The Ghost Spirit Valley was eerily silent, save for a few figures entering and exiting. Upon leaving the valley, Nie Kong returned to his residence in Ring Moon City at the foot of the mountain with utmost speed. The sky was still hazy, yet the tranquil city was stirring awake like a giant stretching into vitality.

After washing up, Nie Kong sat cross-legged in the courtyard and pulled two small paper packets from his embrace, both containing the ingredients for refining the "White Snow Pill."

The "White Snow Pill" was the type of Nether Pill Nie Kong had conceptualized the previous day. Before leaving the "Pill King Tower," Zhan Feihong had mentioned naming the new Nether Pill, and Nie Kong had casually offered the words "White Snow." Coincidentally, he had also asked Zhan Feihong for two more sets of the same ingredients.

This courtyard was secluded and elegant, generally untouched by prying eyes, making it perfectly suited for Nie Kong’s alchemy. However, Nie Kong did not start immediately. Instead, he fished out a jade vial from his pocket, pulled the stopper, and poured its contents onto the low table before him.

Immediately, twenty pills of varying sizes rolled out of the vial’s mouth.

Except for two that exhibited a dark crimson hue, the rest of the Nether Pills were black. Their shapes were also vastly dissimilar—some round, some flat—all extremely irregular, and their surfaces quite rough, unlike the smooth, appealing finish of medicinal herbs from the Tianling Continent.

Nether Pill Masters rarely concerned themselves with the external appearance of the pills during refinement, which is why most finished Nether Pills looked like misshapen fruits.

“Xiangxiang…”

Whispering the name softly, Nie Kong casually plucked up a Nether Pill and swallowed it without chewing.

“Ah-ya-ya!”

The little creature, sprawled completely on its back at the bottom of the Spirit Soul Aperture, swung its roots listlessly. Suddenly, the small purple flower bud perked up erect, followed by a cheer from the little one as it bounced up entirely—dozens of green tendrils surged out in a swarm.

Moments later, the little creature dragged back a flat, black Nether Pill.

“Ah-ya-ya!”

Having just absorbed this Nether Pill, the little one was so excited it began "dancing" again, green wisps surging out of the aperture. When the little creature happily retracted its vital medicinal essence, the tangled green threads at their ends swelled into a round clump.

That was the second Nether Pill.

Then came the third, the fourth… the sixth… the ninth… The little one was busy and delighted, its flower bud, stem, and roots seeming to radiate profound joy…

“Heavens, my life is so hard. I’m older than this little fellow, but I don't even get half the treatment it does!” Qing Yue grumbled sourly.

“Whoosh!”

The "Nether Fire Profound Spring" in the Spirit Severing Jade Vial echoed the sentiment. After long periods of interaction and communication, this little water spirit had become quite well-behaved; it never made such splashing noises when others were around. Of course, this assumed it received occasional sweet rewards.

“…”

Nie Kong ignored them, popping the twelfth Nether Pill into his mouth with an air of nonchalance, as if casually munching popcorn. If Zhan Feihong knew the Nether Pills he gifted Nie Kong for tasting were being treated this way, he would likely spit blood from anger.

It must be known that these mid-tier Nether Pills were high-grade medicine, forty to fifty percent pure, and each refinement was not easy. The Nether Pills Zhan Feihong made were basically all contributed to the sect; he kept few for himself, and over many years, he had accumulated only about fifty mid-tier Nether Pills.

Last night, giving Nie Kong twenty at once was an extremely rare act of generosity for Zhan Feihong. If it weren't for Nie Kong's exceptional talent and his desire to let Nie Kong hone his medicinal sense with good medicine, Zhan Feihong would never have parted with them so readily.

Unfortunately, though the Nether Pills had entered Nie Kong’s mouth, it was Xiangxiang who truly benefited.

“…………Sixteen…………Eighteen! Nineteen! Tw… Why save the last one? Why not eat them all?” Qing Yue whined.

“For you.”

Nie Kong pinched the final Nether Pill between his fingers, deliberately teasing her.

“Hmph, I don’t want it,” Qing Yue replied dismissively.

Nie Kong let out a wry smile. This creature disdained anything that couldn't help enhance its soul power or consolidate its physical form.

After consuming nineteen mid-tier Nether Pills, the little creature, which had appeared listless from exhausting a large amount of its vital medicinal essence, was now radiant with energy. At this point, it could likely attempt to refine mid-tier Nether Pills, let alone a low-tier "White Snow Pill," without issue.

“Ah-ya-ya?”

Having fully absorbed the Nether Pills, the little one instinctively sent out its vital essence to forage, but finding nothing, it grew confused.

“Time to get to work.”

Sensing the little creature’s intent, Nie Kong couldn't help but chuckle and scold lightly. He put the remaining Nether Pills back in the vial, “…Medicine Cauldron Phantasm Body!”

“Ah-ya-ya!”

As if understanding Nie Kong’s intention, the little creature grew spirited. Its sweet, crisp cry had barely faded when an exquisitely crafted medicine cauldron materialized out of thin air before Nie Kong. Since the little creature’s promotion to the fifth rank, the cauldron it conjured had significantly increased in size, and the "Purple Luo Illusory Spirit Incense" pattern on its surface was incredibly lifelike—the stems and roots seemed ready to sprout from the cauldron body.

When he was in Spirit Control City, Nie Kong had used ordinary medicine cauldrons more often. It had been a long time since he had employed the "Medicine Cauldron Phantasm Body." Seeing the cauldron hovering before him now brought a wave of familiarity.

“This shape doesn't match the cauldrons of the Netherworld…”

In a moment, Nie Kong’s smile faded, and his brow furrowed slightly. At the fifth rank, the duration of the "Medicine Cauldron Phantasm Body" had increased to three hours, while the recovery time had shortened to four hours. Even refining medicine in broad daylight would be manageable; with slight caution, there would be no risk of the cauldron suddenly vanishing mid-refinement. But this relied on the cauldron’s shape not arousing suspicion.

“Ah-ya-ya…”

Just as Nie Kong’s attention was drawn by the little creature’s call, he felt the cauldron before him tremble. The three cauldron legs rapidly retracted while the body constantly shortened and pulled in…

Before long, the exquisite three-legged cauldron transformed into a simple, plain cylinder. Even the smooth inner wall of the cauldron became uneven. Aside from color, pattern, and size, it was virtually indistinguishable from the cauldron Nie Kong had used in the Pill King Tower.

“This cauldron spirit can change shape?”

Nie Kong was initially stunned, then overwhelmingly delighted.

If the little creature hadn't suddenly demonstrated this, Nie Kong wouldn't have known until who knows when that the shape of the conjured cauldron could be altered at will.

Now that the cauldron had transformed into the most common shape in the "Netherworld," even if someone stumbled upon him refining medicine, it wouldn't cause suspicion. Nie Kong instantly cast aside his worries, quickly opening one of the paper packets, revealing the eight separated ingredients inside.

“Ah…, ya-ya…”

The little creature drew out its tone, sounding quite pleased.

Nie Kong couldn't help but chuckle. Seeing that the sky was significantly brighter, he delayed no longer. With just a thought, the cauldron lid snapped open and shut, and the empty interior of the cauldron instantly gained two qian of "Yan Xi Wang." In the blink of an eye, Nie Kong completed the addition of ingredients, the process taking nearly half the time of his previous refinement—so fast the eye could barely follow. “Crack!”

Nie Kong gently patted the cauldron body, and a wisp of death energy shot from his palm, the "Fire Seed" carrying scorching heat directly into the cauldron’s interior…

About fifteen minutes later.

“Clang!”

Accompanied by a sound like clashing metal, the "Ghost Dragon Flower" swiftly entered the cauldron.

“The last ingredient!”

The moment the lid closed, Nie Kong’s consciousness plunged into the cauldron’s interior. Refining medicine using the "Medicine Cauldron Phantasm Body" made him much more adept; the greatest advantage was that he could clearly grasp every minute change occurring within the cauldron.

Moreover, those changes manifested very intuitively, as if he were witnessing them firsthand.

If he had used other cauldrons, even a Supreme Grade Nether Pill Master or a Pill King couldn't achieve this; they could only judge the refinement process through sounds within the cauldron and their own death energy, never reaching the meticulous level Nie Kong commanded.

Now, the refinement was entering its final stage—the moment to perceive the secret of the Nether Pill rested entirely on this step! If he could discover exactly what transformation occurred at the moment the "White Snow Pill" solidified, he might even figure out why the fusion degree couldn't be higher.

“Boom!”

“Boom!”

“…”

The scorching death energy continuously spread along the cauldron body and then surged inward from all directions, impacting the "Ghost Dragon Flower" and the clump of snow-white medicinal essence within the cauldron. As with the last time, as the medicinal essence of the "Ghost Dragon Flower" continuously integrated, the small, crystal-clear jade-like mass became increasingly bright white.

Time passed quickly. Only a few wisps of black energy were colliding inside the cauldron, meaning the "Ghost Dragon Flower" was about to be fully absorbed.

“The Nether Pill is about to form.”

Nie Kong’s focus was absolute. His palm shifted slightly, and another wave of intense death energy rushed into the cauldron from the surroundings. Under the pressure of the heat, the residual black energy adhered to that snow-white medicinal essence, slowly integrating thread by thread.

Thanks to the tacit cooperation between Nie Kong and the little creature, the situation inside the cauldron—and even within the white medicinal essence itself—was perfectly clear at this moment.

The surface of the medicinal essence was dazzling white and lustrous, its interior like white jade. Even the black energy seeping in like threads couldn't impart the slightest speck of impurity. Instead, as the medicinal essence of the "Ghost Dragon Flower" dissolved, it transformed from a thick, viscous liquid toward a solid state.

“Ah-ya-ya!”

When the last trace of "Ghost Dragon Flower" essence merged with the white mass, the cauldron vibrated slightly, and the little creature’s excited voice echoed in Nie Kong’s mind. At this moment, even Nie Kong’s usually calm heart couldn't help but skip a beat.

The instant the medicinal essences fully fused…

A trace of ink-black energy suddenly emerged within the newly formed "White Snow Pill," rapidly converging toward the center of the Nether Pill. In less than a second, a black mass the size of a soybean appeared in the middle of the previously brilliant white Nether Pill.

And the moment this small black spot appeared, the entire Nether Pill was affected; the perfectly fused medicinal essence seemed to loosen slightly.

“Is this the root cause of the decreased fusion degree?”

A thought sparked in Nie Kong’s mind, and the fire energy in his palm gradually weakened…

PS: Finished up to this point means it’s now set for 6 AM.