Dan Ding Peak.
The roars of tigers and dragons already echoed between heaven and earth, audible clearly across the entire peak.
"Judging by this phenomenon, Elder Xue's alchemy must have advanced further."
"Could he be refining a fourth-grade treasure pill? That would make him a true Grandmaster Alchemist."
"Even his domain has been unleashed—whatever he's refining must be extraordinary."
Across the peak, disciples and stewards murmured among themselves, all brimming with curiosity.
Fu Tu gazed at the dragon-tiger manifestation above the peak, lost in thought.
"Steward Fu Tu, your Green Serpent Blood Spirit Pill is ready."
A male true disciple in white robes handed over a wooden box.
Fu Tu accepted it and asked, "Do you know what kind of pill Elder Xue is refining today?"
"I don’t know either," the true disciple clicked his tongue helplessly.
"Whenever Master refines pills with Junior Brother Xiaobao, he never lets us observe."
"I see."
Fu Tu nodded and turned toward Rare Beast Peak.
......
At the peak.
Flames surged violently within the cauldron, dancing wildly like the steps of a demon.
Li Mo, draped in the Formless Glazed Veil, had his face flushed red by the firelight. The flames flickering across his body burned even deeper in hue than those within the cauldron.
Though the inner energy he refined was meager compared to the furnace fire, its quality was far superior.
"Elder Xue, I’m fine."
Young Li signaled that he could handle even greater intensity.
Xue Jing narrowed his eyes, observing Li Mo’s slightly reddened skin—just like Tang Xiaobao, who was also unharmed. He exhaled in relief, though his heart was filled with astonishment.
This wasn’t something mere physical resilience could achieve.
Even the blacksmiths from the Divine Arms Peak wouldn’t withstand such scorching heat.
"Then I shall raise the furnace’s temperature further," Xue Jing said gravely.
"Remember—do not stop circulating your energy."
"Understood!"
Xue Jing formed a pill-refining seal.
The dragon and tiger coiled around the cauldron slowly stirred, as if coming to life.
The temperature climbed once more.
"Junior Brother Li."
Tang Xiaobao spoke beside him.
"Hmm?"
"If you really can’t bear the burns later… just lick me a couple of times."
"......"
Li Mo stared at his earnest little face, unsure how to respond.
"No one has ever entered the cauldron with me before," Tang Xiaobao said, visibly moved.
"If your method works, and we cultivate together later, I might finally complete my acupoints. A few licks from you are nothing."
"This… is the bond between us!"
"...Alright, I understand."
Li Mo didn’t know how to refuse.
Strangely enough, he felt inexplicably fired up.
"Let’s begin."
"Mm!"
Tang Xiaobao practiced a pill-refining technique, while Li Mo closed his eyes and focused on his own cultivation.
Fully channeling the Crimson Lotus Blazing Art, his entire body burned like a living flame.
The Golden Crow blood hidden in his kidneys now boiled, adding fuel to the fire.
Though the furnace’s temperature didn’t rise, the flames, infused with his inner energy, grew increasingly profound.
The medicinal ingredients Xue Jing had just tossed in were refined into purer essences.
Seeing that neither was struggling—instead complementing each other perfectly—Xue Jing swallowed a Clear Mind Pill Li Mo had given him and waited for the herbs to fully dissolve.
This was only the first step.
Nearly an hour later…
The "marinating" phase—no, the even dispersion of medicinal energy—was complete.
This time, the golden glow on Tang Xiaobao’s body shone even brighter than before. His sparkling eyes opened in delight.
"Master, Junior Brother Li, the effects this time are amazing!"
"Whew… It was tough, I won’t lie."
Li Mo was fine, but the heat was unbearable—he felt like he was burning alive.
Yet the results spoke for themselves.
Most of the Golden Crow blood hidden in his body had been refined away.
Meanwhile, the lotus in his dantian slowly unfurled another petal.
"I’m proceeding to the next step," Xue Jing announced solemnly.
"Understood!"
Elder Xue had given him ample time to adjust.
Having experienced the earlier refinement, Li Mo now understood how to synchronize his energy with the Dragon-Tiger Cauldron.
"Here we go!"
A bucket of Black Mire Wood Oil was poured in.
For about… ten seconds?
The temperature immediately spiked again.
Li Mo frowned.
"Are you uncomfortable?" Xue Jing asked urgently.
Li Mo: "...Promise me, Elder Xue—next time Ying Bing comes asking for ingredients, you must refuse."
Xue Jing froze.
What nonsense? He’d never given out ingredients before.
Ying Bing had visited once, asking if Black Mire Wood Oil was edible. Who could’ve guessed it’d be used for cooking?
Well, at least Li Mo was fine…
The window of opportunity was fleeting.
Now came fusion—the most critical step in pill refinement!
"Let’s do this!" Tang Xiaobao declared solemnly.
"I’m ready!" Li Mo responded with equal intensity.
BOOM—
The temperature skyrocketed.
At close range, Li Mo caught the scent of pill fragrance—now a hundred times richer, so intoxicating it felt like a whiff could elevate one to immortality.
Tang Xiaobao was enveloped in the purified medicinal energies.
The essences churned and surged, merging into his body alongside the flames infused with Li Mo’s energy.
Under the scorching blaze, he resembled a golden statue—a child forged from pure gold.
To Li Mo’s surprise, the Blazing Art’s flames didn’t harm Tang Xiaobao at all.
Perhaps because…
The Blazing Art’s destructive fury only targeted the wicked?
Still, Li Mo didn’t dare let his guard down. The perception he’d honed under Shang Wu’s training remained sharply focused on every fluctuation of energy.
"Haah…"
At the same time, he maintained the Crimson Lotus Blazing Art with all his might.
Finally…
The moment had come!
Multicolored radiance erupted from Tang Xiaobao’s body, encircled by dragon-tiger golden light.
His small frame began to dissolve—or rather, be drawn into his heart.
Li Mo finally saw it clearly.
This was Tang Xiaobao’s true form.
A golden pill, pulsating with profound Dao rhythms, boundless and majestic beyond measure!
The pill bore seven orifices.
And now, under the infusion of medicinal energies, an eighth orifice slowly began to form.
"Master, it’s not enough!"
The pill trembled slightly, emitting Tang Xiaobao’s anxious voice.
Xue Jing was, after all, not a Grandmaster Alchemist.
He had given his all.
Yet he could only watch helplessly as the faintly opened eighth orifice began to seal once more.
"Leave it to me!"
The flames roared like thunder.
Enter the best chef of Autumn Water Pavilion, the Flaming Pot King of Purple Sun Mansion—Chef Li!
Pushing the Crimson Lotus Blazing Art to its limits at the Initial Maturity stage.
Was this martial arts?
No—this was the culmination of centuries of insight!
The single-petaled lotus in his dantian swayed as he consumed another drop of Golden Crow blood.
SCREW IT, LET IT BURN!
BOOM—
The cauldron’s lid spiraled into the sky once more.
The dragon-tiger apparition above roared with newfound vitality.
"Did… did we succeed?"
Xue Jing slumped to the ground, staring blankly at the cauldron.
But the phenomenon had grown too violent, surpassing even his domain’s control.
"Xiaobao!"
"Li Mo!"
He called out twice.
A few seconds later, a response finally came.
"Master, I’ve become a Mystic Golden Pill!"
Tang Xiaobao’s voice rang out in delight.
This meant he had opened another orifice.
One step closer to the legendary Nine-Orifice Golden Pill.
Yet before Xue Jing could revel in his joy,
Li Mo's puzzled voice chimed in:
"Uh... Elder Xue, I think I’ve also formed an... Xuan Dan?"
"Wait, no..."
"Senior Brother Xiaobao became my Xuan Dan?!"
Xue Jing: "?"
What the hell?
______
grated, and just when he finally managed to get into an elite academy, he discovered that he actually had a system, and the way to earn rewards was extremely ridiculous. So for the sake of rewards, he had no choice but to start acting ridiculous as well. Su Cheng: "It's nothing but system quests after all." But later, what confused Su Cheng was that while he was already quite ridiculous, he never expected those serious characters to gradually become ridiculous too. And the way they looked at him became increasingly strange... (This synopsis doesn't do it justice, please read the full story)
agon king storylines. At the start, I obtained the "Ultimate Lackey System" - the more I act as a lackey, the stronger I become. What else could I do? I chose to become the personal henchman of the ultimate villain, Su Muwan. I provoke all sorts of chosen ones, snatch away their opportunities, and commit every evil deed imaginable. You ask who's behind me? Hmph! You're not worthy of knowing my lady's name! ...... ....... I am Su Muwan, the eldest daughter of the Su family. Since childhood, I've possessed extraordinary talent in martial arts, which led to my arrogant and domineering personality in my past life. I was even foolish enough to repeatedly challenge those favored by heaven, ultimately resulting in a tragic death. In this life, I must behave and absolutely cannot walk the same path again!! However... SLAP!! "So you're the Dragon King, huh?!" When I saw my little lackey swagger over and viciously slap the Dragon King who was hiding his identity, I felt my heart sink. Su Muwan's suspended heart finally died as she watched Qin Luo, her utterly loyal lackey, standing before her. She fainted on the spot from shock. Heaven is determined to destroy me!! (Pure love 1v1, light-hearted, no angst, single female lead, villain, reincarnation, lackey)
ver to a world of cultivation and returned invincible. Modern medicine is child's play compared to elixirs; technological might crumbles before true cultivation. My name is Qin Ning, Earth's sole cultivator!
e bizarre and supernatural had descended. The previous emperor was a thoroughgoing tyrant; no longer satisfied with human women, he had set his sights on a stunningly beautiful supernatural entity. He met his end in his bedchamber, drained of all his vital essence. As the legitimate eldest son and crown prince, Wang Hao was thus hastily enthroned, becoming the young emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty. No sooner had he awakened the "Imperial Sign-In Intelligence System" than he was assassinated by a Son of Destiny—a classic villain's opening. The Great Zhou, ravaged by the former emperor's excesses, was in national decline. The great families within its borders harbored their own treacherous schemes, martial sects began to defy the imperial court's decrees, and border armies, their pay and provisions in arrears, grumbled incessantly against the central government. Fortunately, the central capital was still held secure by the half-million Imperial Guards and fifty thousand Imperial Forest Army who obeyed the court's orders, along with the royal family's hidden reserves of power, barely managing to suppress the realm. As the Great Zhou's finances worsened and supernatural activities grew ever more frequent, the court sat atop a volcano. Ambitious plotters everywhere dreamed of overthrowing the dynasty, and even some reclusive ancient powers emerged, attempting to sway the tides of the world. At the first grand court assembly, the civil and military officials nearly came to blows, fighting tooth and nail over the allocation of fifty million taels of silver from the summer tax revenues. The spectacle opened Wang Hao's eyes—the Great Zhou's bureaucracy was not only corrupt but also martially proficient, a cabinet of all-rounders. Some officials even had the audacity to suggest the emperor release funds from the imperial privy purse to address the emergency. Wang Hao suddenly felt weary. Let it all burn.
