Two Months

Upon arriving at the Xiao Family marketplace, Yun Shu spent over ten minutes before finally finding that black iron slab. Yao Lao's voice rang out at just the right moment. "Hey! Little Shu, buy that Black Iron Slab. It's good stuff!"

Afterward, Yun Shu spent four hundred Gold Coins to purchase the Black Iron Slab and a Wood-type First-Order Magic Core.

Although he had a large number of Magic Cores on him, he still had to buy this useless thing for the Absorption Palm.

Fortunately, yesterday's Foundation Establishment Spirit Liquid had sold for fifty thousand Gold Coins. Otherwise, Yun Shu would not have had the money to buy it today.

For the time being, Yun Shu did not plan to use those fifty thousand Gold Coins for the Lottery. After all, his daily expenses also required quite a bit of money. Alchemists earned a lot, but they naturally spent a lot too. If he encountered something good again, like today, it would be awkward if he had no money to buy it...

"Brat, you're not going to look around anywhere else? Didn't you say you came here to browse?" Yao Lao asked doubtfully.

"No, Teacher, didn't you say this was a good thing? I'm going back to take a look!" Yun Shu said helplessly as Yao Lao kept chattering in his ear.

"That's true. It seems to contain a Dou Skill. The person who made this thing was likely an alchemist as well, which is why only someone with exceptional Soul Perception can sense it."

"A Dou Skill? What rank is it?" Yun Shu asked curiously.

Yao Lao took the iron slab and turned it over in his hand before saying, "Just like the Dou Skill you cultivate, it's also Mystic Low-Rank!"

"Not bad. I didn't expect to get a Dou Skill for free!" Yun Shu nodded. In truth, he had known all along. If Yao Lao had not been following him, he would have taken this Black Iron Slab long ago and learned it.

"Will you learn the Dou Skill first, or refine medicine first?" Yao Lao asked as he looked at Yun Shu.

"Of course I'm learning this Dou Skill first!" Yun Shu picked up the Black Iron Slab and clamped it between his palms. Then he closed his eyes and extended his Soul Perception into the black iron slab...

"So that's how it works..." After understanding the Dou Skill, Yun Shu opened his eyes. Once the Dou Qi within his body flowed through several specific pathways and acupoints under his control, an extremely powerful suction force suddenly emerged from his palm, pulling over every object in the direction it faced.

"If someone at the Seventh Stage Dou Qi can pull a human body, then as a Two-Star Dou Zhe, pulling in ten or so people shouldn't be a problem for me! I can also use the suction force to pull fixed objects and borrow that force to move..." Yun Shu clapped his hands. This Dou Skill was quite convenient.

After barely mastering the Absorption Palm, Yun Shu stopped cultivating it. This Dou Skill was more for support than combat, so there was no need to spend an entire week practicing it like Heavenly Thunder Break.

"Teacher, let's start refining medicine!" After learning the Absorption Palm, Yun Shu tapped the black Ring of Holding on his hand.

"You learned it that quickly?" Yao Lao asked in surprise. He had thought Yun Shu would need at least one or two hours to learn it, but in just half an hour, Yun Shu had already mastered the Absorption Palm.

"Yeah, this thing should still be usable for learning, so leave it for Xiao Yan!" Yun Shu tossed the Black Iron Slab to Yao Lao. Once the two months were up, he would return the ring to Xiao Yan. Yun Shu wanted backing, but not an old man who watched him all day and left him without any private space.

"Not bad. That Xiao Yan kid needs to cultivate some Dou Skills too!" Yao Lao nodded.

Although he wanted both disciples to develop comprehensively in both Dou Qi and alchemy, Xiao Yan's progress simply could not keep up with Yun Shu's for the time being. Yet he could not just abandon Xiao Yan and take Yun Shu, who already possessed considerable strength, to the Monster Mountain Range.

Thus, during these two months, he could only teach Yun Shu some Alchemy Art.

And just like that, after studying Alchemy Art under Yao Lao for two months, Yun Shu could already use the flames produced by his own Dou Qi to perfectly refine Second-Rank medicinal pills.

In other words, he had truly become a Second-Rank Alchemist. He would no longer need to fail dozens of times in a row before succeeding, as he had when refining the Foundation Establishment Spirit Liquid.

"Old bastard! You can finally get off me now, right?!" On the Xiao Family's Back Mountain, Yun Shu looked at the ring in his hand with a disgusted expression.

"Senior Brother, what are you two..." Xiao Yan stared blankly at Yun Shu as he spoke with Yao Lao. If Xiao Yan had not known that Yun Shu had taken Yao Lao as his master too, he would have thought the two had some kind of grudge.

"Hey! You brat, you don't know how lucky you are! Do you know that your master here is an Eighth-Rank Alchemist?!" Yun Shu and Yao Lao had argued countless times over these past two months. Of course, none of it was serious; at most, they were simply indulging in verbal sparring like this.

"What?! Teacher, you're an Eighth-Rank Alchemist?!" Xiao Yan froze on the spot. An Eighth-Rank Alchemist! What an exalted status that was!

In the original story, Yao Lao had not told Xiao Yan about this early on. But now, because of Yun Shu, Yao Lao had accidentally let it slip.

"Not just an Eighth-Rank Alchemist, but also a shameless old bastard!" Yun Shu said with a dark expression.

He could finally go and do what he should have done two months ago!

"Fine, fine, fine! Your master won't follow you around anymore!" Yao Lao could see that this disciple cared greatly about his privacy. Yun Shu had argued with him over this matter more than once.

Of course, Yao Lao considered that perfectly normal. After all, Yun Shu was young...

"Little Yan, forget that brat. I have something good for you!" Yao Lao took out the Black Iron Slab Yun Shu had tossed to him earlier.

"What is this, Teacher?" Xiao Yan's eyes practically sparkled as he looked at Yao Lao now. An Eighth-Rank Alchemist!

"This is a Mystic Low-Rank Dou Skill that that brat obtained through sheer luck. It's called the Absorption Palm, and I'll teach it to you now!" Yao Lao raised his brows at Yun Shu as if to say, See? You don't appreciate me...

"Alright, you two have fun! I have something to take care of!" Yun Shu waved his hand. He planned to visit Xun Er. Yao Lao had been forcing him to refine medicine all this time, and he had not seen Xun Er in quite a while.

After seeing Xun Er, he would go win over Ya Fei!

"Let him go! That kid has been holding it in for a long time. It's about time he let it out!" Xiao Yan had wanted to ask where Yun Shu was going, but after stopping him, Yao Lao spoke calmly.

"Oh..." Xiao Yan did not press further and prepared to learn this Dou Skill from Yao Lao first.

Over the following period, Yao Lao prepared quite a few Body Tempering Regimens for Xiao Yan, enough for him to "enjoy" for a while.

As for Yun Shu, Yao Lao did not put much effort into improving his strength. After all, he believed Yun Shu's main profession was that of an alchemist, so he had been accompanying Yun Shu in refining medicine.

Once Xiao Yan broke through to become a Dou Zhe, he planned to take both of them out for training. Yun Shu did not have anything urgent, but Xiao Yan had a Three-Year Agreement, and Yao Lao had been there at the time.