Chapter 784: Familiar Presence

Translator: Pika

However, Jiang Luofu quickly snapped out of her daze. Her face blushed. Is this the time to be all melancholic? She quickly sorted out her thoughts and followed them in, for fear that Zu An would encounter danger inside.

Zu An followed Shen Xuzi inside. Even though Shen Xuzi was seated in a wheelchair, it didn’t need to be pushed at all. The wheels spun in it on their own.

Shen Xuzi was initially quite proud,waiting to hear Zu An’s praises about his wheelchair. However, the other party’s expression remained completely normal. He suddenly felt a bit ashamed. Someone who understood the concept of a steam engine was definitely an expert among experts! Why would he be surprised at such a trifling thing?

But there was no way he could have known that Zu An had already seen many electric-powered wheelchairs in his past world, so he was used to it.

Shen Xuzi was still unwilling to accept this, as if he needed to earn back some dignity. As such, he secretly activated a mechanism he was normally quite reluctant to use. Whenever they passed through one door, the next door would open up on their own without the help of any servants.

Shen Xuzi looked at Zu An with a raised chin. This is going to blow your socks off! It’ll cost a dozen more earth grade ki stones to maintain these mechanisms though, sigh… Looks like I’ll be eating dirt again this month.

But who could have expected that Zu An’s expression remained completely unfazed, as if he hadn’t even seen those things happen?

Shen Xuzi was extremely shocked now. With his experience, he obviously knew that this reaction wasn’t faked, but rather that Zu An really didn’t treat it as a big deal. He finally couldn't hold himself back and asked, “Sir Zu, what do you think of my automatic gates?”

Zu An hesitated for a bit. A while later, he said, “Passable.”

Shen Xuzi became unhappy. Were you freaking born with all this knowledge or something? He couldn't stop himself and said, “Judging from Sir Zu’s tone, you seem a bit dissatisfied? There is no harm in speaking up if there are any insufficiencies. I can make some modifications.”

He wanted to test Zu An out a bit. Didn’t Jiang Luofu say that he had read about these things from some ancient books? He didn’t dare let this scare him too badly, or else he would really be made fun of by those other disciples.

When he heard Shen Xuzi speak, Zu An said, “I noticed that you needed to press something before we passed through the door. You could just make a sensor mechanism, so as long as someone approached, it would open up on its own.”

“Sensor mechanism?” Shen Xuzi was stunned. “What’s that?”

“It’s something like an installation that monitors infrared rays,” Zu An said nonchalantly. He examined his surroundings with curiosity. What he cared about more right now was obtaining that pill furnace.

“Infrared rays?” Shen Xuzi discovered that he knew nothing about such terms, but he could roughly guess at their meanings when he heard them. When he researched alchemy, he would occasionally have some related thoughts, but they would always slip away. Only now when they were mentioned by Zu An did he gradually remember them. At the same time, he knew that Zu An was definitely not speaking nonsense.

He no longer felt any more doubt. His eyes instead became filled with zealotry as he followed along. “Sir Zu is truly like a deity! Hearing just a few words from Sir Zu is better than a decade of bitter cultivation!”

Zu An was stunned. It was just a sensor door he often saw at shopping malls. Do you really have to be that excited?

Jiang Luofu was already numb. After seeing how those other disciples had acted, it was already hard for her to be surprised at this scene.

“Fourth senior is too polite.” Zu An said with a smile. “About that pill furnace…”

“Look at this stupid memory of mine.” Shen Xuzi smacked his forehead. “Sir, follow me.” He opened a large door. “These are the best pill furnaces I’ve collected over the years. Sir, if you like any one of them, then just take it. Treat it as a gift for our first meeting.”

A refreshing medicinal fragrance filled Zu An’s senses as soon as the door opened. It wasn’t that pill medicines were being refined inside, but rather the lingering medicinal smell from past refinements. These pill furnaces were clearly all extraordinary goods.

Zu An scanned over them. He discovered that there were all kinds of delicate cupboards inside, and every one of them had different shapes. Inside of them were unique pill furnaces.

Every single pill furnace had a completely different outward style, but there was one common point, which was that their surface seemed to flow with a layer of colors. It was clear that all of them possessed a spiritual nature.

Shen Xuzi stroked his beard and said rather proudly, “These are furnaces that I’ve made or found over the years. All of them are top quality goods.”

Zu An was now truly filled with admiration. “As expected, fourth senior really is the world’s most formidable alchemist! You actually have so many top level pill furnaces.”

Shen Xuzi had heard similar things too many times, yet he had never felt much. But when he heard Zu An say those words, he felt immensely satisfied, as if every single pore on his body were cheering.

I finally managed to get this fella’s praise… It really wasn’t easy… Shen Xuzi suddenly felt like crying. In that instant, he felt as if he returned to the past when he was praised by his teacher for the first time.

He became more and more excited when he thought of that. He quickly introduced the furnaces as if he were showing off treasures. “Sir Zu, these pill furnaces all have their own special functions; let me give you an introduction so you can pick the one you like.”

Zu An’s eyes lit up. “That sounds great; please do so!” He was still just a nobody in the world of pill refinement. It was better to listen to an expert’s opinion here.

Shen Xuzi brought out a round pill furnace from the cabinet next to him. Zu An could smell a relaxing fragrance even from where he was. He couldn't help but say, “This pill furnace seems to have a sort of moderate and gentle feeling.”

Shen Xuzi laughed and said, “Sir Zu has good insight, as expected. This furnace is named the Kindhearted Furnace.”

“Kindhearted Furnace?” Forget about Zu An, even Jiang Luofu was shocked. Why would a pill furnace have such a strange name?

Shen Xuzi explained, “As the name implies, the success rate of refining healing medicines will be increased by fifty percent, but it will never succeed in the refinement of any harmful or dangerous pills. What do you think? Isn’t this furnace kindhearted?”

“It is indeed kindhearted.” Zu An said with a bitter smile. He added inwardly, But my little Xiaoxi is more kind.

“Then does Sir Zu want this furnace?” Shen Xuzi asked.

Zu An was a bit hesitant. In the end, he still shook his head. “Let me take a look at the other ones first.”

Even though this furnace’s effects were good, its uses were too limited. He might have to make some pills for offensive purposes, but this furnace would prevent him from succeeding.

𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

Shen Xuzi chuckled. Young men were usually quite vigorous, so they didn’t like pill furnaces like this without any character. As such, he picked out a pill furnace with clear edges, bearing two sharp ears. “This furnace is called the Devil’s Furnace. It just happens to be the opposite of the Kindhearted Furnace. It won’t succeed in the creation of any healing pills, but the success rate for the creation of offensive medicines will be increased by fifty percent.”

Zu An was speechless. These two were quite the pair! But if I have both, doesn’t that mean that every pill’s success rate can be increased by fifty percent?

As if seeing through his thoughts, Shen Xuzi sighed and said, “Unfortunately, the two are completely incompatible with each other. If you refine one of them, you can’t use the other anymore. That’s also the reason why I’ve never used them all these years.”

Zu An’s expression became strange. “These pill furnaces are quite… stubborn.”

Shen Xuzi picked up another pill furnace. “Let’s take a look at the others. This furnace is named the Heartless Furnace. Unlike the other two furnaces, it doesn't distinguish between good or bad. Regardless of whether you’re making healing medicines or offensive pills, i’is the same, adding a twenty percent boost to the success rate.”

Zu An said with a frown, “Its rate of improvement is a bit low.” The other two each increased the success rate by fifty percent.

Shen Xuzi said, “There has to be give and take; how can there be anything that has the best of both worlds? Furthermore, twenty percent isn’t low. This is the furnace I’ve used for a long time. Over the years, its rate of improvement has brought me considerable benefits.”

Zu An was a bit hesitant. There was no need to doubt Shen Xuzi’s abilities. Since this was the furnace that he had used for a long time, then that meant that this one wasn’t bad.

He was just about to agree when Mi Li suddenly spoke in his ear. “Don’t be in a rush to make a decision yet. I think I sense a familiar feeling. Take a look around for me.”