9: Peiyuan Dan

"This Disciple dare not deceive you. In my early years, I once accidentally saved an injured old alchemist. Before he passed away, he gifted me half of a damaged ancient Pill Formula. It is said that its success rate is exceptionally high, but it requires a great number of auxiliary Materials."

"This Disciple has studied it for a long time and feels I might have a fifty percent chance of success."

"If it succeeds... once the Medicinal Pill is formed, I am willing to offer them all to you, Steward. I only ask that in the future, you grant this Disciple a stable meal."

His words were seventy percent false and thirty percent true; he was betting on the psychological state of Steward Han, who had been pushed to the edge of a cliff by despair.

Steward Han's hand froze in mid-air, staring fixedly at Lin Feng: "Fifty percent chance? An ancient Pill Formula? Kid, do you know that the consequences of deceiving me will be worse than death?"

"This Disciple understands. I am willing to swear a blood oath." Lin Feng met his gaze.

Silence. A suffocating silence.

After a long while, Steward Han stomped his foot, a ferocious look of desperation flashing across his face: "Fine! I will believe you this once. But you listen to me clearly."

He grabbed Lin Feng by the collar, "If you fail the Alchemy, I will chop you into pieces and feed you to the dogs."

"If you succeed... from then on, you will be the Assistant Steward here. Spirit Stones and Medicinal Pills will not be lacking for you."

"But if I discover that you have concealed anything or played any tricks..."

"Thank you, Steward, for your generosity. This Disciple will definitely not let you down." Lin Feng lowered his head, hiding the flash of cold light in his eyes.

Steward Han had used almost all his savings and scraped together whatever he could to barely gather the Materials. Several of the main ingredients were so precious that his hands were shaking.

He shoved the Materials heavily into Lin Feng's arms: "Get to the quiet room! If you can't refine it, don't come out!"

The door of the quiet room closed once again.

This time, Lin Feng was completely focused.

He recalled Senior Sister Su's techniques, combined with the Pill Intent stolen by the heaven-stealing vine, and carefully processed the medicinal Materials while controlling the earth fire.

The entire process was extremely dangerous; there were several times he almost lost control of the heat, but in the end, that mysterious Pill Intent perception and the faint guidance of the heaven-stealing vine on the Fusion of medicinal properties played their part.

Several hours later, a crisp humming sound came from the Pill Furnace, and a rich fragrance of the Medicinal Pill permeated the air.

Opening the furnace.

Three peiyuan pills, the size of dragon eyes, round and lustrous, carrying a faint fragrance, lay quietly at the bottom of the furnace.

Success. And three pills in one furnace. Far exceeding expectations.

After the initial ecstasy, Lin Feng quickly calmed down. He looked at the three Medicinal Pills, his eyes flickering.

Without hesitation, he quickly put two of them into his Storage Pouch, leaving only one in the prepared jade bottle.

Then, he messed up his hair and smeared furnace ash on his face.

When Lin Feng held the jade bottle containing only one peiyuan pill, looking pale and walking with unsteady steps out of the quiet room, Steward Han, who had already been waiting in anxious agitation, rushed up like a hungry tiger and snatched the jade bottle away.

Opening the bottle stopper and seeing the genuine peiyuan pill with its intoxicating fragrance, his eyes went straight, and his breathing became heavy.

His hands were trembling violently from excessive tension and anticipation, almost unable to hold the bottle.

"peiyuan pill!"

He knew too well how rare this thing was.

The Pill Formula was firmly held in the hands of Elders and a very small number of inner Sect Core Disciples, and was absolutely never leaked.

The Materials required for refining were all precious and hard to find, not to mention the harsh requirements for the alchemist's flame control, the Fusion of medicinal properties, and the timing of pill coagulation.

Ordinary Outer Sect Disciples simply could not buy it.

Back then, he, Han, had also had incredible luck; he took the blame for an Elder and was only then rewarded with one.

And now, a little Menial Servant at the Second Level of Qi Refining who had just arrived at the Spirit Pill Pavilion not long ago, locked the door for a few hours, and told him... he had refined it?!

Steward Han's throat was dry, and his heart was pounding so hard it felt like it was about to jump out of his throat. He took a deep breath and, with trembling fingers, carefully pulled out the bottle stopper.

Immediately, an incredibly pure and refreshing fragrance of the Medicinal Pill drifted out. Just taking a sniff made his Fourth Level of Qi Refining Bottleneck, which had been stuck for over a decade, faintly loosen.

He poured the Medicinal Pill into his palm; the pill body was warm and contained vast yet gentle medicinal power.

This quality. This fragrance.

This... this was actually a genuine peiyuan pill.

And looking at this quality, it was definitely not an inferior product; it was even a few notches better than the one he had received back then.

"Suc... success! Really... really succeeded!!"

"How is this possible? How could he actually refine it? Could that ancient Pill Formula be real? This kid... what is this kid's background?"

Countless questions exploded in his mind.

Lin Feng revealed a weak and ingratiating smile at the right moment: "I have fulfilled the mission... Steward, about the Assistant Steward..."

The ecstasy on Steward Han's face instantly receded by half; he rolled his eyes and patted Lin Feng on the shoulder:

"Good! Good kid! You certainly didn't disappoint me. The matter of the Assistant Steward is easy to discuss."

"However, your cultivation level is currently too low, and it is hard to convince the others. How about this, you continue working for now, and once I achieve my Breakthrough, I will definitely promote you greatly. From now on, all the Menial Servants here will be under your management. I will also double your Spirit Stones."

With one peiyuan pill in hand, he only wanted to go into seclusion to achieve his Breakthrough immediately; how could he really care about the life or death of a Menial Servant or his promises?

"As I thought." Lin Feng sneered in his heart, but on his face, he showed an appearance of being moved to tears: "Thank you, Steward, for your cultivation. This Disciple will definitely do his utmost."

The two smiled at each other.

After Lin Feng withdrew, Steward Han could not wait to go into seclusion.

As for Lin Feng, he touched the two scorching peiyuan pills in his Storage Pouch, a trace of coldness flashing in his eyes.

Taking advantage of Steward Han's seclusion, Lin Feng decided to return to the herb garden to see how Ye Yuner was doing.

Just as he walked near the herb field, he ran into an acquaintance, Third Brother Wang.

Third Brother Wang was carrying a hoe, sighing and walking with a face full of sorrow.

Seeing Lin Feng, he was stunned for a moment, then, as if seeing a savior, he hurriedly approached and lowered his voice: "Lin... Senior Brother Lin? Why are you back? Over at the Spirit Pill Pavilion... no one is giving you a hard time, right?"

He looked Lin Feng over and saw that although he was thinner, his spirit seemed even better than before, so he breathed a slight sigh of relief.

"I'm fine. Just came back to take a look." Lin Feng nodded, noticing that Third Brother Wang's expression was off, "What's wrong with you? Why are you sighing?"

Third Brother Wang looked left and right, and seeing no one around, he said with a bitter face: "Sigh, it's all because of Senior Sister Ye... Senior Brother Lin, you haven't been here lately, so you don't know the situation. That Chen Qing comes to pester Senior Sister Ye every few days."

Lin Feng's heart tightened, but his face remained calm: "Chen Qing? What is he here for again?"

"What for?" Third Brother Wang sighed, "The things he says are very ugly. Relying on the fact that he is already an Outer Sect Disciple with a cultivation at the Peak of the Qi Refining Fifth Layer, almost at the sixth, he doesn't treat us Menial Servants as people at all. He... he actually told Senior Sister Ye directly to give up on Cultivating and obediently become his 'Dao Companion', and even said... even said that this is the only way for Senior Sister Ye to stay in the Sect."

"The only way to stay in the Sect?" Lin Feng frowned.