"Haaah..."
With a long, weary exhale, Su Min flicked her wrist, and the fierce flames before her snuffed out instantly. The alchemical furnace, already warped and glowing from the intense heat, seemed to sigh in relief, though the reprieve was fleeting.
Crack!
The very next second, the battered furnace gave up entirely, splitting apart with a sharp sound and scattering dark shards across the stone floor.
"Success. Three Qi-Inducing Pills."
She ignored the broken pieces, her focus entirely on the three pills resting in her palm. They were perfectly round and lustrous, emitting a rich, soothing medicinal fragrance. These were unmistakably top-grade Qi-Inducing Pills. If their existence became known, it would drive countless cultivators to madness with desire.
"First, I will deal with those two," she murmured to herself. "Then I will need absolute quiet to break through. After that, I can finally focus on refining spiritual artifacts. Ten years should be enough."
Soon, the two men returned to her small courtyard.
"This is the second-grade Detoxification Pill I crafted," Su Min said, placing a jade-green pill into Zhao Yiping's trembling hand. "As for whether it can fully purge the poison from your body... I cannot say for certain."
He swallowed it without a moment's hesitation.
"Hurry and guide the medicinal energy. Beyond this, may fortune be on your side," she added, her voice calm though she felt a flicker of uncertainty. She was not exaggerating. His survival truly was a matter of luck. Not only had he recklessly forced a breakthrough, accelerating the toxin's spread, but he had also apparently absorbed new poisons in his battles. His body was a tangled mess of corruption.
The merchant guild representative silently stepped back. As a mere early-stage Body Refining cultivator, he knew his place was to observe. He was also deeply curious. Their own guild's best physicians had written Zhao Yiping off, saying the man should simply go home and prepare for death. To see a cure in action was a rare sight.
As Zhao Yiping closed his eyes and activated his cultivation technique, the faint, sickly black patterns visible beneath his skin began to recede. The pill was clearly working, forcefully suppressing the deep-seated poison.
"Hmm?"
Su Min, who had been watching intently, suddenly frowned. In a fluid motion, she sidestepped away from him.
Spurt—!
The next instant, Zhao Yiping convulsed and coughed up a mouthful of inky-black blood. It splattered onto the grassy ground, sizzling and burning tiny holes into the earth while releasing a sharp, acrid stench that stung the nostrils.
A cold sweat dripped down the merchant's forehead. This is beyond extreme, he thought, his face pale.
"Tsk... Looks like it is mostly cleared," Su Min said, moving back to check Zhao Yiping's pulse after the fit passed. "But the damage to your meridians and organs runs deep. From now on... you will have to live with it." She met his weary gaze. "And do not hope for some miracle cure later. You have delayed the poison for too long."
"This junior understands," Zhao Yiping replied, his voice hoarse but steady. He sounded resigned, but not broken. Given how far the poison had spread, this outcome was far better than he had any right to hope for. "It is already more than enough. The time I have left... I have my own plans for it." He let out a long, shaky sigh.
"Since you provided so many rare materials," Su Min added, pulling a small porcelain vial from her sleeve and tossing it to him, "I will give you one more Detoxification Pill. If the poison flares up critically again, swallow this. It should save your life one last time."
"Thank you," he said, clutching the vial. "Even if I do not use it, it will be invaluable for those who come after me." He managed a wry smile. He knew his own body was a lost cause, but this pill could save another who was poisoned recently, leaving them completely unscathed.
The merchant to the side watched this exchange, his eyes wide with awe. Any medicine capable of pulling a high-level expert like Zhao Yiping back from the brink was beyond price. It was not greed he felt, but a profound respect for the power he was witnessing.
"If there is nothing else," Su Min said, her tone growing lazy, "then I must ask you to leave. And remember my warning. Within a hundred years, none shall rival the Demon Queen."
"Senior, there is one thing I must ask," Zhao Yiping said quickly, stepping forward before she could shoo them away.
"What is it?"
"Why does the Demon Queen not simply leave the palace and kill us all? She has the power."
"Likely, she cannot stray too far from a certain object," Su Min answered after a moment's thought. "As for what that object is... I do not know. Perhaps something within the imperial palace, or perhaps... the Emperor himself."
In truth, she had no concrete idea. It was a rule from the game that had bled into this reality, a mechanic designed to give players time to grow. How that translated into an actual reason here was a mystery. She had never been one to memorize every scrap of lore, and it was better that way; knowing everything would have been suspicious.
"In that case," Zhao Yiping said, his gaze hardening with resolve, "I will use what remains of my life to uncover the truth for the world. Otherwise, everyone will remain cowed by that witch's tyranny, too afraid to resist."
"Well then, I wish you success, Hero Zhao," Su Min murmured softly, dipping her head in a slight, rare show of respect.
She could only sigh and offer her blessings. The simple truth was that within a hundred years, she stood no chance against the Demon Queen. But after that period passed? She would personally settle the score. Until then, she had to advance, one careful step at a time.
"Time to break through. I will disappear for a while."
She glanced again at the precious Qi-Inducing Pill in her hand. Refining it had cost her a furnace. If the Detoxification Pill was a low-tier second-grade elixir, then this was a mid-tier one. The difference in difficulty was stark.
With a wave of her hand, every item in the room vanished into her storage ring, leaving the house barren. Then, she left without a backward glance. Having cultivated here for so long, she had long since prepared a perfect, secluded spot for closed-door meditation, a place where she would be completely undisturbed. For a breakthrough attempt, that silence was everything.
Soon, she was seated cross-legged on a simple rug inside a hidden cave, nestled high in a cliff face. Without any further delay, she tossed one of the glowing pills into her mouth.
Her body, long since tempered to the peak of the Body Refining realm, was more than ready. This was the final step into the Qi Refining Stage. Moreover, as a soul from another world, one touched by the game's own logic, her foundation was uniquely pure and full. She faced no natural bottlenecks.
In the game, players began at Qi Refining. The Body Refining phase was just a brief tutorial, over in a matter of minutes. For her, this breakthrough was not a desperate gamble, but the next logical, inevitable step on her path.