"Muscle and Bone Strengthening Decoction? One liang of Tianxinzi... one liang of Butterfly Grass... one liang of Crystal Jade Lotus Seed... Red Demon Flower... two liang... Hah, this is the grade-one spiritual medicine formula you call it? Young man, you dare try to fool me with this scrap? Do you take me, a grade-two Spirit Alchemist, for a fool? Fine, I won't hold a grudge against a petty person like you. You should just go back where you came from and stop interfering with my alchemy."

At the ground floor of the Alchemy Hall, the formula Nie Kong had just finished writing was crumpled into a ball and thrown back into his arms. The man opposite, about thirty years old and covered in pockmarks, sneered as he spoke, then waved his hand dismissively, as if shooing away a fly. His gaze immediately returned to the medicine cauldron on the desk before him.

The little pet in his Dantian was waiting to be fed; Nie Kong couldn't just give up. Suppressing the displeasure in his heart, he said, "Big Brother, the medicinal bath made with this formula truly has the effect of strengthening muscles and bones, especially suitable for children just starting their cultivation."

The pockmarked face glared, his annoyance plain. "Are you ever going to stop? Strengthening muscles and bones? I might as well strengthen my chicken and invigorate my yang! Wait, strengthen chicken and invigorate yang? Ohohohohoh..." As if surprised by the unintended creativity of the four words that slipped out, the pockmarked man’s fingers twitched erratically as he pointed at Nie Kong. He laughed so hard he could barely breathe, shrieking bizarrely, "Aiya, this is too funny... strengthen chicken, invigorate yang! If you bathe with medicine brewed from this formula, your little chick must have grown quite a bit, hehehehehe. Come, come, let Uncle have a good look..."

A pair of triangular eyes darted lecherously toward Nie Kong's lower regions. The smile on the pockmarked face turned exceptionally vile, causing the surrounding Spirit Alchemists to frown.

Nie Kong, surprised to find such a character in the Alchemy Hall, scoffed, "What did you call yourself again? You want to see my jiji so badly, do you? Alright, lie down obediently, open your mouth, and I'll piss all over your face—and it'll be virgin boy urine, no less! Looking at your utterly wretched appearance, you must have been a grade-two Spirit Alchemist for a long time. Drink down all my virgin boy urine, and maybe you'll break through to grade three right away. I’m usually generous, so I won’t charge you. If you lie down nicely, I might even give you another free stream of virgin boy urine to thank me properly."

After spitting it all out, Nie Kong felt a sense of profound release. Yet, afterward, he felt a slight surprise. In his previous life, after years of cultivating self-restraint, he wouldn't lash out with such insults, no matter how angry. Perhaps the former occupant of his body had been suppressed for too long, allowing his own personality to be influenced by those memories. Nevertheless, this feeling of verbal assault was indeed exhilarating, as if all the pent-up frustrations in his heart had been expelled with the sound.

"Heh heh!" "Hahaha!" "Hee hee!"

The dozen or so Spirit Alchemists preparing medicine nearby couldn't help but suppress their laughter. The men emitted various strange chuckles, their mocking gazes flicking between the pockmarked man and Nie Kong. The women, however, modestly lowered their eyelids, their cheeks slightly flushed, yet the smile twitching at the corners of their lips was impossible to hide.

"No laughing! None of you are allowed to laugh!"

The pockmarked man’s face cycled rapidly between pale and red, his expression intensely dramatic. He puffed out both eyes and surveyed the room, shouting in fury. Unfortunately, he was clearly not well-liked in the Alchemy Hall. After his shout, the Spirit Alchemists laughed even louder, and some even winked at Nie Kong while giving him a thumbs-up.

The pockmarked man felt even more humiliated but could do nothing about them. Finally, he vented his rage onto Nie Kong: "You little bastard, how dare you curse me?" The pockmarked man’s expression became ferocious, his face contorted, and his pitted countenance suddenly looked as if it were covered in countless wriggling maggots.

Nie Kong smiled, "Who are you calling a little bastard?"

The pockmarked man’s face slackened, and he blurted out, "The little bastard is cursing you!"

"Ohohohohoh..."

Another burst of roaring laughter exploded through the ground floor of the Alchemy Hall, and someone deliberately mimicked the pockmarked man's peculiar, odd laughter.

"It’s not little bastard cursing me, it’s old bastard cursing me... No, that's not right either. Judging by your age, you look to be only in your early thirties—neither old nor young. Should I call you 'middle bastard'? That name doesn't roll off the tongue either. Nie something-or-other, why couldn't you be a bit older or a bit younger?" Nie Kong wore an expression of genuine distress.

"Good, good, good, you sharp-tongued little whelp! I’ll teach you a lesson today so you know what it means to respect your elders." Unable to win the verbal spat, the pockmarked man trembled all over, his face turning from red to purple. Fierce light flashed in his triangular eyes, and he roared, lunging toward Nie Kong.

Nie Kong was prepared. His figure flickered, and he dodged behind the nearest middle-aged woman.

The pockmarked man missed his target and chased after him with a sinister grin. However, the woman stood between them, intentionally or unintentionally blocking his path. Thus, they began playing a game of 'eagle chasing chick,' with the hen protecting the chick. The eagle could never succeed and was so enraged he jumped around stamping his feet, howling, "Little brat, you run? Keep running? If you have the guts, stay behind her and don't come out! I’ll spend the day wearing you down!"

"What is this? Making such a racket in the Alchemy Hall, what kind of decorum is that?" Just then, an old man, over fifty with a lean face, entered through the doorway. He was barefoot in hempen clothes, his head full of hair as red as blood. Seeing the scene in the Alchemy Hall, he immediately bristled, stroking his beard and looking furious.

"Master Tianxin!"

The moment the old man entered, the Alchemy Hall fell instantly silent. Then, all the Spirit Alchemists, including the pockmarked man and the middle-aged woman, bowed deeply, calling out with profound respect.

Nie Kong stepped out from behind the middle-aged woman, thinking inwardly, Master Tianxin? He must be Lian Tianxin, the chief grade-five Spirit Alchemist hired by the Nie family. Lian Tianxin had been with the Nie family for twenty years. Nie Kong had heard many rumors about him—that he always wore hempen clothes and went barefoot, that his hair was red as blood. It was rumored that the "Tianxin" in his name originated from the spiritual medicine Tianxinzi.

Despite the rumors, this was the first time Nie Kong had seen him. The Nie family Alchemy Hall had two grade-five Spirit Alchemists: Lian Tianxin and the Fifth Elder, Nie Xingyun. The Fifth Elder was even more mysterious; Nie Kong had never met him and rarely heard of him.

"Master Tianxin, you arrived at the perfect time! That brat claims he came to present a formula, but he deliberately brought a fake one to cause trouble in the Alchemy Hall. You must teach him a lesson," the pockmarked man zipped over to Lian Tianxin, striking a pose of righteous indignation as if he had suffered a terrible grievance.

"Oh, a fake formula? Let this old man see it," Lian Tianxin said to Nie Kong, not immediately condemning him based solely on the pockmarked man's claims.

"Please, Master, examine it."

Nie Kong unfolded the crumpled formula and handed it over. On the Tianling Continent, only Spirit Alchemists of grade five and above could be addressed as "Master." These individuals dedicated their entire lives to researching medicine, and Nie Kong held them in high regard.

The pockmarked man glanced triumphantly at Nie Kong. Everyone in the Alchemy Hall knew Lian Tianxin was notoriously rigid and stern, intolerant of the slightest flaw. If he judged the formula to be fake, Nie Kong’s crime of disrupting the Alchemy Hall would be sealed, and he would surely suffer the consequences.

Lian Tianxin murmured as he read: "Tianxinzi one liang, Butterfly Grass one liang, Crystal Jade Lotus Seed one liang, Red Demon Flower two liang..." As he spoke the words "Tianxinzi," Lian Tianxin glanced at Nie Kong with slight surprise. By the time he reached the final ingredient, "Red Demon Flower," a subtle thoughtfulness had entered his eyes.

"Master Tianxin, look how ridiculous his formula is. The first three ingredients—Tianxinzi, Butterfly Grass, and Crystal Jade Lotus Seed—are fine, but he actually added Red Demon Flower, which contains trace toxins, and in a quantity of two liang! And he claims it’s a Muscle and Bone Strengthening Decoction suitable for children. If it doesn't ruin a person's health, that would be a miracle..." The pockmarked man buzzed around Lian Tianxin like a fly, stirring up trouble.

Lian Tianxin ignored Pockmarked Nie. Instead, he narrowed his eyes. After several seconds, his eyes snapped open, and a smile spread across his solemn face. "Young fellow, your 'Muscle and Bone Strengthening Decoction' is quite excellent, especially the addition of those last two liang of 'Red Demon Flower'—it’s the finishing touch. The Red Demon Flower contains a small amount of toxin, but when paired with Tianxinzi, Butterfly Grass, and Crystal Jade Lotus Seed, not only is the toxin neutralized, but the medicinal efficacy is maximized."

"Ah?"

A wave of suppressed gasps swept through the Alchemy Hall. The Spirit Alchemists exchanged glances, seeing sheer astonishment in each other’s eyes. While they held Pockmarked Nie in contempt, they had already mentally dismissed the formula as fake upon hearing the ingredients. They never expected it to receive such high praise from Master Tianxin.

The more Pockmarked Nie listened, the lower his heart sank. By the end, he was gaping, his face covered in spots twitching spasmodically. His mouth hung slightly ajar, with a small section of his tongue dangling limply over his lower lip, resembling a duck whose neck had been choked—his appearance was indescribably comical.

...