124: Chapter 124 The Sacred Pill, the Dragon-Turning-Phoenix Pill—Is it improper, or is it for me?

The Lightning Tribulation dispersed, leaving the sky over Holy Pill City cloudless for ten thousand miles.

The clamor in the square gradually returned. The competition continued, but the area around the seventh group's Alchemy platform was surrounded by layers upon layers of people.

Everyone was watching the spectacle.

The image of a youth in black robes casually crushing a Pill Lightning and dispersing the Heavenly Tribulation with a single word was etched into the minds of everyone present.

Lu Chen didn't want to stay.

He led Ye Qingxian and Nangong Ziyi down from the Alchemy platform and walked toward the edge of the square.

Ji Ziyue naturally followed on his right side, still carrying the grape plate as if nothing had happened.

"Senior!"

Nangong Ziyi jogged a few steps to catch up and blocked Lu Chen's path.

She held a dark blue jade bottle in both hands; silver pill veins flowed across its surface, and the medicinal fragrance was rich.

Her peach-blossom eyes were bright, and her face was practically screaming for credit.

"Senior, look! I refined a top-grade Rank Five Heaven Pill!"

She thrust the jade bottle toward Lu Chen, her chin tilted high.

"Nine pill veins! Just one short of the Rank Six threshold! Out of all one hundred and twenty-seven people in the seventh group, not one was faster than me!"

Lu Chen glanced at it.

It was indeed top-grade. The pill veins were symmetrical, the medicinal power was restrained, and the heat control was precise to the millimeter.

The boost the Heavenly Yin Fire God Physique provided to the Dao of Alchemy was even more ridiculous than he had estimated.

He casually took the jade bottle, uncorked it, and extended his Divine Sense inside.

In the next breath, his brow furrowed.

The pill's medicinal structure was very strange. The outer layer was masculine and blazing fire-attribute spiritual energy, but the core was wrapped in a mass of extremely feminine power. The two forces spiraled alternately, forming a Taiji-like cycle.

He had never seen this kind of medicinal structure before.

"What is this Medicinal Pill called?" Lu Chen asked.

The tips of Nangong Ziyi's ears turned red for a moment, but only for a moment.

She puffed out her chest and spoke in a clear, deliberate voice.

"The dragon-inverting phoenix-overturning pill."

Lu Chen's hand stopped.

"What pill?"

"The Dra-gon—O-ver-turn-ing—Phoe-nix—Re-vers-ing—Pill," Nangong Ziyi repeated, slowing her speech threefold as if afraid he hadn't heard clearly.

Lu Chen heard it clearly, and he deeply regretted hearing it clearly.

Nangong Ziyi tilted her head, her peach-blossom eyes curving as she leaned half a step closer. Her voice was lowered, but the ears of the surrounding Cultivators were sharper than a rabbit's.

"It assists in Dual Cultivation and enhances the blissful experience of the Physical Body."

She paused for a beat.

"It's the best of the best, you know."

The square went silent for a moment.

Then it exploded.

The first to react were the male Cultivators from the seventh group who hadn't left yet. Their eyes widened, and their expressions were a kaleidoscope of shock.

A fat Alchemist nearest to them almost dropped his Pill Furnace on his foot.

His companion poked him in the waist. "Brother, did you hear that? The dragon-inverting phoenix-overturning pill! She refined a dragon-inverting phoenix-overturning pill at the Alchemy Convention!"

The fat Alchemist swallowed hard. "I heard it. Damn it, I know how to refine it too, but I only dare to do it behind closed doors!"

"The Young Miss of the Nangong Clan, in front of the entire Central State, refined that kind of pill..."

Discussions broke out everywhere, and dozens of gazes—jealous, envious, or sour to the point of distortion—all landed on Lu Chen.

He looked down at the pill in his hand, then up at the nonchalant Nangong Ziyi. The muscles at the corner of his mouth twitched three times.

"You're a pure maiden; what on earth are you thinking about all day?"

"The Alchemy Convention! The most solemn event in the Dao of Alchemy in all of Central State! And you refined this?!"

Nangong Ziyi wasn't intimidated at all.

She leaned in another half-step, leaving only a fist's width of space between her and Lu Chen.

Tilting her face up, her peach-blossom eyes were filled with a smile. Her voice was not too loud, but it was just enough for everyone within thirty feet to hear clearly.

"Because it was refined specifically for Senior."

She paused for a breath.

"Senior worked so hard recently—fifty-eight days. Even a body made of iron couldn't handle that. This pill nourishes both Yin and Yang, strengthening the foundation and cultivating the origin. It's for Senior to replenish his health."

Fifty-eight days.

When those words reached the ears of the surrounding male Cultivators, everyone's expression changed.

Jealousy. Pure, unadulterated jealousy.

It was one thing to be handsome, to have Heaven-Defying strength, and to casually crush Pill Lightning.

But now, there was also a peerless beauty refining aphrodisiacs to replenish his health in front of the whole Central State?

What kind of god-like life was this?

Lu Chen's temples throbbed. He barely suppressed the urge to smash the pill into Nangong Ziyi's face.

No, it was a top-grade Rank Five Heaven Pill; it would be a waste to throw it away. Definitely not because he wanted to use it.

He expressionlessly stowed the jade bottle into his storage ring. His movement was so fast that others could barely catch it.

Nangong Ziyi saw it. Her peach-blossom eyes curved into crescents, and the corners of her mouth couldn't be suppressed no matter how hard she tried.

Disdainful in words, but honest with his hands.

Just as Auntie said.

At the edge of the square, Ji Ziyue held the grape plate, her shoulders trembling.

She laughed so hard she shook, the collar of her purple flowing immortal dress quivering with her mirth.

This scene was too good.

A man at the Great Emperor Peak was cornered by a young girl at the Half-step Immortal Foundation stage with an aphrodisiac pill until he was speechless—and he even took it.

Ji Ziyue's phoenix eyes swept toward the high platform.

Yu Yao wasn't laughing.

On the nine-layered judges' platform, the woman in plain white palace robes held a teacup, her expression exceptionally indifferent.

But Ji Ziyue caught a detail: Yu Yao's right index finger was lightly tapping the side of the cup three times.

The rhythm was fast, and the pressure was heavy.

This wasn't the gesture of someone tasting tea; she was deep in thought.

Yu Yao was indeed thinking.

She looked at the youth in black robes below who had taken the aphrodisiac pill despite his words, then at the smug Nangong Ziyi clinging to his side, and finally at Ji Ziyue to her right, whose face was scrunched up from laughing.

She set down the teacup.

This Little Troublemaker.

Back then, he dared to steal Yao Xi's Bellyband and kiss her, his Senior. Now that he had become a Great Emperor, he was even bolder. The women around him appeared one after another, and every one of them was throwing themselves at him.

If she didn't act today, would he dare to drag out the wives of other Great Emperors sleeping in divine coffins to sleep with them tomorrow?

Yu Yao's gaze darkened.

Her disciple, the current Holy Lord of Yaochi, Yao Xi, had been pining for this scoundrel for hundreds of years.

Hundreds of years. She hadn't married or opened her heart to anyone else, just guarding that Bellyband that was stolen and then returned, waiting foolishly.

She had mentioned it to Yao Xi several times: let it go, there are plenty of good men in the world.

Yu Yao saw everything and felt the pain in her heart.

That was why, when Lu Chen sent a divine transmission to greet her, she told him to go look after her disciple first.

But seeing the situation now, where even Nangong Ziyi dared to publicly offer the dragon-inverting phoenix-overturning pill, her silly disciple was still at Yaochi staring blankly at a Bellyband.

If she didn't act now, there wouldn't even be any leftovers.

Yu Yao tapped her fingers on her lap twice.

She made a decision.

Below the platform.

Lu Chen forced himself to pat Nangong Ziyi's head.

"Fine, fine, I've taken your pill. The competition continues. Don't refine this kind of pill next time; refine something proper."

Nangong Ziyi nodded obediently. When she turned to leave, her waist swayed slightly, and the corner of her peach-blossom eyes swept over the group of male Cultivators who were distorted with jealousy.

She was in a very good mood.

Ye Qingxian ran over from the other side, holding the heavenly emperor cauldron in her arms, with a golden pill still suspended above its mouth.

"Revered Master! I refined a Heaven-Mending Origin-Nurturing Pill! It's proper! Totally proper!"

She emphasized the word "proper" heavily, her eyes darting toward Nangong Ziyi.

Lu Chen took it, checked it, and nodded.

"Not bad. A standard top-grade. You didn't embarrass me."

Ye Qingxian crossed her arms and huffed.

"See, Revered Master? Proper people should refine proper pills."

Nangong Ziyi looked back, her peach-blossom eyes narrowing.

"Sister Ye, how old are you? What do you know about what's proper and what's indecent?"

Ye Qingxian's face flushed.

"I may not understand, but I know the name of your pill is indecent!"

"That's just your lack of experience." Nangong Ziyi walked back and leaned down to whisper in Ye Qingxian's ear.

"When you grow up, you'll naturally understand why Senior took it so quickly."

Ye Qingxian's twin tails practically exploded.

Lu Chen pulled the two of them apart.

"Both of you, shut up. When does the final start?"

From the high platform, Qin Cangsong's voice rang out.

"The semifinals are over! The final is scheduled for tomorrow at the Hour of Chen! The topic will be announced on-site!"

"All advancing contestants may rest at the Holy Pill City Post House tonight!"

Lu Chen turned to walk toward the Post House.

Behind him, Yu Yao's transmission once again reached his ears.

Her voice was soft and gentle, but the hair on Lu Chen's back instantly stood on end.

"Little brother, your elder sister has arranged a private banquet tonight."

"If you dare not to show up, then at the judges' table during tomorrow's final, your sister will announce the matter of you stealing a Bellyband back then to the entire Central State."

Lu Chen's footsteps paused for a breath.

"Huh?"

"Are you coming or not?"