“Consider this a token of appreciation for helping me out,” Nan Zhi said with a slight raise of her eyebrow, casually tossing a bottle of Blood Supplementing Pills to Qin Yue. “I heard you've taken on a new mission. Stay safe out there.”
“Though I don’t know much about alchemy, seeing how effortlessly you handle it, Little Aunt, you must be exceptionally gifted in the alchemical Dao. No wonder the Lord Commissioner values you so much.”
Catching the jade bottle, Qin Yue carefully tucked it into her storage bag and reminded her, “If the people outside learn that you can refine pills, they might be reckless enough to take desperate measures. I won't be by your side for a while, so be careful yourself.”
At the very least, staying at the base shielded Nan Zhi from many covetous gazes across the world's various factions.
Nan Zhi simply smiled without replying.
In truth, there was another crucial detail she hadn't mentioned.
With the Savior's Halo, her alchemy success rate was one hundred percent, and she could consistently produce Immortal Grade pills entirely free of pill toxins.
While the cultivation world would tear itself apart, piling mountains of corpses and oceans of blood just over a single flawless supreme pill, she could easily whip up a dozen cauldrons of immortal pills every single day!
The Detoxification Pill needed by Lady Dragon Girl was a fifth-tier pill that required ten thousand alchemy proficiency to unlock.
Aside from her daily cultivation, as long as she remained diligent, she would soon be able to refine the immortal pill to cure the Black Mist Poison.
Data-driven cultivation—this was the trump card that allowed Nan Zhi’s cultivation speed to vastly outpace other practitioners, and it was her true foundation for saving the world.
In the real world, the alchemical legacy was long broken, leaving people unable to distinguish pill grades, let alone tell ordinary pills from immortal pills.
Even if they noticed a discrepancy later, Nan Zhi could simply chalk it up to secret arts of the Demon Suppression Division.
If the people of the Four Provinces Continent knew that at a mere Foundation Establishment cultivation, she could refine immortal pills that only an immortal's flawless body could produce...
The Demon Lords of the four directions and the giants of the righteous path would likely cast aside all dignity and disregard karmic retribution and the shackles of the Heavenly Dao just to abduct her.
She alone was worth ten million Alchemists.
With one flame and one cauldron, she could foster an invincible army of thousands through pills and draw countless cultivators willing to lay down their lives in allegiance.
That one person could rival an army of millions was by no means an empty boast.
...
With the alchemy crisis resolved, Nan Zhi threw herself wholeheartedly into the great endeavor of pill refinement; day and night completely lost all meaning to her.
Rain or shine, she refined ten cauldrons of pills a day, steadily gaining ten proficiency points.
Nan Zhi never bothered hiding her alchemy process—she had no fear of recipes leaking or someone stealing her craft.
She only refined the lowest-tier Blood Supplementing Pills and Qi-Supplementing Pills. In the cultivation world, these were dirt-common basic pills whose recipes were known even to three-year-olds on the street:
The former was refined from hemostatic grass, while the latter merely required purifying spirit-storing grass.
The items the authorities had brought back from the Yellow River Secret Realm already included the recipes for both pills.
As for alchemy techniques?
Every Alchemist had their own distinct technique; it was not something one could master just by watching.
Moreover, Nan Zhi relied on the alchemy system to grind proficiency. Those who learned her principles might live, but those who merely copied her form would perish.
—Unless the one trying to copy her also possessed a cheat.
Nor did she neglect her cultivation. Each day, aside from refining pills and training Dajin and Xiaojin, she spent her time meditating, practicing techniques, studying formations, and organizing pill recipes.
When hungry, she had inedia pills; when tired, a single shichen of meditation and rest was enough to restore her vigor a hundredfold.
Whenever she opened her eyes, there was only cultivation, cultivation, and more cultivation.
Whenever she moved a muscle, it was all about refining pills, drawing arrays, or meditating to regulate her breath.
Her intense grind indirectly drove the researchers of the Special Investigation Bureau to push themselves just as relentlessly.
The Special Investigation Bureau intended to cultivate a cadre of official Alchemists. Yet after numerous attempts, they discovered that relying solely on scientific technology was insufficient to replicate Nan Zhi's success.
The Blood Supplementing Pills they produced could only be called “extracts,” yielding no effect whatsoever upon consumption.
This left quite a few people rather disappointed.
After going around in circles, it all came down to having a proper alchemy cauldron and pill fire.
Fortunately, Huaxia possessed vast land and abundant resources. Even though the orthodoxies of the various sects were broken and their legacies silenced, artifacts akin to the Danxia Cauldron were still preserved as historical relics.
Clear historical records from the Tang, Song, and Ming dynasties documented Qi Refinement practitioners refining pills in pursuit of longevity. One ancient cauldron after another was transported to the island, many of which had once been museum exhibits.
Finally, following the success of the eighth exploration into the Yellow River Secret Realm, several fighter jets secretly escorted a large shipment of supplies onto the island.
Among them was a strange emerald bird clamped by spirit-locking shackles and locked inside a specialized iron cage.
Its plumage was a dazzling, vibrant emerald green—a shade richer than anything the finest master painter could ever mix. Its slender, razor-sharp crimson beak resembled that of a hummingbird, yet its body was as large as an ostrich.
Most peculiar of all, a soft, silk-like tail feather trailed from its rear, ending in a fiercely blazing cluster of emerald fire.
Hearing of it, Nan Zhi went over out of curiosity and immediately recognized the bird’s origins:
“Is that a Min bird? Legend says this bird lives in the West Mountain and can manipulate fire. Raising it in your home is said to prevent fires.”
The military officer in charge of the escort happened to be an acquaintance.
Yu Lan.
She seemed to have been promoted, dressed in a crisp olive-green military uniform that accentuated her resolute and valiant demeanor.
When someone quietly introduced Nan Zhi's identity to her, Yu Lan’s eyes shifted. Unaccustomed to pleasantries, she forced an awkward smile and said dryly:
“Correct. According to our experts' analysis, this demon beast is very likely the Min bird recorded in the 《Classic of Mountains and Seas》. The fire on its tail can reach temperatures of up to a thousand degrees Celsius.”
Unlike Qin Yue, Yu Lan was far more stern and lacked skill in polite social banter.
Consequently, as soon as she finished speaking, both fell into mutual silence.
Though Nan Zhi had met Yu Lan before, it had been under her “Mountain Lord” cover identity. Remembering something, she casually asked as if in passing:
“I’ve been cultivating on the island all this time. Has the government already begun large-scale exploration of the Yellow River Secret Realm?”
“The first seven secret realm expeditions ended in failure due to insufficient understanding of the realm and an inability to deploy heavy firepower,” Yu Lan stated methodically, devoid of any unnecessary chatter. “The eighth expedition has now unfolded in an orderly manner. Although difficulties abound and resource gathering is fraught with danger, this time, our side has brought the fifty percent share that belongs to the Demon Suppression Division.”
Fifty percent?
Slightly surprised, Nan Zhi nonetheless took the paper document from the person beside her and perused it carefully.
The authorities had actually taken the initiative to raise the offer, proposing to jointly develop the Yellow River Secret Realm with the Demon Suppression Division.
There were two profit-sharing proposals:
First, members of the Demon Suppression Division would not participate in the development and exploration operations at all; resources gathered from the Yellow River Secret Realm would be split thirty-seventy, with all costs for infrastructure, rescue, and development borne entirely by the authorities for a term of one hundred years.
Second, the Demon Suppression Division would periodically dispatch a set number of demon suppressors to the Yellow River Secret Realm exploration team to participate in joint development; resources produced from the realm would be split fifty-fifty, likewise for a term of one hundred years.
This was a proposal made with immense sincerity.
The Yellow River Secret Realm spanned a vast territory riddled with perils. The Locust God altar alone was fraught with deadly traps at every step, to say nothing of the surviving Four Provinces cultivators and myriad demon beasts left behind.
The first proposal essentially meant that for the next hundred years, the Demon Suppression Division could obtain a fixed thirty percent of resources to nurture demon suppressors without lifting a finger.
The second proposal merely specified dispatching a fixed number of demon suppressors, with no other demands attached.
As for this expedition’s fifty percent share...
Nan Zhi knew very well that it was likely linked to her rescue operation in Tailande as well as her recent performance in alchemy.
Offering fifty percent of the resources upfront was not coercion, but an enticing benefit to demonstrate goodwill.
“Though this matter may seem straightforward, it is not something I can decide on my own. I will send word to my master as soon as possible and let the venerable elder make the final call.”
Tucking the contract away, Nan Zhi smiled faintly.
It seemed she needed to refine the Nether Cold Fire as soon as possible and accelerate the debut of her new cover identity, “Mu Changsheng.”
After all, she still had over a hundred Lottery Tickets in hand.
If not now, when?
Rate on N.U.
