Boom!
The deafening thunder seemed to still echo in her ears as Mu Yan gradually regained consciousness from her daze.
The burning pain coursing through her body made her unable to suppress a painful groan.
She slowly opened her eyes, only to find herself lying in a narrow, pitch-black enclosed space.
A faint medicinal scent tickled her nostrils.
Where was she?
Mu Yan tried to circulate her internal energy—
As an innate martial artist, she could see even in the darkness.
However, suddenly, a piercing, agonizing pain struck her.
Her meridians felt like they were being torn apart by scorching force, on the verge of breaking at any moment.
"Ah—!"
Mu Yan cried out in pain, collapsing to the ground, her entire body drenched in cold sweat.
What had happened?
She remembered that she had just reached the pinnacle of the innate realm.
Her good friend, Gong Qianxue, had found a body-refining pill for her to help her break through the first realm of cultivation—body refining.
Qianxue accompanied her to Thunderclap Peak, where the heavenly tribulation descended as she circulated her internal energy time and time again.
Mu Yan distinctly remembered enduring eight heavenly thunders.
All she needed to do was withstand the ninth heavenly thunder to advance to the body-refining realm.
But then, she felt a sudden intense pain and passed out.
Could it be that she had failed the tribulation?
Mu Yan was filled with anxiety when suddenly, a glaring light shone from above.
She struggled to open her eyes and, upon seeing the beautiful face that appeared above, she exclaimed in surprise, "Qianxue!"
However, Gong Qianxue did not greet her with a smile as usual. Instead, she looked down at her with disdain.
Mu Yan sensed that something was amiss. She looked around and realized that she was actually inside a pill furnace.
And Gong Qianxue's face was peering in from the hole above the pill furnace.
"Qianxue, what's going on? Did I fail the tribulation, so you're trying to treat me?" Mu Yan asked.
Gong Qianxue was momentarily stunned, then burst into laughter. "Jun Mu Yan, you are even more foolish than a pig! You still think I'm doing this for your own good."
"What do you mean by that?"
"What do I mean? Hehe, do you think I gave you the body-refining pill to help you pass the heavenly tribulation? You fool, let me tell you the truth. While the body-refining pill can indeed assist you in enduring the tribulation, it contains a potent poison. When you experience the nine heavenly thunders and begin refining your body, the poison will take effect."
"Stop joking." Mu Yan struggled to get up, her voice hoarse and urgent. "Qianxue, I know you like to play pranks on me. This is all fake, right? You said I'm your best friend, didn't you?"
"Best friend? You, a lowly woman from a lower-class country, think you're worthy?" Gong Qianxue sneered. "Do you think I went to great lengths and used the best elixirs to help you reach the pinnacle of the innate realm because you're my best friend? It's because your body contains a trace of immortal energy, which can only be triggered after experiencing the ninefold heavenly tribulation. Haha, just like you are now, you're already the best material for my alchemy."
"Alchemy material?" Mu Yan felt a chill throughout her body, as if her world was collapsing at that moment.
Since that incident, she had not trusted anyone in the world.
But she had regarded Gong Qianxue as her best friend and family.
For Gong Qianxue, she had studied the art of preparing elixirs and medical skills.
For Gong Qianxue, she had risked her life to enter dangerous secret realms, simply because Gong Qianxue said there was something she wanted inside.
And now, Gong Qianxue was telling her that all of this was a lie!
She had been kind to her only to use her body for alchemy?!
At that moment, a gentle voice came from outside the pill furnace.
"Sister, all the elixirs are ready."
"Thank you, senior brother!" Gong Qianxue's voice immediately changed from sharp and sarcastic to soft and grateful.
Mu Yan saw the face that appeared from the hole above the pill furnace change from Gong Qianxue to a young man.
She knew this man!
He was Gong Qianxue's senior brother at the Heavenly Dao Sect, Jian Feng, a talented alchemist.
Jian Feng threw the elixirs in his hand into the pill furnace and looked at her with a mixture of mockery and pity.
"Sister, will this alchemy process be like the one ten years ago when we refined the immortal fetus? The excessive immortal energy caused an explosion, and in the end, only one-thousandth of the immortal energy could be absorbed and ingested."
"Hehe, don't worry, senior brother. With the experience from last time, it won't fail again. Besides, she's just the mother of the immortal fetus, and the immortal energy and the immortal fetus within her body are incomparable."
Listening to their conversation, Mu Yan's dilated pupils widened little by little.
Immortal fetus, ten years ago, the mother...
No, it couldn't be what she was thinking!
But a voice in her head was screaming at her, telling her—
"Gong Qianxue—!!" Mu Yan suddenly stood up from the pill furnace, struggling frantically to break free. "Gong Qianxue, where did the immortal fetus come from?!"
Gong Qianxue's resentful gaze swept over Mu Yan's exquisite and beautiful face, and her heart was almost overflowing with jealousy.
She couldn't understand how Jun Mu Yan, a lowly woman from a lower-class country, could have conceived an immortal fetus.
The strength of the immortal fetus was so great that it indicated the child's father was an incomparably supreme being.
Why did Jun Mu Yan deserve it?!
But it didn't matter!
Gong Qianxue revealed a malicious smile and whispered in Mu Yan's ear, "The immortal fetus? Of course, it's the one you carried in your belly ten years ago. I accidentally refined it into an elixir. Hahaha!"
Mu Yan listened in a daze, as if the heart-wrenching cries of a child were echoing in her ears.
The excruciating pain pierced through her heart and spread to every meridian in her body.
Her child, the child she thought was killed by despicable relatives, turned out to be murdered by Gong Qianshu!
What followed was a bone-chilling frenzy of hatred: "Gong Qianshu! Gong Qianshu!! I will kill you—! I will tear you into a thousand pieces!!"
"When I refine you into a pill and swallow you, I will attain an immortal body that appears once in a thousand years. If you want to kill me, do it in your next life! Hahaha!"
The lid of the pill furnace was closed, and a raging fire ignited below.
Gong Qianshu looked expectantly at Jianfeng, "Senior Brother, please help me!"
"Don't worry, Junior Sister," Jianfeng's deep affection flashed in his eyes and disappeared, "I will make sure your wish comes true."
Just then, a loud "bang" came from the pill furnace.
Gong Qianshu let out a scream, feeling intense pain all over her body as she was thrown out heavily.
Vaguely, she seemed to hear Muyan's desperate and frenzied shout, "Gong Qianshu, even if you turn into a vengeful ghost, I will never let you go!!"
The fire burst, and the entire pill refining room shook violently a few times before collapsing completely.
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Author's note:
Girls, please don't be deceived by the tragic beginning. This story belongs to the genre of joyful face-slapping and scum-abusing. Joyful, joyful, it's important to say it three times. Just keep reading, and you'll see. Kisses~~~