Chapter 168: Dragon Blood Elixir

"Young Master Feng, we've arrived at my young master's room. Do you have any further instructions?" The guard bowed deeply and respectfully as he led Yun Che to Murong Yi's door.

"Brother Murong and I have extremely important matters to discuss. Stand guard here. No one is allowed to enter, understood?"

Without waiting for the guard's reply, Yun Che walked straight ahead, pushed the door open, and entered.

Murong Yi lay weakly on the bed. Given his severe injuries, he wouldn't be able to get up for at least half a month. Hearing someone enter, he opened his eyes, about to get angry, but seeing Feng Baiyi, his eyes lit up. He struggled to sit up: "Baiyi, you came so late... Could it be that the matter is settled?"

"Xue Lang and I acted together. Is there any chance of failure?" Feng Baiyi walked over with a smile.

"So, Yun Che is dead now?" Murong Yi's eyes immediately gleamed with excitement and satisfaction.

"No!" Yun Che walked to Murong Yi's bed, his smile mysterious. "He's not dead. Not only is he not dead, he's perfectly fine. It's you, Murong Yi, who will die soon."

Feng Baiyi's words instantly stunned Murong Yi, but before he could utter a sound, his throat was tightly gripped by Yun Che's lightning-fast hand.

"Urgh," Murong Yi's eyes widened to their fullest. He clutched Yun Che's wrist with both hands, a painful, dry sound escaping his throat.

Yun Che knew exactly how severe Murong Yi's injuries were. The current Murong Yi posed no threat to him at all, especially with Yun Che's new breakthrough under the effects of the Golden Scale Dragon Transformation Pill. Even the hands gripping his wrist were soft and weak.

Watching Murong Yi, who could only choke in agony, Yun Che smiled cruelly. He wiped his face with his left hand, and Feng Baiyi's appearance vanished, revealing Yun Che's true face. Seeing Yun Che so close, Murong Yi's pupils instantly dilated, and his eyeballs bulged dramatically from extreme horror and fear, almost bursting from their sockets.

"Your good brother Feng Baiyi and Xue Lang, whom you hired, tried to kill me. Too bad I didn't die; they did, with not even a corpse left," Yun Che said, looking at Murong Yi and chuckling darkly. "As for you... Tsk, tsk, being beaten to this state, I bet it's painful to just lie in bed. How about I be a good person to the end, put an end to your suffering, and send you directly to meet King Yama? That way, you and your good brothers can reunite sooner!"

"Urgh... urgh..." Murong Yi's dilated pupils were full of terror, then increasingly filled with pleading.

"In your next life, don't ever provoke me again!"

Yun Che's cold voice fell, and he exerted force with his hand... With strength that could effortlessly wield the Overlord's Great Sword, twisting Murong Yi's neck was incredibly easy. With a mere "crack," Murong Yi's throat bones and windpipe were completely crushed. His eyes bulged out again, his body stiffened abruptly, and then there was no further movement.

"Killing people is truly cruel and decisive, and after killing, your heart rate doesn't change at all... Have you killed many people before you met me?" Jasmine suddenly asked coldly.

"Yes, many," Yun Che replied calmly, retracting his hand. "Perhaps more than you've killed."

"Hmph, you're too naive," Jasmine snorted dismissively, then fell silent.

"Naive? Naivete is used to describe children, like a cute little girl such as Jasmine," Yun Che said in a very low voice.

When Yun Che left the room, he had already reapplied Feng Baiyi's face. The guard, who had been ordered to stay at the door, hadn't left. Seeing him emerge, he quickly bowed his head and said, "Young Master Feng, are you leaving now?"

"Yes," Yun Che replied impatiently. "Brother Murong is already asleep. You'd best not go in and disturb him."

"Understood, Young Master Feng. Have a good journey."

Killing the eldest young master of the Grand General of the North's household, then swaggering out with the general's own guards respectfully seeing him off—the feeling was simply beyond exhilarating.

The next day, news of the Grand General of the North's son's tragic death at home spread like a storm throughout the Imperial City.

The killer of Murong Yi was identified as Feng Baiyi!

Murong Yi's death occurred last night. And last night, only Feng Baiyi went to Murong Yi's room! As the Murong family searched everywhere for Feng Baiyi, they discovered he had seemingly vanished from the world, leaving no trace. This strongly suggested he had "fled in fear of punishment." Unable to locate Feng Baiyi, the Grand General of the North flew into a rage, leading thousands of soldiers to blockade the entrance of the Grand General of the West's mansion... The two long-standing military and political families had turned against each other.

After being unable to find Feng Baiyi, the Grand General of the West also began to suspect that Feng Baiyi had been secretly killed by the Murong family. The two powerful families began a fierce, life-or-death struggle.

As for the real killer, Yun Che... no one suspected him at all.

While it was possible Murong Yi had been assassinated by someone other than Feng Baiyi, what kind of place was the Grand General of the North's mansion? To silently kill Murong Yi under the mansion's heavy guard would require at least late-stage Earth Profound Realm strength. Yun Che, in any case, wouldn't be capable of it.

Thus, while the Imperial City was in turmoil, Yun Che, back at the Azure Wind Profound Palace, enjoyed calm.

After one night, Yun Che's internal injuries had largely healed. He was currently secluded in his room, a wooden table before him laden with over a dozen different medicinal herbs and profound crystals. At the forefront were three Azure Profound Crystals he had bought from the Black Moon Merchant Guild two months ago. In the center, on a small piece of emerald-green leaf, were over a dozen drops of dark Vermillion Dragon blood.

It was time to begin refining the Dragon Blood Imperial Pills!

He had originally planned to start refining Dragon Blood Imperial Pills two months ago, which was why he went to the Black Moon Merchant Guild and encountered the Little Fairy. However, at that time, his Great Way of the Buddha had not yet reached the first stage, and the amount of Vermillion Dragon blood he could tolerate was very limited. Each pill could only incorporate a maximum of three drops, which would somewhat waste the Azure Profound Crystals. After consideration, he temporarily gave up on refining them.

Now, he had extracted twelve drops of Vermillion Dragon blood from the dragon's corpse... which were also twelve drops of King Profound Dragon blood! This meant he would incorporate four drops of dragon blood into each of the three Dragon Blood Imperial Pills!

For a True Profound Realm body to withstand four drops of King Profound Vermillion Dragon blood at once would absolutely be courting death for anyone else. But Yun Che possessed the Great Way of the Buddha, making his body's resilience far beyond comparison. He was confident he could fully withstand four drops of dragon blood.

Yun Che arranged the medicinal ingredients in order, placed his hands over them, and half-closed his eyes. A short while later, the refining power of the Sky Poison Pearl activated, and a green glow enveloped the Vermillion Dragon blood and all the materials... After a long time, when Yun Che removed his hands, the table was covered with various colored residues. In the very center, three glowing red, perfectly spherical beads appeared, translucent and luminous, like three crimson pearls. A strange medicinal fragrance slowly diffused outwards.

"Ten-tenths pure, perfect."

Yun Che picked up the three pills, murmuring to himself with satisfaction.

The centuries-old foundation of the Xiao Sect's branch was indeed impressive. Refining a single Dragon Blood Pill required numerous ingredients, most of which were extremely precious. In the Xiao Sect branch's treasury, apart from the core dragon blood and Azure Profound Crystals, all fourteen other materials were present, and in quantities sufficient to refine three pills. Otherwise, if Yun Che had to gather these materials himself, it would not only cost a large amount of Purple Profound Coins but would also take at least two to three months, even if everything went smoothly.

Each pill would take about two days to assimilate, so three pills would be complete in six days. By then, his profound energy should increase by at least two levels... but the increase in profound energy was secondary. The King Profound Dragon blood... would provide immeasurable benefits to his vitality, physique, profound veins, and bones.

"What kind of pill is this?"

Just as Yun Che was examining the pills he had refined with the Sky Poison Pearl, a clear, gentle voice came from behind him.

A faint smile touched Yun Che's lips. Then, with a face full of pleasant surprise, he turned around. In his sight stood a stunning woman clad entirely in white, her skin like snow, her aura ethereal and transcendent. A pair of beautiful eyes, like sparkling stars, gazed at the pills in his hand. Those eyes were truly mesmerizing; even if they were chillingly cold, they still made one's heart tremble and soul stir.

"Little Fairy, you've finally agreed to see me. Last time, you suddenly left..."

"I asked you, what kind of pills are those in your hand?" The Little Fairy ignored his words and said coldly, "Why do these pills have the aura of the King Profound Realm?"

How could the aura of an ordinary pill make her voluntarily appear?

With a disappointed expression, Yun Che could only say, "These are called Dragon Blood Imperial Pills. They are refined from dragon blood. After consumption, they can not only increase profound energy but also strengthen one's physique and grant immunity to all diseases. As for why they have the aura of the King Profound Realm..." Yun Che thought for a moment and answered truthfully, "Because the dragon blood used to refine them came from a King Profound Dragon."

The Little Fairy's gaze shifted slightly, a deep hint of surprise flashing across her eyes. She took a step closer, looked at the pills in Yun Che's hand again, and parted her lips to speak: "You actually know how to refine pills? And you've refined pills with such high-level aura. Even in this entire Azure Wind Profound Palace, you won't find a single pill more advanced than the ones in your hand. And your method of refining them, I've never even heard of it!"

She had clearly seen Yun Che's refining process: no cauldron, no karmic fire, no blending or profound energy convergence... He simply covered the materials with his hands, and a dozen breaths later, a pile of ingredients had become three pills. If she hadn't witnessed it herself, she wouldn't have believed it. In her knowledge, there were no more than ten people in the entire Azure Wind Empire capable of refining pills with such high-level aura, and the refining process was always extremely long and arduous. What Yun Che had just done didn't look like alchemy at all; it looked like magic.