"Damn it!" Bai Shengyi suddenly said.
After the previous commotion, the Samsara Brush was a little tired. "What's wrong?"
Bai Shengyi said, "I forgot about the black mist clump in my dantian!"
As she spoke, she hurriedly checked on the Dream-Entwining Vine's condition, only to find that the Dream-Entwining Vine and the black mist clump occupied separate territories, neither interfering with the other. Bai Shengyi was somewhat surprised. Just as she was about to take another look, she noticed someone approaching.
"Fellow Daoist Bai, I finally found you!" Luo Feihua exclaimed with surprise upon seeing Bai Shengyi, her eyes lighting up as she hurried towards Bai Shengyi.
Bai Shengyi's gaze flickered slightly.
As Luo Feihua drew closer, she suddenly raised her hand and swung a whip!
"Crack!"
The spiritual whip landed on Luo Feihua. Her smile instantly became stiff, and then, her entire body shattered into pieces like a cracked mirror.
"The little girl is quite perceptive," a hoarse voice rasped, like ancient phlegm stuck for centuries, making the ears feel wronged.
Where the street had been empty moments before, a figure emerged from the swirling mist – an old woman shrouded in a black hat appeared before Bai Shengyi.
Bai Shengyi frowned, her body tensed with vigilance. "Who are you? Is Feihua in your hands?"
"Don't be nervous, little girl. This old woman is here to help you. The demon cultivator you're dealing with is a Golden Core cultivator, and your friend is also in his hands. Only by making the Spirit-Sealing Powder can you defeat him and rescue your friend."
Bai Shengyi watched as the old woman vanished. She found herself in a room of about ten square meters. There was no sign of the old woman or the street anywhere around her.
"Another formation within a formation? What's going on! Didn't Jin Lingyun say that defeating the demon cultivator was possible after leaving the illusion? Why is there another trial? Could he be behind this?"
Bai Shengyi frowned slightly. First, she conjured a mental shield to protect herself thoroughly, then she pulled out the Dream-Entwining Vine. "It's time for you to show your worth. Help me examine this room first."
"Of course, Master, I'll do a good job!" The Dream-Entwining Vine responded happily, completely unconcerned about being underutilized for a spiritual plant that created illusions.
Soon, the Dream-Entwining Vine finished its examination. "Master, other than spatial and temporal fluctuations, this room is fine. As for the fluctuations, I'm not entirely sure. How about letting the boss help you take a look?"
Bai Shengyi glanced at the Dream-Entwining Vine with a knowing smile. "Do you owe your boss a beating?"
So, this wasn't just a green tea, but also a scheming lotus?
The Dream-Entwining Vine seemed to be adept at reading people. Seeing the change in Bai Shengyi's expression, she quickly changed her approach, feigning retreat to advance. "It's Little Vine Leaf's fault. How could I trouble the boss with such a matter? Master, I'll go find a way to confirm it right away."
After a while, the Dream-Entwining Vine said, "Little Vine Leaf has confirmed it. This is an illusion formation, Master."
Bai Shengyi nodded, then began to examine the room's furnishings.
The most conspicuous item was the books lining half of a wall. Besides that, there was only a large cauldron, and then nothing else.
Bai Shengyi pulled a book from the bookshelf. It was titled "Basic Alchemy for Shenqi Academy Scholars"...
Unbeknownst to Bai Shengyi, in the real Qianlian City, on the second floor of the Chongya Restaurant, a group of people were gathered, watching the competition between the three kingdoms' trial-takers.
"Ximen Hongchun scored three points! Truly worthy of being the heir of the Ximen family this generation. Compared to him, Li Shiqing's performance isn't that impressive."
"You can't say that. It's only been a short while; perhaps Li Shiqing will catch up later. After all, this heir of the Li family is a once-in-a-century, top-tier dual spiritual root."
"Yo! Stop arguing and look at this unlucky doll! She actually entered the assessment illusion set by that madman of Qianxiao Peak!" a middle-aged cultivator suddenly exclaimed, pointing at the nearby Projection Mirror.
However, despite his surprise, he was quite gloating.
Wen Jiuyin walked over and frowned. "What's going on? Didn't Mu Xing notify the trial officer in charge of that area to cancel the Qianxiao Peak assessment?"
Because Shenqi Academy's various peaks participated in setting the test questions this year, some peaks overestimated the trial-takers' abilities and created extremely harsh trial tasks.
However, after discussions throughout the academy, the three most difficult ones were eventually canceled. The illusion task of refining Spirit-Sealing Powder from Qianxiao Peak was one of them.
Wen Jiuyin stood up. "I'll go inform Mu Xing and have him investigate."
"Is that necessary? Senior Brother Wen, she's just a minor cultivator who hasn't even enrolled yet." Yun Ying recognized that this was the area where her disciple Jin Lingyun was serving as the trial officer yesterday.
She said coldly, "Perhaps this girl foolishly forced her way in herself?"
Wen Jiuyin couldn't stand Yun Ying's sophistry and frowned. "Junior Sister Yun, your words are excessive. She..."
"Senior Brother Wen, look quickly!" someone in the room suddenly interrupted Wen Jiuyin, their voice filled with excitement.
Wen Jiuyin instinctively looked at the Projection Mirror and saw that the girl had already opened the furnace and was retrieving the medicine!
"This! Has this girl studied alchemy before?" Wen Jiuyin was also very excited, staring at her with eagerness.
After all, on Shenqi Continent, alchemists were professions as important as elixir masters. While cultivators didn't easily fall ill after starting their cultivation, once they did, ordinary mortal medicines were useless. In severe cases, it could affect their life, and in minor cases, it could hinder their cultivation.
The Spirit-Sealing Powder to be refined in this stage was a mid-grade spirit medicine of the second tier.
Bai Shengyi hadn't expected that by simply trying to refine the basic medicine for treating fever in cultivators, the Cold-Breaking Powder, according to the book, she would actually manage to do it, albeit barely.
She was unaware of how rare such talent was on Shenqi Continent, nor did she feel smug. Instead, she flipped through the book, comparing it to the Cold-Breaking Powder in the medicine furnace.
"Although it's only a low-grade, first-tier product, it's still a finished product, right?" Bai Shengyi muttered to herself. "But with such a good opportunity, wouldn't I be foolish not to glean more knowledge about alchemy?"
Thinking this, Bai Shengyi immediately made up her mind: she would read first, then refine medicine.
Due to her mental strength, her reading speed was incredibly fast. She skimmed through books, reading a passage at a glance, and then handed them over to the Dream-Entwining Vine for organization.
Although there were many books, most of them were basic pharmacological knowledge, such as the types of spiritual plants and which ingredients could be used in medicine. Thus, in just two hours, she finished reading all the books.
Afterward, Bai Shengyi stood up and began to refine the Spirit-Sealing Powder according to what she remembered from the books.
It wasn't smooth sailing at first.
Since she wasn't a proper fire spiritual root, her fire spiritual power couldn't last long. Refining Spirit-Sealing Powder was much more complex than Cold-Breaking Powder, and she always ran out of fire just before success.
"Master, it looks like there are fire stones under that cauldron," the Dream-Entwining Vine whispered.
Bai Shengyi paused. Damn it! She had forgotten. These illusions should be random. It's impossible for every cultivator entering an illusion to have a fire spiritual root, right? If there were no fire stones, wouldn't those without fire spiritual roots be trapped and die in the illusion?
She had truly been blind to what was right in front of her.
"Thank you."
Bai Shengyi said, and then, with the help of the fire stones, she began refining again.
This time, it was finally successful!
Bai Shengyi looked at the Spirit-Sealing Powder in her hand, as fine and refreshing as pearl powder, and felt an immense sense of accomplishment.
"We're out of the illusion, Master!"
The Dream-Entwining Vine eagerly nestled close to Bai Shengyi, tentatively coiling around Bai Shengyi's wrist. Seeing that Bai Shengyi had no reaction, it soon transformed into a jade green vine bracelet and wrapped around her wrist.
"Master's hand feels so comfortable," the Dream-Entwining Vine said dependently, the entire vine pressing against Bai Shengyi's skin.
Bai Shengyi: ... Should she be fortunate that Little Samsara was currently asleep and didn't see this?