Su Bai stepped forward, then gazed at the freezing Qi-Devouring Pill hovering over the workstation.

"Senior Sister Ji. Will you allow me to take custody of it?"

Ji Ruyue, whose stoic face betrayed no emotion, offered Su Bai a nod. To her, Su Bai taking the pill simply saved her the trouble of disposing of it.

’Perfect,’ Su Bai cheered internally as he carefully secured the freezing pill into a jade box.

With her daily attempt concluded, Ji Ruyue excused herself and quietly left the Alchemy Hall.

Once she was gone, Elder Qin let out a long, heavy sigh.

"A pitiful child," the Elder murmured. "You must not judge her harshness, Martial Nephew Su. Her path has been fraught with thorns."

Su Bai tilted his head.

"Elder Qin, why does Senior Sister wish to learn alchemy when it so clearly conflicts with her nature?" Su Bai asked.

At those words, the Elder fell silent. He did not answer him directly.

"Normally, in the Radiant Sky Sect, every disciple must start at the Outer Sect and climb their way up," Elder Qin explained. "However, a Peak Master is granted one singular opportunity in their lifetime to bypass all rules and directly elevate a mortal to a Core Disciple."

Su Bai stayed silent with Liu Meng beside him.

"Peak Master Shen Youran used her singular decree on Ji Ruyue. She found the girl in the ruins of a mortal city, the sole survivor of a terrible calamity. The child possessed a Heavenly Ice Root... but she was completely shattered. Her emotions were so violently unstable she could not cultivate without risking immediate Qi deviation."

Elder Qin stroked his beard.

"Peak Master Shen did not hesitate. She immediately imparted the Heartless Sutra to the girl. It was the only way to save her life and not waste her talent. The technique severed her emotional turmoil. It stabilized her foundation and turned her into the peerless genius she is today."

"A heavy price for stability," Su Bai remarked respectfully. Internally, he translated it perfectly: ’They installed a massive emotional dampener on her operating system to prevent a total hardware crash.’

"Yes, but the trauma remains buried, acting as an obsession in her Dao Heart," Elder Qin sighed. "With her talent, she should have reached the Golden Core realm years ago. She is trapped by a bottleneck of her own past. Peak Master Shen forced her to learn alchemy to let her confront her buried emotions."

Elder Qin smiled warmly at Su Bai.

"Even though the pill’s nature was inverted today, she still successfully completed a refinement. Something in her frozen heart may have finally loosened. You have done our sect a great service today, Martial Nephew Su."

Su Bai offered a humble smile. "I only provided a different perspective, Elder."

Elder Qin then waved his hand dismissively. "As for your ’Cold-Forging’ method... our Peak Master once mentioned it was an art lost to the ancient eras. I will not pry into how you acquired such a profound legacy. Every cultivator has their secrets. I am simply overjoyed that the sect will soon be swimming in resources thanks to your talent."

***

An hour later, Su Bai returned to the quiet isolation of Clear Cloud Peak.

He immediately sat cross-legged on his favorite flat meditation stone and pulled out his leather-bound notebook.

His corporate heart was soaring. Between his 70% revenue share and the massive haul of toxic waste he had acquired today, his resource logistics were finally fully optimized. He opened his notebook and logged his newly acquired asset:

Item: The Qi-Devouring Pill (Accidental Bio-Weapon)]

Original Effect: Creates a localized black hole in the Dantian, violently draining the user’s life force and Qi.

Reversal Expectation: A massive, hyper-concentrated injection of pure EXP.

Su Bai closed the notebook with a satisfied smirk. The only missing piece to his puzzle was the Shattered-Soul Oblivion Pill.

Right on cue, his Peak Master token announced a visitor.

As early evening fell over the mountain, Liu Meng arrived at his clearing. She pulled a discreet jade box from her robes. She handed it to him.

"I utilized the Auction House’s private labs to forge these for you, Senior Brother."

Su Bai opened the box. Six pitch-black Shattered-Soul Oblivion Pills rested inside.

"Excellent work, Meng," Su Bai smiled. "I will reimburse you as soon as my first dividend from the Transcendent Pills is distributed."

"Oh, there is absolutely no rush, Senior Brother! Hehe!" Liu Meng giggled. She bowed deeply before happily skipping back down the mountain path.

Now completely alone, Su Bai took a deep breath.

’It’s time to run the server upgrade,’ he thought.

He tipped the jade box back and swallowed one of the black Oblivion Pills.

Instantly, his vision swam. The pill pulled him into a state of hyper-active Overclocking. His meridians expanded, burning with a ravenous hunger.

Wasting no time, Su Bai unsealed his wooden lockbox and swallowed a massive handful of Ji Ruyue’s "Premium Grade" toxic black soot.

RUMBLE!

Pure, refined Qi surged through his veins. The Overclocked Dead Wood root devoured the hazardous waste with terrifying speed. Su Bai’s cultivation base began to rapidly climb, pushing hard against the absolute ceiling of the 9th Stage of Qi Refining.

He repeated the process. He systematically consumed an oblivion pill then the dregs until the lockbox was empty.

He was right on the edge. He could feel the bottleneck.

Without hesitating, Su Bai opened the final jade box. He picked up the freezing, sapphire-blue Qi-Devouring Pill and swallowed Ji Ruyue’s accidental bio-weapon.

The moment it hit his stomach, the pill activated.

It formed a terrifying, localized black hole, attempting to violently rip the life force right out of his body.

But Su Bai’s Reversal Body was the ultimate countermeasure.

CRACK!

A literal vortex of Qi visibly manifested around Su Bai’s body, whipping his white robes and black hair into a frenzy.

His meridians flooded. The sheer volume of energy was staggering. Su Bai gritted his teeth. He swallowed another Oblivion Pill to maintain the Overclock. He kept his processing speed high enough to handle the massive data transfer.

And then, the barrier shattered.

A profound, resonant hum echoed from his core. The gaseous Qi within his Dantian became terrifyingly dense and heavy.

Su Bai opened his eyes. A flash of sharp, brilliant light cut through the evening shadows.

He had done it. He had reached the absolute peak of the Qi Refining Realm. One more step, and the gaseous Qi in his body would liquefy into a spiritual ocean.

"It’s time to return to the Foundation Establishment Realm," Su Bai whispered.

He reached into his system inventory and pulled out the first sign in reward from the Verdant Peak.

Resting in the palm of his hand was a pill that radiated an ancient, desolate aura.

The Dao-Severing Mortal Dust Pill.