Can You Really Refine a Fourth-grade Golden Elixir?

The two arrived before a room, and Xuandu bowed as he spoke:

"Master, your disciple brings Xian Junyu, disciple of Uncle Tongtian, to seek an audience!"

"Enter!"

Laozi's voice came from within, and the door opened accordingly.

Xuandu and Xian Junyu walked straight in.

"Your disciple Xian Junyu pays respects to First Senior Uncle!"

Upon seeing First Senior Uncle, Xian Junyu bowed respectfully.

"Yu'er need not stand on ceremony. What brings you here this time?"

Laozi asked calmly.

As for Xian Junyu's purpose, Laozi did not divine it—after all, he was not Yuanshi, who insisted on playing the Saint's game at every turn, utterly pointless.

"It is like this, First Senior Uncle. Your disciple wishes to learn the art of alchemy from you..."

Unsure whether this First Senior Uncle would be willing to teach him, Xian Junyu's heart was filled with trepidation.

If rejected, he truly had no idea who else to turn to for instruction.

Hearing this, Laozi was slightly taken aback, but though surprised, he asked with an expressionless face:

"Learn alchemy from me? As far as I know, Yu'er has already taken up Artifact Refining. Why have you set your sights on alchemy as well? Do you not know that biting off more than one can chew leads to indigestion?"

Laozi was not outright refusing Xian Junyu; he simply felt that dabbling in too many things was not beneficial.

Every person had a main path suited to them. It was not that the more one knew, the better—too much knowledge could instead cause one to lose their own Way.

"Your disciple knows that biting off more than one can chew leads to indigestion, but I am truly interested in alchemy. Under my Master's guidance, I have already learned to refine Fourth-grade Golden Elixirs..."

Xian Junyu explained slowly.

He also revealed that he could already refine Golden Elixirs, hoping Laozi would not turn him away.

With his system, he had saved time on cultivation—how could he possibly bite off more than he could chew? He intended not only to chew but to digest it completely.

"Fourth-grade Golden Elixir!"

Hearing that his senior brother could refine a Fourth-grade Golden Elixir, Xuandu exclaimed in shock.

After all, in the thousands of years he had followed his master Laozi, he could only refine a First-grade Golden Elixir at best, and even that made him feel his alchemy talent was quite impressive.

He never expected that his senior brother, an outsider to the craft, could already refine Golden Elixirs—did this not mean his senior brother's alchemy talent surpassed his own?

At this outburst, Laozi cast a glance at Xuandu.

"Forgive me, Master. Your disciple was rude..."

Bowing to his master, Xuandu immediately fell silent.

After glancing at Xuandu, Laozi looked at Xian Junyu with considerable surprise.

As far as he knew, Xian Junyu had never studied alchemy before—at least, when he went to learn Artifact Refining from Yuanshi, he could not refine pills.

That meant he had learned alchemy in just a few hundred years and could already refine a Fourth-grade Golden Elixir. This suggested he truly had talent for the craft.

As for the possibility of lying, Laozi never considered it. Xian Junyu would not lie to him, and no one dared to lie in his presence.

"A Fourth-grade Golden Elixir, is it? So it seems this is not mere greed for skills. But words alone are not proof. Yu'er, refine a Fourth-grade Tianyuan Golden Elixir for me to see!"

As he spoke, Laozi pointed to the Alchemy Furnace and Spiritual Materials nearby.

In his heart, he had already agreed to teach Xian Junyu, but before teaching, he wanted to see how the boy refined pills.

"Very well, your disciple shall make a humble display!"

With that, Xian Junyu stepped forward and began selecting Spiritual Materials for alchemy.

Xuandu watched intently, eager to see if his senior brother could truly refine a Fourth-grade Golden Elixir.

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But upon seeing his senior brother Xian Junyu's technique, he felt a strange sense of familiarity.

As for Laozi, watching Xian Junyu's methods and steps, the corners of his mouth lifted slightly, then immediately returned to normal.

Every alchemist had their own techniques; the steps could be broadly similar, but technique was a matter of personal habit.

An alchemist's technique was largely shaped by their first teacher. When first entering alchemy, the first teacher's methods were almost etched into the alchemist's bones.

Even if they later changed teachers and developed their own style, traces of the first teacher's influence always remained.

And Xian Junyu's technique actually bore traces of Laozi himself—this surprised him greatly.

But he did not ask immediately.

With the blessing of the Six Ding Divine Fire, after quietly waiting for a day, the Fourth-grade Tianyuan Golden Elixir was successfully produced.

"The pill is complete. First Senior Uncle, please take a look!"

Taking out the Fourth-grade Tianyuan Golden Elixir, Xian Junyu held it in his hands and presented it before First Senior Uncle Laozi.

Xuandu, standing to the side, was completely stunned.

His junior disciple brother could actually refine a Fourth-grade Golden Elixir!

At this moment, Xuandu even began to wonder if his own master's lukewarm attitude toward him was because his alchemy talent was lacking.

Though he knew full well that his master would never be like that.

Watching the mid-grade Fourth-grade Tianyuan Golden Elixir in Xian Junyu's hand, Laozi stroked his beard and nodded, saying:

"Mm, not bad. You really can refine a Fourth-grade Golden Elixir. Though there are still some minor issues, Yu'er does have alchemy talent!"

"Since you have talent, then follow me and learn alchemy!"

Seeing that Xian Junyu indeed had talent, and quite high talent at that, Laozi took the opportunity to agree to teach him.

Hearing this, Xian Junyu finally felt completely at ease.

"Disciple thanks First Senior Uncle!"

Xuandu, beside him, also snapped out of his shock.

Seeing that his master was willing to teach his senior disciple brother Xian Junyu, he did not harbor any ill feelings because of his brother's high talent.

On the contrary, he was exceptionally happy. Having a rival to compete with would allow him to improve better, and he also wanted to personally witness the rise of an alchemy prodigy.

"No need for such formalities. How much you can learn depends on yourself. If you have no talent, no matter how much I teach, it's useless!"

"By the way, Yu'er, I find your alchemy technique somewhat familiar. Did you really learn it from your master Tongtian?"

Laozi finally asked the question.

Hearing this, Xuandu also pricked up his ears.

He had originally thought that sense of familiarity was just his imagination, but now that his master also found it familiar, it seemed it was not his imagination.

So that meant both he and his master had seen this technique somewhere before.

Not knowing why First Senior Uncle asked this, Xian Junyu explained with some confusion:

"This alchemy was indeed learned from my master, but I only started following him from the time I refined Eighth-grade Pills. Before that, I always practiced by reading Jade Slips while refining..."

During alchemy, all sorts of problems would arise, and the Jade Slips brought out from the Scripture Pavilion recorded answers to various questions.

So from the very beginning, he would refine while searching for solutions to his mistakes.

"Learned from Jade Slips? Do you have the Jade Slips with you? If so, let me take a look..." Laozi said with some hesitation.

Hearing Xian Junyu's words, Laozi already had a guess, but he still wanted to see the Jade Slips himself to confirm his speculation.

"Oh, I do have them!"

"First Senior Uncle, look, these are them..."

In an instant, Xian Junyu took out all the Jade Slips that had taught him the basics of alchemy.