Chapter 442: Li'er's Origins

Half a day later, Xiao Ruyan was drenched in sweat, gasping for breath beside the Four-Square Cauldron.

"Master... master, your disciple has not failed your trust; I have finally refined the Essence Soul Pill!"

Though utterly exhausted, Xiao Ruyan was clearly a little excited.

The Essence Soul Pill's function is to help martial artists recover their essence and blood; it is a difficult-to-refine third-grade upper-rank pill.

For Xiao Ruyan, the Essence Soul Pill was extremely hard to refine; with her previous skill level, she simply could not have refined it.

Yet in this half day, under Ye Yuan's guidance, she had smoothly succeeded in refining it as if it were only natural.

Ye Yuan had quite a few medicinal herbs stored up; by piecing together bits and pieces, he managed to gather enough for two sets of ingredients for the Essence Soul Pill.

To avoid wasting the herbs, Ye Yuan had Xiao Ruyan simulate the process many times before allowing her to attempt the actual refining.

As expected, the first batch turned into waste pills.

After many more simulations, on her second attempt, Xiao Ruyan directly refined a mid-grade Essence Soul Pill!

Xiao Ruyan was soaked with sweat, which gave her a unique charm that made Ye Yuan's eyes blur.

"Ahem, you've worked hard," Ye Yuan said, slightly embarrassed.

At this moment, Xiao Ruyan was in a state of great excitement and didn't notice Ye Yuan's embarrassment. She wiped the sweat from her forehead and said, "Not hard at all! Through this half day of alchemy, I feel as if I've had a sudden epiphany! What I've learned in this half day is more than what I learned in the previous few years!"

Xiao Ruyan wasn't flattering Ye Yuan out of admiration; she genuinely felt this way.

With Ye Yuan's breadth of vision, he had long had a clear grasp of Xiao Ruyan's strengths and weaknesses, so his guidance was naturally very targeted.

Imperceptibly, Xiao Ruyan had also unconsciously slipped into the role of a disciple, truly learning alchemy from Ye Yuan.

Alchemists all have this obsessive trait; once they immerse themselves in alchemy, they cannot extricate themselves.

Moreover, what Ye Yuan brought to Xiao Ruyan was a brand-new world, one she had never imagined before.

"Heh, this is nothing. Study the jade slip I gave you carefully; it will be of great help to you. But we have no time now. Once I alleviate Miss Li'er's symptoms a bit, we'll set off immediately for Nethercloud Sect," Ye Yuan said.

"Mm..." A soft moan sounded as Li'er finally stirred awake.

"Senior!" Xiao Ruyan immediately went over to support her.

Though awake, Li'er still felt groggy, with intermittent sharp pains in her head.

"How... how long was I unconscious?" Li'er asked painfully, holding her forehead.

"Senior, you've been unconscious for most of the day. Master and I were very worried about you. Are you feeling better now?" Xiao Ruyan said.

"Master?" Li'er was a bit slow to react; she looked up and met Ye Yuan's gaze.

"So you're awake..." Li'er suddenly didn't know how to face Ye Yuan, since her appearance had been somewhat abrupt.

Ye Yuan nodded and said, "Mm, fortunately, Miss Li'er protected my heart meridian, or I would have died long ago. A great favor need not be thanked in words; Miss Li'er's illness is something I, Ye Yuan, will take care of."

Li'er lowered her brows slightly and said, "So you already knew it was me... But Li'er helped Young Master Ye not to make a deal with you."

Although Li'er's words were quite calm, Ye Yuan could still detect a hint of anger in her.

"I am not making a deal with Miss Li'er either. This is a promise. I will keep my word; no matter how difficult this promise is, I will surely fulfill it!" Ye Yuan said calmly.

Li'er trembled slightly; she could feel Ye Yuan's sincerity and determination.

Having followed him all the way, she had a good understanding of what kind of person Ye Yuan was. When Ye Yuan said such words, he would fulfill his promise even if it meant death!

This man was absolutely true to his word!

"Thank you..." Li'er did not decline, merely uttering these two words softly.

"Miss Yue has followed me all the way and saved me many times; I am deeply grateful for this kindness. Moreover, if not for Miss Yue's intervention this time, I would have suffered humiliation and died. If anyone should give thanks, it should be me thanking you. And... Miss Yue used the power of the Moonblaze Heavenly Eye to save me, worsening your condition. If I don't cure you, I will never forgive myself!" Ye Yuan said.

Li'er was greatly startled and said in surprise, "You... you actually know my surname?"

Ye Yuan smiled bitterly and said, "I should have guessed it long ago! When I last saw Miss Yue, you were only a Crystal Condensation Realm martial artist. I thought another such monstrous spiritual body had been born in the lower realm. Now that I think about it, a natural Moonblaze Heavenly Eye body—besides the Yue family of Moonbright City, who else could have such a gifted spiritual body?"

At Ye Yuan's words, Li'er was even more astonished: "You even know about Moonbright City! Who... who exactly are you?"

Ye Yuan said helplessly, "I have my own difficulties; I'm afraid I can't disclose that."

Li'er was shocked, momentarily forgetting her headache. How could a mere martial artist from the lower realm know about Moonbright City in the Divine Realm?

The Yue family of Moonbright City was famous in the Divine Realm for their ocular arts, and those with the Moonblaze Heavenly Eye body could use ocular arts several times more powerfully than ordinary people!

Even within the Yue family, those with the Moonblaze Heavenly Eye were extremely rare.

These were not secrets in the Divine Realm, but Ye Yuan was just an ordinary martial artist from the lower realm—how did he know these things?

Li'er was full of doubts, but she also knew Ye Yuan's character. Since he said it was inconvenient to disclose, he clearly had his reasons, so she naturally stopped pressing.

"Alright... Since Young Master Ye even knows about Moonbright City, let me reintroduce myself. My name is Yue Mengli, and I am indeed from the Yue family of Moonbright City." Yue Mengli took a deep breath and said.

"Yue Mengli... a fitting name, a good name!" Ye Yuan savored the name.

At this moment, Ye Yuan's thoughts drifted back to his only visit to Moonbright City in his previous life.

At that time, he had been invited by Moonbright City to refine a ninth-grade pill for the city lord, Yue Yue.

During that trip, he had briefly met a woman as smooth as jade in Moonbright City, and that woman's name seemed to be... Yue Mengli!

Now that he thought back, Ye Yuan finally overlapped the face of the Yue Mengli before him with that woman's appearance.

How could such a coincidence happen amid the vicissitudes of the world...

"Alas... what use is a good name? They say beautiful women suffer ill fate; I never thought I would escape fate's mockery either." Yue Mengli said, her expression dark.

Ye Yuan collected his thoughts and said, "Miss Yue need not be so disheartened. The word 'crisis' hides profound meaning. If we can resolve the conflict between these two spiritual bodies, not only will Miss Yue be no different from ordinary people, but you will break through your cocoon like a butterfly and become an immensely powerful existence!"