Chapter 1180: Return Youth Pill (Seventh Watch)

She felt Jiang Fan had asked a rhetorical question. Everyone else had stopped their investigation much earlier; only Jiang Fan persisted until the very end. If not Jiang Fan's, then whose could it be?

Seriously? Jiang Fan rubbed his face hard. "Isn't this just awful?" he fumed. It was like dying of embarrassment right in front of the revered Bodhisattvas!

He waved his hand and said, "Centurion Bai, I'm not feeling well. I'll be leaving now. Could you please collect my reward for me?"

Bai Xin grabbed him. "Leaving?" she questioned. "If you leave, who will translate their infernal language?"

Not only dying of embarrassment, but a public execution too? Jiang Fan's face darkened, and he gritted his teeth. "I don't even want the reward anymore!"

Just then, the atmosphere trembled and tore open once more. Another Venerable arrived.

Jiang Fan was puzzled. Three Deities and one Bodhisattva were expected. Two Deities had already arrived, so who else could it be? Venerable Mantra couldn't possibly...

However, when he clearly saw the graceful figure in a yellow robe in the sky, his jaw nearly dropped! It was Venerable Mantra!

Even without seeing the divine halo behind her head, the mere fact that her attire had changed from the white dress mimicking Concubine Yunxia to her original yellow robe was enough. He should have known this woman had recovered her memories!

His head swam slightly. "Am I still cursed with the bad luck of the Giant King of Fortune?" he muttered. "If Venerable Mantra had woken up earlier, the incident of sleeping together wouldn't have happened! But it happened moments ago, and she woke up immediately after! Isn't this deliberately trying to kill me?"

No, he couldn't just sit there and wait for death. However, with Bai Xin watching him and being at the Imperial Astrological Bureau, even if he managed to slip away from Bai Xin, the Great Wine Sacrifice would likely not let him leave either.

He watched as Venerable Mantra entered the Heartless Abode. Jiang Fan felt as though the Heartless Abode had become a tiger's maw. Once inside, there would be no coming out.

He needed to find a solution. Could he hide his identity? However, his only magical artifact capable of changing his appearance was the quasi-spiritual Thousand Illusions Hairpin. This item was utterly useless in front of a Venerable.

Could he perhaps use a spiritual pill to alter his appearance? He didn't have such a spiritual pill, but Mount Sanqing should, right? With that thought, his consciousness entered the spatial mirror.

The resigned Elder Xuan Yi was sound asleep. Since he was wrapped in layer after layer of cassock chains, there was nothing else for him to do but sleep. Jiang Fan's sudden appearance startled him.

"Daoist Friend Jiang, do you have any instructions for me?"

Jiang Fan asked, "Do you happen to have a spiritual pill for disguise?"

Elder Xuan Yi stammered, "There is one, yes."

Jiang Fan's eyes lit up. He immediately unbound the Elder's cassock and chains. "Bring it quickly," he urged. He truly had asked the right person!

Elder Xuan Yi's limbs were free to move, but a troubled expression appeared on his face as he said, "If Daoist Friend Jiang wishes for it, I can certainly give it to you." From his spatial storage artifact, he produced a brilliant crimson spiritual pill. Five distinct pill patterns shimmered faintly on its surface. It was, surprisingly, a high-grade fifth-rank spiritual pill.

His face lit up with delight. "What are its effects?" he asked.

Elder Xuan Yi's gaze flickered away. "After consumption, you will transform into the opposite sex," he said.

What?! Jiang Fan's hand trembled, and he nearly dropped the spiritual pill. "What kind of demonic pill is this?!" he fumed. If it turned him into a woman, he would rather face Venerable Mantra directly.

Elder Xuan Yi cleared his throat. "Its effects only last for three days. After that, you'll automatically revert to your original form. It was casually refined by the Daoist Master while he was experimenting with an ancient pill formula."

"A pill formula?" Jiang Fan pondered. "Are there any other disguise pill formulas?"

Elder Xuan Yi replied, "There's one for a Rejuvenation Pill. It only lasts for one day, and it's just the formula, not the actual pill."

"Bring it," Jiang Fan commanded.

Trapped and with no choice but to comply, Elder Xuan Yi pulled out a thick stack of pill formulas and began sifting through them. "There are too many formulas here. Please wait a moment while I search."

Jiang Fan's eyes lit up. "So many pill formulas?" He snatched them away. "No need to search," he stated. "I'll hold onto them for you!"

Elder Xuan Yi froze. "Wait, Daoist Friend Jiang, you can't do that! These are all top-secret pill formulas from my Mount Sanqing! They must not be leaked!"

Jiang Fan nodded without hesitation. "Don't worry, I won't leak them," he assured. "Refining them myself should be perfectly fine, right?"

"You'll refine them yourself?" Elder Xuan Yi's eyes widened as if he had seen a ghost. "You're a Soul Master too?"

Jiang Fan evaded the question. "Since I'm keeping the pill formulas," he said, "you wouldn't mind if I also kept your alchemy ingredients, would you?"

Of course, Elder Xuan Yi minded! However, seeing the cassock and chains about to wrap around him again, he could only hand over the spatial storage artifact containing his lifelong alchemy ingredients and reveal its activation incantation.

Jiang Fan accepted it with a triumphant smile. "This is a voluntary act on your part, with absolutely no coercion, right?" he asked.

Elder Xuan Yi gritted his teeth. "Yes, I volunteered," he replied. He had never imagined that at his advanced age, he would experience being "volunteered" like a student.

Jiang Fan then withdrew his consciousness, completely satisfied. In his hand, he now held a large stack of pill formulas. He casually flipped through them and immediately found a familiar spiritual pill formula!

"Ling Tian Pill?" Jiang Fan was overjoyed. With this formula, why would he worry about opportunities for tribulation? No longer would he have to fret over Song Lingyu, that old swindler who refused to return spiritual pills!

Besides these, there were many other useful pill formulas that caught his eye. There was even a formula for a pill that could cure bodily deformities and swelling. He had promised the Third Princess of the East Sea that he would keep an eye out for similar spiritual pills for her. A soft glow entered his eyes as he recalled the Third Princess, who would rather remain ugly her entire life than compromise her mother's safety.

Finally, at the bottom of the stack, he found the formula for the "Rejuvenation Pill." Its effects were indeed as Elder Xuan Yi had described: it could revert an elderly person to a ten-year-old child. The younger the user, the younger the age they would revert to. As for the ingredients, Jiang Fan searched through Elder Xuan Yi's spatial storage artifact. He managed to piece together enough for three complete sets. Without further ado, he would start alchemy immediately!

"Centurion Bai, my Nascent Soul is suddenly a bit unsettled. I need to find a private room to recover."

Bai Xin gave Jiang Fan a look. This guy always had something going on! She glanced at the islands, confirming that several groups of guests from other states had not yet arrived. There was still plenty of time, so she nodded. "Follow me," she said.

Jiang Fan, accompanied by Ling Shu and Liu Li, entered a private room arranged by Bai Xin. Since both women were his trusted companions, Jiang Fan no longer concealed anything. In front of them, he took out Mount Sanqing's Daoist Master's black cauldron, along with the ingredients for the Rejuvenation Pill.

Ling Shu blinked. "Brother, isn't this alchemy?" she asked. "Could it be that Brother is a Soul Master?"

While working quickly to purify the ingredients, Jiang Fan replied, "Just a little bit."

Ling Shu gasped, covering her mouth in surprise. "Brother, you've been hiding your identity as a Soul Master? That's the most respected profession in Central Earth!" Mount Sanqing, despite being such a despicable place and making enemies everywhere, still thrived. A significant reason for this was that Mount Sanqing had several high-level Soul Masters residing there. All the major sects sought Mount Sanqing's assistance and thus were unwilling to openly antagonize them. To her surprise, Jiang Fan was also a Soul Master! Her eyes sparkled with stars, openly displaying her admiration.

Liu Li was also so stunned that her mouth hung open. "Young Master Jiang is a Soul Master?" Then, she began to ponder, "As the saying goes, 'a dragon begets a dragon, a phoenix begets a phoenix.' A Soul Master's son must also be a Soul Master, right?" One had to admit, the prestige of bearing Jiang Fan's children had just risen considerably.