Lai Li’an took a deep breath, suppressing that surge of anger. He had to stay calm; there must still be a way.

“Is she truly beyond saving?”

Ruan Se shook her head. “Less than one-tenth of her meridians remain intact, her dantian is damaged, her Dao Foundation is shattered, and her internal organs have suffered varying degrees of burns. She must have been hit directly by Fire-Attribute Spiritual Power. Her spleen and lung meridians are the most severely injured. The opponent used an extremely overbearing Fire-Attribute cultivation technique, and this power is still continuously wreaking havoc inside her body.”

“I just fed her a Rejuvenation Pill. After the pill’s medicinal power dissolved into her heart meridians, it barely managed to keep her hanging onto her last breath. However, I don’t have any better pills on me right now.” Ruan Se lowered her eyelashes, a trace of apology in her tone, even though she owed this master and disciple nothing. “This is all I can do for now. However, if…”

“If what?” Lai Li’an involuntarily leaned forward a fraction.

“If my Honored Master is willing to take out an Azure Profound Essence-Nourishing Pill, perhaps she can still be saved.” After saying this, Ruan Se gave a bitter, somewhat helpless smile. “The Azure Profound Essence-Nourishing Pill is an Eighth-Grade Pill specifically used to gently nourish a shattered Dao Foundation and reconnect broken meridians, making it the exact remedy she needs. However, for such a supreme treasure, even my Honored Master only has a scant few and never easily reveals them to others. Even if I were to step forward and beg, Honored Master would absolutely not take out this pill for a complete stranger.”

After she finished speaking, she raised her head to look at Lai Li’an, expecting to see despair on the Senior’s face, but instead, she saw a pair of eyes that had suddenly lit up.

A Pill? He had a cheat!

“Is a Pill all that is needed?”

Ruan Se was slightly taken aback. She didn’t understand why he wasn’t discouraged upon hearing the words “Eighth-Grade Pill,” but instead showed such an expression.

Still, she patiently explained, “As long as we have an Azure Profound Essence-Nourishing Pill, and I use my Spiritual Power to guide the medicinal efficacy through the Meridians of her entire body to repair the torn network and nourish her shattered Dao Foundation, fellow Daoist Su should be fine. But the problem is…”

“I can refine it.”

Ruan Se’s voice stopped abruptly. She widened her eyes slightly at Lai Li’an. For the first time, disbelief appeared in those normally placid eyes before they returned to normal. “Senior can refine it?”

She looked the man in front of her up and down. A Mid Golden Core Cultivation Base, lacking even half a trace of the medicinal aura an Alchemist should have, and just now in the shop, even his disciple had not known how to choose an Alchemy Cauldron. Now he was saying he could refine an Eighth-Grade Pill?

“Senior must be joking.”

“This Venerable would absolutely never joke about my disciple’s life.”

Lai Li’an looked at her quietly, “Does fellow Daoist have the refining materials? Consider it a loan from this Venerable, and I will definitely repay it double in the future.”

Ruan Se fell silent for a moment. She had met many people, and there was never any shortage of those who spouted pretty words when they needed something from her. However, in the eyes of the person before her, besides urgency, there was an unyielding fierceness that refused to accept fate.

“I can actually scrape together the other materials.” She stood up, walked over to the medicine cabinet behind the folding screen, opened a few drawers to inspect them, and took out a dozen or so jade boxes and porcelain bottles of various sizes, placing them one by one on the small table next to the low couch. “Jade Marrow Grass, Heavenly Essence Fruit, Meridian-Nourishing Flower, Seven-Leaf Lingzhi… I have all of these, and their quality is sufficient. Gathering the auxiliary ingredients for the Azure Profound Essence-Nourishing Pill will not be a problem, but there is one main ingredient that I am afraid will be very difficult to obtain.”

She raised her head, a trace of heaviness appearing in her eyes: “Azure Profound Root. This item is the core of the Azure Profound Essence-Nourishing Pill. Its medicinal properties are mild, yet it can connect all meridians; it is absolutely indispensable. The last time I heard of an Azure Profound Root appearing in the world was thirty years ago, and it has not been seen on the market since. Even if my Honored Master had this medicine in his possession, it would be absolutely impossible for him to part with it easily.”

Lai Li’an’s heart sank a little further; he knew what the Azure Profound Root was.

According to the records in the Scripture of the Eternal Alchemy God, it was a top-tier Spiritual Herb that grew at the boundary between the void and the earth. It took a hundred years for a single plant to mature, and if it wasn’t promptly sealed after being uprooted from the soil, its medicinal properties would completely dissipate within three days.

“However…” Ruan Se suddenly thought of something and turned around. “I heard that the prize list for this Alchemy Conference happens to include an Azure Profound Root. The Alchemy Sect Branch specifically transferred it from the main sect for this conference, and it is listed among the rewards for the top three. If one can reach the top three, they will have the chance to choose this item.”

After saying this, she shook her head. “I might have the strength to do it, but unfortunately, I’m afraid fellow Daoist Su won’t last until then.”

The Alchemy Conference was still a month away, but Su Wan’er wouldn’t even survive tonight.

This time discrepancy was like an unbridgeable chasm lying across all their hopes.

“Then we steal it!” Lai Li’an blurted out almost instantly.

But as soon as the words left his mouth, he regretted them. He had already used up that Immortal-Slaying Truth-Revealing Talisman in his hand, and he currently had no offensive means whatsoever.

Let alone the treasury of the Alchemy Sect Branch, he probably couldn’t even get through their front gate.

Fortunately, Ruan Se gave him a way out.

“Absolutely not.” She suddenly turned serious. “Senior might not know, but the Treasure Pavilion of the Alchemy Sect Branch is guarded by the Protective Consciousness of three Nascent Soul Powerhouses, and it has several restrictions at the level of a Great Mountain-Protecting Formation. Even if Senior possesses sky-reaching methods to break past the guards, there is still a defensive formation inside the Treasure Pavilion. Forcibly breaking the formation will directly trigger the Pavilion-Destroying Restriction, completely destroying all the treasures inside. By then, the Azure Profound Root will be destroyed, and everything will be too late.”

Lai Li’an fell silent. He quickly flipped through the Scripture of the Eternal Alchemy God in his mind, trying to find another way from that Alchemy Dao knowledge.

Page after page of prescriptions flashed through his mind, but he had no idea what kind of symptoms Su Wan’er was exhibiting, making it impossible to prescribe the right medicine.

“Are there any pills that can temporarily prolong Wan’er’s life?” He looked up, his gaze fixed straight on Ruan Se. “It doesn’t need to cure her, just enough to let her hold on until the Alchemy Conference ends.”

Hearing this, Ruan Se lowered her head in thought for a moment. Then she turned around, a hint of light flashing in her eyes, “There is. The Eternal Spring Life-Prolonging Pill, a Sixth-Grade Pill. This pill uses the Eternal Spring Flower as the primary ingredient and Bone-Knitting Grass1 as the secondary ingredient. Once taken, it can protect the Heart Meridians and Dantian for a certain period of time, temporarily halting the deterioration of her injuries. I happen to have all the materials right here.”

She took out a slightly yellowed, ancient pill recipe from her Storage Bag. Just as she was about to hand it to Lai Li’an, he had already spoken.

“There is no need. I know the recipe.”

Ruan Se’s hand, holding the pill recipe, paused in mid-air. The Eternal Spring Life-Prolonging Pill was a Sixth-Grade Pill, and its recipe was extremely obscure. The ratio of medicinal catalysts to auxiliary ingredients was completely different from ordinary Pills. This was a recipe passed down to her by her Honored Master; how could this person say he actually knew it?

She put the recipe back into her bag and did not ask further. Instead, she took out the required ingredients one by one from the medicine cabinet, arranged them neatly on the table, and finally carried them on a tray, handing it to Lai Li’an.

“Senior, this Pill is extremely difficult to refine. With my current attainments in the Alchemy Dao, I am still not capable enough, so I will only be responsible for using Spiritual Power from the side to guide the medicine into the meridians. If Senior can refine it, the materials are here.”

Lai Li’an took the tray and gave her a deep look. “Fellow Daoist, I owe you a favor for this. If you ever need help in the future, I will definitely go all out.”

Ruan Se fell silent for a moment before comforting him, “Senior, there is no need for excessive formalities. Life and death are dictated by fate; just doing our best is enough.”

After saying that, she pushed the door open and stepped out, signaling for Lai Li’an to follow her.

Lai Li’an lowered his head to look at Su Wan’er on the low couch, his eyes full of reluctance.