Bai Muxi was still dressed in her form-fitting purple silk gauze robe. A veil obscured her fair, delicate face underneath. She stood angled toward the door, seemingly not having noticed the group of four entering, wholly focused on the task at hand.
Following her gaze, Xu Yuan saw three small, active formations positioned right in the center of the dispensary.
The glowing light cast by the formation scripts carved into the floor formed a suspension of radiant dust in the air, elevating three spheres of dark-brown medicinal fluid aloft, though whatever lay suspended within them remained indistinct.
Just as Xu Yuan was about to step forward, Lou Ji's voice called out teasingly, stopping him in his tracks.
"Changtian, you might drop dead on the spot if you just walk in like that, you know."
Xu Yuan raised a brow and glanced back in bewilderment.
Lou Ji smiled faintly and explained, "Testing and blending new medicines tends to produce all sorts of bizarre, toxic fumes. Even though specialized formation scripts are set up to clear them, trace amounts still linger. Accumulated over all these years, even a Saint would feel the effects after staying in there for too long."
Saying so, Lou Ji produced two pale-blue square veils and handed them to Xu Yuan and Ran Qingmo. "These are veils woven to filter toxic vapors. Put them on."
Xu Yuan paused for a moment before taking the veil and donning it. He asked casually, "Isn't the doorway affected?"
"A formation seals it off," Xu Xinyao suddenly chimed in, pointing to a patch of formation scripts beneath their feet. "The Five Elements Spirit Sealing Formation, an advanced variant of the Luanyin Formation. It isolates space—neither airflow nor sound, nor even source qi and intent-souls, can pass between the inside and the outside."
Seeing that Xu Xinyao had finally broken her silence after remaining quiet the entire way, Xu Yuan took the opportunity to tease her with a smile, "How come I didn't see one of these in your research chamber just now?"
Hearing this, Xu Xinyao silently took out her own poison-warding veil, fastened it, and only then muttered softly in a forlorn tone, "The materials are expensive... I couldn't bear to spend the money..."
"..." Xu Yuan opted for selective deafness.
Having prepared their protection, the party of four stepped past the Five Elements Spirit Sealing Formation at the entrance.
Inside his older sister Lou Ji's dispensary, everything was arranged in immaculate order. It gave him the distinct impression of a sterile laboratory from his past life, countless times tidier than a certain Fourth Sister's research chamber.
She looked like such a gentle, mild-mannered girl, yet her research chamber resembled a war zone—jars and vials scattered everywhere, all kinds of precious materials tossed around at random like a glorified landfill.
Thinking this, Xu Yuan shot an amused glance at the red-robed girl beside him. Xu Xinyao, who was still keeping an eye on her third brother, immediately offered a meek defense upon catching his look: "It's just a habit... It might be a little messy, but it's not like I can't find anything."
Her chamber might be cluttered, but the exact positions where thousands of materials had been cast aside were etched clearly into her mind.
"I didn't say a thing. What are you defending yourself for?"
Xu Yuan teased his fourth sister, then turned to Lou Ji. "Sis, this alchemy chamber of yours is surrounded by deadly toxins. Why not just rebuild it somewhere else?"
Lou Ji replied without missing a beat, "To wait for someone destined, of course—to see who dares trespass into your sister's boudoir without permission."
Leave it to you to treat a room filled with toxic fumes as your boudoir.
Chiding her internally, Xu Yuan and the others slowly walked up behind the two busy women.
This was the first time since transmigrating into this world that Xu Yuan had seen a "laboratory" with his own eyes, and the specialized equipment inside held its own against the sleek, high-tech cleanrooms of his previous life.
Over a span of merely twenty paces, Xu Yuan's spiritual vision picked up more than forty exquisite, precision-crafted array instruments. Most were sealed beneath the floor by formation mechanisms; the only active elements aside from the three hovering formations were six furnaces gleaming with gilded, shimmering light.
Staring at the six furnaces for several breaths, a look of suppressed astonishment welled up in Xu Yuan's eyes.
He suddenly realized that inertia in his thinking had constrained his imagination.
In his understanding, pill refining had always been an intricate, demanding craft.
It required a human to regulate the heat, to follow exact procedures and feed spirit herbs in precise quantities without the slightest error, and to govern the furnace temperature with intent and soul. The slightest mistake during that process would cause the furnace to explode.
Yet what he saw before him now was that one only needed to toss the ingredients in according to the pill formula, and the furnace would automatically refine the spirit herbs into pills based on pre-calibrated formation scripts.
An assembly line...
Thinking this, Xu Yuan suddenly sensed something unusual and asked Lou Ji in a low voice, "Sis, what kind of pill furnace is this?"
Lou Ji let out a light murmur of surprise before answering, "An array-script furnace. Why are you so shocked? Haven't you read the reports and dossiers about the array-script furnaces in Xu Yinhe's study?"
Xu Yuan rolled his eyes. "My father's study is crammed with dossiers. How could I have read all of them?"
"Well, now you've seen it," Lou Ji replied nonchalantly.
Frowning, Xu Yuan lowered his voice: "But I recall that in last year's Prime Minister's Manor fiscal expenditures, the total annual stipends paid to the alchemist consecrated retainers amounted to nearly over a hundred million taels..."
A chill crept into Lou Ji's long, alluring serpentine eyes. "Right now, the entire Manor is preparing for war. Yet those alchemy retainers remain just as they've always been—each prouder and more demanding than the last, their prices soaring ever higher. The moment things don't go their way, they all fall sick at once.
"On top of that, these alchemy retainers guard their techniques jealously under the pretext that the Dao cannot be lightly imparted. So the Institute of Natural Inquiry had no choice but to find a way to develop these array-script furnaces."
Lou Ji flashed a charming smile and added, "Naturally, the production cost of these furnaces is still rather high right now, and mass production will probably take another year or so. Don't go babbling about this outside, Changtian, or the clans behind those alchemy retainers will surely revolt. For the time being, we can't afford to have an open falling-out with them."
Having listened carefully, Xu Yuan turned abruptly to Xu Xinyao beside him, an odd expression in his eyes as he asked tentatively, "Xinyao, this array-script furnace..."
"It wasn't me."
Xu Xinyao answered without hesitation, her voice gentle. "This was developed when I was traveling abroad. Master and Senior Brother Liu led the team that made it."
Senior Brother Liu, the eldest disciple of Jiang He, Xinyao's senior brother, and an uncompromising hawk among the Prime Minister's Manor's upper echelon.
Chuckling softly, Xu Yuan shook his head, a contemplative look in his eyes.
The ancients spoke the truth: war had always been an accelerator for technology.
To think it was no different in this life.
Once array-script furnaces became widespread, the production capacity of medicinal pills would experience a qualitative leap. Those consecrated alchemy retainers, who once held aloof and exalted status, would be "streamlined" away in the coming years.
Of course, it wasn't absolute.
After all, new pill formulas still needed them to research and formulate. But a decline in their status and annual stipends was an inevitable trend.
At that thought, Xu Yuan stared at the slowly rotating array-script furnaces, his eyes carrying a hint of bewildered anticipation.
Driven by the demands of reform and warfare, various formation scripts had advanced at breakneck speed over recent decades. Outside his line of sight, an array-script revolution had already quietly begun.
He suddenly felt an urge to glimpse the future, to see what this world would evolve into over the next ten thousand years...
The thought flickered and faded, and Xu Yuan promptly suppressed it.
Unless he was willing to end up like the Luo siblings, a cultivator's lifespan made living that long utterly impossible. Besides... by then, formation script technology might well suffer catastrophic regression due to wars, plunging this world into a Dharma-ending wasteland for all he knew.
Refocusing his attention on what lay before him, Xu Yuan noticed that the radiant scripts upon the array-script furnaces had dimmed. A recess on the surface slid open, and six globes of crimson, viscous fluid floated out slowly from within.
It seemed this batch was not refined into pills, but rather medicinal fluid. A faint, coppery stench drifted outward, inducing slight nausea even through the poison-warding veil.
"This is Chongyang Fluid, refined from the essence blood of a Transcendent Realm demonic beast. It extends lifespan and teems with vigorous vitality. We originally planned to use it today to stimulate that Saint's heart."
Seeing Xu Yuan's unappreciative gaze, Lou Ji chuckled and explained, "Still, since you said you wanted to give it a try, Changtian, you can go first. If you succeed, we'll save it. Put four bottles of this lifespan-extending Chongyang Fluid on the outside market, and they'll fetch an astronomical price."
Xu Yuan blinked, eyeing the four globules of bloody fluid, and asked with a grin, "In other words, if I succeed, these four bottles of Chongyang Fluid belong to—"
"Do you think that's possible?"
"One bottle, then."
"Changtian, you can have whatever you want in your dreams."
"..." Xu Yuan twitched his lips.
During their banter, Bai Muxi, who had been operating the six array-script furnaces, finally had a moment to spare. She looked over in response to the voices, and the instant she spotted the man in opulent robes, her clear, beautiful eyes lit up.
Ever since the upheaval in Huizhou County, she had not seen the Third Young Master for a very long time, nor had she heard any news of her clansmen.
Months of waiting had made her restless.
Coming down to assist Senior Luo in the Black Prison today had been an excuse to ask Lou Ji, the Chief of the Black Scales, about her clan's whereabouts. She had not expected to run into the Third Young Master here.
After whispering a few words to Luo Xiran beside her and transferring control of the array-script furnaces, Bai Muxi walked briskly toward them.
As she walked, her gaze swept swiftly across the four individuals.
The Third Young Master...
Lou Ji...
The Fourth Miss...
And...
Hm?
Who is that black-clothed woman?
Her gaze darted between them for an instant before Bai Muxi keenly deduced the woman's identity.
Judging from the woman's aloof demeanor and the subtle intimacy between her and the young master, she was likely Ran Qingmo.
Both the brainless, flat-chested Saintess and the cunning, calculating princess had mentioned this woman, and Bai Muxi had quietly gathered information on her ever since arriving in Di'an.
At a glance, the black-robed maiden exuded an unearthly chill.
Just as the rumors said.
Yet there was no telling what her disposition was like.
Thoughts flashed through her mind as Bai Muxi stepped in front of the four. Without any over-the-top antics, she merely curtsied politely: "Muxi greets the young master."
Xu Yuan glanced at her, somewhat surprised.
After not seeing her for so long, he had assumed that with this little green-tea flirt's personality, she would pull some theatrical stunt in front of Ran Qingmo. He hadn't expected her to be so well-behaved.
A moment's thought, however, cleared up his doubts.
Lou Ji was watching from the side. The little green-tea flirt had long probed the elder sister's depths and knew that causing a scene in her presence would most likely result in instant demise.
Nodding slightly under Ran Qingmo's watchful gaze, Xu Yuan held the willow ghost blade and replied in a measured tone, "It has been a while. How has your cultivation progressed?"
Back in the underground palace, Xiao Bai's cultivation had already stood at the peak of Grandmaster, requiring only Dao fusion with her body to break through into the Origin Realm. After emerging, Li Qingyan had even imparted the Inverted Yuan Six Elements Art, tailored to her Five Elements Dao Physique. Several months had passed, so there should have been some progress.
Without hesitation, Bai Muxi remained bowed and answered softly, "Thanks to the Third Young Master's blessing, and under the guidance of the Saintess and Princess Wuyuan, Muxi has already condensed the Five Elements Dao charms. I am now just a hair's breadth away from merging the Dao with my body."
The moment he heard the titles of Tianyan and Li Qingyan, Xu Yuan's eyelid twitched slightly.
The familiar green-tea fragrance was already wafting into the air.
Dropping big names right out of the gate.
The trouble was that he couldn't even refute it, since Xiao Bai truly had learned the Inverted Yuan Six Elements Art under Tianyan and Li Qingyan's guidance.
Subconsciously glancing at Ran Qingmo beside him, he found her staring intently at Bai Muxi, her clear, obsidian eyes betraying nothing of her thoughts.
Clearing his throat, Xu Yuan changed the subject directly: "Not bad. Once we head out, come with me somewhere."
Hearing this, Bai Muxi raised her lovely eyes slightly.
Xu Yuan smiled faintly. "You must have been anxious these past few months. I haven't forgotten my promise to you. I've already dispatched people to rescue your clansmen. This trip is to take care of some other matters."
Bai Muxi's pupils constricted. Lowering her head, her slender frame dropped to her knees, prostrating fully to the ground: "Muxi thanks the Third Young Master! I have nothing with which to repay your kindness, and can only—"
"No need to wait for the next life. Serving as a beast of burden in this one will do."
Xu Yuan hastily cut off her melodrama with a teasing remark. Taking a step forward, sword behind his back, he supported Xiao Bai's soft arm and pulled her up from the floor, his words laden with meaning: "I only hope that official from your underground palace, Qin Yuan, won't disappoint me."
A gleam flashed in Bai Muxi's eyes, and her lips curved into a tender, gentle smile. "Please rest assured, Young Master. Qin Yuan's capabilities far surpass mine. He will certainly fulfill whatever promises he made in the underground palace."
"Is that so?"
Xu Yuan curled his lips. "Then I shall look forward to it."
With that, he released Xiao Bai, spun the willow ghost blade into an airy flourish, and looked at Lou Ji. "Sis, what do I do?"
"..."
Lou Ji, who had been enjoying the drama from the sidelines, found it rather dull that the show concluded so swiftly. She pointed toward Luo Xiran: "See those three spheres of dark medicinal fluid floating in the air?"
"Naturally."
"The one on the left holds the torso, the one on the right holds the head, and the middle one is the heart."
"And then?"
"The middle one—stab the blade into it."
"Right on it," Xu Yuan said with a grin, walking over.
"Make sure you don't pierce all the way through," Lou Ji warned.
"I'm not an idiot," Xu Yuan rolled his eyes.
"Perhaps," Lou Ji shrugged.
"Tsk..."
Clicking his tongue, Xu Yuan sauntered up beside Luo Xiran. Looking at his older adoptive sister, he smiled: "Hey little sister, long time no see."
Because the black death fungal carpet had yet to be fully restored, the physical form Luo Xiran condensed remained that of a young girl. Glaring at the brat's insolent attitude, she gave a light scoff: "Do what you came to do and spare me the nonsense."
Xu Yuan raised a brow and chuckled softly: "Oh? I specifically had someone bring your physical body out of that underground palace along the way. Aren't you going to show some gratitude...?"
Luo Xiran's delicate, pretty face stiffened slightly. Taking a deep breath, she cut him off: "Adoptive Brother... do you need Xiran's help?"
"Nope. Just step aside."
"..." Luo Xiran clenched her fists and walked away.
Looking at the three spheres of dark medicinal fluid floating in the air, Xu Yuan muttered to himself that a cultivation world really was something else—Petri dishes didn't even need containers, just levitating right in midair. At the same time, he slowly raised the willow ghost blade.
And then,
he thrust it in abruptly.
His spiritual vision, wrapped in yin source energy, spiraled up along the blade and followed the heart's vessels, quickly locating the gland Lou Ji had mentioned.
After a moment's contemplation, he channeled his spiritual vision into it.
A moment of dead silence.
*Bzzzz—*
An invisible ripple erupted outward with the Saint's heart as its epicenter. At the exact same time, a deafening boom blasted across Xu Yuan's mind.
The backlash struck with terrifying suddenness.
Dizziness washed over him; a high-pitched ring echoed in his ears.
Before his consciousness plunged into blackness and his body collapsed backward into a soft, fragrant embrace, he vaguely heard Lou Ji shout:
"It worked! Xinyao, hurry and activate the formation to strip the Boundary Void Stone—"
He also caught another voice, seemingly Tianye's, laced with faint murderous intent:
"Xu Yuan, you really know how to play with fire... provoking yet another Saint for me..."
Chapter 537