What does my ancestor's pregnancy have to do with me, a mere servant?

Noon. The Xuan Yin Sect's Pill Treasure Pavilion.

Lin Yuan, wearing a large black cloak and a faceless wooden mask, walked into the secluded private room on the second floor with practiced ease.

Li Yang was waiting here early.

Today, instead of wearing those flashy and eye-catching brightly colored dresses, she changed into a slightly formal dark purple robe with gold trim. She lost some of her usual charming and languid demeanor and gained more of the cold and dignified air of a Core Formation cultivator.

Hearing the door open, Li Yang quickly turned around.

The agreed ten-day deadline was still far off. Lin Yuan arrived only one night later; either the medicinal herbs had been destroyed and he was begging for forgiveness, or…

Lin Yuan walked to the bluestone tea table without any pleasantries. With a flick of his wrist, a sandalwood box with a sealing talisman landed steadily on the table and was pushed in front of Li Yang.

"I have successfully completed my mission."

Lin Yuan's voice was clear and melodious, no longer deliberately pretending to be a hoarse old man's voice.

Li Yang lowered her beautiful eyes slightly, forcibly concealing the intense emotion in them.

She didn't touch the wooden box immediately. Instead, she picked up the teacup and took a sip as a cover-up. Then, she slowly extended her jade-like fingers and used her powerful yet cautious spiritual sense at the Core Formation stage to unseal the talisman and lift the lid of the box.

Three dark gold pills, each the size of a longan, lay quietly on a yellow silk robe with cloud patterns. The pills were translucent, with a faint, rich purple aura slowly circulating within them.

The powerful divine sense of a Core Formation stage cultivator extended, transforming into an invisible thread that pierced into the interior of one of the pills. The extremely pure medicinal power of the fusion of ice and fire, without any violent impurities, perfectly matched the descriptions of divine medicines for repairing the dantian in ancient texts.

"Mid-grade...Spirit-Seizing Pill." Li Yang's voice was dry, with a slight, suppressed tremor.

She abruptly raised her head, looking at the outer sect servant who outwardly only revealed the aura of the third level of Qi Refining. The humiliation and anger she felt from being forced into dual cultivation in Wanzhuhai collapsed completely at this moment, replaced by an extremely deep sense of fear and ecstasy.

A sixth-grade alchemist at the Qi Refining stage. If this were to leak out, the entire upper echelons of the Xuan Yin Sect would go completely mad.

"Is the test clear? Is the medicine effective enough?" Lin Yuan pulled out a rosewood chair and sat down steadily.

Li Yang took a deep breath and carefully put the sandalwood box into her storage bag.

When she looked at Lin Yuan again, she completely abandoned all her haughty attitude. She straightened her back and, for the first time, treated this outer sect servant as an absolute equal, even subtly superior one.

"I think we can try a different way of cooperating." Li Yang sat opposite Lin Yuan, her fair fingers tapping lightly on the bluestone table. "With your alchemy skills, staying in the outer sect to farm is a complete waste of your talents. From now on, I'll provide the channels, and you provide the pills. I'll supply you with spiritual materials at the lowest internal price, and any surplus pills you refine will be secretly distributed by the Pill Treasure Pavilion. What do you think?"

Lin Yuan stared at Li Yang's mature and aloof face. Once this woman let her guard down, her aura of a powerful and controlling leader was extremely obvious.

"The plan is good." Lin Yuan stroked his chin. "However, Manager Li, could we consider a more direct way of cooperating?"

"For example?" Li Yang raised an eyebrow.

"Continue..." Lin Yuan hadn't finished speaking.

Li Yang's expression instantly turned cold. The pressure of the Core Formation stage cultivator was released and then immediately withdrawn within the private room.

"no."

She stood up and looked down at Lin Yuan.

"Those ten transactions were purely a stopgap measure. I got the pills, and you broke through your bottleneck. Money and goods settled." There was no extra emotion in Li Yang's eyes. "Consider those ten days as a dream. If you dare to mention a single word about it again, don't blame me for turning ruthless."

Uprooting trees is ruthless. Lin Yuan mentally gave this four-word assessment.

But gaining a thousand attribute points at once was too fast, and he didn't want to give up this shortcut.

However, it is unwise to forcefully control a Core Formation stage cultivator whose meridians are about to recover; it could easily backfire.

Lin Yuan nodded: "Then let's do it your way."

He changed the subject: "But Steward Li, I'd like to ask you about someone."

"Who?" Li Yang sat back down in the rosewood chair.

"Jianghuai Moon".

Upon hearing this name, a strange light flashed in Li Yang's eyes.

"You're talking about others, so I might have to put in some effort to investigate. This woman is the pride of Lingcui Peak. Among the nine main peaks of our Xuan Yin Sect, there are only a handful of outstanding core female cultivators among the younger generation. Wen Yuci is one, Lin Feilu is another, and Jiang Huaiyue is definitely in the top three. There was also a vixen before, but she was unlucky and has already been killed."

Li Yang picked up her teacup and took a sip: "Jiang Huaiyue is Sima Duan's personal disciple. She is also one of the favorites in the Holy Maiden Selection before the Blood Forbidden Land."

Upon hearing the name "Sima Duan," Lin Yuan's heart tightened.

Aside from the two Nascent Soul elders within the sect, he is one of the two people with the best chance of breaking through to the Nascent Soul stage, and is considered the top fighter in the Xuan Yin Sect.

This old man wields immense power within the sect. With such a master showering him with resources, Jiang Huaiyue's combat potential is extremely high. Lin Feilu's meridians have only recovered to about 70-80%, so his chances of winning are not optimistic.

Lin Yuan picked up the spirit tea and spoke unhurriedly, "Now that we've established a long-term partnership, Manager Li, why don't you give me a little something extra? Since Jiang Huaiyue is a favored daughter of heaven, she must be holding some hidden cards, right?"

Li Yang shook her head: "I haven't paid attention to the specifics. But her master, Sima Duan, is a notorious corpse-refining maniac in the demonic path. Since Jiang Huaiyue is his prized student, she must have several high-grade corpses at her disposal. Sima Duan is also proficient in weapon crafting. The magical artifacts this girl possesses must far surpass those of cultivators of the same level."

Top-tier corpse refining for tanking damage, and superior magical artifacts for output. Lin Feilu will be facing a monster with high defense and high attack stats, capable of summoning an endless number of tanks.

Lin Yuan stopped tapping his fingers on the table: "Manager Li, do you have any blueprints for crafting higher-grade magic weapons? Preferably top-grade ones."

Li Yang looked at Lin Yuan with an extremely strange expression.

"You just bought 'An Introduction to Hundred Talismans' a while ago. Now that you've only broken through the sixth-grade bottleneck in alchemy, you want to dabble in weapon crafting?" Li Yang's voice carried a hint of warning. "A cultivator's lifespan is limited. Your talent in alchemy is already a stroke of luck. Spreading all your energy across various arts is self-destructive. I advise you to focus your attention back on cultivation."

Lin Yuan's expression remained unchanged: "I know what I'm doing."

Li Yang stared at him for a few seconds, and seeing that Lin Yuan's gaze remained unwavering, she didn't try to persuade him further. Speaking too intimately with someone you barely know is a major taboo in the business world. She raised her hand and sent a communication talisman, instructing the people downstairs to fetch something.

Before long, the maid Xiaoyu entered the private room carrying a wooden tray. On the tray were five jade slips that glowed with a bluish light.

"These are some of the most treasured weapon-refining blueprints from Danbao Pavilion." Li Yang raised his chin. "The rules remain the same: internal price."

Lin Yuan unceremoniously grabbed the first jade slip and pressed it to his forehead. A massive amount of information flooded into his mind.

"The Hundred Flowers Ice Silkworm Skirt. A top-grade defensive magic artifact. Crafted from century-old ice silkworm silk and Illusionary Sound Flower liquid. When activated, it can generate a water-attribute energy shield capable of withstanding a full-force attack from a late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator. It also possesses the ability to conceal its presence."

Great stuff. Perfect for sword cultivators like Lin Feilu who like to wear form-fitting long dresses. Wearing this in the arena will greatly increase her chances of self-defense and prevent mistakes.

Lin Yuan put it down and picked up the second one.

"The Xuanwu Refined Gold Shield. A superior defensive magic weapon. When activated, it can form a three-layered phantom of heavy armor. It is extremely heavy and suitable for withstanding heavy blows."

Clumsy and crude, completely inconsistent with Lin Feilu's agile swordsmanship style. Skip it.

The third jade slip.

"The Splitting Light and Shadowless Sword. A top-grade magic weapon. It requires the fusion of the essence of Xuan Iron and the finest refined gold. When drawn, it can split into seven physical sword shadows, combining the real and the illusory. It demands an extremely high level of control over one's divine sense."

Lin Feilu already possesses a top-grade magic weapon, but Lin Yuan himself doesn't have any suitable treasures yet. This flying sword is quite good. He must acquire it.

The fourth one.

"Wind and Thunder Illusion Boots. A top-grade magical artifact. Requires the pelt of a demon beast with both wind and thunder attributes to craft. Greatly increases movement speed when worn, and allows for aerial mobility. The crafting process demands extremely high precision in the rune inscription, making it very easy to ruin."

After reviewing the first four jade slips, Lin Yuan had already devised a top-tier divine equipment set specifically tailored for Lin Feilu. Once he maxed out his weapon-refining level, he could mass-produce these superior magical artifacts.

Lin Yuan reached out and took the last jade slip. The moment his divine sense probed into it, his eyes suddenly lit up.

This thing is not a conventional piece of armor or weapon.

"The Yin Sha Nine Nether Thunder Pearl. A one-time use top-grade magic artifact. It requires gathering the extremely cold Yin Sha energy from underground, supplemented with thunder-attribute spiritual materials, to forcibly compress the violent energy into the red copper pearl."

"At the moment of detonation, Yin energy surged back, and lightning and fire poured forth."

"The explosive power of a single bomb is enough to kill a cultivator in the mid-to-late stage of Foundation Establishment."

Lin Yuan's lips curled up uncontrollably.

What is truth? This thing is truth.

Does Jianghuai Yue have high-level corpse refiners? And are their tanks incredibly tough?

If one bomb doesn't kill it, then ten will. If ten bombs don't kill it, then a hundred will.

Once the refining method is mastered, this thing can be stacked infinitely into tactical nuclear weapons. No matter if you are a prodigy or a once-in-a-century genius, all beings are equal before saturation firepower.

"Besides this shield, I'll take all the refining materials on it, especially the materials for this Thunder Pearl."

"The cost will be deducted directly from the proceeds of subsequent sales of the pills."

Li Yang took the list and glanced at the expensive metals and monster materials.

These materials together amount to a staggering thirty to forty thousand, but given the opponent's level of a sixth-grade alchemist, earning these spirit stones is not a difficult task.

"Alright, I'll have someone prepare it. Also, the Qi-Nourishing Pills that Foundation Establishment cultivators need to improve their cultivation are in short supply lately. I'll prepare some materials for you, so you can refine more, how about that?"

Lin Yuan nodded, and the transaction was complete.

As the sun began to set, Lin Yuan used his movement technique and headed towards the cave.