Chapter 162: The Marvelous Art of Alchemy

“All gathered already? Let me take a look.”

Yun Jiao accepted the pouch from him, opened it, and swept her gaze over the contents. She saw that every single spiritual herb and celestial plant was present — not one missing. In fact, some had even been prepared in multiple sets. His injuries had lingered too long; the sooner his golden body was restored, the better. She nodded. “The ingredients are all here, that makes things easy. All right, wait a bit. I’ll refine it for you right now.”

“Many thanks, Little Martial Niece!” Yuan Jiang seemed to recall something and quickly added, “Since refining pills takes time, would you like me to stay and guard your process?”

“It won’t take that long!” Yun Jiao shook her head casually. “You still have classes to teach. Standing guard would just be a waste of your time.”

“Ah?” Yuan Jiang froze in surprise. Wasn’t pill refinement known to be the most dangerous process? A single mistake could lead to an explosion — a destroyed pill would be a small matter, but the alchemist themselves could easily be caught in the blast.

He trusted his junior niece’s abilities, yes, but hadn’t she said earlier that this was a heaven-grade pill? Even the top-ranked alchemists could not guarantee a perfect success rate!

Just as he was about to persuade her otherwise, Yun Jiao had already spoken. “Come on, let’s go to the furnace.”

She turned and headed toward the rear hall without the slightest sign of concern.

Yuan Jiang had no choice but to follow. They passed through several courtyards, heading toward the back right section. He had assumed there was an alchemy room back there, but the farther they walked, the more familiar the path became — until they stepped into a courtyard filled with the scent of cooking smoke. Only then did he realize, in shock—

“Wait! Little Martial Niece…” He pointed toward the familiar building ahead. “Isn’t this… the temple kitchen?”

These days, Bai Shizhi often dragged him to the marketplace to haul food supplies, so he had been here plenty of times.

“Yep,” Yun Jiao answered with a perfectly straight face.

“You’re going to refine pills… here?” He was completely bewildered.

“Oh, not exactly. The alchemy room is behind it. I just moved the furnace here.” Yun Jiao explained as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

Yuan Jiang gaped. Before he could even ask why she had moved a furnace into a kitchen, she had already walked in.

She went straight toward the open space on the right side of the kitchen—then suddenly halted. “Huh?”

“What’s wrong?” Yuan Jiang asked instinctively.

“The furnace is gone.” Yun Jiao frowned slightly, then after a pause, her expression cleared. “Ah, probably Ancestor took it. Let’s go ask him on the tower.”

“Ah?” Yuan Jiang stood stunned as Yun Jiao, perfectly unfazed, turned and started walking toward the tall tower.

His heart started to pound. Though he had been staying at the temple these days, he had rarely seen their master — only occasionally when seeking out Yun Jiao. The Master always preferred solitude. Unlike the easygoing Wen Qing, their Master genuinely disliked being disturbed.

He had allowed Yuan Jiang to remain here merely because of his unrecovered golden body — nothing more.

And Yuan Jiang vaguely sensed that their Master didn’t quite approve of the plan they were pursuing; he simply chose not to interfere. If Yuan Jiang kept appearing before him, the old man might very well throw him out on the spot. So, sensibly, he had been keeping his distance to avoid provoking him.

But now, they were going up the tower.

Wasn’t that too much — to bother their Master over a furnace? Couldn’t they just borrow one somewhere else?

Yet Yun Jiao clearly didn’t think so. She marched forward confidently — and when she decided the climb was too tiring, she simply drew a teleportation array to send them straight to the top.

By the time Yuan Jiang realized what was happening, they had already materialized at the tower’s summit. And before them, just a few paces away, stood their cold and distant Master.

He was dressed, as always, in pure white robes. But this time, a gray apron was tied neatly around his waist — eye-catching and out of place. His ink-black hair, usually flowing, was entirely tied up and hidden beneath a tall cylindrical hat.

He stood beside an oddly shaped furnace. When he noticed them appear, he turned — revealing that in his hand was… a silver spoon?

Yuan Jiang instinctively clasped his fists and bowed. “Disciple greets—”

Before he could finish, Yun Jiao spoke naturally, “Ancestor, did you take the furnace from the kitchen?”

“…” Yuan Jiang froze. Wait, was she really going to talk to the Master like that?

“Mm.” The man nodded calmly. “Yes, I took it.”

“…” Apparently, yes — she could talk to him like that!

“You need it?” Ye Yuan’s eyes suddenly brightened. “What for?”

“Yes, just for a while,” Yun Jiao said, pointing toward Yuan Jiang. “Martial Uncle Yuan’s materials for repairing his golden body have arrived. His injury’s been delayed for months, so I