Celestial Refining Divine Scripture

Failure?

Xu Yang let out a cold, mocking laugh, and suddenly unleashed his Divine Cauldron, circulating the Celestial Refining Divine Scripture.

Boom!

A vast surge of Immortal Spirit Qi poured in.

Xu Yang abandoned the Six Heavenly Skills entirely, forcefully channeling a torrent of Immortal Spirit Qi into the Divine Cauldron.

Buzz!

The embryonic pill greedily absorbed it in an instant.

But something seemed missing still, as the turbulent cracks persisted.

"Lock!"

Xu Yang thundered in his heart.

The Heaven Locking intent spread out from within the cauldron, tightly shrouding the pill embryo.

Bam!

"The pill exploded."

"We’re finished."

"Damn it, does this kid even know how to make pills?"

The few people jumped in fright, their faces ugly as sin.

"Who said the pill exploded?"

Xu Yang raised an eyebrow, looking at them with icy indifference.

He suddenly curved his palm and struck with a slap.

Swish swish swish!!

Three Immortal Gang Elixirs shot out of the Divine Cauldron, vivid and life-like, flawless as jade, radiating immortal light and a faint medicinal fragrance.

The crowd stood petrified, as if they’d seen a ghost.

As for alchemy, they were utterly ignorant.

But just now, it had clearly shown signs of pill failure—how was it, in the blink of an eye, a success?

"Th-this, it really worked?"

"Seems it’s not a hallucination, hiss!"

"Looks like genuine Immortal Gang Elixir."

"Quick, let me look."

The white-haired elder couldn’t hold back, snatching up the three pills, feeling them for a moment, his eyes aglow: "Indeed, it’s Immortal Gang Elixir. Its potency even surpasses the ones we’ve purchased before by a margin."

Gulp!

Bai Zhou and another young man swallowed unconsciously, staring with excited, glowing eyes.

In Baimu Village, pills were rare treasures.

Xu Yang gazed at the crowd, secretly letting out a breath of relief inside.

Luckily, he possessed some mastery over the Alchemy Dao.

If not, he really would have failed on the spot.

"Once I get free of this predicament, I must find a proper alchemy method from the Immortal Domain."

Spirit Realm methods were useless here anymore.

"Senior, how do you feel?"

"Wonderful, very good."

The white-haired elder was full of praise, his gaze toward Xu Yang turning especially genial all at once.

Xu Yang smiled lightly, saying, "May I ask how many sets of medicinal ingredients senior has prepared?"

"Four more sets!"

Good heavens!

Xu Yang was startled within.

"In that case, let’s refine them all."

"However, five sets in total—if all succeed, I must request one pill from each as payment," Xu Yang said with a smile.

"That’s impossible!"

The young man beside Bai Zhou blurted out reflexively.

Immortal Gang Elixir was perfect for first-class Immortal Soldiers to cultivate with, greatly condensing Immortal Yuan.

One set yields three pills—to lose one was like bleeding out, unbearable for him.

Xu Yang glanced at the youth in silence.

Bai Zhou looked as if he wanted to speak, but dared not; in his mind, it was only right for Xu Yang to take one pill.

"Ahem."

The white-haired elder coughed dryly, shooting the youth a glare, then chuckled, "My son has no manners, young friend, pay him no mind."

"I am Bai Hua, head of Baimu Village; my son is Bai Yu, and this is Bai Yaoming."

"Since you refine our pills, some benefit is naturally deserved. But one pill per set is too much; one out of every three sets, and for today’s five sets, if all succeed, I’ll grant you two pills."

With that, Bai Hua narrowed his eyes, gazing intently at Xu Yang.

Xu Yang’s heart trembled, feeling a hint of threat.

Meeting Bai Hua’s eyes for a few breaths, Xu Yang suddenly laughed, "Many thanks, senior."

"Hahaha."

Bai Hua burst into laughter at once.

Behind him, Bai Yu’s expression finally improved somewhat.

Though his face still appeared displeased.

He clearly begrudged giving Xu Yang even a single pill.

Xu Yang sighed inwardly.

This is what it means to be under someone’s roof.

Otherwise, would an alchemist ever be so downtrodden?

At this point, he was certain—these two old foxes must have learned his background and predicament from Lu Chuan.

Set him free?

There’s not a chance!

They’re just treating him as a tool, keeping him under their thumb.

Suppressing distracting thoughts, Xu Yang understood—without strength, all schemes are futile.

He took a brief rest, then resumed his alchemy.

More than an hour passed.

All five sets of ingredients succeeded.

Fifteen Immortal Gang Elixirs, with little loss for Xu Yang.

Still, he feigned extreme exhaustion.

"Amazing!"

Bai Hua exclaimed, "Young friend, rest first. Baimu Village doesn’t have much immortal medicine. Gathering enough ingredients takes time, so you won’t be worked so hard normally."

"We’ll rely on you in the future, and we’ll never make you contribute for free."

Xu Yang nodded with a smiling face, secretly sneering inside.

This old fox only speaks honeyed words.

Five sets of ingredients, but only two pills as pay—this was the height of alchemist exploitation.

Clearly, they were sure he wouldn’t dare resist.

Watching them leave, Xu Yang shook his head, rubbing his two Immortal Gang Elixirs, and swallowed them in one gulp.

Outside the courtyard.

Bai Yu muttered, "Father, that guy is a prisoner; why grant him anything? The improvement from one Immortal Gang Elixir far exceeds the several immortal herbs we usually consume. Giving it to him is pure waste."

Bai Hua snapped, "You fool. He’s a prisoner, yes, but do you take him for an idiot? What if he refuses to refine pills? If we tear up all pretense, who knows what he’ll do? Can’t you think for the long term?"

"The long term..." Bai Yu’s face finally softened a touch.

"What does it matter what we give him? With pills, your cultivation speed increases far more than just a bit. This time, there’s hope to pass the Black Fire Immortal Mountain’s test."

"Keep him content, and us old fellows need to find more medicinal ingredients."

...

"The village chief’s son—that fellow is stronger than Bai Zhou. Among the young men of Baimu Village, he’s definitely at the top."

"But if it really came to blows... he’s no match for me!"

Finishing his cultivation, Xu Yang squinted and reflected on the previous group.

He was at least confident in that assessment.

"Resources!"

"In the current predicament, it’s nigh impossible to obtain sizable resources."

Thinking this, Xu Yang grew troubled inside.

A mere two Immortal Gang Elixirs—no different than a cup of water to a burning cart.

The improvement was real, but tiny.

The Heaven Refining Divine Scripture Immortal Dao Chapter’s foundation was too powerful.

"Step by step then."

Xu Yang put aside all distracted thoughts, circulating the Celestial Refining Divine Scripture to cultivate.

So long as time permits, with the Immortal Domain’s abundant Immortal Spirit Qi, he could keep improving.

All this Immortal Spirit Qi was refined into Purest Essence Qi; as long as he kept it subtle, truth be told, in cultivation speed, none with pills in Baimu Village could outpace him.

Bang bang!

Suddenly, a knock at the door.

"Come in."

A young maiden pushed the door open.

She looked about sixteen or seventeen, with skin creamy and flawless, features delicate as jade, and an aura of pure innocence.

A first-class Immortal Soldier!

Her aura was not far from Bai Zhou’s.

Xu Yang eyed the girl suspiciously. "Miss, who are you?"

"I’m Bai Jie, from this village."

"My father is one of the village’s six True Immortals as well."

Bai Jie smiled gently, briskly walking closer, sizing up Xu Yang, "I heard Mr. Xu is an alchemist."

"And so?"

A growing suspicion flickered in Xu Yang’s eyes.

Bai Jie glanced outside, then said mockingly, "Mr. Xu’s treasures must have been confiscated by Mr. Lu, no?"

Xu Yang’s heart quivered, but his face remained impassive, "Why do you say that?"

"When Mr. Lu brought you back, many people saw. At the time, Mr. Lu was holding a saber."

"For Mr. Lu to covet it, it can’t be any ordinary item."

"I suspect Mr. Lu spared your life either because you’re an alchemist, or you have more secrets yet to uncover!"

"But neither Baimu Village nor Mr. Lu will ever let you go, Mr. Xu."

"Then what is your suggestion, Miss?" Xu Yang asked, his gaze fixed intently on Bai Jie.