Essence Gathering Pills Complete!

The sky was awash with brilliant morning clouds as a new day quietly arrived.

Inside the dormitory, Zhu Ziyang withdrew his Soul Power with a delighted expression and extinguished the flames beneath the pill furnace. Then, unable to wait any longer, he reached out and lifted its lid. The furnace was scorching hot, but Zhu Ziyang did not care in the least. Frost formed over his hand, instantly freezing the pill furnace and causing its temperature to plummet.

Ultimate Ice, Absolute Zero!

The moment the pill furnace opened, a fragrant aroma drifted out and filled the entire dormitory. It immediately invigorated Zhu Ziyang, who had not slept all night, and his eyes brimmed with irrepressible joy.

Pill fragrance!

Zhu Ziyang turned the pill furnace upside down, and one blue-green pill after another, flecked with a little black, poured out and tumbled onto the furnace lid.

Zhu Ziyang's heart swelled with joy. Looking at the dozens of pills, he could not contain his excitement.

"One, two, three... eleven!" Zhu Ziyang counted softly, his voice growing more excited. "There are actually eleven finished pills! With a success rate like this, I really am an alchemy genius! Hahaha!"

This batch of Essence Gathering Pills had produced eleven finished pills and ten ruined pills, a success rate of over fifty percent! For a beginner to achieve over a fifty percent success rate on his very first attempt at alchemy, Zhu Ziyang was not wrong to call himself a genius.

"Haha, let's test the effects first!" Zhu Ziyang stored the eleven Essence Gathering Pills in jade bottles, placed the ten ruined pills at the bottom of the pill furnace as fuel, then took out one Essence Gathering Pill and swallowed it. He immediately sat cross-legged on the bed and began cultivating.

As soon as the pill entered his stomach, Zhu Ziyang felt the Soul Power throughout his body tremble happily. As his Soul Power began to circulate, the ambient energy of heaven and earth was continuously drawn into his body.

He entered a cultivation state at once.

By the time Zhu Ziyang finished cultivating, it was nearly noon. Fortunately, it was a rest day today; otherwise, he certainly would not have escaped punishment for skipping class. Yet he paid no attention to such trivial matters and instead laughed excitedly. He had broken through!

That was right. After taking a single Essence Gathering Pill, he had successfully broken through to Rank 36. Although his Soul Power had already been at its threshold, the Essence Gathering Pill had still contributed greatly. Without its assistance, it would have taken him at least another week to reach Rank 36.

"Very good! These effects are far better than what was recorded in the pill formula! Those high-quality materials weren't wasted after all!" Zhu Ziyang said excitedly. Looking at the remaining materials, he added, "In that case, I'll refine all the remaining materials into Essence Gathering Pills too!"

Creak—

Just as Zhu Ziyang was about to begin refining his second batch of pills, his dormitory door opened, and Jiang Nannan walked in from outside.

"Ah! Brother, you're done cultivating!" Jiang Nannan was pleasantly surprised to see Zhu Ziyang standing before the pill furnace. She quickly walked over and said this.

"It's Nannan. You came at just the right time! Come look at the pills I refined!" Zhu Ziyang was not surprised to see Jiang Nannan, since the key to his dormitory was one he had given her. He spoke as he took out an Essence Gathering Pill and held it before her.

"Is this an Essence Gathering Pill?" Jiang Nannan's eyes lit up at the sight of the blue-green, fragrant pill, seeming to gleam with golden light. "With so many of them, they should sell for quite a lot of money, right?"

Zhu Ziyang had not hidden his plan to make money through alchemy from Jiang Nannan, so she had known of his intentions from the start and had always supported them.

"Of course!" Zhu Ziyang said with a smile.

"That's wonderful!" Jiang Nannan looked delighted. She then placed the lunchbox she had brought on the table and said, "Eat first, Brother."

"Alright." Zhu Ziyang smiled knowingly at the food Jiang Nannan had brought back, then began digging in.

Jiang Nannan sat beside him, quietly watching Zhu Ziyang wolf down his meal, a faintly satisfied smile on her face.

Before long, Zhu Ziyang finished eating. While Jiang Nannan packed up the lunchbox, he took out five Essence Gathering Pills and placed them in a separate new bottle.

"Nannan, these five Essence Gathering Pills are for you." Zhu Ziyang handed them to Jiang Nannan and reminded her, "Remember, the effects of one Essence Gathering Pill last for a week. Take one at a time, one per week. Do not take too many, understand?"

"Mhm, mhm! I understand!" Jiang Nannan did not stand on ceremony. She accepted the Essence Gathering Pills directly and agreed with a smile. Her relationship with Zhu Ziyang had long since ceased to distinguish between yours and mine, so there was naturally no need for empty words of refusal.

"Alright, go back to your dormitory first. I need to continue refining pills," Zhu Ziyang said. "I'll try to make more. Once we've sent some back to Father and Mother, we'll go find a merchant association to sell them."

"Mhm!" Jiang Nannan nodded hopefully, carrying the lunchbox as she said, "Then I'll head back first, Brother. I'll come over again at dinner."

"Go on," Zhu Ziyang said.

One week later.

"Whew, I finally refined all the materials into pills." Zhu Ziyang let out a long breath, a relaxed and pleased smile appearing on his face.

He turned his gaze toward the empty bed in the dormitory. More than twenty jade bottles sat there, all filled with Essence Gathering Pills. Over the course of the week, Zhu Ziyang had refined a total of one hundred and thirty-seven Essence Gathering Pills. Aside from the eleven pills from his first attempt, the fourteen from his second, and the eighteen from his third, every subsequent batch had achieved a one hundred percent success rate.

He separated the one hundred and thirty-seven Essence Gathering Pills, setting aside one hundred to sell while keeping the remaining thirty-seven for cultivation. He planned to send twenty pills to Zhu Changhe and Liang Ying. As for the remaining seventeen, he would arrange them after meeting Xia Yu.

In any case, he would continue refining pills.

With that thought, Zhu Ziyang stored one hundred and twenty pills in his Emerald Jade Bracelet and the other seventeen in Xia Yu's Soul Guidance Ring, then prepared to find Xia Yu.

As it happened, Jiang Nannan arrived at his dormitory just then as well.

"Brother, where are you going?" Jiang Nannan was somewhat surprised to see Zhu Ziyang preparing to leave and asked.

"I'm going to find Brother Yu." Zhu Ziyang smiled and stroked Jiang Nannan's silky hair as he answered.

"Oh, then I'll go with you." As Jiang Nannan spoke, she hurried forward and placed Zhu Ziyang's school uniform on his bed. Then she turned around and affectionately wrapped her arms around Zhu Ziyang's arm.

"Alright," Zhu Ziyang replied.

The two headed toward the teaching building.

Freshman Teaching Building, teachers' office.

"...These are the pills you refined?" Xia Yu pinched an Essence Gathering Pill between his fingers, his expression rather varied with surprise, astonishment, and delight. "You little brat, you've truly opened my eyes!"

"Hehe!" Zhu Ziyang wore a smug smile as he said, "Naturally."

"From what I can tell, these Essence Gathering Pills should increase Soul Power cultivation efficiency. As for their quality, they should be low-grade pills, am I right?" Xia Yu examined the Essence Gathering Pill in his hand and gave it a sniff, then deduced both its effects and quality.

"That's right, Brother Yu. You have a keen eye!" Zhu Ziyang was not surprised at all and answered without hiding anything. "In your opinion, Brother Yu, how valuable are these Essence Gathering Pills?"

"Oh?" Xia Yu raised a brow and thought carefully before saying, "I'm not a professional appraiser, but judging by the effects of these Essence Gathering Pills, they far surpass other pills of the same type and quality on the market. Moreover, they are pills that have been lost for a long time. As for the price, I'd say at least thirty thousand Gold Soul Coins each!"

"Really?" Zhu Ziyang's eyes lit up at once, and he immediately beamed with joy.

"Actually..." Seeing this, Xia Yu raised his brows slightly and said, "If you trust me, I can purchase this batch of Essence Gathering Pills on behalf of the Flowing Cloud Merchant Association. As for the price, since you're my student, I'll give you fifty thousand Gold Soul Coins per pill!"

"!" Zhu Ziyang was instantly unable to remain calm. He stared wide-eyed at Xia Yu, as though confirming whether he was joking. Fifty thousand Gold Soul Coins was a price that had never even appeared on the market! After calming down, he asked, "Why? At that price, you'll definitely lose money no matter what! What is your purpose in doing this?"

"Hehe!" Xia Yu smiled and said, "You can consider it an investment."

"I see." Zhu Ziyang understood at once and was relieved. He then said, "In that case, it's settled. These are the Essence Gathering Pills I refined."

"These!" Xia Yu's eyes widened when he saw the many jade bottles Zhu Ziyang had taken out. He exclaimed in astonishment, "Good heavens, how many pills are there?"

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