Chapter Three: Crafting the Demon Emperor Pill

"Miaoling, come eat," called out Qin Tian.

"I’m fasting. I won’t eat," An Miaoling replied, continuing her sword practice.

"Meals are a rule on Sword-Hiding Peak. You must eat," Qin Tian said sternly.

With no choice, An Miaoling sheathed her sword and walked over to Qin Tian.

On the table sat a soup and two dishes: Three-legged Black Crow Chicken Soup, stir-fried Spirit Leaves, and spicy Thousand-Year Earth Bamboo Shoots.

As soon as An Miaoling took her seat, the aroma of the food reached her.

Qin Tian smiled and began, "Cultivation realms are: Transcending the Mundane, Surpassing the Mortal, Spiritual Movement, Golden Body, Nirvana, Creation, Half-Saint, Saint Realm, and Imperial Realm."

"Each realm is divided into First, Second, and Third Levels."

"After this meal, you should break through to the First Level of the Golden Body Realm."

An Miaoling glanced skeptically at the soup and dishes.

Qin Tian picked up a bowl, filled it with meat soup, and handed it to her. "Have some soup first—it’s good for your digestion."

An Miaoling was caught off guard; wasn’t that something mortals would say? In her previous life, she was born among common folk, and her mother had often told her such things. But later, disaster struck her family, and while fleeing from enemies, she endured endless hardship. Eventually, she cultivated a heart of absolute detachment and ascended to the position of Empress.

She took up the soup and had a sip. It was remarkably delicious, but after swallowing it, she was stunned.

Without hesitation, she gulped down the rest, then began to eat the meat.

After finishing, she felt a tremendous surge of energy flooding her body, and faint golden light began to radiate from her skin.

The golden light grew stronger, and the surrounding spiritual energy was quickly absorbed into her body.

After some time, she smoothly broke through to the First Level of the Golden Body Realm.

"What did you feed me?" An Miaoling asked in astonishment.

"Nothing much—just a chicken soup made from the Three-legged Black Crow King."

"You used a demon king to make soup?" An Miaoling was utterly shocked.

"Did you catch it, or was it the previous Peak Master, Jiang Qingxue?"

"Jiang Qingxue caught it."

An Miaoling was skeptical. Someone who regularly ate demon king meat couldn’t possibly be only at the Spiritual Movement Realm. Even a common pig would be fed to the Nirvana Realm by such fare.

She grew increasingly certain that her master was far from ordinary.

Qin Tian smiled, "Everyone has their secrets. I know you have yours, too."

Hearing this, An Miaoling tensed up—did he know she was the reincarnation of the Empress?

Seeing her anxious expression, Qin Tian suddenly found her quite adorable.

He reached out, gently ruffled her hair, and then left.

Before departing, he called back, "Clean up the table."

After Qin Tian left, An Miaoling muttered under her breath, "Always taking liberties—one day I’ll cut off your hand."

After leaving, Qin Tian looked toward the direction of the Wild Mountain Range.

He pondered for a moment.

Now that An Miaoling had broken through to the Golden Body Realm and her physical strength was sufficient, he decided to refine a Demon Emperor Pill for her, to help awaken her ancient Ice Phoenix bloodline.

With this in mind, he set out for the Wild Mountain Range.

His purpose was not only to obtain some Demon Emperor blood, but also to replenish his supply of ingredients.

Upon arriving, he made his way swiftly and confidently into the depths of the mountains.

"Damned human, why are you here again? If you capture my subordinates, I’ll fight you to the death!" roared the Azure Roc Demon Emperor, furious.

A Demon Emperor was equivalent to a human Half-Saint, so he was full of pride.

Qin Tian laughed awkwardly. "Today, I’m just here to borrow two drops of Demon Emperor blood."

"Borrow?!" the Azure Roc Demon Emperor exploded in rage.

"If you won’t lend it, I’ll just have to take it myself."

With those words, Qin Tian prepared to act.

His "Transformative Freedom Technique" was a supreme secret art.

It could transform into all things—into living beings, into ancient times, into years, into peerless powers.

Though he had only cultivated it to the level of transforming into living beings.

Transform into a dragon!

Qin Tian’s form shifted into the shadow of a golden dragon, exuding immense dragon might.

Feeling this dragon might, the Azure Roc was astonished. "What…what is this technique?"

"I’ve felt the might of a golden dragon before; this is identical. Are you truly a golden dragon?"

Qin Tian gave no reply.

Ancestral Dragon’s Claw!

The golden dragon’s shadow struck with a claw, sending the Azure Roc flying.

His techniques had all been upgraded through reward sign-ins.

After landing a blow, Qin Tian pursued and struck again, forcing the Azure Roc Demon Emperor to beg for mercy.

At last, he willingly surrendered his blood.

Qin Tian then sought out other Demon Emperors for blood, such as the Monkey Demon Emperor and the Flood Dragon Emperor.

The entire Wild Beast Mountain Range was soon thrown into chaos.

Two days later, Qin Tian returned to Sword-Hiding Peak.

An Miaoling, in the midst of sword practice, paused. "Where have you been these past two days?"

Her tone betrayed a touch of displeasure—he’d disappeared without a word.

Although she knew Qin Tian was far from ordinary, his cultivation realm appeared to be merely Spiritual Movement.

So she was still a bit worried.

Qin Tian looked at An Miaoling’s fierce yet adorable expression and couldn’t resist ruffling her hair again.

"You’ve broken through to the Golden Body Realm, so I’m thinking of refining a pill to help awaken your bloodline."

"Really?" An Miaoling was a little skeptical.

"Would I lie? I’ll start right now," he said, flying off toward the Pill Refining Hall.

An Miaoling followed him.

The Pill Refining Hall had fallen into disrepair from years of neglect.

As soon as they pushed the door, it fell off its hinges.

Qin Tian laughed awkwardly.

Inside, the place was thick with cobwebs. Qin Tian used spiritual energy to retrieve the pill furnace from a distance.

He took it to the river, washed it, and brought it back to the Sword-Hiding Pavilion.

Once everything was ready, Qin Tian took out a pill-refining manual and began to read.

"You need to read?" An Miaoling was starting to doubt whether Qin Tian could actually refine pills.

"Want me to do it?" she offered. In her previous life, she’d studied pill refinement and could make ordinary pills herself.

Qin Tian closed the book and smiled. "It’s my first time, so I need to reinforce my knowledge."

He lit the fire and took out several bottles. As soon as he opened the lids, a powerful pressure swept over them.

An Miaoling looked at the blood with surprise—it was extraordinary.

Then, under her astonished gaze, Qin Tian added five-thousand-year-old Snow Ginseng, five-thousand-year-old Earth Lotus, and other rare herbs.

Such aged medicinal materials—even as Empress in her past life, she had only a handful.

Watching Qin Tian at work, her heart of absolute detachment began to waver.

Was the path of absolute detachment truly the right one?

Just then, the pill furnace began to shake, and a series of Demon Emperor shadows appeared.

The immense pressure forced An Miaoling to take several steps back.

Her eyes widened—she had discovered something incredible.

Azure Roc Demon Emperor, Flood Dragon Emperor, Monkey Demon Emperor.

She recognized these shadows instantly.

Demon Emperors were equivalent to their sect master, Mo Wentian—unrivaled in Eastern Continent.

She was full of questions: "How could someone at the Spiritual Movement Realm obtain so much Demon Emperor blood?"

Though she was eager to ask, she knew this was a crucial moment.

She couldn’t disturb Qin Tian’s pill refinement.