How to Be the Perfect Junior Sister to a Reborn Villain - Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Fortune had literally fallen from the skies. Everyone was in high spirits, busy preparing for closed-door cultivation.

Yan Jiuzhi spent several days setting up the formations.

Before long, every disciple’s room was filled with rich spiritual energy. The master and disciples alike were brimming with excitement, their enthusiasm for cultivation reaching new heights. One after another, they entered seclusion to train.

Elder Gao carefully cut off a small piece of the Flesh Ganoderma, intending to refine a few pills that would strengthen his body in preparation for his upcoming Core Formation attempt.

He was ready to take another gamble. This rare treasure had rekindled his hope.

Yan Jiuzhi handed him two stalks of longevity herbs that Xia Mengxue had given him.

The old man’s eyes widened in alarm. He waved his hands frantically. 

No, no, those are far too precious. Such high-grade spiritual herbs shouldn’t be wasted on me, I’m not worth it.

Though his cultivation was modest, Elder Gao was still a healer he knew the value of those herbs all too well.

But Yan Jiuzhi didn’t take them back. He stubbornly pushed the jade box toward him.  

Please, take them. They’re just herbs. Once I explore more secret realms, I can always find more. Right now, you and Master need them the most. Make some pills for him, too.

Even if the herbs couldn’t repair Lin Shanlai’s damaged Golden Core, they could still strengthen his body and extend his lifespan no small blessing.

Unable to refuse any longer, Elder Gao’s hands trembled as he accepted the jade box. He carefully placed the lid back on, reverent as though handling a sacred relic.

He’d need to bathe and burn incense first, to be in perfect condition before beginning his alchemy.

Old Lin, just wait! I’ll have a fine batch of pills ready for you soon!” he shouted toward Lin Shanlai’s room, his voice full of confidence. Then, in a flash of excitement, he dashed into his own room and slammed the door shut clearly forbidding interruption.

Li Xi had collected quite a few osmanthus roots saturated with the Flesh Ganoderma’s vitality, and she’d been planning to ask Elder Gao for some low-grade spirit plants to practice with. But before she could even call out, the old man had disappeared inside.

She stared blankly at his closed door, then turned her pitiful gaze toward her Third Senior Brother.

Yan Jiuzhi couldn’t help but laugh. He reached into his storage pouch and handed her several low-grade spirit herbs. He’d gathered plenty during their last trip to the secret realm.

 These would be perfect for practice.

Here, Little Junior Sister. These are all low-grade herbs, not worth much. You can experiment freely.

Li Xi had just broken through to a new level, so she didn’t need to go into seclusion yet. Practicing the alchemy techniques in her Water Wood Moonlight Immortal Art was perfect timing.

Don’t worry, Third Senior Brother. I’ll complete the task beautifully!” she declared, puffing out her chest with confidence.

Alchemy was the path she had to master her future fortune depended on it!

She couldn’t stand being poor. She was going to be rich filthy rich!

 Oh, right, Third Senior Brother,  she said suddenly,  could you take a look at Xiaocui’s aptitude.

What kind of cultivation art would suit her? She has five spiritual roots.

Her master had mentioned that even her Third Senior Brother also had five spiritual roots, which sounded absurd to her. With that kind of cultivation speed and the kind of quiet authority he carried, there was no way he was just another five-root cultivator.

She didn’t buy it for a second.
In fact, she’d already decided she was going to hold onto her Third Senior Brother’s thigh for life.

Absolutely, unwaveringly.

Yan Jiuzhi channeled a thread of spiritual power to examine Xiaocui’s spiritual roots. It was true, she had all five elements, and her quality was  mediocre at best.

After some thought, and recalling Xiaocui’s natural physical strength, he said,  She’s best suited to body cultivation.

Body cultivation? You mean she’ll turn into one of those muscle-bound warrior women?

 Li Xi grimaced, picturing her maid turning into a hulking Amazon and shuddering at the image.

Yan Jiuzhi chuckled. Of course not. Advanced body cultivation techniques refine strength without bulking up muscles. You’re imagining things.

He could practically see the nonsense running through his little junior sister’s mind.

Wait here. I’ll go find something suitable and bring it over, he said. In truth, he planned to write one himself he’d studied plenty of body cultivation manuals and had his own insights.

Okay, Third Senior Brother,  Li Xi replied sweetly, not doubting him for a second.

If he said he’d “find” one, then it must exist. She waited with a bright smile, her resolve to cling to his leg growing even firmer.

Xiaocui’s aptitude was truly poor. Months had passed, and she had only barely reached the first layer of Qi Refining.

It had taken her three whole months just to draw spiritual energy into her body a painfully slow process.

Clearly, only her Third Senior Brother could save her.

Soon enough, Yan Jiuzhi returned with a manual titled Five Elements Body Tempering Technique. He patiently explained its principles to Xiaocui and encouraged her: as long as she was diligent, she would achieve success.

Xiaocui was so moved that she bowed deeply to him. Her slow progress had made her fear she might never be able to stay by her young mistress’s side.

Now, with a suitable technique, she felt renewed purpose.

Miss, I can finally stay with you forever,  Xiaocui said firmly, eyes full of determination.

Li Xi had no idea that her ever-capable maid had secretly sworn to train until she dropped if she didn’t die, she’d just keep training harder. She simply smiled and cheered her on.

Before going into seclusion, Yan Jiuzhi reminded Li Xi worriedly, “Don’t be afraid of failure when refining pills. Reflect after each attempt, and you’ll improve. I believe you’ll succeed soon. And remember keep up your sword practice and body training, too.

“Mm! I’ll definitely succeed!”

 Li Xi nodded energetically like a pecking chick.

With the Third Senior Brother in closed cultivation and Xiaocui starting her body training,

 Li Xi decided it was time to officially begin her life as a future grandmaster alchemist.

The alchemy described in her Water-Wood Moonlight Immortal Art was quite different from traditional methods much gentler. Except for certain special elixirs, it didn’t even require fire at all.

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Li Xi used a special sequence of hand seals to extract the essence from the spirit herbs, then carefully blended them according to proportion. After that came the key step of infusing various spell seals to refine and condense the pill.

From the inherited memory images, it didn’t look all that difficult.

Even though Third Senior Brother had said that these ingredients were cheap and she could experiment freely, Li Xi wasn’t the kind of person to rush blindly into things, nor did she like to waste good materials.

So before she began for real, she practiced the hand seals again and again in the air until every motion was fluid, without the slightest hesitation. Only then did she officially begin.

Flipping open the booklet Elder Gao had given her, she decided to start with the simplest kind of pill the Nourishing Life Pill, a low-grade elixir that even mortals could take to strengthen their health and prolong their years.

Naturally, she didn’t have a proper pill furnace. But she didn’t feel daunted; to her, this was basically no different from running a chemistry experiment. She gathered a few pots, bowls, and basins to serve as containers and got right to work.

With full concentration, she performed the hand seals. Spiritual energy slowly flowed through the air around her. Extracting and blending the herbs’ essence wasn’t hard at all.

However, when it came to the third step infusing the final spell seals to merge and condense the pill, she kept failing.

Hand seals flew like falling stars, but the energy swirling inside the pot grew unstable and chaotic, never solidifying into a pill.

Li Xi frowned at the turbulent mass of energy in the pot. Failing was normal, sure but after so many attempts, failing every single time at the condensation stage was starting to hurt. All those herbs going to waste made her heart ache.

Still, on the last attempt, she’d come so close the pill had almost taken shape. The only problem was that her hand seals hadn’t been fast enough at the final moment.

That was fixable.

From then on, Li Xi devoted herself entirely to hand speed practice. Her fingers danced tirelessly through the air, conjuring one spell seal after another, faster and faster, each movement smoother than the last.

She practiced over and over again, without rest, until her hands flowed like water and her motions were light as wind. After silently reciting the pill formula a few more times and reviewing every detail of her earlier failures, she was finally ready for another attempt.

This time, she was careful every step was executed exactly according to her refined understanding. Her fingers moved like butterflies weaving through flowers, graceful and precise, leaving afterimages in the air. Spell seals shot forth in a steady rhythm, perfectly controlled.

The chaotic energy within the pot began to stabilize. The shape of a pill slowly emerged. Li Xi held her breath, her movements steady but quick. The pill grew denser, smoother, brighter until finally, under her eager gaze, it solidified completely.

Success.

Li Xi almost screamed with excitement. She really was a genius!

But remembering that her sectmates were all in secluded cultivation, she clamped a hand over her mouth, bouncing in silent joy several times before she managed to calm down.

She leaned over the pot, eyes sparkling. Inside lay a few tiny, emerald-green pills, each one exuding a vibrant, life-filled aura.

They were a bit smaller than the Fasting Pills she’d seen before, but clearly purer and more potent.

Concentrated essence that’s the good stuff, she murmured proudly to herself.

Carefully bottling the pills, she beamed. She couldn’t wait to show someone especially her only non-secluded companion, her childish but reliable Fourth Senior Brother.

She was going to share her first-ever alchemy success with him.