CHAPTER 19: The Unwanted Fasting Pills

Turns out, having thick skin is useful.

Pestered beyond endurance, Elder Ma finally gave in.

The moment the topic shifted to his expertise, his demeanor subtly changed. He casually flicked away the pile of crane bones before him and lazily lifted his gaze. “Since you want to learn, I’ll teach you.”

After a brief pause, he furtively added, “But if you actually kill someone, don’t tell them I taught you. Otherwise, the sect will dock my monthly stipend again. Just last month, I got my spirit stones cut for three whole years because of that incident with Junior Nephew Zhu!”

The last sentence was spoken with deep resentment.

Only after Yu Youyou solemnly swore an oath did Elder Ma finally relax.

“Actually, it’s not that difficult,” Elder Ma said, casually tossing a pill in his hand. “This little Grade Five pill is refined from hundreds of different spiritual herbs. To extract and fuse all those materials into a single pill, even the slightest mistake could lead to failure. Such terrifyingly precise control over spiritual energy—no other cultivator besides pill cultivators can achieve it.”

He absentmindedly brushed a finger over the crane feather Yu Youyou was holding.

In an instant, the pristine feather crumbled into a handful of ash.

Hah, did this little brat really think she could threaten him? Interesting.

“Refining, restructuring, fusing—every step requires utmost precision,” Elder Ma continued. “Now, what if a pill cultivator applies that level of control not to spiritual herbs, but to an enemy’s magic weapon? Or even to their body?”

He lifted his hand and released a strand of spiritual energy with an air of utter nonchalance.

The thread of energy was barely visible, so faint it seemed ready to dissipate with the wind.

And yet, the next moment—

Boom!

The floating mountain across from them trembled for a split second before erupting into a deafening explosion.

Then, with a massive, earth-shaking rumble, it began to collapse before their very eyes!

The trio stood in stunned silence.

Elder Ma, completely unfazed, said, “The world says that pill cultivators’ spiritual energy is only used for refining pills. Well, it’s simple—”

“Whether it’s a mountain or an enemy, just treat them as ingredients. Take the world as your cauldron and spiritual energy as your fire, then refine them piece by piece.”

But the profound atmosphere shattered in mere moments.

Not long after, a group of disciples in the Pill Cauldron Sect’s Internal Affairs Hall robes arrived at the scene.

With polite smiles, they addressed him, “Elder Ma, the Hidden Pill Mountain was just attacked. After our investigation, we confirmed that you were responsible. We’ve calculated the total damage—it amounts to 380,000 top-grade spirit stones. How do you plan to compensate for it?”

“…”

Elder Ma’s face froze.

But the worst was yet to come.

One of the Internal Affairs disciples caught sight of the unfinished crane claw.

After a brief moment of silence, he said nothing to Elder Ma.

Instead, he simply lowered his head and added another charge to the already lengthy invoice.

Elder Ma’s face turned deathly pale.

….

After hastily agreeing to meet again tomorrow, the impoverished Yu Youyou bid farewell to the even more impoverished Elder Ma.

All the way back, she kept her head down, frantically pondering how to refine Long Aotian into a pill.

The three of them returned to their respective courtyards, each lost in different thoughts.

Qi Nanfeng: Roasting a celestial crane only costs a hundred high-grade spirit stones in compensation? Kind of tempting.

Su Yizhi: A small floating mountain is already worth a fortune—how much would the big mountain I sleep on be worth?

Only Yu Youyou was still recalling the force of that palm strike.

Just as Elder Ma had said, pill cultivators had exceptional control over spiritual power. Though Yu Youyou was only in the Qi Refining stage, after refining pills for so long, she could easily shape her spiritual power into various forms.

She couldn’t sleep. Lying on her bed, she manipulated a thin wisp of spiritual power, forming the word “kill” above her head, then changing it to “hang.”

Yu Youyou narrowed her eyes and suddenly focused on a roof tile above her.

Then, following Elder Ma’s instructions, she covered it with spiritual power, as if refining a pill, breaking it down and refining it.

The tile shattered far faster than Yu Youyou had expected. In the blink of an eye, it crumbled into pieces and fell onto her head.

She casually rubbed the swelling caused by the impact, looked up, and saw that a large hole had been opened in the roof. Through the gap, endless starlight poured in.

Elder Ma was right! If pill cultivators were willing, with their constant practice in controlling spiritual power, they could indeed become the most powerful spell cultivators!

Rejuvenated by refining a single tile, Yu Youyou continued with a second.

Elder Ma could directly turn small objects into dust! Just breaking them into fragments wasn’t enough.

…

By the time Yu Youyou could instantly turn tiles into dust, it was already midnight.

She tilted her head back to look at the ceiling and belatedly realized that all the tiles in her bedroom had been refined away. Now, the sky was fully exposed, and countless mosquitoes and flying insects were buzzing freely around her ears.

Did she overdo it?

Scratching her head, Yu Youyou decided to spend the night in the adjacent room.

But as she stepped out of the bedroom, her eyes fell on the thick, round pillar, and she was instantly tempted.

Such a beautiful pillar… If she used her spiritual power to carve some designs into it, wouldn’t that look nice?

Yu Youyou reached out and touched the pillar.

A moment later, a deafening crash echoed across the inner disciple peak of the Pill Cauldron Sect. First, the load-bearing pillar turned to dust, then, as one part collapsed, the entire structure followed—her small courtyard was instantly reduced to ruins!

Yu Youyou crawled out of the rubble, not the least bit frightened. Instead, her face was filled with realization.

“I understand now,” she murmured to herself.

Qi Nanfeng and Su Yizhi, who had been startled awake by the noise, peeked over their respective walls, both stunned.

“Damn! Xiaoyu, where’s your courtyard?”

Yu Youyou suddenly looked up. “I get it now. He wasn’t able to destroy that floating mountain by refining the whole thing with spiritual power, but by refining its weakest point!”

Just like her courtyard—she absolutely couldn’t cover the entire place with spiritual power, but once the load-bearing pillar collapsed, the whole thing came down.

Qi Nanfeng had no idea what she was talking about. All he saw was Yu Youyou crawling out of the ruins, beaming with excitement, carrying a few medicine boxes she had dug out from the wreckage, and striding briskly toward him.

“I’m staying at your place tonight.”

Before the words had fully left her lips, she had already vaulted over his wall.

From the other side, Su Yizhi shouted, “Why are you going to his courtyard in the middle of the night?”

“To sleep!”

As for why she chose Qi Nanfeng’s place—his courtyard was filled with high-end furniture. Forget the extravagant bedroom; even the resting couch was covered with soft cloud brocade. Su Yizhi, on the other hand, was basically a replica of Yu Youyou—his courtyard was so empty it looked like it had been looted.

Not far away, Qu Qingmiao and several senior brothers and sisters who had rushed over at the commotion exchanged complicated looks.

“Something… seems off about them?”

Qu Qingmiao remained silent for a moment, trying to defend them. “Don’t jump to conclusions. They’re just kids.”

Just then, Su Yizhi, after witnessing Yu Youyou vault over the wall, could no longer sit still.

“Why didn’t you invite me if you’re all sleeping together? I’m coming too!”

He flipped over two walls in quick succession and followed after them.

He couldn’t just let those two be alone together. If they secretly exchanged pill-refining techniques, he’d be left even further behind—wouldn’t that mean he’d drop from Su Second to Su Third?

In the distance, the senior brothers and sisters’ expressions grew even more complex.

“Senior Sister… something really seems off about them.”

Qu Qingmiao: “…Yeah.”

….

Yu Youyou lay on the soft couch outside the bedroom, legs crossed, sharing the insights she had gained.

The other two sat cross-legged on the floor below, munching on exquisite pastries from Master Chef Li of Yellow Crane Tower, listening in confusion as Yu Youyou explained how she had managed to refine an entire courtyard to nothingness.

But combat skills… needed hands-on practice.

She eagerly suggested, “Come on, let’s spar!”

Su Yizhi, now at the peak of Qi Refining, looked down on her. “I’m afraid I’ll make you cry if I go all out.”

Qi Nanfeng, who was the tallest and most physically robust, dismissed the idea outright. “Forget it. I could take you down with one hand.”

Neither of them was interested in fighting Yu Youyou—not because they had some rule against hitting girls. In the cultivation world, female cultivators who could crush men were everywhere; fighting was just part of daily life.

The real reason was… she just looked too delicate.

Over the past six months, Yu Youyou’s complexion had improved significantly. The once gaunt cheeks had filled out slightly, making her bright and clear eyes appear even more striking.

Whenever she tilted her head up to look at them, it always felt like being stared at by a curious little kitten or puppy.

What once seemed unsettlingly sickly had transformed into a frail charm that made people feel protective. But…

Sure enough, still as weak as ever—one punch and he’d go flying.

Since the two brothers refused to spar with her, Yu Youyou lay back down on the soft couch.

Looking up, she noticed that the tiles on Qi Nanfeng’s place had been replaced with expensive glazed ones, not to mention the various extravagant ornaments inside that looked like they’d cost a fortune if broken.

Forget it, she couldn’t train here.

After some thought, she suddenly said, “I’m going to the black market to find someone to spar with.”

“Are you sure you won’t get beaten to death?” The two people on the ground turned to look at her.

“The black market has rules—no killing allowed.” Besides, she was sure those gambling addicts wouldn’t go that far.

Yu Youyou was frighteningly decisive. Once she made up her mind, she immediately grabbed the small bundle she had salvaged from the ruins and bolted out of the sect’s gates.

In the end, all three of them went to the black market together.

Su Yizhi initially thought Yu Youyou was setting up a stall again, so he even brought along the new medicinal pills he had prepared for sale. But unexpectedly, she led them straight toward the towering building that reeked of blood—the underground arena.

Severed limbs flew through the air, ancient bloodstains marred the tables, and the burly men, each over eight feet tall, made the three of them look like children. The eerie laughter and agonized screams never ceased.

The two inexperienced youths had barely stepped into the place when numerous cold, assessing gazes locked onto them, making their muscles tense with unease.

Worse still, several men carrying blades and swords, radiating killing intent, strode toward them.

Just as their scalps tingled with apprehension, Yu Youyou stepped forward with a frown and pushed aside the blood-stained broadswords in the burly men’s hands.

“Stop measuring, it’s me.”

Honestly, this was getting ridiculous. Every time these gambling addicts saw someone short, they’d immediately whip out their weapons to measure their height, trying to figure out if it was her!

The moment her familiar voice rang out, the gamblers’ attitudes did a complete 180, and they put away their weapons with grinning faces.

“You’re looking even more heroic! We almost mistook that shorty for you!”

Su Yizhi, who was being pointed at: “…”

For some reason, his knee—something he hadn’t thought about in a long time—suddenly started aching again.

The rogue cultivators in the black market were exceptionally welcoming, leading them to the best seats and serving the finest food and wine.

After offering low-cost treatments for over a dozen severed limbs and healing countless sword wounds, Yu Youyou had become a distinguished guest at the underground arena.

For rogue cultivators, finding a healer was incredibly difficult. They had no sect affiliation or backing, while most medical cultivators came from prestigious families and disdained associating with rough, lowly cultivators. As a result, most rogue cultivators had no choice but to purchase overpriced pills or simply endure their injuries and wait for them to heal naturally.

This was precisely why that Master Shen Gun could charge such an outrageous fee, yet still be revered by the black market cultivators.

The moment word spread that she had arrived, even the gamblers still engaged in bloody battles rushed over. Some shoved various red cloth talismans into her hands, others inquired about fresh medicinal pills for sale.

Ba Dao’s subordinates were particularly enthusiastic this time—not for pain-relief pills, but for fasting pills!

“Master, do you have any fasting pills left? I want everything except the cilantro-flavored ones!”

“Master, give me a whole box of fasting pills! Only the cilantro-flavored ones!”

“I’d like some of those… what was it, red wine-flavored ones? Oh right, Master, what exactly is red wine? Is it a type of wine dyed red with blood?”

…

Cultivators might be used to hardship, but that didn’t mean they enjoyed eating fasting pills that tasted like cockroaches. Yet fasting pills were mainly consumed by low-level cultivators, making them completely irrelevant to higher-level cultivators. Because of this, for countless years, no one had even bothered to improve their taste.

In the chaotic flurry of voices, Yu Youyou’s supply of fasting pills was snatched up in no time.

Qi Nanfeng and Su Yizhi, who had just witnessed this horrifying scene: “…”

Yu Youyou turned to them. “They’re actually quite good. Are you sure you don’t want to try one?”

The two exchanged glances before hesitantly tossing a pill into their mouths.

And then—

“Gag!“

“Gag!“

“Oh, my bad.” Yu Youyou scratched her head and glanced at the label on the bottom of the box.

“I forgot, this box was the unwanted ‘fermented intestines and raw fish’ flavor.”