Song Yin nodded thoughtfully, "Regardless, once the Sect gets back on track, we should go out and have a look. Master says that cultivating the Dao is also about experiencing the ways of the world."
Zhang Fei Xuan cupped his hands together and agreed, "Senior Brother is right."
"Hmm, I've received the elixir. Go start another Pill Fire and then rest. I will refine some Yecai Elixirs."
As Song Yin was speaking, he suddenly sensed something and turned his head, only to see the Hunyuan True Spirit on his shoulder, below which the elf with three mouths was reaching out with its tiny hands.
Two elves fused together, with a total of three eyes, were looking in this direction, their gaze filled with longing.
Song Yin glanced at the Resentful Poison Elixir in his hand, "You want this?"
The Hunyuan True Spirit nodded vigorously, its eight little limbs gesticulating wildly, then jumped onto the back of Song Yin's hand. It climbed towards the Resentful Poison Elixir, grabbing onto the elixir with both hands and feet, and its two bodies seemed to fuse into one. The four mouths opened wide, squeezing the eyes out of sight and swallowed the Resentful Poison Elixir in one gulp.
"Hee hee hee!"
After swallowing the elixir, the Hunyuan True Spirit let out a relaxed and light-hearted chuckle, rolling around happily on Song Yin's hand.
"An interesting thing... You love poison pills?"
Song Yin smiled and then suddenly remembered something. He picked up a Shengji Elixir, his eyes emitting a burst of white light again, and then he revealed a look of realization, "No wonder, the poisonous nature of this medicine has disappeared. I thought the materials themselves had low toxicity, and with the quality of a superior grade pill, it would be even less noticeable. Turns out you absorbed it."
Every time he performed alchemy, the Hunyuan True Spirit was inside the Pill Furnace. That must be when it absorbed the toxicity of the materials.
This creature was somewhat useful.
"I'll give you a name, how about Xiao Dongxi (Little Thing)?" Song Yin's finger gestured upwards, letting Little Thing roll over to his wrist. It climbed up, danced with hands and feet for a while, and then ran along Song Yin's arm to his shoulder. There, it twisted its body, with Three-Mouths sticking its rear out and making a farting gesture at Zhang Fei Xuan, while One-Eye bulged its eyes and stuck out its tongue, displaying its playfulness.
"Interesting."
Song Yin shook his head smilingly and then turned to Zhang Fei Xuan, "The elixir from Master, consider it as if I have taken it. I have received his intentions too. Once I have finished refining the pills, I will speak to him in person."
Zhang Fei Xuan let out a sigh of relief.
As long as there were no problems...
As long as he himself remained alive, that was what mattered.
"Senior Brother, this True Spirit really is..."
Before Zhang Fei Xuan could finish, he suddenly widened his eyes.
He saw the Hunyuan True Spirit on Song Yin's shoulder suddenly change its appearance. The One-Eye elf's eyeballs bulged out, the tongue transformed into a round and spiky tentacle, and the three-mouths elf's eyes grew black lines as though sewing the eyeballs together. The three open mouths filled with sharp teeth; they dribbled saliva that, on contact with the air, immediately emitted a stream of smoke, suggesting extreme corrosiveness.
"It, it, it..." Zhang Fei Xuan pointed at the Hunyuan True Spirit, his finger trembling erratically.
"Hmm?"
Song Yin followed his finger and saw Little Thing on his shoulder playfully tussling with each other.
"Junior Brother?" asked Song Yin, puzzled.
As he turned his head, the Hunyuan True Spirit on his shoulder switched back to that fierce appearance and then quickly returned to normal. The One-Eye elf extended a tiny short hand, the tip morphing into a finger, and waved at Zhang Fei Xuan.
Zhang Fei Xuan pressed his lips together in a forced smile, "Senior Brother's True Spirit really is interesting."
Song Yin acknowledged, "It can refine elixirs, absorbs poison, and is quite fun to watch. This creature raised by the legendary Hunyuan Tianzun really is extraordinary."
"That's right, Senior Brother, about igniting the Pill Fire..."
Zhang Fei Xuan once again formed a Dharma Seal and kindled a pill fire, then cupped his hands and said, "Then I will take my leave."
"Yes, you do seem a bit tired today, something is off with your demeanor. Rest well," said Song Yin.
Zhang Fei Xuan's frequent moments of distraction and shock today had indeed made Song Yin wonder.
After Zhang Fei Xuan made his exit, Song Yin watched as Little Thing jumped back into the Pill Furnace. He brought the Dharma Seal together, covered the top of the Pill Furnace, and sat down to continue his alchemy.
After he finished refining the elixirs, he still had to find his Master.
...
With two rounds of the bright moon ascending in the sky, Jin Guang paced back and forth in the Elixir Room, occasionally glancing at the rotting flesh mud on the ground.
He was somewhat confident in his poison pill; it was cultivated from a major disaster he encountered while out gathering materials years ago, where he had found the Fiend Shedding amid a field of corpse poison.
Plus, the pill's outward appearance completely concealed its nature; even if one swallowed it, initially it was non-toxic, and only later would the poison manifest.
Even if Song Yin was proud of his so-called 'Flawless True Body', if he really saw through the ruse, Jin Guang wouldn't be afraid.
As he understood it, Song Yin would likely have killed Zhang Fei Xuan immediately, which wouldn't have affected Jin Guang.
"Tsk, if it wasn't for the fear of being seen through by those eyes, it would have been fine to slowly leave you alive until Foundation Establishment..." Jin Guang thought to this point and couldn't help smacking his lips.
"Master!"
Suddenly, a voice rang out from outside, pleasing him greatly.
Could it be... success already?!
It had only been one day, was it really so simple?
But his expression quickly changed.
This wall was enforced with prohibitions, normal voices couldn't pass through it, only someone who could penetrate the prohibitions with their voice...
Boom!
The stone wall was violently blown open, exploding into a shower of debris.
Upon seeing this familiar scene, Jin Guang's eyelids twitched, and before he could even react, an extremely terrifying figure appeared at the doorway.
"Master, I heard you finished your seclusion, so I hurried over as soon as I finished refining the elixir!"
Song Yin strode in, his face brightening at the sight of Jin Guang, and he immediately clasped his hands and bowed, "Master, I have missed you in the days we haven't seen each other!"
"Yin, Yin'er ah..."
Jin Guang forced a smile while holding back his trembling, "No, no, I haven't left my seclusion, I'm still researching."
"Oh? But the second disciple said you came out of seclusion last night, and even entrusted him to give me the Resentful Poison Elixir..."
These words made Jin Guang tremble even more violently.
He had seen through it!
He was here to settle accounts with him!
That beast Zhang Fei Xuan, didn't he want the Human Elixir Technique? Why did he change his mind so quickly!
"So Master hasn't left seclusion and is still thinking of your disciple. I must work hard! Master, I understand the purpose behind the elixir you bestowed upon me, but I don't need it; I gave it to the little creature. It seems to really love poison; this Hunyuan True Spirit is not bad."
"Purpose? Ah... as long as you're happy, that's good, uh..."
Jin Guang's mind raced, frantically parsing Song Yin's words.
It seemed this guy hadn't noticed anything; this was good news. He would appease him first and then plan his next step. Later he would...
"Hunyuan True Spirit?!"
Jin Guang tossed aside all thoughts in his head and, with wide eyes, asked uncertainly, "What did you just say?"
"Here."
Song Yin lifted his hand, and the little creature popped up from the back of his hand, doing a little twirl as if it were taking center stage, then frolicked and played again.
Jin Guang's eyes nearly popped out, "This, this is the Hunyuan True Spirit?"
He had never seen such a thing before. In his youth, he made daily offerings to Hunyuan Tianzun, hoping for a blessing, but it never came. When he took Zhao Yuanhua as his disciple, he gave the offerings to him and stopped paying attention.
But now, this creature seemed, well, probably, perhaps... really like the legendary Hunyuan True Spirit.
What was happening?
Could it be that Hunyuan Tianzun truly favored the Righteous Path?
"Disciple, let me have a look, let me have a closer look..."
Jin Guang reached out, trying to grab the little creature.
If he could get this, wouldn't his ascension to immortality be guaranteed!
"Hee!"
As his hand got closer, the little creature giggled and extended a short, tentacle-like arm, touching Jin Guang's finger.
With just that touch, Jin Guang suddenly felt something extra inside his body, turning his face that hadn't eaten or drunk in six days an abnormal red, with hints of purple also visible.
His organs were churning, melting, rotting...
Jin Guang shuddered all over, his mouth suddenly opened wide, and his face seemed to elongate at that moment.
After touching Jin Guang's finger, the little creature giggled again and vanished from Song Yin's hand, reappearing on his shoulder.
"Master?" Song Yin frowned.
"It's nothing, your master is fine, you go... your master has suddenly been inspired, I must thoroughly research this demonic path." Jin Guang gritted his teeth, almost bouncing the words out one by one.
"Master has an inspiration? Then I won't disturb master. Only... what is this statue's upper body outside, master? Please tell me so I can repair it."
"Qing, Qing Bao, it's Qing Bao! Get out now!"
"Yes!"
Seeing that Jin Guang seemed unable to restrain himself, Song Yin didn't dare delay, frightened of interrupting his master's inspiration, so he clasped his hands and quickly retreated.
Jin Guang raised a hand, and the blown-apart stones rebuilt themselves over the breach, continuously casting Dharma Seals to strengthen the prohibition, not knowing how long it would hold, until he suddenly howled in pain, rolling on the ground clutching his body.
His face elongated further, two sharp incisors growing in his mouth, his eyes turning blood-red, and grey fur sprouted all over his body. But then the fur quickly turned a haunting green, and his skin erupted with numerous pustules that burst immediately, oozing pus, only to be replaced by new pustules swelling up again.
His gaunt body, under the relentless growth and bursting of the pustules, swelled somewhat, and faintly, from those ruptured pustules, one could hear wailing.
Jin Guang, now a monster, lay gasping for air with a gaping mouth, his red eyes nearly bursting out, his voice extremely hoarse.
"Poison! It's the Resentful Poison Elixir, my Resentful Poison Elixir! Ahh!!!"
Within the Elixir Room, Jin Guang's agonized howls echoed incessantly.