"Hah."

That Shen Yi had left in such haste was in fact for a reason.

This round of alchemy had consumed nearly two months, and in that time he had received an unwelcome piece of news.

First, the Nether-Gloom Spider Emperor, drawing on its knowledge of the white horse, had located its hiding place.

Qinghua had volunteered to go and cut it down.

The Spider Emperor had exhausted itself talking her out of it.

"My lord, you must understand what place that white horse guards."

That was the Nanyang Sect's Alchemy Workshop, and within it were stored the most precious pills in all this world.

"Trust me this once — it hasn't gone straight back to the Thousand Demon Den. It's certainly plotting something!"

Everyone now believed it gravely wounded and near death, fled in disgrace. But if it were not so badly hurt as all that, then under these circumstances, there was a great deal it could do.

"Understood."

Shen Yi called Qinghua back and descended in a secluded spot.

He opened the panel.

【Remaining Demon Lifespan: 22,000 years】

The lifespan that had once seemed adequate now felt rather cramped, following his breakthrough.

First, the Dao Palace demanded vast quantities of it; and second, Dragon Leaping the Heavenly Gate was still only at Minor Accomplishment.

To say nothing of a whole spirit-body system leading straight to Return-to-Void, waiting open-mouthed to be fed.

Shen Yi occasionally wondered whether he was rather too strange.

Setting aptitude aside entirely.

What cultivator practiced this many methods at once, and strove to bring every last one of them to Perfection?

Even Nie Jun, whom everyone envied, relied on nothing but a single Purple-Empyrean Divine-Thunder sword-spell and its matching Return-to-Void Dao Palace.

But every time some method or other was what kept him alive—

he instinctively wanted to learn a few more things besides.

Killing a few more demons was troublesome, admittedly — but better than being the one who died.

At the thought, Shen Yi channeled his lifespan and poured it into the Boundless Demon-Sovereign Palace.

【Year 1: You drove the path infant's five…