After slowly finishing the wine in the pot, Qin Yi looked at the sundial in the courtyard and calculated the time again. He turned and returned to the stove. The flames flickered slightly in the wind, so he carefully shielded the fire from the breeze and stayed close, focusing intently on the flames without blinking.
He didn't know how long he had been staring, but the pot on the fire began to sway gently, and a faint light seemed to appear, filling the air with a pleasant aroma. Qin Yi quickly covered the pot, and the flames went out immediately.
Carefully lifting the lid, he found a bright green pill lying quietly inside, with a faint glow that flickered around it.
"Did it work?" he asked.
"It worked," Liu Su's voice replied. "You may seem indifferent, but you can really endure the boredom of alchemy. How can you stay so calm while staring at something that doesn’t move?"
"If you gave me a game, I could stay still even longer."
"…You treat alchemy like some kind of game?"
"Sort of, it’s just like leveling up…"
"Forget it." Liu Su sounded exasperated. "That pill you made before only relieved the symptoms caused by resentment; it wasn't an antidote. This one is a real immortal pill that can cure a hundred poisons—though it’s just the lowest grade of the ninth rank, meant only for common poisons, and it depends on how severe the poisoning is. But you can say you’ve made a basic entry into this."
Qin Yi didn't show much emotion on the surface, but inside, he felt a surge of excitement. Holding the pill in his palm, he could feel a kind of energy flowing within it, as if it contained many mysterious meanings that he couldn't quite grasp.
After more than two months, he finally produced his first "immortal pill" that was no longer a "common product." He had done this without practicing any techniques, without any spiritual power, and without special herbs, fire, or alchemical furnaces. He had purely relied on excellent recipes and control of the fire.
"Now you know I wasn't lying to you," Liu Su said coldly.
Qin Yi picked up a wolf-toothed club from the corner. The club was dark, but under the moonlight, it seemed to show a hint of dark red, like blood left over for thousands of years, looking somewhat sinister. He sighed, "Without cultivation, I can still set up formations and refine pills. You must be teaching me some high-level methods, right?"
"That’s because you’re a good fit for it. You are the most suitable person for cultivation I’ve ever seen," Liu Su praised instead of arguing. "With such comprehension and patience, you are clearer and purer than many who claim to be skilled."
"Stop urging me to cultivate every day. My life is the most important. The thought of seizing someone’s body is terrifying; who would dare to take that risk?"
"You're just too afraid of dying," Liu Su said coldly. "You didn’t dare to eat any of the pills I taught you to make. Don’t think I don’t know what you mean by ‘eating jujube pills.’ What do you want to name this new pill?"
Qin Yi didn’t answer, lost in thought as he looked at the pill. Suddenly, he said, "You want to teach me cultivation so that I can help you rebuild your body in the future, right?"
Liu Su replied irritably, "Yes."
"Then why didn’t you agree to let me send you to find a master? Many seekers of immortality would treasure you. Why do you have to compete with me here? Day after day, wearing me down with the same old stories—does that even make sense?"
Liu Su said coldly, "In the past two or three months, you’ve been wary of me, but haven’t I been observing you? Although you’re afraid of death and suspicious, you have a good heart, while others may not. I’m just a remnant soul without the power to protect myself, and I fear entrusting myself to the wrong person, which could lead to eternal damnation."
Qin Yi laughed, "You, a malicious spirit, are actually afraid of being entrusted to the wrong person?"
"I’m not a spirit… forget it." Liu Su said casually, "It’s precisely because I’m this kind of… spirit that I know what happens when one encounters a similar fate."
"That makes sense."
"Of course it does." Liu Su continued, "I’ve waited in the mountains for thousands of years, so I’m very patient. Since you’re interested in alchemy and formations, one day you’ll be unable to resist cultivating with me… honestly, would you really be willing to throw me away?"
Qin Yi twitched his mouth but didn’t speak.
Liu Su sneered, "Just like the little story you told me, the essence of humanity is indeed very tempting."
"Have I ever told you about another essence of humanity?"
"What is it?"
"A parrot." Qin Yi put on a serious face. "It doesn’t matter if you don’t understand; just know it’s very much like you."
Suddenly, a silver flash shot through the air. Li Qingjun, dressed as a boy, thrust her spear like a dragon, pinning a green python that had suddenly jumped out against the mountain wall. This girl, in boy’s clothing, displayed exceptional martial skills and had clearly reached an advanced level.
A faint poisonous gas wafted out, and she frowned, waving her hand to disperse it.
Li Qinglin seemed very confident in his sister’s strength. Instead of intervening, he carefully observed the situation in the mountains. The clouds and mist swirled around them, but it was light and didn’t affect visibility much. He reached out to grab the mist, but it seemed to avoid him and spread out instead.
"Qingjun, after entering the mountains, do you feel anything uncomfortable?"
"I feel a chill from my scalp to my bones; my skin is a bit tingly…" Li Qingjun hugged her arms and shivered, "It’s like hearing the sound of two guns rubbing together…"
Before she finished speaking, a bone-chilling feeling arose, making her scalp tingle. The two turned to see a wild boar, entirely red, suddenly leap out from behind the rocks, its tusks sharp and about a foot long, with a strong smell of blood wafting from several feet away.
Li Qinglin also raised his spear.
"Roar!" The wild boar charged quickly, kicking up a cloud of dust.
The two quickly dodged to the sides, and the boar skidded to a stop, its hooves digging a hole in the ground.
Li Qingjun was about to strike, but Li Qinglin’s spear tip had already arrived, the dazzling light piercing the boar’s head and going straight through. The boar struggled and roared but didn’t die immediately; its tusks still tried to stab back, moving as if it had a mind of its own.
With a light shout, Li Qingjun leaped gracefully, driving her spear straight into the boar’s mouth. After a moment of struggle, the boar finally fell silent.
In just a few moves, they had killed the fierce beast, but neither felt any sense of pride, as if it were only natural. Looking at the boar's corpse, Li Qinglin suddenly smiled, "The villagers at the foot of the mountain are quite strong. With such fierce beasts in the mountains, they still live happily. Qin Yi lives right at the foot of the mountain; isn’t he afraid of dying?"
Li Qingjun hesitated, "Could it be that there are some skilled cultivators hiding in the mountains, protecting the villagers…"
"There aren’t any." Li Qinglin said firmly, "There are no immortals in this world!"
As if in response to his words, a low wailing sound echoed from the mist all around, filled with resentment that lingered in their hearts, hard to shake off.
Listening to the wailing, Li Qinglin remained unmoved and pondered, "I think this mist isn’t immortal energy; it’s more likely gathered resentment and malice. This wild boar might have been affected by something dirty to become like this…"
His judgment was at least half correct. The mist was indeed resentment, but the boar's mutation had nothing to do with it.
Li Qingjun asked curiously, "Then why is it such a bright red color, looking so ethereal?"
Li Qinglin replied indifferently, "Who said red mist is immortal energy? What color is blood?"
"Uh…"
"So the mist avoids me because I’ve fought on the battlefield, and the killing aura on me might be thicker than this resentment that has been lingering for thousands of years."
Li Qingjun believed her brother and said, "So, perhaps many people died here thousands of years ago?"
"I don’t know; anyway, I think it’s about to dissipate." Li Qinglin took out Qin Yi's pill, shook his head and smiled, "The so-called poisonous miasma in the mountains is actually just the result of resentment. Those low-level alchemists’ pills are actually more effective than proper antidotes… this is the secret behind Qin Yi's pill curing a hundred poisons."
Li Qingjun's eyes widened, "You… you came here for…"
"There may be some spirits and monsters in the world, and some spells to catch ghosts and eliminate demons, but there can’t possibly be any real way to achieve immortality. Otherwise, why would so many emperors be obsessed with it, yet no one has ever achieved it? You and I have made progress in martial arts, and extending our lives is no longer uncommon; we can also deal with monsters and demons. What more do we need from immortals!"
Li Qinglin declared.
"Dong Huazi is just using some low-level tricks to deceive my father into practicing cultivation, disrupting our dynasty. I’ll just bring a low-level alchemist back to expose his tricks."
"So you really came specifically for Qin Yi!" Li Qingjun stomped her foot. "You claimed to accompany me to seek immortals, but it was just to verify the rumors and see if he is the person you want!"
Li Qinglin turned to look at her and repeated, "There are no immortals in this world."
Li Qingjun angrily ran down the mountain, "I’m going to expose that Qin guy’s true colors and see if you’re really going to bring home a fraud just like Dong Huazi!"
Li Qinglin watched her go down the mountain, shook his head and smiled, then looked up at the mist in the mountains and continued walking higher.
He wanted to see the strange tiger that Qin Yi said wouldn’t chase them.
(End of Chapter)