Astonishing Talent

Night fell.

Li Qianqing finished refining the Fasting Pill.

"Eight out of ten."

Eight Fasting Pills; two were wasted pills.

Before the Fasting Pills had even emerged from the furnace during the final stage, he had already sensed that this batch would yield eight.

Li Qianqing found the compression stage especially strenuous.

Aside from experience, the most important factor in Alchemy was an 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 of White Corn per batch, two batches could also produce ten Fasting Pills.

After refining the Fasting Pills, the following period returned to his usual cultivation routine.

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

Seven days later.

Morning.

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

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

One hundred jin of White Corn cost one Low-Grade Spirit Stone. After being refined into Fasting Pills, ten Fasting Pills were worth two Low-Grade Spirit Stones—the price had doubled.

Taking Fasting Pills allowed one to cultivate for long periods without needing 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 have to stop to eat.

Among Low-level Cultivators, White Corn undoubtedly had a far larger market than Fasting Pills. Rogue Cultivators only chose to use Fasting Pills when making breakthroughs; at other times, eating White Corn was enough.

Therefore, after White Corn was harvested, the Lineage's Alchemists needed to refine part of it into Fasting Pills.

The quantity 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 refined Fasting Pills within a year.

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

There were many methods for extending the shelf life of medicinal pills, but almost no cultivators deliberately preserved Fasting Pills to prolong their shelf life.

Within one year, Fasting Pills could retain their full efficacy. After one year, their efficacy declined to eighty percent; after two years, fifty percent; after three years, they lost all medicinal effect.

By noon.

Li Ditu finally emerged from his residence.

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

"Qianqing, you've been waiting a long time, haven't you?"

"Second Grandfather, Alchemists have never lacked patience."

"Oh? It seems your results over the past few days have been quite good." Li Ditu gave Li Qianqing a surprised glance. Speaking in such a manner showed that Li Qianqing already 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 noticeably heavier.

"Seven." Li Qianqing repeated.

Li Ditu grabbed Li Qianqing by the shoulders and said with a loss of composure, "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, seven."

What he needed to play was an Alchemist with top-tier Alchemy Talent, not absurd Alchemy Talent. For Fasting Pills made from ten jin of White Corn per batch, succeeding in seven of the first ten batches was best. Succeeding in eight batches would truly be a little too outrageous.

Seeing Li Ditu so worked up, he even wondered whether he should have claimed six Fasting Pills instead.

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

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

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

With one batch of Fasting Pills refined from ten jin of White Corn, the first ten batches normally only tested whether a cultivator was suited to becoming an Alchemist; they could not reveal their true talent.

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

If ten batches of Fasting Pills produced three successes, it 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.

But this was not two out of ten, nor three out of ten—it was seven out of ten! Under such circumstances, even if Li Qianqing did not want to become an Alchemist, Li Ditu would force him to become one. This was vital to the Lineage's development. Having an Alchemist of astonishing talent meant transforming more resources and increasing the Lineage's annual income overall.

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

"Hahaha, your 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 lifted his head to look at Li Ditu, brimming with confidence.

"It is far more than simply having good talent."

Under the current circumstances, so long as Li Qianqing's comprehension of medicinal principles was not outrageously poor and did not affect the fusion of spirit herbs during pill refinement, he would be an Alchemist with top-tier talent.

However, judging from how Li Qianqing cared for White Corn, those with decent Spirit Planter talent were usually not too poor in medicinal principles.

Thus, Li Ditu directly disregarded this low-probability 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 imparting the relevant knowledge to him.

As Li Qianqing listened, his mouth gradually fell open. He had apparently been shocked by his own talent.

"...Now you understand why your Second Grandfather lost his composure just now, don't you?"

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

After imparting knowledge to his junior, Li Ditu's mood had mostly settled down.

"I never imagined my talent was so high."

"Actually, refining only Fasting Pills still cannot determine your specific talent, but it is close enough. You must have confidence in yourself." Li Ditu smiled.

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

He had certainly 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. Your Second Grandfather and the Patriarch will handle it for you. From now on, you will be an Alchemist of our Li Family, but the Alchemy Talent you reveal to outsiders must be lowered by two tiers."