As Nie Kong stepped out of the illusory formation at the center of the tenth floor of the Medicine Tower an hour later, his spirit was vigorous, and the previous fatigue was gone from his brow. Tai Yan, whose waist was being held, had cheeks flushed crimson, a face like peach blossoms, and a languid demeanor, her voluptuous and fiery body leaning almost entirely against Nie Kong.

"Finished?"

Mu Wanqing sat cross-legged outside the illusory formation, a mocking smile playing on her lips. Her thoughts were quite peculiar; Nie Kong cultivated the power of the natural origin, while Tai Yan possessed the power of the dark origin. In this world, the only two who could recover their strength in such an intimate manner were likely them.

Hulu squatted beside Mu Wanqing, pouting, clearly sulking because Mu Wanqing hadn't let him stay inside to watch Nie Kong and Tai Yan spar.

"Done!"

Seeing Mu Wanqing's strange smile, Nie Kong let out a hearty laugh, then brazenly sat down opposite her. Tai Yan remained nestled close to Nie Kong, her watery, pure eyes appearing somewhat hazy, as if she was still immersed in the intense pleasure of moments before and hadn't fully recovered.

Setting down the medicine cauldron he was holding with his left palm, Nie Kong chuckled, "Aunt Wan, come take a look at this ninth-grade spirit medicine:"

"Aunt Wan has been waiting for you to say that."

When Mu Wanqing came out, she had only brought the prescription slip, not the medicine cauldron Nie Kong had used for refining. After that, she assumed Nie Kong and Tai Yan's battle had already begun and felt too awkward to go back inside. Thus, throughout the past hour, she had been fidgeting anxiously, like sitting on pins and needles.

"Clang!"

Mu Wanqing impatiently flipped open the cauldron lid.

By this time, the residual heat inside the cauldron had long vanished. A fiery-red spirit medicine lay quietly at the bottom, its brilliance restrained. The entire medicine possessed the shape of a proudly blooming lotus, exceptionally beautiful. Moreover, each petal seemed to contain immense power, as if ready to erupt at any moment.

The sudden sight of such a thing made even Mu Wanqing inwardly startled.

This was a ninth-grade spirit medicine!

There were many rumors on the Tianling Continent that a certain Medicine King in a past year had successfully refined a ninth-grade spirit medicine... However, without confirming prescriptions or surviving physical artifacts, high-grade spirit masters had always treated it as a beautiful aspiration, always leaning toward believing it rather than disbelieving it.

But now, a ninth-grade spirit medicine had truly appeared before their eyes!

Upon seeing that fiery-red medicine, even Mu Wanqing couldn't help but feel a surge of excitement, a faint blush rising on her face. She then reached into the cauldron, retrieved the spirit medicine, brought it close to her nose, and took a deep breath. She then squinted, savoring it carefully, and only opened her eyes wide after a long moment.

"Its fusion rate is seventy-six percent?" Mu Wanqing sounded slightly uncertain.

"To be precise, it should be seventy-five percent, still a little short of seventy-six." Nie Kong shook his head, clearly unsatisfied.

"That's... Ouch!"

Hulu pursed his small mouth with a look of disdain, but as soon as he spoke, he received a sharp rap on the forehead. Mu Wanqing scolded him impatiently, "Seventy-five percent is low? This is a ninth-grade spirit medicine! Why don't you refine one for Aunt Wan to see?" As she spoke, she defiantly flicked her fingers.

"I was just saying," Hulu mumbled, shrinking his head back, looking wronged.

"The fusion rate of this spirit medicine is indeed a bit low." Seeing this, Nie Kong couldn't help but laugh. He reached out, took the prescription slip from Mu Wanqing's hand, then pulled out his specially made pencil... He began modifying the paper while pondering. Several minutes later, Nie Kong straightened up.

Mu Wanqing suspiciously picked up the revised prescription and murmured, "Added one qian of 'Fuhuo Dixi Lian'... Reduced two qian each of 'Ganshi Pucao' and 'Bing Fensi Dai'... The entry order for 'Baishé Tiexian' was moved to the back... And 'Hongmiao Ruyizi' was moved to the front..."

Mu Wanqing grew increasingly astonished the more she read. She had watched Nie Kong develop this ninth-grade prescription. After Nie Kong finalized the formula, he had given it to her to deduce for several days, and she hadn't found a single flaw. Yet, after just one attempt at refining, Nie Kong had identified so many deficiencies! After a long while, Mu Wanqing finally asked, "Will it work like this?"

Nie Kong said confidently, "Refining with this new prescription will make the entire process significantly smoother, and there absolutely won't be any drug power explosion during the final stage of formulation. If I were to re-refine it, the fusion rate for the second ninth-grade spirit medicine should definitely reach above ninety-five percent."

"Ninety-five percent?"

Although Nie Kong had once refined the 'Dongxu Jindan' with a ten-tenths fusion rate, Mu Wanqing was still slightly surprised by his claim. "It seems the foremost spirit medicine on the Tianling Continent won't be the 'Dongxu Jindan' anymore, but this ninth-grade spirit medicine you created. By the way, what name have you given this spirit medicine?"

"A name..."

Nie Kong paused for a moment, then smiled, "How about we call it 'Ruyi Huolian'?" This name didn't carry any particularly profound meaning; Nie Kong had simply taken two characters each from the names of the 'Fuhuo Dixi Lian' and 'Hongmiao Ruyizi' that were added last, corresponding to the spirit medicine's shape.

"Ruyi Huolian?" Mu Wanqing nodded slightly. "What are you planning to do with it?"

"Sell it!" A strange smile spread across Nie Kong's face.

"Sell it?" Hearing those two words, not only Mu Wanqing was stunned, but even Tai Yan and Hulu, whose eyes had just cleared, looked up at Nie Kong in surprise.

"Sell what?"

A voice suddenly echoed from the stairwell entrance as Mu Zhonglou walked up, his face full of smiles, carrying a stack of book volumes nearly two feet thick.

Mu Wanqing and the others had to temporarily suppress the doubts in their hearts and turn to look. Nie Kong also smiled, "Grand Ancestor, why are you here?"

"Nie Kong, this is the first draft of the Compendium of Materia Medica. A few of us old folks have finished it and brought it over for you to look at." Mu Zhonglou quickly approached Nie Kong and cheerfully placed the stack of books on the floor, but his gaze was instantly captivated by the fiery-red spirit medicine in Mu Wanqing's hand.

"Th-this is..."

Mu Zhonglou's pupils contracted, and he stared in utter astonishment as he gently took the spirit medicine from Mu Wanqing's palm... "Such potent medicinal power!" Having been involved in medicine refining for over a hundred years, he had never seen such a spirit medicine. Other spirit medicines contained their power inwardly, but this one projected its power outward, making it exceptionally clear to feel. Mu Wanqing seemed to see her own earlier reaction in his expression and couldn't help but sigh, "Brother Zhonglou, this is the ninth-grade spirit medicine, 'Ruyi Huolian,' that Nie Kong successfully refined an hour ago!"

Mu Zhonglou nodded subconsciously, "So it's called 'Ruyi Huolian'..." As soon as the words left his mouth, Mu Zhonglou's eyes snapped wide open, and he cried out, "A ninth-grade spirit medicine... You said this is a ninth-grade spirit medicine?" Mu Zhonglou stared intensely at Mu Wanqing, disbelief etched across his face.

"Exactly," Mu Wanqing replied with a smile.

"It truly is a ninth-grade spirit medicine... I never expected to see a ninth-grade spirit medicine in my lifetime... Is this what you've been secretly working on these past few months? Nie Kong, would you gift this medicine to me for collection? It only has a seventy-percent fusion rate anyway; you probably wouldn't even care for it yourself."

"Brother Zhonglou, even if it were to be gifted, it should be gifted to me first for collection... However, neither of us has a chance; it's going to be sold very soon."

"Sold? Who is selling it?"

A roar from Mu Zhonglou suddenly echoed throughout the ninth floor of the Medicine Tower...