Before he could even process it, the air filled with her fragrance as Long Xuechan’s soft, voluptuous body pressed tightly against him, her firm, supple breasts crushing against his chest. Her arms coiled around his neck, and simultaneously, she opened her small mouth, aiming for his jugular, the sound of her voice continuing to break through: “…blood!”

My blood?

Nie Kong was caught between laughter and tears. Forgetting the soft warmth of the embrace, he quickly raised his palm to block the path of Long Xuechan’s reddened lips. Then, pointing to his own mouth, he said with utmost seriousness, “Sister Chan, you’ve aimed for the wrong spot. The best place to take a bite is right here.”

“You little rascal!”

Long Xuechan burst into laughter, her body suddenly sliding free from Nie Kong’s arms. A flash of cunning crossed her eyes. “You’re right. Then big sister won’t be polite.” With a flash of white light, a sharp dagger suddenly appeared in Long Xuechan’s hand; judging by its shape, it seemed to have been crafted from the tusk of a spiritual beast.

“Let me do it myself!”

Nie Kong gave a nervous smile and quickly snatched the dagger from Long Xuechan’s grasp. “Sister Chan, I consumed your ‘Yellow Dragon Spiritual Dew’ yesterday, so today I’ll give you a bottle of blood.”

A cold gleam flashed across his index finger as the blade sliced open the skin of his fingertip. Nie Kong circulated his spiritual power, forcing a steady stream of blood out from the wound.

The blood welled up and dripped into an empty vial.

Though Long Xuechan hadn't explicitly stated it, Nie Kong could guess her intention. She likely wanted to study the blood to discover the secret behind his body’s ability to resist potent toxins.

For Nie Kong, his greatest secret was the ‘Purple Luo Illusionary Spirit Incense’ housed in his Yaochi Acupoint. Even if she analyzed his blood to the most thorough degree, Long Xuechan would never find anything valuable.

Nie Kong also wasn't worried about Long Xuechan uncovering the secret of the so-called ‘Yinxu Bloodline’ through the blood, because the dark green blood representing the ‘Yinxu Bloodline’ had long since been extracted and isolated within his Yaochi Acupoint. Up to this day, it seemed that besides Hua Yanlian of the ‘Flower Spirit Tribe,’ no one else had detected the aura of his ‘Yinxu Bloodline’—not even the Great Elder who had reprimanded the Nie Clan Head at the Hidden Blade Courtyard appeared to have noticed it.

In just a short while, the small jade vial was filled with fresh blood.

Losing this small amount of blood would have no effect on Nie Kong’s body whatsoever. Seeing Long Xuechan’s keen interest, Nie Kong laughed heartily, “Sister Chan, if you need more, you can ask me anytime in the future. As long as my body can bear it, I will absolutely not refuse.”

Long Xuechan capped the jade bottle and replied with a delicate smile, “Good, big sister will certainly seek you out then. Now, help big sister test a few more medicinal herbs…”

…

For several consecutive days, Nie Kong shuttled between his residence and the Six Halls of the Apothecary. In the mornings, he would go to the Apothecary to taste a few poisonous herbs for Long Xuechan, and after writing down the testing results, he would take the herbs back to cultivate.

The little fellow took one poisonous herb every three days. The Purple Cloud Grass, Black Heart Wood Butterfly, and Jade Linglong he initially brought back were entirely absorbed by the ‘Fire Tree Silver Flower’ and Nie Kong. After refining all the pure wood spiritual power elements separated out by the little fellow, Nie Kong felt his cultivation improve almost daily.

During this period, Long Xuechan requested another half bottle of fresh blood from Nie Kong. Unfortunately, her research into his blood never yielded any significant progress until she finally gave up yesterday. This brought a measure of relief to Nie Kong; if she had continued her research, he might have felt somewhat guilty.

Of course, what reassured Nie Kong the most was that Long Xuechan’s demeanor had not reverted to that distant, reserved elegance over these past few days. Even if he and Long Xuechan couldn't spark any romance, simply seeing such a beautiful and pleasing sight every day made his cultivation less monotonous.

…

February 10th marked the official day for Outer City disciples of Lingyu City to enter the Sect. As the dawn broke in the sky, Lingyu City, which had been quiet for most of the night, began to stir, growing increasingly noisy and bustling. Large numbers of young men and women could be seen rushing towards the North City from all the streets in the South City.

Within Lingyu City, the South City housed the vast majority of commercial establishments and most of the populace; it was the living quarter. The North City, however, was the area where Outer City disciples studied and cultivated. As for the Inner City of Lingyu City, which Spirit Masters yearned for, it was not located here; it was rumored to be deep within the Tianlang Mountain Range.

Time flew quickly, and the sky soon grew bright.

As the flow of people heading from the South City to the North City began to thin, Nie Kong’s rapidly running figure appeared in a secluded alleyway.

This morning, after waking from his cultivation, he had headed to the Red Chamber Apothecary as usual. Upon reaching the entrance, Nie Kong only noticed the hurried figures when he suddenly realized today was the reporting day for the Outer City disciples of Lingyu City. He quickly rushed back to his residence to retrieve his Jade Token before heading toward the Medicine Heart Hall.

In truth, Nie Kong had inquired about the location of the Medicine Heart Hall from Long Xuechan several days prior. If he had followed the planned route, there would have been no issues. However, in his haste, Nie Kong took a shortcut, and as he was already unfamiliar with the area, he tragically got lost.

Finally encountering two passing Lingyu City disciples, Nie Kong relied on their directions to navigate out of the labyrinthine alleys and arrive outside the Medicine Heart Hall.

The Outer City of Lingyu City was divided into six branches: Qingfeng, Zilei, Shanhun, Huoyun, Shuixian, and Medicine Heart. The first five branches recruited disciples based on physical attributes; the Second Generation Ancestors who founded these five Halls were the five individuals who later ascended to the Heavenly Spirit Realm.

As for the Second Generation Ancestor of the Medicine Heart Hall, he was the first among the six strong figures of Lingyu City to achieve the Heavenly Spirit Realm—a Medicine King capable of refining Grade Eight Spiritual Medicine. Moreover, his own spiritual power was a mutation of Thunder Spirit, and many of the medicinal formulas stored in Lingyu City today were formulated by him back then.

Over three thousand years, the ‘Medicine Heart Hall,’ named after that Heavenly Spirit expert, possessed the greatest strength among the six branches of Lingyu City. It was precisely because of this ‘Medicine Heart Hall’ that Lingyu City’s alchemical capabilities ranked among the best on the entire Heavenly Spirit Continent.

However, this Outer City ‘Medicine Heart Hall’ was merely foundational; to gain access to the secret alchemical knowledge of Lingyu City, one still needed to enter the Inner City. In recent days, Nie Kong had heard Long Xuechan mention more than once that the most outstanding young Spiritual Alchemists on the Heavenly Spirit Continent were overwhelmingly located in the Inner City of Lingyu City.

“Inner City…”

Gazing at the massive plaque hanging above the Hall’s entrance, Nie Kong murmured softly. The three fiery red characters of “Medicine Heart Hall” seemed to leap off the plaque, transforming into a sky full of firelight that burned intensely within Nie Kong’s heart, making the very blood in his body feel as if it were boiling.

At this moment, this ‘Medicine Heart Hall,’ situated in the northeast corner of Lingyu City, was utterly silent. Apart from the four guards at the main entrance, not another soul could be seen nearby.

Nie Kong surveyed the area briefly, composed himself, and strode toward the Hall’s interior. The guards glanced at the Jade Token hanging at Nie Kong’s waist and allowed him to cross the threshold…