That evening, Yan Yinyue suppressed the urge to go and ask Qi Zhiheng for clarification, and the next morning she couldn't wait to visit him in person.

Qi Zhiheng was somewhat surprised by the visitor's arrival. Seeing that the visitor was not as indifferent as yesterday, he asked with some doubt, "Lord Yan, why are you looking for me so early? Is there something you need to tell me?"

Yan Yinyue didn't beat around the bush and said directly, "Fellow Daoist Qi, I came so early because there are indeed some things I want to ask you."

"Please speak, Lord City Lord." Qi Zhiheng led the people to their seats.

After sitting down, Yan Yinyue composed herself and regained some of her usual calm: "To be frank, may I ask the origin of the pills that Fellow Daoist Qi gifted me yesterday?"

"An eighth-grade pill?" Qi Zhiheng said modestly, "I am not very talented. This pill is something I made in my spare time."

Yan Yinyue was somewhat surprised. He saw that Qi Zhiheng's spiritual power was so profound that he never expected him to be an alchemist. It was a well-known fact among cultivators that alchemists were not strong in martial arts.

Yan Yinyue quickly regained her senses: "I thought Fellow Daoist Qi was very strong, but I didn't expect him to be an eighth-level alchemist!"

Qi Zhiheng smiled and said, "You flatter me, City Lord. May I ask if you require any pills?" He needed to accumulate resources to challenge the city lord, and selling pills was a good way to build up capital.

"Nothing can escape Master Qi's eyes. I really am after the pills." Yan Yinyue smiled faintly.

Qi Zhiheng: "What kind of pills does Lord Yan want? I wonder if I have any on hand."

Yan Yinyue hesitated for a moment and said, "Master Qi, what I need is a top-grade eighth-level pill. I wonder if Master Qi is confident in its ability to produce one?"

"I am confident, but it depends on what kind of pill it is." Qi Zhiheng actually felt that as long as it was an eighth-grade pill, he was confident that he could refine a top-grade pill. However, if he said this out loud, it would be suspected of being blindly arrogant.

There are four types of elixirs needed for Yan Yinyue.

The first type is the Eighth-Level Meridian Continuation Pill, which Wei Yong uses to repair damaged meridians.

The second type, the eighth-level Replenishing Pill, is used to repair damaged dantian.

The third type is the Level 8 Limb Regeneration Pill, which can regenerate severed limbs and repair external injuries.

The fourth type is the eighth-level Pox-Breaking Pill, which can cure most poisons in the world.

Qi Zhiheng was somewhat surprised, since Yan Yinyue didn't seem to have any symptoms of poisoning, severed limbs, damaged dantian, or broken meridians. He had assumed Yan Yinyue would trade him for pills to enhance her cultivation.

Qi Zhiheng could refine pills, but he didn't have any spiritual herbs. Yan Yinyue had already prepared very thoroughly and collected many materials long ago.

Qi Zhiheng accepted the materials for the four types of pills in thirty portions.

Normally, the higher the grade of the elixir, the lower the probability of successful refining; even a different alchemist might not be able to succeed.

However, Yan Yinyue had a backup plan. He wasn't sure if Qi Zhiheng could really refine the eighth-grade top-quality pill he needed. If he failed, he would have a way out and find someone else to refine it.

Yan Yinyue promised that if Qi Zhiheng could refine the pills she needed, she would provide him with other resources afterward. She even offered him a list of cities in the city exchange program.

Qi Zhiheng was fairly satisfied with his offer. Resources were secondary; what he really needed was that information.

After exchanging detailed transaction information, he returned to his residence with the spiritual herbs given to him by Yan Yinyue.

Yang Yitian leaned closer and asked, "What do you think the city chief needs all these pills for?"

Qi Zhiheng was nurturing the spiritual herbs, his hands still moving. He shook his head and said, "Perhaps it was one of the city lord's friends who suffered these injuries. Since the city lord didn't say, I shouldn't ask. Anyway, I'm just a businessman."

Qi Zhiheng quickly refined a batch of Breaking Calamity Pills, producing a batch of top-grade pills.

In the following days, he refined the remaining three types of pills. He then carefully stored away the remaining spiritual herbs.

However, it's a bit too fast that the pill was refined so quickly. He should wait at least half a month before he can leave.

Taking advantage of this time, Qi Zhiheng planned to go out and investigate other cities. The thought that if he attacked Houtu City, he could get half of the resources given by Yan Yinyue was quite attractive. However, he still wanted to find out more detailed information about Houtu City, wondering if it was really as Yan Yinyue said.

Qi Zhiheng used his seclusion as an excuse to refuse visitors.

Then, he and Yang Yitian took the Concealment Pill, affixed invisibility talismans, and left the city.

After leaving the city, the two boarded a flying spirit boat and took out the map they had acquired during this time.

Qi Zhiheng first found the nearest city, stopped there, changed his appearance, found a place to buy and sell information, bought information about various cities, and then bought detailed information about Houtu City.

Detailed information was too expensive, so Qi Zhiheng only bought the general information. He bought the information about Houtu City in order to understand it better.

This document outlines the strengths and weaknesses of these cities and identifies eight of the easiest to capture. Houtu City is one of them.

However, he cannot regard information obtained from a source of buying information as completely reliable information.

After buying a set of materials, he and Qi Zhiheng went to several cities to buy more information. They pieced together all the information, selecting those with similar descriptions and temporarily filtering out the different ones.

Afterwards, the two quietly returned to Yan Qingcheng.

Qi Zhiheng still needs to rely on Yan Yinyue for the time being, because he learned from the information that the city lord of Shuangyuan City was the one who recommended Houtu City to participate in the city capture war.

According to the information, in order to participate in the battle for a city, one must be recommended by a city lord, and each city lord has one recommendation slot.

This information differs slightly from the information provided by Yan Yinyue. In Yan Yinyue's description, Hou Tu City is extremely easy to conquer, but this information also states that Hou Tu City and Shuang Yuan City have certain trade relations. In other words, Hou Tu City is not solely supported by one city lord, but also receives support from Shuang Yuan City.

Both documents mention Chi Qing, describing him as a treacherous and ruthless individual with exceptional patience. He had remained hidden for many years under the control of the former Lord of Houtu City without ever revealing his true identity.

The original lord of Houtu City treated Chi Qing well, regarding him as a loyal subordinate. However, Chi Qing poisoned him before the city exchange meeting even began. After the original lord won a battle and was poisoned, Chi Qing immediately challenged him, severely injuring him during the challenge. Chi Qing not only severed one of the lord's arms and legs but also shattered his dantian and meridians, demonstrating extremely ruthless methods.

After returning to the city, he killed or crippled the cultivators who were loyal to the original city lord! Fortunately, he could not fight against too many people by himself, and most of them escaped, taking their seriously injured city lord with them.

Upon seeing this, Qi Zhiheng had some thoughts: "Look here, poisoning, severed limbs, broken meridians, shattered dantian? Doesn't this look familiar?"

Yang Yitian also realized something: "Isn't this the pill that Yan Yinyue asked you to refine?"

“Yes.” Qi Zhiheng stared at the information: “Perhaps Yan Yinyue’s seriously injured friend was the former city lord of Houtu City.”

If the current city lord of Houtu City had done this to Yan Yinyue's friend, then it would make sense. Why would Yan Yinyue be so eager for Chi to fall from power?

Just as the two were studying, Xiong Shuang touched the barrier outside the door, and his voice came in: "Senior Qi, City Lord Yan has come with someone to inquire about the progress of the pills. How should we respond?"

Qi Zhiheng calculated the days; more than half a month had passed since he obtained the spiritual materials, and it was time to hand over the pills.

Seeing that there was no movement inside, Xiong Shuang wanted to ask another question, but just as she was about to speak, she saw the door open inside.

Qi Zhiheng and another person came out from inside: "There's no need to restore it. I'll go and talk to the city lord about the situation."

Qi Zhiheng asked Guang Cheng, who had come to ask questions, to take him to the Palace Master. Guang Cheng naturally agreed, and after sending a message back to Yan Yinyue, he led Qi Zhiheng to the courtyard of the Palace Master Yan Yinyue.

Yan Yinyue was a little anxious and stepped forward to ask, "Master Qi, is there any progress in the alchemy class?"

Qi Zhiheng took out four medicine bottles: "I have fulfilled my mission."

Yan Yinyue was somewhat surprised and asked in a daze, "Master Qi, have you already refined them all?"

"Please take a look, City Lord." Qi Zhiheng handed the pill forward again.

After realizing what was happening, Yan Yinyue immediately took the pills and examined them one by one.

Qi Zhiheng waited quietly for him to examine the pills.

After Yan Yinyue confirmed that these pills were indeed top-grade level eight pills, she revealed an incredulous expression: "Alchemist Qi is indeed a genius in the alchemy world! He actually refined level eight top-grade pills in such a short time! And four top-grade pills at that! I suppose there are no more than five alchemists in the Central Continent who can compare to Alchemist Qi." The city lord even suspected that Qi Zhiheng might have originally possessed these pills and simply taken them out casually. But then he thought it was unlikely, as these were not ordinary pills, and under normal circumstances, no one would carry them with them.

Qi Zhiheng thought to himself, "What's this? He spent just a few days refining four batches of top-grade level eight pills!" It wasn't that Qi Zhiheng was bragging; even before he went out to explore, he knew that not many people could refine top-grade pills as easily as he could. But on the surface, he still maintained a dignified demeanor and said, "City Lord, you flatter me."

Yan Yinyue looked delighted. Upon seeing this, Qi Zhiheng thought of the former city lord of Houtu City and asked, "If City Lord Yan needs anything, I can take a look at the patient and refine some restorative pills." Qi Zhiheng knew that the other party needed top-grade pills, so the injury must be quite serious. Even if the patient took the pills, they might not recover in a short time, hence his suggestion.

Yan Yinyue refused Qi Zhiheng's offer, presumably because she did not yet fully trust him.

Qi Zhiheng did not force him.