"I understand."
Medusa Queen nodded lightly, her violet pupils shimmering with seriousness. The Soul-Merging Pill was far too important to her — there was no chance she would allow anyone to interrupt Xiao Se at this critical moment.
"Long Kui," Xiao Se spoke silently within his mind, "your soul perception is the strongest among us. Please help me monitor the surroundings. If people from the Jia Nan Academy arrive, notify me and the Queen immediately."
"I understand, Brother."
A slightly sharp yet familiar female voice echoed within his consciousness — Red Kui's long-absent voice.
Although she had accepted Xiao Yixian and Zhu Zhuqing completely, she still remained cautious toward Medusa Queen. Trust, after all, could not be built overnight.
With everything prepared, Xiao Se finally threw the last medicinal herb into the cauldron.
Pu—
The pink flames surged upward.
Despite burning fiercely, the temperature inside the cauldron was forcibly suppressed by Xiao Se to an extremely delicate level.
The medicinal herb slowly withered, its surface shrinking and curling as milky-white liquid, dense and smooth like fine yogurt, seeped out drop by drop.
The liquid gathered midair, floating above the flame as it spun continuously.
One by one, the previously refined medicinal extracts were added into the cauldron.
Under the precise manipulation of Xiao Se's soul force, the originally stable droplets began to tremble.
They drifted toward the center.
Merged.
Collapsed.
And slowly… a vague spherical outline began to form.
The condensation stage had begun.
In the past, this process would have taken Xiao Se less than half an hour.
But this time was different.
This was a six-grade pill.
Even for him, it was unimaginably difficult.
Time flowed at a torturous pace.
Minutes stretched into hours.
The sky outside gradually darkened, then brightened once more.
When dawn arrived the next morning, exhaustion was etched clearly across Xiao Se's face — yet a smile finally appeared.
Inside the cauldron floated a pill the size of a pigeon egg.
Its surface was uneven and rugged, glowing with a faint jade-green hue.
The pill rotated steadily within the flames, slowly stabilizing.
As it turned, the rough bumps smoothed out, its surface becoming round and lustrous.
"It's going to succeed…"
Even with Xiao Se's composure, excitement could not be hidden from his eyes.
His hand seals suddenly changed.
"Condense!"
The pink flames erupted violently, swallowing the entire cauldron in a blazing cocoon.
At the very center of the fire, a dazzling green radiance burst forth.
The light pulsed.
Expanded.
Contracted.
Each pulse sent visible emerald ripples through the air.
Wherever those ripples passed, grass was torn from the ground, tree trunks snapped cleanly in half, and stones were hurled violently against the valley walls.
Boom!
After several breaths, the green light suddenly exploded outward.
In an instant, the entire valley was engulfed.
A deafening thunderous roar echoed from the heavens as a pillar of emerald light, thicker than a water barrel, shot straight into the sky.
The clouds trembled.
The air screamed.
The heavens above the mountain valley were dyed a brilliant jade-green.
Jia Nan Inner Academy
Inside Xiao Yixian's residence.
She was eating breakfast with Zhu Zhuqing and Han Yue when her expression suddenly changed.
"This aura…"
She frowned slightly.
"What's wrong, Xian'er?" Zhu Zhuqing asked softly.
"It's nothing," Xiao Yixian shook her head, then stood abruptly. "You two continue eating. I'll go take a look."
Without waiting for a response, she stepped outside.
Purple Dou Qi wings unfurled behind her back.
With a single beat, she transformed into a streak of light and vanished into the sky.
Inner Academy — Deep Residence
In a quiet room near a window, an elderly man dressed in loose black robes suddenly opened his eyes.
His hair and beard were snow-white, his aura deep and unfathomable.
"This is… the aura of a sixth-grade pill."
His calm face finally shifted.
"When did the Inner Academy gain an alchemist of this level?"
The figure vanished instantly, reappearing outside the room before streaking toward the distant mountains — without Dou Qi wings.
His speed far surpassed that of ordinary Dou Huang experts.
Similar scenes unfolded elsewhere.
Su Elder.
Qing Elder.
Several other Dou Huang-rank elders all sensed the disturbance.
One by one, powerful figures left their seclusion.
Mountain Valley
Xiao Se had already completed the refinement.
Now came the final step — pill retrieval.
This stage determined the pill's final quality.
"Brother," Red Kui's voice rang urgently, "seven or eight powerful presences are approaching rapidly. One of them is Xiao Yixian. Another… feels like a Dou Zong."
Xiao Se nodded calmly.
That Dou Zong was undoubtedly Su Qian, the Inner Academy's Great Elder.
He turned his gaze toward Medusa.
Without a word, crimson light flashed across her body.
In the next instant, she reverted into the Seven-Colored Heaven-Devouring Python, darting into Xiao Se's chest and hiding beneath his robes.
Moments later, Su Qian arrived.
He halted midair upon seeing the young man standing alone before the cauldron.
Shock flashed through his eyes.
So young.
Yet producing such a terrifying alchemical phenomenon.
However, he did not interrupt.
He merely stood silently in the air, waiting.
Soon after, Xiao Yixian arrived.
Then Su Elder.
Then Qing Elder.
Along with them came Elder Hao from the Alchemy Department — a Dou Wang, yet possessing soul power rivaling some Dou Huangs.
"Great Elder," the group greeted respectfully.
Su Qian nodded slightly.
His gaze never left the cauldron.
Xiao Yixian stared at Xiao Se from afar, her expression conflicted.
A trace of resentment surfaced — why hadn't he allowed her to guard him?
Yet when memories of the night they shared flashed through her mind, warmth quietly bloomed in her chest.
She understood.
He hadn't wanted her to feel embarrassed.
"That's Xiao Se…" Su Elder murmured in disbelief.
"He actually refined a sixth-grade pill."
Qing Elder inhaled sharply.
Hearing this, Su Qian finally turned his gaze toward Xiao Yixian.
"Is this young man the one you mentioned?"
Su Elder chuckled. "Yes. He's the Xiao Se I told you about — and also…"
He paused deliberately.
"Xiao Yixian's man."
Xiao Yixian's cheeks flushed instantly.
Su Qian laughed quietly.
"I see."
No wonder.
An hour later, the flames finally subsided.
With a trembling hand, Xiao Se completed the final seal.
The cauldron lid shot open.
A brilliant jade-green pill soared upward, radiating powerful spiritual fluctuations.
The Soul-Merging Pill was complete.
Xiao Se nearly collapsed.
His Dou Qi was almost entirely depleted.
If not for his cultivation technique having reached Earth-rank low-grade, the sheer consumption required to refine a sixth-grade pill would have crushed him long ago.
Xiao Yixian rushed forward instantly, supporting him without caring who was watching.
"You were too reckless," she said softly, eyes full of worry.
Xiao Se smiled weakly and squeezed her slender hand.
"It was worth it."
"At least… I finally fulfilled one of my promises."
"Even if I wasted two sets of ingredients."
The experience, however, was invaluable.
From this moment on, refining pills above the Soul-Merging Pill — including the Earth Spirit Pill — would be far smoother.
The disturbance had ended.
But a new chapter… had only just begun.
(End of Chapter)
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