Profits Brought by the Liquid Energy Pill

In Elder Huo's room, Lin Ming sat beside Elder Huo.

"Lin Ming, to reach Third-Grade Alchemist at your age, this old man is truly happy for you! This is a gift from me. Take it! I happen to have something to discuss with you later, and this will come in handy." After Elder Huo finished speaking, a Red Crystal Card appeared in Lin Ming's hand.

This Red Crystal Card was Elder Huo's gift to Lin Ming. Looking at the Red Crystal Card in his hand, Lin Ming fell into thought.

Because, in Lin Ming's memory, there was something similar to this in the original story. When Xiao Yan entered the Inner Academy, there had been a Fire Energy Hunt Competition. Xiao Yan had led that year's freshmen to defeat the Old Students who came hunting, and the Academy rewarded him with a Blue Crystal Card Fire Energy Card. It seemed there had been several other colors of Fire Energy Cards as well, though Lin Ming could not remember the specifics.

So Lin Ming now suspected that this Red Crystal Card was another type of Fire Energy Card.

After thinking briefly, Lin Ming realized that no matter what it was, since Elder Huo had given it to him, he should thank him first. He stood up, cupped his fists toward Elder Huo, and said, "This student thanks Elder Huo for the reward."

"Hahaha, seeing you lost in thought just now, I suppose you were guessing what this thing was?" After Lin Ming thanked him, Elder Huo asked about what had occupied his thoughts.

"Hehe, Elder Huo, you guessed right." Lin Ming scratched his head and answered with a light laugh.

"So? Have you figured out what it is now?" Elder Huo asked whether Lin Ming had guessed the Red Crystal Card's purpose.

Looking at Elder Huo's somewhat smug expression, Lin Ming decided to say he had not figured it out, even though he already had a guess. After all, if he revealed his speculation and Elder Huo pressed him on how he had reached it, that would be difficult to explain.

So Lin Ming directly replied, "Although this student has not figured out what this Red Crystal Card is, since it was given to me by you, Elder Huo, it must be exceptionally precious."

"Hahaha, you little rascal. You only know how to sweet-talk this old man. But I will not tell you exactly what it is yet. Just keep it safe. You will have use for it in the future." Elder Huo laughed heartily, but still did not tell Lin Ming what the Red Crystal Card was. Lin Ming did not intend to ask again either.

"Elder Huo, rest assured. This student will keep it safe," Lin Ming promised.

Seeing Lin Ming's assurance, Elder Huo nodded. Then he said, "Lin Ming, this old man has something I would like to ask your opinion on. I want to buy your Liquid Energy Pill Formula for the Academy. You should know how much profit a pill that can raise a Dou Master's cultivation could bring the Academy. However, the Academy mainly wishes for its students to grow stronger more quickly. That is the Academy's responsibility, so..."

Hearing Elder Huo ask him to sell the Liquid Energy Pill Formula to the Academy, Lin Ming felt somewhat reluctant. After all, it had been given to him by his family, and it would not make sense for him to feel no resistance at all. Still, his reluctance was not great. At the end of the day, the Liquid Energy Pill was merely a Third-Grade Pill, and it only worked on Dou Masters.

Even if the Academy refined it in large quantities, it would not affect Lin Ming much. With his current methods, even if every Dou Master in the Academy gained two stars of cultivation, none of them would last long against him. Therefore, Lin Ming decided to sell the Liquid Energy Pill Formula to the Academy, which would also give Elder Huo some face.

"Alright, then this student will follow Elder Huo's arrangements and give the Liquid Energy Pill Formula to the Academy." Lin Ming finished speaking and directly took out the Liquid Energy Pill Formula, handing it to Elder Huo.

Looking at Lin Ming holding the Liquid Energy Pill Formula out before him, Elder Huo was visibly stunned. He had not even mentioned the price for purchasing the Liquid Energy Pill Formula, yet Lin Ming had handed it over directly. What immense trust that was!

At Elder Huo's age, trust was something exceedingly rare. Even as someone who had weathered decades of storms, he was stunned by Lin Ming's trust.

"Hahaha, good! This old man will not stand on ceremony with you, Kid. I will accept this Liquid Energy Pill Formula on behalf of the Academy." After pausing for a moment, Elder Huo smiled as he accepted the Liquid Energy Pill Formula and spoke to Lin Ming.

"Lin Ming, rest assured, this old man will not let you suffer a loss. I will make the decision now: for every Liquid Energy Pill sold in the future, you will receive ten points of Fire Energy as your share..."

"Fire Energy?" Lin Ming cried out the moment he heard those words, interrupting Elder Huo before he could finish.

"You know about Fire Energy?" Elder Huo looked at Lin Ming's shocked expression and asked.

"Elder Huo, this student does not know about Fire Energy. It is simply that when I heard you mention those words, I assumed it was a type of Fire Attribute energy. Since this student is an Alchemist, Fire Attribute energy would be tremendously beneficial to us, so I could not help crying out."

Lin Ming explained why he had cried out at the mention of Fire Energy. Although he knew what Fire Energy was and understood how important it was in Jia Nan Academy, he still chose to say that he did not know. Otherwise, explaining it would be another troublesome matter.

Elder Huo believed Lin Ming's explanation and began explaining Fire Energy to him.

"Let me put it this way: Fire Energy is the equivalent of currency in the Academy. Anything in the Academy with a clearly marked price can be purchased with Fire Energy. If you wish to exchange it for Gold Coins, you could price one point of Fire Energy at one thousand Gold Coins, and plenty of people would come to buy it."

"As for your belief that Fire Energy is a type of Fire Attribute energy, that is indeed true in certain places. But this old man will not tell you about those places yet. You will learn about them yourself in the future."

"In any case, you will not lose out by giving the Liquid Energy Pill Formula to the Academy."

After hearing Elder Huo finish, Lin Ming found it difficult to suppress his excitement. According to Elder Huo, Lin Ming would receive ten points of Fire Energy for every Liquid Energy Pill sold. That was far more than simply not losing out—he would be making an enormous profit!

Given the Academy's current demand for Liquid Energy Pills, the Fire Energy Lin Ming received in a single month, if converted into Gold Coins, would exceed his current fortune. Moreover, Lin Ming understood Fire Energy's uses very clearly. After entering the Inner Academy, if he wished to cultivate in the training tower enhanced by Fallen Heart Flame, he would need Fire Energy.

With the income from the Liquid Energy Pill shares, Lin Ming would no longer need to worry about lacking Fire Energy to accelerate his cultivation after entering the Inner Academy.

Therefore, Lin Ming hurriedly said to Elder Huo, "Then I will leave everything to Elder Huo's discretion."

"Hahaha, good. Then it is settled. One of the functions of the Red Crystal Card I gave you earlier is to store Fire Energy. At the beginning of every month, the Academy will transfer your share of Fire Energy from the previous month onto your card. You can simply use it wherever Fire Energy is accepted." Elder Huo smiled as he explained.

After hearing Elder Huo's words, Lin Ming thanked him once more.

"Alright, you expended quite a bit refining pills today, so go back and rest! This old man must also deliver this Liquid Energy Pill Formula to the Academy." Seeing that it was getting late, Elder Huo told Lin Ming to return and rest.

"Then this student will take his leave first." Lin Ming stood, spoke, gave a bow, and walked out.

After returning to his lodging, Lin Ming washed up. He had been drenched in sweat from Pill Refining today.

After washing up, Lin Ming returned to his room. Looking at the Liquid Energy Pill in his hand, he decided to take it tonight.

The pill entered his mouth. With a flick of his tongue, Lin Ming swallowed the Liquid Energy Pill.

As the Liquid Energy Pill entered his stomach, Lin Ming felt a vast tide of liquid energy flow out within his abdomen, seeking to enter his body's Meridians before gathering in his Dantian.

At once, Lin Ming wrapped that energy in Golden Flame and began refining the liquid energy bit by bit.

The reason it took half a month after consuming a Liquid Energy Pill to raise one's cultivation by One Star was that this liquid energy was, after all, foreign. If it were gathered directly into the Dantian, the unfamiliar energy would clash with one's original energy.

Not only would that fail to raise one's cultivation, but the conflict between the two energies would throw the Dantian's energy into chaos. In severe cases, the Dantian could even rupture outright.

To absorb this energy, one had to wrap it in Dou Qi before the Liquid Energy Pill's power erupted after swallowing it, then slowly refine it. The refined energy could then be merged into the Dantian to raise cultivation. Once all the energy in the Liquid Energy Pill had been refined and merged into the Dantian, one could advance by One Star Dou Master.

This refinement process generally took around half a month, though it varied from person to person. Some people, due to reasons such as possessing a particularly powerful flame or having especially sharp Dou Qi, could complete the refinement in less than half a month. Others, because of certain unsuitable conditions, might still fail to complete the refinement after half a month and need a little more time.

All of this was possible. Half a month was merely an approximate timeframe.

The night passed just like that. After refining the Liquid Energy Pill's energy for one night, Lin Ming's Dantian contained one more drop of Transparent Energy.

Feeling that he could gain one drop of energy in a single night, Lin Ming was delighted. Although two-fifths of a drop had come from his previous cultivation, most of it had been provided by refining the pill's energy. At this rate, he likely would not need half a month to refine all the Liquid Energy Pill's energy and advance by One Star.

After ending his cultivation, Lin Ming wrapped the Remaining energy of the Liquid Energy Pill in Dou Qi. He could not allow even the slightest trace of unrefined energy to leak out, lest it enter his Dantian and contaminate the pure energy within it.

Arriving at Instructor Zhang Man's residence, Lin Ming came to request leave from Instructor Zhang Man. For the next ten or so days, he planned to focus on refining the Liquid Energy Pill's energy, so he would be unable to attend next Monday's and Tuesday's classes. He had come to inform Instructor Zhang Man out of respect.

After Lin Ming roughly explained the situation to Instructor Zhang Man, she approved his leave.

On the eleventh day after taking leave, Lin Ming finished refining the Liquid Energy Pill's energy and advanced to Dou Master Four Stars.