Chapter 3489 — The Divine Pill-Refining Artifact

Wei Zhao had not expected Bingtang to break through in such a short span of time. That meant she had successfully comprehended the inheritance, and since she had already touched the barrier of Great Perfection beforehand, the moment the inheritance concluded, she had simply broken through of its own accord.

As for Bingtang, when she saw the six Ice Heart Jade Bone Pills in Wei Zhao's hand, she was astonished beyond measure. She had been meaning to show off to him how formidable she was—to have broken through to Great Perfection so quickly, to have caught up with him at last!

But at the sight of those six pills in Wei Zhao's palm, Bingtang was struck by a sudden sense of defeat. This Wei Zhao was nothing short of a monster! Refining six pills in such a brief time—what kind of speed was that?

"Wah wah wah? Sister Bingtang, Hubby Wei Zhao, you two are so in sync! Could there be something scandalous going on between you?" Feng Xiaoxiao's eyes went wide as she blurted it out.

"Mm. Once I return from Cloud Step Island, I'll be relying on Sister Xiaoxiao to look after her little sister." Bingtang was a clean and decisive sort; though her face flushed as she spoke, she still said exactly what she meant.

"Ah ah ah ah! No way, right? Hubby Wei Zhao, you've already taken Sister Bingtang as your little wife?" Feng Xiaoxiao shrieked in excitement.

Sister Bingtang as his little wife? What sort of address was that? Bingtang's face went dark with exasperation—though to be fair, things really had gotten muddled enough.

"Never mind that. Wei Zhao, how is your pill-refining speed so fast? Don't tell me you refined them in advance just to trick me and make me worship you?" Bingtang truly could not believe it. Fast refining with a low success rate would have been one thing, but Wei Zhao was fast and his success rate was absurdly high—it was downright uncanny!

"Sister Bingtang, Hubby Wei Zhao has no need to deceive you. I watched him refine them with my own eyes just now—and look, the heat and lingering fragrance from the pill refinement are still here!" With that, Feng Xiaoxiao pointed to the spot where Wei Zhao had been refining.

Bingtang was a Heaven-rank expert; how keen were her six senses? She had not noticed earlier because the shock of seeing Wei Zhao the moment she walked in had made her overlook such small details. Now, upon careful inspection, it was indeed so.

Moreover, she did not believe Wei Zhao and Feng Xiaoxiao would lie to her about such a thing. Still, she said, "Wei Zhao, I have some ingredients for Great Return Pills—refine those for me too, will you? Xiaoxiao and I, two young women, are going to take part in the Heaven-rank trials. It's so dangerous—what if something goes wrong? You'd be the one whose heart ached over it. So work a little harder now and refine them for me, all right?"

"Is this your way of testing me?" Wei Zhao smiled bitterly. "Tell me, how many do you want?"

"There are ten portions of ingredients. Refining eight for me will do!" Having said it, Bingtang found it rather amusing herself. For any other alchemist, five would already be impressive; asking Wei Zhao for eight was her being modest!

"Fine, I'll refine ten for you," Wei Zhao said. "Start now? Then you and Xiaoxiao wait outside for me?"

"What for! Xiaoxiao can watch you refine, so why would I be a disturbance?" Bingtang was instantly displeased. She had accepted Wei Zhao in her heart, which meant she now counted him as one of her own—and here he was still guarding against her, which she found deeply irritating.

After all, she assumed Wei Zhao feared she might launch a sneak attack while he was refining. But how could she? Never mind that she and Wei Zhao now shared this teeny-teeny-teeny-tiny little-wife relationship—even without it, she would never do something so ungrateful and treacherous.

"That's not it." Wei Zhao had not expected such a strong reaction from Bingtang. He fell silent for a long while, then looked at her and asked, "Are you serious?"

"What do you think?" Bingtang glared at him. "If you don't believe me, then you can hug me."

Bingtang had grown up inside the Ice Palace. In her mind, even hugging a strange man was already an exceedingly intimate act—which was why she said it.

"Yes, yes! Get together, get together! Hug, hug!" Feng Xiaoxiao cried.

"..." Wei Zhao did not know what to say. But seeing Bingtang standing there perfectly still with her eyes closed, her lashes trembling slightly—clearly nervous—he hesitated. To hug her, or not?

If he did not, would Bingtang be unhappy? She had already been unhappy moments ago, had she not? At that thought, Wei Zhao walked over and gently took Bingtang in his arms.

Bingtang's body went soft at once, melting into Wei Zhao's embrace, her breathing slightly uneven. Clearly, she had never experienced anything like this before.

Perhaps because her heart had been stirred, a deep, chill aura radiated from Bingtang's body—only a constitution like Wei Zhao's, with all seven attributes of the five elements, could withstand it. Anyone else would likely have been unable to bear it! The more moved she became, the colder she grew—if it ever came to the bedroom, would he not freeze into an icicle?

"Xiao Yi, you're here?" Just then, Aunt Qing's voice came from the door of the treasure vault. She had received word earlier that Wei Zhao had arrived, but she had a few things to attend to at the time and had sent Feng Xiaoxiao ahead. Once she finished, she hurried over—only to walk in and see Wei Zhao holding Bingtang, as intimate as could be!

Aunt Qing was taken aback. Bingtang, hearing Aunt Qing's voice, snapped back to herself and instinctively tried to struggle free of Wei Zhao's arms. But on reflection, there was really nothing to it. Within the Ice Palace she was the authority; whatever she did, she simply did.

So Bingtang merely opened her eyes and gave Aunt Qing a slightly embarrassed smile. The two shallow dimples on her cheeks made her look utterly happy in that moment.

"It's nothing. I was just taking a stroll. I'll head back first—carry on, you two." Aunt Qing shook her head with a smile. Her mind really was failing her—Bingtang and Wei Zhao, had they not always been enemies? How had they ended up secretly in each other's arms?

The world of the young—truly beyond comprehension. She was getting old.

Aunt Qing came quickly and left quickly. Bingtang grew a little bashful and pushed Wei Zhao. "Hey, you—refine the pills first!"

"All right." By now Wei Zhao believed Bingtang completely. This Ice girl really did dare to love and dare to hate—it rather surprised him. "Xiaoxiao, shut the door of the treasure vault. Aunt Qing has probably already warned the other disciples, so no one will dare come near, but it's still best to take precautions."

"Mm!" Feng Xiaoxiao nodded and went to close the vault door.

Wei Zhao, meanwhile, took out the automatic Divine Farmer Cauldron that Han Jingyi had given him and set it before him.

"Hm? What's this thing? It looks awfully strange." Bingtang studied the object Wei Zhao had produced.

"A divine pill-refining artifact!" Wei Zhao said. "Hasn't the Ice Palace ever bought the first-rank and second-rank automatic cauldrons I sell?"

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