535: Open the furnace, Shi Chenghua is anxious!

He looked at his Disciple, whose face was full of anticipation, with a gentle smile, and a hint of apology in his tone:

"Hahaha, this matter was indeed my oversight. Xiao Tong, come here."

A flash of excitement instantly flickered in Yin Xiaotong's eyes. Her previously drooping lips immediately turned upwards, and she skipped happily to Lu Hao's side like a cheerful little rabbit, her voice filled with eagerness and anticipation:

"Master! Are you going to teach me Alchemy?!"

"Mm."

Lu Hao nodded, his gaze falling upon the Pill Furnace in front of him.

"I happen to be refining a batch of Immortal-Grade Medicinal Pills. You can observe up close. While I'm refining, I'll explain the principles and precautions for each step, treating it as an Alchemy class for you."

"Oh yeah! Master, you're so good, I love you so much!!!"

Yin Xiaotong cried out excitedly, and in her agitation, she directly pounced forward and hugged Lu Hao's arm.

But after hugging him for less than two seconds, she realized her action was a bit impolite. Her cheeks instantly flushed crimson, and she quickly let go, sitting properly in front of Lu Hao.

Her beautiful eyes were fixed on the Pill Furnace, afraid of missing any detail.

Lu Hao looked at her, shaking his head helplessly, yet his eyes were full of doting affection.

Yin Xiaotong's lively and straightforward personality had always appealed to him. He naturally wouldn't take her occasional minor impoliteness to heart; instead, he found it quite adorable.

He raised his hand again, a cluster of pale golden flames condensing on his fingertip, and his voice became serious:

"Watch carefully. This is the refinement of Immortal-Grade Medicinal Pills, and there's no room for the slightest carelessness. The first step is to activate the Immortal Flame to temper the medicinal materials. The temperature of the Immortal Flame must be controlled with absolute precision, without any error. It must remove the Impurities from the medicinal materials without damaging their Origin Spiritual Qi..."

The pale golden flame slowly descended into the bottom of the Pill Furnace, instantly igniting a blazing fire. The patterns on the furnace body also lit up, and an incredibly rich Medicinal Pill aroma began to permeate the room.

Yin Xiaotong held her breath, her eyes unblinkingly fixed on the Pill Furnace, while also perking up her ears to listen to Lu Hao's words, afraid of missing a single word of her Master's explanation.

Having finally gotten the chance to see her Master perform Alchemy again, she was naturally incredibly serious... The refinement of Immortal-Grade Medicinal Pills always required immense mental effort and time. Even with Lu Hao's unparalleled Alchemy attainments in the Lower Realm, successfully refining one was by no means a quick process.

Moreover, the Huitian Pill he intended to refine this time was the most difficult to refine among Earth-Grade Immortal-Grade Medicinal Pills.

It not only required multiple rare Heaven And Earth Treasures as main ingredients but also demanded extremely precise control over the heat and the rhythm of Spiritual Qi injection; a slight mistake would lead to complete failure.

According to Lu Hao's estimation, for Medicinal Pills of this Rank, even for a true Immortal-Grade Alchemist, if everything went smoothly, the refining cycle would take about a week, and during that time, there could be no distraction whatsoever.

However, Lu Hao estimated that he would probably be done in about half a day.

Meanwhile, in an extremely secluded courtyard within Wuji Pavilion, half-hidden by vines and weeds...

Shi Chenghua was pacing back and forth with a worried frown, the bluestone slabs beneath his feet emitting faint tapping sounds, his face filled with anxiety and unease.

These past few days, he had almost daily circled the Bamboo Forest where Lu Hao resided, trying to 'accidentally' meet Lu Hao, but each time he went with high hopes and returned disappointed, not even catching a glimpse of Lu Hao's clothes.

"Sigh... Master, Lu Hao has disappeared to who knows where. I've been guarding near the Bamboo Forest every day for the past few days, and I haven't even seen a shadow of him..."

Shi Chenghua complained in a low voice to the air, his tone full of helplessness. He had heard that Lu Hao usually resided within Wuji Pavilion for most of the time, so how could he have seemingly vanished into thin air recently?

As soon as his voice fell, an almost transparent phantom slowly condensed into shape in the center of the room. It was Yang Yuansi's intentionally condensed ethereal body.

He floated in mid-air, his expression still calm, his gaze placidly watching the anxious Shi Chenghua, and slowly spoke, his voice carrying the steady gravitas of years:

"Disciple, one who wishes to achieve great things must first have patience. Rushing for success in everything will only throw you off balance. Once a person becomes anxious, their mind becomes restless, and caution becomes impossible."

"Only by always remaining calm can you stay in the clearest state. Only then can you seize opportunities at critical moments and achieve success!"

Upon hearing this, Shi Chenghua quickly reined in the anxiety in his heart, cupped his fists and bowed to Yang Yuansi's phantom, respectfully saying:

"I will heed Master's teachings! This Disciple understands, I was too impatient. I'll go out for another stroll now; perhaps this time I'll run into Lu Hao."

Yang Yuansi nodded slightly, admonishing him.

"Go, but remember to act cautiously and not expose your intentions."

Shi Chenghua responded, reached out to touch the ancient mirror tucked into his waist, then carefully pushed open the door.

The moment he stepped out of the door, his eyes narrowed. He pinched a barely noticeable speck of dust from his fingertip and gently placed it on the inside of the doorknob.

Immediately after, he quickly formed hand seals, and faint Spiritual Qi fluctuations quietly spread out, setting up an extremely concealed low-Rank Formation around the door.

After completing the Formation, Shi Chenghua did not leave immediately. Instead, he picked a withered yellow leaf from the nearby grass and gently placed it on the activation node of the Formation.

Then, he took out a cotton cloth from his Storage Pouch, squatted down, and meticulously wiped the dust from the ground in front of the Formation until it was spotless, not even leaving the slightest trace.

After doing all this, he finally stood up with satisfaction. With such an arrangement, as long as someone touched the door or approached the Formation, that leaf would fall, and footprints would be left on the ground!

Unless the newcomer had an incredibly profound mind and could keenly detect these subtle arrangements, it would be absolutely impossible to enter the room without a sound.

Then Shi Chenghua walked towards the Bamboo Forest where Lu Hao resided.

That Bamboo Forest was the core area of Wuji Pavilion, and outside it was a faint red line, which marked the Forbidden Ground of the entire Wuji Pavilion!

The Pavilion Master had previously issued a sect rule: no one was allowed to approach that area!

Violators would be dealt with according to sect rules!

Therefore, Shi Chenghua could not approach and could only loiter outside the red line, about ten li away from the Bamboo Forest.

However, he was not worried, because the mirror his Master Yang Yuansi had given him was extremely special. It did not require him to be close to the target; as long as the mirror could reflect Lu Hao's figure, it could detect what Rank Lu Hao's cultivation had reached.

As for other people, even if they were reflected by the mirror, it would not trigger any unusual reactions.

At the same time, the interior of Red Cloud State had already undergone earth-shattering changes.