Qin Shaofeng had no idea what an Alchemy Cauldron was for.
At that moment, he was using Inner Qi to melt the Vitality Grass, thinking this was the proper way to make pills.
If anyone else had learned that Qin Shaofeng could control Inner Qi this way to refine pills, they would have been so shocked they wouldn't have been able to speak.
Alchemists could control the force they exerted during the refining process, but that required a level of skill beyond what ordinary alchemists could manage. And the force they exerted at that point wasn't acquired or innate Inner Qi, but a higher level of spiritual energy.
An alchemist who had reached that level needed to possess at least the strength of the Spirit Vein Realm, and had to be an advanced alchemist at the very least.
Before reaching that point, practically all alchemy relied on an Alchemy Cauldron to control the force being exerted.
And yet Qin Shaofeng could do it already.
Under his control, the Qi Yuan Grass was refined the moment that small stream of Inner Qi enveloped it. After only a few breaths, it began to melt.
A few more breaths later, the Qi Yuan Grass had melted completely into a pool of Liquid Potion. Then, under the influence of that small stream of Inner Qi, the Liquid Potion began to gather together, soon forming a round pill-shaped ball.
Before long, the Liquid Potion seemed to start solidifying.
At that point, Qin Shaofeng finally began to understand.
Alchemy, alchemy—it turned out this was how you made pills!
But if the other alchemists had known what Qin Shaofeng was thinking right now, they would have cursed him out.
What do you mean, this is how you make pills? You're clearly just messing around!
Making pills in an ordinary cooking pot—Qin Shaofeng was probably the only alchemist who would do such a thing.
But there was no denying that if word of what Qin Shaofeng had done today got out, it would cause a huge stir in the world of alchemy.
Although Qin Shaofeng's methods were reckless, they also showed that he possessed extraordinary talent for alchemy.
Unfortunately, the very person responsible for all this hadn't noticed a thing.
"System notification: Congratulations, player Qin Shaofeng. You have successfully refined a pill and obtained one one-star Mortal-grade Qi Replenishing Pill!"
After "seeing" a pill fully form in the pot, Qin Shaofeng soon heard a system notification.
"Hahaha, I finally did it!"
The system notification made Qin Shaofeng burst into laughter. Then he eagerly lifted the lid and took out the pale green pill from the pot.
One-star Mortal-grade Qi Replenishing Pill: An ordinary Mortal-grade pill, refined from low-grade Qi Yuan Grass. Instantly restores 20 Inner Qi Points.
Looking at the Qi Replenishing Pill's attributes, which matched those of the Qi Replenishing Pill in the system shop, Qin Shaofeng's eyes brimmed with delight.
As for Little Yue'er beside him, she had been staring blankly at the pill in Qin Shaofeng's hand, her little mouth hanging open.
Qin Shaofeng's sudden laughter had startled her at first, but when she saw him take a pill out of the pot, she was completely shocked.
He'd succeeded!
Young Master had really made a pill!
The little girl first gaped in astonishment, then immediately said to Qin Shaofeng in a voice filled with admiration, "Young Master, you're amazing! You really made a pill!"
The first half of the little girl's sentence put Qin Shaofeng in a wonderful mood. At least he'd finally put that earlier embarrassing misunderstanding behind him.
But just as he was starting to feel that way, the second half of her sentence made a trace of embarrassment flash across his face again.
What did she mean, "You really made one"?
From the sound of it, this little girl hadn't believed her young master could make a pill at all.
But when Qin Shaofeng saw the pure, starry look in the little girl's eyes, he knew she hadn't meant it that way. She was genuinely happy for him.
Ah, she was still just a little girl after all!
Seeing her like this, Qin Shaofeng smiled warmly to himself, and his whole demeanor softened.
"Since you've been so good, I'll give you the first pill I made!"
Suddenly, Qin Shaofeng held out the Qi Replenishing Pill to Little Yue'er. He had wanted to keep his very first pill as a memento, too.
But when he saw how happy the little girl was for him, he decided to give it to her.
After all, she had witnessed him successfully make his first pill.
"G-give it to me? Really?"
As if she couldn't quite believe him, the little girl widened her eyes and stared at Qin Shaofeng, looking both surprised and adorable.
"Of course!"
Seeing how stunned and adorable the little girl looked, Qin Shaofeng smiled softly and placed the pill in her small, fair hand. Then, unable to resist, he pinched her cute cheek and said with a grin, "Our Little Yue'er is so adorable. If I don't give it to you, who else would I give it to?"
"Oh, that's wonderful! Young Master, you're the best!"
At last seeming convinced, the little girl carefully clasped the Qi Replenishing Pill in her hands and cheered happily. In the end, she even threw herself at Qin Shaofeng and gave him a loud kiss.
Of course, she'd only kissed him on the cheek.
Even so, Qin Shaofeng had never been treated like this by a girl in either of his lives.
His face turned slightly red, his expression stiffened, and he suddenly felt rather awkward.
The little girl, on the other hand, didn't seem to think anything of it. After kissing Qin Shaofeng, she happily admired the pill in her hands.
After getting the Qi Replenishing Pill, the little girl left in high spirits as if she'd received some priceless treasure. She said she was going to find a fine jade bottle and keep the pill safe inside.
From the way she acted, you'd think she hadn't gotten an ordinary one-star Mortal-grade Qi Replenishing Pill, but some incredible, priceless pill. She treasured it dearly!
Qin Shaofeng only smiled softly at this and said nothing more. Instead, he continued making Qi Replenishing Pills.
Having succeeded once, Qin Shaofeng now had much more confidence.
After that, aside from two failures caused by momentary lapses in concentration, he successfully turned all the remaining Vitality Grass into Qi Replenishing Pills.
By the end, Qin Shaofeng had eight one-star Mortal-grade Qi Replenishing Pills. Adding the one in the little girl's hands made nine.
In total, he'd turned seventeen stalks of Vitality Grass into nine Qi Replenishing Pills.
In fact, Qin Shaofeng was now completely confident that he could make Qi Replenishing Pills with a one-hundred-percent success rate.
More than ten attempts had familiarized him with the process. He wasn't as clueless as he'd been at the start.
But the truth was, Qin Shaofeng still knew next to nothing about alchemy.
Not long after, Qin Shaofeng would come to understand this. When he thought back on what he'd done today, even he would feel deeply embarrassed.
More than ten attempts still weren't enough to satisfy Qin Shaofeng, so he went to look for his grandfather.
When Qin Shaofeng brought eight Qi Replenishing Pills to Old Master Qin, the old man was shocked once again.
He had never imagined that, not long after learning that his grandson's cultivation had surged and while he was still marveling at it, his precious grandson would surprise him again.
Alchemy?
His grandson was actually an alchemist, too?
Though Old Master Qin was extremely skeptical, even after seeing the eight Qi Replenishing Pills in Qin Shaofeng's hands, he still wasn't entirely sure.
Could his grandson really do something like this?
But when the old man had someone bring out some medicinal materials and watched Qin Shaofeng refine them right in front of him, he believed it.
He'd seen it with his own eyes. How could he not believe it?
But...
Looking at the cooking pot in front of him, Old Master Qin's whiskers twitched.
What was this business of making pills in a cooking pot?
Still, although he didn't understand any of it, Old Master Qin agreed to Qin Shaofeng's request and had Qin Manor start gathering some Mortal-grade medicinal materials.
As Old Master Qin saw it, this was actually a good thing.
It wasn't just because Qin Shaofeng could become an alchemist. More importantly, if his grandson spent this time making pills, he wouldn't leave Lanjiang City.
That way, something like the Black Hand Butcher Wu Sancai incident wouldn't happen again.
Out in the open, things would be bad enough. But if anyone dared to assassinate Qin Shaofeng in Lanjiang City—its nominal City Lord and an examinee of Lianyang Academy—neither the Lianyang Kingdom nor Lianyang Academy would sit by and do nothing.
Even Zhang Chongshan probably wouldn't dare make any more trouble now.
So, for the time being, staying in Lanjiang City was the safest choice for Qin Shaofeng.
And so, in the days that followed, Qin Shaofeng spent his time making pills or occasionally visiting the Beast Arena in Lanjiang City to get injured Demonic Beasts from Steward Fang.
Before long, time passed, and the date of Lianyang Academy's official entrance examination drew nearer and nearer.
When there were three days left before Lianyang Academy's entrance examination, a figure suddenly flew through the sky above a place not far from Lanjiang City.
Calling it a figure might have been a stretch. It was more like a giant eagle.
Golden feathers covered its body, and its enormous wings stretched a full ten meters across when spread.
A Golden Feathered Eagle!
It was a High-level Demonic Beast, and though it was only a juvenile, its aura alone made it clear that even an ordinary expert at the third or fourth layer of the Xiantian realm might not be its match.
But that wasn't the most astonishing thing. The most astonishing thing was that a young man was lying on the back of this Golden Feathered Eagle, a beast powerful enough to destroy Lanjiang City.
The young man looked about twenty-three or twenty-four. He had a lazy air about him and seemed to lack any drive at all. Even now, on the back of the Golden Feathered Eagle, his eyes were half closed, and he looked ready to doze off.
"Caw!"
The Golden Feathered Eagle let out a soft cry, and the young man opened his eyes.
"Have we arrived?"
The young man muttered softly, sat up, and glanced ahead. Then he spotted Lanjiang City not far away.
"Sigh, I only came to pick up my Junior Sister. Why was I assigned the job of escorting other people, too?"
Looking at Lanjiang City in the distance, the young man sighed softly.
Even so, after sighing, the young man rose and leaped off the Golden Feathered Eagle, heading toward Lanjiang City.
"Little Gold, stay here and amuse yourself. I'll be back soon!"
The young man had his own reason for coming to Lanjiang City, but he also knew the city was a tiny, insignificant place in the Lianyang Kingdom. Its strongest resident was only at the Xiantian Third Layer.
If he rashly brought Little Gold along, a High-level Demonic Beast like this would probably cause quite a stir.
After all, Lian Chenghao was someone who really hated trouble!
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