The First Time-Failure Is Perfectly Normal

Inside the Pill Room.

The firelight from the pill furnace cast a red glow across his cheeks. Lin Chang'an stared solemnly at the furnace, watching each pill gleam with spiritual light, and a smile could not help but curl at his lips.

"Breakthrough Pill. One out of six succeeded—not bad."

As the final pill took shape within the pill furnace, Lin Chang'an finally breathed a sigh of relief, his face full of pride. Though the Mysterious Treasure purified his spiritual power and brought his control over it to the very limit, alchemy was not merely a matter of control.

"It seems my talent for alchemy is fairly good."

Shamelessly pleased with himself, Lin Chang'an grinned. The next moment, he swallowed all six pills, not even sparing the five failed pills.

Once the pills entered his stomach, their potent medicinal power and pill toxins erupted. But in the next instant, the Mysterious Treasure in his sea of consciousness emitted a milky-white radiance, beginning to purify the pill toxins within his body.

At the same time, the immense medicinal power transformed into violent spiritual power, which gradually became docile and gentle beneath that purifying radiance. With a calm expression, Lin Chang'an sat cross-legged where he was and began circulating his cultivation art.

With six Breakthrough Pills, even a pig could break through, let alone Lin Chang'an, whose talent was not bad. Yet he converted all that spiritual power into strengthening his body.

"Ice Muscle Jade Bone Art."

"Though this is not the best body-tempering cultivation art, it is the best one I currently possess! And it can help me hide myself better."

As Lin Chang'an muttered to himself, his cultivation had reached the sixth layer of Qi Condensation. Over the years, he had pocketed so many Spirit Stones and countless pills. In the eyes of outsiders, he had spent them all on his own cultivation—and that was not wrong, except most of them had gone into body tempering.

It was not until dawn that Lin Chang'an opened his eyes, a grave look appearing on his face. "Even six pills were not enough for a breakthrough! Body tempering truly is difficult."

Everyone knew Lin Chang'an cultivated the Ice Muscle Jade Bone Art, but no one would have imagined that he dared continue cultivating it. Once he broke through and mastered the art, yin and yang would be reversed.

Yet with the Mysterious Treasure to rely on, so long as he had enough Spirit Stones, Lin Chang'an dared cultivate any powerful cultivation art in the world, no matter its drawbacks. Others feared going berserk and cultivating themselves into disaster, but he did not. Of course, techniques requiring self-mutilation were another matter.

"One batch of spirit herbs has been wasted just like that."

Rising to his feet and looking at the empty pill furnace, Lin Chang'an patted his shriveled storage pouch with a sigh. He opened the formation and walked outside.

When Lin Chang'an emerged from the Pill Room, his face was as dark as iron. Even from far away, people could see the look that warned strangers to keep their distance and proclaimed his foul mood.

The instant Lin Chang'an came out of the Pill Room, Elder Lu received word.

Listening to the report from below, Elder Lu took a deep breath and said in a deep voice, "I understand. You may leave."

"Yes."

Just as the person who had come to report was about to leave, Elder Lu seemed to think of something and suddenly said, "Oh, right. Select a group of dancing girls and send them over. Tell Chang'an to take it slowly. There is no need to rush."

"Yes." The disciple who had come to report had nothing but boundless envy in his eyes.

Had anyone ever seen someone receive such treatment after failing at alchemy? It was simply inhuman.

Watching the departing figure, Elder Lu could not help sighing. Although he had long known that a pill like the Breakthrough Pill could not possibly succeed on the first attempt, there were exceptions to everything, were there not?

Clearly, Lin Chang'an was not one of those lucky exceptions. His first attempt had failed.

"It is fine. This is only the first time; failure is perfectly normal. This time, I have prepared a full ten batches of spirit herbs. With this boy's talent, so long as he remains in peak condition, he will certainly succeed."

Elder Lu wore a determined expression as he encouraged himself. The main reason was that Lin Chang'an had already proven his talent over the past three years, which was why he dared act like this. After all, expending resources to nurture an alchemist was perfectly normal.

For a talented alchemist like Lin Chang'an, not only could they not get angry when he failed, they had to raise him like a father raising his son, coaxing him so he would not be upset.

Refining high-grade pills placed extraordinarily high demands on an alchemist's essence, energy, and spirit.

"Lin Chang'an! Do not disappoint this old man!" Elder Lu muttered. As long as the Breakthrough Pill succeeded once, the sect's previous investment would begin yielding returns.

Especially now that the Liu Family had run into trouble. It might turn into a major upheaval, and by then the sect might no longer have the spare strength to continue investing in Lin Chang'an.

Two months after the Liu Family's troubles began, there was some unrest. But with the Great Sword Sect joining hands with the various factions, along with the Liu Family decisively cutting off its own arm to save the whole, they ceded most of their assets.

In this place, the Great Sword Sect joining hands with the major factions in such a manner had set a good precedent. The allied factions secretly breathed sighs of relief, and their relationships grew even closer.

Especially under the impetus of the enormous benefits the Liu Family had surrendered, the disturbance began visibly settling down.

Market.

"Big Sister, they are bullying us too much! This was clearly a shop Mother left for us. Since when did it become theirs?"

Outside a stately and grand shop, a girl of fifteen or sixteen in a pink long dress stood with tears glimmering in her eyes, her lips pouting as she spoke aggrievedly. Her elder sister, around twenty years old and dressed in fitted emerald silk clothes, had fury filling her eyes.

"Oh? You really still think you are some young miss of the Liu Family?"

A middle-aged cultivator stared lecherously at the two beauties, one older and one younger, and smiled threateningly. "This was originally our Wang Family's. Back then, your Liu Family was overbearing, marrying a woman from our Wang Family and then seizing our Wang Family's shop. Now the wheel of fortune has turned, and the Liu Family has fallen on hard times!"

"Besides, who is calling the shots in the Liu Family now?" He let out an utterly unrestrained laugh.

"Let's go!" The girl in green coldly dragged her younger sister away and turned to leave.

"Big Sister!" Before leaving, the younger sister gazed reluctantly at the shop their mother had left them.

Patrol Prefecture.

"Junior Brother Lin, how many times has it been?"

Seeing Lin Chang'an lazily reclining in his chair and listening to music, Zhang Qing asked with nervous unease. He had never been this tense before, but he had no choice.

Lin Chang'an merely sighed and shook his head. "Six times. Elder Lu only has four batches of spirit herbs left."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Qing became even more anxious and pained than Lin Chang'an. "Junior Brother, you must properly nourish your essence and conserve your strength. If it truly does not work, I will find you another group of singers another day."

Seeing Zhang Qing clearly anxious yet stubbornly putting on an act of telling him to relax, Lin Chang'an could not help laughing. "Senior Brother, why are you more anxious than I am? This is the Breakthrough Pill, not Bigu Pills. How could it be so easy?"

At Lin Chang'an's casual tone, Zhang Qing gave a bitter smile. "Junior Brother, I already took one Breakthrough Pill back then. I was young and hot-blooded at the time and did not take it seriously at all, wasting a pill for nothing."

"Within the sect, pills like these are treated as treasures. One can only exchange for them after rendering great merit." Zhang Qing's face was full of regret as he spoke.

"Senior Brother is counting entirely on you." Clearly, Zhang Qing had placed all his hopes on Lin Chang'an.

"Junior Brother, if you can refine it, I will pay this amount!" Zhang Qing gritted his teeth, a resolute expression appearing on his face as he extended his thumb and forefinger.

Eight hundred Spirit Stones! That was enough to buy a top-grade dharma artifact.

"Senior Brother, I will do my best!"

Seeing Lin Chang'an's promise, Zhang Qing secretly used the Voice Transmission Technique to say in a deep voice, "Junior Brother, with the Liu Family in trouble, the Beast Taming Zhou Family certainly will not just stand by and watch. At a time like this, the Breakthrough Pill concerns both our futures!"

Before Lin Chang'an could react, Zhang Qing was already wearing a hearty smile, with not the slightest trace of the urgency he had shown in private.

"Oh, right, Junior Brother. The Liu Family's assets in the Market have more or less been settled lately, but quite a few people are still causing trouble. Elder Lu personally said that although the Liu Family has suffered misfortune, they are still allies after all."

Seeing Zhang Qing's instruction, Lin Chang'an nodded casually. "Understood. Senior Brother has worked hard lately."

Yet in the exchange of their gazes, both saw a trace of gravity. The present calm was only the final stabilization. Upheaval was about to arrive, and both of them were caught within this storm.

Thanks to Fellow Daoist 'Abandoned Flying Sword Recycling Station Assistant' for the 100 coins, and Fellow Daoist 'Under One Punch' for the 100 coins. Thanks to all Fellow Daoists for your support. I asked the editor today, and making it to the second round through follow-up reads will not be a problem. Heh heh.