brother Su!"

"No! Su Can is a man who eats people without spitting out the bones. Do you want me to become his 'Cauldron'?"

"I... that's not what I meant."

"Then don't go provoking him. I'll think of something myself!"

Qu Rou's gaze swept across the first-floor hall. She recalled that old man at the sixth layer of Qi Condensation from before.

Little Bamboo Peak in the Outer Sect?

Joyous Union Sect, Outer Sect, Little Bamboo Peak.

Li Meng returned by flying sword, dismounting with a graceful leap. His thin, withered body landed lightly in the courtyard. He did not linger outside but pushed open the door and entered the alchemy chamber.

The alchemy chamber was quite spacious. A furnace nearly three meters tall stood within. It was a high-quality furnace Li Meng had spent five hundred spirit stones to acquire. It performed excellently, but its Mana consumption was enormous.

Alchemy furnaces were not magical instruments; their function was singular. They came in four grades: low-quality, medium-quality, high-quality, and supreme-quality. Supreme-quality ones were the most expensive, costing dozens of times more than high-quality ones. Low-quality ones were cheapest, purchasable for just a few dozen spirit stones.

Li Meng did not rush to begin alchemy. He sat cross-legged on a meditation cushion, regulating his breathing to recover his Mana. A cultivation base at the sixth layer of Qi Condensation was far too low. The round trip had consumed a significant amount of his Mana, and his pseudo-spiritual root made recovery painfully slow.

After popping several Spirit Recovery Pills into his mouth, Li Meng closed his eyes and entered a meditative state. His breathing gradually became deep and prolonged.

Two hours later, Li Meng opened his eyes.

"Let's begin!"

With a wave of his hand, over ten spirit plants flew into the alchemy furnace. Li Meng formed seals with both hands, and five-colored spiritual light emanated from his body. Following this, raging flames burst forth within the furnace.

Bathed in five-colored spiritual light, Li Meng resembled an immortal descending to the mortal realm—a sight that might awe ordinary folk but would hardly impress fellow cultivators.

An hour later.

"Heh heh, truly effortless!"

A rich medicinal aroma wafted from the alchemy furnace. The potent fragrance brought an expression of intoxicated delight to Li Meng's face. With another wave of his hand, he opened the furnace.

Seventeen Flawless first-grade Spirit Gathering Pills floated before him.

"Seventeen pills! The system really is outrageously powerful."

In the past, producing seven pills would have been considered good work. Yet today, a single batch yielded seventeen Flawless first-grade Spirit Gathering Pills.

Spirit Gathering Pills accelerated a cultivator's absorption rate of Spiritual Power and were among the most commonly used auxiliary cultivation pills. Even Foundation Establishment cultivators would scramble to get their hands on Flawless first-grade ones.

"Excellent. Let's continue."

Pills of Flawless quality, even if only first-grade, were qualified to appear at auctions. Li Meng seemed to see piles upon piles of gleaming spirit stones flying toward him.

"Hah!"

Li Meng exhaled a turbid breath. Focusing his mind and guarding his core essence, he expelled all distracting thoughts.

More spirit plants flew out from his storage pouch, streaming into the alchemy furnace in one go. Raging flames once again ignited within the furnace, and five-colored spiritual light again radiated from Li Meng's body.

Time flowed steadily onward as the sun gradually sank in the west.

"What an incredibly rich medicinal aroma!"

A graceful figure clad in purple robes arrived by flying sword. The lovely form descended gracefully into the courtyard.

The intense medicinal aroma invigorated Qu Rou's spirit; even the fire poison within her seemed suppressed by it. A flash of astonishment crossed her eyes. Such a potent fragrance likely indicated Superior-grade pills.

Could that Outer Disciple inside actually be an Alchemist? A Qi Condensation sixth-layer Alchemist capable of refining Superior-grade pills? If true, then that Outer Disciple was undoubtedly an alchemical genius. Once he reached Foundation Establishment, he would surely be taken in as a True Disciple by an Elder of the Alchemy Hall.

Qu Rou did not disturb the Outer Disciple inside. Instead, she sat down cross-legged under the eaves outside the door to meditate and regulate her breathing. The fire poison within her caused great discomfort; she had to expend all her Mana just to suppress its spread.

Qu Rou could only hope that the Outer Disciple inside truly had a method to resolve the fire poison afflicting her. Otherwise... she would make sure he learned the price of mocking a Foundation Establishment cultivator.

An indeterminate amount of time passed; a full moon now hung high in the sky.

An even more intense medicinal aroma drifted out from within the room.

Qu Rou, meditating outside the door, snapped her eyes wide open.

"This is... Flawless pills?"

Utter shock surged within Qu Rou's heart.

A Qi Condensation sixth-layer cultivator refining Flawless pills? How was that possible?

Moreover, this medicinal aroma actually caused her sea of consciousness to churn violently. It indicated these were pills for nourishing and warming one's soul!

Foundation Establishment Great Perfection cultivators needed soul-nourishing pills above all else. Only by strengthening one's soul could one increase their chances of achieving a breakthrough to form their Golden Core.

Click!

Just then, the door was pushed open.

"Senior Qu! My apologies for making you wait."

Li Meng stepped out of the room and bowed respectfully toward Qu Rou, who had risen to her feet.

Looking at this old man before her now brought another flicker of surprise to Qu Rou's eyes.

"You know me?"

Li Meng chuckled softly and stroked his beard.

"This Junior has admired Senior Qu for decades now. While Senior may not know this Junior... how could this Junior possibly be unaware of Senior Qu's esteemed reputation?"