"It’s just a small injury, nothing serious. I have something to do today, so let’s catch up another time!" Afraid that Ning Xuan was getting annoyed waiting, Chen Nan dismissed Qu Jieyou with a single sentence and led Ning Xuan to the Earth Fire Room he had reserved.

Below was a massive underground cavity, rich with Earth Fire Resources, which attracted many Alchemists and Spirit Controllers with Fire attribute Superpower Bodies to gather in this place!

Aside from the free public areas, the rooms here were also divided into three grades—A, B, and C—based on the quality of the Earth Fire. The one Chen Nan had reserved for Ning Xuan was a Grade A Earth Fire Room.

The moment Ning Xuan entered the Earth Fire Room, she felt her blood surge. ’Perhaps cultivating here could speed up the awakening of my Superpower Body.’

Chen Nan took the Alchemy Furnace, Crystal Bottles for medicine, and various Exotic Plants that Ning Xuan would need out of his Space Button. He arranged everything according to her preferences, only to see that she had already sat down cross-legged. Her hands rested on her knees with her thumb and middle finger forming a strange pose. With her eyes closed, she had entered a state of Cultivation.

Chen Nan didn’t disturb her. He silently pulled out paper, a pen, and his Light Computer from his Space Button and continued copying the family rules the Bai Family had established for their Contractors.

Two hours passed as Ning Xuan meditated. She drew the special energy generated within her body from her blood, circulating it through her meridians and acupoints. The first meridian she wanted to open was the Du Meridian, which runs along the back of the body to the crown of the head. This meridian is responsible for regulating and connecting all the Yang energy in the body. The Du Meridian begins at the Changqiang acupoint near the tailbone, ascends along the midline of the spine through the lumbar and thoracic vertebrae, and reaches the Dazhui acupoint at the nape of the neck. From there, it continues up to the midline of the head, arriving at the Baihui Acupoint on the crown. After passing the crown, it travels forward to the forehead, finally ending near the Yingxiang acupoint by the upper gums.

After two hours of Cultivation, the Changqiang, Yaoyangguan, Mingmen, and other acupoints along the meridian’s path were all lit up. Once these acupoints were lit, any special energy she generated in the future would automatically flow into them.

Ning Xuan noticed that when she first started her Cultivation, the special energy was generated quite quickly. After an hour of meditation, however, the rate slowed down considerably. She pushed on for another hour, but the efficiency only got worse. Feeling exhausted, she decided to stop.

Ning Xuan turned her head and saw Chen Nan dutifully kneeling to one side, copying the Bai Family rules. She hesitated for a moment. ’Honestly, this place Chen Nan chose is excellent. It suits me perfectly. It’s not just helpful for learning Alchemy; by a stroke of luck, it’s also helping my Superpower Body to awaken. I really can benefit from being here.’

Chen Nan sensed it the instant Ning Xuan looked over. He didn’t raise his head, instead focusing on his copying with even greater diligence. He could perceive that her emotions were stable now, and her gaze held a trace of its former warmth. ’It seems my show of weakness and submission is working,’ he thought.

Ning Xuan’s heart had just begun to soften when another thought struck her. ’No, business is business. No matter how perfect this place is for me, it can’t erase the fact that Chen Nan brought me here by force and without my knowledge.’

Hmph. Ning Xuan turned, set up the Alchemy Furnace, and selected the herbs she needed to begin her work. She decided to practice with some Bone Healing Wood first. The energy of the Earth Fire was much more powerful than a normal flame, making Alchemy far more efficient. It only took her half an hour to refine a bottle of Bone Healing Potion.

Next, she was going to attempt a compound medicine. A compound medicine, as the name implied, was a finished formula refined from a mixture of multiple medicinal herbs.

Compound medicines were far more complex than those made from a single ingredient. But Ning Xuan had been a master Alchemist in the past, so she wasn’t afraid of even the most intricate formulas. Still, since she no longer possessed her former power, she chose a relatively simple formula for her experiment.

White Flower Dragon Pattern Grass, which clears heat and fire toxins; Night Ghost Vine, whose medicinal properties are light and diffusive, helping to expel harmful elements; and Tuying Stone, which stabilizes qi and blood. Combined, these three ingredients formed a compound medicine called the Heat Poison Clearing Potion.

First, the juices of the White Flower Dragon Pattern Grass and Night Ghost Vine had to be extracted. Then, the Tuying Stone was to be calcined with Earth Fire until it glowed red-hot. The stone would then be placed in the juice of the White Flower Dragon Pattern Grass until the liquid was fully absorbed, after which it was left to cool. The process was repeated: the Tuying Stone was calcined again until red-hot, then soaked in the Night Ghost Vine juice until it was absorbed, and cooled once more. Finally, the Tuying Stone, now saturated with both medicinal liquids, would be placed in the Alchemy Furnace with water and steamed to produce the Heat Poison Clearing Potion.

This compound medicine used few ingredients and involved simple steps. The main challenge lay in mastering the heat and the fine control of one’s Spirit Manipulation Power!

Ning Xuan followed the instructions from her textbook to refine the Heat Poison Clearing Potion. Perhaps it was due to her powerful Spirit Manipulation Power, or perhaps because she had once been a high-level Alchemist with outstanding control over heat, but she succeeded on her very first try. Ning Xuan gazed at the two-toned medicine in her hand—white on top and black on the bottom—and contentedly swirled the bottle. ’This Earth Fire really is useful.’ The only pity was that the Alchemy Furnace she had brought was of poor quality. It suddenly shattered—giving up the ghost right after she finished refining the Heat Poison Clearing Potion!

She wasn’t worried, though. ’Since there are so many Alchemists here, there must be a place that sells Alchemy Furnaces. And even if not, I could probably find some materials and forge one myself! I should go to the market tomorrow. I don’t just need a new furnace; I should buy some more medicinal herbs as well!’

Between her Cultivation and Alchemy, Ning Xuan had spent a good deal of time today. Although she couldn’t see the sky outside, her stomach was starting to growl. ’It must be getting late,’ she thought. ’I should head back to eat and get some rest!’

Ning Xuan packed up her things and stood. Seeing this, Chen Nan scrambled to his feet as well. But he had been kneeling for so long that a sharp pain shot through his knees, and he collapsed back down with a THUD! Ning Xuan watched his weak display and exaggerated movements, suspecting he was putting on an act.

"Working so hard. How many times have you copied it?" Ning Xuan walked over and took the papers Chen Nan had been writing on to inspect them.

"Three times!" Chen Nan’s handwriting was clean and neat, with every word uniformly sized, almost like a printed font. It was clear his attitude was proper and that he hadn’t been perfunctory.

"It’s well-written," Ning Xuan said. "Have you memorized it all?"

"I’ve memorized part of it!" Chen Nan replied awkwardly. In truth, with the memory of a Spirit Controller, he could have memorized everything after copying it just once or twice if he had put his mind to it. But Chen Nan detested the rules from the bottom of his heart, so he had been subconsciously blocking out the content as he wrote.

"Then you can keep writing tonight," Ning Xuan said with a cold smile. She tucked the papers into her own Space Button and turned to leave.

"Contractor, slow down! Wait for me!" Chen Nan cried, scrambling to catch up. He felt a small sense of relief. ’At least my Contractor is only making me copy the rules and not actually forcing me to abide by them!’