“There were two birds at once?” Zu An was pleasantly surprised. Happiness really did come suddenly, to the extent where he had a bit of disbelief.

Mi Li was much calmer in comparison. “You rose two ranks in quick succession recently, so it’s within reason that you awakened two birds. I almost thought that you would need to reach the peak of that cultivation realm to get one after the eighth rank; this situation is much better than what I anticipated. Right, take a look and tell me what kinds of abilities you got from those two birds.”

“Okay!” Zu An nodded. He closed his eyes and began to examine them. Then, he suddenly opened his eyes and said with a strange expression, “The Fire Phoenix has the Phoenix Fire, the world’s most sacred fire that embodies both destruction and benevolence. As for the Golden Phoenix… The Golden Phoenix…”

Mi Li became annoyed when she saw him mumble like that. “What about the Golden Phoenix?”

The Golden Phoenix had always been an auspicious creature. Since it was the symbol of grandeur and elegance, it was always used as a decoration for the laurels of the empress. Mi Li had a favorable impression of the Golden Phoenix, which was why she became more and more curious about what kind of ability the Golden Phoenix had.

Zu An replied, “The Golden Phoenix is of the metal attribute. Its ability is ‘Love is more solid than gold’. It… It can awaken a girl’s lust and make her unable to help but love you.”

Mi Li was speechless. She subconsciously took a step back, and then scoffed, “Hmph, looks like the bird is just like its master. Even a glorious phoenix ended up becoming a good-for-nothing because of you.”

Zu An’s expression became gloomy. “It’s not as if this is something I have any control over…”

Mi Li harrumphed. “Is there a prerequisite for this thing? Or is there a restriction on the target’s cultivation?”

Zu An shook his head. “I’m not sure… There’s no description of it. I have to slowly examine it on my own in the future.”

Mi Li took another step back. She exclaimed with a somewhat unnatural expression, “You’re not allowed to use that thing on me!”

Zu An snorted. “I’m a real man, and I’m so handsome too. Girls love me! The girls around me are all stunning, so why the heck do I need to use this kind of thing to get girls?”

Mi Li had to admit that was true. “Your luck with girls really is pretty good.”

“That’s because I’m handsome!” Zu An stuck out his chest. “Furthermore, what are you so scared of anyway? You’re just a soul.”

“That’s none of your business. Either way, just don’t use it on me.” Mi Li glared at him.

Zu An dropped his frivolity and said seriously, “Don’t worry, I won’t.”

Mi Li sighed in relief. According to their interactions thus far, she knew he wasn’t lying. A faint smile appeared on her lips.

“Then let’s refine the medicine first. You have to make sure you control the power of the fire. Don’t let the ingredients get burned,” Mi Li warned. She wasn’t scared of anything happening to this cauldron.

Zu An nodded, and then slowly spread out his arms. A golden flame appeared in the center of his palm. The entire room immediately became much hotter.

Mi Li frowned. Her sleeves brushed outward, sending flickering runes all around them. “I’ve already set up a formation here so the things around us won’t get destroyed by the flames. It’ll also keep the flames’ aura from leaking out and alarming the capital’s experts.”

Zu An voiced his surprise. Mi Li really was a mysterious person. He could only be grateful that he’d had that Heiress Ball of Delights back then when he faced her. He didn’t dare to be distracted, so he quickly sent a strand of the golden flames around the cauldron. It formed a stark contrast to Daji’s blue fox fire.

Since he was already in sync with Daji right now, he could perfectly control the strength of the two flames, making them reach the optimal level of harmony. Due to the experience of using the foxfire, he had great proficiency with the Phoenix Fire. He saw the contents of the cauldron quickly melt, and then he continued to manipulate the size of the flames according to the Ki Condensation Pill formula’s procedures while gradually adding all sorts of auxiliary ingredients.

The ingredients completely turned to liquid. Then, ki surrounded the liquid so it wouldn’t evaporate. The different types of liquid merged, and their impurities were removed. Their essences combined together and reacted to each other.

Mi Li warned from the side, “Be careful, not even an experienced alchemist’s success rate can exceed fifty percent, let alone a newbie like you.”

As if to prove what she had just said, the different types of liquid wrapped in ki suddenly shook violently, as if everything might collapse at any moment.

Drops of sweat trickled down Zu An’s forehead. “This is bad; I can’t control it!”

Mi Li also looked nervous, but there was nothing she could do.

Suddenly, the cauldron flickered with green light. A strand of ancient energy surrounded the liquid. Then, the restless liquids miraculously calmed down and merged together, forming a smooth and round pill. A medicinal fragrance that refreshed the mind wafted out from within.

Mi Li’s brows unfolded. “Success! Looks like the fifty percent success rate increase kicked in. You can take the pill out.”

“Wait, I think there’s something else happening.” Zu An quickly stopped her.

Mi Li looked at the cauldron in confusion. She saw green light flicker across it, and then several faint auras surrounded the pill medicine. After that, the lights dimmed. When she checked it again, she saw that there was an identical pill right next to it.

“The double pill chance happened! This is the effect of the Extravagant Furnace!” Mi Li was pleasantly surprised.

“Shen Xuzi’s Extravagant Furnace needed fifty percent more ingredients for this chance, but I only prepared a single portion of the ingredients!” Zu An exclaimed, puzzled.

Mi Li smiled. “The Extravagant Furnace only awakened that ability because of this cauldron, so it was weakened. You managed to save half of the ingredients with this cauldron. What, you’re not satisfied with that?”

“Of course I’m happy about this.” Zu An was overjoyed. He opened up the cauldron lid and removed the two red pills. Each pill had faint patterns on it.

Mi Li sighed in amazement. “They actually possess innate pill marks too. The pills a newbie like you made were actually of the highest grade.”

“Pill marks?” Zu An asked, confused.

Mi Li explained, “Many pills, once refined, are unable to reach the theoretical level of perfection. They suffer various types of damage during the refining process. But when the pill quality is high enough, innate pill marks will form on its surface. Only those legendary pill kings can occasionally make pills of this level, yet you actually succeeded on your first try! Looks like it’s probably because of this cauldron.”

Zu An couldn't help but examine the cauldron again. Mi Li was stunned and asked, “What are you looking for?”

Zu An said, “There was a Frugal Furnace that could return some ingredients too, but I don’t see anything here. There was a Mischievous Furnace in Shen Xuzi’s collection that would add a property, but I didn’t sense any additional traits added to these two pills.”

Mi Li couldn't help but scold him, “Hey, how can you be that greedy? Is double the pills not enough for you? In my opinion, the material return and double pill effects probably can’t happen at the same time, and only one of them will appear. Just be happy with the result already; the chance of getting twice the pills is lower than the chance of material returns. Furthermore, adding random properties isn’t reliable. Having a negative effect added to this Ki Condensation Pill could only ruin it.”

Zu An figured that made sense as well. The main reason he was doing this was to raise Daji’s skill rank. Ki Condensation Pills were one of the essential materials for that. It would be bad if something ended up affecting that process.

“Daji, come here!” Zu An gestured toward the gorgeous woman. Daji walked over gracefully. He dangled that Ki Condensation Pill in front of her and said, “Go a bit lower; open your mouth.”

Daji was stunned. Then, she slowly knelt down in front of him and raised her head. Her red lips parted slightly. Her large and beautiful eyes looked straight into his. This was a gaze that could melt even the toughest steel.

Zu An was speechless. I only told you to go down a bit lower. You don’t have to assume that position, right? He felt his entire body heat up. There was an uncontrollable impulse within him as well. This woman really is a vixen. I’m just feeding you; do you have to make it so sexual?