All the essence blood was meticulously collected by Hu Zhongyuan and the others into dozens of specially made porcelain vials, leaving only the amount they personally required, with the rest immediately transferred to Zong Shou.

Probing with his spiritual sense, the count was indeed accurate.

Zong Shou’s thoughts immediately began to drift again. Since this substance was meant to be used, keeping it a complete secret would be impossible; at most, they could hide its origin.

Upon returning, the great clans within Qiantian City, along with the main body of the Celestial Fox race, would surely come knocking, either begging or seeking to purchase some. His own esteemed father-in-law, he suspected, would not let this pass either.

The amount of Lingyuan essence blood he could personally retain would likely not exceed fifteen thousand drops.

Calculating based on one hundred and fifty drops of essence blood being sufficient to help a peak Xiantian realm expert of ordinary talent advance to the Martial Ancestor realm:

At most, he could only cultivate one hundred to one hundred and twenty Martial Ancestor experts.

This number—it was still insufficient, far from enough—

Since Hu Zhongyuan and the others claimed that the mutated spirit beasts within this Ghost Profound Mountain Mist Valley were nearly wiped out, there truly couldn't be many stragglers left.

And even if he introduced enough spirit beasts into the area later, accumulating more essence blood would still require more than a decade of collection.

As for his own Blood Cloud Cavalry, they might reach three hundred by the end of the year, but any more seemed unlikely.

Zong Shou felt a headache coming on, then frowned and inquired, "Where is Yiren?"

When he arrived earlier, he noticed Xuanyuan Yiren was not present. Could it be that she had learned the news about him cleaving the physical body of the Liyuan Pill with a single sword strike at Julong Mountain and had stormed back in anger?

Hearing this, Hu Zhongyuan’s expression became extremely strange. The few of them hesitated timidly, until finally, Gu He, with a casual gesture, pointed toward the bottom of the cliff: "The Young Madam? She is still in the valley. She was the one who drove us up. His Majesty will know once he goes down. It is truly inconvenient for us to descend."

Zong Shou raised an eyebrow, pondering what that little woman was up to. It was the time of thickest, most poisonous fog—was Xuanyuan Yiren tired of living?

Why didn't these men, Hu Zhongyuan and the others, try to dissuade her?

Hmph, Zong Shou shot Hu Zhongyuan a harsh glare and immediately steered his sword, plunging down toward the base of the cliff.

However, when he descended to about forty zhang, he realized he had misjudged the men above.

The previously smooth stone wall had been carved out into a small grotto.

Xuanyuan Yiren was seated inside, staring with intense concentration at a small alchemy furnace before her.

Perhaps due to the extremely high temperature within the cave and the fact that she cultivated the Profound Moon Wood Radiance Art, she was wearing only her inner garments—a layer of underclothes—leaving vast expanses of snow-white skin exposed to the air.

Zong Shou inwardly shook his head. Given Xuanyuan Yiren’s appearance, it was no wonder Hu Zhongyuan and the others dared not stay nearby to guard her. Nor was it strange that Gu He would say it was inconvenient.

Looking further inside, although a considerable space had been excavated, over a dozen spirit beasts were bound within by winding wooden vines. Some looked listless, some were barely breathing, and others glared fiercely at Xuanyuan Yiren, nearly filling the grotto.

Their ranks varied, but all were above the fourth tier. Fortunately, Chuxue and Ruoshui were nearby, vigilantly monitoring the movements of these beasts. Upon seeing Zong Shou arrive, they visibly relaxed, followed by a burst of joy.

Shi Ruolan was also present, holding a massive, thick book and reading with deep focus. The book’s size was larger than she was, making it truly arresting to behold.

He glanced again at the book in Shi Ruolan’s hands. On its enormous cover, the four gilded characters The Righteousness of the Talisman Dao were written perfectly straight.

Zong Shou was instantly surprised again, casting a sidelong glance at Chuxue: "Didn't I ask you to teach her to read? Can she understand this book?"

Chuxue’s expression was exceptionally awkward, seemingly deeply ashamed. Ruoshui, however, her eyes sparkling, let out a soft chuckle: "Earlier, Xue’er taught her the Introduction to the Talisman Dao, and she memorized it in only twenty days. When it came to this Righteousness of the Talisman Dao, Xue’er could teach no further and had to let her read it herself—"

Zong Shou was secretly astonished. He recalled that in his previous life, Shi Ruolan had gained fame through martial arts; he never heard of her achieving anything in spiritual arts.

Ten days to learn characters, and twenty days to memorize an entire volume of the Introduction to the Talisman Dao? This Ruolan possessed such terrifying comprehension.

Had his earlier forced activation of her 'Snow Lion in the Palm' bloodline caused this?

If so, his plans for cultivating this future famous general would likely need further revision. Zong Shou then shifted his gaze back to Xuanyuan Yiren, who, like Shi Ruolan, was abnormally absorbed, completely ignoring the activity within the cave.

Zong Shou felt a slight curiosity but didn't ask Chuxue or Ruoshui; he simply sat down nearby. While admiring Yiren’s incomparably alluring, slender figure, he waited quietly. That expanse of snow-white skin, largely bare, was truly captivating. Zong Shou felt all his weariness vanish completely in that moment.

Xuanyuan Yiren’s choice to carve out a grotto here was not without reason. A full seven minor earth veins converged at this spot. The abundance of spiritual energy surpassed other parts of the Ghost Profound Mountain by a significant margin.

It benefited both alchemy and cultivation significantly.

It was not until the moon set and the sun rose, in the early morning, that the alchemy furnace suddenly emitted bursts of thunderous noise.

And when Zong Shou opened his eyes, he saw the small furnace enveloped in a layer of rosy, radiant mist. The lid was being buffeted by an extraordinary force, almost blown off.

"Success!"

A hint of joy flashed across Xuanyuan Yiren’s face as she lifted the lid. Immediately, a rich medicinal fragrance permeated the grotto.

The dozen or so spirit beasts inside instantly let out furious roars. Several that were relatively energetic immediately began to struggle, their eyes wide with an intense, yearning gaze fixed upon the furnace.

Even those beasts close to death opened their eyes, a dangerous glint appearing within them.

Xuanyuan Yiren ignored them, carefully extracting dozens of red spiritual pills one by one and placing them into a medicine bottle.

Only then did she notice Zong Shou sitting opposite her, and her expression faltered slightly.

"Zong Shou, you’re back? Why didn't you wake me? Ah—"

After an exclamation of alarm, Xuanyuan Yiren finally realized she was practically naked. She hastily put on her clothes, covering herself completely, then glared at Zong Shou with a puffed-out expression.

Zong Shou inwardly sighed with regret, deliberately ignoring the angry gaze directed at him. He focused curiously on the bottle of spiritual pills beside her.

"What are these pills for? The aroma is quite peculiar; I don't think I’ve seen it before—"

As he said this, Zong Shou already had a faint inkling. Regarding the scent of the medicine, it bore some resemblance to the dense mist within the valley.

Xuanyuan Yiren’s attention was indeed diverted. Holding the medicine bottle, she explained excitedly, "They are Lingyuan Blood Essence Pills. I used the blood of the local spirit beasts as the main ingredient to refine the Lingyuan essence blood, then combined it with over a dozen other medicinal ingredients to synthesize them. Their effect is equivalent to half the potency of pure Lingyuan essence blood. I have been testing these beasts for twenty-three days, and I am almost finished!"

Zong Shou suddenly understood. So these bound spirit beasts were being used as white mice.

The beasts whose cultivation tiers had risen and whose spirits were full were likely the successful experiments, while those collapsed on the ground, barely breathing, clearly showing signs of poisoning, must be the failed cases. He felt even more astonished inwardly.

"Didn't you say earlier that it would take at least a year before you could produce the pills? How did you manage it so quickly? A friend once told me that it was fundamentally impossible to form pills using the Lingyuan blood here. That person was also an Alchemist, capable of refining ninth-tier spiritual pills—"

He recalled that among his friends in his previous life, many were top-tier Alchemists, yet none of them had ever succeeded in refining pills here. They had no choice but to directly consume the Lingyuan essence blood found within the spirit beasts.

"I said a year because I had no Lingyuan essence blood as a reference point then. But I also underestimated the blood of the Lingyuan; it is true that the poisonous mist itself prevents pill formation."

Xuanyuan Yiren shook her head slightly. When discussing alchemy, her expression became exceptionally serious: "If the dense fog contained inherent poison, then naturally, it would be impossible. However, the blood within those spirit beasts has already undergone a layer of purification, and neutralizing the toxicity within that blood makes the process much simpler. How could it be impossible to form pills?"

Zong Shou secretly gasped, wondering if this was the difference between an alchemy genius and an ordinary alchemist.

His friends from the game were perhaps too mediocre.

He then considered that since each of these pills was equivalent to one-fourth of a drop of spirit beast essence blood, it meant that only four to six hundred pills would be required for a peak Xiantian expert to advance to the Martial Ancestor realm.

His eyes narrowed slightly, then flashed with sharp light: "Then, Yiren, how many of these Lingyuan Blood Essence Pills can you refine in a year?"

Xuanyuan Yiren noticed Zong Shou’s unusual intensity now, her delicate eyebrows slightly furrowed, and she shook her head again: "I originally made this pill only to verify my own medicinal theories; I hadn't considered practical application. But Hu Zhongyuan and the others have collected quite a bit of the spirit beasts’ blood for me these past few days. However, if used to refine this pill, the maximum yield would only be one hundred thousand pills. Furthermore, the Lingyuan Blood Essence Pill has a fatal hidden danger: once a person consumes over one hundred of these pills, any subsequent advancement, before the toxicity is resolved, will take ten times longer than it would for an ordinary person!"

Zong Shou froze. Consuming over one hundred pills prevents further advancement? That made sense! Nothing in this world could be absolutely perfect; gaining something always required a price.

He soon dismissed the concern. The number of people whose lifespan was ending while stuck at peak Xiantian and unable to break through was extremely small. This Lingyuan Blood Essence Pill still held immense value and couldn't truly be called flawed—it was far superior to those elixirs that reduced lifespan by forcibly stimulating potential.

It was just that the quantity was still too small.

One hundred thousand Lingyuan Blood Essence Pills could, at most, cultivate another two hundred Blood Cloud Cavalry. This was still significantly short of the six hundred he envisioned.