The next morning, Shen He arrived at the Pill Room under Pang Sanxian’s envious gaze.
There were two other menial disciples in Hong Kui’s Pill Room. One was at Qi Refining Layer 9, the other at Qi Refining Layer 7. They had reportedly been helping in the Pill Room for over two years.
The two were quite polite to Shen He.
After all, Shen He had brought Senior Brother Liu a perfect merit in the Demonic Path upon his arrival. What a formidable young man.
One of them took the initiative to tell Shen He that Senior Brother Hong had issued an internal notice specifically about Senior Brother Liu’s attempt to refine a human pill.
If anything similar happened in the Pill Room again and was discovered, they should just throw themselves into the Pill Furnace to perfect their Demonic Core.
Xie Linlang’s evaluation of this was: “Punishment only if caught—success means no repercussions. You’d better be careful.”
Shen He deeply agreed. With keen insight, he asked the two menial disciples what work he could do.
The two exchanged a glance and handed him some simple tasks like sweeping and sorting medicinal ingredients.
Shen He had no complaints. He did whatever was asked diligently and steadily.
Even without deliberately sitting in meditation to cultivate, Shen He could sense the Demonic Qi in his body becoming increasingly pure amid the surging power spilling from the Spiritual Fire.
Shen He himself possessed a fire attribute, which matched the environment perfectly.
By the end of the day, the circulation speed of his Demonic Qi had more than doubled compared to usual.
He marveled inwardly. No wonder Pang Sanxian was so eager to help in the Pill Room. As long as one could gain a foothold here, this place was truly a cultivation paradise!
Shen He sighed. “I’ve heard the Pill Room often lacks menial disciples and helpers. Besides the high attrition rate, it turns out cultivation speed here is twice as fast as outside. Like the two Senior Brothers helping in the Pill Room today—they’ll be attempting Foundation Establishment in a few more months.”
After successfully establishing their foundation, they could join a Nascent Soul Cultivator’s sect. They could either find a Shizun in advance or wait for the sect’s unified arrangements. In any case, Nascent Soul Cultivators all had their own quiet chambers for pill refining. As their disciples, they could freeload off their master’s Pill Room and naturally wouldn’t return.
This also led to a constant shortage of menial disciples and helpers in the sect’s Pill Room courtyards.
Xie Linlang brushed off Shen He’s remarks absentmindedly.
He now focused all his attention on the Jade Pendant that housed his remnant soul.
Shen He noticed Xie Linlang seemed preoccupied and didn’t dare disturb him. Instead, he picked up the True Solution of Pill Dao that Xie Linlang had given him and read it carefully, committing it to memory.
Xie Linlang was pondering something.
According to Shen He, his father had entrusted him to an ordinary steamed cake seller, so Xie Linlang had initially assumed Shen He’s father was a low-rank cultivator.
But was it possible that Shen He’s father was actually a high-rank cultivator?
Had he deliberately done the opposite, handing the child to an ordinary person precisely to give Shen He a slim chance of survival?
The biggest flaw in such a plan would be the anomalies on Shen He’s body.
Children of cultivators generally had good aptitude and spirit roots. After birth, they often consumed heavenly treasures, making them shine like stars in the night among ordinary people.
The Jade Pendant’s function was actually to conceal heavenly secrets, suppress Shen He’s aptitude, and even accommodate his soul power, which far exceeded that of ordinary people.
Once Shen He joined Silent Night Palace and became a Demonic Cultivator disciple, the Jade Pendant’s effect began to weaken—because Shen He was now a cultivator and no longer needed its concealment.
Thus, Xie Linlang had entered it, and his remnant soul received the Jade Pendant’s nourishment.
“But this isn’t some Heaven Grade or even Supreme Magic artifact.”
Treasured tools and spirit artifacts used by cultivators would have restrictions and runes inside.
For example, the Dust Whisk Xie Linlang had used in life was a high-rank seventh-grade Heaven-tier spirit artifact, containing forty-nine restrictions, three special effects, and decent auxiliary abilities.
Of course, that Dust Whisk of his had turned to ashes under heaven’s thunder.
Yet Xie Linlang found no traces of restrictions or runes in the Jade Pendant.
He greeted Shen He and temporarily took control of his body, probing the Jade Pendant carefully with Demonic Qi. It didn’t trigger any Demon Race or spirit race auras.
In the end, Xie Linlang reached a wildly speculative conclusion.
Shen He asked cautiously, “Shizun?”
Xie Linlang was silent for a long time before saying, “This Jade Pendant of yours is actually a piece of Immortal Grade material.”
Shen He was stunned. He didn’t understand the meaning or weight of those words.
“Please explain, Shizun.”
Xie Linlang asked, “In the True Solution of Pill Dao I gave you, which part have you reached?”
Shen He replied, “Still on the basic material processing techniques, Pill Furnace malfunctions, and emergency handling methods during pill refining…”
Since he was helping in the Pill Room, he needed to be useful, so he prioritized these practical skills.
