Before long, the last trace of humming vibration from the Genesis Alchemy Furnace finally faded into a heavy silence. Only the scorching heat lingering within the thick furnace walls baked against Chen Jinshu's exhausted cheeks, the air in the small room shimmering with the leftover intensity of the spirit fire.
She leaned her weary back against the damp, cold stone wall of the chamber and slowly slid down the rough surface until she came to sit directly on the hard ground.
Several days of sleepless fire control, constant furnace guarding, and meticulous medicinal balancing had left faint bluish shadows beneath her clear features. The fatigue that weighed upon her shoulders was unmistakable.
Yet her calm eyes still flickered with a bright and unmistakable joy.
At this moment, the spiritual energy circulating in her dantian was nearly drained dry, leaving behind a hollow, aching sensation. Her sea of consciousness throbbed with a rhythmic, sharp pain from five days and five nights of extreme mental deduction and precise control without a single moment of rest.
The lotus birthmark centered on her forehead had dimmed significantly, looking as if it had spent the very last of its strength as well.
She looked at the three perfectly round pills spinning lightly inside the Genesis Alchemy Furnace, each one wrapped in drifting violet clouds of shimmering radiance. Only then did she manage to tug the corner of her parched lips into a relieved smile.
"Purple Palace Spirit Nurturing Pill. Third grade, high tier." Her voice was a mere rasp in the quiet room.
This was the highest achievement she had reached on the path of alchemy so far, especially considering she had accomplished it under such brutal and unforgiving conditions.
With a subtle flick of her hand, the three pills dropped neatly into the small jade pill bottle she had prepared in advance. She sealed the container away with great care, ensuring the medicinal essence remained trapped inside.
Xiao Yin perched on her shoulder had been restless ever since the furnace first released its concentrated pill radiance. With a clear, piercing cry, it darted straight out the door and into the open air.
Not long after, a faint and pale yellow glow was pushed precisely through the narrow crack of the door by a clever force, stopping steadily about a chi (around one foot) in front of Chen Jinshu.
It was a visitation token formed entirely from condensed spiritual energy.
The token resembled an enlarged bamboo leaf in shape. Its surface felt warm and jade-like to the touch, with fine silver formation patterns flowing elegantly along the edges. It looked both understated and refined.
In the center of the leaf, a single line of archaic script read:
"Neighbor of the Zhou family. Hearing that a new neighbor has arrived, I respectfully come to pay my greetings. If not unwelcome, I would like to prepare some light tea for a meeting."
At the signature line, a small talisman mark shaped like a patterned turtle shell flickered faintly with a rhythmic light.
Chen Jinshu's brows lifted slightly, then drew together as she contemplated the message.
She had been in closed-door alchemy here, refining this crucial batch of Spirit Nurturing Pills for nearly five days. Her mind had been locked entirely on the internal state of the furnace, cutting off almost all awareness of the outside world.
Boulder Residence was already situated in a remote location. Most nearby neighbors were fellow cultivators who kept strictly to themselves, either bitterly cultivating in solitude or tending to spirit fields all day as loose cultivators. A simple nod was usually the limit of their interaction. Such a formal and polite visitation token was something she had never seen before in this area.
"Boulder Residence is right next to the abandoned medicinal waste grounds. There's actually a neighbor here?" A hint of doubt surfaced in her mind. The spiritual construction of the token was refined and pure, exhibiting extremely fine control over spiritual energy. This was no ordinary cultivator's work.
She forced her heavy arm up and sent out a thin thread of spiritual energy, gently drawing the token into her palm. The cool sensation of the energy cleared her foggy mind for a brief instant.
Xiao Yin had already slipped fully outside, hopping around on the newly sprouted green jade bamboo in the small courtyard, chirping briskly. After being cooped up indoors for so long during the refining process, it was clearly enjoying the sudden freedom.
Chen Jinshu set the matter aside for now. She closed her eyes and quietly began to circulate the Verdant Wood Rebirth Formula. Her parched meridians struggled to absorb the thin, sluggish spiritual energy that was heavily laced with impurities from the surrounding environment. The lotus mark on her forehead lit up faintly again, refining the polluted qi that invaded her body bit by bit.
She regulated her breathing for more than half an hour. Only when the sky outside fully sank into the deepening colors of dusk, during the you (rooster) hour (around 6 PM), and the pill radiance inside the room faded did strength slowly return to her stiff limbs.
She stood up and walked over to the window.
After studying the visitation token for a long moment, she fell into deep thought.
The path of alchemy emphasized a certain clarity of mind and freedom from unnecessary distractions. Human interactions weren't her primary strength and often felt distant or awkward to her. Still, neighborly ties were a rare touch of worldly warmth along a long and desolate cultivation journey.
She stopped overthinking the situation. Bringing two fingers together like a brush, she rapidly traced characters in the air with her remaining spiritual energy.
A stream of soft green light formed at her fingertips. Its aura was remarkably similar to the original token, though its design was much simpler. Written upon it were the words:
"Chen Jinshu of Xuanming Sect thanks Zhou Daoyou for the kind invitation. I will tidy up briefly and will visit shortly."
With a guiding seal, the green light shot out like an arrow loosed from a bow, silently piercing the crude isolation formation around Boulder Residence and flying toward the source of the original token.
…
In the afternoon, during the shen (monkey) hour (around 4 PM), the thick fog coiling through the mountain hollow was finally driven back by the heat of the rising sun.
Chen Jinshu changed into a cleaner indigo dao robe and walked calmly along the stone path that was slick with mountain moisture, heading toward the alley's end mentioned by the Zhou family.
Boulder Residence already lay at the very edge of this loose cultivator settlement. Going further down the path, the houses built along the mountainside grew denser, yet they still felt somewhat orderly.
Most were small courtyards stacked with local green stone or built simply from bamboo and wood, half hidden beneath the shade of thick trees and climbing vines. Only mottled corners of walls and wisps of pale cooking smoke showed through the greenery.
Occasionally, other cultivators passed by or brushed shoulders with her on the narrow path. They were either in a hurry, carrying bamboo baskets filled with fresh herbs, or shouldering spirit hoes smeared with wet mud from the fields. When their eyes met, they simply nodded in a quiet greeting.
After a short while, she followed the fading glow of the visitation token to a specific courtyard entrance.
The courtyard was nearly twice the size of her Boulder Residence, yet it felt more cramped due to the items stored within.
Seeing that the token had already slipped inside the gate, Chen Jinshu waited patiently outside.
Soon after, the door opened with a creak and a female cultivator stepped out.
She was an elderly woman wearing a dark brown robe that had been washed pale with age. Her hair was gray, her frame thin, and the lines of her profile were sharp and weathered. Wrinkled hands hung quietly at her sides as she looked at Chen Jinshu with a gentle expression in her eyes.
"Chen Daoyou?" the woman called softly.
"That's me. I have disturbed Zhou Daoyou's quiet cultivation," Chen Jinshu replied, cupping her hands. Her gaze swept the interior of the home, which was neatly arranged despite its overall simplicity. Understanding dawned on her immediately.
This was no ordinary neighbor. It felt more like a reclusive expert deeply immersed in the complex Dao of formations.
"There's no disturbance at all. This old woman is Zhou Wanning, living tucked away here. It's rare to have a guest," Zhou Wanning said, forcing a stiff smile onto her face.
She led Chen Jinshu past a stone table to the only relatively tidy corner of the small room. There sat a small stone desk, two coarse ceramic tea cups, and a clay kettle bubbling on a small stove beside it. Steam rose from the pot, carrying the grassy bitterness unique to cheap spirit tea.
"The place is messy. Don't mind it. Sit," Zhou Wanning said, tapping a polished tree stump stool with her gnarled walking stick.
Chen Jinshu sat as she was instructed. Her eyes passed again over the piles of dusty formation manuals and half-finished components, and she spoke sincerely.
"Zhou Daoyou is too modest. From the aura here, it's clear your attainments in formations are profound. In such mixed spiritual conditions, setting up such a stable isolation formation isn't easy."
She could keenly sense that this stone house's isolation far surpassed her own temporary formation. It nearly blocked out all of the external pollution, though likely at the cost of massive spirit stone consumption.
Zhou Wanning poured the cloudy tea into the cups and smiled faintly.
"It's just a way to make a living. In my younger days, I was too competitive and damaged my foundation, cutting off my Dao path. Luckily, this little bit of formation skill can still be traded for spirit stones here in Medicine King Valley, enough to keep this broken body alive and guard a scrap of quiet until death."
Chen Jinshu fell silent. For a cultivator, a severed Dao path was crueler than a mortal's natural death.
She lifted the rough cup and drank. The tea was warm, bitter, and thin in spiritual energy, yet it oddly eased the lingering tightness in her mind.
"For Zhou Daoyou to carve out a place of peace here is already beyond most. I admire that."
"Peace?" Zhou Wanning let out a cold, sharp laugh.
"It's just a forgotten corner no one covets. This so-called peace is something I have ripped out of rotten soil and poisonous miasma with my own spirit stones and formations!"
Her withered finger jabbed toward the window, pointing at the charred wasteland that looked even more sinister in the dimming light.
"See that? Behind Medicine King Valley's glamour and fragrant pills lies this mountain of waste. Failed alchemy grudges, remnants stripped of their medicinal essence, and filthy experimental leftovers are all buried right there.
Year after year, generation after generation, it's soaked into the very land. An ordinary cultivator staying here for months would end up with their Golden Core clouded by the rot!"
Her voice grew more heated, her chest rising as suppressed anger and helplessness burned in her eyes.
"I built these formations because I'm afraid of dying, because I can't bear to have what little foundation I have left ruined by this filth. Chen Daoyou."
Her tone softened as she looked back at Chen Jinshu.
"You managed to refine pills of that quality at Boulder Residence. The pill radiance soared into the sky. Even through my formations, I could sense it faintly. The younger generation truly is formidable. But do you know that the pure spiritual energy you drew while refining pills doesn't just stir the polluted qi buried deep in the wasteland? It also attracts eyes that shouldn't be watching."
Her words were slow and heavy, carrying a chilling and unmistakable warning.
Chen Jinshu felt her heart tremble.
The commotion from refining the Purple Palace Spirit Nurturing Pill had indeed been significant. The pill radiance had pierced right through her crude isolation formation. She hadn't expected even the Zhou family living next door to notice the event.
She set her cup down, her expression becoming solemn. "Does Zhou Daoyou have some advice?"
Zhou Wanning didn't answer immediately. She sipped her coarse tea in silence, the air in the small room growing tense. After a long pause, she set the cup down and rummaged inside her wide sleeve, pulling out a jade bottle no bigger than her thumb.
The bottle was smooth and warm, with faint traces of cool moisture seeping out from the stopper.
She pushed it toward Chen Jinshu.
"A bit of Cold Pool Condensed Dew. It comes from a small spring deep in the waste grounds that was miraculously untouched. It yields only a few drops every hundred years. It's a slight effect on cleansing mental impurities and calming turbulent spiritual energy. You have exhausted your mind refining pills. This might help you recover faster."
Chen Jinshu paused, then accepted it solemnly under Zhou Wanning's expectant gaze. "This is precious. I don't deserve it. Thank you, Zhou Daoyou."
"No need for thanks. Keeping it here does me little good anyway."
Zhou Wanning waved her wrinkled hand. Her cloudy eyes studied Chen Jinshu again, now carrying complicated emotions, like an elder watching a junior about to step into great danger.
"Chen Daoyou, you're young, your cultivation is solid, and your alchemy talent is astonishing. I shouldn't meddle, but as neighbors, there are things I can't keep bottled up."
She leaned forward slightly, lowering her voice until it was nearly a whisper.
"There's one person you must stay far away from."
Chen Jinshu's breath stilled as she waited.
"Living on the edge of these waste grounds, besides me and you, there's one more person, farther west, in that isolated place called Cold Dwelling.
His surname is Lin, given name Xiao. He has a Golden Core cultivation. He claims to be a third grade alchemist and also practices formations. He often invites cultivators over under the pretense of exchanging insights, especially female cultivators who live alone."
"Lin Xiao?" Chen Jinshu searched her memory, finding nothing at all.
"He is good-looking and skilled at putting on an act. Polite, refined, and seemingly generous."
A look of disgust tugged at Zhou Wanning's mouth.
"At first, he is attentive, discussing alchemy puzzles or inviting others to study ancient formations. He even gives away rare spirit plant seeds or incomplete ancient formulas as bait. But once a female cultivator is fooled and steps into that so-called Cold Dwelling…
That place turns into a spider's lair. Inside is a mind-confusing formation he arranged himself, paired with a colorless, odorless aphrodisiac poison incense. Once the victim is caught, her mind dulls and her spiritual energy stagnates. That's when the beast reveals his true self!"
Chen Jinshu's pupils shrank. Her back went rigid as a chill crawled up her spine.
"Afterward, to erase all traces," Zhou Wanning continued, her voice trembling with either rage or fear.
"If the victim's cultivation is decent but her background unclear, he drains her dry with evil techniques, destroys the body, and dumps it into the endless waste pits. No one ever knows. If she has backing he dares not offend, he records her humiliation with image jade slips to blackmail her, forcing her into silence, turning her into a toy or milking her for resources.
Just last month! A female alchemist from a small sect came here alone to buy spirit medicine. She was at the peak of Foundation Establishment. He lured her in under the excuse of discussing ancient pill formulas. I heard her enter Cold Dwelling with my own ears. To this day, there's been no word of her. Alive or dead, no one knows!
Chen Daoyou, your pill radiance soared sky-high. Lin Xiao's nose is sharper than the corpse vultures in that wasteland. He has already caught the scent. I would wager that within three days, his visitation token, or he himself, wearing that disgusting mask of gentleness, will be knocking on your door!"
Uncontainable fury and deep helplessness churned in Zhou Wanning's murky eyes.
"I'm powerless. My foundation is ruined, and my lifespan is short. I can't eliminate him, and I don't dare tear my face with him. All I can do is guard this tiny patch of land.
What I have said today comes from my heart, and as repayment for the brief moment of 'clean pill fragrance' your alchemy unintentionally gave me. Whether you heed it or not is up to you. I only hope you treasure your Dao path and don't repeat their fate."
The weight of the warning settled heavily on Chen Jinshu's heart, casting a veil of unease over Medicine King Market.
"Thank you for speaking so frankly, Zhou Daoyou." Chen Jinshu stood and bowed deeply to the frail old woman, her tone filled with genuine respect.
"I will remember this kindness. The name Lin Xiao is now etched in my mind. I will be sure to keep my distance."
Zhou Wanning nodded in relief and waved her hand.
"Go. The polluted qi here runs deep. This isn't a place to linger. Once your pills are refined, it's best to leave early."
With that, she picked up the dark jade formation disk and fine carving blade again, resuming her slow, meticulous work.
Chen Jinshu said no more. She cupped her hands once more and turned to leave, her thoughts heavy as she stepped away.