In the Ten Thousand Beast Continent, A region filled with mountains and sparse forests, demons in the form of birds flew in the sky while some perched on mountains and tree tops. Further in the region were structures similar to a human city, and at the center of the city stood a grand palace with statues depicting a phoenix proudly on display.
A woman walked down the corridor, her high heels echoing through the hall until she was in front of a door. She knocked and entered the room.
In the room, a woman rested on the bed while the sun from the window shined on he, giving her a holy glow.
She possessed an arresting beauty, her most striking features being her white jade-like skin, smooth, flawless, and cool to the touch, and her luminous golden eyes, which gleamed like polished amber under sunlight. Her face was elegantly sculpted, with high cheekbones, a straight nose, and lips the pale red of winter plum blossoms. Long, platinum blonde hair cascaded down her back, its silken strands occasionally catching the light with a faint reddish tint, like embers hidden in dark silk. Her posture was naturally regal, her slender frame giving an impression of quiet strength. The contrast between her pale complexion and those piercing gold eyes made her gaze impossible to ignore, calm, penetrating, and faintly otherworldly.
Her attention was focused on the book in her hand until it was broken by the woman who entered the room.
The woman who entered the room spoke in a cheerful voice with some concern. "Big sis, how are you feeling?"
The woman smiled, turning to face her little sister, who looked like a younger version of herself with a few differences. Her eyes were red, not gold like her own.
"I am doing fine, but do you have the time to visit me, Mingfei? Are you not busy dealing with the clan?"
Yan Mingfei pouted and responded, "Come on, sis, in the phoenix clan, is there any important task. The only difficult part of being clan head is dealing with the elders."
If people saw the Scarlet Ashes Monarch Yan Mingfei act like a little girl, they would be shocked.
Yan Mingfei looked at her pale and fragile older sister, the Inferno Dynasty Monarch Yan Lingfei, with heartache. Yan Mingfei walked towards the bed and sat on the edge. Memories of her older sister, who stood tall and strong, deterring all enemies, the previous head and pillar of the phoenix clan, a top 5 great clan in the demon realm.
Yan Lingfei, noticing her little sister's silence, closed her book and spoke softly, "There's no need to be so down; most of it is my fault."
Yan Mingfei shook her head and vehemently said, "No, it's not. If the elders didn't keep pestering you about choosing a partner and having a child, you would not have…"
Yan Lingfei showed a bitter smile. "If I didn't decide to use the forbidden art to have a child instead of taking a partner, most of this would have been avoided."
Yan Mingfei's eyes started to well up with tears. "Come on, sis, you were a Tier 5 Bloodline Beast who was worthy enough to be your partner?"
When a demon reaches Tier 5 Bloodline Beast, they can recall ancestral memories. Due to this, Yan Lingfei found a forbidden art, something used to replenish the phoenix clan when only one member is left. By using their vitality and cultivation, a phoenix can create an egg, which is the same as having a child. This art became forgotten as the Phoenix clan flourished; it was not needed anymore.
Yan Lingfei smiled and raised her hand, stroking her little sister's head. They both spent a moment comforting each other in silence.
Yan Lingfei asked, "Has anything interesting happened?"
Yan Mingfei held her cheek in thought. She then made a fist with her right hand and hit her left palm, excitedly saying, "Oh, Moqing passed her third nirvana!"
Just as foxes grow a tail for reaching a new Tier, phoenixes go through a nirvana, a state of death and rebirth.
Yan Lingfei was surprised and said, "Oh, she finally caught up with the little girl from the Heavenly Nine-Tailed Fox clan."
Yan Mingfei puffed her chest in pride, "Of course, she is my daughter after all. That little fox girl is nothing."
Yan Lingfei giggled at her little sister's behavior. Remembering something else Yan Mingfei said, "Speaking of the Fox clan, do you remember Bai Ruolan?"
Yan Lingfei raised her eyebrow and said, "Your rival."
Yan Mingfei snorted, "Hmph. What rival? Her cultivation is still Tier 4. I did hear something interesting. Do you remember when the raid on the human realm happened 8 years ago?"
Yan Lingfei nodded her head and responded, "Of course."
Yan Mingfei continued, "During that time, she sneaked into the human realm and did not contact anyone, and a huge hunt was happening for her."
Yan Lingfei responded, "Of course they would, she is the second daughter of Bai Tianyao, Celestial Fox Monarch."
Yan Mingfei smiled and said, "She returned months ago and locked herself in her residence, not seeing anyone, but rumor has it she fell in love and has a child in the human realm."
Yan Lingfei was stunned. "No way, did she give birth to a hybrid?"
Yan Mingfei shook her head. "Who knows, I only said it was a rumor."
Yan Lingfei thought for a moment.
It's probably not.
Yan Lingfei suddenly frowned, and she felt a faint connection to two beings appear in her soul. She looked at Yan Mingfei and asked, "Is there any news about my egg?"
Yan Mingfei seriously looked at her frowning older sister and said, "We checked the place you left it, but the clansmen did not find anything; someone probably took it."
When Yan Lingfei heard this, her face showed sadness. Seeing her older sister like this, Yan Mingfei clenched her hand into a fist and cursed in her mind.
Damn, the bastard Ling Tianxiao. If I meet anyone from his Heavenly Sword Sect, I'll kill them.
During the raid eight years ago, an agreement was made between the top of the human and demon realms that they would not interfere and let the cultivator below the core formation realm fight. When Yan Moqing was about to kill Ling Tianxiao's disciple, the shameless old man broke the agreement and attacked Yan Moqing. Seeing this situation, Yan Lingfei interfered, trying to protect her niece.
The two injured each other, but being in the human realm, Yan Lingfei hid to recover her strength and head back to the demon realm, but she never expected her unborn child to affect her recovery, so she decided to give birth to her egg. After giving birth, her wound from fighting Ling Tianxiao damaged her core, making her cultivation drop slowly.
Yan Lingfei sensed that she had been found by Ling Tianxiao, hid her egg, and went back to the demon realm.
Yan Lingfei noticed her little sister clenching her fist, rested her hand on it, and said, "It's fine."
Yan Mingfei grabbed her older sister's hand and promised, "Sis, don't worry, I'll make sure to find your egg and pay back that bastard."
…
Bai Shuying was freaking out about this alchemy duel, she grabbed some books, a cauldron, and sets of medical herbs for a spirit grade qi replenishing pill.
She sat on a cushion in her room, beside her was an egg also on a cushion wrapped in a small cloth. Bai Shuying vigorously flipped through the book like a student who did not study and suddenly found out the exam was the next day.
I didn't think I would have to repeat this in my new life. Luckily, I have the great comprehension trait.
She closed the book after she finished memorizing it. Now with confidence, she opened the cauldron, threw the ingredients and started the fire.
Practice makes perfect!
Bai Shuying focused her qi energy into the cauldron and started to perform alchemy, but soon she started to sweat, and her face paled.
"Oh, no!"
She quickly picked up the egg and ran outside the room, closing the door.
Booom!
The sound of an explosion went off. Bai Shuying gulped and went back inside the room. She noticed the blast was contained in the closet and wiped the sweat on her forehead.
"Phew, luckily it was contained."
Bai Shuying sat back on the cushion with her egg and fell into deep thought.
Elder Lan said the four steps to pill refining were purification, combining ingredients, refining, and condensing into pills. I should perfect each step slowly and then combine everything to make a pill.
Bai Shuying emptied the black ash from the cauldron and took out spiritual grass from her spatial ring. To refine a qi replenishing pill is very simple since it only involves one ingredient, spiritual grass. Grass that absorbed ambient qi. She placed the grass in the cauldron and began to purify it. By using the formation engraved on the cauldron, which converted her Yin energy into fire and wood qi.
In the past, alchemy could only be performed by those who possessed fire, wood, or yang roots, but the founder of the Purple Cauldron Sect created a technique to convert qi of any type into fire and wood. This was later turned into a formation engraved into practice cauldrons for all cultivators to use. Purple Cauldron opened an era of alchemy for everyone.
Bai Shuying tried to remove the impurities from the spiritual grass, but the spiritual grass burned and turned into ash.
"Sigh, why didn't it work?"
Bai Shuying rubbed her chin and came up with an idea. She dumped the ash and used another spiritual grass. This time, she turned the spiritual grass into liquid, then she noticed black spots in the liquid; she removed the black spots, which were impurities.
She skipped the second stage and went to the third stage of refining the liquid, increasing the purity. The liquid in the cauldron started to decrease until Bai Shuying was satisfied. She went to the fourth stage, shaping the liquid into a sphere. Bai Shuying compressed it as much as she could.
"Phew, let's see how it turned out."
Bai Shuying opened the cauldron and peered inside to see a small green pill. Seeing this, she laughed out loud and said.
"It worked!"
She used her index finger and thumb to pinch the small pill and showed it to the little egg. "Look, little egg, I did it!"
Bai Shuying felt the egg congratulating her from the feelings that were sent through their bond.
If Elder Lan saw this pill, he would be shocked.
How did you create a spirit pill with a purity higher than 89%?!
Bai Shuying continued practicing turning one stalk of spiritual grass into bundles. Soon, pills of spirit grade qi replenishing pills formed a pile in the room.