Immediately after, a faint, emerald-green glow enveloped Li Guanqi's wrist.
Li Guanqi narrowed his eyes, closely monitoring the other man's intentions at every moment.
This energy seemed to carry a profoundly mysterious quality.
Moments after it entered Li Guanqi's body, the immortal primal energy within him grew somewhat uncontrollable and restless!
Qi Mobai turned deathly pale. It was the first time he had ever sensed such terrifying immortal primal energy in a cultivator who had only just entered the Mystic Immortal realm!
Not to mention Li Guanqi's lightning spiritual root.
"Fellow... Fellow Daoist! Please suppress the power within you!"
Hearing this, Li Guanqi circulated his cultivation method and suppressed the power within him.
Only then did Qi Mobai breathe a sigh of relief. He formed a one-handed seal, sending that energy coursing through the meridians of Li Guanqi's limbs.
As this energy grew stronger, a distinct tearing sensation truly manifested within Li Guanqi's body!
Li Guanqi looked inward and saw a pale blue soul seal flickering upon his origin spirit.
With a cold snort, the flames within him surged forth in an overwhelming torrent!
Shiwu glared at the soul seal with a dark expression. Coldly snorting, he began refining the soul seal with feral intensity!
In the blink of an eye, the soul seal was thoroughly refined into nothingness.
Overwhelmed with shock, Qi Mobai withdrew his power. He had never expected Li Guanqi to refine it entirely on his own.
A trace of purplish-black blood leaked from the corner of Li Guanqi's mouth, but his breathing became much smoother.
Qi Mobai stood up, rummaged through the medicine shelves, and produced a pale blue pill.
"Take this. It will aid your recovery."
Li Guanqi examined the pill on the table. It was merely a ball formed by crushing and kneading various spirit herbs together, nowhere close to an actual medicinal elixir.
Li Guanqi swallowed it. It was rough and astringent, hard to get down.
Yet once it was down, the medicinal efficacy of the spirit herbs inside was actually comparable to that of a refined elixir!
Li Guanqi was astonished.
After all, Cao Yan was an alchemist, and Li Guanqi understood the most fundamental principles of alchemy.
The most crucial part of alchemy was using flame to extract and refine the spiritual liquid within spirit herbs, purging its impurities, and then combining and fusing the liquids together.
Yet Qi Mobai had clearly never used flame to extract or refine the spiritual essence—he had simply crushed the herbs—so how could the medicinal potency be this strong!
Li Guanqi looked at the young man behind the gauze curtain in wonder.
"This fellow is an absolute genius!"
"The power he released into my body just now revealed a vast reserve of divine sense that surpasses even mine."
"And he controls it with effortless precision, down to the minutest detail."
Yet at this moment, Qi Mobai could wait no longer and had already begun savoring the fine wine, paying no heed to how Li Guanqi had managed to obliterate the soul seal.
Closing his eyes, Qi Mobai tasted the wine in utter intoxication. A flush colored his cheeks, and he exhaled a long, blissfully satisfied breath.
"Azure Immortal Clay, Ink Ghost Dew, Hundred-Flower Azure Immortal Leaves, Setting Sun Jade Treasure Fruit... Fascinating. To think they could be combined like this!"
"What a wonderful transformation..."
The more Li Guanqi listened, the more startled he became. Those spirit herbs were among the ingredients of Li Qingchan's proprietary recipe. With just a single sip, the man had identified them outright.
Li Guanqi cleared his throat. Jolted from his reverie, Qi Mobai turned his head and asked timidly, "Uh... Fellow Daoist, is there anything else? If not, you may go."
Hearing this, Li Guanqi couldn't help but smile faintly.
Qi Mobai truly had a carefree nature; all he truly wanted was to drink. Even after rendering Li Guanqi such a massive favor, he had not asked for any compensation. Perhaps the only reason he had warned Li Guanqi about the soul seal in the first place was that Li Guanqi had gifted him a jar of aged brew.
Driven by curiosity, Li Guanqi asked, "With your immense talent in pharmaceuticals, why haven't you become an alchemist?"
This seemed to strike a sore spot. The young man's voice dropped, and only after a long silence did he speak slowly.
"As you can see, I possess a wood spiritual root, which clashes with fire... Even if I used the earth core fire of the Pill Hall, my future achievements would be limited."
Li Guanqi paused for a moment, then chuckled softly.
"Never pass a final verdict on yourself."
"I once knew a senior whose direction in comprehending the laws of wood was the flow of time and the annihilation of vitality."
"Fire and wood may conflict, but... wood feeds fire. Is that not another path?"
Qi Mobai's gaze grew solemn, his eyes flickering as he stood frozen in place.
Li Guanqi's words detonated in his mind like a clap of thunder!
Li Guanqi smiled, then retrieved a jar of three-hundred-year-old Red Dust Brew from his storage ring!
The wine had already distilled into dew, crystalline and luminous like celestial nectar.
Li Guanqi set the jade jar on the table and pushed it forward. Truly grateful to Qi Mobai, he said softly, "Thank you for your assistance, Fellow Daoist, and for ridding me of a hidden danger. This jar of wine is a gift for you. I hope that one day I will hear of Fellow Daoist Qi becoming a renowned alchemist. Even from afar, you will have my best wishes."
For once, Qi Mobai did not rush to take the wine.
His pupils trembled, his gaze dazed. His mouth parted slightly as he looked up at the ceiling and murmured to himself, "Indeed... How... how did I resign myself to fate...? In my youth, I, Qi Mobai, also held grand ambitions to become the greatest alchemist under heaven."
After a long silence, Qi Mobai slowly stood up.
Brushing his sleeves, the refined young man took the initiative to draw back the gauze curtain. Looking at Li Guanqi, who was cloaked entirely in black robes, he said in a solemn voice, "Your words today, Fellow Daoist, were like thunder crashing into my ears, shattering the muddleheadedness in my heart! Throughout my cultivation journey, ever since failing that Pill Hall assessment, I sank into despair, living aimlessly in seclusion within Yuxu City for over thirty years... Had I not met you today, I might have spent the rest of my days languishing in a daze here in Yuxu City!"
A spark of light rekindled in the young man's eyes—a light named hope.
Qi Mobai bowed deeply!
"If Mobai can become a fine alchemist in the days to come, please do not hesitate to seek me out for whatever elixirs you need!"
Li Guanqi smiled, cupped his hands in return, and said softly as he turned to leave, "I believe that day will surely come. I will wait for your name to resound throughout the Immortal Realm."
With that, Li Guanqi turned and departed.
Qi Mobai stood in silence for a long time, his fists clenched tightly beneath his sleeves, his gaze resolute. He turned to look at the wine on the table and murmured softly, "This wine, I shall open only on the day we meet again!"
With those words, Qi Mobai began packing up everything in the medicine shop. He was preparing to leave Yuxu City.
Meanwhile, the commander of the Yuxu City guards suddenly frowned slightly. Flashing outside the north gate, he said in a deep voice, "Open the city gates!"
With a rumble, the gates swung open.
Beside him, the vice commander frowned and asked in a low voice, "Commander, has another prominent figure arrived? Why must the main gates be opened?"
The middle-aged man in silver armor knitted his brows and transmitted his voice softly:
"It is Zhao Chengyong, Vice Hall Master of the Tianshu Ascension Hall!"
Chapter 1575