"Mr. Lin, where should the alchemy furnace be placed?"
Lin Xiao Tian casually pointed to the side, "Just put it here. You all set it up, and I'll start refining pills now."
Seeing his urgency, the few people wasted no time.
The alchemy furnace was brought out. Lin Xiao Tian glanced at it, realizing it included the ones from Jinsha Village.
"Mr. Lin, this is what the old madam wanted me to give you."
A person from the Lin family carefully handed a bag to Lin Xiao Tian.
Lin Xiao Tian opened it and found three thousand-year-old medicinal herbs inside.
One of them was brimming with spiritual energy, likely picked recently. The other two had less spiritual energy, evidently older, but were well-preserved.
Lin Xiao Tian guessed these were from the Lin family's own stock.
Two thousand-year-old medicinal herbs!
The Lin family's old madam had truly spared no expense this time.
Lin Xiao Tian felt overwhelmed.
This old madam was so good to him!
He always carried the poison from the Insect King with him whenever he went out, and he had also accumulated demon cores by consistently exceeding his tasks, always keeping a few aside.
He had expected the Flood Dragon to discover them, but it hadn't detected anything.
This indirectly proved that the mark couldn't constantly monitor Lin Xiao Tian!
Refining the Po E Dan was not easy, and time was short. Lin Xiao Tian dared not be distracted.
As the surrounding guards began setting up tents, Lin Xiao Tian was already refining the pills.
Several teams of adventurers sealed off the area around Lin Xiao Tian, everyone armed and ready.
Soon, Lin Xiao Tian was completely engrossed in the alchemy process.
Not long after, many people arrived outside the camp.
The first to come was the Lin family's old madam.
The old madam's health was already poor, and taking a helicopter into the mountains was not a good idea for her, yet she risked it.
As the head of the Lin family, she couldn't afford any mistakes, but for Lin Xiao Tian, she disregarded all of it this time.
"Mr. Lin is inside. He said not to disturb him," a Lin family member nervously told the old madam.
This statement was somewhat disrespectful, but as a professional bodyguard, he had to warn her.
The old madam took a deep breath. "How is he? Is he alright?"
"Mr. Lin appears to be fine."
"That's good." The old madam's tense nerves relaxed slightly.
No one knew why the old madam was so worried.
After all, Lin Xiao Tian was an outsider to the Lin family.
Even though Lin Xiao Tian had saved the old madam, the Lin family's current efforts far exceeded the scope of repaying a favor.
To procure Lin Xiao Tian's medicinal ingredients, the Lin family had mobilized a large number of people to go to Black Mountain, even enlisting military assistance.
And then there were the two thousand-year-old medicinal herbs.
One of them was purchased by the Lin family from the Yang family. To obtain it, the old madam had exchanged half the shares of the Fang Group!
Half the equity of a Fortune Global 500 company was given away so readily; it was unbelievable to anyone.
But no one knew what the old madam was truly thinking.
If this was considered an investment in Lin Xiao Tian, the price was far too steep.
After the old madam, Qin Yu Xiang also arrived.
Upon learning that Lin Xiao Tian was inside, Qin Yu Xiang was extremely worried, but the old madam calmed her down.
"Young lady, remember, you are his support. You can worry, but you must not be reckless," the old madam said, patting Qin Yu Xiang's shoulder.
Qin Yu Xiang looked at the old madam, her eyes welling up.
After Qin Yu Xiang, Yang Xin and Li Xue also arrived.
When Yang Xin heard Lin Xiao Tian was inside, she wanted to go to him but was stopped by the Lin family members.
"What are you doing? I know I can't just go over. I'm not going anywhere near, I'm just looking. Is there a problem?" Yang Xin glared at the Lin family member who stopped her.
However, before she could finish speaking, a voice interrupted her, "When did it become your turn to scold someone from my Lin family?"
Yang Xin saw that it was the Lin family's old madam speaking, and her grievances had nowhere to go.
She just missed her man terribly, what was wrong with that?
But facing the Lin family's old madam, she dared not say a word.
"What are you doing here?" the old madam asked, staring at her.
"I... I came to see him."
"He is from my Lin family, not from your Yang family. He doesn't need you to see him," the old madam said with a cold expression.
Seeing the cold, indifferent old madam, Yang Xin wanted to speak but hesitated. Li Xue, who was behind her, quickly pulled her aside, and Yang Xin could only retreat aggrievedly.
Qin Yu Xiang, however, seemed to understand something and went to Yang Xin's side. "Do you like him?"
Yang Xin was startled by Qin Yu Xiang's sudden question and instinctively blushed.
She knew very well that the person before her was Lin Xiao Tian's official girlfriend.
Qin Yu Xiang was not foolish. Seeing Yang Xin's expression, she immediately knew the answer.
"Did something happen between you two inside?" Qin Yu Xiang asked again.
Yang Xin lowered her head, then shook her head after a moment.
Although they were all from prominent families, Qin Yu Xiang was from the main branch of the Qin family, while she was from a collateral branch of the Yang family, their statuses were completely different.
Qin Yu Xiang didn't press further and went to the old madam's side.
The old madam glanced at Yang Xin in the distance, then said to Qin Yu Xiang, "As for my Lin family's daughter-in-law, I only recognize you, Yu Xiang. After Xiao Tian's matters are settled, I will personally officiate your wedding."
The old madam's words held hidden meaning. Yang Xin, standing nearby, clenched her fists.
Li Xue, beside her, also lowered her eyes, her heart feeling heavy.
Time ticked by.
Alchemy was a time-consuming and laborious process.
Of the three medicinal herbs, Lin Xiao Tian was left with only one, but the Po E Dan was still not successful.
It was already evening. The appointment with the Flood Dragon was in the afternoon. Including the time to find a Qi Refining stage demonic beast, if Lin Xiao Tian failed tonight, he would have to go back and hunt beasts. Otherwise, the curse would erupt, and he would surely die.
Lin Xiao Tian took a deep breath and carefully placed the medicinal herb into the alchemy furnace.
A bead of sweat rolled down Lin Xiao Tian's forehead.
Finally, as the last medicinal ingredient entered the furnace, the pill fragrance that Lin Xiao Tian desired finally appeared.
Lin Xiao Tian was ecstatic. As long as he persisted for a while longer, the Po E Dan would be successful.
Just then, a commotion suddenly arose from outside.
"Ah!"
A scream echoed.
Immediately followed by dense gunfire.
Bang bang bang...
Flames erupted outside the tent.
Through the light, Lin Xiao Tian saw blood splattering onto the tent, and the pungent smell of blood wafted over.
Lin Xiao Tian used his divine sense to perceive the situation and immediately understood what was happening.
*Slash!*
The tent was torn open.
A familiar figure burst in.
"We meet again."
The Apostle was covered in blood, but his face was filled with a manic expression. His face was identical to Lin Xiao Tian's.
It had never given up on killing Lin Xiao Tian.
The refining of the pill was at a critical juncture, and Lin Xiao Tian dared not act rashly. Leaving prematurely could result in the pill being damaged.
"It seems you're determined to drag me down with you!" Lin Xiao Tian glared at it furiously.
"Heh heh! It's not me who will die, but you!"
After speaking, the Apostle was enveloped in a faint blue luminescence.
A potent wood-elemental energy emanated from it. Wood elementals were naturally the bane of lightning elementals, and this was its confidence.
Compared to the pill, life was more important. Although Lin Xiao Tian was reluctant, he had to stop.
Just as he was about to engage the Apostle, a streak of light shot past.
*Bang!*
The bullet traced a beautiful arc through the air.
Lin Xiao Tian sensed it.
This was... a sniper rifle?