The back courtyard of the clinic.

    After washing his hands, Lu Jin'an sat cross-legged on a tufted cushion. His hands were covered with a layer of burning fire and refining the ice blossom frost flower between his palms.

    Lu Jinan always believed that it's better to rely on oneself than others, so he learned about alchemy before setting foot on the path to immortality. By the age of seven, he could already concoct some elixirs effective for ordinary people at home.

    Thirteen years into his journey on the Immortal Path, Lu Jinan's cultivation has accompanied his progress, making him a level four alchemist capable of refining most of the elixirs that are useful for Tongshen cultivators.

    At his level, he can refine the Ice-Soul Frost Petal without relying on an alchemical furnace — actually, it's not even necessary to use one.

    While it is called alchemy, it is actually just a process of refining this flower to extract the two hidden liquids within the petals and stem.

    The Ice-Soul Frost Petal can be medicine, or it can be poison.

    As a medicine, the petals of the Ice-Soul Frost Petal, due to their cold nature, can refine a cultivator's meridians throughout their entire body. During the 'cold shrinkage' caused by its medicinal properties, it complements the 'hot expansion' of spiritual energy, making the meridians full of elasticity. This subsequently enhances the speed and storage capacity of the cultivator's spiritual energy circulation.

    However, once the liquid refined from the stems and leaves is added, the Ice-Soul Frost Petal becomes a poison. A poison that can freeze a cultivator's meridians and prevent spiritual energy from being utilized.

    As he watched the Ice-Soul Frost Petal in his hands gradually turn into a liquid, Lu Jinan's lips slowly curved into a sinister smile.

    This is the countermeasure he has thought of against Zhu Nanzhi - to cure her with a method as perverted as the disease itself!

    He would also poison the gun, giving Zhu Nanzhi a surprise.

    As for whether it will be successful - definitely!

    Because the unnamed poison Zhu Nanzhi planted in Lu Jinan is specifically aimed at Tongshen stage cultivators, it cannot exceed or fall below this level.

    If it's weaker, it won't be effective, and if it's too strong, the medicinal properties are so potent that it's impossible for a cultivator to have no reaction to it at all.

    So Zhu Nanzhi just used some sort of technique to make the poison almost impossible to detect when she was poisoning, and Lu Jinan also knows such techniques, and is certain that Zhu Nanzhi wouldn't be able to find out.

    With the poison successfully down, Zhu Nanzhi's vigilance is definitely not as strong as his!

    After calming his heart, Lu Jinan put aside his distractions and continued to concentrate on refining the elixir, not daring to be the slightest bit careless.

    There's only one Ice-Soul Frost Petal by his side, and it concerns his own future as a human or a sword spirit. So, even though he has refined countless doses of the same level of medicinal elixirs, at this moment, he holds the same attitude as when he first refined four-grade elixirs. His eyes are filled with tiny droplets of transparent medicinal liquid stored in the barrier.

    As time went by, the blood donors who had just finished their lunch gathered at the gate of the clinic, looking oddly at the clinic that was not open at this time.

    However, despite the commotion, no one dared to demand that the door be opened.

    The Summer Chirping on the eaves indifferently looked at this group of demon cultivators, thinking to himself, "Today, Lu Jinan should give me a good meal, right?"

    What should I eat?

    Thinking and thinking, he didn't know how much time had passed. The demon cultivators below who wanted to donate blood had dispersed, and Xia Ming also sensed that the fiery alchemy from the back courtyard had subsided.

    Looking up at the sun, he knew that it was just after the afternoon hour, and then he flew to the back courtyard with his wings flapping.

    As soon as he turned back into human form, Xia Ming stared at the porcelain bottle in Lu Jinan's hand that was receiving the elixir, blinked an eye and asked, "You said you were going to refine elixirs, didn't you?"

    "Don't worry about the details."

    Lu Jinan carefully filled a bottle of the elixir with caution, taking a deep breath and revealing a relaxed smile on his face.

    Xia Ming watched Lu Jinan curiously. Although the Ice-Soul Frost Petal was relatively rare, but Lu Jinan, the master brother, could easily refine elixirs of this grade, why did he look so cautious?

    Putting away the porcelain bottle, Lu Jinan stood up and walked towards the outer hall, "Open the clinic's door."

    "Okay~" Xia Ming ran to open the door, asking as he ran, "Master brother, tonight I want to eat meat."

    "Hmm..."

    Walking into the outer hall, Lu Jinan looked at the one after another living blood bank entering, and sat back on the chair behind the consultation desk to enjoy the afternoon sun streaming in through the windowsill.

    "Are you cooking yourself?" Xia Ming looked at Lu Jinan with big eyes: "I can go out to hunt."

    "You've reached the level where you don't need to eat anymore. Why are you still so hungry?" Lu Jinan joked.

    "You said, the path of cultivation is like 'man moving a mountain,' and there's no need to abandon desires like the seven emotions and six desires, or the desire for food and drink," Xia Ming argued passionately. "Your cooking skills are so good. Before you return to the sect, I want to check if your cooking has regressed for the deputy sect leader."

    "Zhu Nanzhi will bring me dinner soon." Lu Jinan said, glancing at Xia Ming, wondering if he should let her leave first.

    It's not that I'm afraid of being discovered for my identity, but mainly I'm worried about Zhu Nanzhi feeling jealous.

    The dangers of a jealousy-driven illness are high.

    "Oh? You're not going to cook then? I was actually quite hungry. Could you make another dish of meat as well..."

    Xia Ming, the young girl, chattered on with a conflicted expression, but Lu Jinan didn't hear a word as he began to think about something else.

    That's the purpose of Zhu Nanzhi coming here.

    Before using the 'Great Self-Realization Visualization Method' to reverse the flow of time, Zhu Nanzhi said, "I will go back tomorrow," but why is that?

    Is her purpose in coming here just to enter the mortal world?

    If that's all, Zhu Nanzhi, who has sealed her cultivation, shouldn't still be able to do whatever she wants for a while?

    But it's the 'tomorrow' time node, which is likely to be when Linmu and Li Huangquan can split a win or lose…

    Could it be that Zhu Nanzhi is hoping to gain something from this struggle for fortune in the Nanzhuo Realm?

    As he thought about it, Lu Jinan stood up and walked outside, and Xia Ming quickly followed him, his eyes eagerly asking, "Are you going to hunt because I said so?"

    "Ask for a favor." Lu Jinan turned his head and looked at Xia Ming. "Investigate whether there are any important people or objects around Linmu. Mostly people, especially his several beloved wives."

    After thinking it over, Lu Jinan still thought it was more likely that Zhu Nanzhi was looking for someone. After all, in such a small place as the Nanzhuo Realm, the appearance of a seven-leaf Ice-Soul Frost Petal is already a great blessing. And the Qingmiao Palace is not lacking in such things, so it's more likely to be about a person.

    Especially if this person has some special physiology.

    Xia Ming blinked and saw that Lu Jinan's expression was serious. He nodded seriously as well: "I know."

    Lu Jinan reached out quickly and placed a hand on Xia Ming's shoulder, who had just taken two steps: "Just observe from a distance. If you don't find anything, come back. Be careful..."

    "I've decided on the dish names, I'll cook then."

    With newfound energy, Xia Ming didn't waste any time. She transformed back into her true form and vanished into thin air.

    With his hands down, Lu Jinan stopped thinking about it. After all, the matter didn't affect him much; he just wanted to gather more information about Zhu Nanzhi.

    Lu Jinan stretched his lazy bones and was about to turn around when a voice, which sounded very gentle, suddenly echoed behind him.

    "Does the master seem very close to that girl?"

    ······