Old Refining Spirit

"Close your eyes, hold your breath, and repeat after me." Li Xuangeng's voice seemed to have some kind of magic, instantly soothing Xiaoman's inner panic.

"The mysteries of heaven and earth are the origin of all things. Through countless eons of cultivation, I will attain divine powers."

"Throughout the Three Realms, only the Dao is supreme. My body is enveloped in golden light..."

As the incantation was chanted, Li Xuangeng guided Xiaoman's hand to draw an ancient talisman on the yellow paper with flowing strokes.

"Buzz!"

The moment the talisman was completed, a faint but extremely pure warm yellow light shone from Xiaoman's fingertip. Although it was only the size of a firefly, in Li Xuangeng's [Qi Observation Technique], this golden light was so pure that it contained not a trace of impurity.

"Very good." Li Xuangeng released his hand and gently rubbed Xiaoman's head. "Although you have no cultivation, your mind is pure. With this golden talisman on your person, ordinary evil spirits that have been around for a hundred years will definitely not be able to get close to you."

Xiaoman clutched the yellow talisman tightly, her eyes reddening, and she almost burst into tears. From childhood to adulthood, aside from being sold and beaten, this was the first time someone had so gently taught her how to protect herself.

"Bang!"

At this heartwarming moment of preaching, the heavy nanmu wood gate of the Luoxia Peak courtyard was suddenly kicked open violently from the outside.

"Li Xuangeng! You blind, good-for-nothing, get out here!"

Accompanied by a sharp and assertive rebuke, a lithe figure in fiery red burst in.

The newcomer was a girl of about seventeen or eighteen years old. She wore an extremely eye-catching fiery red outfit, with a long, shimmering silver whip wrapped around her waist. The girl was extremely beautiful, with bright eyes, white teeth, and skin as white as snow, but her upturned eyes and slightly raised chin revealed an innate arrogance and domineering nature.

Xiaoman was startled and quickly stood in front of Li Xuangeng, like a mother hen protecting her chicks.

Li Xuangeng, however, remained unperturbed. He slowly sipped his tea, and his [Aura Observation Technique] was quietly activated.

Amidst countless twisted and bloody oceans of spiritual energy, a pure white, snow-like aura of vitality floated above the head of this girl in red. Within that white aura, there was also a touch of warm pink, representing kindness and sincerity.

This was one of the very few "unpolluted souls" that Li Xuangeng had previously observed within the Xuantian Sect.

"My Luoxia Peak is usually deserted, so why has such a temperamental little firefly flown in today?" Li Xuangeng put down his teacup, a smile playing on his lips, his tone gentle.

"You're the Firebird! Your whole family are Firebirds!" The girl in red glared, her almond-shaped eyes widening. She strode to the tea table, hands on her hips, looking down at Li Xuangeng. "My name is Mu Wanjiao! My grandfather is Mu Tianxing, the Transmission Elder of the Xuantian Sect. I'm here today to save your life!"

"Oh?" Li Xuangeng seemed intrigued. "What do you mean by that, Miss Mu? Elder Qingxu treats me like a precious treasure."

"Pah! What do you think that old monster Qingxu is up to?" Mu Wanjiao's eyes flashed with barely concealed disgust and anxiety. She looked around, then lowered her voice, "You're just a rogue cultivator, you don't understand the inner workings of our Xuantian Sect! They call you a 'Celestial Spirit Body,' but they're really just using you as a top-grade 'cauldron'! The 'Blood Spirit Pills' they send you every day are all laced with bone-corroding poison and insect eggs! If you eat too many, you'll lose your mind and become a flesh and blood monster controlled by them, eventually being drained dry by the sect leader in the Myriad Demon Secret Realm!"

Mu Wanjiao became more and more agitated as she spoke, and she ripped a delicate jade bottle from her waist and slammed it heavily onto Li Xuangeng's tea table.

"Don't eat anything they give you! This bottle of 'Clear Heart Jade Dew Pills' was refined by my grandfather using clean spiritual herbs from the back mountain, which he guarded for seven days and seven nights. Although it won't significantly increase your cultivation, it can remove the yin poison from your body and preserve your sanity!"

Mu Wanjiao slightly raised her chin, her tone still domineering, but her eyes revealed a genuine concern: "Let me emphasize this!... I didn't come here specifically to care about you! I just heard from my grandfather that you possess a very pure Daoist aura. My grandfather said that there aren't many pure seeds of cultivation left in this world, and I want to see what kind of promising seedling my grandfather spoke of looks like!"

Looking at the girl in front of him who was trying hard to appear fierce but was actually as soft-hearted as cotton, a rare tenderness swept through Li Xuangeng's heart.

In this filthy, demonic place, Mu Wanjiao and her grandfather, whom she had never met, were like two stubbornly burning matches in the darkness. Though faint, they tried their best to illuminate others.

Li Xuangeng gently picked up the jade bottle with his slender fingers. He opened the stopper, and a faint fragrance of herbs and trees wafted out, without a trace of the foul stench of karma.

"This medicine wasn't quite perfect in terms of preparation, but the sentiment behind it is top-notch," Li Xuangeng said gently, then put the jade bottle into his sleeve. "I appreciate Miss Mu's kindness."

"Hmph, you're smart enough to know what's good for you." Mu Wanjiao breathed a barely perceptible sigh of relief when she saw him accept the pills. She turned her head away haughtily. "Alright, the medicine has been delivered. This young lady is leaving. Take care of yourself, or you'll be eaten alive, leaving not even bones behind. I won't have time to collect your corpse."

After saying that, she turned to leave.

Just then, a nauseating, strong smell of the sea and the stench of fermenting rotten flesh suddenly swept into the villa on Luoxia Peak like a cold wind.

"Junior Sister Mu, where are you going? I've been looking for you all over the mountain."

Accompanied by a strange laugh, five male disciples dressed in the core inner sect attire of the Xuan Tian Sect appeared at the gate of the courtyard.

The leader was extremely tall, with a deathly pale face and long, narrow eyes like those of a venomous snake. On either side of his neck were two rows of slits resembling fish gills, which opened and closed with his breath, from which a dark red, sticky substance seeped.

Liu Ting, the third-ranked core disciple in the inner sect.

The moment Mu Wanjiao saw Liu Ting, her expression changed drastically. She instinctively gripped the silver whip at her waist and took a step back, just in time to reach Li Xuangeng's tea table.

"Liu Ting! What are you doing here? Luoxia Peak is a private training ground that the elders designated for Li Xuangeng. Without his permission, who allowed you to trespass!" Mu Wanjiao shouted sharply. Although she tried to remain calm, Li Xuangeng could clearly hear her rapid and disordered heartbeat.

"Heh, a private dojo? He's just a beginner, what right does he have to talk about a private dojo?" Liu Ting made no attempt to hide the greed and contempt in his eyes. He licked his lips with his long, thin tongue, and his gaze roamed brazenly over Mu Wanjiao's shapely figure.

"As for you, Junior Sister Mu, your grandfather, that stubborn old man, clings to the so-called 'orthodox Daoist methods' and refuses to accept the baptism of holy blood. Now his cultivation is even inferior to mine, a junior. If you obediently submit to me and cultivate the 'Blood Transformation Divine Art' with me, I guarantee you'll be able to walk sideways in the Xuan Tian Sect!"

"You're dreaming! You disgusting thing!" Mu Wan trembled with rage, and with a "crack," she drew her silver whip, leaving a deep welt in the ground. "Get out of here right now, or don't blame my whip for being merciless!"