Chapter 338: This Boy Has a Promising Future

"I call this technique the Pill Fusion Technique."

Dan Lingzi set up an ancient, ornate bronze furnace in his shabby little courtyard, which looked completely out of place with the rest of the surroundings.

An alchemical furnace represented the dignity of an alchemist. A true alchemist might live in a hovel and eat simple food, but the furnace must be the best item they own.

Clearly, Dan Lingzi was a dedicated alchemist, even though he only knew how to make Qi-Gathering Pills and Spirit-Concentration Pills.

As he set up the furnace and prepared the materials, his whole demeanor suddenly became solemn. He steadied his gaze and slowly said, "Watch closely, I will only demonstrate this once."

Seeing Dan Lingzi suddenly exuding the air of a master, Chu Liang couldn't help but focus his attention.

Then Dan Lingzi continued, "If I have to do it a second time, you'll have to wait until tomorrow because I won't have enough foundational qi!"

Oh, so that's why. So it's because his cultivation level is too weak. Then you really didn't have to put on this stern expression and act like you are a master.

Dan Lingzi, an unconventional fourth-realm cultivator, couldn't match up to Chu Liang, a prodigy with two ultimate-tier Golden Cores. Even compared to an ordinary cultivator in the Divine Nine and Terrestrial Ten, he was far behind.

Even Lin Bei, Lackey A, and Lackey B from the Mount Shu Sect, who were not considered exceptional, could still thoroughly overpower unconventional cultivators of the same realm.

For Chu Liang, he had almost unlimited qi, recovering to maximum in just a moment. But for these unconventional cultivators, the consumption of qi was a luxury.

Once they exhaust their qi, they would either have to wait for their Sea of Qi to refill slowly or use expensive Qi-Gathering Pills or Spirit-Concentration Pills to recover to full strength.

Their Sea of Qi wasn't very vast to begin with. For Dan Lingzi to wield Xuan Yang Divine Fire, which he shouldn't be able to at this realm, and make a batch of pills, it was normal for him to use up his qi.

Whoosh——

As he spoke, he arranged four pieces of spirit charcoal and performed finger seals. Instantly, a scorching blue-black flame ignited, burning steadily without flickering or making a sound.

Yet Chu Liang sensed a hint of danger from this quiet flame.

In terms of power, Xuan Yang Divine Fire was only slightly inferior to Phoenix Spirit Divine Fire, both containing extremely terrifying energy. Igniting the divine fire was just the beginning; the alchemist had to control the heat throughout the process, which was a very tiring task.

Sizzle!

As soon as the Spirit-Concentration Pill's materials were placed into the furnace, they immediately began to sizzle.

Dan Lingzi explained, "We need to use divine fire of extremely high temperature to refine these materials, so the process requires very careful control. Even a small mistake in the control of heat or strength can ruin everything. For example, look at what I just did; I've just burnt the materials and will need to start over."

Without changing his expression, he wiped the sweat from his brow, cleared the burnt materials from the furnace, and prepared a new set of materials for the Spirit-Concentration Pill.

It seemed his mistake earlier was just a demonstration of a failed attempt for Chu Liang.

Chu Liang then realized why his Spirit-Concentration Pills were so expensive.

The base materials with a bit of fruit might not be worth much, but considering his failure rate, doubling the price seemed quite fair.

"When the pill is about to form, you add the item you want to fuse with it. Right now, I can only add fruits because adding spirit plants would definitely affect the pill's properties, and I dare not try that rashly. You have to be careful and you mustn't simply toss it in."

As Dan Lingzi got into the rhythm of refining, he carefully placed a prepared apple into the furnace.

"With the use of your foundational qi, you will need to create a fire-repelling layer around the item with the right intensity. When the pill is about to form, add the item at just the right moment so its essence and flavor get absorbed by the pill. If you don't control it properly and add it too early or too late, the fruit will just turn into gas and disappear."

After a long while, he finally finished refining a batch of Spirit-Concentration Pills.

Usually, refining a furnace of Spirit-Concentration Pills would yield around twenty or thirty pills. However, due to the precise control required for the Pill Fusion Technique, he was afraid of failing, so he only used enough materials to make fifteen pills.

Seeing Dan Lingzi's joyful expression as he took out the batch of Spirit-Concentration Pills, Chu Liang thought of the one thousand fruit-flavored Spirit-Concentration Pills he had in his storage tool.

If Dan Lingzi could only refine fifteen pills per day, excluding the ones he used, it meant that he had accumulated these thousand pills over a long time.

He had worked hard accumulating a thousand pills for such a long time and wanted to make a small profit while the price of Spirit-Concentration Pills was high in the city. Even so, he was mocked by so many people.

If I hadn't bought the gourds of Spirit-Concentration Pills for two thousand sword coins, how sad Dan Lingzi would have been

, Chu Liang thought.

"Do you understand the technique I just demonstrated?" Dan Lingzi asked.

"Yes, I remember most of the steps," Chu Liang said with a nod. "Let me give it a try."

"Alright, give it a few tries in front of me, and I'll point out any mistakes," Dan Lingzi said, standing aside with his hands behind his back, looking relaxed.

Finally, it was his turn to watch.

He watched as Chu Liang set up the alchemical furnace, ignited the Phoenix Spirit Divine Fire, and placed the materials into the furnace.

With the heat of the Phoenix Spirit Divine Fire, Chu Liang carefully formed the pill. At the precise moment, he placed the fruit into the furnace and immediately performed the Fire-Repelling Seal. The extreme heat of the Phoenix Spirit Divine Fire instantly refined the fire-repelling layer, sealing everything inside perfectly.

Soon, a batch of twenty perfect fruit-flavored Spirit-Concentration Pills emerged from the furnace.

Although it was his first time refining this way, he handled the entire process more effortlessly than Dan Lingzi. His higher cultivation level made controlling the fire easy, making the process look effortless.

𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

Chu Liang took a slight breath and looked at Dan Lingzi. "Esteemed Senior, did I make any mistakes?"

"Uh..." Dan Lingzi's gaze froze momentarily. After clearing his throat, he lifted his head and said, "Not bad. There are no major flaws with your process. I'd say you have about seventy percent of my skill."

Chu Liang went along with the compliment, smiling and saying with a nod, "Having seventy percent of your skill is more than enough for me to navigate the martial world."

Dan Lingzi also smiled.

Deep down, he was reflecting on how the art of alchemy truly depended on talent. Even though he had spent years developing this Pill Fusion Technique, he still performed it nervously and sometimes failed. Yet, this Mount Shu disciple was so proficient on his first try... one really shouldn't compare.

Chu Liang not only demonstrated talent in the art of alchemy but he showed great social skills.

Indeed.

This boy has a promising future.

...

After leaving Dan Lingzi's home, Chu Liang headed to the Pavilion of Celestial Fate. They had arranged for him to meet a cultivator capable of capturing a Human-Faced Xiao.

Chu Liang arrived first, so the Pavilion of Celestial Fate sent a message to the other party and asked Chu Liang to wait in the quiet room.

Before long, someone pushed open the door with a bang.

Chu Liang looked up to see a girl standing at the door. She wore a pale yellow short blouse paired with a green high-waisted dress. She appeared to be about sixteen or seventeen years old, with fair skin and two high ponytails. Her bright, bell-like eyes scanned the room as she stood confidently with her hands on her hips.

Beside her stood a large black dog, its coat gleaming with a deep, uniform blackness. Its pupils were deep ink-black with a subtle hint of gray.

"Are you the one looking for a Human-Faced Xiao?" the girl asked directly. Her voice sounded crisp.

"Yes," Chu Liang answered with a nod.

"One thousand Vermillion-Bird coins, no bargaining!" declared the girl. "If you agree, I'll bring the Human-Faced Xiao to you tomorrow."

Chu Liang recalled that the price for a Human-Faced Xiao in the Hall of Ten Thousand Beasts was only eight hundred Vermillion-Bird coins, which was already a bit overpriced. However, specifying a target for capture was akin to a custom order, so a higher price was reasonable.

So he asked, "Miss, if you can disclose the location of the Human-Faced Xiao and I capture it myself, could the price be reduced?"

"No," the girl replied firmly, shaking her head. "It's a thousand. I will not accept anything less than that."

"In that case, I will still pay you a thousand Vermillion-Bird coins for the location. I will capture it myself," Chu Liang proposed again.

He insisted on capturing it himself, not to save money, but out of concern for any potential accidents during the capture. What if she accidentally killed the Human-Faced Xiao?

A live Human-Faced Xiao was invaluable to Chu Liang, whereas a dead one held no value at all.

"No," the girl reiterated, shaking her head. "I charge for the job, and since I'm taking your thousand coins, I must capture it myself and bring it to you."

Hearing this, Chu Liang could only smile.

She certainly had quite a character.