A square bathing pool was recessed into the surface of the altar, filled to the brim with clear, sweet spring water.
Chen Xi stood at the edge of the pool. Before her floated more than a dozen flames of every color imaginable, each one enveloping a handful of medicinal herbs and rapidly refining them.
The Nine-Leaf Sword Grass was a seventh-tier herb, while the rest ranged from fourth-tier to sixth-tier. Any other Pill Refiner would have had to proceed with the utmost caution to avoid mishaps, but for a Saint-Tier Pill Refiner like Chen Xi, concocting anything below eighth rank was as easy as breathing.
One by one, the herbs melted into thick slurries under the blaze of the Starlight Glazed Fire. Those fifth-tier and above even produced their own special phenomena—resonances with the power of heaven and earth.
Take the Nine-Leaf Sword Grass, for instance. Once refined, sword-shadow whirlwinds swirled around its slurry, as if it were unleashing a Mystic technique.
The flames carried the medicinal slurries into the pool water. A fierce gale whipped across the surface, forming a massive vortex that blended all the slurries together and turned the water into a riot of colors.
This was a full pool of seventh-tier medicinal broth, and a faint aura of heaven-and-earth power wafted from it, quickening the breath of anyone nearby.
“What a heavenly aroma~” Yan Zhen sighed. “Master, is this pool of medicine safe to drink?”
“It is,” Chen Xi replied as she withdrew her Starlight Glazed Fire with a smile. “But it doesn’t taste nearly as good as it smells.”
“Oh, like Drip Dew, then?”
“Exactly. Now, strip down and hop in.”
Yan Zhen undid his belt and shed his clothes in a few quick moves, then leaped into the pool with a mighty splash that sent water flying everywhere.
Seated in the pool, he scooped up a handful of the liquid and gave it a tentative taste. The instant it hit his tongue, overwhelming bitterness flooded his mouth, and he spat it out with a series of emphatic “Peh! Peh! Peh!”
“I told you it wouldn’t taste good, Zhen’er. Why’d you have to try it anyway?”
The Beautiful Female Master’s voice came from behind him. Then a pair of arms, fairer than frost and snow, wrapped around his waist. Her voluptuous G-cup peaks pressed softly against his back, their astonishing weight impossible to ignore.
Mmwah~
Her lips brushed his neck in a gentle, tender kiss brimming with affection.
The savage beast slumbering within Yan Zhen roared to life in an instant. He twisted around to face her. Her silver tresses framed a face flushed like blooming peach blossoms—the Beautiful Female Master in all her glory. His gaze inevitably drifted downward, locking hungrily onto the dazzling white orbs floating on the water’s surface. In that moment, he felt as though all the world’s beauty was right there before him.
Gulp.
Yan Zhen swallowed hard, his expression the picture of a lecher starving for her body.
Chen Xi flushed under his stare, a touch embarrassed, but she didn’t bother covering herself. Instead, she pouted coquettishly. “Zhen’er, don’t stare at your Master like that.”
Yan Zhen promptly mimicked Long Ying, clapping his hands over his eyes—though he left wide gaps between his fingers. “I’m not looking, Master.”
“You naughty boy. Where on earth did you pick up a trick like that?” Chen Xi tugged his hands away and cupped his face in her jade-like palm, rubbing it gently. “Your Master certainly never taught you anything of the sort.”
“But you did,” Yan Zhen said innocently, blinking up at her. “You’re a reincarnator, Master, but you pretend you’re not. And you tease me all the time under all sorts of pretenses…”
“Ahem.”
Her composure cracked at his words, and the pink flush on her cheeks deepened. “Th-that’s true, it was Master’s fault. I’ve already apologized, so let’s not bring it up again, alright, Zhen’er~?”
“Oh.”
Helpless, Chen Xi leaned in with a placating kiss, her soft, moist lips pressing tenderly against his as if pouring all her surging love into him.
Yan Zhen accepted it passively, savoring the sweetness of his Beautiful Female Master’s mouth. Even after their lips parted, he yearned for more.
Chen Xi planted one last gentle kiss on her disciple. “Alright, Zhen’er. The medicine’s potency is at its peak. Let’s begin refining the Rootless Earth Spirit Fire.”
Yan Zhen perked up immediately. His eyes widened as the Beautiful Female Master slowly settled onto his lap, drawing a long, shared sigh from master and disciple alike.
“Master…”
He wrapped his arms around her slender waist and buried his face in the deep valley before him, peeking up to meet her gaze.
Chen Xi stroked his head, her fingers combing through his hair as she spoke softly. “I’ll pamper you properly once we’re done. For now, let’s focus on the refining.”
“But I want to replenish my stamina first~”
“Mmm… alright.”
Unable to resist her precious disciple’s expectant gaze, Chen Xi formed a sword with her fingers and tapped her chest several times, activating a simple technique refining array.
A faint, sweet fragrance bloomed from her, quickly overpowering the medicinal scent of the pool.
Yan Zhen sniffed the air, his eyes lighting up.
Amid the rising steam, the rhythmic sounds of sucking soon filled the air.
Once replenished, master and disciple lingered in quiet intimacy for a moment. Then they circulated the Heavenly Sovereign Earthly Queen Yin-Yang Miraculous Method together, harmonizing their mystic power.
Next, the Beautiful Female Master passed the Rootless Earth Spirit Fire to him mouth-to-mouth. She also drew medicinal power from the pool water and funneled it into his body for his use.
What they called dual cultivation was more like Chen Xi serving as Yan Zhen’s ultra-efficient training accessory.
With the aid of the Nine-Leaf Sword Grass’s medicinal power, Yan Zhen’s mystic power slowly dissolved the “shell” of the Rootless Earth Spirit Fire.
In the original plot, refining the Rootless Earth Spirit Fire solo had taken Yan Zhen a full half-month. Without a stockpile of mystic power-restoring pills prepared in advance, he never would have lasted.
With his Beautiful Female Master’s assistance now, seven days would suffice.
Time flowed like water in cultivation, and those seven days slipped by unnoticed in the serene expanse of the Fire Refining Starry Sky.
The colorful pool water had returned to pristine clarity, every drop of medicinal power absorbed clean by Yan Zhen. He had successfully refined the Rootless Earth Spirit Fire, and his cultivation had skyrocketed to the Nine-Star Mystic King realm!
Extreme flames in the top ten rankings wielded might comparable to a Mystic Saint—leagues beyond those outside the top ten. The sheer energy they contained was beyond measure.
Had Chen Xi not deliberately suppressed it, Yan Zhen could have rocketed straight to the Mystic Ancestor realm in one go, drawing down a baptism of heaven-and-earth power!
But that would have left his foundation unstable and impossible to solidify. Reaching the Saint Realm would have been out of the question.
Plainly, Yan Zhen couldn’t afford that. His goal wasn’t mere sainthood—it was the Heavenly Emperor Realm beyond even Emperor. He needed rock-solid foundations at every stage.
Breaking through two realms at once might feel exhilarating, but it was a fleeting high. Push it too far, and everything would explode.
“Huuu…”
Yan Zhen exhaled a breath of turbid qi and opened his eyes. His pupils gleamed with exceptional clarity, reflecting the Beautiful Female Master’s enchanting, immortal visage.
“Master, I did it.” He raised his hand, a muddy, sludge-like flame flickering in his palm as he showed it to her. “The Rootless Earth Spirit Fire is so docile. It’s even suppressing the unruly Evil Spirit Dragon Breath Flame. I won’t have to worry about it hijacking my body anymore.”
Back when Wen Canglan had struck Yan Zhen with a devastating palm, the three extreme flames within him—led by the Evil Spirit Dragon Breath Flame—had seized control of his body and activated autonomous defense mode. It had left Zi Xunyi with deep physiological and psychological scars.
Chen Xi smiled at him indulgently. “The Rootless Earth Spirit Fire excels at defense. For now, pause your mystic power cultivation. Focus mainly on Body Realm training, with Divine Soul cultivation as a supplement, until both reach fifth tier.”
