Chapter 793: What Kind of Master, That Kind of Bird

"Two more birds all of a sudden?" Zu An was both surprised and delighted. Happiness had arrived so unexpectedly that for a moment, he couldn't believe it.

Mi Li, however, was much more composed: "It's only natural for you to awaken two new divine birds after gaining two levels recently. I was starting to wonder why you hadn't awakened any new ones after breaking through to the eighth rank, thinking perhaps you'd need to reach the peak of each rank first. This situation is much better than I expected. Oh, right, quickly see what abilities these two new birds bring."

"Okay!" Zu An nodded, closed his eyes to concentrate, and then suddenly opened them, speaking with a strange expression. "The Fire Phoenix's ability is Phoenix Flame, the most sacred fire in the world, combining destruction and benevolence. As for the Golden Phoenix... the Golden Phoenix..."

Seeing him hesitate, Mi Li grew impatient. "What about the Golden Phoenix?"

It was well known that the Golden Phoenix had been an auspicious beast since ancient times. Due to its noble and elegant characteristics, it was often used in empresses' hair ornaments and crowns. Mi Li had a significant fondness for the Golden Phoenix, making her even more curious about its abilities.

Zu An replied, "The Golden Phoenix is a metal element. Its ability is 'Love as Strong as Gold,' which can... can trigger a woman's desire and make her fall helplessly in love with you."

Mi Li was speechless. She instinctively took a step back, then spat, "As expected, a bird is like its master. A dignified phoenix, turned into a philandering thief by you."

Zu An looked dejected. "This isn't something I can control."

Mi Li snorted. "Are there any conditions for using it? Or cultivation level restrictions for the target?"

Zu An shook his head. "It's not clear yet. I haven't seen any relevant information. I'll have to gradually explore and figure it out later."

Mi Li took another step back, her expression somewhat unnatural as she declared, "You are absolutely forbidden to use that on me!"

Zu An couldn't help but retort, "I am a man of integrity, as handsome as a jade tree in the wind, and always popular with women. My female confidantes are all more beautiful than the last. Do I really need to use such a method to win women?"

Mi Li had to concede, "Your luck with women is indeed extraordinarily abundant."

"That's because I'm handsome," Zu An puffed out his chest. "Besides, what do you, a soul entity, have to fear?"

"Mind your business. Just don't use it on me, no matter what." Mi Li stared at him with wide eyes.

"Don't worry, I won't." Zu An, abandoning his usual flippancy, spoke with an exceptionally solemn and steady tone.

Only then did Mi Li sigh in relief. From their interactions over this period, she knew he wasn't lying to her, and a faint smile touched her lips.

"Let's start refining the medicine then. You must control the flame intensity carefully, don't burn the ingredients inside," Mi Li reminded him. She wasn't worried about any issues with the Nine Cauldrons itself.

Zu An nodded, then slowly spread his palm. A ball of flickering golden flames appeared in his palm, instantly making the entire room much hotter.

Mi Li furrowed her delicate brows, then flicked her sleeve. Faint runes shimmered around the room. "I've already set up a formation around us to prevent your Phoenix Flame from incinerating the place and to keep its aura from leaking out and being detected by powerful individuals in the capital."

Zu An was secretly amazed. Mi Li was truly unfathomable. Recalling how he had once fought such a powerful being to a draw, he could only marvel at how incredibly potent the 'Rich Woman's Joy Ball' was.

He dared not be distracted. He quickly manipulated the golden flames, separating a wisp to encircle the Nine Cauldrons, forming a stark contrast with Daji's cyan fox fire.

Because he was currently telepathically connected with Daji, he could perfectly control the intensity of both flames, allowing them to reach their most harmonious and perfect state.

With his previous experience using fox fire, Zu An now handled the Phoenix Flame with ease. Soon, he could see through the transparent cauldron body that the medicinal ingredients inside were gradually liquefying. Following the steps described in the 'Gathering Origin Ancient Scroll', he continuously adjusted the flame's size while adding various auxiliary medicinal ingredients one after another.

Once the ingredients were fully liquefied, he enveloped the several liquid masses with primeval qi to prevent them from vaporizing. Gradually, the liquid masses began to merge, impurities were forced out, and the essences combined and reacted with each other.

Mi Li reminded him from the side, "Be careful. Even experienced alchemists struggle to achieve a success rate over fifty percent, let alone a novice like you."

As if to prove her point, almost as soon as her words fell, the liquid masses, previously enveloped by primeval qi and ready to coalesce into a pill, suddenly began to tremble violently, looking as if they would disintegrate at any moment.

Sweat instantly beaded on Zu An's forehead. "Oh no, I can't control them anymore!"

Mi Li also looked anxious, but unfortunately, there was nothing she could do at that moment.

Just then, a green light suddenly flashed from the Nine Cauldrons, and a thick, ancient aura enveloped the liquid masses.

Then, the previously restless liquid masses miraculously settled down, completely merged, and finally formed a smooth, round pill. Immediately, a delightful medicinal fragrance wafted from the Nine Cauldrons, refreshing the mind.

Mi Li's tightly furrowed brows relaxed. "It's done! It seems the effect of increasing the pill refinement success rate by fifty percent worked. Take out the Gathering Origin Pill."

"Wait, there seems to be something else happening," Zu An quickly stopped her.

Mi Li looked at the Nine Cauldrons in confusion. She saw a green light flash around the cauldron, and several faint wisps of aura enveloped the pill. Then, the light around the pill blurred, and when it became clear again, an identical pill had appeared next to it.

"Double pill production! This is the characteristic of the Luxurious Cauldron!" Mi Li was both surprised and delighted.

"Grandmaster Shenxu's Luxurious Cauldron required an additional fifty percent of raw materials to double the output probabilistically, but I only prepared the amount needed for one pill," Zu An said, puzzled.

Mi Li smiled. "After all, the Luxurious Cauldron's ability only awakened under the influence of the Nine Cauldrons, so it's definitely a weakened version. You've saved fifty percent of the extra raw materials by using the Nine Cauldrons now, isn't that good?"

"Of course it's good!" Zu An was pleased. He opened the Nine Cauldrons' lid and took out two vermillion pills. Each pill had faint, ethereal patterns on its surface.

Mi Li couldn't help but exclaim, "Natural pill patterns! For a novice like you to produce pills of the highest quality right away is astonishing."

"Pill patterns?" Zu An was somewhat confused.

Mi Li explained, "Many pills, when refined, cannot achieve their theoretically perfect medicinal properties; there's always some loss during the process. The better the pill's quality, the more naturally the pill patterns, imbued with the heavenly dao, will appear on its surface. Only legendary Pill Kings can occasionally refine pills of this grade, yet you, young man, managed it on your first try. It seems this is mostly due to the Nine Cauldrons' efficacy."

Zu An, however, couldn't resist picking up the Nine Cauldrons and examining it thoroughly. Mi Li was stunned. "What are you looking for?"

Zu An said, "Grandmaster Shenxu also had a 'Thrifty Cauldron' that could return raw materials, and I'm checking why there's nothing like that here. There was also a 'Playful Cauldron' that could randomly grant a refined pill a special characteristic, but I haven't noticed any unexpected characteristics with these two Gathering Origin Pills either."

Mi Li couldn't help but snap, "You're truly insatiable, like a snake trying to swallow an elephant! Isn't triggering the double output feature good enough? In my opinion, returning materials, double output, and randomly adding characteristics shouldn't appear simultaneously; usually, only one ability is triggered. Just be secretly happy; double output is clearly better than returning materials. And randomly adding characteristics is too unreliable; if it adds negative attributes that affect the Gathering Origin Pill's medicinal properties, it would be detrimental."

Zu An thought about it and realized she was right. This time, the main purpose was to help Daji enhance her skills, and the Gathering Origin Pill was a crucial ingredient. If anything went wrong and affected her skill improvement, it would be troublesome.

"Daji, come here!" He waved at the quiet, beautiful woman beside him.

Daji obediently walked over. Zu An dangled a Gathering Origin Pill and said, "Lower down, open your mouth."

Daji paused, then slowly knelt before him, looking up with her red lips slightly parted and a pair of beautiful, dewy eyes gazing at him. That look alone was enough to turn refined steel into soft silk.

Zu An was speechless. "I just asked you to lower down, you don't need to take *this* posture, do you?" He suddenly felt his entire body heat up, and an irresistible urge surged within him. "This woman is truly a vixen. It's just feeding her, does she really need to make it so provocative?"