CHAPTER 14: Fasting Pills with a Durian Flavor

The late summer morning breeze carried a restless heat, and the mosquitoes within the sect swarmed relentlessly no matter how many were driven away, their buzzing incessant.

Ever since summer began, Yu Youyou had been sleeping sprawled out, letting her tail sway freely to keep the mosquitoes at bay.

It was still dark outside, but she was wide awake. She turned over and got up.

As soon as she stepped out, she noticed that Qi Nanfeng from the courtyard next door was already up as well.

“Why are you awake so early?”

They both spoke at the same time, equally puzzled. Qi Nanfeng scratched his head. “I was thinking about next month’s assessment, so I figured I’d get some early practice in for alchemy.”

Yu Youyou walked ahead of him. “Let’s go together, then.”

Qi Nanfeng jogged a few steps to catch up. “Do you want to grab some buns from the dining hall first?”

Ever since Yu Youyou’s health had improved, her appetite had grown along with her height. Qi Nanfeng was already used to stuffing dozens of buns into his storage pouch for her.

Usually, Yu Youyou was the most enthusiastic when it came to meals, but today, she shook her head. “No need. I just took a fasting pill, so I’m not hungry.”

Qi Nanfeng’s expression became rather complicated. “You’d rather eat cockroach pills than have buns?!”

“…That’s technically true, but the way you put it makes me sound like a freak.”

Yu Youyou still couldn’t forget the smell that had drifted from the inner sect yesterday. It had made her so nauseous that, for the first time ever, even fasting pills went down easier than steamed buns.

The stench of blood had been so thick that Yu Youyou couldn’t help but wonder—had Long Aotian stormed the sect to avenge his daughter after she got humiliated?

For a protagonist like Long Aotian, wiping out a sect as a show of power wasn’t unheard of.

But the sect’s reaction didn’t quite match up with that theory. Qu Qingmiao had been extremely secretive about the matter, refusing to elaborate. The only thing she emphasized was that they should spend this month practicing their alchemy diligently.

When they arrived at the alchemy chambers, they found that they weren’t the only ones taking things seriously.

Even though the sun hadn’t yet risen, the room was already packed with disciples, all with dark circles under their eyes, busily working at their cauldrons.

“Why is everyone here so early?” Had they all been kept up by mosquitoes, too?

“What else? The assessment was moved up to next month.” A fellow disciple glanced at her and sighed. “If it were still next year, we’d have time to prepare. But we’ve only been in the sect for half a year—who can possibly succeed?”

“Looks like we’ll have to wait another three years.”

“So far, only the most gifted among us have even sensed spiritual energy, let alone controlled it. How can we compete with the senior disciples who’ve been training longer?”

There were many complaints among the disciples, and when Qu Qingmiao heard them, her face remained cold, though a hint of exhaustion flickered in her gaze.

She said flatly, “You have already been taught the key principles of alchemy. From here on, it is up to you to practice. For those who have not yet learned to control their spiritual energy, the sect will provide spirit stones daily to help you familiarize yourselves with the refining process. However, do not grow overly reliant on them. After all, in the final assessment, you must use your own spiritual energy to refine pills.”

As soon as she finished speaking, the outer sect disciples brightened up.

Qi Nanfeng clicked his tongue. “The sect is being pretty generous, huh? Then why does Senior Sister always say they’re broke?”

Yu Youyou had just received her spirit stones when she noticed a scorching gaze fixed on her hands.

She looked up in confusion. “Su Lao’er, why are you staring at me?”

Normally, at the mention of “Lao’er” (second place), Su Yizhi would clutch his knee in silent suffering. But today, he didn’t react at all.

Instead, he was staring intently at the spirit stones in her hands. “Your spirit stones are pretty high-quality.”

The ones in Yu Youyou’s hands were clear as ice, faintly shimmering with spiritual energy.

Qi Nanfeng, ever the helpful one, explained, “Since refining pills requires stable and sustained spiritual energy, mid-grade spirit stones are usually used. Of course they look nice.”

Su Yizhi took one last, longing look at the spirit stones in everyone’s hands, and then—

He got in line, too.

When it was his turn, Qu Qingmiao frowned slightly. “You need them, too?”

She was well aware of Su Yizhi’s cultivation level and knew he was already proficient in controlling his spiritual energy for alchemy. That he was requesting spirit stones for assistance was rather surprising.

Su Yizhi’s face instantly turned red. He looked uneasy, pressing his lips together nervously, but still refused to step back.

Finally, he stammered, “Recently… Recently, I haven’t been feeling well. My spiritual energy is stagnant, so I need spirit stones to help.”

Qu Qingmiao: “…”

Saying that you’re unwell in front of an alchemist? Not exactly the smartest move.

In the end, Qu Qingmiao didn’t make things difficult for him.

Once he received his spirit stones, Su Yizhi cradled them like a priceless treasure, caressing them for a long moment before carefully tucking them into his storage pouch.

Yu Youyou’s eyelids twitched as she leaned in. “You bought a storage pouch?”

“Yeah, second-hand, only one hundred and fifty spirit stones.” Su Yizhi was quite pleased, his round face beaming with pride. “After all, carrying too many spirit stones around is inconvenient.”

“…” Those spirit stones had all come out of her pouch.

Yu Youyou turned back and focused seriously on handling the medicinal ingredients and pill formulas, while beside her, the ever-proactive Qi Nanfeng had already completed his first batch of pills.

A familiar burnt smell spread through the entire alchemy room. Fellow disciples, already accustomed to such mishaps, began cursing as they searched for the source, but Yu Youyou didn’t even need to look to know exactly who was responsible.

Meanwhile, the two once-brilliant spirit stones nearby had visibly dimmed.

After three consecutive waves of head-splitting burnt stench from Qi Nanfeng’s direction, his spirit stones had been completely drained of spiritual energy, turning into nothing more than ordinary rocks.

Just when Yu Youyou thought the assault of burnt fumes was finally over, she saw Qi Nanfeng cheerfully pull out a handful of spirit stones from his storage pouch.

The glow was so dazzling that every disciple in the alchemy room turned to look.

Moments later, the familiar burnt smell filled the air once more.

Yet no one had the heart to complain anymore.

At this moment, everyone had only one thought—

Being rich is great.

The impoverished Yu Youyou clutched her two spirit stones, feeling reluctant to use them.

She was too poor. The gamblers from Ba Dao’s group weren’t breaking their legs every day, nor were they about to start treating one-hundred-spirit-stone painkillers like daily meals. Her income was far from stable.

These two mid-grade spirit stones were enough for a full spiritual herb bath.

Desperation makes people take risks.

In the end, Yu Youyou decided to try refining a pill using her own spiritual energy.

Her once-fragile spiritual meridian had solidified and strengthened significantly, yet it still seemed feeble, as if it could shatter at any moment.

Inside it, a faint wisp of spiritual energy flickered, glowing a bright red.

Recalling the method recorded in the jade token, Yu Youyou slowly guided her spiritual energy to refine the medicinal ingredients…

Less than half a tea’s time later, her spiritual energy was completely depleted, and she collapsed onto the ground.

Beside her lay an outrageously ugly fasting pill.

She found it so unsightly that she hesitated to eat it.

So, she nudged Qi Nanfeng beside her. “Want to try one of my pills?”

Qi Nanfeng refused without a second thought. “No.”

But Su Yizhi leaned in to take a look, surprised. “You actually succeeded? Though… compared to mine, it’s a bit ugly.”

Yu Youyou ignored the latter part of his comment and encouraged him, “Then give it a taste and give me some pointers. After all, your alchemy skills are the best among us.”

Su Yizhi’s face turned slightly red—clearly, Yu Youyou’s words pleased him. With that, he no longer minded the pill’s ugliness and simply popped it into his mouth.

The next moment—

“Urgh!”

Su Yizhi staggered as he bolted out, leaving behind nothing but the sound of violent retching.

Qi Nanfeng turned to look. “What’s wrong with him? Hasn’t he already gotten used to the taste of fasting pills?”

“My pill doesn’t taste like cockroaches,” Yu Youyou said, turning back to jot down notes on her paper, seemingly adjusting the pill formula. “I improved the recipe. Made a fasting pill that tastes like Mao Xue Wang.”

She poked her head out and glanced outside. Su Yizhi was still retching.

“Judging by his reaction, I must’ve failed. But there’s also the possibility that he just hates Mao Xue Wang more than cockroaches.”

Yu Youyou turned back and grinned at Qi Nanfeng.

“You seem to like Mao Xue Wang, right? Why don’t you try the next one for me?”

Unfortunately, Qi Nanfeng heartlessly refused, and she had to let it go.

….

For the next month, Yu Youyou and the other disciples practically lived in the alchemy room. Though they were constantly enveloped in the stench of burnt ingredients, the atmosphere was oddly lively.

In contrast, the elders were all frowning deeply.

Tomorrow was the official assessment, so today, they were conducting spot checks on the disciples’ pill refinement results.

Looking at the table filled with more failed pills than successful ones, the elders could already imagine how they’d be scolded by the inner sect elders for their lackluster teaching.

The disciples who had entered the sect a couple of years earlier had naturally refined decent pills, but the younger ones had produced some truly bizarre creations.

“Su Yizhi is doing quite well—his alchemy skills are exceptional, and at such a young age, he’s already reached the mid-stage of the Qi Refinement realm.”

“Qi Nanfeng too. Although the first batch of pills he submitted was a little unsightly, his latest results are quite decent. I hear his cultivation speed is impressive; he’s already at the early stage of the Qi Refinement realm.”

Finally, the elders’ gazes fell upon the ugliest pill on the table.

Though lumpy and completely lacking in smoothness, the spiritual energy contained within was astonishing—even surpassing Su Yizhi’s pills by a fraction.

However, due to its appearance, no one dared to taste it.

“Yu Youyou? That explains it,” Elder Wan glanced at the name on the pill box, his tone tinged with regret. “She probably used a spiritual array to refine it, which is why it turned out so flawed. But it’s clear that she put in great effort.”

The fact that Yu Youyou hadn’t shown a clear spiritual meridian had long ceased to be a secret among the outer sect. In the eyes of the outer sect elders, she was a talented disciple who would never be taken into the inner sect.

One elder expressed interest. “That child is quite skilled in cultivating spiritual herbs. I’ll have her manage the herb fields in the future.”

Another immediately opposed, “No, I think she’s more suited to managing the archives—she’s quite knowledgeable about medicinal ingredients and pill formulas.”

A third elder chimed in, “She has a big appetite. I think she’d do well managing the dining hall.”

Hearing this, Qu Qingmiao—who had remained silent since submitting her pills—suddenly spoke up.

“I’m afraid that won’t be possible.”

As all eyes turned to her, she continued calmly, “She has to enter the inner sect.”

The elders froze for a moment. But as seasoned cultivators with over a hundred years of experience, Elder Wan quickly grasped her meaning and shot to his feet. “You mean… this ugly pill was refined using her own spiritual energy?”

Qu Qingmiao nodded and said softly, “I only discovered half a month ago that Yu Youyou had begun cultivating spiritual energy.”

The elders fell silent.

Then, in unison, they asked the same question—

“But wasn’t her spiritual meridian shattered?”

Qu Qingmiao had actually been quite shocked at the time.

No matter how she speculated, she couldn’t have imagined that it was because Yu Youyou had been healing that wreck of a body on her own.

In the end, she could only attribute it to Yu Youyou’s improving health, which had allowed her spiritual veins to fully develop as well.

Before leaving, she suddenly paused and turned to look at the outer sect elder in charge of the dining hall.

“Elder Li, please have all three daily meals in the dining hall replaced with steamed buns.”

Elder Li was momentarily taken aback. “The disciples were already complaining that breakfast only consisted of steamed buns. They’ve been clamoring for meat pies and stuffed buns…”

“Ahem.” Qu Qingmiao’s expression turned slightly awkward. She lifted a hand to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear, as if to conceal the flicker of guilt in her eyes.

“The recent distribution of spirit stones for alchemy practice has been an enormous expense.”

Elder Li wanted to argue further—after all, a single mid-grade spirit stone was enough to feed the disciples meat pies for a whole month.

However, given that Qu Qingmiao was the sect master’s personal disciple and had already taken charge of the outer sect’s affairs, with a high chance of leading the entire Pill Cauldron Sect in the future, he couldn’t refute her outright.

Even so, he couldn’t help but mutter under his breath—

“But our signature crispy meat pies are obviously more popular… Who, besides Yu Youyou, would actually prefer steamed buns…”

….

Meanwhile, Yu Youyou, who was being mentioned by multiple people, sneezed several times in succession.

She rubbed her nose, and beside her, Qi Nanfeng pulled out a bowl of wontons as if performing a magic trick. “Fresh shrimp and fish roe wontons from Yellow Crane Tower. Want some? I had my family send them over.”

Yu Youyou didn’t hold back, accepting the bowl and eating as she climbed toward the peak where the inner sect assessment was taking place.

It had been so long since she’d had such a luxurious breakfast. So delicious!

Wanting to return Qi Nanfeng’s kindness, she pulled out a misshapen pill and offered it to him. “A Durian-Flavored Fasting Pill—I just finished refining it yesterday. Want to try?”

Qi Nanfeng, having never experienced the supposed delights of durian, looked utterly repulsed. “If you ever want to eat wontons again, take that thing back right now.”

Yu Youyou was a little disappointed.

So far, apart from the one time Su Yizhi accidentally ate that Blood-Spicy-Maw Fasting Pill, no one had been willing to try any of her fasting pills.

Was it really just because they looked ugly?

She couldn’t help it—her spiritual energy was limited. In order to achieve the most perfect medicinal effects, she had to sacrifice a little on appearance.

After finishing the wontons, she reached the mountain peak.

The inner sect assessment was finally about to begin.