Calabash Fairy

Upon hearing her master's question, Su Xueyi replied solemnly:

"Please rest assured, Master. Your disciple still remembers what you once said: the righteous gods of merit are either those who have done good deeds for heaven and earth and are conferred by heaven, or those who protect our human race and whose merits are perfect and are worshipped by people and become gods. No matter which one, we must never offend or neglect them."

"Your disciple will remember your teachings, Master. How could I dare to be disrespectful to that mountain god? I will be extremely courteous to him."

Fairy Yunhua nodded slightly in satisfaction. Her disciple was very intelligent and talented, which pleased her. That's why she bestowed the Moon Silk Robe upon her for protection.

These virtuous deities, who are willing to protect humanity in these vast mountains, deserve our utmost respect. This has nothing to do with their abilities, but simply because they are all human...

"Speaking of which, Master, that mountain god once told me that if he had the chance, he would like to meet you."

"Oh? Do you know what it is about?"

Su Xueyi said:

"He didn't specify the details, but the mountain god seemed quite interested in human cultivation and the world outside the Hundred Thousand Mountains."

Upon hearing this, Fairy Yunhua pondered for a moment before slowly nodding.

"Very well, now that my sect mission in the Ten Thousand Mountains is over, I was planning to teach you for a few years before returning to the sect."

"Isn't Jinzhi Village planning to move to the foot of Qingfeng Mountain next year to become neighbors with that mountain god? I'll go with him and get to know him."

She accepted Su Xueyi as her disciple, but only taught her for five days before leaving in a hurry. Didn't she also feel indebted to this disciple...?

Upon hearing this, Su Xueyi looked over with great joy, only to meet Fairy Yunhua's smiling eyes.

"Yes, Master!"

The time it takes for an incense stick to burn has passed.

Su Xueyi left the room, leaving only Fairy Yunhua to rest inside.

Suddenly, a wisp of black energy surged onto Fairy Yunhua's fair face. As soon as the black energy appeared, it rushed straight to her Niwan Palace. Fortunately, at this moment, a crystal-clear spindle flashed between her eyebrows.

As soon as the spindle appeared, it burst out with a white light, directly dispelling the black energy, and then disappeared into the Niwan Palace.

However, Fairy Yunhua still let out a muffled groan, her face turned even paler, and her breathing became violently erratic.

She had not told her disciples beforehand that although she had completed her mission, she had also been attacked by a demon and seriously injured.

"This Black Crow King actually possesses a strange poison capable of infecting the primordial spirit. If it weren't for the Glass Spindle protecting the primordial spirit, we might have truly fallen victim to it this time..."

"Although I've exhausted all the pills I have, I've managed to suppress it. Now I just need to slowly wear it down, and I think it will only take about ten years to completely refine it."

"Regardless, being able to kill the Black Crow King and retrieve Qingxuan Daoist's Dao bones this time can be considered as fulfilling Senior Sister's wish..."

"The Ten Thousand Mountains have been ruled by the demon race since ancient times, and the divine way is not prominent. Just when those treasures were about to lose their effectiveness, a virtuous god who was willing to protect the human mountain people appeared. It is truly a case of heaven never closing off all paths."

"In that case, there's no need to worry about the matter that Daoist Qingxuan entrusted to our sect two hundred years ago..."

"But... we can't say for sure yet; we should see it in person firsthand..."

..............................

Tiezhu Village, east of the village.

A burly, middle-aged man with gray hair and dressed in linen clothes, as tall as an iron tower, stood in the midst of swirling snowflakes, looking toward the direction of the mine.

This man was none other than Wang Shi, the village chief of Tiezhu Village.

Wang Shi stood there for half an hour, without moving an inch, like a stone statue, his body covered in a layer of snow, until several figures carrying heavy sacks and wearing fur coats braved the heavy snow to approach.

"I'm really lucky today. I've found all the iron ore that was left in the mine. In addition, I even found two red crystals."

"Not bad, so this is the ironwork in the village... Village... Village chief?!"

The group, who had been chatting and laughing, immediately tensed up when they got closer and saw a figure that everyone recognized.

"Village chief... um..."

Wang Shi stared intently at the group of young people, his tone stiff as he slowly spoke:

"You entered the mining area in the snow, violating the village's prohibition."

Upon hearing this, one of the young men immediately spoke up in defense:

"Village chief, we're about to move to Xiahe Village, but there's no iron ore there. All the tools the other five villages have used over the years have been made by our Tiezhu Village. If those tools rust and become unusable in the future, we'll need iron ore to make more tools."

"We were thinking of bringing back as much iron ore as possible before we leave, so..."

"Shut up!"

Before the young man could finish speaking, he was interrupted by Wang Shi's roar, which sounded like a lion's roar!

"Tell me, are those stones more important, or your lives?"

"The mountains are blocked by heavy snow, and the roads to the iron mine are rugged. Not to mention the hidden dangers, if you slip even once, you will be trapped in the iron mine forever, buried by the snow, and never be able to go home in this lifetime!"

Wang Shi's voice resonated in the ears of these young people, causing them to fall silent.

Wang Shi watched them quietly, his gaze seeming to travel back to the distant past, looking at another group of young faces.

Those were people who will never be able to come back...

"I'm only saying this one last time. From now on, you are not allowed to violate the village's rules and leave the village without permission!"

"Even if we leave here, we'll find a way to make a living once the iron ore mines are gone!"

"As long as you're alive, there's always a way!"

...................................

A month or so passed in the blink of an eye.

In the Qingfeng Secret Realm, Fang Yan was sitting cross-legged on the ground with his eyes closed. In the gourd space within his body, a ball of light blue spiritual fire was burning fiercely, constantly refining the spiritual materials in the fire, burning away impurities, leaving only the essence.

Fang Yan was completely focused. He had already gone through the formula for the Nourishing Spirit Pill hundreds and thousands of times in his mind. At this moment, he was refining the Nourishing Spirit Pill without feeling any awkwardness. He controlled the essence of the spiritual materials to fuse together as smoothly as flowing water.

After a while, as all the surrounding spiritual materials disappeared, a crystalline, light blue spiritual liquid had taken shape inside the spiritual fire, constantly changing and condensing under the burning of the spiritual fire.

At this point, the batch of pills is more than halfway done, and only one final step remains in the alchemy process: condensing the pill.

Another half-cup of tea time passed, and the light blue spiritual liquid in the spiritual fire had disappeared, while five light blue pills were spinning around in the spiritual fire.

As a fragrant aroma suddenly spread, Fang Yanfu's spiritual fire immediately went out, leaving only five Spirit Nourishing Pills, surrounded by light blue spiritual energy and emitting a faint fragrance, floating there quietly.

Outside, Fang Yan slowly opened his eyes, opened his palm, and the Spirit Nourishing Pill immediately appeared there, floating in his palm.

"The Spirit Nourishing Pill is complete."

Fang Yan's face was full of undisguised smiles. He never expected that his first attempt at alchemy would be so successful.

He was able to do this because firstly, the pill-refining method in the Nongwan inheritance was extremely complete, and secondly, because refining in the gourd space allowed him to be meticulous and accurately grasp the key moments.

Of course, there's definitely an element of luck involved in succeeding on the first try.