For the rest of the day, Su Bai trained to make sure the things he already knew would not embarrass him at a critical mont.
The courtyard of Clear Cloud Peak beca quiet.
A single dark needle hovered in front of Su Bai... then it vanished.
It curved around the stone table, passed through the gap between two hanging leaves, and returned to his fingertip.
Su Bai’s expression eased slightly.
The Tang Clan Needle Manual was more troubleso than he expected.
It was not about throwing needles harder or faster. It was about making the opponent misunderstand where the true killing move was.
One needle was a threat.
Two needles were a distraction.
Three needles were a formation.
And the fourth needle, hidden behind the first three, was the one that collected the debt.
Su Bai understood the principle very well.
In his past life, this was called misdirection.
In the cultivation world, it was called profound hidden-weapon Dao.
The na changed, but the trick remained the sa.
After practicing the needle routes, Su Bai moved on to Nether-Threads.
This was the part he cared about most.
If he had to manually pierce every needle with his hand, then the technique was useless in a real fight. He needed the needles to strike accurately on their own using the Nether-Threads.
By evening, the improvent was clear.
The needles could now pierce the target first, then release the Nether-Threads afterward. The threads no longer needed to drag the needles forward. They only needed to bind, pull, redirect, or cut after the hit landed.
That was much better.
Finally, Su Bai practiced Falling Leaf Substitution.
This was the most important one.
Su Bai stepped forward.
A dark needle shot toward his chest.
The mont it touched his robe, his figure scattered.
A dead leaf drifted down.
Su Bai reappeared several steps away.
’Still too close.’
Again.
Again.
Again.
He practiced until the moon rose.
Only when his body could activate Falling Leaf Substitution before his mind fully reacted did Su Bai finally stop.
He was not satisfied, but he was less dissatisfied.
That was already progress.
Fifteen days was not long.
If he wanted to survive the sect competition, the Mystic Realm, and whatever trouble waited, he needed every advantage he could get.
...
The next morning, Su Bai was still training when the mountain array trembled softly.
Soone had arrived.
A familiar voice called from the path.
"Senior Brother Su!"
Su Bai turned.
Liu ng stood at the entrance of the courtyard. She was smiling.
No. She was grinning.
Her eyes were bright, and her hands were clasped in front of her as if she was holding back the urge to jump.
Su Bai imdiately understood. She brought good news.
Before he could ask, Liu ng spoke first.
"Senior Brother, the materials have arrived!"
Su Bai’s eyes lit up. ’Finally.’
Liu ng waved her hand.
Several large baskets appeared from her storage ring and landed carefully on the ground.
The mont the lids opened, a wave of cold Yin energy spread through the courtyard.
Su Bai froze. This was far more than what he had requested.
Liu ng saw his surprise and smiled proudly.
"When the auction house was searching for the ingredients you asked for, we discovered a small resource site with several rare herbs. The Liu Family Auction House does not have much use for these materials, so they decided to give them to Senior Brother as thanks."
Su Bai stared at the baskets as his heart trembled.
’What a generous bunch.’
Su Bai turned to Liu ng and smiled warmly.
"Thank you, ng. You really are my lucky star. Please thank the auction house for as well."
Liu ng’s face instantly turned red.
’Lucky star. Senior Brother Su called his lucky star.’
Her soul nearly left her body.
She quickly lowered her head. "I-I will tell them, Senior Brother!"
Then, after hesitating for a mont, she looked up again.
"Senior Brother, are you going to refine pills with these ingredients?"
"I am."
"Then..." Liu ng’s eyes shone. "Can I watch?"
Su Bai smiled.
"Of course. Co inside. I want to refine them as soon as possible."
Liu ng nodded quickly.
Su Bai stored the baskets into his ring and led her into the hut.
Liu ng followed behind him with light steps.
...
Inside the hut, Su Bai cleared the table.
Liu ng stood quietly to the side, hands folded in front of her.
She did not speak. She did not disturb him. She simply watched with eyes full of expectation.
Su Bai took out the recipe of the Nine-Severing Frost Pill first.
He read it again, then again.
The more he read, the more serious his expression beca.
This recipe was different.
His previous Cold-Forging had been direct. It was harsh, but simple.
The Nine-Severing Frost Pill was not like that.
It did not rely require cold. It required layers of cold.
Nine different kinds of Yin essence had to be extracted separately, frozen separately, and then arranged like nine blades around a single core.
If the cold was too weak, the pill would collapse.
If the cold was too strong, the ingredients would die.
If the timing was wrong, the nine layers would reject each other and explode.
Su Bai let out a slow breath.
No wonder this was an execution pill of an ancient faction.
Even refining it felt like walking barefoot across nine frozen knives.
Soon, Su Bai arranged the materials neatly on the table. The great thing about Cold-Forging is that he didn’t need any cauldron.
Liu ng watched silently.
She had watched Su Bai perform Cold-Forging before, but this ti seems different.
Su Bai raised his hand.
The Ashen-Frost Blight Fla appeared in his palm. The temperature in the hut dropped instantly, and a thin layer of frost spread across the table.
Su Bai did not move imdiately.
He waited.
The fla in his palm slowly changed.
At first, it was bright and ghostly.
Then it beca thin. Then thinner. Until it looked like a quiet gray thread wrapped around his fingers.
Only then did Su Bai begin.
He picked up the Glacial Snow-Lotus.
The Ashen-Frost Blight Fla touched it.
The lotus stiffened. Then, with a soft crack, the outer layer shattered, revealing a bead of black-green essence inside.
Su Bai flicked his finger.
The bead floated into the air.
Then ca the Arctic Marrow-Root.
He flash-froze it from the inside.
Thin lines of frost spread along the root’s natural veins instantly. When the cold reached the center, Su Bai tapped it gently.
Crack.
The root split open by itself.
A pale silver liquid flowed out and froze into a crescent-shaped shard.
Liu ng’s eyes widened.
She felt sothing stir in her mind. A door had opened.
Su Bai continued.
One ingredient.
Two ingredients.
Three ingredients.
Each one was treated differently.
So were frozen from the surface. So from the core. So were sealed first, then shattered. So were condensed into thin frost threads before being folded back into themselves.
The process was quiet, but terrifying.
Cold-Forging did not tolerate hesitation. Every movent had to be decisive.
This was not like spiritual fire, where impurities could be burned away.
Su Bai’s forehead slowly ford a bead of sweat.
Liu ng noticed imdiately.
Her heart tightened.
In alchemy, even a single drop of sweat falling into the refinent could ruin the balance of dicinal essence.
She quickly took out a clean handkerchief and carefully stepped closer. Then, she gently wiped the sweat from Su Bai’s forehead.
Su Bai did not react.
His eyes were fixed entirely on the floating essences.
He had no spare attention to thank her.
Liu ng did not mind. In fact, she felt extrely honored. She was assisting Senior Brother Su’s peerless alchemy!
Even wiping sweat felt like participating in a grand Dao.
At that mont, Su Bai’s fingers moved.
The nine essences floating before him began to rotate.
The cold in the room deepened.
Su Bai’s expression beca extrely serious.
This was the true difficulty of the Nine-Severing Frost Pill.
The nine Yin essences could not be rged directly.
They had to be folded into each other in sequence, like forging nine blades into one sheath.
If one blade was crooked, the entire pill would fail.
Su Bai slowly pressed his palms together.
The nine essences trembled.
Then they began to collapse inward.
Crack.
Crack.
Crack.
Tiny sounds echoed through the hut. It sounded like a frozen lake breaking under moonlight.
Liu ng held her breath.
The essences compressed tighter and tighter.
Finally, Su Bai’s eyes narrowed.
"Condense."
The Ashen-Frost Blight Fla suddenly wrapped around the nine essences like a gray cocoon.
For one breath, everything went silent.
Then—
A soft sound rang out.
The fla faded.
Floating above Su Bai’s palm was a single pill.
It was translucent, almost crystal-like, with nine faint frost lines circling inside it like sealed ridians.
It was too beautiful. It looked like sothing a person should admire from far away and never place in their mouth.
Su Bai stared at it. Liu ng stared at it. Neither of them spoke.
After a long mont, Su Bai swallowed.
The Nine-Severing Frost Pill.
It was finished.
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