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

Upon hearing this, Yin Wuxie felt a chill run through his body.

She has lived for over three hundred years and has killed at least eight thousand, if not ten thousand, people, but she never imagined that one day she would become that "rounding-up" number.

She opened her mouth as if to curse, but her throat felt blocked by something, and she couldn't make a sound.

Shen Yifei sat cross-legged in the void, the Blood Furnace in front of him was enveloped by the flames of the Cauldron of All Things, and the furnace body began to melt.

The bronze furnace, three zhang tall, shrank slowly like an ice block in the flames. The skulls on the furnace body exploded one by one, turning into black smoke, which was then sucked into the Cauldron of All Things.

Liu Mengli floated beside him, her green eyes reflecting the firelight. "You really want to raise ten thousand?"

"Just kidding." Shen Yifei stared at the Blood Furnace, which had shrunk to about half a person's height. "It would be a waste to refine a Nascent Soul cultivator into a weapon spirit. It'll be useful to keep it."

"What's it for?"

"The Blood Soul Sect. She's been the leader for so many years, she must have a lot of good stuff. Spirit stones, medicinal herbs, cultivation techniques, and those followers, more than three hundred people, we can't just kill them all."

Liu Mengli frowned and said, "You want to take over the Blood Soul Sect?"

"Is that not allowed? Anyway, I've already taken over the cult leader, so everything in the cult is naturally mine too."

Shen Yifei stood up and walked to the Blood Furnace. The furnace had shrunk to the size of a fist, and all the skulls on its surface had disappeared, leaving only a ball of blood-red light flickering inside.

Shen Yifei reached out and grabbed the ball of bloody light in his hand. The bloody light pulsed in his palm, like a living heart.

"How do you use this?"

Liu Mengli floated over and looked at it: "Use it however you want. It's unclaimed now. If you swallow it, your cultivation will increase significantly. If you refine it into a pill, it will be a top-grade blood pill, which will allow you to break through to the Golden Core stage immediately. If you fuse it into the Myriad Things Cauldron, the cauldron's grade will be upgraded by one level."

What can you do after getting promoted?

"It can refine living people at the Nascent Soul stage." Liu Mengli glanced at Yin Wuxie, who was bound in the void. "Right now, the Myriad Things Cauldron can only take in Nascent Soul stage cultivators, but it can't refine them. Once it swallows this artifact embryo, it can refine them."

Yin Wuxie trembled upon hearing this.

Shen Yifei weighed the blood-red light in his hand, then glanced back at Yin Wuxie. She was bound by chains, her blood-red eyes glaring at him, filled with fear and resentment.

"Master, how should I use it?"

"You...you let me go, and I'll give you everything from the Blood Soul Sect. Spirit stones, medicinal herbs, cultivation techniques, everything." Her voice trembled.

"Release you? Master, you were just about to refine me into a blood pill. Now you want me to release you? Do you think I'd believe you?"

Yin Wuxie bit her lip and remained silent.

Shen Yifei walked back, squatted down in front of her, and brought the ball of bloody light in his hand to her eyes.

"Master, this thing was refined by you at the cost of 9,999 lives. Now it's in my hands. Don't you think this is retribution?"

Yin Wuxie stared at the blood-red light, tears suddenly welling up in her eyes.

She wasn't filled with regret, but with fear. Three hundred years of cultivation, three hundred years of foundation—all gone in a single night. She had gone from someone who held the power of life and death over others to a mere pawn in their game.

This kind of disparity is worse than death.

"Why are you crying?" Shen Yifei reached out and wiped away her tears. "Master, your face looks quite handsome even when you cry."

Shen Yifei stood up, went outside the cauldron, and threw the ball of blood light into the Cauldron of All Things. The monster on the cauldron opened its mouth and swallowed it whole.

The moment it swallowed it, the Cauldron of All Things trembled violently. The monster's eyes turned from emerald green to blood red, and its fangs grew longer. The tremors lasted for about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn before stopping.

"It's done." Liu Mengli floated out and took a look. "Your rank has increased by one level. Now you can refine living people in the Nascent Soul stage."

The two entered the cauldron again and walked up to Yin Wuxie.

Yin Wuxie had been bound in the void for almost an hour. Although the screams of the skulls had stopped, her mind was in complete chaos.

He still possessed the cultivation level of a peak Nascent Soul cultivator, but his soul was severely damaged and could not recover in a short period of time.

"Master, you now have two choices." Shen Yifei held up two fingers. "First, I will refine you into a spirit and lock you in the Cauldron of All Things for eternity, to be at my command. Second, you sign a contract with me, serve me as your master, and I will spare your life, allowing you to continue as the master of the Blood Soul Sect."

Yin Wuxie raised his head, a glint of light flashing in his blood-red eyes.

"Are you really going to let me continue being the cult leader?"

"Of course. But there's a condition." Shen Yifei leaned closer. "You have to listen to me. If I tell you to go east, you can't go west. If I tell you to refine pills, you can't kill anyone. From today onward, the Blood Soul Sect will reform and stop refining blood pills."

Yin Wuxie stared at him for a long time, then suddenly smiled.

"Repent and reform? You, someone who uses living people to make elixirs, are talking to me about reforming and reforming?"

"I'm different from you," Shen Yifei said calmly. "I only refine pills from those I should refine. Those rogue cultivators you captured have no grudge against you. Using them to refine pills is called indiscriminate killing. The people I refine are all those who want to kill me. This is called self-defense."

"Choose." Shen Yifei withdrew his finger. "I'll count to three. One, two..."

"I choose the second one," Yin Wuxie said through gritted teeth, "I'll serve you as my master."

"You should have said so earlier." Shen Yifei patted her face. "Come on, release your consciousness."

Yin Wuxie closed her eyes, her body trembling slightly. Releasing her consciousness meant completely exposing her soul to someone else; a single thought from them could obliterate her. But compared to being refined into a weapon spirit, this was her only way to survive.

Shen Yifei extended his finger and touched her brow.

A divine sense probed into her sea of ​​consciousness. The sea of ​​consciousness of a Nascent Soul Peak cultivator was as vast as an ocean, but it was full of cracks caused by damage to her soul.

Shen Yifei planted a contract in the center of his sea of ​​consciousness. The contract took root and he let out a muffled groan, cold sweat beading on his forehead.

"Alright." Shen Yifei stood up. "From today onwards, you're mine."

Yin Wuxie lowered her head and remained silent. Three hundred years of cultivation, three hundred years of foundation, all gone overnight. Her heart was filled with mixed feelings, a feeling she couldn't quite describe.

Shen Yifei waved his hand, and the chains binding her loosened. Yin Wuxie landed on the ground, her legs gave way, and she almost fell.

"Master, you can't do this." Shen Yifei supported her. "There are over three hundred followers waiting for you outside. You need to pull yourself together."

Yin Wuxie took a deep breath and straightened her body. She straightened her red robe, gathered her disheveled hair behind her head, and her face regained its haughty expression.

A peak Nascent Soul cultivator is still a peak Nascent Soul cultivator; even if their soul is injured, their aura remains.

"Let's go out." Shen Yifei grabbed her wrist, and with a thought, the two of them exited from the Cauldron of Myriad Things.

The main hall was still the same main hall, but the blood furnace was gone, leaving only a circle of black marks on the ground, traces of the furnace bottom burning for hundreds of years.

Yin Wuxie stood in the center of the hall, staring at the circle of black marks for a long while.

"Stop looking." Shen Yifei tugged at her sleeve. "The stove is gone, so be it. As long as we're still alive, that's all that matters. Come on, let's go see your followers."

Yin Wuxie snapped out of her daze, glanced at him, and turned to walk out of the hall.

Shen Yifei followed behind, and the two of them left the main hall one after the other.

In the corridor, Ah Qi was fast asleep, leaning against the wall. Shen Yifei squatted down and snapped his fingers under her nose.

Ah Qi suddenly opened his eyes and saw Shen Yifei's face. He reflexively shrank back, slamming his head against the wall and wincing in pain.

"How...how did you get out?"

"I came out." Shen Yifei stood up, gestured towards Yin Wuxie with his chin, and said, "Your sect leader sent me out."

Only then did Ah Qi notice Yin Wuxie. She quickly stood up and bowed, "Master."

Yin Wuxie grunted in response, said nothing more, and continued walking forward.

Ah Qi followed behind, secretly tugging at Shen Yifei's sleeve and whispering, "What's wrong? Why does the sect leader look so pale?"

"It's exhausting from refining pills," Shen Yifei said without changing his expression. "Your sect leader didn't sleep for three days and three nights in order to refine a good batch of pills."