Oh no! I, the weakling, have become the villain!

"Fine, since they're your people, let them in."

Upon entering, Master Qin was seen smiling at Xu Yao without paying any attention to himself.

This made Xu Yao even more suspicious about what kind of fortune the old man had recently made.

After exchanging a few pleasantries, Xu Yao couldn't help but ask Master Qin a question.

"Master Qin, you seem to be having a really good time lately. What happened to you? Did you strike it rich?"

Master Qin gave Xu Yao a knowing smile and lowered his voice to say, "It's more than just making a fortune; it's one of the greatest strokes of luck in my life."

He spoke to Xu Yao in a low voice, and Xu Yao was startled upon hearing Master Qin's words.

Unexpectedly, Master Qin also had such a wonderful encounter, accidentally obtaining an ancient elixir formula.

And the recipe for this elixir actually records an ancient secret technique.

As long as the right materials are found, it is possible to refine the Breakthrough Pill.

This Breakthrough Pill is incredibly powerful. Once refined, even someone with no cultivation can break through to the first level of the Qi Refining stage after consuming it!

Once you take the pill, your cultivation level will increase by one rank based on your current cultivation level.

Generally speaking, it is most suitable to consume it at the ninth level of the Qi Refining stage, as this will allow one to advance to a higher realm.

Although this elixir is potent, it only requires a rather complex array of medicinal materials; it doesn't actually need any particularly rare or precious ones.

Unfortunately, it can only be used during the Qi Refining stage.

However, there are countless people in the world who want to cultivate, and how many people, despite their mediocre talent, struggle to make any progress no matter how hard they try?

Moreover, this Breakthrough Pill can grant ordinary people the cultivation level of the first stage of Qi Refining.

It is conceivable that if this elixir formula were made public, it would surely cause a frenzy among the people.

As Xu Yao pondered these thoughts, he couldn't help but swallow.

"Good heavens, it seems that Old Master Qin has really struck it rich this time."

"That's not true." Master Qin smiled smugly, patted Xu Yao on the shoulder, and gave Xu Yao a mysterious smile.

"Considering our friendship, I can give you this pill formula. I believe you can definitely refine pills with even better effects."

Xu Yao's eyes lit up upon hearing this: "Are you serious?"

"Well," Master Qin said with a smile, "but then again, even close brothers keep clear accounts. We're not brothers, so it's not unreasonable for me to ask you for some compensation, is it?"

Xu Yao asked cautiously, "What do you want?"

Master Qin smiled maliciously.

After some discussion, Xu Yao contributed all his wealth, plus a breakthrough pill he promised to refine for Master Qin.

While excited about receiving the prescription, Xu Yao suddenly remembered something.

Master Qin is not incapable of alchemy, so why ask him to alchemy? Could it be that he simply thinks his alchemy is more effective?

In sight, Master Qin, who had just received another large sum of money, was grinning from ear to ear.

"Old man, you didn't actually sell this pill formula to someone else, did you?"

Master Qin was taken aback upon hearing this. "How did you know?"

Xu Yao's face immediately darkened.

Although the medicinal materials required for the elixir are not rare or precious, they are a great test of the alchemist's skill.

A sixth-grade alchemist could barely manage to refine it, with a high failure rate. Only a seventh-grade alchemist like him could master the art of refining this pill with consummate skill.

Xu Yao had previously thought that revealing the formula for the Breakthrough Pill would cause a huge uproar. Unfortunately, he was wrong.

After all, only seventh-grade alchemists can refine it, and where are you going to find so many seventh-grade alchemists? The appearance fee of a seventh-grade alchemist alone is beyond the reach of ordinary people.

It turns out that this Master Qin was making a fortune by selling the pill formula to alchemists.

Those alchemists who received the pill formula but found they couldn't refine it must have fainted from anger!

Although Xu Yao was able to refine it, his heart was bleeding.

For no other reason than that he has mediocre talent. Even if he could use a breakthrough pill to go from having no cultivation to the first level of Qi Refining, what use would that be?

Given his aptitude, he still wouldn't be able to continue cultivating. What can someone at the first level of Qi Refining do?

After leaving with resentment, Xu Yao came up with another good idea.

Why not take this opportunity to extort a fortune from Blood Demon?

Blood Demon has many subordinates. If he could refine breakthrough pills for those with strong abilities, it would be a great joy for Blood Demon.

Without a second thought, Blood Demon would definitely bleed heavily at Xu Yao's hands for his own sake.

With that in mind, Xu Yao rushed back immediately after finishing his business here.

Sure enough, things went as he predicted.

Upon learning that Xu Yao possessed such a secret formula, the Blood Demon was greatly excited.

They've all reached a point where they're constantly pacing back and forth in the same spot.

"Great! With this, our overall strength has increased by one point. Won't it be much more comfortable to deal with foreign forces in the future?"

"Xu Yao, start refining pills right away. Whatever you need, I'll get it for you."

Xu Yao laughed at the Blood Demon: "My lord, you know how precious this thing is. I'm a seventh-grade alchemist, after all, I can't work for free, can I?"

The Blood Demon's eyes widened: "What do you want?"

After Xu Yao revealed what he wanted, the Blood Demon gasped.

After hesitating for a while, he decisively agreed for the sake of the future of his Blood Demon Hall.

In this way, Xu Yao's wealth increased fivefold compared to before.

After hearing the medicinal herbs Xu Yao wanted, Blood Demon was once again in a dilemma.

He has most of the medicinal herbs, and if you add them all up, he should be able to gather enough for twenty Breakthrough Pills.

However, he only had a few of the sword wolf horns, which were one of the materials used in its production.

"If we want to get the Sword Wolf's horns, we have to kill it. I know the range of this kind of magical beast, but these guys are agile and difficult to catch."

The Blood Demon clapped his hands as he spoke to himself: "Blackie, Blackie, Blackie, you three take Xu Yao to capture as many Sword Wolves as possible."

Hei Da glanced at Xu Yao with considerable displeasure, but since it was Blood Demon's order, he couldn't refuse.

And so, the four of them, along with a group of subordinates, rushed to the mountains to search for the Sword Wolf.

Not only that, Xu Yao originally planned to rescue those living dead.

Because of the Blood Demon's orders, the awakening of the undead can be postponed for some time.

This is a perfect opportunity.

……

The group searched several mountain peaks but found no trace of the Sword Wolf.

It was dusk that day.

Impatiently, Hei Da sat down on a rock.