That cerulean object was precisely the spiritual medicine Nie Kong had believed turned to dust! In an instant, Nie Kong was struck by an overwhelming wave of joy. He immediately understood: the little fellow must have managed to transfer the spiritual medicine into his Yaochi Acupoint just before the crucible exploded.

With a slight movement of thought, the spiritual medicine rushed out of the Yaochi Acupoint, burrowing through the meridians like a tiny mouse before traveling down his arm to rest in the center of Nie Kong’s right palm.

The cerulean, bright gleam flashed rapidly...

In the blink of an eye, the perfectly round spiritual medicine revealed its complete form.

Having seemingly lost and then regained the painstakingly refined "Jade Leaf Glazed Pill," Nie Kong nearly wept with emotion as that shade of azure imprinted itself upon his vision.

"Xiangxiang, you truly are my little treasure." If the little creature could emerge, Nie Kong would absolutely be hugging and smothering it with kisses right now.

"Aiya ya!" The little fellow shook its three tiny leaves, proudly scratching the side wall of Nie Kong’s Spiritual Soul Aperture.

"Hahaha..."

The gloom in his chest vanished entirely. Nie Kong let out two unrestrained laughs, then suddenly, with a thud, he collapsed onto the ground, utterly still.

"..."

The void rippled, and a green shadow slipped out.

Long Xuechan swept her gaze around, taking in the wretched state of the room, and paused with a slight start. When her eyes landed on Nie Kong, seeing his face blackened and hair a disheveled mess, a radiant smile bloomed across Long Xuechan’s charming face. "The little rascal fainted? Failed the refinement?"

With a sweep of her long sleeves, it was as if a gentle breeze stirred. The broken tables and chairs in the room rose into the air as if by magic, shooting out through the hole in the window lattice and landing in the courtyard outside.

The room became considerably cleaner. Long Xuechan walked over to Nie Kong, bending down as she prepared to lift him, when her delicate nose twitched softly.

"Hmm?"

She let out a soft sound of inquiry, her beautiful eyes flicking toward Nie Kong’s right hand. A faint blue light flickered between the clasped fingers of his tightly balled fist. "What is this..."

After some effort, she managed to pry open Nie Kong’s hand. Gazing at the cerulean spiritual medicine, the size of a little fingernail, Long Xuechan’s face broke into delighted surprise. She drew out the word, "'Jade Leaf Glazed Pill'?"

Instinctively bringing the spiritual medicine close to her nose for a sniff, Long Xuechan murmured softly to herself, "Judging by the fragrance, this is indeed the Jade Leaf Glazed Pill. The little rascal actually succeeded in refining it? Although it isn't in the leaf shape, the medicine is even more condensed, and the integration of its medicinal power is... ninety-six percent... Quite good..."

Having stated this calmly, Long Xuechan suddenly realized her oversight. "Wait, ninety-six percent? The integration level of this 'Jade Leaf Glazed Pill' is actually ninety-six percent?"

Long Xuechan sniffed the fragrance of the "Jade Leaf Glazed Pill" again, slightly disbelieving. An instant later, a flash of unconcealed excitement crossed her eyes. "It is true, ninety-six percent! The integration level of this 'Jade Leaf Glazed Pill' that the little rascal refined for the first time is this high? Even the spiritual medicines refined by the very spirit pharmacist who invented the 'Jade Leaf Glazed Pill' never seemed to exceed ninety percent."

"..."

The void rippled again, subtly, like disturbed water, and a graceful white shadow emerged. This person's appearance and figure were identical to Long Xuechan’s. However, her expression lacked the inherent seductive allure that characterized Long Xuechan, possessing instead a touch of elegance and ease that Long Xuechan did not share.

"Mei Xian, you’ve come too?" Long Xuechan lifted an eyelid, a deep smile playing on her brow. "Come, take a look at this spiritual medicine!"

"Jade Leaf Glazed Pill, ninety-six percent integration, an ultra-premium spiritual medicine!" Long Mei Xian inhaled lightly for a moment. Her eyes shifted only slightly, and her expression immediately became calm again. She handed the medicine back to Long Xuechan. "Indeed! It seems the gift I prepared for him can be given now."

"What gift?" Long Xuechan asked, startled.

"You will know soon enough." Before the words had faded, Long Mei Xian's slender, graceful figure dissolved into the void, vanishing in an instant.

"Hey, why the rush? Making things so mysterious!"

Rolling her eyes at the empty space, Long Xuechan pouted slightly, a delicate complaint on her crimson lips. Then, as her beautiful eyes turned to Nie Kong, she giggled, lifted him onto the bed, and muttered to herself, "To achieve such a high integration level when refining spiritual medicine... If he were refining a poison, I wonder?"

The thought of poison energized Long Xuechan. "Little Brother Nie Kong, you are big sister's assistant; how can you not help sister refine poisons?"

As she spoke the last words, the smile on Long Xuechan’s face bloomed like a furious rose, brimming with seductive charm...

...

Light streamed into the room, and when Nie Kong slowly awoke, the sky was already bright. Taking in his surroundings with a quick glance, Nie Kong started in surprise. He was lying in bed, and the room had been tidied perfectly; even the damaged furniture had all been replaced, making it look brand new.

The Jade Leaf Glazed Pill?

Nie Kong found his palm empty and his heart sank. He quickly looked around. Only when he spotted the cerulean spiritual medicine lying quietly on the tabletop did he breathe a sigh of relief.

After a moment's thought, Nie Kong smiled wryly. He was being overly dramatic. The only person who could enter his room while he was unconscious and clean it up would be Long Xuechan. With her status and cultivation, why would she covet a mere "Jade Leaf Glazed Pill" meant only for a Spirit Channeler to consume?

His thoughts drifting, Nie Kong picked up the medicine and held it in his palm. After concentrating for a long while, he pulled out paper and a brush from a drawer and slowly wrote: Five qian of Ten Thousand Year Spring Sword Leaf, Six qian of White Sheep Grass, Five qian of Fairy Bell Orchid Seeds, One liang and Two qian of Earth Dragon Lotus, Four qian of Qu Silk Thread, Four qian of Wave Blade Flower, One qian of Eight Star Conch...

This was the formula and precise dosage for the Jade Leaf Glazed Pill.

When refining yesterday, Nie Kong had deliberately increased the quantity of the ingredients. Xiangxiang had tasted the powder of the spiritual medicine, and when the medicinal powers integrated, it could automatically discern the amounts, discarding any excess energy. This was what allowed Nie Kong to accurately sense the weights of the various ingredients so easily at the end of the refinement.

This method had obvious advantages, but also obvious drawbacks. Like yesterday, a slight oversight could have resulted in the residual medicinal power in the crucible causing the entire refinement to fail. Fortunately, the little fellow had rescued it in time; otherwise, Nie Kong would have had to expend energy to refine another one.

Nie Kong had originally assumed that refining a Second Grade spiritual medicine would be relatively easy for him, like the "Purple Li Pill." While using a normal crucible for that consumed a great deal of spiritual power, using the crucible conjured by the little fellow required extremely low spiritual energy. However, when refining the "Jade Leaf Glazed Pill," Nie Kong realized he was mistaken.

Although the "Jade Leaf Glazed Pill" only increased a Spirit Channeler’s cultivation by one grade over the "Purple Li Pill," this small difference resulted in a massive disparity in the spiritual power Nie Kong expended.

After recovering the lost spiritual medicine yesterday, Nie Kong had passed out. Although the agitation of his emotions played a part, the main reason was that Nie Kong had completely depleted his spiritual power during the refinement process. His mind was also exhausted to the extreme, leaving his entire body weak, plunging him into a deep sleep.

This was the case even when using the "Crucible Illusory Body" technique; it would certainly be worse with an actual physical crucible. Even though experience might make it slightly easier later, it wouldn't be much easier. Perhaps this kind of spiritual medicine required a Third Grade Spirit Pharmacist to refine it with ease.

Now, Nie Kong’s plan to mass-produce the Jade Leaf Glazed Pill had fallen through.

"Since large-scale refinement is difficult now, refining ten or so pills should still earn a substantial amount of gold coins," Nie Kong smiled slightly. He carefully placed the Jade Leaf Glazed Pills into a jade bottle, stored it in his pet inventory, then got up to wash and eat a hasty breakfast before heading toward the Hall of Medicine Heart.

It was the side hall within the Hall of Medicine Heart. When Nie Kong arrived, fifty figures were already present. Besides the forty-nine disciples sitting cross-legged, the one standing with his hands behind his back was his initiation master, Luo Ren.

Noticing that all the fellow disciples were wearing the standard robes of the Hall of Medicine Heart, Nie Kong felt a touch of surprise, which then cleared into sudden realization. Luo Ren had indeed mentioned this a few days prior, but Nie Kong had been busy testing and refining medicines for the last two days, completely forgetting Luo Ren's words, and hadn't taken the time to collect his robes from the Hall of Medicine Heart.

"Look! Look! Here comes our 'Trial Medicine Maniac'!"

"Is this Nie Kong the one who perfectly tested 159 doses of medicine in the Hall of Apothecaries in a single day? Tsk tsk, how sharp must his medicinal sense be to achieve that!"

"It must be him. Two days ago, he could even drink the 'Nine-Color Chain' prepared by Master Luo Ren without being poisoned. Only he has that kind of nerve to test medicine. I heard that among the two hundred substances he tasted yesterday and the day before, dozens contained toxins."

"I can't believe we have such a formidable individual in this batch of disciples. Two hundred perfect trial results, and one was selected by Master Xin Yun for the 'Pill King Pavilion.' To receive such honor right upon entering the 'Hall of Medicine Heart'—it’s rare in the entire Spirit Domain City in three thousand years."

"Being his colleague, I feel a lot of pressure..."

"..."

Nie Kong's appearance broke the profound silence of the side hall, sparking a flurry of chattering voices.

"Silence!"

Luo Ren frowned and turned around. When he saw Nie Kong, his expression darkened slightly. After hearing about the incidents in the Hall of Apothecaries two days ago, even though he had been promoted from a disciple to an introductory instructor of the "Hall of Medicine Heart," he couldn't help but feel intensely jealous. This fellow had actually achieved the honor of having his name entered into the "Pill King Pavilion"!

Luo Ren's face was sullen. He moved his feet, about to walk toward Nie Kong, but upon noticing Nie Kong's attire, his expression inexplicably relaxed. A cryptic smile curved his lips, and then he turned back, sitting down cross-legged on the single cushion reserved for him in front of the assembly.

Seeing the situation in the hall, Nie Kong knew he was late again. He had been prepared for Luo Ren to cause trouble, but seeing that the instructor refrained from action, Nie Kong was happy to take it easy and sat down cross-legged on the last cushion. He then closed his eyes and began circulating the "Wood Sun True Spirit Art."

The little fellow had been busy separating poisonous herbs all night, and now a considerable mass of Wood Spirit Power elements had accumulated in Nie Kong's "Three Spiritual Soul Apertures."

Once he refined and absorbed this energy, the empty apertures would become full again.

"Dong!"

The bell suddenly struck, deafening and resounding through heaven and earth. The dark clouds above the Spirit Domain City seemed to be scattered by the shockwave, the lingering sound echoing ceaselessly.

Nie Kong’s ears buzzed, forcing him to halt his cultivation. Fortunately, by this time, nearly half of the Wood Spirit Power element had been refined. Although his internal spiritual power wasn't overwhelmingly abundant, it was more than enough to handle general situations, and in the Hall of Medicine Heart, situations requiring the use of spiritual power were rare unless refining spiritual medicines.

"Tap, tap..."

Unhurried footsteps sounded from outside the hall. Everyone turned toward the sound and saw an old man, past fifty, with thin, graying hair and a sparse goatee, standing at the entrance. He was tall and slender, thin as a bamboo pole, seemingly ready to snap in half if a strong wind blew.

"Deputy Hall Master of the Hall of Medicine Heart, Sha Yan?"

Nie Kong’s heart stirred. According to the hint Luo Ren let slip the day before yesterday, starting today, Deputy Hall Master Sha Yan would lecture the new disciples once every seven days. After a year, the main Hall Master would take over the teaching, but the audience wouldn't just be these fifty people in the side hall, but all disciples of the Hall of Medicine Heart.

Without glancing sideways, Sha Yan walked to the very front of the crowd and began observing them. His gaze, sharp as an eagle's talons, passed directly over the forty-nine disciples in front and settled squarely on Nie Kong at the very end.

This was understandable, as Nie Kong was wearing a set of white robes today, standing out starkly among a group of disciples clad in the standard Hall of Medicine Heart uniforms. It was like a square chessboard filled with black pieces, with a single white piece filling a gap in one corner—it was difficult not to attract attention.

Indeed, Sha Yan's thin eyebrows furrowed.

Nie Kong felt a bit dejected. He had been focused on leaving a good impression on these instructors of the "Hall of Medicine Heart" to help his chances of entering the Inner City. According to the rules of the Spirit Domain City, Outer City disciples could only participate in the six halls' assessment for Inner City selection after being enrolled for one year. There were exceptions for a small number of exceptionally performing disciples who were permitted to take the assessment that same year, success depending on their own abilities. Furthermore, disciples who showed outstanding performance in a particular area could be exempted from the assessment and promoted to Inner City Disciples as a special exception—though the number of these was even rarer.

Nie Kong was aiming for these two types of exceptions.

Unfortunately, he had already attracted the notice of the initiation instructor Luo Ren on the day he registered. Judging by the Deputy Hall Master’s expression today, he probably didn't have a good impression of Nie Kong either.

Nie Kong could do nothing about this.

Fortunately, after frowning, Deputy Hall Master Sha Yan simply sat down without speaking or, like Luo Ren had done two days prior, severely scolding Nie Kong.

Nie Kong secretly breathed a sigh of relief and watched Sha Yan with the others. He saw that after sitting down, Sha Yan remained silent. He lightly swept his right hand across the wooden box on the table; it snapped open with a kacha. He then pinched a pinch of medicine from inside, showed it briefly to the crowd, and tossed it into the crucible.

He repeated this process six times, successfully piquing the curiosity of everyone present.

"Is the Deputy Hall Master going to refine a spiritual medicine?"

Not just the surrounding disciples of the Hall of Medicine Heart, but Nie Kong also harbored the same doubt.

Nie Kong recognized all six types of medicine Sha Yan tossed into the crucible; he had tasted them all personally. They were relatively low-grade herbs, some of which could be used to refine First Grade spiritual medicines. However, Nie Kong had never heard of any spiritual medicine that required precisely these six ingredients for refinement.

"Hiss! Hiss!"

A brilliant flash of red light appeared, accompanied by the sound of air igniting, echoing successively in the side hall. Everyone stared intently. They saw fierce flames erupting from both of Sha Yan’s palms, twisting and swaying above and below, left and right, like two dancing fire dragons. Simultaneously, the crucible seemed to be lifted by an invisible hand, hovering above the two clusters of flames.

It was unclear what method Sha Yan employed, but the bases of the two flames began to spread, gradually extending beyond the reach of his palms, burning directly in the empty air. The tips of the flames grew increasingly slender, curving quickly toward each other. In a flash, the tips of the two flames connected.

Heat billowed up. The converged flame flickered larger and smaller, accelerating and slowing down intermittently, and the crucible followed suit, vibrating as it rose and fell...