Special Skills

After meeting with Qin An, Qin Shaofeng was summoned by Old Master Qin.

After hearing from Qin An that Wu Sancai had been killed by Qin Shaofeng, Old Master Qin was extremely shocked.

Although he had already heard the gist of what happened from Qin An, he still wanted to hear the details from Qin Shaofeng himself.

But when the old man learned that Qin Shaofeng had already reached the Houtian Seventh Layer, he was shocked all over again.

How many days had it been? The boy had already advanced to the Houtian Seventh Layer?

It was simply unbelievable. Even the genius son he had once been so proud of—Qin Shaofeng's father—had been nowhere near as impressive!

But in the end, it was precisely because of all this that Old Master Qin stopped asking Qin Shaofeng questions.

As the old man put it, no matter what, Qin Shaofeng was his grandson. Even if something had happened to him, that would never change.

Hearing those words, Qin Shaofeng had thought Old Master Qin had noticed something when their souls fused.

But after talking for a while, Qin Shaofeng gradually realized that his grandfather probably thought he had stumbled upon some great opportunity and taken a powerful master as his teacher. He didn't know about the soul fusion at all.

Qin Shaofeng didn't bother to explain. This was for the best; he no longer had to feel any burden around Old Master Qin.

After finishing his conversation with Old Master Qin, Qin Shaofeng finally returned to his room.

That long journey had left him utterly exhausted, but he hadn't come away empty-handed. In fact, he had gained something very significant.

After that journey, his Yi Jin Jing had finally leveled up.

Yi Jin Jing: Level 2, 1500, Saint-grade passive skill. Although it is not a god-grade cultivation technique, it is rather special. It incorporates another technique created by Old Ancestor Bodhidharma, the Marrow Cleansing Scripture, and therefore possesses the powerful ability to transform one's meridians and cleanse one's marrow. Current level: 2. Raises the player's Inner Qi Points to five times their original amount. (Level 2 Yi Jin Jing restores 5 Inner Qi Points per minute.)

At level 2, Yi Jin Jing didn't just increase the multiplier for his Inner Qi Points from three times to five; it also raised the amount restored per minute from 1 point to 5.

That was quite a significant change.

With this change, Qin Shaofeng's Inner Qi Points surged another tier at his current Houtian Seventh Layer cultivation, reaching 2,500 points—an increase of a full 1,000.

That was wonderful news for Qin Shaofeng.

After all, the more Inner Qi Points he had, the more devastatingly powerful Little Li Flying Dagger could become.

Though he was only at the Houtian Seventh Layer, Qin Shaofeng was now confident that he could kill a peak mid-level, tenth-tier demonic beast—one equivalent to the Houtian Tenth Layer—with a single throw.

Of course, he would have to get the chance.

And as his cultivation improved, his Inner Qi Points would keep growing, making him stronger and stronger.

This made Qin Shaofeng look forward even more to the next time Yi Jin Jing leveled up.

After checking the changes to Yi Jin Jing, Qin Shaofeng's gaze finally fell on the lottery opportunity he had earned for completing the three-star "Level Up" mission.

However, he also noticed that this lottery opportunity was a Special Lottery.

The first time Qin Shaofeng had gotten a lottery opportunity, it had been a Normal Lottery.

He had also noticed that the system's lottery section had two options: Normal and Special.

Of course, that didn't mean the Normal Lottery was inferior to the Special Lottery. Otherwise, Qin Shaofeng wouldn't have drawn Little Li Flying Dagger, such a godly skill.

The reason for the distinction was that the Special Lottery offered only special skills and special items.

Skills and items from the Normal Lottery weren't necessarily usable right away.

Qin Shaofeng had been lucky the first time, drawing a skill like Little Li Flying Dagger that had no restrictions. But what if he had drawn a skill that required some innate condition—or a Saint-grade or god-grade pill?

Would he even be able to use it?

Qin Shaofeng had seen in the system that some powerful skills required certain prerequisites, such as a particular constitution or reaching a certain level before a player could learn them.

And that was without even mentioning Saint-grade or god-grade pills. Even if Qin Shaofeng were given one, taking it at his current level would be tantamount to suicide.

But the skills and items offered by the Special Lottery were different.

No matter how powerful they were, anything drawn from the Special Lottery could be used by the player right away.

There was another difference, too: unlike the Normal Lottery, the Special Lottery wouldn't produce impractical things that were of little or no use to a player.

Lighters, phones, and other such lottery prizes would never appear in the Special Lottery.

Everything in the Special Lottery was a skill or item that could help the player. It would never disappoint.

So when he got this Special Lottery opportunity, Qin Shaofeng was secretly delighted.

"Hmm, I wonder what kind of special reward I'll draw. A special skill, or a special item?"

He murmured softly, then immediately gave the system the command to draw.

The Special Lottery screen looked much like the Normal Lottery screen, resembling a slot machine, with a hundred little squares.

But unlike the Normal Lottery, none of the squares had names on them. They all glowed with the same unchanging, faint light.

That meant there were no restrictions on the possible prizes in the Special Lottery. Compared with the prizes listed in the Normal Lottery, it was even more exciting.

"System notification: Would player Qin Shaofeng like to use a lottery opportunity to enter the Special Lottery?"

Soon, the system's notification sounded.

Yes!

He silently answered, and the familiar slot-machine music rang out. One after another, the hundred little squares on the Special Lottery screen lit up.

Before long, the lights stopped on one square. It suddenly flickered, and a beam of white light shot out. It passed straight through the system's status screen, flew to Qin Shaofeng's forehead, and entered his mind.

At that moment, the system suddenly sounded a notification with a ding.

"System notification: Congratulations, player Qin Shaofeng, you have obtained the special skill Alchemy. Would you like to learn the special skill Alchemy?"

Alchemy?

After hearing the system's notification, Qin Shaofeng was startled, then overcome with delight.

Alchemy was exactly what it sounded like: the skill of refining pills.

This was a wonderful skill!

The thought of being able to refine pills—and of the countless dazzling pills he had seen in the system shop—made Qin Shaofeng's heart leap with excitement. He couldn't help shouting, "Yes, I want to learn Alchemy!"

Whoosh!

As soon as Qin Shaofeng shouted his answer, he felt a slight tremor in his mind. Then the system notification sounded again.

"System notification: Congratulations, player Qin Shaofeng, you have obtained the special skill Alchemy!"

Alchemy: Level 1, 00, special skill. Allows the player to refine pills. The success rate depends on the Alchemy level and the pill being refined; the higher the level, the greater the chance of success and the higher the grade of pills that can be refined. Current level: 1. Allows the player to refine Mortal-grade pills.

(Note: Each use of Level 1 Alchemy consumes a certain amount of Inner Qi Points. Refining a Mortal Grade One Star pill costs 10 Inner Qi Points; refining a Mortal Grade Two Star pill costs 20 Inner Qi Points; refining a Mortal Grade Three Star pill costs 30 Inner Qi Points.)

"Haha, it really is Alchemy!"

Looking at the skill's attributes, Qin Shaofeng laughed again, his face beaming.

As he stared at Alchemy, he could almost see countless pills waving to him.

"With Alchemy, I won't be short of pills, even if I don't have any Points."

Qin Shaofeng spoke excitedly, then suddenly remembered something. He hurried to a corner of the room and began rummaging around.

After searching for a bit, Qin Shaofeng finally found what he needed: a dozen or so Qi Yuan Grass plants.

These were the last dozen or so Qi Yuan Grass plants Qin Shaofeng had brought back from the Black Horn Mountain Range, still unused.

Qi Yuan Grass was the ingredient for refining Qi Replenishing Pills. Now that he had Alchemy, Qin Shaofeng naturally wanted to try making some himself.

But after finding the Qi Yuan Grass, Qin Shaofeng realized he was still missing the most important tool: a pill-refining cauldron.

Even with Alchemy, he needed a cauldron to refine pills.

At that thought, Qin Shaofeng rushed out of his room to look for one.

Eager to try the fun of refining pills, Qin Shaofeng hurried along so quickly that he didn't even notice Little Yue'er playing with Bai Xue outside his room. The little girl was left wondering what had gotten into him.

Half an hour later, Qin Shaofeng returned, looking thoroughly dejected.

After searching for ages, he hadn't found a single pill-refining cauldron in Qin Manor. There were plenty of incense burners for worshipping the gods, but could those things really be used to refine pills?

Qin Shaofeng wasn't convinced.

Still, he hadn't come back empty-handed.

In the end, with no other options, Qin Shaofeng made a decision that would leave any alchemist completely dumbfounded.

Unable to find a pill-refining cauldron anywhere, Qin Shaofeng went straight to the kitchen and asked Qin Dabao for a large pot.

That's right—a large pot!

With no cauldron available, the first substitute Qin Shaofeng could think of was the big cooking pot in the kitchen.

As far as Qin Shaofeng was concerned, there shouldn't be much difference between a cooking pot and a pill-refining cauldron.

But among alchemists, even the most ordinary beginner would never think of using a cooking pot in place of a pill-refining cauldron.

The idea was just too bizarre—and too reckless.

But Qin Shaofeng hadn't just thought of it. He had actually gone and done it!

When Little Yue'er saw Qin Shaofeng carrying a big pot back, she was startled. Curiosity got the better of her, and she followed him to see what he was up to.

Qin Shaofeng didn't mind. In fact, some part of him wanted to show off in front of Little Yue'er.

Then, once he refined a Qi Replenishing Pill, he could smugly tell the little girl, "Your young master is an alchemist now, too!"