Tianwan had gone to great lengths to gather the materials needed to make the Heavenly Core Yellow Spring Pill.

Given the pill's heaven-defying ability to resurrect the dead and regenerate bones, the rare treasures required were naturally not easy to collect.

Among them was an ingredient called the Yin Pearl, formed from the souls of humans, which was extremely hard to come by. It was said that some cultivators had found it in ancient secret battlefields.

However, Tianwan naturally could not spend time searching those ancient battlefields, so she chose a more clever method.

After agreeing to Tianlu's request, Zhang Jingmo quickly saw almost all the materials listed in the pill formula laid out before him.

The various spiritual flowers and exotic herbs displayed in front of Zhang Jingmo made his hands itch uncontrollably.

Amidst these strange flowers and herbs was placed an exquisite small box. Zhang Jingmo's eyes showed curiosity as he reached out to take it, but then heard Tianlu say blandly: "This is the main ingredient for the Heavenly Core Yellow Spring Pill - the Yin Pearl."

Zhang Jingmo had heard of the name Yin Pearl and had even refined this material before. Upon hearing Tianlu's words, he cooperatively showed a look of surprise and excitement on his face. He picked up the box respectfully and solemnly opened it.

After the wooden box was opened, three brightly colored beads were displayed inside. The beads were bright red, about the size of a grain of rice, with black qi swirling within them, clearly no ordinary item at a glance.

But Zhang Jingmo's originally excited expression instantly turned cold upon seeing the beads.

Zhang Jingmo said, "These Yin Pearls were just recently formed, right?" The longer Yin Pearls were formed, the blacker their color would be. Most of the Yin Pearls taken from ancient battlefields nowadays were pure black.

Tianlu said, "Has Qingyuan seen Yin Pearls before?"

Zhang Jingmo sneered, "Are you looking down on my lack of experience? Even if I haven't actually seen them, I've read plenty of books. I've never heard of Yin Pearls taken from ancient battlefields being this bright red color."

Tianlu sighed, "Qingyuan, sometimes knowing too much is not a good thing."

Zhang Jingmo's sneer deepened. He said, "Knowing too much is not good? Valley Master, I'm afraid you refining these Yin Pearls is the real 'not good' thing here."

Upon hearing this, Tianlu actually laughed.

Tianwan's refining of these Yin Pearls had indeed caused great resentment. She had slaughtered twenty thousand people, and with some luck, only produced these two Yin Pearls. As for the last Yin Pearl, Tianlu didn't ask, but judging from the malice between Tianwan's brows, he knew it must have cost at least ten thousand more lives...

Tianlu said softly, "Then what does Qingyuan intend to do?"

Zhang Jingmo gritted his teeth. "I won't refine this pill anymore."

Tianlu's smile faded from his face. "Why?"

Zhang Jingmo said angrily, "If I guessed correctly, you've slaughtered at least tens of thousands of people, right?"

Tianlu replied indifferently, "So what if we did?"

Zhang Jingmo said, "Aren't you afraid of incurring the wrath of heaven?"

Upon hearing this, Tianlu said expressionlessly, "The wrath of heaven? Has Qingyuan never even stepped on an ant nest before?"

Hearing Tianlu compare people to ants, Zhang Jingmo's face showed anger. He said coldly, "We have irreconcilable differences. Valley Master, I really cannot refine this pill. Please find someone else."

With that, he flung his sleeves and walked away. However, just as he was about to exit the room, his figure suddenly froze.

Standing behind him, Tianlu silently emitted an aura that made Zhang Jingmo unable to take another step forward. That aura seemed to be telling Zhang Jingmo that what awaited him was not the outside, but a bottomless abyss.

Tianlu said, "Why is Qingyuan so agitated?" He slowly walked to Zhang Jingmo's side and said softly, "If there is any dissatisfaction, Qingyuan can speak directly. Why get angry and harm your health?"

Zhang Jingmo was like a clay sculpture, his entire body frozen stiff.

Tianlu reached out, pinched a strand of Zhang Jingmo's hair, brought it to his nose and sniffed lightly, saying, "Why doesn't Qingyuan speak?"

Zhang Jingmo was shocked by Tianlu's actions. Although Tianlu had always been quite ambiguous with him, Zhang Jingmo had attributed this ambiguity to Tianlu's personality.

But now, Tianlu's actions made it impossible for him to continue deceiving himself. Although Tianlu's tone was gentle, his overwhelming aura did not diminish in the slightest, suffocating Zhang Jingmo. Beads of cold sweat even began to ooze from his forehead, showing how vast the difference in strength was between him and Tianlu.

Tianlu said indifferently, "If Qingyuan doesn't speak, I'll take it as agreement with what I said." He continued, "There are so many mortals in this world, what does it matter if a few tens of thousands die?"

An abnormal flush appeared on Zhang Jingmo's face. He barely managed to squeeze out a few words through clenched teeth: "Nonsense." With that, his legs went soft and he nearly knelt on the ground.

Seeing Zhang Jingmo's sorry state, Tianlu did not reach out to support him, but showed a look of amusement in his eyes. He said, "I heard Qingyuan has a disciple?"

Zhang Jingmo's expression tightened.

Tianlu said, "And a genius too, who took first place in that Xuanwu Conference."

Zhang Jingmo was already almost unable to breathe, feeling only stuffiness in his chest, nearly suffocating.

Seeing Zhang Jingmo slowly collapse to the ground, only able to barely support himself with his hands, Tianlu reached out and grabbed Zhang Jingmo's chin, slowly lifting his face. "Qingyuan doesn't look well."

Zhang Jingmo's brows furrowed slightly, a trickle of blood oozing from the corner of his mouth.

Seeing this blood, Tianlu's eyes showed even more interest. He inserted his finger into Zhang Jingmo's mouth and began to slowly stir. "Is Qingyuan angry with me and refusing to speak?"

Zhang Jingmo remained silent, the disgust in his eyes growing more intense.

The corners of Tianlu's mouth curled into a cruel smile. Just as he was about to say something, Tianwan's voice came from behind.

"Brother, what are you doing?" Tianwan saw this scene from afar and showed an anxious look on her face.

Tianlu said coldly, "Am I not just chatting with Qingyuan? Why are you sticking your nose in?"

Tianwan showed a look of being on the verge of tears. She said tremblingly, "Brother, calm down."

Upon hearing this, Tianlu paused. He expressionlessly withdrew his fingers from Zhang Jingmo's mouth, slowly wiped the fresh blood from his face, and said, "If you don't drink when toasted, you'll be forced to drink as a penalty. I want to see just how tough your bones are."

Tianwan once again had tears in her eyes. She wanted to speak but tears flowed first, and she sobbed and pleaded softly from the side.

Tianlu was very impatient with Tianwan's crying. He said, "Why are you crying? All you know is crying all day long. I don't know when Kuchan Valley produced such a soft-hearted waste like you."

Tianwan's tears flowed even more fiercely.

These two siblings, one leading and one following, put on quite a show. Zhang Jingmo showed a look of reluctance on his face towards Tianwan, but he was already sneering coldly in his heart. According to his guess, of the three Yin Pearls in that box, at least two were the handiwork of this "weak woman" in front of him. Only the unscrupulous evil-doers of Kuchan Valley would commit such an act, one that greatly harms heaven and earth.

Tianwan cried for a while more, seeming to have cried enough to make Tianlu impatient, before Tianlu waved his hand and said, "You talk to him nicely, I'm leaving first."

After saying that, he actually turned and left, very straightforward and decisive.

Tianwan wiped the tears from her face and said hoarsely, "I'm really sorry, my senior brother is just too worried about Tianfeng, so..."

As soon as Tianlu left, the oppressive aura pressing down on Zhang Jingmo disappeared. But even so, he was still somewhat injured. Hearing what Tianwan said, Zhang Jingmo also played his part very well. He said indignantly, "Lady Tianwan, let's escape together."

Tianwan quickly stretched out her hand to cover Zhang Jingmo's mouth. She said, "You can't say such things carelessly. In this valley..." She showed a look of wanting to say more but stopping.

Zhang Jingmo struggled to stand up from the ground, resentfully wiping the fresh blood from his face. The feeling left by Tianlu's fingers just now was very vivid, making Zhang Jingmo want to fiercely scrub the skin on his face.

Tianwan sighed, "Jingmo, my brother was also forced to do this."

Zhang Jingmo said, "Forced? How can one be forced to do that? Those are the lives of thousands of people." After saying this, he also said blankly, "Maybe even our relatives are among them."

Hearing this, Tianwan showed a sorrowful expression, but took out a handkerchief from her sleeve and slowly started to wipe away the bloodstains on Zhang Jingmo's face.

Seeing Tianwan's actions, Zhang Jingmo was stunned for two seconds, and his face actually turned red.

He coughed dryly to hide his embarrassment and said, "Lady Tianwan, what cultivation level are you at?"

Tianwan said, "I have just entered the Golden Core realm."

Zhang Jingmo mumbled, not knowing what to say.

Seeing this, Tianwan laughed, "I see you have delicate features, how come you're such a fool."

Zhang Jingmo said helplessly, "How am I foolish... It's just that I have always liked to refine pills in the sect and rarely traveled outside..."

Tianwan said, "If everyone was like you, the world would be at peace." As she said this, she showed a melancholic expression. Seeing this, Zhang Jingmo consoled her again.

The two of them played their parts convincingly. Zhang Jingmo even escorted Tianwan back to her residence. Along the way, Tianwan kept comforting Zhang Jingmo, either talking about her brother's difficulties or saying he had no choice.

Zhang Jingmo showed a conflicted expression, as if exchanging lives for Yin Pearls was something beyond his tolerance.