Chapter 122: Refining Pills is Like Cooking

Mu Zixi still remembered that after the morning apprenticeship ceremony, Sang Lao had secretly whispered to her, "By the way, you have a yin mi senior brother."

Yin mi?

Master already has a disciple? I have a senior brother?

Master is so powerful, so this senior brother must be incredibly strong too!

Yin mi... Could it be that kind of mysterious man who hides in the shadows, keeps everything secret, is cool and handsome, treasures his words like gold, yet will step forward to give a comforting pat on the head after you make a mistake, and say with a magnetic voice, "It's fine, I've got you"?

Wow, that's amazing!

Mu Zixi was thrilled inside, but when she saw Xu Xiaoshou, her dreams shattered.

"Xu Xiaoshou, how could it be you?!"

This guy only matched her imagination in the "qi nan zi" part—everything else could be scrapped.

"What did you call him? Call him senior brother!" Sang Lao suddenly appeared in front of her and flicked her forehead with his knuckle, making the young girl clutch her head in pain.

"Senior brother..."

"Received curse, passive value."

Xu Xiaoshou burst out laughing, cupping a hand behind his ear. "What was that?"

Mu Zixi's eyes widened, her face turning pale with anger. "Xu Xiaoshou, don't push it too far!"

Sang Lao flicked her forehead again at the right moment, leaving Mu Zixi teary-eyed as she said, "Senior brother!"

"Very good." Xu Xiaoshou smiled broadly.

He was quite surprised that his junior sister turned out to be Mu Zixi.

Their first meeting was on the arena, right? The fierce girl had nearly blown him up, and her control was spot-on. If she hadn't gotten greedy at the end, he might have been thrown out of the ring.

But she clearly didn't have a xian tian rou shen. How did Sang Lao take her as a disciple?

Xu Xiaoshou was very curious.

Sang Lao didn't dwell on it. He waved his hand and said, "Both of you, sit down."

With that, he pulled out his three-legged cauldron. As soon as it appeared, Mu Zixi jumped in fright.

"What's it look like?" Xu Xiaoshou asked, leaning in with interest.

Sang Lao paused for a moment, not turning around, but his attention shifted there. He was still holding a grudge over Xu Xiaoshou's earlier comment that his dan ding looked like a bathtub.

"This thing?" Mu Zixi hesitated before saying, "Like... a dan ding?"

Sang Lao chuckled and glared at Xu Xiaoshou, about to speak, but the young girl continued, "But isn't it for refining pills? Why bring out this bathtub?" Her eyes were full of caution.

"Pfft!"

Xu Xiaoshou burst out laughing. "See? I told you it looks like a bathtub, old man, and you didn't believe me!"

"If it didn't have three legs..."

His voice trailed off because the old man's murderous glare was fixed on him.

Xu Xiaoshou awkwardly scratched his head and turned to Mu Zixi, lecturing, "Dan ding! This is a dan ding! You have no eye for it at all!"

Mu Zixi rolled her eyes. "Do you think I'm stupid?"

Sang Lao's eyelid twitched twice as he grumbled, "This is indeed a dan ding!"

"Uh..."

The young girl's face slowly filled with confusion, marked by three question marks, and she turned to glare fiercely at Xu Xiaoshou.

"Received curse, passive value, 2."

"Enough with the nonsense! I'll refine a batch of pills first. You two watch and see what you can learn." Sang Lao rolled up his sleeves.

He placed the large cauldron under the big red pearl overhead. With a wave of his hand, the milky-white surface began to heat up, turning faintly red.

Mu Zixi curiously leaned in. "It's turning red?"

Xu Xiaoshou glanced at Sang Lao, who clearly had no intention of explaining. As the senior brother, he took it upon himself.

He pointed to the empty space beneath the cauldron. "Do you see that?"

"What?" Mu Zixi tilted her head, rubbed her eyes, and saw nothing. "Air?"

Xu Xiaoshou: "..."

"Jin Zhao Tian Yan—Sang Lao must have mentioned it to you!"

He suddenly realized something. He had the passive skill "perception," but this young girl didn't.

"Use ling nian to look."

After breaking through to the Yuan Ting Jing in the Xian Tian San Jing, one opens a yuan ting in the brain domain, giving birth to ling nian.

It works similarly to "perception," but requires active use. Its only passive effect is probably danger warning.

Mu Zixi scanned with her ling nian and indeed saw the invisible Jin Zhao Tian Yan beneath the cauldron, leaving her in utter amazement.

Whoosh!

The sudden rise in temperature startled Mu Zixi. She looked down and saw Xu Xiaoshou's hand under her face, with the invisible flames on it.

He could do it too?

Just as she was about to express her surprise to ease the tension, a teasing voice reached her ears.

"Heh, you can't, can you?"

Xu Xiaoshou cheerfully withdrew his hand. "Don't worry, senior brother will teach you later!"

Mu Zixi was so angry her teeth itched. That awful Xu Xiaoshou!

"Received curse, passive value."

Xu Xiaoshou felt delighted inside. In the past, facing Sang Lao, he had been on edge and didn't dare act out, so his passive value barely increased.

Now, with a junior sister around, things were getting fun.

It's all passive value, after all. Even small gains are gains—drip by drip adds up!

Sang Lao was very focused when refining pills, even if it was just heating the dan ding; he didn't say a word.

Xu Xiaoshou had seen him do this once before and knew the drill. Drawing from his own knowledge, he pointed at the large cauldron and explained earnestly, "See this? This process is called 'heating up'."

"Refining pills can't be rushed from the start. It's like cooking—even without oil, you need to heat the pan first."

Sang Lao's mouth twitched. What an apt metaphor, but it somehow made him feel undervalued... He was refining pills here!

Mu Zixi looked skeptical, but seeing that Sang Lao didn't object, her expression turned to one of realization.

"Received suspicion, passive value."

"Received admiration, passive value."

"Received curse, passive value."

Hmm? A curse?

From that old man?

Xu Xiaoshou nodded contentedly, watching as Sang Lao began other actions. He grabbed a handful of herbs from his ring and started tossing them into the cauldron, repeating the process.

This operation stunned the young girl. So many herbs—could he refine them all?

Xu Xiaoshou knew exactly what she was thinking; he had been shocked the first time too.

"Don't doubt it; that's how refining pills works."

"Beginners can't do it this way, but the old man is strong and can multitask, handling multiple things at once."

"But that's not important!"

Xu Xiaoshou rummaged through his knowledge and continued his real-time commentary: "See that? That's Yin Shuang Hua—cold and bitter in nature, but sweet to eat; that's Qing Liao Guo, very fragrant and tasty..."

"And that Ping Yi Cao—from ancient times, it was used to feed..."

"Ahem!"

He caught himself.

"Anyway, put all these together, and it's not hard to guess what pill he's refining..."

Xu Xiaoshou suddenly looked strange. How did he figure that out?

"Yuan Ting Dan?"

He glanced at Sang Lao, who nodded in approval. This...

Xu Xiaoshou was baffled by his own deduction. He didn't even notice that the info panel from Mu Zixi had shifted from "received suspicion" to "received admiration."

This "cooking mastery" is impressive—it can deduce the pill from the ingredients' properties?

But his "cooking mastery" is only Hou Tian Lv.6. How could it figure out a Level Seven pill? Level Seven is already a xian tian level pill!

Could it be...

"Xian tian pills aren't all made from xian tian herbs; it's a mix of xian tian and hou tian materials, refined with special techniques, and finally condensed into a pill?"

Xu Xiaoshou ventured.

Sang Lao glanced sideways, surprised that Xu Xiaoshou had grasped so much.

This was worlds apart from their first meeting, when he only saw "you're refining pills" and "this is actually a dan ding."

Getting confirmation, Xu Xiaoshou excitedly clenched his fist and turned to his junior sister. "See? I told you!"

"Refining pills is like cooking—you don't need top-tier ingredients; as long as your technique and heat are right, with the right seasonings, you can achieve the goal."

He pointed at the large cauldron. "Look at this— even a hodgepodge can turn into a great meal!"

Sang Lao's hand trembled, nearly causing an explosion.

"Xu Xiaoshou, shut up!"

"Received request, passive value."