The Hehuan Sect cultivates alchemy; my senior sister helps me refine alchemy throughout the world.

Shen Yifei stared at the large hole in the wall, then at his own hand, and remained in a daze for a long time.

The power of that punch was more than ten times stronger than when he shattered the pile of firewood with his palm yesterday.

Shen Yifei felt that he was incredibly strong now, but he didn't know what level he had reached.

He found the Yin-Yang Absorption Technique, flipped through it for a while, and found a sentence: "Spiritual energy turning into mist is the foundation building."

He quickly sat down cross-legged and tried to circulate his spiritual energy. He almost burst out laughing at the attempt.

The "little fish" in his dantian had disappeared, and he felt as if a ball of gas was slowly circulating in his dantian!

Is this what foundation building is?

Zhao Xin spent ten years building her foundation; could it be that I refined and absorbed her cultivation?

Overnight, he went from a clueless handyman to a Foundation Establishment cultivator, skipping the Qi Refining stage.

Shen Yifei was more overjoyed than worried. If this got out, it would definitely cause a sensation in the Hehuan Sect!

If Ye Hongling and Zhao Xin disappear, it will be discovered soon, and I will definitely be implicated.

Shen Yifei was really worried. He stood up and looked at the big hole in the wall. "Sigh! I'd better patch it up first. It won't be good to explain to Senior Brother Zhou if he asks about it tomorrow."

He thought for a moment, then pulled out a few thick logs from the woodpile and used them to block the entrance to the cave. He then moved some more firewood to further block the entrance from both inside and out. At a glance, it didn't seem like anything special.

After finishing all this, Shen Yifei didn't feel tired. He sat on the bed and took out Zhao Xin's storage bag.

This storage bag was more exquisite than his senior brother's, embroidered with gold thread. He channeled his spiritual energy into it and probed inside with his consciousness. Good heavens, it was more than twice the size of his senior brother's storage bag.

Inside, there was a neatly stacked pile of spirit stones, more than three hundred in total. There were also several jade bottles and some women's items.

The jade bottle contained some aphrodisiac pills, indicating that Zhao Xin was a seasoned veteran.

Shen Yifei took out the spirit stones and put them into his ring. He put the storage bag into the furnace and burned it, but he didn't refine anything from it.

After finishing these tasks, he took out the alchemy furnace again and examined it from all angles, growing more and more fond of it with each look.

"The Cauldron of All Things"—that name sounds powerful. It can refine all things. If only I could refine more of them...

Shen Yifei quickly shook his head. He wasn't that kind of person. He couldn't become a murderous maniac just because he had this thing.

Those two women truly deserved to die; if it weren't for this alchemy furnace, he would already be a corpse.

It is only natural to train them.

Shen Yifei found a reason for himself and felt much better.

He put the alchemy furnace back into his ring, lay back on the bed, and began to think about how to deal with it if the same thing happened to him today.

As I was thinking, I drifted off to sleep.

The next day, after Shen Yifei got up, he continued doing his usual tasks of chopping wood and starting a fire, and the Hehuan Sect made no move.

Two days passed, and on the morning of the third day, Shen Yifei was still fast asleep when he was awakened by a knock on the door.

"Shen Yifei! Shen Yifei!"

It was Senior Brother Zhou's voice.

Shen Yifei sat up abruptly and quickly replied, "Senior Brother Zhou, what is it?"

"Open the door!"

Shen Yifei moved the wooden blockage aside and opened the door.

Senior Brother Zhou stood outside, followed by two other people. One was the manager of the alchemy room, also surnamed Zhou, in his forties, with a goatee, and rarely came to the woodshed.

The other one, whom I didn't recognize, was wearing the robes of an inner disciple and had a gloomy expression.

"Manager Zhou, this is Shen Yifei," Senior Brother Zhou said with a smile.

Manager Zhou sized Shen Yifei up and down. "You're the handyman who assisted Ye Hongling a few days ago?"

Shen Yifei's heart skipped a beat. He thought to himself, "It's bound to happen." But he didn't dare show any unusual expression and quickly nodded, "Yes, sir."

"Ye Hongling asked you to refine pills a few days ago, and you came back right after you finished?"

"Yes, I'll be back after I finish training."

"Where is Ye Hongling?"

Shen Yifei's heart raced, but he was prepared. He shook his head blankly and said, "I don't know. After refining the pills, Senior Sister Ye told me to leave first."

He mainly uses the "I don't know" approach, without saying anything extra, because saying too much will reveal his true intentions!

Manager Zhou did not answer, but turned to look at the inner disciple.

The inner disciple walked into the woodshed with a sullen face, looked around, and stared at Shen Yifei for a long time.

Shen Yifei kept his head down, barely daring to breathe.

"What did you do with Ye Hongling?"

"The youngest only did the work of tending the fire and watching the heat; he didn't do anything else."

Did Ye Hongling say anything?

"They didn't say anything, they just... told me to focus on tending the fire."

The inner disciple stared at him for a long time, then suddenly asked, "Why is there a fluctuation of spiritual energy on you?"

"Spiritual energy fluctuations? I don't know anything about that." Shen Yifei still looked bewildered.

The inner disciple didn't speak, but reached out and grabbed Shen Yifei's wrist.

Shen Yifei instinctively tried to pull back, but the inner disciple's grip was extremely strong, like an iron hoop holding him in place.

Immediately afterwards, a cool sensation entered his wrist, traveled up his arm, and reached his lower abdomen.

The energy circulated within his dantian once, then withdrew.

The inner disciple released his grip, looking astonished.

"Early Foundation Establishment stage." He turned to look at Steward Zhou. "A menial servant, and he's already at the early Foundation Establishment stage!"

Manager Zhou's expression also changed, and he stared at Shen Yifei as if he were looking at a monster.

"Where did you get your cultivation from?" Steward Zhou stepped forward, grabbed Shen Yifei by the collar, and demanded, "Speak!"

"I...I don't know," Shen Yifei stammered. "I just chop wood and cook firewood every day, and eat some medicinal dregs when I'm hungry...how could I have spiritual energy..."

"You eat the dregs of medicine?" an inner disciple asked.

"Yes, there are always medicinal residues in the alchemy room. They're just going to be thrown away anyway, so I... I just pick them up and eat them."

The inner disciples looked at Steward Zhou.

Manager Zhou nodded: "There are indeed medicinal dregs in the alchemy room, but that stuff is useless and is usually thrown away!"

"How long have you been eating?" the inner disciple then asked.

"Three years!"

Ye Hongling believed everything Shen Yifei said at the time, believing that she had developed an extraordinary physique because of the medicine residue, and that she could probably get through this time by relying on this.

The inner disciples stared into his eyes, which were sinister and seemed to see right through people's hearts.

Shen Yifei knew he couldn't show weakness, or he'd be finished. He continued to stare blankly at the man.

"Do you know that Ye Hongling has gone missing?" an inner disciple suddenly asked.

"Missing?" Shen Yifei's eyes widened, feigning surprise. "Senior Sister Ye has disappeared? When did this happen?"

The inner disciples remained silent, but Steward Zhou spoke up from the side: "Senior Brother Yan, this kid is just a menial laborer. What ability could he possibly have to make Ye Hongling disappear? Ye Hongling is at the mid-Foundation Establishment stage, just one step away from the late stage. He's just a new Foundation Establishment cultivator; there's a huge gap in their cultivation levels."

The inner disciple's surname was Yan, and his given name was Jun. He was a member of the Hehuan Sect's inner sect enforcement team. After hearing what Steward Zhou said, his expression softened slightly.

"You're right, he really doesn't have that ability." Yan Jun looked at Shen Yifei, "However, it's a matter of a servant suddenly gaining cultivation, and even Foundation Establishment, that needs to be reported."

Manager Zhou nodded: "Of course."

Yan Jun then looked at Shen Yifei: "Don't wander off these next few days. Be available whenever I call. Understand?"

"I heard it, I heard it." Shen Yifei nodded repeatedly.

Yan Jun glanced at him again, then turned and left.

Before leaving, Steward Zhou patted Shen Yifei on the shoulder: "Kid, you're lucky. You've already reached the Foundation Establishment stage. Maybe you can become an inner disciple in the future."

Shen Yifei bowed and scraped as he saw the two off, then closed the door to the woodshed and leaned against it, letting out a long sigh.

He finally got through it. But he knew this was just the beginning.

The Hehuan Sect will not let the disappearance of Ye Hongling and Zhao Xin go unpunished. Two inner disciples, one in the mid-Foundation Establishment stage and the other in the late-Foundation Establishment stage, vanished without a trace. This matter will definitely be investigated thoroughly.

The appearance of this stove is both a blessing and a curse for me!