Chapter 263: Just Want to Spend a Bit More Time with Master

“Patriarch, where did you get so many Hunyuan Heaven-Mending Pill ingredients?” Elder Liu’s expression grew more and more shocked with each jade box she opened.

“Too nosy. Why don’t you go ask why the rice a chicken eats turns into eggs?!” Before Chen Huaian could think of how to answer, Su Qinian had already snapped back with a line.

Elder Liu thought about it—true. Who cared where they came from? Even if the Patriarch stole them from another sect, they could always make up for it later.

No need to ask. No need to ask.

Dan Bai was also checking through the jade boxes, categorizing the spiritual herbs inside, but a trace of doubt crept into her eyes.

Because on the back of the jade boxes was a peony design. If she remembered correctly, that peony was the symbol of Yaochi’s medicine hall.

Could it be that these Hunyuan Heaven-Mending Pill ingredients came from Yaochi Holy Land? The more she thought about it, the more plausible it seemed. Given the current spiritual energy environment in the Cangyun Realm, only places like the Holy Lands had enough spiritual energy to support the herbs required for the pill.

Then how had the Sword Pavilion Patriarch gotten them from Yaochi?

There was no way he broke in and stole them—Master Yuyao wasn’t blind.

Could it be… the Sword Pavilion Patriarch had some hidden identity, maybe even ties to Yaochi?

The more she thought about it, the creepier it got!

“Senior, I’m still inexperienced, and I can’t match my mother’s success rate in refining the Hunyuan Heaven-Mending Pill. From a hundred sets of materials, I might produce less than one-tenth… I wanted to be upfront about that, so please don’t blame me.” Dan Bai hesitated for a long time before finally mustering the courage to step in front of Chen Huaian and say it. She forced herself to meet the Sword Pavilion Patriarch’s eyes.

She wanted to see how he’d react.

“One-tenth? That’s a great success rate!” Chen Huaian looked at the girl in front of him, genuinely surprised.

Back when he handed out ingredients to Sword Pavilion disciples, the good ones barely hit a success rate of one in twenty. The worst ones were at one percent. Thankfully, those herbs weren’t too precious, so even if they wasted some, it was tolerable. Compared to ten billion, it was a drop in the bucket.

He’d even tried refining pills himself.

Thought it was just mixing the herbs in the right ratios, tossing them in a pressure cooker, and boiling off the moisture.

Turned out what he got was all dregs and toxic waste pills—not a single usable one.

“The Hunyuan Heaven-Mending Pill is a divine-grade pill. A ten-percent success rate is insane!” Elder Liu stroked his beard, shaking his head in awe. “I thought I had some accomplishments in alchemy, but compared to a real genius, that was just laughable.”

Sword Pavilion disciples all looked over with eyes full of envy, jealousy, and admiration.

That was the Hunyuan Heaven-Mending Pill! If she had a ten-percent success rate with that, didn’t that mean she could make normal pills with near-perfect success?

Dan Bai felt the stares and froze.

Crap, she thought. I forgot this is the Sword Pavilion.

She’d long heard that Sword Pavilion disciples focused only on swordsmanship, knowing next to nothing about anything else—they couldn't even be considered normal people.

Now she saw it for herself. The reputation was well-earned.

She should’ve said her success rate was only one percent...

Dan Bai bit her lip.

Forget it. Saving lives came first. She’d restore the dantians of the three personal disciples and the Valley Master of Lingxi Valley first. Then she’d pretend to fail over and over—after that, she wouldn’t be able to refine even a single more Hunyuan Heaven-Mending Pill. Then she’d see how this Sword Pavilion Patriarch reacted.

He’d killed Yu Ling and Yu Quan, yes, but knowing how ruthless Master Yuyao was, what kind of tricks wouldn’t she use?

If the Sword Pavilion Patriarch was truly suspicious, he’d definitely reveal something once she “failed” to refine more pills.

“I’m glad Senior understands. I’ll start refining now.” She bowed and turned.

“How long does it take to make one batch of the Hunyuan Heaven-Mending Pill?” Chen Huaian asked.

“With a good cauldron, one hour is enough. If it’s subpar, maybe half a day.” Dan Bai answered honestly—there was nothing to hide.

“Alright, wait here a sec.”

Chen Huaian vanished from the small world with a swish.

Less than a stick of incense’s time later, he returned, carrying a groggy man—Dan Sect’s Pavilion Master, Zhou Xuanzi.

Jiangchi City wasn’t far from the Dan Sect. In fact, when the city had been locked down, there were quite a few Dan Sect disciples among the crowd.

Chen Huaian figured the Dan Sect would definitely have some high-quality pill cauldrons, but he wasn’t sure exactly where. Not a problem—just grab the sect leader. The best stuff was bound to be on him.

“Huh? Where am I? Am I dreaming?”

“Zhou Xuanzi, our Sword Pavilion’s pill cauldrons are too ordinary. Let me borrow one of yours,” Chen Huaian said as he shook the drowsy Zhou Xuanzi awake.

“Who?! The audacity! No way! You’re dreaming if you think I’ll lend you my cauldron—”

Zhou Xuanzi looked up, his angry face instantly changed: “Ahahaha! It’s Senior Chen! My deepest apologies!”

“This Lord wants to borrow a cauldron. That a problem?” Chen Huaian raised an eyebrow.

“No problem at all! Absolutely not! Just… please put me down first.”

Chen Huaian let him down, and Zhou Xuanzi hurriedly laid out over a dozen pill cauldrons for everyone to see. He flattered, “Sword Master Chen, these are my best cauldrons. Feel free to pick any—or all. Uh… just leave me one, okay? I still need to make pills, you know.”

Chen Huaian looked at Zhou Xuanzi suspiciously.

This Dan Sect master used to be pretty aloof toward him. What the h*ll was this attitude now?

What he didn’t know was that news of him killing eight Void Fusion cultivators had already spread through the Cangyun Realm like wildfire.

Who didn’t know the name of the Sword Pavilion Patriarch now?

Some cultivators were even so awestruck they’d given him the title “Sword Master of Poetry” because he composed a poem with every strike of his sword.

In fact, people in the cultivation world were already compiling his verses into exclusive books.

Even mortal poets were singing his praises.

There were even rumors…

That if you could fully comprehend his poetry, you could master his invincible sword intent.

Unfortunately, Chen Huaian had been holed up in the small world lately, totally disconnected from the outside… otherwise, he’d be milking the praise for all it was worth.

Chen Huaian gestured for Dan Bai to come pick a cauldron.

Zhou Xuanzi found Dan Bai oddly familiar—like someone from the past—but with the Sword Pavilion Patriarch standing right there, he figured she was probably the old man’s descendant and kept quiet.

“I’ll take this one.” Dan Bai instantly picked the best of the bunch.

That sharp eye for quality made Zhou Xuanzi even more puzzled. The girl felt so familiar, he couldn’t help but glance at her a few more times.

Dan Bai’s expression remained flat, ignoring his gaze.

She had no fondness for Zhou Xuanzi. If it hadn’t been for him, her mother wouldn’t have been kicked out of the Dan Sect.

If her mother had stayed…

Then even Yaochi wouldn’t have dared snatch her so brazenly.

Dan Bai carried the cauldron into a side room of the small wooden house.

Zhou Xuanzi packed up the rest of the cauldrons and quickly left the small world.

He didn’t want to stay another second around the Sword Pavilion Patriarch—it felt like a rabbit sitting next to a tiger.

The others also returned to their own caves—some to cultivate, some to rest. Compared to earlier, the heavy atmosphere was gone, and even their footsteps felt lighter.

…

“Master.” A soft voice called from behind.

Chen Huaian turned. Moonlight filtered through the parasol tree’s leaves at the cliff’s edge, giving his waterfall-like white hair a soft, silvery glow.

He caught the faint orchid scent from Li Qingran’s hair. The moonlight wrapped around them like a fuzzy cocoon.

“Why aren’t you asleep?”

He immediately realized what a dumb question that was.

Cultivators didn’t sleep. They cultivated.

“I just wanted to spend a bit more time with Master.” Li Qingran’s eyelashes cast shadows like butterflies beneath her eyes. The night breeze lifted her skirt slightly, and a leaf happened to land gently on her shoulder.

“Master… don’t you want to spend a bit more time with your disciple too?”

Seeing his silence, she gently pressed on.

Her voice was like a breeze curling around his fingers, with a trembling softness full of hope.

“No.” Chen Huaian quickly looked away, flustered.

“Master still hasn’t told me… was the great demon’s poison fully cured?” She looked up, concern flickering in her eyes.

“Thanks to you, this Master is fully recovered.”

“Then… does Master no longer need to descend with a projection now?” Joy and relief shone in her brows and eyes.

Her voice trailed off, and she reached up to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear. Her flushed earlobe glowed faintly under the moonlight.

“Uh…”

That question was hard to answer.

Chen Huaian remembered telling Li Qingran that he descended as a projection because he’d been poisoned by a great demon.

So in theory, now that the poison was gone, he should be able to return to the Cangyun Realm from that made-up subspace.

But now… how was he supposed to explain this!?

Need help—urgent!

Just as cold sweat broke out on Chen Huaian’s back…

A game prompt popped up in his vision:

【Player’s favorability with digital girlfriend has reached ♡♥5】【Reward unlocked: One-Time Full-Body Sensory Raincoat x1】