It's been so many days without being able to speak—I'm dying of boredom...

“Alchemy, huh.” Su Ji answered with an air of obviousness, as if to say, “Are you really asking such a stupid question?”

“If I want to practice alchemy, I need materials, don’t I?”

“Even the best cook can’t make a meal without rice.”

The logic was sound enough.

But the way he was going about it, did he really just need rice?

No, this fool clearly intended to empty the entire granary!

That storehouse had been Elder Yao’s entire hoard over the past few centuries. Some of the herbs were extinct rarities—one plant lost forever!

“No way!” Elder Yao refused without a second thought.

What a joke!

That was his lifeblood!

“Oh?” Su Ji raised an eyebrow, his smile cooling slightly. “Elder Yao doesn’t trust me, then?”

Leaning back in his wheelchair, he drawled, “That’s fair. After all, I’m just an outsider. It’s only natural for you to be cautious.”

“That’s not what I meant!”

“Friend… Daoist Su, you misunderstand!”

“Whatever’s in my storehouse… use it however you like! Use it freely!”

“It’s just… hauling out all the herbs like this… I’m afraid you’ll mix things up!”

Elder Yao forced an excuse.

Upon hearing this, Su Ji’s smile returned, warm and pleasant.

“You worry too much, Elder.”

“I may not be the most talented, but I’m no stranger to herbs.”

“The reason I need you to clear out all the herbs is that refining a true ‘Reverse Elixir of Emptiness’ is incredibly complex. I must adjust auxiliary herbs on the fly based on the elixir furnace’s changing properties.”

“Some herbs may seem irrelevant, but they can be crucial for neutralizing or catalyzing at key moments.”

“I need to have every possibility covered, just in case.”

Su Ji spoke with earnest sincerity. “Rest assured, I’m not the type to waste your generosity. Anything left unused will be returned exactly as it was.”

Elder Yao listened to this array of impressive-sounding jargon, and though it still stung, his doubts began to fade.

After all, this man was a “master” who had seen through his alchemical flaws at a single glance.

Seat-of-your-pants refining techniques didn’t sound so hard to believe, either.

“Fine… fine!”

Gritting his teeth as if he were slicing off a piece of his own flesh, Elder Yao pulled a dusty storage ring from his robes and reluctantly handed it over.

“It’s all in there…”

“Use it sparingly…”

Su Ji took the ring and swept his spiritual sense through it.

Holy hell!

He nearly gasped.

The space inside was modest, but filled to the brim with piles of herbs—grotesque roots, blossoms of every shape, strange ores… a dazzling assortment.

This old man had quite the stash!

Without changing his expression, Su Ji pocketed the ring.

“Alright.”

He waved a hand at Elder Yao, still nursing his wounded heart, and the few disciples craning their necks to eavesdrop.

“Leave this place.”

“Don’t disturb me for the next half a month.”

The crowd, though curious, understood that alchemy was a serious business. They didn’t dare disobey and filed out.

Only Elder Yao remained, his face still full of unspoken questions.

“Is there something else?” Su Ji asked.

“Well…” Elder Yao rubbed his hands, a sycophantic smile on his lips, but his eyes hid a barely contained suspicion.

“Friend… it’s not that I don’t trust you.”

“But…”

He pointed at Su Ji’s utterly empty dantian, his tone cautious. “Your cultivation is gone. Your spiritual meridians are shattered…”

“How… how are you going to perform alchemy?”

“Better let me stay and handle the fire for you.”

“If you say three parts of fire, I’ll make sure it doesn’t reach four.”

This was the crux of the matter.

Alchemy required using one’s own spiritual energy to guide the elixir flame.

How could a man who couldn’t even stir up any spiritual energy possibly refine pills?

Su Ji smiled.

He knew this old fossil would ask.

Instead of answering directly, he tilted his head to glance at the little “dumpling” perched on his shoulder.

“I happen to be a fire-attribute spiritual root sorcerer. Though my golden core is destroyed, distinguishing fire levels isn’t hard,” Su Ji said nonchalantly.

“Plus…”

“This beast of mine can help, too.”

He let the words hang.

Let the old man’s imagination fill in the rest.

And indeed.

Elder Yao followed his gaze to that innocent-looking little fox. At first, he was baffled.

Then, as if struck by lightning, his pupils shrank!

A beast aiding in alchemy?!

He’d read something like that in an extremely ancient, fragmentary text.

Some beasts with rare bloodlines could breathe true flame—fire so refined it surpassed even a cultivator’s alchemical flame!

If one could partner with such a beast, then using its innate fire, a pill refiner could concoct incredible elixirs unreachable by ordinary means!

Could it be…?

Elder Yao stared at the palm-sized fox.

In his head, a full tale assembled itself.

No wonder Ting Yunyao had said he valued that fox so much!

This was his true trump card!

This must be a cultivator who had achieved transcendence through alchemy…

Even if Su Ji’s cultivation was inferior to his own, in the path of alchemy, he was leagues ahead…

A gasp escaped Elder Yao. When he looked at Su Ji again, his expression had completely shifted.

From suspicion to reverence!

“I understand!”

Elder Yao bowed repeatedly, an enlightenment blooming on his face.

“Forgive my shallow understanding!”

“Rest assured, Friend Daoist! I’ll leave right now!”

As he spoke, Elder Yao hurriedly retreated.

At the cave entrance, he turned back to offer Su Ji a solemn bow.

Then, with a wave of his hand—

“Boom!”

A boulder the size of a small mountain slammed down, sealing the entrance completely. At the same time, the illumination array inside the cave flared to life.

Satisfied, Elder Yao clapped his hands and barked at the dumbstruck disciples behind him: “Listen up, all of you!”

“From today onward, this place is forbidden!”

“If anyone so much as approaches and disturbs Daoist Su’s alchemy…”

Elder Yao’s eyes glinted with menace.

“I’ll personally flay you alive!”

…

Inside the cavern.

With the snow and wind finally cut off by the giant rock, silence fell at last.

Su Ji let out a long, pent-up sigh.

Acting was no easy gig.

“All those days without talking… I was going crazy…”

And then—

The “dumpling” stirred, hopping off Su Ji’s shoulder.

In a shimmer of light, the tiny fox began to stretch and change.

Several breaths later—

A graceful young woman with delicately painted features stood before Su Ji.

It was Su Jiu.

She was about to say something else when she noticed Su Ji’s stare fixed straight ahead.

Curious, she followed his gaze.

The bandages that had been able to wrap a little fox into a cocoon felt somewhat inadequate after its transformation.

Su Ji nodded in agreement. "It was really suffocating me, too."