Xiaoyaozi

Shi Yue was somewhat moved by those words. Among the four great professions, alchemists were the most sought-after—and also the most expensive profession to pursue.

If he became an alchemist, he really could plant spirit herbs in the Mysterious Space and refine pills.

But Shi Yue had no intention of giving the other party Spirit Stones. If the other party absorbed enough spiritual energy to break through the seal, Shi Yue would definitely be the one out of luck.

Shi Yue's eyes rolled, then his gaze lit up. He said, "Last time, I gave you seven or eight hundred Spirit Stones. If you want me to keep giving you Spirit Stones, pay back your earlier debt first! Help me a hundred or so times, and then I'll give you Spirit Stones. How about it?"

"What? Help you a hundred times for free? Is this Old Man really that cheap? Hmph, once only. Take it or leave it," the man said angrily.

"Once is too few. Ten times," Shi Yue bargained.

"No. Two times at most."

"Hmph, five times. If you won't agree, forget it. You're the one begging me, not the other way around. Even if I remain at the Qi Refining Stage for my entire life, I'll bury you deep underground before I die," Shi Yue snorted, threatening him.

Only silence answered Shi Yue.

After a while, the man's voice rang out again. "Fine, five times it is. This Old Man can help you five times for free. After those five times, without Spirit Stones, don't even dream of having this Old Man help you."

"Deal." Shi Yue's face lit up with joy.

Although the two had reached an agreement, Shi Yue still did not dare enter the Mysterious Space. He feared this was a trap laid by the other party, meant to make him lower his guard so that once he entered the Mysterious Space, the other party could seize his body. Without a certain degree of confidence, Shi Yue would not easily enter the Mysterious Space.

One must not harbor the intent to harm others, but one must always guard against them.

"By the way, after chatting for so long, I still don't know how to address you," Shi Yue said, his expression shifting.

"Call me Xiaoyaozi!"

"Senior Xiaoyaozi, can you tell this junior the origins of this Pearl?" Shi Yue asked curiously.

"I can, but that would count as helping you once."

Hearing this, Shi Yue hesitated briefly before agreeing.

"This Pearl is called the Heaven Controlling Bead. As for its functions, I think you should already know them. Time flows more than ten times faster inside it than in the outside world, and its spiritual energy is also denser. The Heaven Controlling Bead's inner space will expand as its holder's cultivation rises, eventually evolving into an entire world. Of course, if this Old Man devours a certain number of Spirit Stones, the Heaven Controlling Bead's inner space will expand as well."

"Then does that mean that if I advance to Qi Refining Level Five, the inner space will expand and the spiritual energy will become even richer?" Shi Yue pondered for a moment before asking.

"If I answer that question, I will only be able to help you three more times."

"Three times it is." Shi Yue did not insist any further.

"No. Unless you advance by an entire major realm, the inner space will not increase in the slightest, nor will the spiritual energy undergo any change. Of course, if I devour a certain number of Spirit Stones, the space within the Heaven Controlling Bead will expand and its spiritual energy will become richer," Xiaoyaozi's voice remained as calm as ever.

"Then why did the inner space of the Heaven Controlling Bead expand after I advanced to Qi Refining Level Four? And why did the spiritual energy become denser than before?" Shi Yue asked in confusion.

"There are still three times left. Are you sure you want me to help you once more?"

"Forget it. You don't need to answer." After giving it some thought, Shi Yue shook his head and refused.

This Xiaoyaozi was truly wily and seasoned—every answer to a question counted as one favor.

"I want to learn how to refine Bigu Pills now. Can you guide me?" Shi Yue asked after pondering for a moment.

His Storage Bag contained quite a few materials for refining Bigu Pills. Since he had no planting work at present, learning alchemy was not a bad choice.

"Of course. But then I will only be able to help you two more times for free."

"No problem. Two times it is." Shi Yue readily agreed. In any case, he would not enter the Mysterious Space, and it would be good if Xiaoyaozi was willing to guide him in refining Bigu Pills.

Although he had successfully refined Bigu Pills before, his success rate was far too low. With the guidance of someone experienced, the results would definitely be different.

With that in mind, Shi Yue left the courtyard and flew toward Dusk Cloud Peak on his flying artifact.

After arriving at Dusk Cloud Peak, Shi Yue spent two Spirit Stones to rent an Alchemy Room.

After closing the door, he took out all three ingredients needed to refine Bigu Pills.

"Senior Xiaoyaozi, I've failed many times when refining Bigu Pills. Is there any way to reduce the number of failures?" Shi Yue asked bluntly, his tone extremely sincere.

"There are no shortcuts on the path of alchemy. If you wish to increase your pill-forming rate, the only road is to practice more. Don't mind me. Do whatever you should do. When it is time to remind you, I will speak," Xiaoyaozi said, enunciating each word.

Hearing this, Shi Yue said no more. He peeled away the husks of the rice grains, washed them clean, cut the Spirit Rice into small pieces with a dagger, and ground it into powder. Next, he took out a Blood Qi Fruit and a Purple Luo Apricot. After washing them clean, he cut off their flesh and poured it into the Spirit Rice powder.

Then, he formed six Hand Seals toward the six Dragon Heads. Each Dragon Head spat out a finger-thick Crimson Flame, which gathered beneath the Yellow Furnace and slowly began to preheat it.

A Little Less Than Half an Hour later, the Yellow Furnace had become scorching hot, radiating searing heat.

When he felt the temperature was about right, he was about to throw in the ingredients when Xiaoyaozi's voice suddenly rang out:

"Wait. Didn't anyone tell you that when refining Bigu Pills, the preheating time must be a quarter-hour? If you throw the ingredients in so quickly, the temperature won't be high enough, and the essence within the ingredients cannot be refined out. That will affect the pill yield."

Shi Yue was slightly stunned by those words. He committed them to memory and continued preheating.

After more than half a quarter-hour had passed, Shi Yue finally threw the ingredients inside.

As time passed, a faint, delicate fragrance drifted out from the furnace.

Shi Yue's face brightened when he smelled it, but his expression soon tightened. He did not dare let down his guard in the slightest; he had mostly failed at this stage before.

A quarter-hour later, the medicinal fragrance in the Alchemy Room grew increasingly dense. Shi Yue's face turned pale, and his head was drenched in sweat.

Just then, Xiaoyaozi's voice suddenly rang out:

"Alright, you can withdraw the flames now. If you continue any longer, I'm afraid the pills will all burn."

Hearing this, Shi Yue did not quite understand, but he obediently withdrew the Hand Seal.

With a flick of his sleeve, the lid of the pill furnace flew open.

Stepping closer to look, he saw thirteen yellow pills the size of longan fruit inside the furnace.

"What's going on? The alchemy manual clearly said they needed to be refined for a while longer." Shi Yue gazed at the Bigu Pills in the furnace, his face brimming with delight. Then he seemed to recall something and asked.

"The methods different alchemists use to refine the same pill are not the same. You are only at Qi Refining Level Four, and your spiritual power is limited. Before refining, preheat the furnace for a longer time. Then, when the pills are formed, you can take them out early. If you do not preheat the pill furnace sufficiently at the start, then when it comes time to retrieve the pills, you will very likely fail to control the intensity of the flames and cause the refinement to fail. If I am not mistaken, you previously always failed at the stage of taking out the pills." Xiaoyaozi's voice was unhurried.

"That's indeed the case." Shi Yue thought it over carefully and found Xiaoyaozi's words completely accurate. Every time he had reached the stage of taking out the pills in the past, they had burned black. He knew it was caused by the flames being too strong, yet he had never found a solution. He had not expected Xiaoyaozi, on his very first time guiding him in alchemy, to point out this fatal flaw. It seemed Xiaoyaozi was quite familiar with alchemy after all.

"Senior, are you an alchemist?" Shi Yue asked curiously.

"I would not call myself an alchemist. I simply watched others refine pills often enough that I learned. All right, rest for a while, then begin refining the second batch. You must ensure that your spiritual power is sufficient when refining pills," Xiaoyaozi advised.

Shi Yue nodded. He sat down to meditate and regulate his breathing. Once his spiritual power had recovered, he began refining the second batch...