Fighting: Practice makes it real, start with a poisonous body.

"Gu Yuan, what are you trying to do now?!"

A sharp shout shattered the deathly silence of the cave. Xiao Yan's fighting spirit surged suddenly, and his dark eyes were filled with vigilance.

Gu Yuan leaned against the cold rock wall, a half-smile playing on his lips: "It's nothing, just a friendly reminder because Xun'er and I are father and daughter."

"A friendly reminder?"

Xiao Yan frowned deeply. "I don't think you've ever had any good intentions from the beginning!"

"maybe……"

Gu Yuan chuckled softly: "But you must remember, Xiao Yan, even if I, Gu Yuan, have fallen to such a state, I am by no means someone you can manipulate at will."

Xiao Xuan stepped forward, his body surrounded by golden battle aura. He said in a deep voice, "Gu Yuan, since you still acknowledge Xun'er as your daughter, you should understand how much harm your previous actions have caused her."

Forcibly extracting her bloodline power and using her as a tool for the ancient clan to reach the top—such behavior is worse than that of a beast!
Even a tiger won't eat its cubs!

Xiao Xuan's voice grew colder: "If you had even a shred of conscience, you should have stopped right now and never appeared in front of Xun'er again, never disturbing her life again!"

"How I get along with my own daughter is none of your business!"

Gu Yuan suddenly raised his eyes, a fierce light flashing in them: "Xiao Xuan, you are nothing but a remnant soul, how dare you point fingers at me here?"

"you!"

An unnamed fire surged within Xiao Xuan's chest, and his golden battle qi suddenly became violent, causing rubble to fall from the cave ceiling.

Just as Xiao Xuan was about to make his move, Xiao Yan reached out and pulled him back. He took a deep breath, his tone frighteningly calm: "Alright, Ancestor, no need to waste words with this guy."

Now that he's lost both his arms and legs, he's a cripple and can't cause any trouble.

Xiao Yan's gaze swept over Gu Yuan's broken body, without the slightest pity in his eyes: "Xun'er is with us now. Given that he's a cripple, he can't possibly do anything to Xun'er anymore."

"Humph!"

Xiao Xuan snorted coldly and glared fiercely at Gu Yuan.
Finally, he turned his face away, refusing to look at Gu Yuan again, and followed Xiao Yan quickly out of the cave.

The light at the cave entrance gradually dimmed as the two left, and the cave fell silent once more.

A moment later, the pretense in Gu Yuan's eyes completely vanished, replaced by a deep, suffocating gloom. His gaze was terrifying, like that of a demon from hell.

"Broken arms, broken legs... Xiao Yan! You little beast!"

He suddenly roared, his voice hoarse and frantic, echoing through the empty cave, creating a series of reverberations: "You just wait! I, Gu Yuan, will repay this humiliation a hundredfold!"
"The day I regain my power, I will make your fate a thousand, ten thousand times worse than mine! Xun'er is my daughter, and no one can take her away from me! The power of the Pure Lotus Demon Saint will ultimately be mine!"

…………

Several days later, above the Pill Domain, two streaks of light streaked across the sky, flying straight towards the Pill Tower. When the light dissipated, it revealed Xiao Yan and Xiao Xuan, both with solemn expressions.

Upon arriving at the gate of the Pill Tower, the Pill Tower elders guarding the entrance came to greet them. Seeing that it was Xiao Yan and Xiao Xuan, their expressions turned serious, and they quickly bowed.

"No need for formalities,"

Xiao Yan waved his hand, "Go and inform everyone immediately, and tell them that I have something to discuss with them."

"Yes!"

Seeing Xiao Yan's solemn expression, the elder dared not delay and immediately turned and left quickly.

Xiao Yan and Xiao Xuan headed straight for the council hall deep within the Pill Tower.

Before long, figures arrived one after another: the Medicine Elder, the Shennong Elder, the two Flower Sect Immortals... all the saints arrived, and even the Pill Tower Ancestor came out of his seclusion.

"You are back."

Shennong, the old man, spoke first, his gaze falling on the two of them. After carefully examining them, he breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing that they were unharmed.

He then stroked his long beard and asked, "What's the situation? What exactly is hidden in the coordinates left by Gu Yuan? Is it related to the Pure Lotus Demon Flame?"

All eyes in the hall instantly focused on Xiao Yan, their eyes filled with anticipation and concern.

Xiao Yan took a deep breath, slowly walked to the center of the hall, and said in a deep voice: "The course of events is much more complicated than we imagined."

The coordinates left by Gu Yuan pointed to a hidden cave. We met him in the cave and learned the true secret of the incomplete map. Then, Xiao Yan recounted everything he had seen and heard in the cave.

A moment later, Xiao Yan finished speaking, and the hall fell into a deathly silence. Everyone looked astonished.

"It's so..."

After a long while, Yao Lao was the first to come to his senses and slowly said, "The four fragments of the map have nothing to do with the Pure Lotus Demon Flame. Instead, they are the keys used to revive the Pure Lotus Demon Saint... This is really beyond our expectations."

He paused, then continued, "However, the method of resurrection of the Pure Lotus Demon Saint is far too harsh."

Even if all four fragments of the map were to appear, a soul at the Emperor Realm and a ninth-grade Golden Core would still be required as sacrifices. An Emperor Realm soul... even if Senior Xiao Xuan were willing to sacrifice himself, a ninth-grade Golden Core..."

The old patriarch of the Pill Tower sighed softly, his brows furrowing with even greater weariness: "It's all my fault. My failed breakthrough had too much of an impact, and I actually missed the option of resurrecting the Pure Lotus Demon Saint."

"Ancestor, there is no need to blame yourself too much."

Seeing this, the old doctor gently comforted him, saying, "It's all about timing and fate."

"This isn't solely your fault; we're partly to blame too. If we had a ninth-grade Golden Core alchemist, things wouldn't have come to this."

The other elders of the Pill Tower also spoke up, advising the Pill Tower Ancestor not to blame himself. The atmosphere in the hall eased slightly.

"No, perhaps... cooperating with them is indeed a solution."

Just then, the old man Shennong, who had been silent all along, suddenly spoke up.

As everyone looked over, they saw the old man Shennong with a furrowed brow and a complex expression in his eyes.

"Senior Shennong, what do you mean by that?"

Xiao Yan's heart skipped a beat, and a terrifying guess instantly surged into his mind. He hurriedly asked, "Gu Yuan once said that he had a method to help the Pill Tower Ancestor break through to the Golden Core stage, could it be...?"

"Yes, that's how it is."

The old man Shennong nodded slowly, his expression growing increasingly melancholic, as if recalling some distant past.

"As I mentioned before, there is a method that uses human beings as ingredients to forcibly upgrade the grade of medicine. This method has now fallen into the hands of the ancient clan... or more precisely, into the hands of Gu Ming!"

"Ancient name!"

Xiao Yan was startled, his body jolted, and the fleeting glimpse he had seen during his trip to the Ancient Realm instantly flashed through his mind.

He was an old man with an ancient and simple aura. At that time, he sensed that the other party's alchemy skills were unfathomable, but he never expected that the other party would have such an evil alchemy method!
"Gu Ming is the only ninth-grade Xuan Dan alchemist in the ancient clan, and his strength is unfathomable."

The old man Shennong slowly explained: "A thousand years ago, I went with him to explore an ancient ruin."

It was in those ruins that we unexpectedly found an ancient book recording this evil method of alchemy. I felt that this method was too cruel and went against the conscience of an alchemist, so I abandoned it.

However, Gu Ming harbored greed, believing it to be a shortcut to improving his alchemy skills, and secretly took the ancient book for his own use...

"Therefore, if we really choose to cooperate with the ancient clan and use the evil technique that Gu Ming has mastered to refine a ninth-grade golden pill by using human medicine, it is not impossible."

"At that time, with the addition of Senior Xiao Xuan's Emperor-level soul, and all four fragments of the map gathered, there might truly be a possibility of resurrecting the Pure Lotus Demon Saint..."

"No, no."

As soon as Shennong finished speaking, Danta Ancestor shook his head decisively: "The duty of an alchemist is to heal the sick and save lives."

This evil alchemy requires living people as the medicinal ingredient; it's far too cruel and goes against the natural order. I absolutely cannot agree to it.

"I'm afraid... it's too late."

Xiao Xuan, who was standing to the side, suddenly spoke up: "Gu Yuan is a ruthless man who will stop at nothing to achieve his goals."

If he had truly made up his mind to revive the Pure Lotus Demon Saint, he would probably have already started preparations.

This evil technique, which uses humans as medicine, requires a large number of living people as sacrifices. The human territories outside the Pill Domain are likely already in ruins.

"What?!" (End of Chapter)