Astonishing Talent

Astonishing Talent. Night fell.

Li Qianqing finished refining Fasting Pills.

"Ten yielded eight."

Of the eight Fasting Pills, two were ruined pills.

Before the Fasting Pills had even emerged from the furnace at the end of the refining process, he had already sensed that this batch would yield eight.

Li Qianqing found the compression step particularly strenuous.

Aside from experience, the most important factor in alchemy was the alchemist's own cultivation realm.

He was only at the Qi Refining Fourth Layer.

If he were at the Qi Refining Fifth Layer, at least nine Fasting Pills would emerge from the furnace. If he were at the Qi Refining Sixth Layer, ten would definitely not be a problem.

Of course, if he switched to refining fifty jin per batch now, he could also produce ten Fasting Pills in two batches.

After finishing the Fasting Pills, the following period was still filled with his daily cultivation.

Li Ditu had instructed him to refine one batch of Fasting Pills from ten jin of White Corn. He would probably have to wait another seven or eight days before he could see Li Ditu again.

Seven days later.

Morning.

When the time was about right, Li Qianqing came to Li Ditu's residence once more.

At that moment, Li Ditu was refining Fasting Pills. Li Qianqing did not disturb him and merely waited outside.

One hundred jin of White Corn cost one Low-Grade Spirit Stone. Once refined into Fasting Pills, ten Fasting Pills could be sold for two Low-Grade Spirit Stones—the price had doubled.

Taking Fasting Pills allowed one to cultivate for long stretches without having to eat White Corn every day, improving cultivation efficiency. They were especially useful during breakthroughs; at the very least, one would not grow hungry midway through a breakthrough and need to eat.

Among low-level cultivators, White Corn certainly had a far broader market than Fasting Pills. Rogue Cultivators would only choose to use Fasting Pills when breaking through; at other times, eating White Corn was enough.

Therefore, after the White Corn harvest, the Lineage's alchemists needed to refine a portion of it into Fasting Pills.

The number of Fasting Pills refined each year was generally adjusted according to their sales over the previous five years.

For the Lineage, it was best to sell all the Fasting Pills refined within a year.

The normal shelf life of ordinary Fasting Pills was three years.

There were many methods to extend a pill's shelf life, but almost no cultivator would deliberately preserve Fasting Pills to prolong theirs.

Within one year, Fasting Pills could display ten-tenths of their effects. After one year, that fell to eight-tenths; after two years, five-tenths; after three years, they lost all medicinal effect.

By midday.

Li Ditu finally emerged from his residence.

He had originally intended to continue refining Fasting Pills, but he sensed someone outside.

"Qianqing, you must have waited a long time."

"Second Grandfather, alchemists never lack patience."

"Oh? It seems your results these past few days have been quite good." Li Ditu gave Li Qianqing a surprised glance. The fact that Li Qianqing could speak this way showed that he regarded himself as an alchemist.

"Yes, Second Grandfather." Li Qianqing nodded.

How could his results not be good?

"How many Fasting Pills did you refine?"

"Seven."

"How many?" Li Ditu's eyes widened, and even his breathing grew heavier.

"Seven," Li Qianqing repeated.

Li Ditu seized Li Qianqing by the shoulders and asked somewhat wildly, "Say that again. How many!?"

Hearing was false; seeing was believing.

This time, Li Qianqing directly took out the seven refined Fasting Pills and laid them before Li Ditu.

"Second Grandfather, there are seven."

He needed to play the role of someone with top-tier Alchemy Talent, not absurd Alchemy Talent. For a batch made from ten jin of White Corn, succeeding in seven of the first ten batches was best. Succeeding in eight batches would truly be a little too outrageous.

Seeing Li Ditu's loss of composure, he even wondered whether he should have reported six Fasting Pills instead.

Li Ditu withdrew his faintly trembling hands and tried to calm his excited heart.

Yet no matter how he tried, he could not calm down.

"Heaven has blessed my Li Family!" Li Ditu could not help shouting, utterly exhilarated.

When refining one batch of Fasting Pills from ten jin of White Corn, the first ten batches normally served only to test whether a cultivator was suited to becoming an alchemist; they could not reveal one's true talent.

But producing seven Fasting Pills across ten batches was an entirely different matter!

If ten batches of Fasting Pills yielded three successes, that meant one could try walking the path of an alchemist. Li Ditu had thought that if Li Qianqing produced only two successful batches out of ten, he would still conduct further tests on him.

But this was not two successes out of ten, nor three—it was seven out of ten! In such a situation, even if Li Qianqing did not want to become an alchemist, Li Ditu would force him to become one. This was crucial to the Lineage's development. Having an alchemist with astonishing talent meant more resources could be converted, increasing the Li Family's annual income as a whole.

"Second Grandfather, I know you're happy, but calm down first."

"Hahaha, Second Grandfather is simply too happy. I didn't scare you, did I?" Li Ditu felt that his loss of composure might have frightened Li Qianqing. No matter how mature he was, he was still a thirteen-year-old child who had experienced too little. "Ahem. Qianqing, do you know what it means to succeed in seven out of ten batches of Fasting Pills?"

"I know. My talent is very good." Li Qianqing raised his head to look at Li Ditu, brimming with confidence.

"It is far more than simply being talented."

Under these circumstances, as long as Li Qianqing's understanding of medicinal principles was not disastrously poor and did not affect the fusion of spirit herbs during refinement, he would be an alchemist with top-tier talent.

However, judging from how Li Qianqing had cared for the White Corn, someone with decent Spirit Planter talent would usually not be too poor in medicinal principles.

Thus, Li Ditu directly ignored this unlikely possibility. In his eyes now, Li Qianqing was an alchemist with astonishing talent.

Considering that Li Qianqing knew little about Alchemy Talent, Li Ditu began instilling the relevant knowledge in him.

As Li Qianqing listened, his mouth gradually fell open. He was clearly astonished by himself.

"...Now you understand why Second Grandfather lost his composure just now."

Li Ditu was quite satisfied by Li Qianqing's current expression. If Li Qianqing had not shown such a startled little look, he would have wondered whether there was something wrong with him as an elder. From the current situation, he was clearly normal.

After imparting this knowledge to his junior, Li Ditu had more or less calmed down.

"I never imagined my talent was this high."

"In truth, refining only Fasting Pills still cannot test your exact talent. But it is more or less enough. You must have confidence in yourself," Li Ditu said with a smile.

"Second Grandfather... do you think I'll be in danger?"

He certainly had not spent three years learning the basic knowledge of the Cultivation World for nothing.

The current Li Family could not protect a cultivator with a Heavenly Spiritual Root, nor could it protect an alchemist with astonishing talent.

"You can rest assured about that. Second Grandfather and the Patriarch will handle it for you. From now on, you will be an alchemist of our Li Family, but when it comes to your Alchemy Talent before outsiders, it must be lowered by two levels."