Lai Li’an took a deep breath, suppressing his anger. He had to stay calm. There had to be a way.
“Is there really no saving her?”
Ruan Se shook her head.
“All her meridians are less than one-tenth intact. Her dantian is damaged, her Dao foundation is shattered, and her internal organs have varying degrees of burns. She must have been hit directly by Fire Element spiritual power. The spleen and lung meridians are the most severely damaged. The opponent used an extremely domineering Fire Element technique, and that power is still continuously destroying her body from within.”
“I just gave her a Return Spring Pill. The pill’s power merged into her heart meridian and barely kept her alive, but I don’t have any better pills on me right now.”
Ruan Se lowered her eyelashes, a hint of apology in her tone, even though she owed nothing to this master-disciple pair.
“I can only do this much for now, but if…”
“If what?”
Lai Li’an unconsciously leaned forward.
“If my Master is willing to take out the Qingxuan Yangyuan Pill, there might still be hope.”
After saying this, Ruan Se gave a bitter smile, one tinged with helplessness.
“The Qingxuan Yangyuan Pill is an eighth-grade elixir pill. It specializes in warming and nourishing a shattered Dao foundation and reconnecting severed meridians, so it’s exactly what’s needed. But such a treasure—even my Master only has a few pills on hand and never shows them lightly. Even if I go and beg, my Master would absolutely not give out this pill for an outsider she doesn’t even know.”
After speaking, she raised her head to look at Lai Li’an, expecting to see despair on this Senior’s face.
But what she saw was a pair of eyes that had suddenly lit up.
‘Pills? He has a cheat!’
“Is an elixir pill all that’s needed?”
Ruan Se was slightly taken aback. She didn’t understand why, upon hearing the words “eighth-grade elixir pill,” he wasn’t discouraged but instead showed such an expression.
Still, she explained patiently,
“As long as we have the Qingxuan Yangyuan Pill and I use my spiritual power to guide the medicine through her meridians, repair the broken channels, and warm her shattered Dao foundation, Fellow Daoist Su should be fine. But the problem is…”
“I can refine it.”
Ruan Se’s voice stopped abruptly.
Her eyes widened slightly as she looked at Lai Li’an. For the first time, a flicker of disbelief appeared in her usually calm gaze, then she regained composure.
“Senior can refine it?”
She looked him up and down. He was at Mid Golden Core cultivation, with no trace of the medicinal aura that an Alchemist should have. Just now in the shop, his disciple couldn’t even pick a furnace. Now he claimed he could refine an eighth-grade pill?
“Senior must be joking.”
“Venerable Self would never joke with my disciple’s life.”
Lai Li’an looked at her calmly.
“Fellow Daoist, do you have the refining materials? Consider it a loan from you. I will repay double in the future.”
Ruan Se was silent for a moment. She had met many people—those who spouted pretty words when they wanted something from her. But this man, besides the urgency in his eyes, had a fierce refusal to give up.
“I can pull together the other materials.”
She stood up, walked to the medicine cabinet behind the folding screen, opened a few drawers, and took out over a dozen jade boxes and porcelain bottles of various sizes.
She placed them one by one on the small table beside the low couch.
“Bisui Grass, Tianyuan Fruit, Yangmai Flower, Seven-leaf Lingzhi… I have these, and their quality is sufficient. Gathering the auxiliary ingredients for the Qingxuan Yangyuan Pill is no problem. But there is one main ingredient that will be very hard to obtain.”
She raised her head, a heaviness in her eyes.
“Qingxuan Root. It is the core of the Qingxuan Yangyuan Pill. Its medicinal nature is gentle yet can penetrate all meridians. It is indispensable. The last time I heard of Qingxuan Root appearing in the world was thirty years ago. It hasn’t been seen on the market since. Even if my Master has this herb, she would never part with it easily.”
Lai Li’an’s heart sank again. He knew what Qingxuan Root was.
The Ancient Pill Scripture recorded it as a top-tier spiritual herb, born at the boundary between void and earth. It took a hundred years to mature one plant. Once removed from the soil, if not sealed promptly, its medicinal properties would dissipate completely within three days.
“However…”
Ruan Se suddenly thought of something and turned around.
“I heard that in this Alchemy Grand Assembly’s prize list, there happens to be a Qingxuan Root. The Dan Sect Branch specially transferred it from the main sect for this assembly and placed it among the rewards for the top three. If you can enter the top three, you’ll have a chance to choose this item.”
After saying this, she shook her head.
“I might have the strength, but unfortunately, Fellow Daoist Su probably won’t last until then.”
The Alchemy Grand Assembly was still a month away, but Su Wan’er wouldn’t make it through tonight.
This time gap was like an unsolvable crack in front of all hope.
“Then I’ll snatch it!”
Lai Li’an blurted out.
But as soon as the words left his mouth, he regretted it. He had already used the Immortal-Slaying Delusion-Breaking Talisman. He had no offensive means left.
Not to mention the Dan Sect Branch’s treasure vault—he probably couldn’t even get through the front gate.
Fortunately, Ruan Se gave him a way out.
“Absolutely not.”
She suddenly turned serious.
“Senior may not know this, but the Dan Sect Branch’s treasure vault is guarded in rotation by three Nascent Soul Great Powers. It is woven with several Mountain Protection Array-level restrictions. Even if Senior had the means to break through the guards, there is a defensive formation inside the Treasure Pavilion. Forcibly breaking the formation would directly trigger the Pavilion Destruction Forbidden, destroying all treasures inside. Then the Qingxuan Root would be destroyed, and everything would be too late.”
Lai Li’an fell silent. He frantically flipped through the Ancient Pill Scripture in his mind, trying to find another path among the alchemical knowledge.
Page after page of formulas scrolled through his thoughts, but he didn’t even know exactly which of Su Wan’er’s symptoms matched. He couldn’t prescribe the right medicine.
“Is there any elixir pill that can temporarily extend Wan’er’s life?”
He looked up, his gaze fixed on Ruan Se.
“You don’t have to cure her, just let her hold on until the Alchemy Grand Assembly ends.”
Hearing this, Ruan Se lowered her head in thought for a moment, then turned around, a glint of light in her eyes.
“Yes—the Changchun Life-Prolonging Pill. A sixth-grade pill. It uses Everlasting Flower as the sovereign ingredient and Xuduan Grass as the minister ingredient. After taking it, it can protect the heart meridian and dantian for a certain period, temporarily halting the worsening of the injuries. I have all the materials here.”
She took out a slightly yellowed ancient prescription from her Storage Bag and was about to hand it to Lai Li’an to look at, but he spoke first.
“No need. I know the formula.”
Ruan Se’s hand holding the prescription froze in midair. The Changchun Life-Prolonging Pill was sixth-grade, and its formula was extremely obscure.
The proportions of its attractant and auxiliary ingredients were completely different from ordinary pills. This was a formula her Master had passed down to her—how could this man claim to know it?
She put the prescription back into her bag without asking further. Instead, she took out the required materials from the medicine cabinet one by one, neatly arranged them on the table, and finally placed them on a tray, handing it to Lai Li’an.
“Senior, this pill is extremely difficult to refine. My current alchemical skill is insufficient for the task, so I can only assist by guiding the medicine into the meridians with spiritual power. If Senior can refine it, the materials are here.”
Lai Li’an took the tray and looked deeply at her.
“Fellow Daoist, I owe you a favor. If you ever need help in the future, I will do everything in my power.”
Ruan Se was silent for a moment, then offered reassurance,
“Senior needn’t stand on ceremony. Life and death are fated. Do your best, and that’s enough.”
With that, she pushed open the door and gestured for Lai Li’an to follow.
Lai Li’an looked down at Su Wan’er on the low couch, his eyes full of reluctance.