Starting with the consumables of the Demonic Sect, one can barely achieve immortality.

The Hall of Longevity has three floors, including the alchemy room.

Outsiders who are unaware of its history would surely assume from the name that this place is just an ordinary alchemy site that every sect has.

Well, Yan Cheng doesn't think there's anything wrong with thinking that way.

As soon as he pushed open the door, he heard a series of desperate, hoarse screams coming from the five red-hot brass furnaces in the center of the alchemy room.

Inside the alchemy furnace, the five corpse cultivators were at the perfect level of refinement.

Red and white juices seeped from beneath the cracked flesh, making the simmering liquid in the oven even more turbid.

Along with the rising grayish-white steam came a pungent, acrid smell that assaulted the nostrils.

Having undergone the tempering of the moonlight, Yan Cheng possessed incredibly sharp senses, yet the stench caused him to furrow his brow.

He hastily activated the wondrous power of the silver mirror and swept it over the five people, only to find that the auras of the corpse cultivators had become even stronger despite the damage to their physical bodies.

This is a pill-bathing body-refining method widely circulated among corpse cultivators. First, the cultivator and various pill ingredients are placed together in a furnace, and after seven days and seven nights of open fire refining, the essence of the pill liquid is fully boiled into the physical body, thereby raising the root bone to the limit of the early stage of Qi Refining.

Simply put, it means treating cultivators like pills to be refined.

This method requires a considerable amount of medicinal materials, and the price is extremely high.

The seven-day bath with cinnabar will cost a total of seven strands of Yin Corpse Demon.

Therefore, this method is almost exclusively used by corpse cultivators who are close to the initial stage of perfection and urgently need to lay a solid foundation for breaking through to the middle stage.

Yan Cheng's purpose in coming here was to find a suitable reason to cover up his exceptionally good physique, not to actually rely on these methods to improve it. Therefore, the pill bath method was of no use to him.

Moreover, the physical bodies of most early-stage cultivators cannot withstand such tempering, and accidents often occur...

At that moment, a loud bang was heard, and the first alchemy furnace on the left exploded, blasting the corpse cultivator inside into pieces.

Through the silver mirror, Yan Cheng clearly saw a wisp of white mist rising rapidly from the corpse, disappearing through the dark ceiling, seemingly gathered at a higher place.

He had seen this scene many times before and knew that the smoke was the manifestation of the souls of the dead.

The unlucky fellow in front of us wasn't taken by Huang Tong's Soul-Capturing Bell, but we don't know where he was put as a consumable.

This damned place is so desolate that even the dead can't die cleanly.

He concealed the disgust in his eyes and watched as a gaunt female cultivator emerged from the shadows, her withered face looking as if her mother had died.

"What a waste!"

"This batch is full of top-quality ingredients!"

Her fingers danced, scattering silver threads as she turned over the pieces of corpse on the ground, seemingly searching for any remaining medicinal herbs that might still be of use, all the while muttering curses to herself.

"You damned piece of trash, you died and that's fine, but you even caused me to lose a useful alchemy furnace."

"Your soul was taken away by the Emperor, and even your heart and liver were blown to pieces. Can you afford to compensate me for this loss?"

As he spoke, he glared fiercely at the remaining four corpse cultivators in the alchemy furnaces:

"If any of you four dare to cause any trouble like this piece of trash, I guarantee I'll ask the court for your souls to light the soul lamps!"

The fact that they accepted such exorbitant fees yet showed no kindness to consumers gave Yan Cheng a sense of familiarity, as if she were reliving a past life.

He respectfully cupped his hands in greeting:

"Greetings, Senior Sister Chen."

Chen Caimin, a mid-stage Qi Refining cultivator, is the owner of the alchemy room.

According to Tian Tong, he was the most intelligent among the group of corpse cultivators who entered the hall at the same time as him.

Although his cultivation progress is not as advanced as that of the Heavenly Child, he has been in charge of a room and is highly regarded over the years thanks to his mid-stage cultivation and talent in alchemy.

I've heard that this person's cultivation method is unusual, but he's not good at actual combat.

However, since she was still a mid-stage cultivator, Yan Cheng still showed her appropriate politeness.

The woman's fingers danced with the silk threads she was holding. In a moment of distraction, she glanced back at him, and perhaps noticing his handsome face, her expression softened slightly.

"Here to collect the pills?"

"Exactly."

"One wisp of malevolent energy with a prescription, three wisps without. Have you decided what you want?"

Those with a formula refer to elixirs such as the Ning Sha Dan, which are prepared according to a specific formula.

There were not many commendable alchemical formulas passed down in the Hall of Longevity.

For many years, the higher authorities have been unable to absorb the essence of the sun and moon, and have not paid much attention to alchemy.

Chen Caimin is exceptionally gifted and has been deeply involved in this field for many years.

Pills made according to the recipe will at least not kill a person, but that's about it.

Would a miraculous elixir capable of transforming tendons and marrow be sold for just a wisp of malevolent energy?

Do you really think that every household has a mirror that can produce the pure, ethereal essence of laurel every night?

Yan Cheng had heard Tian Tong discuss the intricacies of this matter at length in the hall, and he had already made up his mind before coming:

"I don't have a prescription, thank you for your help, senior sister."

The ones without a prescription refer to the pills that Chen Caimin concocted based on his knowledge of alchemy.

Since there was no prescription to follow, no one could predict the efficacy of the medicine.

Eating it will either make you ascend to heaven or ascend to the heavens; its main appeal is its thrill and excitement.

According to Chen Caimin, all existing prescriptions for elixirs were created by our predecessors.

With her exceptional talent and the resources of the palace behind her, how could she not create a brand new elixir formula?

Anyway, she doesn't need to be the one to test the drug.

These medicinal herbs without recipes use very precious ingredients, and are priced higher than those with recipes.

Those who want to be test subjects for the medicine have to pay out of their own pockets.

Even so, Yan Cheng was not the first corpse cultivator to come and buy this pill without a prescription.

The more hopeless one feels about the future, the more likely one is to take a desperate gamble.

Compared to those in comfortable circumstances, those in dire straits are more prone to developing a gambling mentality, hoping to defy fate and change their destiny one day, only to end up dead and gone.

But if they don't gamble, they won't even have this glimmer of hope.

Yan Cheng was different from other cultivators. He exchanged for this pill but had no intention of actually consuming it. He only planned to use it as a reason for his rapid cultivation!

"It's precisely because of these pills without a formula that even if one's cultivation level increases dramatically after taking them, no one will suspect anything; they'll just assume I've struck it lucky..."

"Given the shallow foundations of us corpse cultivators, who among us can rise above others simply through diligent practice?"

"It's all about opportunity... As long as you succeed in the end, who cares how you succeed?"

After all, there have been wonderful precedents of corpse cultivators who, by consuming the most effective pills, ascended to the mid-stage of cultivation in one step.

This lucky man is now known as Tiantong.

Without a word, Chen Caimin flicked his fingers and produced another thread, retrieving a small bottle from a cabinet and handing it to him.

"Having taken the elixir, there is no need to lament life or death."

"I understand."

"Fine, you can leave now. Don't get in my way while I'm doing my business."

Yan Cheng put away the pills and took his leave. As he was leaving, Chen Caimin exclaimed with joy, and a silk thread pulled a fiery red heart, faintly glowing with black energy, from the pile of corpses.

"The yang fire burns in the heart, and the evil manifests outwards; this is excellent material for Qi Refining stage pills!"

"Thank goodness Huang Tong didn't ruin you... Number 14, your death was truly worthwhile!"

Yan Cheng stood there stunned for a long time before slowly pushing the door of the alchemy room shut.

He looked at the elixir bottle in his hand and suddenly felt an urge to smash it to pieces.

"Damn it... this godforsaken place doesn't even deserve to be called a celestial sect!"