Chapter 148 — Talisman Cultivator Sect Master (Part Two): Refining Pills on the Forging Platform…

This explosion shook the entire Thousand Spirit Peak and Fragrance-Attracting Peak.

At that moment, on Fragrance-Attracting Peak, Yi Zifei and Ji Mingyue, who were conversing, turned simultaneously toward the library pavilion when they heard the commotion.

From the top floor window of the library pavilion, a column of black smoke rose.

Ji Mingyue’s mouth twitched. “Master Feng and Lian Mu… are they refining pills?”

Yi Zifei sipped his tea calmly. “When my master refined pills back then, it often sounded just like this.”

Ji Mingyue: “…”

So masters also blow up pill furnaces?

Yi Zifei withdrew his gaze. “I heard there are two Feng Clan children competing in your generation’s Immortal Sect Grand Competition?”

Ji Mingyue replied, “That’s right.”

Yi Zifei asked, “Have you interacted with them?”

“No. Clear Thought Sect has always been at odds with us, and the one from Azure Profound Sect is heavily protected — outer sect disciples rarely get close.”

Yi Zifei nodded. “It’s fine if you’re not familiar. Interact more, you’ll get acquainted.”

Ji Mingyue: “?”

Ji Mingyue felt there was more to his words.

“Bright Moon, you’ve always been clever — some things I don’t need to spell out.” Yi Zifei stood up. “The root solution for Lian Mu’s damaged dantian lies with the Wuyang Feng Clan, not with my master. Now that she’s apprenticed to Feng Tianche, she counts as my junior sister. As her senior brother, some things are inconvenient for me to say to her directly, so I’ll tell you instead.”

“…Please, Master.”

Lian Mu was Yi Zifei’s junior sister, Yi Zifei was her master, and she was in the same generation as Lian Mu… the seniority was getting messy.

Ji Mingyue pondered for a while, unable to figure out what she should call Lian Mu in the future.

Yi Zifei flicked his hand — a flower petal landed before Ji Mingyue. She picked it up and sensed the spiritual energy within, her expression stiffening.

“So that’s how it is. Disciple understands.”

…

…

The top floor of the library pavilion was a complete mess.

The pill furnace lay in shattered pieces, one wall was charred black, the room reeked of burnt residue, and the broken fragments gave off a faint stench of decay.

“Master, sorry…” Lian Mu said, “Looks like it failed.”

Feng Tianche lifted the protective barrier, face calm. “Didn’t expect the reaction to be this violent once spirit-blood was added. I thought the furnace could handle it.”

He crouched down, rummaged through the debris, and found a pill. He wiped it clean and examined it for a moment. “Not a total failure — it’s edible.”

He handed the pill to her. “Taste it.”

Lian Mu swallowed it without hesitation. “The furnace is broken. I’ll repair it later.”

The pill was passable — once down the throat, it didn’t feel especially full of spiritual energy, about the same as an ordinary spirit replenishing pill. After all, it was her first time trying this new formula.

“You know how to fix furnaces? So you’re an artifact refiner too?” Feng Tianche raised a brow. “You really have a bag of tricks.”

Lian Mu said, “Poverty forced me to. Couldn’t afford good swords, so I had to learn forging myself.”

Feng Tianche laughed. “No wonder your spiritual energy drains so fast. Reforging a Heavenly Spiritual Root, and practicing sword, artifact, and pill cultivation all at once — no surprise you burn through energy.”

“No need to repair it. I have more furnaces than I can use.” Feng Tianche walked to a book wall, pressed a hidden switch, and the wall slid aside to reveal an entire wall of pill furnace artifacts.

He casually took down a jade bell-shaped one and tossed it to Lian Mu. “Didn’t you say you have an alchemy cultivator friend? Give this to them.”

Then he took another one down, broke the seal, and when the bell-sized furnace hit the ground, it expanded to half a person’s height.

“Again. I don’t believe you can blow up every furnace on this wall.” Feng Tianche said.

Lian Mu: “…I probably won’t.”

She wasn’t that incompetent.

Swapping in the new furnace, she didn’t even bother cleaning the room — she immediately began her second test.

This time, Feng Tianche preemptively shielded the furnace, so when it exploded again, the blast was contained.

After two attempts, Lian Mu started getting the hang of it. On the third try, she adjusted the inner core placement and the order of adding herbs, and finally produced a spirit replenishing pill that matched expectations.

“This one’s very good.” Feng Tianche said. “Refine them like this from now on.”

Lian Mu said, “This furnace’s flame is too weak. The demonic beast inner core can’t fully melt, so it doesn’t mix well.”

Though it was much better than before, she still felt it was slightly lacking.

Feng Tianche said, “I’ve never refined a spirit replenishing pill that mixes demonic beast inner cores — just had the idea. But in my eyes, this pill is already a success.”

“Maybe I should try a forging platform instead of a pill furnace,” Lian Mu suggested.

Feng Tianche paused. “…Forging platform?”

“Artifact refiners use forging platforms to handle demonic beast materials, and inner cores count as such. Using a forging platform to melt inner cores works better than a furnace. I’ve tried it before — as long as I control it right, it works.”

A forging platform and a pill furnace serve the same principle of merging spiritual materials, but the platform deals with tougher beast parts and is cruder than a furnace.

“You artifact refiners really do stick to your forging platforms for life — coming up with these odd methods.” Feng Tianche said. “If you want to try, go ahead.”

“If you use a forging platform, I can’t guide you. I’m purely an alchemist, no experience with forging platforms.” He sat at the table to watch.

Lian Mu summoned a forging platform from her spatial pouch. “No problem. I can teach you instead. It’s much faster than a furnace.”

Feng Tianche chuckled. “You’re the first to dare claim you can teach me pill refining.”

Lian Mu fed blood into the magic crystal layer — the forging platform could withstand much more than a furnace, even when filled to the tubes, while the furnace couldn’t handle even a few drops of her blood.

The platform’s flame was harder to control, but with her fire spiritual root, it was manageable.

Once the fire stabilized, she adjusted the herb order, added the demonic beast inner core second-to-last, and finished with corpse flower.

Corpse flower grows with wood beasts and rots easily — the longer it stayed on the platform, the worse it smelled, so using it last was best.

“That flame wouldn’t even melt a scrap of low-grade spirit armor if used for forging,” Feng Tianche commented.

“But it’s perfect for herbs,” Lian Mu retorted.

Odd as the method was, it undeniably worked.

Before long, she quenched the flame, instinctively dunked the finished pill in water — just like quenching a forged weapon.

Feng Tianche’s mouth twitched. “You artifact refiners… all have the same bad habits.”

“Master, how’s this pill?” Lian Mu asked.

Feng Tianche picked it up, surprised. “A forging platform can make a pill like this? Better than the previous ones.”

Lian Mu was about to brag when he added, “But it’s ugly. At first glance, you’d never guess it’s a pill.”

Lian Mu shrugged. “Well, it’s a forging platform — shaping it properly uses extra spiritual energy.”

“So this is the benefit of dual cultivating pill and artifact refining.” Feng Tianche weighed the pill in his hand. “Seems you really have your own take on both arts.”

“I once had a disciple—just like you, full of odd ideas. He didn’t have your talent, but he was very diligent. He should have become a senior cultivator by now. If you have time, you can talk to him; you two would get along.”

“His name is Yin Shitu. You must have seen him—he loves wandering around Fragrance-Attracting Peak. Don’t be fooled by his stern face; he’s actually easy to coax. Flatter him a bit and you might pry his unique pill refining methods out of him.”

Hearing this, Lian Mu felt the name sounded familiar. After a moment’s thought, she blurted out, “That senior has long since passed away.”

As soon as she said it, the room fell silent.

Feng Tianche: “What did you say?”

Lian Mu hesitated for a heartbeat. “…That senior passed away a few years ago. A few years back, a demon infiltrated Returning Immortal Sect disguised as a pill cultivator disciple. Elder Yin happened to accept him as his apprentice. He was ambushed by that demon and has already passed away.”

It seemed Master Feng didn’t know about this.

Sure enough, Feng Tianche stayed silent for a long time before reacting: “Him… what a pity. A demon infiltration—did the Sect Master not notice at all? As a talisman cultivator, just one demon-expelling barrier would have been enough.”

“I heard the Sect Master has been in seclusion for a long time. I wasn’t in Returning Immortal Sect five years ago; I only heard rumors, not the details,” Lian Mu said.

Feng Tianche: “Yin Shitu was my first disciple, and that scoundrel Yi Zifei actually kept this from me… Go back and tell him to come here—I have questions for him.”

Lian Mu put away the pills and leftover spiritual herbs. “Alright.”

At the doorway, Lian Mu suddenly remembered something and stopped. “Master, you must be mistaken—our Sect Master is a sword cultivator, not a talisman cultivator.”

Feng Tianche frowned. “Sword cultivator?”

Lian Mu: “Yes.”

Feng Tianche: “…I see. Go back first, finish using the remaining herbs. Since you have a better pill refining method, try fusing in a supreme-grade demonic beast inner core. Bring it to me tomorrow—I’ll teach you more.”

“Thank you, Master.”

Lian Mu thanked him and stepped out.

…

Lian Mu came down from the Library Pavilion to the main hall of Fragrance-Attracting Peak and found Yi Zifei and Ji Mingyue sitting under a pear tree, having tea.

Ji Mingyue was surprised to see her. “Why are you out?”

Lian Mu: “Senior Yi, Master Feng is looking for you.”

Yi Zifei seemed to have guessed what she would say. His expression didn’t change at all. He put down his teacup and stood up. As he passed by her, he said, “You’ve already accepted Master’s alchemy furnace, yet you’re still calling him ‘Master Feng’?”

Lian Mu didn’t understand. “Is there something wrong with that?”

She’d always called him that—even Master Feng himself had no issue.

“By the order of discipleship, you’re my junior sister.” Yi Zifei said blandly.

Lian Mu suddenly understood. “Senior brother, Master is looking for you.”

Yi Zifei patted her shoulder. “Study well under Master. If you run into anything you don’t understand, come ask me.”

After he finished, his figure scattered into drifting petals and vanished.

Lian Mu and Ji Mingyue looked at each other and fell silent. “…”

Lian Mu: “Your master is that desperate for junior sisters?”

Ji Mingyue spread his hands. “I heard my master was Master Feng’s last disciple before he died, always the youngest—maybe he really was desperate.”

“By the way, why did you come down all of a sudden?” Ji Mingyue asked. “Did you blow up Master Feng’s alchemy furnace and anger him?”

Lian Mu: “I’ve already blown up two—his alchemy furnace is basically impossible to blow up completely. He asked me to give you this.”

She took out the alchemy furnace pendant Feng Tianche had given her and handed it to Ji Mingyue.

Ji Mingyue stared at the pendant for a long time without saying anything. “…”

Lian Mu: “What’s wrong? Don’t like it?”

“…No, I’m just still processing it.” Ji Mingyue touched his chest and took a deep breath. “As expected of Master Feng—such a unique taste. Even the furnace’s appearance is one in ten thousand.”

Lian Mu: “?”

Ji Mingyue: “Thank you, Lian Mu. I’m going to enshrine this furnace—whenever I fail to refine pills, I’ll take it out and worship it.”

Lian Mu: “…”

Sure enough, every pill cultivator worshiped Feng Tianche.

“Master Feng want to question Senior Yi,” Lian Mu said. “Earlier he mentioned the Sect Master and said the Sect Master was a talisman cultivator. What’s up with that? I remember Guan Shize saying the current Sect Master has ruled for centuries and is a sword cultivator.”

“Talisman cultivator?” Ji Mingyue thought for a moment. “Returning Immortal Sect has only ever chosen sword cultivators as Sect Masters… but there was one exception—a talisman cultivator. The previous Sect Master was a talisman cultivator, but that was centuries ago. He only held the position for a year before going to the Shifang Nether Soil to suppress demonic beasts. He was ambushed by demons and died there.”

“Because his tenure was so short, few mention him now. But it’s said that talisman cultivator was extremely powerful—had he lived, he would have been the undisputed number one talisman cultivator of the time, even overshadowing the Clear Thought Sect’s leader.”

Ji Mingyue added, “You know how our sect stifles geniuses. Such a peerless talent didn’t last long here—he died right after becoming Sect Master. Our current Sect Master is also very formidable, one of the best among sword cultivators. After he took the position, he stayed in seclusion for years—rumor has it he injured his heart meridian during a breakthrough and has been unwell since.”

Lian Mu: “I always thought that was just gossip. I didn’t expect it to be true.”

“That’s the pain point for Returning Immortal Sect disciples. Of course we deny it in front of outsiders. But… our sect really does stifle geniuses. Too many have died to count. If they were still alive, Returning Immortal Sect wouldn’t be mocked the way it is now.” Ji Mingyue sighed. “In the past, we produced a dozen ‘once-in-a-century’ geniuses every single year.”

Lian Mu: “We still have plenty of seniors with Heavenly Spiritual Roots…”

“That’s not the issue.” Ji Mingyue looked up at the sky. “Back then, those seniors couldn’t be summed up with just ‘Heavenly Spiritual Roots.’ Some people are born in the clouds, others spend their lives in the mud—they were the heavens above the clouds, impossible even to look up to.”

Lian Mu: “You mean someone like Azure Profound Sect’s Ying You? Everyone says he’s a rare sword cultivator prodigy.”

“A sword cultivator prodigy? That’s nothing.” Ji Mingyue glanced at her. “When I say ‘genius,’ I mean someone like you—there won’t be another one like you in this world.”

Lian Mu thought it over. “I don’t think I count as a heaven’s chosen. Nothing I have was given by the heavens—I fought for it myself. Master Feng says the Dao of Heaven specifically suppresses people like me.”

“Master Feng’s remnant soul still lingers in this world—if the Dao of Heaven couldn’t crush him, it can’t do anything to you either.” Ji Mingyue smiled faintly. “As long as you mend your dantian, everything else will be easy.”

“Mending my dantian is still far off,” Lian Mu said. “That’s a secret technique of the Wuyang Feng Clan—the family the world calls the number one pill cultivator clan is actually Master Feng’s enemy. Trying to get the technique through them is impossible.”

Ji Mingyue: “My master told me. He wants me to try other methods.”

Lian Mu: “Why didn’t Senior Yi just tell me directly?”

Ji Mingyue looked at her quietly. “Because… he overestimated your character. He thought with that innocent face, you wouldn’t do anything shady.”

Lian Mu was a little moved. “I didn’t expect there to still be a senior in Returning Immortal Sect who thinks I’m an honest person.”

Ever since she knocked out her opponent with Wealth Bringer during her entrance trial, she’d gained infamy across all the peaks—no one saw her as normal anymore.

“Master’s opinion is pretty much the same as what we thought before—asking nicely won’t work; robbery and threats are the most effective way.” Ji Mingyue said, “Feng Huanyin is hard to deal with, so we can only target Fengyun Yi. My master said all the Feng Clan’s secret techniques are hidden in their library pavilion, but it can only be opened by someone with Feng Clan blood.”

“When we return to White Tiger West this time, we can find an opportunity to kidnap Fengyun Yi, then sneak into the Feng Clan and steal the manuals.” Ji Mingyue explained, “My master felt that, as your senior brother, it wasn’t appropriate for him to tell you to do something like that directly, so he didn’t mention it to you.”

Lian Mu said, “Why wouldn’t it be appropriate? It’s perfectly fine. The Feng Clan took quite a few of Master Feng’s relics; we’re just going to take them back.”

“Only the three of us know about this—Master, you, and me. I’ve already discussed the best plan with Master.” Ji Mingyue spread out a piece of paper.

Lian Mu quietly accepted it. “Thank Senior Brother Yi for me.”