Chapter 42: Look, His Pill Pot Is Glowing!

Xu Gu gathered his thoughts and calmed his mood.

Although that little suggestion of “copying the divine skill and spreading it across the martial world” had caused an impact far beyond his expectations—drawing the hatred of the entire path of martial arts and even provoking an ancient Tribulation-crossing body cultivator—

At least that Tribulation-crossing body cultivator had already been subdued by the righteous path and the imperial court.

There was no need to worry about revenge.

“Since Senior Brother Ping Wuqi and the elders can’t wait any longer, let’s head up the mountain.”

Xu Gu turned to the group of head chefs behind him.

“Alright!”

All the chefs were itching to go, long since impatient.

All along the way, Xu Gu had been “training” them as they traveled. By now they fully embraced their identity as Demon Grotto “pill refiners.” There was no need to worry about them slipping up.

Li Shaobai and the others had originally planned to just leave.

They’d wanted to show off in front of Xu Gu and Huan Caiyi, but instead had ended up as nothing more than a backdrop to Xu Gu’s brilliance.

But when they saw this scene and heard Huan Caiyi’s explanation, each of them showed a very complicated look.

There was shock, surprise, confusion—and a heavy dose of curiosity and anticipation.

They couldn’t help it. This was Xu Gu’s operation, after all.

If it were anyone else, they’d have started roasting him to ashes long ago.

Pill Refining Peak.

Although it had only just been built and still looked a little empty with no real foundation yet—and not a single actual pill refiner in sight—

Within the Demon Grotto, within the entire Demon Path, it was still a shocking, earth-shaking project.

The demonic overlords and Ping Wuqi were already seated in the main hall at the top of Pill Refining Peak.

On both sides were rows of pill furnaces. Fierce flames roared within, yet the air in the hall wasn’t hot in the slightest; it was cool and refreshing.

Clearly, formations were isolating the furnaces’ heat from the outside and drawing the excess warmth out of the air.

“Greetings, Senior Brother Wuqi. Greetings, honored elders.”

Xu Gu went down on his knees and bowed deeply.

That one bow almost scared the seated demonic overlords off their chairs.

Especially Ping Wuqi, who was known for being steady and reliable—

The moment he saw Xu Gu lowering his head and raising his hands to salute, he immediately jumped to his feet and sidestepped.

This bow carried way too much karmic weight. None of them could bear it.

With someone as monstrously “magical” as Xu Gu, it was a good thing there weren’t any ancestral tablets in this hall.

Otherwise, a few of them might have cracked on the spot.

“Junior Brother Xu Gu, you have the bearing of a true successor. There’s no need to bow to us anymore in the future—these are just empty formalities. We in the Demon Grotto don’t care for such things.”

Ping Wuqi hurriedly grabbed Xu Gu’s arm with a smile.

Then he turned and looked at the five righteous-path infiltrators.

“The same goes for you all as well.”

He certainly hadn’t forgotten these comparatively ‘ordinary’ Heaven-sent demon prodigies.

The moment he said this, the hall lit up with joy.

The demonic overlords no longer had to worry about karmic backlash.

Huan Caiyi and the others also grinned from ear to ear.

They’d always disliked these tedious rituals.

If they met a truly venerable senior in the righteous sects, they’d bow from the heart.

But in the Demon Grotto? Their hearts clearly weren’t in it. If they could skip it, all the better.

You had to admit, the Demon Path did have its redeeming points.

Ping Wuqi cleared his throat and got to the point.

“I heard you brought back some chef… pill refiners, Junior Brother. How skilled are they?”

“They’re definitely up to the task.”

Xu Gu guaranteed, “The pills they refine will absolutely satisfy everyone.”

With that, he turned to the head chefs.

“You’ve all read through the Basic Pill Refining Manual, right? Good. Then let’s begin.”

“…”

The demonic overlords, plus the righteous-path infiltrators, all twitched at the corners of their mouths.

Why did this feel exactly like:
“You’ve already learned the Light spell, now go fight the Tribulation Dragon.”

“Alright.”

The head chefs were excited and full of expectation, but also deeply nervous and unsure.

In truth, even professional alchemists couldn’t guarantee a 100% success rate every time.

Let alone this bunch of chefs who hadn’t even watched others refine pills before, much less tried it themselves.

Under Chef Zhao’s lead, the head chefs took deep breaths and stepped in front of the pill furnaces in an orderly fashion.

They drew out the furnace flames and began grabbing materials, starting their “operations.”

They were refining the most basic Qi-Nurturing Pills, suitable for Qi Refining realm cultivators.

The recipe and ingredients had been laid out at their sides.

The demonic overlords and the five infiltrators sat in the seats of honor, frowning as they watched.

They hoped for success, but in their hearts they just couldn’t quite believe it.

And indeed—

As expected.

For their first ever attempt, the head chefs’ movements were clumsy and chaotic, making everyone’s eyes spin.

It didn’t take long before the explosions started.

“Boom!” “Boom!” “Boom!”

The entire Pill Refining Peak suddenly looked like it was hosting a fireworks festival.

Fortunately, the formations were strong enough to protect everyone—

Otherwise this whole group of chefs would have ended up seriously injured.

Huan Caiyi, Ping Wuqi, and the others instinctively turned to Xu Gu.

In their hearts, they’d already written this batch off as a failure.

Maybe if the chefs practiced for a long time, they might manage some success.

But the first time? Absolutely impossible.

And if these chefs really needed a ton of practice to only churn out low-tier Qi-Nurturing Pills, then there was no point using them.

Any random demon cultivator could manage that.

However, Xu Gu’s expression didn’t change at all.

He didn’t show the slightest sign of panic or worry.

His face was completely calm.

“Boom!” “Boom!” “Boom!”

At last, after successive explosions, only two chefs remained standing at their furnaces.

One was Zhao the Chef, the so-called “cooking god” of White Sparrow House.

The other was Zhao Big Mouth, the one who hadn’t even passed the head chef assessment and had only been dragged along as a fire-tender.

“Can they do it…?”

The chefs who had failed were beside themselves with frustration and guilt.

Their mood hit rock bottom as they felt they’d let all of humanity down.

As they withdrew from the furnaces and saw fewer and fewer people still trying, their hearts grew heavier.

In the end, had they just been overthinking everything?

Were chefs really only meant to be chefs?

Finally, all their gazes gathered on Chef Zhao.

He had become their last hope.

“We have to succeed…”

Chef Zhao’s forehead was drenched in sweat, his nerves taut, his tension at its peak.

He had also sensed the change in the room.

He knew very well it all came down to him now.

Yet the more he worked, the more wrong it felt.

“No…”

“This isn’t right.”

“This isn’t how it should be…”

His brows were knitted tightly, his lips dry; sweat fell like raindrops, and even his hands were trembling.

The further he went, the more convinced he was that something was off—if he continued like this, he was bound to fail.

“In the end, it’s still impossible?”

Seeing this, the demonic overlords and Huan Caiyi all sighed.

To them, the conclusion was already obvious.

Once a person started doubting themselves, failure was a foregone conclusion.

Just then, Xu Gu spoke lazily.

He addressed Chef Zhao and Zhao Big Mouth:

“The reason I brought you here wasn’t because I expected you to refine pills. I’m expecting you to make progress on the path of cooking.”

“You don’t expect us to refine pills, you expect us to advance in the culinary path?”

Chef Zhao froze for a moment, then recalled that earlier “discussion of the Dao” with Xu Gu.

All at once, it was like clouds parted and the moon shone through—he was suddenly, wildly excited, his entire spirit changing on the spot.

“That’s right! Senior Brother Xu is correct! We aren’t alchemists, so we can’t refine pills by alchemists’ methods.

“But we can use the methods of chefs… to make pills!”

With that realization, all his nervousness fell away.

His movements became smooth and natural.

He even tossed aside the pill furnace, taking out his own iron wok and golden spatula.

“Huh? What kind of operation is this?”

Everyone on the platform was stunned.

You’re refining pills, and you bring out a wok and spatula?

At his side, Zhao Big Mouth looked as if he’d had his meridians blasted open on the spot.

He too had a sudden moment of enlightenment, radiating confidence.

He didn’t discard the furnace like Chef Zhao, but his entire demeanor shifted.

“Just as I thought,” Zhao Big Mouth murmured with a grin.

A short while later—

A column of golden light shot up into the sky.

Chef Zhao and Zhao Big Mouth succeeded at the same time.

The golden radiance was coming from Chef Zhao’s side.

“Hiss! He actually succeeded? With a wok?”

“And what is with that phenomenon?”

“My heavens, he actually drew down divine light!”

“Listen carefully! There’s even a dragon’s roar in it!”

“Could it be… he refined some kind of peerless holy pill?”

The demonic overlords sitting at the top were instantly dumbfounded.

They were shaken to their cores, almost trembling as they stared at Chef Zhao’s… pill pot.

Then, one by one, their pupils shrank, their expressions going blank with shock.

Inside the pot, there wasn’t a cluster of pills—

But… a pot of rice?

Though calling it “rice” didn’t feel quite right either.

It was more like a pill the size of a human head,
tens of thousands of times larger than a normal pellet.

(End of this Chapter)