Top Soldier Pursued by a Beauty

Zhao Dong nodded slightly. Qing Yu was right; in this era, truly isolating oneself from the world was indeed unrealistic.

Just then, Qing Yu looked at Zhao Dong and said, "Senior, my master mentioned he had some matters to discuss with me. Would you like to come along?"

Zhao Dong shook his head. "Not this time. It's my first visit, and I want to get acclimated. I'll look around by myself."

"Of course, whatever you say, Senior!" Qing Yu gazed at Zhao Dong, her large eyes brimming with tenderness.

"By the way," Zhao Dong said, pointing at the practicing Disciples, "my outfit is too conspicuous. Can you get me a set of ordinary Disciple robes?"

"Of course!" Qing Yu smiled. "The robes the sect issued to me were too large. They should fit you just right, Senior."

「A few minutes later.」

Outside a small courtyard on the back of the mountain.

"Senior..." Qing Yu said, her face blushing, "this is my cave residence... Um... no man has ever been here before. You're the first..."

Her pretty face turned crimson, her beautiful eyes shimmering like autumn waters. Her shy posture made things incredibly awkward for Zhao Dong.

"Senior, what are you waiting for... Please, come in..." Qing Yu said timidly as she pushed open the door.

Her bashful gaze was fixed on her toes, not daring to meet Zhao Dong's eyes for even a moment.

The cave residence was not large, and the furnishings were rather plain. Even so, the unique, delicate fragrance of a young woman made the simple room feel incredibly warm and inviting. Qing Yu gestured for Zhao Dong to sit and then brought him some tea.

Zhao Dong took a quick sip and urged, "The tea can wait. Let's find the clothes first."

"Oh, right! I'll go look now. Please wait a moment, Senior."

Qing Yu hurriedly turned to search in a nearby storage cabinet. However, after several minutes, she still hadn't found the clothes.

Zhao Dong stood up, exasperated. "Silly girl, who keeps clothes in a storage cabinet?"

With that, he walked over to the wardrobe and reached out to pull it open.

"Don't!"

Qing Yu whipped her head around and, seeing Zhao Dong's action, let out a startled cry. But his hand had already pulled the wardrobe open.

The next moment, Zhao Dong froze.

The room fell deathly silent.

As the wardrobe doors swung open, several pieces of black lace slid out and landed at Zhao Dong's feet...

"I... I swear I didn't do that on purpose. Do you believe me?" Zhao Dong asked, his face flushing red.

"It's fine, it's fine... It's not your fault, Senior..."

Qing Yu scrambled forward and stuffed the items back into the wardrobe. She then stood with her back to it, blocking it from view as she turned her head away.

AH!!! Qing Yu! You're such a fool! How could you let Senior see something so embarrassing! I could just die from the shame!!!

Zhao Dong, thoroughly embarrassed, gave a few dry coughs. "Well... I'll wait for you outside."

「Outside the cave residence.」

Zhao Dong surveyed his surroundings, his gaze drawn to a small furnace inside a nearby woodshed.

"Such a small Pill Furnace?"

He was filled with astonishment, but as he approached the Pill Furnace, his eyes suddenly widened in shock.

"This... this Pill Furnace actually contains Spiritual Energy!?"

Zhao Dong hastily picked it up. The Pill Furnace had a radius of about thirty centimeters and stood about half a meter tall. It was covered in a thick layer of dust, but inside, a dense ball of Spiritual Energy surged powerfully.

"This is actually a Pill Furnace forged from Spiritual Iron!?"

Zhao Dong's eyes burst with elation. It was said that in ancient times, alchemy was the exclusive domain of immortal cultivators. Even the lowest-grade Pill Furnaces were forged from Spiritual Iron. Therefore, even if the most inferior herbs were placed inside, the refined materials would still contain a trace of Spiritual Energy. Using such a Pill Furnace not only increased the success rate of alchemy but also enhanced the quality of the pills.

This Pill Furnace must have been a product of the later cultivation era. The depletion of Spiritual Iron likely led to them being made so small. Even so, a Spiritual Iron Pill Furnace was still an exceedingly rare treasure in the present day!

At that moment, Qing Yu ran out, holding a set of Disciple robes with a shy expression.

"Senior, I found the clothes!" she called out, then paused. "Eh, why are you staring at this broken-down Pill Furnace?"

Seeing Zhao Dong staring at the furnace in a daze, Qing Yu looked baffled.

Zhao Dong said excitedly, "This is no broken-down Pill Furnace! This is a Spiritual Iron Pill Furnace! Using this to perform alchemy can increase not only the success rate but also the quality of the pills!"

"What? Isn't this thing just junk?" Qing Yu said in disbelief. "I just happened to come across it one day. I thought it was useless because it was so small, so I just tossed it in the woodshed."

After speaking, she looked at Zhao Dong affectionately. "Senior, it is you who has given this Pill Furnace a new lease on life. In that case, I'll give it to you."

"Are you sure?" Zhao Dong asked in surprise. "This Pill Furnace is a treasure. Are you really willing to give it to me?"

Qing Yu smiled. "Of course. Qing Yu is willing to give anything that Senior needs. Besides, if it weren't for you, how would I have gotten ten stalks of Red Training Grass for free? Consider this Pill Furnace my way of thanking you. I'll still need you to take me to the herb market in the future!"

Hearing this, Zhao Dong no longer refused. A Pill Furnace like this was exactly what he needed right now.

"Alright then, in that case, I graciously accept!" Zhao Dong laughed. "In the future, whenever you need me to take you to the herb market, I'll never turn you down!"

Having said that, he was already too eager to wait. He took out the Blood Tiger Claw and asked, "Can I perform alchemy here?"

The Spiritual Energy within the Blood Sect was rich. Coupled with this Spiritual Iron Pill Furnace, it would undoubtedly produce double the results with half the effort.

"Of course! It would be my honor to witness you perform alchemy, Senior!" Qing Yu said, excitedly picking up a nearby sword. "I can stand guard for you!"

"Aren't you going to see your master?" Zhao Dong asked, surprised.

"My master can wait. I want to watch you perform alchemy first!" Qing Yu replied, her eyes full of expectation.

Zhao Dong smiled. "Alright, as long as it doesn't delay your own business."

With that, Zhao Dong immediately began his preparations.

It had to be said that this Spiritual Iron Pill Furnace was truly formidable.

「An hour later.」

A rich, medicinal fragrance wafted through the air.

When the Pill Furnace was opened, six pills appeared before him. Four of them were a brilliant, fiery red, while the other two were incredibly dull.

"Is that the Fire Spirit Pill?!" Qing Yu craned her neck to see, her face filled with excitement as she stared at the fiery red pills inside the furnace.

"Yes, these are Fire Spirit Pills."

Zhao Dong nodded slightly. Four successful pills out of six. He was very satisfied with this result. The Fire Spirit Pill was a high-level pill; under normal circumstances, a fifty percent success rate was considered quite good. His current success rate had already surpassed that.

Furthermore, the medicinal strength within these Fire Spirit Pills was definitely over thirty percent stronger than that of ordinary ones.

Nearby, hearing Zhao Dong confirm that the pills were indeed Fire Spirit Pills, Qing Yu was even more shocked.

"Senior! You're truly amazing! Even when my master refines Fire Spirit Pills, he's lucky to get one success out of five! You actually succeeded with four out of six!?"

The admiration in Qing Yu's eyes grew even stronger, and affection swirled within their beautiful depths.

Zhao Dong smiled, handing two of the pills to Qing Yu. "These two are for you."