Ye Jiuge opened the bag. It contained 1,000 pieces of Spiritual Jade. Basically, it was Su Xunâerâs share of the Bloodthirsty Sectâs loot.
It enough to purchase a high-level Spiritual Beast, but Su Xunâer was trying to show her determination.
Ye Jiuge only accepted half of the Spiritual Jade. She returned the other half, gave Su Xunâer ten bottles of Cherry Pills, and sent her on her way.
By the time Ye Jiuge finished seeing off the people from the Spiritual Practitioner Alliance, Jun Yichen had come to say goodbye.
âI heard that there were some Miao people who specialize in rearing parasites in the Shiwan Grand Mountain at the Miao border. I am thinking of going to check things out,â Jun Yichen said.
That place was the ancestral home of the Blood-clad Miao people. If he went there, he might be able to enhance his witchcraft.
âShiwan Grand Mountain is fraught with danger. You guys have to be extra careful.â Ye Jiuge did not try to dissuade him. Going to Shiwan Grand Mountain was better than staying at the desolated, uninhabited Bloodcloud Peak.
Moreover, if he were lucky, he could even have a significant chance encounter.
âOnly Iâll be going. Luo Tian will stay here,â Jun Yichen said.
âWhy?â Ye Jiuge looked at Luo Tian in surprise. Was he willing to leave his Little Master?
âBecause Iâve already been sold to you!â Luo Tian flashed a mysterious smile.
âYou do not have to be that way!â Ye Jiuge shook her head, then continued, âIf youâre staying for the Cherry Pills, I can teach you the recipe. You can learn it from me, and soon youâll be able to produce them on your own.â
Ye Jiugeâs elixir field was destroyed. When it would be restored was unknown, so Luo Tian would not have much of a future staying with her.
âIs something wrong with your body?â Jun Yichen had realized that something was wrong with Ye Jiuge some time ago. But heâd never had the opportunity to ask.
âYes.â Ye Jiuge only told him that she was severely injured and couldnât use Spiritual Power for the time being. She did not reveal that she might end up crippled for life.
Jun Yichenâs gut told him Ye Jiuge wasnât telling the truth.
He was silent for a while, then said to Luo Tian, âFrom now, you will be Ye Jiugeâs Parasite Master.â
Hearing this, Luo Tianâs eyes flashed with conflict. Then, he nodded gravely.
Jun Yichenâs expression was imposing as he bit his index finger then released a drop of blood onto Luo Tianâs forehead.
Luo Tianâs eyes were shut tightly, and he trembled uncontrollably. His forehead broke out in a cold sweat like he was suffering tremendous pain.
Then, a small, thin, blood-red insect emerged from Luo Tianâs forehead and burrowed into Jun Yichenâs finger where it was cut open.
âWhat are you guys doing?â Ye Jiuge was confused.
âLuo Tian is no longer a part of the Blood-clad Miao clan,â Jun Yichen said without emotion.
Every Blood-clad Miao individual, at the time of their birth, was implanted with a Blood-clad parasite.
Besides allowing them to practice witchcraft, it also made them subservient to the clan leader.
Previously, Luo Tian had said that heâd been sold to Ye Jiuge. But with the Blood-clad parasite in his body, he would be a Blood-clad Miao clan member for life. Jun Yichen had taken out the Blood-clad parasite so Luo Tian could be free to sign a servantâs indenture with Ye Jiuge.
Luo Tianâs parasite, Xiao Hong, was very powerful. Now that it had been freed from the tyranny of Jun Yichenâs Lifeâs Origin Parasite, it could evolve and become a new Parasite King.
Since Luo Tian served Ye Jiuge as his Master, Ye Jiuge would indirectly become the clan leader of a Parasite Sect.
There were very complicated issues at play here, but Jun Yichen did not elaborate. Everything now depended on Luo Tian and Ye Jiugeâs luck.
Zi Shang watched the scene unfold before his eyes.
He understood its significance more than Ye Jiuge. He told her, âSince they are so sincere, you should sign a servantâs indenture with Luo Tian now!â
So Ye Jiuge signed a servantâs indenture with Luo Tian, still unsure about how things had changed so quickly. She had never treated Luo Tian like a servant, so the new arrangement did not feel so different to her.
âLetâs go! Iâll teach you guys how to produce the Cherry Pills.â Ye Jiuge borrowed a Pill Production Room from the Gong Clan, then brought Jun Yichen along to purchase the medicinal herbs they needed.
She was about to go into enclosed cultivation to produce the pills when Zi Shang stopped her.
âSince you are going into enclosed cultivation, I will be leaving to find ways to remove the toxins from your elixir field.â
âYou wonât leave and not come back for decades, will you?â Ye Jiuge thought about her maternal grandfather and got a little worried.
âYou are overthinking things. Iâll be gone at most half a month, and then I will be back. Definitely.â Zi Shangâs Spiritual Imprint was still implanted in Ye Jiuge. If he did not return to recharge, he would be in danger.
âGo, then. Shoo!â When she heard that it was just for half a month, Ye Jiuge instantly relaxed.
âEven when Iâm not around, you should not be lax about cultivating.â Zi Shang could not bear to leave Ye Jiuge. But for the sake of saving her, he had no choice.
âI know. I will practice the Ten-thousand Beast Technique diligently.â Ye Jiuge nodded patronizingly. She waved her hand at Zi Shang, hoping to get him to leave quickly.
âYou heartless little brat!â Zi Shang wrapped Ye Jiuge in his arms. He kissed her again and again before leaving.
Ye Jiuge reigned in her emotions then led Jun Yichen and Luo Tian into the Pill Production Room and started enclosed cultivation to produce pills.
To Ye Jiuge, producing the Cherry Pills was actually very simple. Once the medicinal herbs went into the furnace in the correct order, the only thing left to do was control the temperature of the fire.
But for people with no talent for Pill Production, this was an uphill battle.
âForget it. I am not learning this. You can just help me produce half a yearâs worth of Cherry Pills, and when Iâm done, Iâll come find you for more.â Jun Yichen was all but ready to give up after destroying yet another furnace full of pills.
Ye Jiuge looked at the black mass of medicinal pills. She could not find words of encouragement for Jun Yichen.
While producing pills required accumulated experience. People like Jun Yichen, who tried making ten furnaces of pills and failed, really didnât have much talent!
âLuo Tian, you try,â Ye Jiuge said.
Luo Tian quickly got the hang of it, and he succeeded after two furnaces. This made Jun Yichen feel even more depressed.
âActually, Pill Production isnât that difficult. The most important thing is to be careful of the temperature of the fire when adding the Crimson Red Fruit and Orange Daylily,â Luo Tian shared his experience.
âI am aware that the fireâs temperature must be carefully controlled, but I just canât get the sense of it.â Jun Yichen shook his head.
Pill Production sense was intricately related to a personâs Spiritual Root.
He had a Water Spiritual Root, so he was naturally an idiot when it came to fire temperature control.
Luo Tian, however, had a Fire Spiritual Root. Although he could not compete with a Wood Fire Spiritual Root, Luo Tian was still way better than Jun Yichen.
Jun Yichen had all but given up, but Ye Jiuge had not. She thought hard for two days, then finally found a solution.
She decided to separate the medicinal herbs required for the Cherry Pill based on their properties. Then, she processed them halfway.
The medicineâs properties were the same as was the fireâs temperature control. This made it much easier to produce the pills.
Then, the herbal essences of the Crimson Red Fruit and Orange Daylily could be extracted separately.
That way, Jun Yichen only needed to place the half-finished pills and herbal essences into the Pill Production Furnace. There was no need to pay special attention to the temperature, and the pills would still turn out fine.
Although the quality of Cherry Pills produced with this method was lower than of those produced by Ye Jiuge, with such an idiot-proof pill production method, even someone talentless like Jun Yichen could succeed.
Jun Yichen learned this idiot-proof method from Ye Jiuge, and his success rate shot through the roof. When he got lucky, he managed to produce pills nine times out of ten. For a person with a Water Spiritual Root, this was practically a miracle.