The First Immortal of Destiny

"Junior Brother Mo, I never..."

Zhao Lingyin had only just started to speak when she was brutally interrupted by Shen Mo, "I'll tell you again, no matter what you think, I am not Mo Shen! If one day, everyone in the Alchemy Zone starts saying that I am Mo Shen, I will kill you. Your Grade IV Alchemist Master will not be able to protect you then. Senior Sister Lingyin, do you understand?"

Shen Mo believed that with Zhao Lingyin's wisdom, she could fully understand the meaning of his words.

Zhao Lingyin looked thoughtful for a moment before nodding vigorously.

"Very good!"

Only then did Shen Mo release the hand gripping her throat.

He was about to leave when he found Zhao Lingyin following closely behind him.

"Senior Sister Lingyin?"

Although Zhao Lingyin's eyes were still misty and she looked pitiful, her tone remained firm, "I was wrong before. But I never intended to harm you. I was only hoping to find Junior Brother and discuss the Path of Alchemy with you. Rest assured, I won't speak carelessly and put you in danger! If you have spare time, why not visit my Spirit Gathering Peak?"

Then, using her sense, she transferred the personal mark of her Sound Transmission Talisman and hastened away with her head down.

Shen Mo felt a bit helpless.

His threat had not been entirely empty words. If it were anyone else, even an inner disciple of the Riverside Sect, Shen Mo wouldn't have been so lenient. While he wouldn't necessarily kill her, he would at least subdue her, go to the Market to find an illicit art, and after cultivating it using [Martial Performance], wipe her related memories.

However, Zhao Lingyin was not just an ordinary inner disciple. She was the number one, attention-grabbing genius in the Alchemy Zone, and she also had a Grade IV Alchemist Master as her backing. If she went missing, he was afraid that within half a day, her Master Wu Gong and her followers from the Alchemy Zone would definitely cause an uproar. At that time, regardless of whether he was just an inner disciple of Stars Peak or even a Direct Disciple of the Peak Master, it wouldn't end well for him.

As for now, if Zhao Lingyin kept her word and hid her "suspicions" in her heart without voicing them, then everything would be fine. It was just that, judging from her intentions, she still seemed to want to discuss the Path of Alchemy with him.

It seems like she wants to get entangled with me. This really gives me a bit of a headache! After all, her every move is watched by cultivators of the Path of Alchemy. Since I've always had no contact with her, suddenly becoming close will definitely raise suspicions, right?

With this in mind, Shen Mo browsed the trade area of the Alchemy Zone. After careful selection, he picked out five Grade II elixir recipes and one Grade III elixir recipe. Regrettably, he still couldn't find the recipe for the Earth Yuan Pill.

As he passed the Alchemy Tower, he suddenly noticed that the bulky cultivator Zou Yong, and the others who had been competing with him for tasks, all looked dejected.

Normally, Zou Yong having discovered "Mo Shen's" whereabouts should have earned him plenty of Spirit Stones from Zhao Lingyin. He shouldn't look so downcast.

After listening to their discussion, he found out that Zhao Lingyin had withdrawn all the rewards related to Mo Shen.

"Do you think Senior Sister Lingyin has found Alchemist Mo Shen?"

"Maybe. Otherwise, why would she suddenly withdraw the reward task!"

"I wonder which lucky fellow got that twenty Spirit Stone reward?"

"Hey, you're confused. Senior Sister Lingyin took the initiative to withdraw the reward; it's not that someone completed the task and claimed the Spirit Stones."

"Who cares? Anyway, the task of tracking unfamiliar Alchemists is gone. Do any of you fellow brothers have other good tasks to recommend? Preferably something easier, with more generous rewards."

"..."

As he walked past the bulky cultivator, a smile flitted across Shen Mo's face.

Although Zhao Lingyin's actions aren't very significant now, withdrawing the bounty right away undoubtedly revealed her attitude. No need to worry anymore that she'll do something foolish and bring trouble upon herself. Visiting Spirit Gathering Peak would be too ostentatious. When I get the chance, I'd rather meet her in the Alchemy Zone and discuss the Path of Alchemy in an Alchemy Room!

Shen Mo took out a Sound Transmission Talisman and sent a message. He informed Zhao Lingyin that he was aware of her decision to withdraw the bounty and scheduled a meeting in the Alchemy Zone in ten days' time to discuss Alchemy.

"Thank you, Junior Brother! I will prepare a Grade III elixir recipe as a thank-you gift. If you have a favorite elixir recipe, you can tell me."

Shen Mo was slightly taken aback. He suddenly felt that Zhao Lingyin was not that hard to deal with after all. Previously, she had been determined to find out his true identity, first posting a bounty, then ordering people to blockade the Alchemy Tower.

Such a domineering way of doing things! Now it seems she's just a spoiled little girl who doesn't think about others. Come to think of it, she's indeed only nineteen.

Shen Mo suddenly remembered that Zhao Lingyin wasn't even twenty yet. Her cultivation and reputation as a prodigy, however, could easily make people overlook her real age.

She's so much younger than me, yet I still have to call her Senior Sister. It's all because she's a prodigy at the sixth layer of the Qi Gathering Realm! At such a young age, her skill in the Path of Alchemy is already close to Grade III. She is indeed a genius in Alchemy; no wonder her behavior exhibits some youthful naivety. My previous threats and disciplinary actions probably helped her grow a bit.

Upon returning to his cave mansion, the first thing Shen Mo did was take out the newly acquired Fire Chi Cauldron to start Alchemy.

"Nether Fire, arise!"

As his thought stirred, a pale flame flew out from Shen Mo's Dantian. It flew into the purple-gold, double-eared cauldron with Chi patterns placed in front of him.

BUZZ!

The Fire Chi Cauldron seemed to respond to the Alchemy Fire, and its originally subdued spirit light burst forth completely. The light flowed beautifully. At the same time, a fire-red, hornless, mythical Chi appeared in the cauldron. It was like a dragon, but not quite; like a python, but not quite. With its mouth open, it seemed to be swallowing and spitting out the Nether Fire!

Shen Mo threw the prepared spiritual medicinal materials into the cauldron one by one, controlling them to melt into a medicinal liquid. Then, using a specific technique, he removed the impurities from the medicinal liquid to expose the essence within.

With Shen Mo's progress in the Path of Alchemy, he no longer needed to deliberately take each medicinal liquid out and then return them to the cauldron one by one for melting. Everything could be kept in the cauldron. He could even control the flames to melt different materials separately, greatly improving the efficiency of Alchemy.

This high-grade cauldron is indeed more useful than the Red Cloud Cauldron. With the help of the phantom Fire Chi, whether it's tempering Spiritual Liquid or melting and condensing, it's much easier than before.

The Fire Chi was seen moving around in the cauldron. When swallowing flames, if it encountered spiritual medicines not resistant to burning, the Chi visibly absorbed a bit of their fire nature. Conversely, when it encountered materials like the Lava Earth Fruit, which required fierce flame power to liquefy, it would exhale a bit of the absorbed fire nature. In this way, it adjusted the flame's refining power.

In less than two Shichen, a furnace of Grade II Qi Coalescing Pills was successfully produced. Shen Mo checked the medicinal effects of the finished Elixirs; most were of excellent quality, with a few being of perfect quality.

The quality of the Elixir hasn't noticeably improved! After all, with my Alchemy skill, I've almost reached the limit. It's really not easy to increase the rate of producing top-quality Elixir per furnace. However, the Alchemy duration is a bit faster than before, and it has saved me a lot of mental effort.

Shen Mo planned to first concoct a batch of Elixirs that needed to be delivered to Shopkeeper Qian. Then he would concoct Elixirs from the newly acquired elixir recipes and attempt to advance to become a Grade III Alchemist.