This wasteful little junior sister!

Fighting those shrimp demons with barely more strength than mortals, she had somehow managed to use up eighty percent of the poison powder he’d prepared for her…

That amount would have been enough to take down an army of a hundred thousand in the mortal realm!

Looking at the thirteen nearly empty storage artifacts laid before him, Li Changshou’s forehead was covered in black lines as he groaned, seemingly brewing a storm.

Lan Ling’e knelt on the meditation cushion before him, tears hanging at the corners of her eyes, attempting to escape her senior brother’s righteous punishment with a pitiful demeanor.

Li Changshou’s mouth twitched as he held up a pouch and asked: “Did you go kill some great demon of the Eastern Sea?”

“Well, Senior Brother said… to use this when in danger…

I almost got cut by those shrimp soldiers, and instinctively scattered it!”

Li Changshou’s face darkened, “As I recall, I prepared nine jars of this for you, right?”

“I almost got cut many times…”

Lan Ling’e’s small mouth turned down, on the verge of tears, explaining pitifully: “Don’t be angry, Senior Brother. I know you spend a lot of effort refining these things, and I didn’t waste them on purpose.”

Seeing his junior sister in such a state, Li Changshou couldn’t truly get angry, only sighing: “The effort is a minor matter, it’s just that the materials are hard to find.

Very few people in our Path to Immortality Sect refine poison pills. These were all exchanged bit by bit with my monthly allowance.”

“Senior Brother, I thought about that.”

Lan Ling’e blinked, lightly patting the sash at her slender waist, and took out seven or eight simple storage artifacts.

“So I exchanged all the rewards I could get this time for poisonous herbs and drugs available within the sect!

This wasn’t a loss, we might even profit a lot!”

Li Changshou didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, looking into Lan Ling’e’s jewel-like eyes, seeing in their depths some… evasiveness.

This little girl…

“Is there anything else you need to confess? Say it all now, while your brother is still in a decent mood.”

Lan Ling’e took a breath, suddenly raising both hands, then forcefully bowing down, her forehead and palms touching the ground simultaneously, her long hair falling around her head.

A full kowtow in apology!

She squeezed her eyes shut and blurted out in one breath:

“Senior Brother! Ling’e is so sorry!

Two Senior Uncles in the sect were interested in your refined poison powder, and they took several jars of the most potent poison from me!

I didn’t know how to refuse, and I accidentally revealed that your poison-refining skills are extremely high!”

The room suddenly became so quiet you could hear a pin drop;

Lan Ling’e’s shoulders trembled slightly.

She wasn’t afraid of her senior brother hitting or scolding her—she even wished he would beat her to vent his anger.

She had been taught by her senior brother and understood his principles, which was why she was so nervous, worried that he would ‘abandon’ her and distance himself from her.

Why… was it so quiet…

It’s over, Senior Brother must be completely disappointed in her!

Ah, Ling’e, Ling’e, how did you lose yourself so completely once you went out, unable to resist showing off in front of others, resulting in being noticed by the sect elders…

Nobody in the world probably understood Senior Brother’s temperament better than his junior sister.

He would hide ninety points out of a hundred as trump cards, keeping a low profile in everything, absolutely avoiding any unnecessary karmic connections;

She only received Senior Brother’s care purely because she was his only direct junior sister, sharing the same master—otherwise, he wouldn’t have given her even a single glance!

Ling’e said with a sob: “Senior Brother, you can beat me if you want, just please don’t ignore me in the future…

I know I was wrong, I’ll never show off these things carelessly again!”

Feeling a large hand reach out from in front, Lan Ling’e instinctively squeezed her eyes shut.

Since entering the sect now, was she about to experience her first physical punishment, getting beaten by Senior Brother?

Being beaten would be fine, at least Senior Brother would punish her in this way…

That hand that had combed through three thousand strands of azure hair came down straight, but instead of striking hard, it curved and pinched her ear, shaking it left and right.

“Mmm, Senior Brother, be gentle… it hurts… my ear’s going to fall off…”

“Don’t use that tone, if Master hears it, he’ll think I did something to you.”

Li Changshou released the small ear and said calmly: “Get up, this isn’t such a big deal.”

Lan Ling’e immediately sat up straight, her graceful figure evident in this bow and rise.

She looked at her senior brother puzzledly, asking softly, “Senior Brother, you’re not going to hide anymore? Are you going to be open with the sect?”

“Open about what? What is there to be open about?”

Li Changshou was somewhat between laughing and crying, “Don’t you think I know your personality?

When I gave you these poison powders for protection, I had already anticipated what kind of commotion you would cause. I deliberately let you reveal these things, there were several other considerations.

Come back and sit down.

Among the two elders who took poison powder from you, was there a Senior Uncle Wan Lin Yun from Pill Cauldron Peak?

This elder has an ailment in his left leg, leans on a copper-skinned cane, looks somewhat cold, but when speaking to people, always puts on a stiff smile.”

Deliberately let her reveal them?

Several considerations?

Lan Ling’e was stunned, “How do you know, Senior Brother? It was indeed that elder, but didn’t you just return tonight?

The first to take poison powder was Elder Ge who presided over the training conference, then the day before yesterday at noon, that uncle with the cane came, gave me lots of medicinal herbs, and took those…”

“Senior Brother!” Lan Ling’e quickly realized something, looking at Li Changshou’s deep eyes, she said through gritted teeth: “You planned all this!”

“How can we call it planning between senior and junior siblings? This is benevolent protection—knowing too much increases your mental burden.”

Li Changshou calmly waved his hand, smiling: “Those poison powders I gave you all focused on the combination of various herbs and toxicology, without any high-difficulty refining techniques. It’s not a problem if people notice them.

The formulas are in the outer hall of the Dao Collection that all peak disciples can access, and the herbs can all be exchanged for at the Hundred Mortals Hall.

Currently in our sect, or rather in the cultivation sects of the Five Continents, most look down upon the word ‘poison’, considering it an inglorious method, and those skilled in poisons often face ostracism and prejudice.

So, even if people discover I can refine poisons and are quite skilled at it, it’s nothing special. Not only will it not attract too much attention from others, but they’ll also think that I, a disciple of ordinary talent, have taken a wrong path.”

Pausing briefly, Li Changshou’s lips showed a slightly meaningful smile.

“Moreover, among the poison powders I gave you, several types of rare poisons came from a poison manual I copied in the Dao Collection Hall, and that manual’s author is Elder Wan Lin Yun.

He should be the elder with the deepest understanding of the Dao of Poison in our Path to Immortality Sect.

If we can use this opportunity to form a good karmic connection with this elder, we might receive his guidance in poison refining in the future.”

“Senior Brother,” Lan Ling’e complained with some dissatisfaction, “Do you have to calculate even me into your plans!

If it was something like this, couldn’t you have just told me directly?

To arrange even such a gentle and cute junior sister… it’s really… too much…”

Li Changshou glanced at her, “Don’t change the subject, we’re discussing your waste of poison pills now.

You need some hardship to learn your lesson.

Tomorrow you’re punished to go to the back mountain to cut wood and clear land, without using spiritual arts or power.”

“Cutting wood is nothing special,” Lan Ling’e responded with lowered eyes, her pretty face written with the word ‘compliance’.

She couldn’t help but ask, “What are we clearing land for?”

“To build an alchemy room for refining pills and poisons.

This time, using your hand to let the sect’s management know I’m skilled in poison refining, I can naturally tinker with these things on our Little Jade Peak in the future, without having to play hide and seek every time.”

After speaking, Li Changshou stood up, collected all the medicine pouches on the table, and stretched, “After I finish meditation at noon, I’ll go look for a suitable location to build the alchemy room.”

“Senior Brother, you’re just trying to be lazy, how can you make such a delicate junior sister go cut wood!”

Lan Ling’e made a face at his back, complaining with some dissatisfaction.

“This is for you, delicate cultivator.”

Already at the door, Li Changshou suddenly remembered something, casually taking out a jade box from his sleeve and tossing it to his junior sister.

“A gift?”

Lan Ling’e instantly forgot her previous gloom, happily hugging the jade box.

Just as she was about to open it, she seemed to think of something, using spiritual power to float the box away to a distance of ten feet before opening it remotely.

A faint fresh fragrance wafted over—inside the jade box lay a small white six-petaled flower.

A medicinal herb, and here she thought it would be jewelry or something.

Just as Lan Ling’e was about to complain, Li Changshou had already left the room, leaving only his slightly tired voice within the formation:

“Put it in warm water before your next bath, it will help expand your meridians, detoxify, and nourish your appearance, making your skin more radiant.

See you tomorrow.”

“Alright, thank you Senior Brother, see you tomorrow…”

Whoosh—

Lan Ling’e let out a long breath, collapsed into the round chair, then smiled triumphantly.

Safely passed!

Senior Brother still doted on her after all. She had thought wasting so much poison powder would at least earn her a good scolding, but he only twisted her ear a bit.

But in this training conference matter, from beginning to end, it seemed she had been thoroughly arranged by Senior Brother.

This did make her a bit unhappy, feeling that Senior Brother still didn’t trust her…

Well, this was just Senior Brother’s nature.

He would burn cut hair to ashes with true fire, completely dissolve trimmed fingernails with poison liquid, and even tie up a deliberately drunk junior sister with immortal-binding rope before tucking her into bed…

Uh, seems like she accidentally revealed something.

Ling’e’s pretty face reddened—that time last year, she wasn’t deliberately drunk!

…

Returning to his grass hut, Li Changshou sat in meditation by his bed, planning the layout of the alchemy room in his mind.

Previously, he had been refining poisons using a small portable medicine cauldron, which could no longer meet his needs; moreover, to refine the Fusion Immortality Pill and stronger poison pills, he needed a larger, better-quality medicine cauldron.

He would build the alchemy room first, then go to the Hundred Mortals Hall to ask some familiar senior uncles and aunts.

Good medicine cauldrons were rare opportunities that couldn’t be sought out, this would depend on luck;

The best would be to find some discarded medicine cauldrons and try to salvage them, see if great effort could produce miracles…

He had been considering the alchemy room matter for thirty to forty years but had always hesitated.

Ordinary was the best camouflage.

From the isolation formation covering their master and disciples’ living area to the formations outside his and his junior sister’s grass huts, to every mountain, water, grass, and tree of Little Jade Peak—everything was ordinary, without any unique features.

But building an alchemy room meant he would necessarily have to make various arrangements inside and outside to prevent others from discovering some of his ‘little tricks’ when refining pills and poisons.

Li Changshou had understood from the very beginning that when he was just starting his cultivation, any deliberate disguise would not fool the observation of those high-level cultivators, and would instead attract their additional attention.

Being noticed by these high-level cultivators wouldn’t necessarily lead to anything good;

Not being noticed by them meant bad things beyond his control were less likely to happen—at least the probability of mishaps would be much lower.

“The alchemy room can’t be too close to the living quarters, to prevent any poison gas leakage…”

Li Changshou muttered, taking out from his bosom a storage artifact specifically for storing books and jade tablets, retrieving a thick stack of parchment.

On them were drawn formation diagrams and building structure plans, each with many traces of repeated revisions, and on the oldest parchments, the drawn marks had become very faint.