Dual Cultivation

Once the pill concoction began, the entire room turned silent.

Wang Shuren moved with swiftness and sharpness but each of her movements was also made with precision and care. She was extremely cautious with the ingredients she tossed into the cauldron, treating them as though they were fragile treasures, as a single burned ingredient meant the end of this pill concoction.

Su Yang assisted her with controlling the cauldron’s temperature for now so she could focus on the ingredients inside, making it much easier for her.

After a few hours when they are finally at a crucial part of the concoction, Su Yang stopped controlling the flames and retrieved the Heaven-grade Spiritual Weapon he had obtained inside the Immortal’s Treasury — the Black Scorpion — and sliced a small wound at the tip of his thumb.

Although the Black Scorpion poisons anything it comes in contact with, Su Yang, being the owner of this Black Scorpion, had the ability to seal the poison inside the dagger so he wouldn’t be poisoned to death.

"I will transfer the control back to you now," Su Yang said to Wang Shuren before he stopped supporting the Alchemy Flames.

Once there was an opening on his finger, Su Yang began mumbling a profound scripture, causing the Profound Qi in his body to react in frenzy and rush towards the small wound on his fingers.

A few seconds later, Su Yang removed the cauldron lid and dripped a single drop of his fresh blood into the cauldron to mix with the ingredients.

The instant his blood mixed with the ingredients, Wang Shuren could feel something profound and inexplicable happening to the ingredient, and the energy inside Wang Shuren began draining at a much faster rate.

"W-What is happening?" Wang Shuren was shocked when the cauldron began absorbing her energy at a pace that she has never experienced before. As a matter of fact, she’s never even heard of such a phenomenon. It was almost like the cauldron had suddenly turned into a black hole with an endless hunger for energy.

"Focus on the cauldron!" Su Yang’s sudden voice forced Wang Shuren out of her daze.

"I-I’m sorry!" Wang Shuren’s heart raced. If she had dozed off for just a few more seconds, then everything in the cauldron would’ve burned to a crisp.

And when Wang Shuren thought that was the end, Su Yang used the Black Scorpion to cut another wound on his other fingers.

After he recited a few more profound techniques, Su Yang dripped four more drops of blood into the cauldron with a few seconds in-between each one.

And with each additional drop of blood mixed into the cauldron, Wang Shuren would feel the mysterious force that was absorbing her energy growing stronger.

Luckily, by the time Wang Shuren almost ran out of strength, Su Yang finished his part and took over the pill concoction.

"I will now take over until the end, thank you." Su Yang said to her with a smile.

Wang Shuren laid on the floor while breathing heavily, her robes soaked in sweat. Just those last few minutes felt like she’d been concocting pills for days without rest; it was extremely exhausting.

Once she rested enough, Wang Shuren watched Su Yang concoct the pill with wide eyes.

"To last this long without a drop of sweat on his body, just how much Profound Qi does this guy have?" she wondered inwardly, as she didn’t want to disturb him.

"Not to mention just how casually he took over my control over the cauldron..."

Normally, one wouldn’t be able to replace the individual that is already concocting a pill without needing some time to adjust to the situation, as each Alchemy Master has their own technique and unique methods. Yet Su Yang somehow replaced Wang Shuren and continued concocting the pill without even a slight pause in-between; it was almost like Wang Shuren had never left in the first place, something Wang Shuren herself cannot comprehend.

A little bit over ten minutes after Su Yang replaced Wang Shuren, Su Yang finished concocting the pill and removed the lid on the cauldron, retrieving the blood-red colored pill inside the cauldron.

Although she didn’t comprehend the feeling, when Wang Shuren saw the Soul Divination Pill for the first time, she felt something deep inside her consciousness tremble with excitement.

"That is the Soul Divination Pill? It looks so ordinary yet so... profound..."

However, Su Yang did respond to her and instead tossed the Soul Divination Pill into his mouth immediately after taking it out of the cauldron, dumbfounding Wang Shuren.

"You are going to consume it right now?!" she exclaimed with surprise.

After consuming the Soul Divination Pill, Su Yang sat down and closed his eyes to cultivate.

When Wang Shuren saw this, afraid that she’d bother him, she quickly left the room.

"Master! Are you finally done?" Xiao Yawen asked Wang Shuren the moment she left the room, almost like she had stood there waiting for her the entire time.

"Yes," Wang Shuren nodded. "Why do you have such an expression on your face?"

She then asked Xiao Yawen upon seeing her worried face.

"The thing is... somebody found a pile of what looked like ashes somewhere in the Inner Court, and it turned out to be human ashes..."

"What? Who could be this disrespectful towards another human? Do they know who the ashes belonged to?" Wang Shuren felt slightly disgusted by the actions of this individual.

"Well... there are no official words from the Sect yet, but there have been rumors going around that the ashes belong to... Wang Ming, Master’s cousin." Xiao Yawen spoke with a reserved tone, as it is only a rumor and not confirmed.

"What?! Wang Ming?! How could he be dead when I saw him just before I began selling the Burning Lotus Pills?! I am going to see him right now!"

"Wait!" Xiao Yawen quickly stopped her and said, "That might be somewhat difficult, as Wang Ming’s been missing since this morning."

Wang Shuren’s eyes widened with shock. Could Wang Ming really be dead? If that’s really true, how did it happen? How did he die so suddenly? Although she sees him as a disgrace to the Wang Family because of his actions, he still belonged to her family at the end of the day, and if someone killed him, she will have to look for answers — not for herself but for Wang Ming’s parents.