Chapter 163: Restoring the Golden Body

Yuan Jiang felt like his entire worldview had collapsed.

While he was still reeling from shock, Yun Jiao, having divided up the rice cake, opened the storage pouch filled with herbs and began taking out spiritual plants and celestial grasses one by one. Each time she took one out, she placed it on the open furnace lid for a moment as though weighing it, then casually tossed the entire thing into the furnace.

“Wait!” Yuan Jiang finally came to his senses and hurried forward. “Little Martial Niece, you’re just… putting them straight in?”

No extraction, no refinement of essences?

“Yep.” Yun Jiao replied with complete naturalness. After a moment, she added, “Don’t worry, the furnace has a dust-cleansing incantation. It’ll automatically purify everything. No rice-cake smell.”

“…” That wasn’t what he was worried about!

Was it really okay to just stuff all the precious herbs in like that? Could anything refined this way possibly count as a pill?

He stared in pain at the priceless ingredients he’d spent so much effort and resources to obtain, his heart bleeding with every glance. But he didn’t dare say a word of doubt. After all, Yun Jiao’s alchemy had been personally taught by their Master. To question her would be like slapping their Master’s face in public.

As he hesitated between anxiety and awe, Yun Jiao had already closed the furnace lid. He expected her to summon fire for the refinement, but instead, she didn’t even take out a fire talisman. She merely extended her hand and tapped a single spot on the furnace as if triggering something.

What happened next left Yuan Jiang completely dumbstruck.

In an instant, white light flared around them. Countless rays appeared at the furnace’s sides, layer upon layer, encircling it in a complex web of brilliance. The top of the tower was illuminated to pure white — like the heavens themselves had descended.

He stood frozen, eyes wide, before finally blurting, “Th–this… this is all formation arrays!”

Around the furnace, countless intricate runes intertwined seamlessly, resonating in perfect harmony, forming a massive composite array.

Was this still a furnace? This was a formation artifact!

Meanwhile, Yun Jiao calmly began tapping her fingers lightly across the glowing runes on its surface. Each time she tapped, one array would shift from gold to red. She seemed perfectly familiar with the system, selecting one after another with the ease of someone navigating a menu.

After several moments, she suddenly turned her head toward Yuan Jiang.

“Martial Uncle Yuan, what texture of pill do you prefer?”

“Huh?” Yuan Jiang froze. What… what did that mean?

She explained matter-of-factly, “Soft and chewy type, fragrant type, or standard type.”

“…” What the—?!

(⊙_⊙)

“I usually like the fragrant type,” Yun Jiao continued thoughtfully. “But the old man prefers soft and chewy. If you’re unsure, I’ll just set it to standard for you.”

“…” Wait, are we still talking about pills here?!

Before he could protest, she had already tapped another rune. Instantly, all the surrounding formations folded in upon themselves and vanished, leaving the furnace looking as ordinary as ever — just oddly shaped.

Yet Yuan Jiang could sense that the selected formations were still operating inside the furnace. The surrounding spiritual energy surged, converging powerfully toward the center.

“All right,” Yun Jiao said, brushing her hands together. “Come back in one hour to collect the pills.” She glanced at the sky outside, then looked toward a certain someone who was still eating the last of his rice cake. “Ancestor, it’s already noon. Shall we go eat lunch?”

That person calmly stuffed the remaining half of the rice cake into his mouth, swallowed, and replied with perfect composure, “Very well.”

And so, the two of them turned and started down the stairs.

Behind them, Yuan Jiang remained frozen in place, still staring at the furnace as if hypnotized.

“Martial Uncle Yuan, let’s go!”

“…”

No, he needed to wait. Any minute now he’d wake up.

Yes, that had to be it. This was a dream. It had to be.

————————

Even after holding the finished pill in his own hands, Yuan Jiang still couldn’t believe such an alchemical miracle existed — a furnace that required no alchemist at all, capable of refining pills on its own.

Had he not seen the layers of formations with his own eyes, he would have thought the thing was sentient — a living furnace spirit.

At first, he had assumed this divine artifact must have been forged by his Master himself. But when he later asked Bai Yu, he learned that while the Master had indeed contributed, the main creators were his younger martial brother Wen Qing and Yun Jiao. Wen Qing had designed the furnace’s exterior, while Yun Jiao had developed the array system. Their Master’s “contribution” had been… adding “steaming, boiling, frying, roasting, and braising” functions.

Staring at the golden, faintly glowing pill in his hand, Yuan Jiang suddenly began to question his life choices.

Were all the current generation’s disciples this talented now? Even his junior brother, who had only descended to the mortal realm not long ago, could create something like this. Should he… start retraining from scratch?

“Want some water?” Yun Jiao asked, noticing he hadn’t taken the pill yet. She handed him a cup instinctively.

Yuan Jiang blinked, dumbly accepting it. Why… did he need water?

“Take three at once,” Yun Jiao instructed helpfully. “They’re a bit large. Oh, and avoid stimulating foods for the next few days — things like lamb, eggplant, glutinous rice, shrimp, crab, and so on.”

Yuan Jiang blinked again, just about to mention that he’d long stopped eating mortal food. But before he could speak, a hand reached over — it belonged to a certain person calmly munching on a biscuit — and moved away the fruit plate beside him.

Ye Yuan said with complete seriousness, “You can’t eat that.”

My little disciple said so.

“…” Yuan Jiang froze. Hadn’t Little Martial Niece said nothing about fruit?

“Ancestor…” Bai Yu’s face darkened as he hurriedly interjected, “That plate’s mine!”

What did Yuan Jiang’s diet have to do with him? Why was his fruit being confiscated?!

“…” The man stiffened, then silently took the plate away, pretending he hadn’t heard a thing.

“Girl!” Bai Yu looked accusingly at Yun Jiao.

Yuan Jiang: “…”

Yun Jiao: “…”

“Um… Martial Uncle, you should take your medicine first.” Yun Jiao said quickly, trying to redirect the situation. What else could she do? Go wrestle the plate back?

“O-oh. Right.” Yuan Jiang coughed, hastily poured out two more pills, and swallowed them.

Bai Yu: “…”

The moment the pill entered his body, Yuan Jiang felt a gentle power spread through him, nourishing his soul and flowing straight into his consciousness sea.

Startled, he immediately sat cross-legged, closed his eyes, and focused his energy.

Within moments, that power began repairing his shattered golden body. The agony that had once flared whenever his spirit stirred was fading — replaced by a soothing warmth. His entire body felt unbelievably comfortable, and he could even sense his fallen cultivation beginning to recover.

After just half an hour of meditation, his golden body had already stabilized. The healing energy within him continued circulating on its own. He opened his eyes in amazement, barely containing his excitement. “My… my golden body is really starting to recover!”

“Take another three tomorrow at the same time,” Yun Jiao said calmly. “Then rest and adjust your qi for a few more days, and it should be completely healed.”

“Got it.” Yuan Jiang nodded eagerly. He hadn’t expected the effect to be this miraculous. At this rate, in less than ten days, he would be fully restored! Standing up, he said earnestly, “Thank you, Little Martial Niece.”

Yun Jiao replied with equal seriousness, “You’re my Martial Uncle — no need to thank me.”

(After all, you paid for it.)

Yuan Jiang wanted to say more, but just then, a gust of cold wind swept into the room. A figure cloaked in heavy yin energy rushed in, voice echoing before the person even arrived.

“Junior Sister Yun, I found the man who was impersonating Senior Brother Han!”

(End of Chapter)