Chapter 248 - 189: Tenderness After the Beating (Long - ) (3)

Moreover, the taste of this pill...

She didn’t know what she was thinking, she stared blankly at Li An, for a moment not knowing what to say.

"As expected of the Demon Sect Princess,"

Li An clapped his hands and laughed, "Such courage, such spirit, I truly admire—"

"With such bravery, it’s a real pity to die, please return to my Spirit Platform Prison, and continue to be imprisoned—"

As he spoke, he secretly prepared to take action.

The Divine Bird glanced slightly, the array ready to be activated at any time.

Although he had precisely controlled the pill given to Shangguan Xiaoxiao, it wouldn’t restore her too much strength, just enough to maintain it, but he was really afraid she might make a move.

Shangguan Xiaoxiao recovered in an instant, seemingly seeing through his small actions, and a touch of sarcasm flashed in her watery eyes beneath her long lashes, "If I wanted to act, could you really kill me?"

With that, she turned into a beam of light and flew into Li An’s Spirit Platform.

At the moment the Spirit Platform closed, Li An heard her last words:

"The candies you refine are too difficult to eat, don’t waste herbs in the future—"

Li An finally relaxed, a slight smile emerging.

He had refined this batch of pills specifically to supplement Shangguan Xiaoxiao’s Primordial Spirit, for which he used some Life Seed aura.

—After all, he couldn’t possibly use that Fourth Grade Soul Forging Flower to nourish Shangguan Xiaoxiao’s soul.

First, the Fourth Grade Soul Forging Flower’s medicinal properties are too strong, unable to estimate what level it might restore Shangguan Xiaoxiao to, and if it exceeded what Li An could control, he would be in danger.

Second, the Fourth Grade Soul Forging Flower was Li An’s opportunity to break through to Nascent Soul in the future, how could he give it to someone else?

Of course, he also disguised and altered the Life Seed aura so that the other party couldn’t see through it.

Additionally, he gathered some spirit herbs like sweet beets and cane leaves from the surrounding mountains, aiming to extract some sweetness to make the pill sweet.

He remembered she mentioned enjoying turning pills into candies when she was small... it could be considered a small gift from Li An, after all, giving Shangguan Xiaoxiao a bit of a beating to ease their relationship was still important.

Shangguan Xiaoxiao was still useful to him.

Afterwards, Li An continued to obsessively refine pills—

...

"What, despair?"

In Lady Shee’s cave residence, listening to her sister’s description, Lady Shee was full of confusion.

"Yes, in the depths of his subconscious, it’s all scenes of despair..."

Shee Anqi’s expression was slightly complex, "Sister, I think he’s been through some significant change, leaving him heartbroken, which is why his subconscious is always in chaos, and he is immersed in sorrow..."

Lady Shee pondered, she understood her sister’s abilities, if her sister said Lin An’s inner heart was full of despair, it should not be wrong...

But she still asked, "And his bird? Did you get any feathers?"

Shee Anqi: "I forgot..."

The main reason was that she later got addicted to entering Li An’s dream realm every day...

"Sister, I’ll find a chance to get close to him next time... I must find out!" determination filled her eyes.

...

In the blink of an eye, half a year passed.

On this day, within Spiritual Evil Peak.

Li An, sweating profusely, intently stared at the alchemy furnace before him.

He gently opened the lid...

A fragrant aroma spread instantly, revealing three pills inside the pill furnace...

Third Grade Purifying Evil Pills.

Three pills formed, among them two normal pills, and one secondary pill!

Finally, today, Li An had truly become a Third Grade Alchemist!

"Thank you."

He said.

To be able to advance so quickly was largely thanks to Shangguan Xiaoxiao’s guidance.

After the last incident, she seemed even more attentive and patient in guiding Li An.

Of course, Li An also made another batch of "candies" for her in the meantime, with added sweetness.

Then, Li An stood and left, heading towards Celestial Evil City.

He did not enter the city immediately but lingered outside the city for a while, studying the surrounding terrain, constantly conducting simulations.

Because, after becoming a Third Grade Alchemist, the bait he laid should soon allow him to reel it in.

His target had always been that Rank Four Talisman Master under Mountain Master Jie.

The other party would definitely seek out Li An, asking for his help in alchemy.

But for assurance, the other party would definitely request an in-person refinement to prevent Li An from tampering.

It then required consideration of where to refine?

Li An’s cave residence? The other party would absolutely not agree, and Li An wouldn’t go to the other’s territory either.

It could only be in a place unfamiliar to both, and this place should have an Earth Vein, as Earth Veins could somewhat improve pill formation rates.

Though Celestial Evil City inside didn’t lack Earth Veins, the information could easily leak, being controlled by others. Moreover, it would be inconvenient for Li An to set things up.

"Outside Celestial Evil City, there are three places with Earth Veins... Lanyue Valley, Tongling Lake, and Broken Dragon Mountain, not belonging to any Mountain Master as they are far from their territories, and due to excessive Evil Qi, ordinarily no one visits."

"When the time comes, blocking the Evil Qi with a Soul-Blocking Array will allow temporary use, it should suffice for alchemy... though the Soul-Blocking Array costs are high, to safely obtain the Purifying Soul Pill, the other party should accept this plan!"

Li An had a goal.

Immediately, he first rushed to these three places, getting familiar with the terrain, and then set up arrays in all three places!

After all, when it came time to bargain, who knew which site the other party would choose? Being prepared everywhere was the safest!

After finishing all this, he went towards Celestial Evil City.

...

The information flow on Celestial Evil City.

Reportedly, next month, the Demon Race’s grand army will officially arrive at the Celestial Killer Mountain Range, and more information about the Demon Race’s army also emerged—

Those coming to the Celestial Killer Mountain Range appear to be from the "Vermilion Bird" Division, said to be one of the four great Demon Kings of the Demon Race.

Li An sought out the Vermilion Bird Division’s intentions, worrying they might attack human cities.

After all, should that happen, it was likely the Demon Race would clash with Shangguan Shengxian, which wouldn’t be good.

"It’s not an attack, but a retreat. I’ve got grapevine information that there’s an internal struggle for the position of Demon Lord, the Vermilion Bird Division was defeated by the Cyan Dragon Division, taking heavy losses, so they retreated nearby the Celestial Killer Mountain Range for a break."

An elder sighed.

The crowd was all on edge.

After exchanging information, people formally began bartering.

"As always, Third Grade Purifying Evil Pills, primarily looking to trade for Clear Spirit Herbs!"

Li An spoke up again.

Ever since he attended this trade meeting years ago, he frequently visited, always bringing some pills, and now everyone knew he was a Third Grade Alchemist, constantly seeking ingredients for refining the Purifying Soul Pill.

Some had subtly inquired before, and Li An’s answer was that an old friend of his had been afflicted by Soul Evil, hence he needed the Purifying Soul Pill.

Yet still, no one gave him the herbs he wanted.

As he was leaving.

"Fellow Daoist Wood Stone—"

At that moment, a middle-aged man suddenly caught up, calling out to Li An.

"Fellow Daoist Lu Tong, do you have important business?"

Li An moved inside!

This Lu Tong belonged under Mountain Master’s Dao branch, and years ago, when Li An first searched for Clear Spirit Herbs, he was already at this trade meeting, and midway, Li An had deliberately sold an outrageous Second Grade Top Grade Purifying Soul Pill to him, and he had once tried Li An, but never provided the corresponding herbs.

Now actively reaching out... was the bait finally taken?!

"Fellow Daoist, the Clear Spirit Herbs you’re looking for, I have leads."

Lu Tong smiled slightly, "To be honest, a friend of mine possesses this item—"

...