Before dawn, the darkest time of day, but also the crucial moment when light reemerges.

But to behold a figure radiating light, sitting cross-legged in the vast plain.

Ye Lingyue was holding the Jade Carving of the Chaos Cultivation Yuan Technique she had just received.

After examining it, Ye Lingyue had thoroughly memorized the cultivation technique created by the Ancestor of Chaos and gained a certain understanding of him.

The Ancestor of Chaos was the founding ancestor of the Hunyuan Sect, something Ye Lingyue discovered from the Jade Carving of the Chaos Cultivation Yuan Technique.

When she discovered this, Ye Lingyue felt somewhat astonished.

The cultivation technique left behind by the founding ancestor should be highly esteemed; however, it had somehow fallen into the hands of a nominal disciple. It seems that the Chaos Cultivation Yuan Technique must be exceedingly difficult to master, to have become superfluous within a great sect like the Hunyuan Sect.

In a secluded part of the Xixia Plain, Ye Lingyue was suspended in midair.

It was around dawn, when day and night intersect, also the time when Evil Qi and Gang Qi are most abundant between heaven and earth.

Ordinary martial artists would choose to practice at this hour, allowing their bodies and Dantian to absorb the Heaven and Earth Elemental Power.

Ever since Ye Lingyue became a martial artist, she would sit in meditation without fail at this hour.

Bathing in darkness, her body transformed by Qian Cauldron's Breath, naturally absorbed the Heaven and Earth Yuan Qi with doubled efficiency.

But carefully inspecting the Primordial Qi within her Dantian, Ye Lingyue felt very disappointed.

"Indeed, only a mixture of turbid Gang Qi and Evil Qi enters the body; there's simply no way to absorb the so-called pure and primeval Gang and Evil Qi." After meditating for half an hour and looking at her murky Dantian, Ye Lingyue's face was filled with despondency.

Suddenly, Ye Lingyue remembered something.

The Qian Cauldron could purify; what if she used it to extract Primordial Qi from heaven and earth, and separate it into Gang and Evil Qi?

She had used the Qian Cauldron to purify Xuantie and also medicinal ingredients, but never to purify the Primordial Qi from heaven and earth.

Thinking of this, Ye Lingyue immediately controlled the Qian Cauldron to absorb the Primordial Qi from heaven and earth.

The turbid Primordial Power entered the Qian Cauldron Power, and the white Cauldron Breath churned, purifying bit by bit according to Ye Lingyue's will.

Gradually, the originally murky Heaven and Earth Yuan Qi settled down into two layers.

The upper layer, with a faint golden luster, was Gang Qi, while the lower layer that shimmered with a ghostly black light was Evil Qi.

As the purification process deepened, Ye Lingyue noticed that the Gang Qi and Evil Qi were slowly compressed into golden and black droplets.

The droplets suspended next to Ye Lingyue rapidly penetrated her skin and meridians.

When the black droplets entered her body, Ye Lingyue felt a bone-chilling coldness, while the entry of the golden droplets made her feel a burning heat.

This weird sensation of both ice and fire made Ye Lingyue feel as though her entire body was going to split in two.

From her limbs and bones, a white mist emerged, making her appear as though she was about to transform and ascend to immortality.

Until the first ray of morning sunlight broke through the pre-dawn darkness, Ye Lingyue let out a long howl.

"Truly exhilarating!"

Upon examining her Dantian again, she was surprised to find that her Dantian had disappeared.

At the original location of the Dantian, there now existed a vortex of alternating black and gold.

"What is going on?" Ye Lingyue was puzzled – how could her Dantian have suddenly turned into a cyclone of Qi?

Seeing that time was almost up, Ye Lingyue decided to not dwell on it and returned to Dan City first.

She had no intention of revealing her acquisition of the Chaos Cultivation Yuan Technique to anyone for the time being.

News of the ejection of over a dozen Alchemists, who tattled, from Dan City spread, silencing the voices within the Alchemist Mansion that were previously opposing Ye Lingyue.

Not many days later, Alchemist Mei replied with a letter, which arrived along with Vice Manager Cui.

Vice Manager Cui, truly an old hand of the Imperial Hospital, began implementing sweeping reforms upon her arrival at the Alchemist Mansion. In just half a month, the appearance of the Alchemist Mansion had drastically changed, having been organized into proper order and quickly stepping onto the right track.

Although more than a dozen Alchemists had suddenly been removed, due to the elongation of alchemy time and the emergence of the Alchemy List, the number of Elixir Pills refined within the Alchemist Mansion had significantly increased compared to the era of Wang Zhangding.

However, at that point, an incident that deeply shocked everyone in the Alchemist Mansion occurred.

It was approximately one month after Ye Lingyue's arrival in Dan City, on a certain morning.

The city gates had just opened, the sun had not yet risen, and the entire street was still bathed in a milky mist.

From afar, a faint sound of weeping could be heard. Groups of men and women dressed in mourning clothes pushed a wheelbarrow to the front of the Alchemist Mansion.

"Return my husband's life to me."

"The Alchemist Mansion that schemes for wealth and kills."

The doors of the Alchemist Mansion were pounded so vigorously that they resounded with a thud, shaking the whole establishment.

When Ye Lingyue and Vice Manager Cui came out, they saw a group of women and children, along with a few ferocious-looking men, rushing inside. Upon hearing that Ye Lingyue was the Master of the Alchemist Mansion, they immediately surrounded her.

"A life for a life, you murderer."

"Show some respect." With a shock of her spiritual power, Vice Manager Cui forced the commoners to retreat several steps.

"Let's talk this over calmly. Auntie, what exactly happened?" Ye Lingyue signaled Vice Manager Cui to stay calm as she approached and supported the woman who was nearly crying herself to fainting, asking for an explanation.

They were all commoners without the power to truss a chicken. If they were truly hurt, the news would spread and only bring harm to the Alchemist Mansion.

Lifting her head, the woman saw the questioner was a girl around fourteen or fifteen years old.

With delicate features and sincerity in her eyes, she started to speak amidst sobs.

Only then did Ye Lingyue learn that the woman's name was Qiu Liuniang. She lived in Dan City and just a few days ago, her husband encountered an attack by a Spiritual Beast, sustaining serious injuries.

The Qiu Family was not wealthy and could not afford to hire an Alchemist to treat him, so they bought a healing Elixir Pill from an Alchemist of the Alchemist Mansion.

Little did they know, after consuming the elixir, her husband began to suffer from excruciating pain throughout his body.

By the previous night, before the third watch, he was already breathing more out than in, and by this morning, he had passed away.

"With an elderly nearly eighty years old at home, and a child of three to four years of age, how can I live on without my husband," she lamented sorrowfully.

An Elixir Pill from the Alchemist Mansion had been consumed, leading to death instead of healing?

Only then did Ye Lingyue and Vice Manager Cui understand why the Qiu Family had come to make a scene.

"Liuniang, I will definitely investigate this matter thoroughly. If the Elixir Pills are indeed from the Alchemist Mansion, I will ensure justice for you," Ye Lingyue reassured Qiu Liuniang, then ordered that they be invited into the Alchemist Mansion.

Hearing that an Elixir Pill from the Alchemist Mansion had killed someone, the vicinity of the mansion was surrounded by people early in the morning.

The Alchemists inside all came out as well.