You're just a single demon beast? I have a whole army of beast tamers!

Shui Chenyuan was furious, but he couldn't produce Shen Liuli.

He sent several messages to the Myriad Demons Sect, but they only replied with one sentence: "Hand over the person, stop."

With no one in the Shui family to befriend, they had no choice but to seek help from the other four families.

The meeting of the five parties took place in the main hall of the city lord's mansion.

On this day, Qin Shou, as the alchemist serving the Shui family, was also summoned to listen in.

He sat behind the True Immortal of the Shui Family, his gaze sweeping over everyone present.

All five families that came were true immortals who could take charge: three from each of the metal, wood, water, and earth families, and only two from the fire family.

Shui Chenyuan sat in the main seat, his expression relatively calm.

The first to speak was an elder of the Huo family, an old man in a red robe, who was impatient:

"The Myriad Demons Sect wants Shen Liuli, but your Shui family failed to keep an eye on her, and now you expect all five families to share the burden. How can you possibly help?"

The elder of the Mu family followed up:

"Shen Liuli possesses the bloodline of the Wood Spirit. If she falls into the hands of the Myriad Demons Profound Sect, the consequences will be dire. But she is not currently with the Shui family, so you must provide an explanation."

Shui Chenyuan said, "Shen Liuli has indeed left."

The Myriad Demons Sect did not believe it and insisted on forcing them into a war.

The reason I've invited you all here today is to discuss a solution.

My Shui family is willing to contribute something to compensate each family for the losses incurred in sending troops.

"Compensation?" the Jin family elder asked. "Ordinary immortal crystals are fine, but the five families have harbored grudges for years. I only have one question: what do you have to offer to make us fight to the death?"

Shui Chenyuan remained silent for a few breaths, then took out a black jade box from his sleeve and placed it on the long table.

The jade box was opened, revealing a slowly flowing silver liquid inside, resembling mercury but even brighter.

At the center of the liquid, a pale golden rune could be faintly seen, flashing intermittently.

"Earth Vein Immortal Marrow." The Jin family elder's eyes narrowed.

The other companies also sat up straight.

Water Sinks into the Abyss:

"This is the earth vein essence that my Shui family obtained from the depths of an abandoned immortal mine six hundred years ago."

You all know the purpose of this thing.

Today, my Shui family is willing to offer this item as a reward for the five families' joint efforts in fighting the enemy.

"The Earth Vein Immortal Marrow is excellent, but there's only one portion available."

The elder of the Mu family asked, "If it's divided among five families, how much will each family get?"

"My Shui family will only keep a small portion, and the other four families will divide it equally."

Shui Chenyuan said, "If that's still not enough, add another 30,000 low-grade immortal crystals."

The several True Immortals exchanged glances.

The elder of the Jin family was the first to nod:

"If the Shui family is truly willing to offer up the Earth Vein Immortal Essence, my Jin family has no objection."

The Myriad Demons Sect has overstepped its bounds too much in recent years; it's time to take this opportunity to make them back down.

Seeing this, the Mu and Huo families also agreed. Only the Tu family spoke last:

"That's fine. But the spoils of war for the five participating forces will be determined by their own abilities."

"Of course," Shui Chenyuan nodded.

Qin Shou could hear it clearly from the corner.

Earth Vein Immortal Marrow is one of the three base materials for the Gathering Immortal Spirit Pool.

He does not yet possess this item.

In an attempt to drag the other four families into this mess, the Shui family has now brought this item out in public.

Qin Shou remained outwardly calm, but inwardly he was already calculating whether he could get a share of the spoils from this battle in the future.

After the meeting of the five parties concluded, Shui Chenyuan left Qin Beast behind alone.

"Master Qin, you have seen what happened today."

Shui Chenyuan remained calm, as if the meeting had not been too strenuous for him. "Next, we will be facing off against the Myriad Demons Sect. Our clan will need a large number of immortal pills."

Sufficient amounts of Condensing Essence Pills, Immortal Essence Pills, and Foundation Strengthening Pills must be prepared.

Your alchemy tasks will be much heavier than before.

Qin Shou said, "Don't worry, clan leader, I will do my best."

"The five families have decided to set up a defensive line between the western border and the northern wilderness."

If the war drags on, the consumption of elixirs will inevitably be enormous.

Shui Chenyuan looked at him and said, "I know you usually hold back your strength."

If you contribute significantly to this battle, the Shui family will not treat you unfairly afterwards.

"I understand," Qin Shou replied, bowing his head.

Shui Chenyuan nodded, then got up and left.

After returning to the villa, Qin Shou told the three women about the mission.

Shui Yingyue asked worriedly, "How many pills will this require? Can you manage it all by yourself?"

"It's alright," Qin Shou said. "I have my own way."

He does have a way.

Within the treasure gourd space, the flow of time has a tenfold effect on the Qin beast itself.

Ten days in the outside world, he can spend a hundred days in the space.

More importantly, his success rate in achieving the desired result has always been far higher than what the Shui family knows.

The Shui family believed that he produced three pills per batch, but in reality, he produced at least five pills per batch.

With the workload increased, he only needs to hand in more and keep a portion of it, making it easier than before.

Ten years passed quickly in the outside world.

Qin Shou spent most of his time in seclusion in the quiet room, occasionally coming out to say a few words to his three Daoist partners before quickly going back inside.

The Shui family simply assumed he was diligently refining elixirs and became increasingly satisfied with the "diligence" of this worshipper.

The elixirs he had kept for himself had piled up into a heap.

Condensing Essence Pill, Immortal Essence Pill, and Foundation Strengthening Pill are all extra items obtained from missions over the years.

The best-quality specimens are all stored separately within the Treasure Gourd's spatial storage.

A rough calculation shows that there are over ten thousand elixirs of various kinds.

At the same time, his "Compendium of the Immortal Lords of Ten Thousand Beasts" is also progressing steadily.

His five natal beasts were already in sync with his mind, and the construction of the beast-taming platform progressed more smoothly than expected.

However, each breakthrough in this technique requires a large amount of immortal spiritual power.

Qin Shou's immortal apertures are not yet fully developed, so he can only lay a solid foundation first, and then make further progress after breaking through to the True Immortal realm.

Over the past decade, he has sold three- and four-patterned immortal pills in batches through the Myriad Elephant Pavilion.

A three-lined crystal is worth about three low-grade immortal crystals, and a four-lined crystal is worth about four crystals.

The quantity per instance is small, but it has never stopped.

Over time, he accumulated 120,000 low-grade immortal crystals in the Myriad Elephant Pavilion's account.

On this day, he came to Wanxiang Pavilion again.

The old man in gray greeted him with a smile as he entered.

"Fellow Daoist Qin, it's been quite a while since you last visited."

"I've been busy with work lately, so I just took some time to come and check in."

Qin Shou sat down and took out a jade bottle from his sleeve. "It has four patterns. Count them."

The old man took it, scanned it with his divine sense, and laughed:

"Excellent quality. Still the old price today?"

"That's fine then." Qin Shou paused. "There's something else. I'd like to ask you to help me inquire about two things."

"Fellow Daoist, please speak."

"Nine-aperture spiritual soil, and also the Mysterious Primordial Void Crystal."

Qin Shou said, "I recently wanted to build a small pool of immortal spiritual energy, but I'm missing these two types of base materials."

The old man in gray robes' smile faded slightly: "The Xuan Yuan Void Crystal is easy to deal with; I have connections."

However, the Nine-Aperture Spiritual Soil is extremely rare, and it will likely be difficult to find one in a short time.

"It's alright. Let me know if you have any news," Qin Shou said. "The price is negotiable."

The old man nodded repeatedly: "If Fellow Daoist Qin has asked, I will certainly do my best."

Qin Shou didn't say anything more and got up to leave.

The old man suddenly said, "Fellow Daoist Qin, wait a moment."

He turned around, took a black wooden box from the cabinet, and pushed it in front of Qin Shou:

"I've already inquired with my superiors about the Nine Souls Elixir you mentioned last time."

The items can be obtained, but it will take some time.

The higher-ups are very satisfied with your four-patterned immortal pills. If you can come up with something even better, this matter can be expedited.