Chapter 365: Baji's Anomaly

Chapter 365 – Baji's Anomaly

Pill refinement required absolute concentration.

Right when Wang Shouyi was distracted and staring blankly in Chen Huaian’s direction—

The white smoke rising from his Pill Cauldron gradually turned black, and a burnt smell began to seep out.

“Crap!” He snapped out of it and quickly tried to salvage the process, but it was already too late. Inside the cauldron, everything had turned into a lump of pitch-black scorched dregs.

Chen Huaian deliberately leaned over and glanced at Wang Shouyi’s cauldron, then grinned, “Brother Wang, your Healing Pill sure has a strong aroma… using a new recipe or something?”

Even though the pills hadn’t formed properly inside the cauldron, he still sensed a faint wisp of gray aura rising from them.

Confirmed!

Even without the use of the Ascension Pillar, just using the pill refinement techniques of those sects—or ingesting pills made by Ascenders—would be tainted by that strange gray aura. From now on, he absolutely could not allow his subordinates to consume pills from these sects. Even though the gray aura was thin and sparse, better safe than sorry.

Hearing Chen Huaian’s teasing, Wang Shouyi turned red and stammered, “S-Senior, I—I messed up… please give me one more chance. I’ll definitely…”

“Ai~” Chen Huaian waved his hand.

“Brother Wang, This Venerable One fully acknowledges your ability and knows you can produce edible Healing Pills eventually. But before that, how about you sample one of This Venerable One’s pills?”

He picked up one of the Healing Pills he had just refined and held it in front of Wang Shouyi.

The pill was crystal-clear all around, without the slightest impurity—like a little brown glass marble.

Even just its fragrance made one's mouth water, and a single whiff gave a jolt of mental clarity.

Wang Shouyi swallowed hard.

He was completely convinced!

He didn’t even need to take a bite—he could already tell that the pill Senior had refined was far beyond his own.

What he didn’t know was that Chen Huaian had actually restrained himself.

If he had gone all out with the Taihua Alchemy Arts, using this top-tier Spiritual Artifact pill cauldron, he could have easily refined cloud-patterned Healing Pills—three, five, or seven patterns meant Top-grade, and nine would be Celestial-grade.

But that would’ve drawn too much attention, and Chen Huaian had no intention of showing his full hand.

Wang Shouyi took the Healing Pill, swallowed it, and closed his eyes to fully experience it. After a moment, he let out a bitter smile.

“Senior… you win this round. Compared to your pill refining, mine is like child’s play. The difference is like cloud and mud.”

As someone with modest talent in alchemy, he could tell Chen Huaian’s Healing Pill was at least ten times more effective than his own. If the gap were smaller, he might still feel competitive. But with such a chasm, all motivation vanished.

At the same time, a curiosity sparked in his heart—

How could Chen Huaian have such mastery in alchemy without being part of any hidden sect?

Could there truly be people in this world who were born with knowledge?

“Well, a bet is a bet.” Chen Huaian’s expression suddenly turned stern as he said in a deep voice, “Since you said you’d only take pills refined by This Venerable One from now on, you must strictly abide by it. This Venerable One places great importance on promises. So, Brother Wang, why don’t you go ahead and swear an oath to the Heavenly Dao?”

“Uh?” Wang Shouyi froze, staring dumbly at Chen Huaian.

Wait, really? Just over something this minor, you want me to swear to the heavens? Isn’t that a bit much?

“What’s the matter? Trying to back out?” Chen Huaian’s gaze darkened, and his tone turned impatient.

“N-No!” Wang Shouyi forced a smile and shook his head quickly, then pressed three fingers together and raised them toward the ceiling. “I, Wang Shouyi, swear to the Heavenly Dao: from now on, I’ll only consume pills refined by Senior. All other pills, I won’t touch! If I ever violate this oath, may the heavens strike me down with five bolts of lightning!”

Before cultivating, people had no real fear of oaths to heaven and earth.

Only after stepping onto the path of cultivation did one come to understand the terrifying majesty of the heavens. Ordinary people didn’t defy the heavens, so heaven turned a blind eye.

But cultivators were going against the heavens by nature—unforgivable by the very sky itself.

Breaking an oath would almost certainly result in being marked by the Heavenly Dao.

Wang Shouyi felt a tinge of regret as soon as he finished swearing. He couldn’t understand why, even though he was clearly stronger than Chen Huaian, he always felt utterly overwhelmed when facing him—like he was several heads shorter.

It wasn’t that he felt cheated—just… conflicted.

What if Her Eminence later ordered him to take some pills?

Then what? Should he take them or not?

How would he explain that?

Fortunately, he was now training in the mortal world and wouldn’t be returning to the Kunlun Immortal Palace anytime soon. He could avoid that conflict for now.

When Chen Huaian saw him swear, his expression brightened immediately.

He threw an arm around Wang Shouyi’s shoulder and resumed his brotherly tone.

“Brother Wang, stock up on materials needed for all kinds of pills. Aren’t the major sects planning a counterattack on the Demon-Locking Tower? If This Venerable One prepares some resources ahead of time, the survival rate of my men might go up, don’t you think?”

…

After sending Wang Shouyi off,

Chen Huaian returned to Containment Unit 0 to continue his cultivation.

At this moment, the Spiritual Energy in his Dantian had already reached the peak of the Mid Foundation Establishment Stage.

He was just a step away from advancing to the Late Foundation Stage.

With his current cultivation speed, it shouldn't be a problem to reach the Golden Core Stage before the assault on the Demon-Locking Tower.

He quickly set up a Spirit Gathering Array and installed Spirit Crystals.

Just as he was about to begin cultivating, he noticed something strange—Baji, who usually showed up to freeload during these times, hadn’t made a peep today.

“What’s with this dumb cat? Really turned stupid?”

Chen Huaian looked around, frowning slightly.

He was already used to having a cat curled up on his lap while he cultivated. And now Baji didn’t show?

Thanks to the influence of the Nine-Turn Spirit Orchid, both Baji and Little Qing had clearly undergone demonization.

Little Qing’s legs had grown noticeably longer, changing from youthful girl’s legs to those of a mature woman. Her scales were shinier too, shifting from cyan to pearlescent hues. Baji, though his size hadn’t changed, now had a sleek, glossy coat, and a faint ghostly glow shimmered from his fur. Sometimes, when his feline eyes looked over, there was an eerie glint that defied explanation.

Though Baji had never spoken, Chen Huaian could tell from his unusual behaviors that he was already a Demon Creature.

After all, what kind of cat sits cross-legged watching Animal Planet?

And opens chip bags with a single paw?

He’d always known about these weird habits.

But he chose to turn a blind eye.

Chen Huaian searched all over Containment Unit 0, but even his spiritual sense couldn’t detect Baji’s location. In the end, it was Little Qing—striding over with her long, beautiful legs—who led him to the bathroom. Only then did he see Baji, curled up in a corner behind the curtain, with ink-like black mist seeping out around him. The cat lay motionless, but radiated a deeply ominous aura.

“What happened? Is he sick?”

Chen Huaian crouched down and reached out to pick up Baji.

But before his hand could touch the fur, a claw formed from shadow shot out of the black mist.

Luckily, he reacted fast and pulled back just in time.

“You’re a demon creature too—any idea what’s going on with him?”

Chen Huaian turned to the dimwitted, fish-brained girl beside him.

Little Qing shook her head, her dead-fish eyes blinking. Her mouth opened and closed, but the sound that came out was a cutesy little girl’s voice.

“D-Don’t know… he was just like this all of a sudden last night.”

…

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