Ye Ba returned to his small courtyard.
The very first time he entered, he took the pill recipe out of his Storage Bag and studied it carefully.
Once he made sure he had memorized every single alchemy step, he set up the alchemy furnace.
He ignited spiritual wood underneath it to serve as spiritual fire.
For alchemy, utilizing the earth fire from a fire vein was ideal, followed by one's own spiritual fire.
However, earth fire from a vein was not something he was qualified to use.
And since he was only at the Qi Condensation 2nd Layer, his internal spiritual Qi could never support him through the entire alchemy process.
Therefore, he had no choice but to use spiritual wood instead.
Taking a deep breath to calm his mind,
he began refining pills according to the steps.
Everything proceeded in an orderly fashion.
Half a day later, looking at the five Qi-Enhancing Pills inside the alchemy furnace, Ye Ba's face showed a trace of astonishment.
He had actually succeeded on his very first try!
After all, even a genuine mid-grade tier-one alchemist could not claim that every single batch of spiritual pills they refined would succeed.
He picked up a Qi-Enhancing Pill and brought it close to his nose to inspect it.
Suddenly, his gaze tightened. "This is actually a flawless pill!"
During the refining of spiritual pills, some waste of the spiritual materials' medicinal potency was inevitable.
Depending on an alchemist's skill, even pills of the same grade were categorized by their efficacy.
They were generally divided into ordinary, perfect, and flawless!
Ordinary pills retained about seventy percent of their medicinal potency, perfect pills retained eighty-five percent, and flawless pills wasted not a single shred of potency—retaining one hundred percent!
He picked up the other four Qi-Enhancing Pills and discovered that all of them were of flawless quality!
"It's best for me to consume all of these pills myself; taking them out to sell will only draw unwanted attention," Ye Ba thought to himself.
As a lowly nobody, every step he took had to be taken with extreme caution.
One careless move, and his secret would be exposed, plunging him into eternal damnation.
Seeing that the sky was gradually darkening and that Chu Yao could come over at any moment,
he did not continue refining Qi-Enhancing Pills.
Instead, he returned indoors and began cultivating with the aid of the Qi-Enhancing Pills.
The medicinal potency of the Qi-Enhancing Pills far exceeded that of the Qi-Supplementing Pills, and he could feel the spiritual power within his body growing rapidly.
At this rate, he felt that it would not be long before he could break through again.
"Advancing too fast is a problem too," Ye Ba muttered, feeling a slight headache coming on.
This could easily draw the attention of the female fiends.
For now, however, he could only deal with the immediate situation at hand.
Night gradually descended.
Yet Chu Yao still had not arrived.
Ye Ba felt a bit puzzled.
Given Chu Yao's level of desire, it was impossible for her not to come.
"Perhaps she was delayed by something?" Ye Ba thought to himself.
Still, this was fine; it gave him more time to cultivate!
Meanwhile, outside the small courtyard where Ye Ba lived,
a young woman was hiding not far from the courtyard wall, secretly observing.
She wore a crimson-red robe embroidered with small golden swords.
The slit on her thigh reached all the way up to her hip, revealing a pair of fair, long, and straight legs.
The woman had exquisite features and fair skin, though her expression was rather cold.
Beneath her left eye was a tear mole.
Hanging from her waist was a golden token engraved with the character for "Law" (*Zhi*).
"Why do I have to handle such a trivial matter? It's cutting into my cultivation time!" Bu Shenghua muttered softly in complaint.
She had originally been in the middle of cultivating when she was assigned a mission to stake out a place and catch an illicit tryst.
"Hmph, what special traits could a useless spiritual slave at the Qi Condensation 2nd Layer possibly have? To think a fellow disciple would actually choose to meet him in secret—I want to see which of my peers is so desperate as to take anything!" she sneered contemptuously in her heart.
Such a trashy spiritual slave wasn't even worth a second glance from her on the street.
"He's certainly diligent with his cultivation, but he only has a mediocre five-element inferior mixed spiritual root; he'll remain stuck in the Qi Condensation Stage for his entire life."
"It's already so late, why hasn't any fellow disciple shown up yet? This is a waste of my time!"
An hour later, still no one appeared.
"Dammit! If I catch whoever it is from our sect, I'm going to beat her up!"
Two hours later, still no one.
"Maybe nobody is coming today. Should I just head back?"
"No, the mission isn't finished; I'll just have to come back tomorrow! I can't waste my cultivation time on this!" Bu Shenghua shook her head fiercely.
"If nobody is coming to the door, then I'll just manufacture an opportunity for someone to come!" Bu Shenghua unclipped the Law Enforcement Hall disciple token from her waist and stored it inside her Storage Bag.
Immediately afterward, she vaulted over the courtyard wall, entered the small courtyard, and knocked on the door.
Hearing the knock, Ye Ba inside the room felt a trace of doubt.
During her previous visits, Chu Yao had never been so polite; she always just walked straight in.
What was going on today?
He halted his cultivation, got up, and opened the door.
Standing behind the door was a completely unfamiliar woman.
A wave of shock jolted through Ye Ba's heart. His very first thought was that his constitution had been exposed!
Otherwise, why would a female fiend from the sect come looking for him in the middle of the night?
He simply could not think of any other reason.
Thinking this inwardly, he kept his exterior expression calm and spoke politely, "Does Senior Sister have any important business coming to my place in the middle of the night?"
"Of course! I have a private job here—are you interested in taking it? Twenty spirit stones for a night!" Bu Shenghua nodded slightly and made to walk straight into the house.
"A private job? Twenty spirit stones!" Ye Ba murmured inwardly.
Given the trashy talent he had displayed,
not only would nobody ever ask him to take on a private job,
even if they did, twenty spirit stones would practically be an act of charity toward him!
At the same time, the stats of the female fiend before his eyes materialized in his vision:
[Name: Bu Shenghua]
[Realm: Qi Condensation 8th Layer]
[Talent: Upper-grade Fire Spiritual Root, Upper-grade Metal Spiritual Root]
[Constitution: Sword Spirit Physique (Unawakened)]
[Cultivation Technique: Primal Dragon-Swallowing Formula]
[Spells: Mid-grade Charm Arts, Incinerating Shadow Sword Technique, Sword Control Technique...]
"Qi Condensation 8th Layer! Something's not right here!"
Ye Ba frowned, looked Bu Shenghua over carefully, and blocked her at the doorway.
With her Qi Condensation 8th Layer cultivation, what kind of result could she possibly hope to achieve by partnering with him, a mere Qi Condensation 2nd Layer cultivator, for dual cultivation?
He said solemnly, "Senior Sister, taking on private jobs violates sect rules. Please leave, lest the Senior Sisters from the Law Enforcement Hall see you here and misunderstand!"
Hearing Ye Ba's refusal, Bu Shenghua figured to herself that perhaps her offer was too low.
"Twenty-five spirit stones, not a single spirit stone more! Besides, I saw Chu Yao leaving your courtyard, so you don't need to cover it up deliberately." Bu Shenghua wanted to bluff Ye Ba,
forcing him to make a confession himself.
Once Ye Ba confessed, she would be able to capture him on the spot, complete her mission, and head back to continue her cultivation!
"She saw Chu Yao leaving my courtyard?" Shock rippled through Ye Ba's mind.
Yet, upon second thought, there was an obvious flaw in that claim.
After all, even if the Senior Sister before him had seen Chu Yao leave his courtyard, she would never choose to come looking for a good-for-nothing like him for dual cultivation!
"Senior Sister, I don't understand what you're talking about. Please leave immediately, or else I'll call the Law Enforcement Hall!" Ye Ba said earnestly.
"Still playing dumb?" Bu Shenghua felt irritated in her heart.
She had already wasted far too much time on this affair!
Suddenly, her gaze sharpened and locked onto the bed inside the room.
She strode briskly to the edge of the unmade bed and picked up a slightly long strand of hair from it.
Elation welled up in Bu Shenghua's chest—she had finally found the evidence!
She pulled out her Law Enforcement Hall token.
Rebuking him sternly, she declared, "Ye Ba, I am Bu Shenghua, a disciple of the Law Enforcement Hall. Someone has reported you for taking private jobs—come with me to the Law Enforcement Hall for an investigation!"
Once they were inside the Law Enforcement Hall, she had plenty of ways to make Ye Ba talk!
As she spoke the words, she struck with lightning speed, grabbing Ye Ba's wrist and channeling a stream of spiritual Qi directly into his body, intending to seal his meridians.
Suddenly, seeming to sense something, her eyes widened abruptly!
Shocked, she blurted out, "This is... the Pure Yang Constitution!"