Bai Zhi looked at Lu Cheng's sincere smile and felt a chill shoot from the soles of her feet straight to the top of her head.
This villain must be up to something evil!
There must be some shocking conspiracy hidden behind this pill formula!
When her gaze fell on the paper again and she saw the five characters for Nine Revolutions Heart-Cleansing Pill, she thought of the Millennial Dragon Blood Vine in her hand, and the Pill God Sachet rewarded by the system... An incredibly bold idea, uncontrollably, took root in her heart.
That's right!
Why should I help him refine it?
I have the pill formula, the core medicinal ingredients, and a pill refining artifact rewarded by the system!
I can refine it myself!
Use his pill formula, refine the pills, then eat them myself to enhance my strength and better fight against him!
Just as Bai Zhi was in an internal struggle, the familiar system light screen in her mind popped up again.
Ding! Detecting the Heavenly Mandate Great Villain's 'Gift of Pill Formula' action, the system has determined the host faces a major choice. Please make your selection!
Option One: Sternly refuse Lu Cheng's pill formula, tear it up in front of him, and denounce his schemes and tricks. Reward: Title'Stubborn Stone', 100 system points.
Option Two: Accept the pill formula, but give it along with the Millennial Dragon Blood Vine to the Son of Heavenly Mandate, Xiao Fan, let him refine it, offering a borrowed flower to Buddha, hoping that after the Son of Heavenly Mandate rises, he will deal with Lu Cheng. Reward: Skill 'Master of Social Graces', 500 system points.
Option Three: Play along! Gladly accept the pill formula and refine the pills! Use the villain's resources to arm yourself, and ultimately defeat him with his own things! Reward: Special Item 'Pocket Pill Furnace' (can be deployed anywhere for pill refining), 3000 system points!
Bai Zhi's breathing stopped again.
"Defeat him with his own things!"
This sentence perfectly matched Bai Zhi's inner thoughts!
This was the most perfect plan!
How could I, Bai Zhi, bearing the heavy responsibility of correcting the world, be constrained by trivial matters?
As for that Son of Heavenly Mandate, Xiao Fan... Bai Zhi's mind conjured the image of that idiot in Returning Spring Hall who was almost having a brain hemorrhage from anger.
Rely on him?
By the time he rises, the yellow flower vegetables would already be cold!
It's better to rely on oneself than on others!
This world, in the end, still needs me, Bai Zhi, to save it!
At this moment, Bai Zhi constructed a flawless and righteous logical loop for her upcoming actions.
She looked up and snatched the pill formula from Lu Cheng's hand, her eyes filled with the sharpness of 'I've seen through all your schemes'.
Hmph!
She snorted coldly at Lu Cheng, carefully folded the pill formula, and put it into her pocket.
"I've accepted the pill formula."
"But don't think I'll help you!"
"Even if I refine it, I will absolutely not give it to you!"
After speaking, she puffed out her chest, like a little peacock that had achieved a temporary victory, turned, and walked upstairs without looking back.
She needed to go back to her room immediately and thoroughly study this magnificent 'Undercover Pill Refining' plan!
Ding! Congratulations to the host for making the final choice! Special item 'Pocket Pill Furnace' has been issued to your system space!
In the dining room, only Lu Cheng and a group of women exchanging bewildered glances remained.
Lu Cheng looked at Bai Zhi's spirited back, the smile on his lips growing wider.
He picked up his milk and took a small sip.
The fish, not only bit the hook.
It even coated itself in flour, ready to jump into the oil.
How interesting... Bai Zhi returned to her room and immediately locked the door.
She sat cross-legged on the soft carpet, lining up the pill formula, the wooden box containing the dragon blood vine, and the 'Pocket Pill Furnace' and 'Pill God Sachet' that the system had just rewarded her.
She carefully studied the pill formula and found that in addition to the core Millennial Dragon Blood Vine, seven or eight auxiliary medicinal ingredients were also needed.
Although not as rare as the dragon blood vine, each one was still quite valuable.
"No, I can't spend my own money!"
Bai Zhi clenched her fist.
"These should all be paid for by that villain!"
"I should have known not to return the black card to him!"
She decided that starting today, she would work extra hard to 'work' and extract more [Villain Emotional Value] from Lu Cheng, using points to exchange for these medicinal ingredients in the mall!
Or, more directly, make him 'reimburse' her!
Subsequently, the atmosphere of the Lu Family Manor became increasingly bizarre.
Bai Zhi transformed into a'shadow' and 'critic', following Lu Cheng twenty-four hours a day, giving him comprehensive and inescapable 'negative evaluations'.
Lu Cheng was handling official business in the study.
Bai Zhi would pull up a small stool and sit beside him, munching on fruit while criticizing him.
"Look at that face of yours, you don't even blink when you exploit your employees!"
"Every word you sign represents the blood and tears of a family!"
Ding! Villain Emotional Value +50!
Lu Cheng was having afternoon tea in the garden.
Bai Zhi stood opposite him, hands on her hips, speaking righteously.
"You still have the mood to drink tea? Do you know how many people can't even get enough to eat right now?"
"You social parasite! Scum!"
Ding! Villain Emotional Value +30!
Lu Cheng even enjoyed cooperating. He took Bai Zhi to various high-end clubs and luxury stores, deliberately performing some extravagant actions to make her 'disapprove'.
And Bai Zhi cursed even more vigorously.
She felt her emotional value soaring rapidly, getting closer and closer to her goal of buying all the medicinal ingredients, full of drive.
She completely failed to notice the immense pleasure in Lu Cheng's eyes as he looked at her little face, flushed red with 'righteous indignation'.
These emotional values she was 'plucking' were being returned to him in a hundredfold reward, continuously... Meanwhile, in a certain third-rate university in Modu, in a male dormitory.
Xiao Fan's eyes were bloodshot, and his whole being exuded an air of decay and gloom.
He hadn't left his room for several days.
Unable to buy the Millennial Dragon Blood Vine, his mission was completely stuck, and the after-effects of the system's punishment made him suffer immensely.
He was unwilling, and had even secretly gone to some small medicinal ingredient markets, hoping to find substitutes.
As a result, as soon as he mentioned the names of a few rare medicinal ingredients, the shop owners treated him as a troublesome trickster and madman, directly chasing him out with brooms.
"Scram, scram! Poor wretch, don't mess with your grandpa here!"
"Look at you, dressed in rags, do you even deserve to ask about these medicinal ingredients?"
Disdain +100!
Mockery +50!
Disgust +80!
Xiao Fan fled in disarray amidst those gazes filled with disdain and mockery.
Back in the dormitory, he collapsed on the bed, absorbing the negative attribute light spheres he had just picked up one by one.
A twisted sense of pleasure surged from the depths of his soul again, bringing a moment of peace to his body, which trembled with humiliation.
He clenched his fists tightly, his eyes brimming with monstrous hatred.
"Lu Cheng!"
"And that cheap woman who played me!"
"You two just wait! The day I, Xiao Fan, rise, I will make you pay a thousandfold! Ten thousandfold the price for all the humiliation you inflicted on me today!"
On the other side.
Bai Zhi had accumulated a lot of Villain Emotional Value, and she had also tricked Lu Cheng's black card again, using it under the guise of 'work expenses' to buy all the auxiliary medicinal ingredients.
Back in her room, she drew the curtains tightly.
She placed the exquisite 'Pocket Pill Furnace' in the center of the carpet.
She took a deep breath, her eyes sparkling with excitement and anticipation.
Everything was ready!
Her first major pill refining project was about to begin!