After appeasing the angry Lu Guijiu, Zhang Jingmo began preparing to refine the pills.

Aside from the Zhu Yan, Bai Lingxiao had already gathered the other precious spiritual herbs needed for the Molten Fire Pill, so as soon as the Zhu Yan was obtained, Zhang Jingmo could start refining the pills.

However, as a top-grade pill, successfully refining the Molten Fire Pill was not as simple as just gathering the ingredients.

Fortunately, while Zhang Jingmo couldn't guarantee anything else, he was extremely confident about this Molten Fire Pill.

Refining the Molten Fire Pill required eighty-one days, and during these eighty-one days, the spiritual fire could not be interrupted. The pill refiner needed to add the medicinal ingredients into the pill furnace without the slightest deviation in amount or timing.

The control over the spiritual fire's temperature required for the Molten Fire Pill was also pushed to the extreme. Not a bit less, not an inch more. Just a few degrees of variation would be enough to ruin a furnace of pills.

During these eighty-one days, no one could disturb him. Zhang Jingmo invited Bai Lingxiao to guard him.

Upon hearing this, Bai Lingxiao immediately agreed. He also asked Zhang Jingmo if there was anything else he needed help with. Zhang Jingmo said, "There's no need for you to worry about other matters. It's just that during the pill refinement period, no one can disturb me at all. Otherwise, it will definitely fail."

Bai Lingxiao nodded.

Not to mention anything else, Zhang Jingmo was very confident in Bai Lingxiao's martial prowess. In the entire Lingxu Sect, there were probably no more than three people who could defeat him in battle.

And those three people were not in Lingxu Sect.

With everything ready except the crucial ingredient, after preparing everything, Zhang Jingmo lowered the stone door and began refining the pills.

The Zhu Yan, originally a small sparrow, transformed into a fluffy flame, floating in mid-air. Zhang Jingmo had long ago signed a contract with Zhu Yan, so he now silently controlled it in his mind to manipulate the fire's temperature.

The lid of the huge cauldron was lifted, and Zhang Jingmo wrapped the medicinal ingredients with spiritual power, slowly placing them into the cauldron.

During these eighty-one days of pill refinement, Zhu Yan could not take form to seek food, so its nourishment was Zhang Jingmo's spiritual power. Originally, for a cultivator at the Golden Core stage, it would be too strenuous to sustain Zhu Yan for eighty-one days. But Bai Lingxiao had given Zhang Jingmo over a thousand high-grade spirit stones. When Zhang Jingmo's spiritual power became insufficient, he could absorb the spirit stones to replenish his internal spiritual energy.

Heavenly Frost Spring, Poison Dragon Iron, Three Purities Jade, Nixia Stone... One after another, these precious treasures were all placed into the cauldron. After more than sixty days passed, Zhang Jingmo had already put all the medicinal ingredients inside.

There were still more than twenty days left. These twenty plus days were the most critical period for refining the Molten Fire Pill.

The Molten Fire Pill, as its name suggested, had a violent nature.

It not only required countless fire-attributed medicinal ingredients and the Zhu Yan, the ultimate yang fire seed, but most difficult of all, in the twenty days before the pill was completed, the spiritual energy requirement each day was higher than the previous day.

By the final day, Zhang Jingmo would even need to continuously absorb spirit stones in order to barely maintain Zhu Yan's roaring flames.

After these sixty plus days passed, although Zhang Jingmo had already abstained from food, his face still showed signs of fatigue. In order to conserve spiritual energy, he controlled his body to the limit, not daring to waste a single bit.

And this extreme control over the body required him to focus all his energy.

Just as Zhang Jingmo was slowly circulating his spiritual power to make Zhu Yan's flames even more intense, his keen senses vaguely heard a loud noise.

At a critical moment, even a subtle sound was enough to ruin everything. Seeing Zhu Yan's fire slightly waver, it was clearly affected. Fortunately, Zhang Jingmo was experienced. He only slightly furrowed his brows before instantly stabilizing his breath. Zhu Yan's flames no longer flickered and continued maintaining their proper form.

--Something had clearly happened outside the door. He didn't know if it was a big or small matter, but Zhang Jingmo could guess that it was probably aimed at him.

Fortunately, Zhang Jingmo was only affected at the beginning. After calming his mind, he once again entered a state of total absorption.

Zhu Yan's fire slowly burned as fine cracks began appearing on the cauldron, clearly unable to withstand the scorching flames and about to shatter.

At this time, there were still three days until the pill was completed. Zhang Jingmo's face was as white as paper. In his hand, he grasped a spirit stone, absorbing it without pause. Beside him, the used spirit stones had already piled into a heap.

The people outside trying to disturb Zhang Jingmo had apparently thought of a new method. They actually began incessantly cursing from afar using spiritual power. The sound of cursing carried for a thousand miles. For someone with keen spiritual perception like Zhang Jingmo, even with the stone door separating them, he could still hear it clearly.

The cursing was extremely filthy. If it were normal times, upon hearing it, Zhang Jingmo would probably unhesitatingly draw his sword to cut off that person's tongue and make them swallow it. But at this critical juncture, Zhang Jingmo could only endure.

When refining pills, one must ensure the five senses are sharp - eyes, ears, mouth, nose, none can be lacking. The changes in the medicinal pills were mysterious and profound. Even for an experienced pill master like Zhang Jingmo, he didn't dare to rashly block his hearing.

This cursing continued for two days before falling silent, who knew if they had been chopped to pieces by Bai Lingxiao's sword or what had happened.

Zhang Jingmo wasn't concerned about that either. The final day was the most difficult day, and also the most critical day.

Zhu Yan's flames were raised to the extreme. Those blood-red flames enveloped the entire cauldron. Zhang Jingmo grasped spirit stones in one hand, his other hand forming a spell seal. His colorless lips slightly opened and closed, seeming to be counting something.

The surface of the cauldron being scorched emitted a faint cracking sound. Zhang Jingmo knew the time had come. His originally half-closed eyes suddenly opened wide, then he bit the tip of his tongue with his teeth, spitting out three mouthfuls of essence blood toward the cauldron.

The huge cauldron emitted a humming sound, even beginning to sway left and right, as if a giant beast inside was constantly struggling, wanting to break free from its cage.

At this time, Zhang Jingmo's complexion was already pale. Blood stained the corners of his mouth, but the movements of his hands did not slow down in the slightest as he raised Zhu Yan's flames another level.

This final action exhausted all of Zhang Jingmo's strength. His originally standing feet began to slowly tremble, and even the hair at his temples began turning white at a visible speed.

Another huge rumble sounded as the furnace crumbled into pieces from top to bottom. Although Zhang Jingmo had anticipated this, there was still a tinge of heartache deep within. This furnace had been with him for hundreds of years, a gift from his master back then. Despite the heartache, Zhang Jingmo dared not lose focus. He forcefully pushed out the last remaining spiritual energy within his body, enveloping the entire furnace.

The flames of Zhu Yan grew even more vigorous due to the abundant spiritual energy, directly melting the surrounding stone walls. Zhang Jingmo sensed the moment had arrived. He took out a sword from his Sumeru Ring and, at the instant when the flames were most intense, slashed open the furnace before him with one strike.

Rumble, rumble - the moment Zhang Jingmo slashed open the furnace, a loud boom echoed in the sky, followed by a torrential downpour. However, the peculiar thing was that although it was raining from the sky, there wasn't a single dark cloud. Instead, at Zhang Jingmo's location, a dazzling star appeared.

This star grew brighter and brighter until it reached its peak, then it slid down from the sky and disappeared to who knows where.

The anomaly had occurred, the elixir was complete.

Zhang Jingmo could no longer control his body and collapsed softly to the ground. He slowly raised his eyes and saw that the ceiling of the alchemy room had been melted through. At this moment, Bai Lingxiao and Lu Guijiu were standing on the roof, looking inside, their eyes filled with a hint of worry as they gazed at Zhang Jingmo. If not for Bai Lingxiao holding back Lu Guijiu, Lu Guijiu would have probably rushed to Zhang Jingmo's side long ago.

Standing outside, Bai Lingxiao and the other only entered the alchemy room and helped Zhang Jingmo up after Zhang Jingmo gave them a slight nod.

Seeing his master's head full of white hair, Lu Guijiu was on the verge of tears. He said, "Master, are you alright? Master, where do you feel unwell?"

Zhang Jingmo didn't even have the strength to speak and merely gestured with his eyes towards the location of the shattered furnace.

Bai Lingxiao glanced at Zhang Jingmo before walking over to where Zhang Jingmo's furnace had shattered. As soon as he approached, he saw three fire-red elixir pills scattered among the fragments, faintly emitting a golden glow, clearly no ordinary item at a glance.

Bai Lingxiao bent down to pick up the elixir pills, unable to hide the surprise in his eyes.

In this single furnace, Zhang Jingmo had actually produced three successful elixir pills. Bai Lingxiao had never heard of any Golden Core stage alchemist on this continent who could refine three Nascent Soul stage pills in one go. His junior brother... was truly hiding his depths.

How could Zhang Jingmo not know what the surprise in his senior brother's eyes meant? In fact, he also hadn't expected to refine three Molten Fire Pills. According to his estimation, producing two would have already been an excellent outcome. He never thought his luck would be so good this time, successfully refining three in one go.

However, this was also why Zhang Jingmo's hair had turned completely white this time. The spiritual energy in his body had been utterly exhausted. At this moment, he was just an ordinary person with slightly better physical fitness.

Bai Lingxiao was about to bend down and pick up Zhang Jingmo, but was glared back by Lu Guijiu.

He said, "Little brat, why are you looking at me like that? Don't tell me you can carry your master?"

Lu Guijiu gritted his teeth and looked at his short arms and legs - he could indeed carry Zhang Jingmo, but the problem was that he was too short. If he carried Zhang Jingmo, it was very likely that Zhang Jingmo's feet would directly drag on the ground...

Thinking this, Lu Guijiu deflated entirely.