I'll make you the furnace and the cauldron, so you can refine Yin and Yang and prove the Great

Li Hanshan carefully put away the twenty-eight Qi-Nourishing Pills, feeling quite satisfied. With these pills, his foundation could be further strengthened, laying a more solid foundation for his future Core Formation.

"One more batch, please."

Just as he was about to take more medicinal herbs from his storage bag, the door to the Pill Hall was suddenly pushed open from the outside.

A cool, aloof figure walked in.

Jiang Nianwei.

Li Hanshan's hand froze in mid-air, and his heart skipped a beat.

broken.

Why is she back?

Jiang Nianwei paused slightly upon seeing Li Hanshan, her brows furrowing slightly: "What are you doing here?"

Her gaze swept over the alchemy furnace, then over the Qi-Nourishing Pill that Li Hanshan hadn't yet put away, and a hint of surprise flashed in her eyes.

"I..." Li Hanshan coughed and said honestly, "This disciple is refining pills."

"Alchemy?" Jiang Nianwei's eyebrows rose even higher. "You can refine pills?"

She walked over, took a Qi-Nourishing Pill from Li Hanshan's hand, and examined it closely in her palm. The pill was pale green with faint patterns flowing on its surface. Although its quality was only considered low-grade, its shape was regular and its medicinal power was restrained, clearly indicating that it had been carefully prepared.

Jiang Nianwei's gaze initially swept over the scene casually, but as she looked, her expression suddenly changed.

"what?"

She looked at it carefully a few more times, even bringing the pill to her nose to sniff it, her surprise growing stronger.

"This is... an ancient alchemy technique?"

Li Hanshan's heart tightened.

Ancient alchemy?

The pill formula the maid gave him was an ancient method?

"Senior, what is the Ancient Alchemy Method?" he asked tentatively.

Jiang Nianwei pointed to the faint patterns on the surface of the pill and said, "Do you see these pill patterns? In modern alchemy, the patterns are all in rings, one circle after another. But the pill you refined has spiral patterns that extend outward from the core. This is a characteristic of ancient alchemy."

She raised her head, her gaze fixed intently on Li Hanshan: "Where did you get this pill formula?"

Li Hanshan's mind raced.

The girl's affair must not be exposed. But he couldn't come up with a plausible story for the time being.

"Disciple...disciple found it in the storage bag of a Yinming Sect disciple." He said, bowing his head. "I don't know where they got it from. They didn't value it, and it just benefited me."

"May I take a look?" she asked.

Li Hanshan knew she would ask this question, and he was already prepared. He looked embarrassed and said, "Senior, I had some selfish motives and destroyed the pill formula."

"Oh?"

Jiang Nianwei stared at him for a long while, seemingly trying to determine the truthfulness of his words. Li Hanshan felt a chill run down his spine from her gaze, but he forced himself to remain calm on the surface.

Fortunately, Jiang Nianwei did not pursue the prescription further.

"Refine another batch," she suddenly said. "Let me see."

Li Hanshan smiled wryly: "Senior, this disciple has run out of medicinal herbs."

"What's so difficult about that?"

Jiang Nianwei took out a communication jade talisman and whispered a few words. In less than the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, a disciple rushed over and presented a storage bag with both hands.

Li Hanshan took a look and secretly clicked his tongue in amazement.

Inside the storage bag were all the medicinal herbs needed for the Peiyuan Pill: century-old Ganoderma lucidum, blood jade ginseng, Poria cocos, Polygonatum sibiricum, and more. Each herb was of superior quality, and their age was far greater than those he had used before. In addition, there were more than a dozen other medicinal herbs, all of excellent quality.

As expected of the master of a peak, a Golden Core elder, this gesture is truly generous.

"Let's begin." Jiang Nianwei sat cross-legged opposite the alchemy furnace, looking at him calmly.

Li Hanshan took a deep breath, calmed his mind, and began refining pills.

Flames rose, and the temperature of the alchemy furnace slowly increased. Following the steps in the formula, he added the medicinal herbs into the furnace one by one, purifying, fusing, and condensing them into a pill.

Jiang Nianwei watched quietly from the side, her gaze sometimes falling on his technique, sometimes on the medicinal liquid in the furnace, her eyes thoughtful.

Li Hanshan had thought he would be nervous with Jiang Nianwei watching, but he calmed down once he started refining the pills. He probed the pill furnace with his divine sense, closely monitoring every change in the medicinal liquid. The flames swelled and shrank under his control, as if they were his own limbs.

Jiang Nianwei's eyes flashed with a strange light when she saw his fire control technique.

This technique is completely different from the mainstream methods in the world of alchemy today. Nowadays, alchemy emphasizes the alternation of "gentle and strong fire," with strong fire attacking and gentle fire simmering, each with its own rules. But Li Hanshan's technique is "fire moving at will," the size and change of the flame completely following the state of the medicinal liquid, without fixed rules, yet perfectly natural.

Is this the essence of ancient alchemy?

She was secretly amazed.

About half an hour later, a faint medicinal fragrance wafted from the alchemy furnace. Li Hanshan used his divine sense to guide the medicinal liquid, dividing it into six portions, which slowly condensed into pills under the warmth of the flames.

A moment later, six pills the size of longan flew out of the furnace and landed in his palm.

This time, the quality of the pills was significantly better than before. Of the six pills, three were of medium grade and three were of low grade.

"Senior." Li Hanshan presented the pill with both hands.

Jiang Nianwei took the pill, examined it carefully for a moment, and nodded.

"good."

She didn't say much, but simply returned the pill to Li Hanshan, then closed her eyes, seemingly savoring the pill-refining process she had just witnessed.

Li Hanshan didn't dare to disturb them and sat quietly to the side.

For the next few days, Jiang Nianwei did not leave the Pill Hall. She had Li Hanshan refine several more batches of pills, observing each batch carefully and sometimes asking questions. Li Hanshan answered each question, explaining what he could and claiming that what he couldn't say was recorded in the pill formula and that he himself didn't quite understand it.

Jiang Nianwei didn't press the matter.

Xu Lingxi arrived in a hurry on the fourth day.

"Master!"

As soon as the little girl entered the Pill Hall and saw Jiang Nianwei, her face turned pale, and she knelt down with a thud.

"Master, I secretly gave the key to the alchemy room to Grandpa Li. Punish me if you must, don't blame Grandpa Li!"

Jiang Nianwei looked down at her apprentice, a hint of helplessness flashing in her eyes.

Get up.

Xu Lingxi raised her head and looked at her cautiously: "Master, you're not angry?"

"Why would I be angry?" Jiang Nianwei said calmly. "Your Grandpa Li knows ancient alchemy techniques, which has broadened my horizons and taught me a lot. In fact, I should thank him."

Upon hearing this, Xu Lingxi's face lit up with a smile. She jumped up, ran to Li Hanshan's side, tugged at his sleeve, and said with pride, "Grandpa Li, I told you you were amazing! Even Master praised you!"

Li Hanshan was both amused and exasperated.

This girl changes her expression faster than turning the pages of a book.