"Young master!" the trio arrived at the spot Qin Lan fought against the Mutated Foul Essence King a while ago.
"En. Did you guys found anything valuable from the Foul Essence Ant's nest?" Qin Lan asked. Since the said nest belongs to one of a Quasi Fourth-Level Demon Soldier, the valuables inside shouldn't be too shabby in his opinion.
"Yes, young master. We've found twenty larvae, a collection of over a hundred Demonic Blood Oranges, ten Fiery Pear Flowers, and close to fifteen corpses of second-level Yao Beast." Lu Qing Yun reported.
"There are also ten bottles of Foul Essence Silver Ink," Lu Yi added.
"Good job." Qin Lan accepted the Qiankun Pouch from Lu Qing Yun and stored the Mutated Foul Essence King's corpses. With everything now handled, all they need to do now is to look for a place to stay tonight.
Qin Lan decided to move further into the border that separates the Inner and Outer forest to try their luck at night.
(I guess its time for me to concoct something for my three disciples to reward them for their merits)
Qin Lan gently stepped on top of some leaves as he pushed himself to ascend through the sea of forest. Taking a quick glance at his surrounding, he quickly concludes the distance between them and the forest border from the above.
(Sixty miles...)
"Let's go. We should look for a cave where I can refine something peacefully." Qin Lan said as he returned to the ground.
"Understood, young master." Huo Zunjie pushed the wheelchair forward as they answered Qin Lan. Removing his Pharmacist Lu's attire and changed into his usual young master's appearance again, Qin Lan calmly sat on top of the wheelchair as they proceed.
It didn't take them too long to arrive at the side of a hill within the Western Demonic Forest.
"I'll go and look around. Qing Yun will accompany our young master. Huo Zunjie, you'll search for firewood and some food." Lu Yi allocated something to each of them to do, except for Qin Lan.
After making sure that the small cave has nothing extraordinary, Lu Yi bowed towards Qin Lan and left the cave. Huo Zunjie repeated what his senior brother did and tagged along.
Only Qin Lan and Lu Qing Yun are left inside the dimly lit cave.
"Qing Yun, you should get a rest now. Being on alert at all times is a burden to your spirit and mind." Qin Lan pointed two fingers at a flat surface near where his wheelchair is parked.
Since there's nothing dangerous inside nor outside of this cave, it is a luxury time for Lu Qing Yun to recuperate.
"But the young master will be..." Lu Qing Yun is feeling grateful for Qin Lan's care.
"Just rest. I'm going to prepare something from what we've found in the past few days." Qin Lan insisted that Lu Qing Yun rest while he's busy with his own matter.
"Then... Qing Yun will take a quick break as ordered by the young master," she went to the spot Qin Lan pointed and sat in a meditating position. A set of Flesh Mending Pill and Flesh Refining Pill is taken to hasten the effect of her recovery.
(Let's check what's available inside the Qiankun Pouch now)
Qin Lan calmly injected some Spiritual Energy into the Qiankun Pouch as he started to inspect its content. At the same time, he withdrew the ingredients he might need later as he brushes through some of them on his "inspection."
"Changshen Dew,"
"Kuangshan Medicinal Base Mixture,"
"Foul Essence Silver Ink,"
"Infant Yao Beast,"
"Fresh blood from three different Quasi Fourth-Level Flesh Refining Yao Beast,"
"Oh! Before I forget, let's feed the eight of you with a drop of Changshen Dew first." Qin Lan poured a drop of the miraculous essence into the Yellowtail kits as he moves forward with it.
"This will be sufficient for me to refine a decent cultivation pill for them to advance their cultivation." Qin Lan placed the five ingredients by his side as he fired the cauldron using his Spiritual Energy.
Qin Lan started his concoction process by forcing the fresh blood of three Quasi fourth-level Yao Beasts into the larvae of Foul Essence Ant they found from the nest. Although the same procedure can also be done using the Yellowtail's infants, Qin Lan deliberately rejected this option.
That's because a matured Yellowtail Fox Demon could grow up to the size of a horse-pulled wagon. Having eight of such a workforce serving the Qin Household is far more valuable than a nest of Foul Essence Ants, in his opinion.
Of course, that's also due to his current needs.
Cultivating a nest of Foul Essence Ants yields a better profit, but the effort and time required may increase substantially. Furthermore, no one in the Qin Household is talented in the Department of Talisman and Amulets except him.
The three larvae bloated into a ball of blood immediately after it was fed.
Qin Lan then fed the Changshen Dew to alleviate the side effect of consuming the Quasi fourth-level blood as the process continues five times. The Foul Essence Silver Ink is also used occasionally to aid the process.
Then, one of the bloated larvae filled with the blood from the Flameless Lizard Demon Beast is placed inside the cauldron filled with the Kuangshan Medicinal Base Mixture, the uncoagulated form of his Flesh Mending Pill.
Spiritual Energy is injected around the lid as Qin Lan forcefully seals the cauldron and increases his flame's intensity. A Boiling Talisman is also added to hasten up the process.
"BAM!" both of Qin Lan's hands shook as the bloated larvae about the size of an infant's head explode inside the cauldron. The refined concoction mixture is then poured into a bottle while the cauldron is cleaned again to repeat the process.
The larvae with the blood of Mutated Foul Essence King came next. It then followed by the last one, which used the blood from Silver Canis, Battering Assault Ant, and adult Yellowtail Fox Demon Beast instead.
Qin Lan then mixed the three concoctions together while focusing on controlling the flames from his Spiritual Energy.
"Huh..." sweat as large as a bead of marble rolled down from his temple as Qin Lan maintain his focus. Although his previous lifetime of experience in Pill Refining is more than sufficient, it could only compensate him for the time taken and efficiency.
An ample supply of Spiritual Energy to form the cultivation pill is the most vital factor in a pill-refining process.
(Flesh Refining Pill, come here!)
Qin Lan poured a bottle of Flesh Refining Pills into his mouth and quickly turned them into a supply of Spiritual Energy.
One bottle...
Two bottles...
Four bottles...
The supply of Flesh Refining Pill by his side exhausted faster than the concoction evaporates and thickens.
"Eh?" Qin Lan's hand found nothing by his side as he waved his hand around. But then, a pair of gentle hands held Qin Lan's back as a bottle of fragrant medicinal pills are fed to his mouth.
"Young master, I'm here," Lu Qing Yun came right on the time he needs. Qin Lan devoured the bottle of pills in her hand and continue.
Four bottles later, a sweet medicinal fragrance with a tinge of aroma from Yao Beast's blood came out from the cauldron. It was a pot of successfully refined cultivation pills!
"We're back!" Lu Yi came back with a couple of rabbits on his shoulder.
"Eh?" he caught a sniff of the medicinal fragrance as soon as he stepped inside of the cave. Following behind him is Huo Zunjie, who's reacted similarly to Lu Yi.
The pair of martial brothers stared at each other and quickly made their way into the depth of the cave. Their heartbeat is faster than usual as they're getting excited.
"What happened?" Lu Yi asked as he was greeted with the sight of empty medicinal bottles littered on the ground. His young master seems exhausted from working too hard, which is likely came from this medicinal fragrance.
"You're all in luck." Qin Lan smiled. His hand reaches the cauldron to remove the lid and revealed a pot of eight cultivation pills within.
Each of the pills carried a beautiful crimson luster with black veins, which only appeared occasionally on the highest quality pills.
Qin Lan rested his head on his wheelchair for a little longer as he kept them in suspense. The trio quickly tidied the place around them as they patiently wait for their young master to catch up to his breath.
"This is the Precelestial Realm Restructuring Pill. It is a treasured medicine that only works on those below the Middle-Attainment Rank in each layer." Qin Lan smiled and poured five into a special medicinal bottle Lu Yi prepared for him.
"Precelestial Realm Restructuring Pill? What miraculous medicinal effect does it have?" all of them stopped what they were doing as Qin Lan flicked the crimson luster pill onto their hand.
"Taking the first pill will improve your perception and cultivation speed by double. The second pill will further double what you have, and the third will quadruple it." Qin Lan's word is like a bolt of lightning into their ears.
"That's..." they're speechless the moment Qin Lan explained the miraculous effect.
"Below the Middle-Attainment Rank in each layer? Does that means we can only take three of them in our life?" Huo Zunjie asked.
"Correct. The effect would be better the lower your cultivation is. After this, I'll follow our teacher's teaching and teach each of you the secret of our Kuangshan Lu Sect, the Mistral Foundation Art." Qin Lan answered Huo Zunjie.
The trio smiled as they heard what Qin Lan said. They're finally allowed to practice the Mistral Foundation Art that Qin Lan has been using day and night.
But before any of them managed to celebrate, a knocking sound came from the wall behind Qin Lan.
Very soon, a finger managed to dig through the wall separating both sides. The gap steadily opened to the point the faces of those across the other side can be clearly seen.
"Huh? Fourth sister Qin Qin?" Qin Lan was shocked to see Qin Qin on the other side, with her bleeding finger that's likely caused by forcefully digging through the stone walls.