Reincarnation Girl Becomes Immortal

With her photographic memory, all she needs to do is find a master alchemist in the Youxu Sect to teach her, specifying the order of ingredients, fire temperature, material processing and refining methods, and other details... She can directly replicate the alchemist's work and refine the pills she wants without learning the theory of alchemy.

Currently, Xi Heng has already consumed fifty Qi Gathering Pills used in the early stages of Qi Refining, and his body has developed resistance to these pills.

The next cultivation pill needed for the mid-stage of Qi Refining is the 'Qi Condensation Pill'.

The Qi Gathering Pill has a similar name to two other pills, both of which help with the absorption and expulsion of spiritual energy, but its efficacy and the recommended Qi Refining level for use are different.

However, the latter was five times more expensive than the former in the medicine shops on the commercial street.

The price has reached ten spirit stones per Qi Condensation Pill.

However, if only the materials for refining this pill are purchased, the price will only be one-third of that.

In terms of cost-effectiveness, buying a pill is not as good as refining it yourself or having someone else refine it.

Ordinary cultivators in the Fire Hell have no way of contacting high-ranking alchemists, and learning alchemy on their own is as difficult as ascending to heaven.

But Xi Heng is different; she has an organization to rely on, which saves her a lot of spirit stones.

As it happens, there are alchemists in the Youxu Sect, and more than one.

Xi Heng had the option of having someone refine it, and he could also learn some knowledge and experience about alchemy along the way.

So she chose to spend 175 spirit stones to purchase enough medicinal materials to refine 50 'Qi Condensation Pills'.

Then, they entered the underground through a concealed barrier to find the alchemist at the Youxu Sect base.

In the end, it was just a bit of a surprise... The number one alchemist in the Youxu Sect was Yin Wanluan himself.

Upon hearing that Xi Heng wanted to study alchemy, the golden-haired saintess grabbed her wrist and pulled her into the quiet alchemy room.

After that, the two naturally began teaching each other one-on-one, hand in hand...

On that day, with the other party's careful explanation, Xi Heng refined two low-grade Qi Condensation Pills with a relatively short duration.

Now that the pills have run out, it's time to replenish them.

Xi Heng nodded to the other party.

"Then wait for me outside the inner city of this capital after the ceremony."

Before leaving, Yin Wanluan poked Xi Heng's shoulder with her finger, causing her to tremble slightly involuntarily.

The girl clicked her tongue and took a half step back.

"Strange... I didn't have any problem when you put your arm around my waist during the Danfang teaching session, so why is there such a strong reaction when you touch my shoulder?"

Another inexplicable voice transmission landed beside my ear.

Xi Heng was speechless, taking it as if the guy was talking to himself.

Immediately afterwards, Yin Wanluan shook his head and left the place, as if he were really just talking to himself.

The girl exhaled softly and returned to the grand festival, which was now drawing to a close.

The cessation of the bell's ringing signifies that the cultivators may leave voluntarily.

"After the ceremony, shall we wait at the inner city gate..." the girl said softly.

She suddenly felt less inclined to go.

This behavior is similar to waiting at the school gate after school...

Xi Heng vaguely sensed that his relationship with Yin Wanluan was a little too close.

If I were still as clueless as I was when I first transmigrated, I definitely wouldn't think too much about it and would just think that it wouldn't be wrong for the two of us to be a little closer.

But now, even if she can't be called a seasoned veteran, she has certainly experienced some emotions.

Therefore, I subconsciously started thinking about what I should do next.

Should we retreat from the subtle atmosphere that unconsciously arises when the two of us are together, or is it better to move closer to it?

“Hmm…” Xi Heng pondered for a long time as he left the Pure Fire Altar.

The final decision was simply: "Let nature take its course."

……

Some time later, in the underground of the Fire Hell, at the headquarters of the Netherworld Sect.

Two girls, one with white hair and the other with light blonde hair, walked through the dimly lit corridor, passing several locked stone coffins lying flat, and slowly arrived at a stone door.

Yin Wanluan pointed out a spiritual light, and the heavy stone door slowly opened, revealing the alchemy room with a faint flame inside.

"By the way, what's inside all those coffins outside?" Before entering, Xi Heng glanced back and asked a question he had been curious about in his previous life.

When I saw the coffin in my previous life, most of it was already open, and I don't know what crawled out.

"Among them are cultivators who were close to death but were not burned by the Pure Fire," Yin Wanluan explained simply. "I have preserved them with a secret technique. If we encounter a crisis in the future, we can try to awaken them as power."

"Is that so..." Xi Heng recalled something he had heard from the other person a long time ago and asked:

"Back in the outside world, if I lost, would you also put me in this kind of coffin?"

Yin Wanluan nodded gently: "If that's really the case, then in the future when we encounter crises, you will be the savior I look forward to the most..."

With that, the two stepped into the alchemy room.

Just a few steps inside, the heavy stone door slowly closed on its own with a slight tremor.

“Come on.” The other person reached out to her quite proactively: “Just like before, I will teach you carefully.”

In the vast room, apart from the faint glow of the spirit charcoal burning under the unused alchemy furnace, there were only their words, footsteps, the rustling of their robes, and their soft breathing.

Whether it was a misperception or not, ever since the stone door of the alchemy room was tightly closed and the air became extremely quiet, the two people's soft breathing seemed to have become a little more rapid.

As a cultivator, Xi Heng felt that his breathing posture had not changed... but this feeling was real.

Especially now, the hand that Yin Wanluan reached out to her made her freeze for a moment in the blink of an eye.

"What's wrong?" the other person asked.

"It's nothing," the white-haired girl replied with an unusually calm demeanor.

After a moment of hesitation, she still placed her wrist on the other person's palm.

The blonde girl smiled and pulled her along, leading her to a towering alchemy furnace that stood two people tall inside.

"Just like before, I will explain the entire method of refining the Qi Condensation Pill from beginning to end in detail." The other party casually waved his hand, and spiritual light flickered at his fingertips.

The materials for refining Qi Condensation Pills fell neatly and orderly onto the stone table in batches, following the spiritual light.

"Will we hold hands again this time...?" the girl asked softly.

Amidst her hesitation and uncertainty, her tone unconsciously softened.

"Of course I need to, otherwise it's too easy to make mistakes on the details." Yin Wanluan said softly, "I need to keep a close eye on you."

Why do I always feel there's some strange deeper meaning in these words...? Is it just my imagination?

Xi Heng felt the smooth, gentle kneading on his wrist, and silently thought...

"Here, the medicinal herbs are all prepared. Let's process them first." The other person got down to business and led her to the stone table.

The white-haired girl, whose attention was constantly shifting, found it quite difficult to concentrate.

It took Xi Heng a while to react. He picked up the tools on the table or activated his magic to organize the medicinal herbs in front of him, based on what he had already mastered.

Yin Wanluan leaned against her shoulder, as if deliberately getting close, so that their shoulders touched.

An inexplicable fragrance surrounded me; I couldn't tell if it was the medicinal scent of the flowers and herbs in my hand, or something else entirely.

"You also have some talent in alchemy... More than ten days have passed since then, yet your meticulous movements haven't deteriorated in the slightest." A voice of praise came from beside him.

"I just haven't forgotten." The white-haired girl barely managed to concentrate, trying not to let her mind be distracted by the other person's words.

"Speaking of which," the blonde girl continued, paying attention to the processing time of the medicinal herbs, "did you know... besides pills, spiritual energy concentration, and spirit-gathering arrays, there is another method that can improve cultivation efficiency even more?"

"Huh? What else?" Xi Heng suddenly became interested.

The other person chuckled softly, extended a finger and gently touched the corner of their lips, while the slender fingers of their left hand rested on Xi Heng's waist for some reason.

Then, she lightly uttered two words: "Dual cultivation..."

The voice was like a gentle breeze, brushing past the girl's ear.

……

Volume 1: Chapter 189, Chapter 182, The Path of Dual Cultivation

Xi Heng was currently in the alchemy room deep inside the Youxu Sect, a secluded place that could be ranked among the best in the entire Pure Fire Domain.

A faint flame burned beneath the alchemy furnace in the center of the room. Even with the dim light from the surrounding candles and fluorite, the room remained dimly lit.

However, with her eyesight, she could see clearly even in this environment, and her field of vision was not obstructed.

The white-haired girl, her hair casually tied in a ponytail, stood quietly in front of the stone table, using various professional tools to process the medicinal herbs and materials in front of her, some of which looked ordinary and others strange.

Grind it into powder, or cut it into small pieces of different shapes, such as complete square pieces, etc.

Then, various special treatments are applied...

The steps involved in alchemy are numerous. From obtaining the formula to preparing the medicine and utensils, there are a total of twenty-one steps, according to the most standard method.

Many experienced alchemists can shorten certain steps by relying on their own experience, knowledge, or special techniques.

Beginners must strictly follow the rules and regulations, going through the entire text from beginning to end without missing a single word or error.

If there is even the slightest mistake in the details, the quantity and grade of the pills produced will decrease, or the entire batch will be wasted.

There are also stories of exceptionally talented individuals who, when first learning to refine ordinary pills, accidentally blew up extremely expensive alchemy furnaces.

Xi Heng spent a lot of spirit stones to purchase materials, and naturally did not want any problems to arise, so he was carefully preparing the materials according to his previous experience in alchemy.

At least, that was the case at the beginning.

Then, for some unknown reason, Ms. Yin Wanluan, who was supposed to properly teach and guide her in alchemy, would occasionally disrupt her concentration on the alchemy process through words, deliberately created atmospheres, or rather strange physical contact.

Is this a test deliberately set by the professor to see if she can remain calm under such conditions... or does it have some other special meaning?

Xi Heng really couldn't figure it out.

She simply tried her best to steady her movements, paying attention to various details, and multitasking to provide some answers while perfecting her technique.

Until a faint warm breath reached her soft earlobe, bringing a strange tingling sensation, and the sound of a word was heard, causing her heart to tremble slightly.

His hand movements paused for a moment.

"Dual cultivation, huh?"

Miss Yin Wanluan, who had been leaning against Xi Heng as a teacher, inexplicably placed her hand on the girl's waist—and on the far end of it.

Not only the fingertips, but also the wrists and arms are wrapped around.

This made Xi Heng feel a strange itching sensation.

When she last visited this alchemy room, she also asked, "Why do you wrap your arms around your waist when teaching?"

At the time, the other party replied: "Only in this way can you clearly feel the flow of spiritual energy and identify whether the range of magic you used when processing the medicinal materials is correct."

It's unclear whether this is truly the case or if they're just deceiving the naive and ignorant Xi Heng.

She was a complete novice in the study of alchemy, and even though she felt that she was being manipulated, she didn't know how to resist.

What I see before me is probably the oppression that masters exert on their disciples, a common occurrence in the world of cultivation.

After hesitating for a long time, the girl coughed lightly and continued processing the medicinal herbs before responding to the other party's mention of 'dual cultivation':

"What is dual cultivation?"

She had previously read about dual cultivation—it was mentioned in introductory books on Qi cultivation.

However, the descriptions at the top of these pages are not comprehensive, only mentioning some theories and effects.

The language and phrases used are all descriptions such as: "two things give rise to each other", "inverted and interchangeable", "stop leakage and consolidate the original essence".

To go into more detail, I wrote a bit more about things like "sharing life and death, being of one mind, being intertwined with each other," which are pretty much the same as not reading at all.

Xi Heng had read many cultivation books and mastered many techniques, so he could be considered to have a good understanding of the common knowledge of the cultivation world.

She was no longer the young girl who, when she was searching for immortality with Chen Fenghuo, only knew that she needed to cultivate to seek immortality, but had no idea what cultivation actually was.

But among all those books, she had never seen a single one that explained how the dual cultivation method actually worked, or what actions were required during it...

Should they sit cross-legged facing each other to practice breathing exercises, or... engage in more intimate behavior?

Looking at Yin Wanluan now, the inexplicably affectionate way she spoke the words "dual cultivation," and the soft whispers that seemed to blow in her ear... it seems more like the latter.