Inside the Pill Tower of Dading City.

After returning from the Zhan clan, Qin Xin went straight to the alchemy room.

"Teacher, why do those alchemists who enter the palace not want to leave?"

Qin Xin also found this phenomenon very strange.

"These people appear to be under control."

“Spiritual practitioners have complex cultivation methods and different abilities.”

"If it is possible to manipulate people's thoughts, then only those evil spiritual cultivation methods can do it."

"These martial artists are generally also called heretical cultivators."

Danqing described it lightly, but it stirred up waves in Qin Xin's heart. He had seen a few words about the existence of evil cultivators in some ancient books.

"It seems we need to be more careful on our trip to the royal palace of the Great Ding Kingdom."

After Qin Xin murmured softly, a stream of light flashed from his fingertips, and the Black Dragon Pill Furnace appeared in the alchemy room.

After calming his mind and spirit, blue flames slowly rose from the Black Dragon Pill Furnace, and Qin Xin began to refine some pills.

Although the process of refining pills is tedious, as the original energy in the pill is gradually consumed, the restored energy becomes even purer.

The original ten-zhang-sized solid pill is showing signs of gradually shrinking under the refinement process.

However, because Qin Xin possessed three solid pills, his refining speed was much slower than that of ordinary martial artists. But the Yuan energy contained within Qin Xin's inner world was three times stronger than that of ordinary martial artists.

This situation can be described as having both advantages and disadvantages.

Qin Xin only stopped refining the last batch of pills after the sky began to lighten with the first light of dawn.

Zhan Sheng was already waiting in the main hall of the Dan Tower. After Qin Xin came out, the two looked at each other and then headed directly towards the royal palace.

The Royal Palace of Dading City is located in the northern part of the city, surrounded by no residences or buildings, making it appear very spacious.

Before arriving at the palace grounds, Qin Xin sensed something amiss due to his heightened spiritual awareness.

However, because the distance was still quite far, it was impossible to perceive it clearly.

After Zhan Sheng showed the palace guards his family head token, two guards led the way, guiding the two into the palace.

Before they arrived at an extremely large palace, the two guards stopped in their tracks.

"You must leave in three hours."

The two guards did not advance further, but left a message and stood there waiting.

Zhan Sheng had been here several times before and was very familiar with the rules of the palace. After nodding, he led Qin Xin into the palace.

The instant the palace gates opened, a wave of intense heat washed over us.

Qin Xin glanced around and saw that there were more than a dozen alchemists in the hall, and all of them were refining pills.

This reminded Qin Xin of the dozen or so palaces that exuded a fiery aura he had seen along the way when he walked through the palace. He imagined that alchemists were refining pills in those palaces.

What Qin Xin found somewhat strange was that the alchemists in these palaces used very mechanical methods to refine pills, and their eyes were also faintly red.

"Qingqi, Qingyue." Zhan Sheng's soft call interrupted Qin Xin's thoughts.

Looking in the direction of the sound, Zhan Qingqi and Zhan Qingyue appeared pale, seemingly due to excessive consumption of their internal energy.

"Grandpa, you should go back. We won't leave."

Zhan Qingyue's eyes were very cold, and she answered as if it were a machine.

Upon seeing the two women in this state, Danqing, who was inside the mysterious fragment of the map, seemed to sense something, and a somewhat surprised voice echoed in Qin Xin's mind.

"That's right, that's right, these people must have been controlled by the pills!"

Danqing's very certain words made Qin Xin's heart tighten. "Controlled by pills?"

"I have read about this elixir before. It is said that in ancient times, some sects specially researched this kind of elixir that can control the mind in order to control their disciples."

"It seems to be called Soul Control Pill, but it's been so long that I can't quite remember it."

"This elixir should have been lost to time, so how did it end up in the Great Cauldron City of the Eastern Wilderness?"

Danqing also didn't quite understand, after all, the Soul Control Pill involved too many things, and once it appeared, those in power would naturally be restless.

"Is there any way to counteract the effects of this pill?"

Qin Xin asked in his heart.

“There are ways, of course, but you won’t be able to stay here for long,” Danqing replied softly.

"It's okay, I'll figure something out."

Qin Xin had an idea in mind at this moment.

"Are you Qin Xin?" When Zhan Qingqi heard Zhan Sheng say that Qin Xin had come, her beautiful face twisted as if she was struggling.

"Go! Go quickly!" Zhan Qingyue, standing next to Zhan Qingqi, managed to utter two sounds from her throat before her expression returned to its usual blankness.

Qin Xin was also startled by this sudden turn of events.

"Chief Zhan, is there any way for me to stay here as well?"

Qin Xin was also sending a telepathic message to Zhan Sheng at this moment.

When Zhan Sheng heard that Qin Xin wanted to stay, he was a little surprised, but after seeing the certainty in Qin Xin's eyes, he slowly nodded.

After leading Qin Xin out of the palace, Zhan Sheng handed two low-grade spirit stones to the two guards who had led the way.

"The person behind me is the disciple of the Zhan clan with the highest talent in alchemy."

“My two granddaughters are a bit disobedient, and I’m worried that they won’t be able to take good care of themselves, so I’d like to have this child stay here as well. Would you two be so kind as to do me this favor?”

After hearing Zhan Sheng's words, the two guards exchanged a glance, and a smile appeared on their faces.

Most of the alchemists in Dading City have now been brought into the royal palace, making it extremely difficult to recruit more. Now that one has come to them, they naturally won't refuse.

Moreover, the two of them will receive an extra bonus.

"Since it is Chief Zhan's wish, we two will naturally make an exception. You can stay here for now."

After saying that, the two guards took Zhan Sheng away from the palace.

Qin Xin then returned to the palace.

"The new alchemist should swallow this pill."

As soon as Qin Xin entered the palace, an old man with a white beard wearing a black robe handed him a gray pill.

"My Great Cauldron Palace is heavily guarded. This pill is only for marking the presence of a martial artist's aura, so please cooperate, alchemist."

Then the white-bearded old man in the black robe took out a bottle of pills and handed it to the medicine boy behind him, who then distributed all the pills.

All the alchemists, including Zhan Qingqi and Zhan Qingyue, swallowed it without hesitation.

Qin Xin looked at the pill in his hand, feeling conflicted for a moment.

What if he becomes like Zhan Qingqi, Zhan Qingyue, and the others after swallowing this pill?

The white-bearded old man in the black robe saw that Qin Xin was hesitant to swallow the pill in his hand, and his expression slowly turned cold.