As the spell was chanted, she suddenly flicked a drop of Finger Blood in the direction of Mr. Yuan.

That drop of blood flew straight ahead and, when it was about one foot in front of Mr. Yuan, vanished in an instant.

Right after, from the ceiling of the room came a clear, crisp ding-dong sound,

and a drop of white liquid fell from above, landing on the Copper Mirror.

The white droplet began to slowly flow across the Copper Mirror, writing out line after line of text.

"Zhou Xuan投入二十二枚Joy Demon Flesh and Blood, all accurate without error,投入the Fire Eye."

"Zhou Xuan投入fourteen Joy Demon Flesh and Blood, all accurate without error,投入the Fire Eye."

"Zhou Xuan..."

These several lines all recorded Zhou Xuan’s process of feeding in materials; no matter how many pieces he投入, the outcome was the same—he投入every last bit of flesh and blood into the Fire Eye with a one hundred percent hit rate, without a single mistake.

"Nearly seventy pieces of flesh and blood, not one missed?"

Li Qingru was shocked. This was something unheard of since the Silkworm Room had been established.

"Could it be that what Zhou Xuan said was not false... his Perception really can be投入into the furnace." 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

"Silk Master, once Perception enters the furnace flame, it will be subjected to tremendous interference..."

"But Zhou Xuan’s Perception is not that of an ordinary person. He is the only one in Jing Country—who can manifest the Appearance of the Day and Night Wandering God, a monster."

Li Qingru felt that if Zhou Xuan could not actually see the scene inside the furnace—then that one-hundred-percent hit rate with the materials was utterly inexplicable.

"If he really can see what’s inside the furnace, then Zoroastrianism is in danger."

Thinking of this, Li Qingru watched the Alchemy record on the Copper Mirror all the more closely.

"East Market Pill Furnace, Golden Light fills the sky; preliminary estimate, medicinal potency within the furnace exceeds six hu."

"Hu" was the unit used by the Heavenly Dome and Zoroastrianism to measure the medicinal potency of elixirs.

One hu was one hundred elixirs.

Six hu?

"Six hundred pills?" Li Qingru asked Mr. Yuan, "Old Yuan, with that East Market Fire Furnace, at most how many elixirs can one batch temper out?"

"Back when Ning Bukong was in charge of that Fire Pit, a single batch of elixirs, at its most flourishing, was only about a hundred and fifty."

Mr. Yuan answered honestly.

"Monster! A pure monster."

Li Qingru rose, called for Mr. Yun, and said, "By the power of one man alone, he has increased the elixir count fourfold. The emergence of such a monster must be reported to Lady Yin Nu. If we do not deal with him early, I fear that in the future he alone will be able to stand against all of Zoroastrianism."

"I think so as well." Mr. Yuan nodded repeatedly.

...

Within the Xianhuo Palace stood stairways numbering in the thousands.

Above the steps, the figure of the Xian Nu was buried within the Shining Stone Divine Throne.

Below the steps, Yin Nv’er was continuously reporting Zhou Xuan’s "Alchemy data."

This string after string of numbers made the Xian Nu’s expression alternately dark and bright.

"Yin Nv’er, do you think that Zhou Xuan truly can see the scene inside the Pill Furnace?"

"This old slave thinks—it should be true. Otherwise, there’s no way to explain his hundred-percent miracle." Yin Nv’er answered honestly.

The Xian Nu said, "Since that is the case, do I still need to spell out what remains?"

"You mean, cut Zhou Xuan down?"

Yin Nv’er’s voice trembled slightly as he said, "Right now Mingjiang Prefecture is as solid as a fortress. If we force our way in to kill, it will inevitably blow things up."

"No matter how big it gets, he must be cut down."

"He is a Master of Bai Yujing."

"If we wait until he finishes this batch of elixirs, I fear he will no longer be just a Master of Bai Yujing—he will become Bai Yujing’s Dan Zheng. At that point, Zoroastrianism will be constrained at every turn."

The Xian Nu’s attitude was extremely firm as she said, "A genius in Alchemy like this must either be brought over to our side or eliminated. There is no third choice."

"He now holds high position and great power; we cannot act by force."

Yin Nv’er said, "His value lies in elixirs. The Heavenly Dome and Zoroastrianism can both, through the Copper Mirror, see the total medicinal potency of his elixirs and their quantity... But if his elixirs are all wasted pills, would not his Dan Road be rugged and full of pitfalls as well?"

"His elixirs are all refined inside the Fire Eye. How could there be wasted pills?"

"We can tamper with them, can’t we?"

Yin Nv’er stretched out his right arm; in his palm there appeared a writhing centipede, the worm with six pairs of mouthparts, rubbing against each other with a clanging sound.

"This kind of worm is called the Devouring Pill Worm. It most loves to eat the medicinal potency of elixirs. If we buy off someone at Zhou Xuan’s side and have them place this worm among those elixirs, then even if they are First Grade elixirs, they’ll turn into a basket of wasted pills."

"A deft move." The Xian Nu also felt that Yin Nv’er’s method was workable.

Yin Nv’er said, "If a single batch produces six hundred wasted pills, then no matter how many elixirs Zhou Xuan refines, what meaning would it have? When the Heavenly Dome sees wasted pills, even if Zhou Xuan’s method of 投放 into the Fire Eye is extremely precise, the Heavenly Dome may not place its trust in him."

"A deft move, a deft move. But... whom do you intend to buy off at his side to plant these Devouring Pill Worms? Yun Ziliang, Li Changxun, or the Painter, the Music Master?" the Xian Nu asked.

"They are all brothers and close friends who have weathered hardship together with Zhou Xuan. Going to them will not get it done."

Yin Nv’er said, "I do have news: the Eternal Life Sect Leader is on East Market Street."

"That opportunist? He... is indeed a good choice."

The Xian Nu said, "You are to set about this at once. No matter the cost, ruin that batch of elixirs of Zhou Xuan’s. Best if that Fire Pit on East Market Street is destroyed along with it."

"I respectfully obey the Xian Nu’s command."

Yin Nv’er’s figure vanished on the spot...

...

East Market Street, the Ancient Soul Returning Hall,

in the Outer Hall, the Fire Tower was already on its second batch. Zhou Xuan threw the Joy Demon’s Desire Pill together with the Star Sky Scroll into the Fire Tower.