After emerging from seclusion after 300,000 years, Xihe found that her disciple Jin Ling remained largely unchanged. After offering a few pointers on Taiyi Cultivation, she sent her away. Xihe’s first priority, of course, was to check on her younger sister.
Changxi was still in a deep slumber. Feeling a pang of sorrow, Xihe gently picked up the white rabbit and cradled it in her arms. She couldn’t understand what had happened to her sister. When Xihe first arrived in this world, Changxi had been frail, but her spirit had been lively and bright.
Now, seeing her sister lying unconscious day after day filled Xihe with anxiety and helplessness.
Yet, she could find no clear cause for this condition. With no other choice, she decided to take things one step at a time. She kissed her sister’s long ears and carefully placed the jade rabbit back on the Moon Cassia Tree.
Once she had thoroughly studied the Great Dao Alchemy Technique, she would see if there were any pills that could help her sister.
After gazing at Changxi with lingering reluctance for a long while, Xihe finally left Taiyin. Before departing, she instructed Jin Ling to guard their home and taught her how to use the Innate Five Elements Grand Array.
With this powerful formation in place, Xihe felt much more at ease about venturing out.
After leaving Taiyin Star, the journey ahead was filled with scenes of war and chaos. The heavens and earth were saturated with Malignant Qi.
Xihe arrived at a battlefield where many corpses had already decayed beyond recognition, though a few still retained traces of their former appearances. The ground was stained a deep crimson, soaked in blood and reeking of a thick, metallic scent.
Frowning instinctively, Xihe summoned the Pure World White Lotus to purify the area. Soon, the Malignant Qi over the battlefield dissipated, and the bones and blood transformed into two Spirit Pearls.
One was dark red throughout—this was the spiritual energy condensed from the flesh and blood of living beings.
The other was a vibrant green—this was the vitality that had scattered into the world after the beings’ deaths.
Both types were highly useful for alchemy. Of course, in essence, these were remnants left behind by deceased beings. Using them in conventional alchemy would inevitably taint the resulting pills with Malignant Qi.
However, Xihe had no need to worry. On one hand, the purifying power of the Pure World White Lotus was exceptionally strong. On the other, under the Great Dao Alchemy Technique, Malignant Qi was nothing more than a trivial nuisance.
Recalling that she still had some simple medicinal herbs on hand, Xihe decided not to leave the area. She selected a pill called the Heavenly Origin Pill from the System’s tasks and resolved to try her hand at alchemy.
Her first attempts were clumsy and chaotic. She ruined three or four batches before gradually getting the hang of it.
When she finally held the Heavenly Origin Pill—capable of healing wounds and illnesses—in her hand, a meaningful smile spread across Xihe’s face.
Cultivation was a treacherous path, and with a sister to care for, resources were already scarce. What was the greatest expenditure on the battlefield? Undoubtedly, it was funds, provisions, medicine, and manpower!
She wasn’t greedy. If she could master just one of these, would she ever lack cultivation resources again?
Seeing that she had successfully crafted the pills but received no completion notification from the System, Xihe sighed. This truly was a show-off System. It seemed that only by collecting bones from an active battlefield would the task be considered complete.
Xihe wasn’t in a hurry, though, as the System hadn’t set a time limit.
She traveled leisurely, stopping and starting along the way, collecting bones while familiarizing herself with various medicinal formulas.
Because she made no particular effort to avoid attention, in the tenth year of her bone-collecting journey, she finally encountered an active battlefield.
This battle was of considerable scale. On one side were Houtu and Xuan Ming, two female Ancestral Witches of the Witch Clan. On the other were the Yao Marshals Bai Zhi and Ji Meng of the Demon Clan.
The two sides were locked in a fierce back-and-forth struggle. The commanders, matched in strength, were unlikely to fall easily, but the foot soldiers suffered terribly—casualties were heavy, and rivers of blood flowed across the land.
Amid this chaos, Xihe appeared on the battlefield, her form bathed in Moonlight Essence and untouched by a speck of dust.
Avoiding the clashes, she focused solely on collecting bones.
Though the battlefield was in utter disarray, no one was blind to her presence. While others fought desperately for their lives, she was there, purifying the remains of the fallen.
Gradually, the battlefield somehow came to a halt. Everyone was staring at the unbelievably beautiful woman who was collecting corpses and bones right in the middle of the battlefield.
Four beams of spiritual light descended, surrounding Xihe.
Ji Meng of the Demon Clan, with a human body and dragon head, was naturally rough and straightforward. He hadn’t even had his fill of fighting yet, but when he turned around and saw the corpses of his own soldiers gone, he couldn’t hold back.
“You damn rabbit, how dare you collect the corpses of my Demon Clan’s warriors? Are you tired of living? Come and die!”
“Wait—” Bai Ze couldn’t stop him in time. Ji Meng attacked, and Xihe countered. Their cultivation levels were comparable, but Ji Meng was forced back over ten meters before he could steady himself.
Ji Meng was astonished. “You little rabbit, I never expected you to be so tough!”
Bai Ze finally seized the opportunity to speak. “Greetings, Fellow Daoist Xihe. May I ask why you collected the corpses of our Demon Clan?”
“And those of our Witch Clan?” Houtu, who had met Xihe before, harbored no particular hostility. However, Xuan Ming, who was surrounded by the Ice Law, seemed ready to strike at any moment.
Xihe sighed. “After emerging from seclusion, I went out to gain experience. Seeing battlefields everywhere and the dense malignant qi in the world, I purified wherever I went. As a being of the Primordial World, I naturally cherish this land.”
Xuan Ming sneered. “You think you can fool us? You claim to purify, but you use the cultivation and corpses of our two clans to refine Spirit Pearls. Do you think we didn’t notice?”
Xihe wore a compassionate expression.
“Fellow Daoist, you misunderstand. Even if I didn’t purify them, the vitality and spiritual energy within those remains would gradually dissipate into the world. Using the Pure World White Lotus to purify also consumes my own energy. If I can use these inevitably dissipating energies to refine pills and replenish myself, wouldn’t I be able to purify more battlefields?”
Houtu frowned. “Impossible. This is a battlefield. No matter how much you purify, what you collect will still contain malignant qi. Refining it into pills and consuming it will harm the Divine Body. You…”
Four pure white pills were flicked into the hands of each of them.
“Heavenly Origin Pills!” Houtu exclaimed in surprise. After carefully examining the pill, she swallowed it. The wounds from the earlier battle visibly healed, and she looked at Xihe in shock.
“How did you do this? Heavenly Origin Pills aren’t difficult to refine, but the challenge lies in ensuring the medicinal power contains no trace of malignant qi. Moreover, all four of these Heavenly Origin Pills are of the highest quality. If you refined them yourself, is your alchemy skill even stronger than that of the eldest of the Three Pure Ones?”
“You flatter me, Fellow Daoist Houtu. I dare not compare myself to a Sage’s Disciple. Since I took the remains of your clansmen, these four hundred Heavenly Origin Pills shall serve as my apology to both sides. I hope you will allow Xihe to continue purifying the Primordial World.”
Two hundred fragrant Heavenly Origin Pills each appeared before the two sides, stunning all four of them.
How many pills as an apology?
Four hundred top-grade Heavenly Origin Pills—are these cabbages or something?
Bai Ze couldn’t wait to ask, “Fellow Daoist Xihe, how many Heavenly Origin Pills can you refine from purifying one battlefield?”
Xihe thought for a moment and casually replied, “I refine many types of pills. If I focus solely on Heavenly Origin Pills, for a battlefield with casualties like yours, I can refine around five thousand.”
“What? No cauldron explosions? No losses?”
Xihe looked somewhat embarrassed. “I’ve already refined over a hundred batches, and every batch has been of the highest quality.”
The four of them widened their eyes instantly—every batch of the highest quality!
They didn’t think Xihe was boasting; four hundred top-grade Heavenly Origin Pills were right before their eyes.
Xihe paid no mind to the four who were stunned, continuing to gather the remains on the battlefield. Yet the four simultaneously sent messages to call for reinforcements, their fighting spirit soaring to the heavens in their eyes. This fighting spirit, however, was not directed toward battle but instead converged toward Xihe.
Houtu: “Sister Xihe, do you still remember me? We met last time. I would like to invite you to visit the Witch Clan.”
Bai Ze: “Lady Xihe, I am here on the orders of the Celestial Emperor and Emperor Donghuang to invite you as a guest to the Celestial Court.”
Xuan Ming: “You scruffy birds dare to compete with us for her? Get lost!”
Ji Meng: “You savage brutes dare insult our Emperors? Prepare to die!”
Xihe felt as though her head had instantly grown ten times larger. Two were engaged in a war of words beside her ears, while the other two were brawling right before her eyes. The soldiers all stared at her in bewilderment—what, are you all not fighting anymore?