Chu Xingchen helped Li Xingtian onto his wooden plank bed.
Using his spiritual energy, he quickly assessed Li Xingtian's current condition and frowned slightly. Li Xingtian's situation was indeed not optimistic.
The elder of the Qingfeng Sect was, after all, a Golden Core cultivator. Even though he had held back to capture Li Xingtian alive for public execution, a Qi Refining cultivator like Li Xingtian couldn't withstand such a blow. At this moment, Li Xingtian's internal organs were severely damaged.
His meridians, in particular, had been ravaged by the powerful spiritual energy, leaving them riddled with holes.
However, when Chu Xingchen looked at Li Xingtian's expression, he found no trace of pain.
As expected of a reincarnator—truly a tough guy.
But relying solely on natural recovery in this state would be difficult. He needed some carefully crafted healing elixirs.
"Young man, you’re quite resilient," Chu Xingchen praised, then turned his gaze to Li Yingling. "Disciple, start the pot. We’re refining pills."
Li Yingling's eyes lit up. Although she detested the thought of tasting her master's pills herself, she had no qualms about watching someone else suffer through it.
With excitement, she quickly replied, "Yes, Master!"
She walked over to the pot, happily lighting the fire and boiling water.
Chu Xingchen rummaged through the remaining spiritual herbs to see if any could be used for healing.
Fortunately, his spatial ring still contained a few medicinal herbs suitable for recovery.
He decided to brew another pot for his future disciple, hoping that after consuming it, Li Xingtian would be so grateful that he’d bow down in reverence.
After roughly removing the roots of the herbs, Chu Xingchen began his crude and straightforward refining process.
As the green, oily spiritual herbs were added to the clear water, the liquid quickly turned murky and green.
A pungent herbal stench began to fill the air.
However, Li Yingling showed no discomfort. In fact, she seemed quite pleased as she watched the pot of liquid grow increasingly murky.
After all, this time, she wasn’t the one who had to drink it.
When the water in the pot had reduced by half, Chu Xingchen added the final ingredient—the Blue Moon Flower.
As the strikingly blue and alluring flower was added, the green liquid began to bubble vigorously, releasing a dark green froth.
Chu Xingchen nodded in satisfaction, then turned up the heat to reduce the liquid, extracting the final essence of the healing elixir with his spiritual energy.
Li Yingling looked at the drop of medicinal liquid, which was even more revolting in color than her own previous concoctions, and felt a sense of relief.
She now believed that her master hadn’t been deliberately tormenting her before—this was simply how pill refining with an iron pot worked.
As her master had said, the tales written in mortal storybooks couldn’t be trusted.
Cultivation was something one had to experience firsthand to truly understand!
Meanwhile, Li Xingtian, who had been enduring the pain, propped himself up and caught sight of the deep green, murky droplet wrapped in spiritual energy.
A sense of foreboding slowly crept over him... Surely, this wasn’t meant to be swallowed, was it?
Chu Xingchen guided the medicinal droplet to Li Xingtian’s mouth and said with a smile, "Open up! My pill-refining skills are decent. Swallow this, and you’ll be fine."
Li Xingtian, who had remained stoic in the face of pain, finally showed a change in expression.
This was nothing more than a blob of greenish liquid. How could this possibly be considered a pill?
He had never heard of anyone refining medicine in a pot!
A true man could face bloodshed and pain, but not a broom dipped in filth.
He hesitated, resisted, and struggled to find the words.
If it weren’t for the fact that this man had saved his life, Li Xingtian would have definitely resisted and shoved the foul-smelling droplet back into the other’s mouth.
But seeing the confidence in Chu Xingchen’s expression, Li Xingtian couldn’t bring himself to refuse.
He closed his eyes, wearing the expression of a man marching to his execution, and opened his mouth.
At worst, he’d just return the life he owed!
True to its color, the medicinal liquid did not disappoint in taste.
A putrid stench, accompanied by an overwhelming bitterness, exploded from his tongue straight to his soul.
Li Xingtian’s expression twisted in agony.
However, to his surprise, as the liquid made its way down his esophagus, bringing with it a burning sensation and intense rejection, the medicinal components began to slowly nourish his damaged meridians and internal organs.
The physical pain rapidly subsided.
Yet, Li Xingtian felt that taking this medicine had only made him feel worse.
His entire mouth was now filled with nothing but bitterness, and from his esophagus to his stomach, his body was in complete revolt against the liquid.
Chu Xingchen, naturally aware that the concoction might not be pleasant, coughed lightly and offered some comfort. "After all, good medicine tastes bitter. Just endure it for a while."
Li Yingling, having been the first test subject, empathized deeply. "Master... this isn’t something you can just ‘endure for a while.’"
Chu Xingchen turned and gave his disciple a meaningful glance.
Sensing her master’s gaze, Li Yingling quickly backtracked. "Actually, the taste is quite tolerable! No need to endure anything."
Chu Xingchen didn’t dwell on the matter. After all, their smooth journey so far was largely thanks to this disciple.
Seeing that Li Xingtian was no longer in critical condition, he turned to Li Yingling and asked,
"I see you’ve started to grasp your divine ability. How does it feel?"
Li Yingling, upon hearing her master’s question, thought about how it had taken her so many days just to barely scratch the surface.
Assuming her master was being sarcastic, as usual, but not wanting to argue, she unconsciously twirled a strand of her jet-black hair. Her delicate face flushed slightly as she tilted her head and replied somewhat shyly, "It’s quite impressive, but also quite difficult."
Chu Xingchen was momentarily stunned. She had only been practicing for a few days and had already learned it. How could that be considered difficult?
Truly a genius disciple, flaunting her talent right in front of her master.
He cleared his throat and adopted a stern tone. "Ahem, just keep practicing diligently!"
"Yes, Master!"
By the campfire in the dilapidated temple, under the night sky, Chu Xingchen distributed the roasted rabbit head to Li Yingling, the day’s greatest contributor, and gave half of the rabbit to Li Xingtian.
Li Xingtian, now mostly recovered, was able to sit up.
Apart from its unpleasant taste, the medicinal liquid had actually been quite effective.
Li Xingtian felt that it worked better than most healing pills.
Looking at the plate of half a rabbit, perfectly roasted and aromatic, Li Xingtian glanced over at Li Yingling, who was happily gnawing on the rabbit head.
It had to be said, even a beautiful immortal looked quite memorable when devouring a rabbit head.
Li Xingtian didn’t touch the food. Instead, he stared at the steaming half-rabbit in front of him.
It wasn’t that he wasn’t hungry, but he felt he had no right to eat it.
"Go ahead," Chu Xingchen said, his tone casual but probing. "The rabbit didn’t sign a contract with you."
Li Xingtian understood the underlying meaning in Chu Xingchen’s words, but he quickly explained, "It’s not that. It’s just that I haven’t yet repaid your life-saving grace..."
Chu Xingchen, smiling on the surface, nodded in understanding. However, under the table, his hand was frantically signaling to Li Yingling.
Beloved disciple, assist me now!
Li Yingling, happily munching on the rabbit head, noticed her master’s gestures out of the corner of her eye and immediately understood.
Proudly considering herself her master’s most reliable ally, she never undermined him at critical moments.
She put down the rabbit head and replied coldly, "Enough. You’re penniless right now. Not only did my master save your life, but even the opportunity you’ve been relying on was given to you by him."
"You keep thinking that our Zhongzhou Heavenly Dao Alliance is trying to deceive you, but ask yourself—are you even worth it?"
"My master is giving you a chance, and you should consider it an honor. I don’t know what he sees in you, but personally, I think..."
"With your talent, you’re not worthy of joining our Heavenly Dao Alliance."