Alchemy was a mentally and physically demanding task that required great mental endurance. At least, that was how Xiao Han felt when he was refining pills.
Alchemy was a mentally and physically demanding task that required great mental endurance. At least, that was how Xiao Han felt when he was refining pills.
Even so, Xiao Han had only realized how green he was after seeing Old Man Yao concoct an entire batch of Foundation Establishment Spirit Liquid with nothing but one hand.
Even without a pill cauldron, he could still hold the medicinal liquid firmly in midair without letting any of its medicinal properties escape. The Bone-Chilling Cold Flame he controlled obediently released flames according to Yao Lao's wishes, like a puppet on strings.
From these details alone, it was clear just how powerful Old Man Yao's Soul Power was, and how high his alchemy skills had reached.
Just as Xiao Han finished watching Old Man Yao's entire refining process, a voice suddenly rang out in his mind.
"Ding! You have learned how to refine the second-grade pill Foundation-Building Spirit Liquid. Would you like to spend 1,000 energy points to upgrade its proficiency to the highest quality?
Foundation-Building Spirit Liquid (1/1,000)."
"No."
Xiao Han silently refused the system's offer. He knew that the higher his proficiency with a pill, the more smoothly he could refine it and the better its quality would be. But once his proficiency reached its maximum, it would mean he had completely mastered the process of refining Foundation-Building Spirit Liquid and could never fail, no matter what.
But Xiao Han still declined. For one thing, he didn't have that many Energy Value right now. For another, with Old Man Yao's guidance, his proficiency would skyrocket anyway, so spending Energy Value on it was pointless.
"Ding! After observing an alchemy grandmaster refine pills, your second-grade alchemist proficiency has increased by 100."
Delight flickered across Xiao Han's face as he quietly picked up a batch of Foundation Establishment Spirit Liquid ingredients, ready to follow Old Man Yao's example.
But one careless mistake, and the first ingredient he put into the Medicine Cauldron burned to ash.
Xiao Han didn't lose heart. He picked up the second ingredient and began extracting its medicinal essence, while Old Man Yao hovered above the Medicine Cauldron, constantly correcting his technique.
"Ding! Thanks to the guidance of an alchemy grandmaster, your second-grade alchemist proficiency has increased by 105."
"Ding! Thanks to the guidance of an alchemy grandmaster, your second-grade alchemist proficiency has increased by 201."
"Ding! Thanks to the guidance of an alchemy grandmaster, your second-grade alchemist proficiency has increased by 160."
System notifications like these rang out nonstop. In just one hour, Xiao Han's refining technique had grown far more polished thanks to his rapidly rising proficiency. He was already no worse than some experienced Second Grade Alchemists.
After completing three batches of Foundation Establishment Spirit Liquid under Old Man Yao's instruction, Xiao Han's Alchemist proficiency had increased by nearly two thousand in no time at all.
"You successfully refined three portions of Foundation-Building Spirit Liquid. Its proficiency has increased.
Foundation-Building Spirit Liquid (240/1,000)."
The system notification sounded in his mind again. As expected, his Foundation Establishment Spirit Liquid proficiency had gone up! The three batches had raised it by 240 points, which meant each successful batch added 80 points.
He checked the Secondary Profession panel again. The Alchemist proficiency bar had changed considerably.
"Secondary Profession: Alchemist (Second Grade)
Experience (1,320/5,000)
Pills Available for Refining:
First-Grade Pills:
Click to Expand
Second-Grade Pills:
Click to Expand
You can spend 3,680 energy points to advance to a third-grade alchemist."
Xiao Han beamed at the incredible increase in his proficiency. He was lucky to have taken a Grandmaster Alchemist as his teacher. If he had to slowly fill that enormous Alchemist proficiency gap with his pitiful Energy Value, he would have been in tears.
Old Man Yao was also pleased that his disciple had managed to refine Foundation Establishment Spirit Liquid, whose difficulty was nearly on par with a Grade 3 Pill, so quickly. He nodded approvingly. "Han'er, your talent for alchemy has exceeded even my expectations. This batch of Foundation Establishment Spirit Liquid is nearly perfect. Even among ordinary Second Grade Alchemists, the more skilled ones might not be able to match your technique."
"You flatter me, Teacher. It's because you taught me so well."
Xiao Han smiled and modestly replied.
"If you were as stupid as a pig, even the best teaching wouldn't help you." Old Man Yao stroked his beard with a smile, then turned to Xiao Yan, who was staring at Xiao Han refining pills with a bewildered look.
"This time, I only wanted you to see what an Alchemist's work entails. Now that you've seen it, go cultivate your Dou Qi."
"Whew—I'd never have guessed an Alchemist's work would be so mentally exhausting. Looks like without a certain level of strength, you might not even have the stamina to refine high-grade pills." Xiao Yan spoke with some trepidation.
"Little Yanzi, by accident, you've named one of the requirements for becoming a High-Rank Alchemist."
Old Man Yao smiled as he explained, "Refining high-grade pills does indeed require strength to match.
"Otherwise, a moment of weakness while refining a pill could ruin it and blow up the furnace, wasting all your efforts. Or, after refining a high-grade pill, you might need enough strength to withstand Pill Lightning. Otherwise, both the pill and the Alchemist could be destroyed!"
"Looks like being a High-Rank Alchemist isn't easy either."
Xiao Han cleared away the Medicine Cauldron's residue, took out the formula for the Second Grade Chongyuan Pill, and began studying it on his own.
"Ding! You have learned how to refine the second-grade pill Origin-Replenishing Pill. Would you like to spend 1,000 energy points to upgrade its proficiency to the highest quality?
Origin-Replenishing Pill (1/1,000).
Effect: Increases cultivation speed by one-third. Only effective for Dou Zhe-level cultivators."
Holding up the Chongyuan Pill formula, Xiao Han nodded slightly to Old Man Yao. "Teacher, sorry for the trouble."
"Let's begin..."
Old Man Yao nodded too and began guiding Xiao Han through the refining process.
This alchemy work continued for more than a week.
During that week, Xiao Han kept trying out new pill formulas, and his Alchemist proficiency rose rapidly. But perhaps his understanding of alchemy had reached a bottleneck, because the proficiency he gained from Old Man Yao's instruction gradually dwindled.
Xiao Han also discovered that continuing to refine First Grade Pills no longer increased his First Grade Alchemist proficiency. It only raised his proficiency with First Grade Pills.
So, after guiding Xiao Han for four days, Old Man Yao returned to Xiao Yan to teach him, leaving Xiao Han to refine pills on his own.
After holing up for seven days, Xiao Han decided it was time to stop refining pills. He took stock of what he'd accomplished over the past week.
Nearly fifteen thousand various First Grade Pills, as well as nearly three thousand Second Grade Pills—every last one of them Xiao Han's handiwork.
He'd spent a week at it, yet his refining speed had doubled. That was the overwhelming advantage a Second Grade Alchemist had when refining First Grade Pills!
"Xiao Han Gege!"
After emerging from the training room, utterly exhausted, Xiao Han spotted a graceful, ethereal girl smiling at him. She was holding a food box.
"Xun'er? What brings you here?"
Surprised to see the Gu Clan princess, Xiao Han stretched and yawned.
"Does Xiao Han Gege not welcome Xun'er?"
The girl smiled and lifted the food box in her hands. "Xun'er heard that Xiao Han Gege would be coming out of seclusion today, so she made some food especially for you."
"Then thank you. Have you been waiting long?"
"Not long."
Xiao Han smiled as he took the food box from Xun'er and opened it, inhaling the aroma. "It smells wonderful. I never knew you had such hidden cooking talent, even though you rarely cook."
"I'm glad Xiao Han Gege likes it. Xun'er learned from little sister Qinglin. I ruined quite a few ingredients when I tried making it before." Seeing Xiao Han praise her cooking without reservation, Xiao Xun'er shyly tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.
The two walked to the stone table in the Separate Courtyard. Just as Xiao Han was about to pick up his chopsticks, he looked up at Xiao Xun'er with a smile. "Usually, you call me Cousin Xiao Han or Brother Han, and only call that guy Xiao Yan 'Gege.'
"So why are you calling me Gege today?"
"Xiao Han Gege, you're unbelievable. You're really that sensitive about a form of address?" Xun'er blushed and lowered her head, twisting her index fingers together.
After quite a while, she lifted her flushed face and looked at Xiao Han like a puppy that had done something wrong. "N-no? Is that not okay?"
Under the gaze of such a beautiful and charming girl, Xiao Han was stunned by Xun'er's beauty. He actually froze for a rare moment.
What's gotten into this girl today? Isn't she supposed to like Xiao Yan?
Although Xiao Han was usually kind to Xiao Xun'er, it was only the protective affection of an older brother toward a younger sister. She was beautiful and gentle, but Xiao Han swore that, from childhood to now, he had only ever felt pure sibling affection toward her.
"Did you put on makeup?"
Xiao Han took a closer look. Xiao Xun'er was clearly wearing light makeup. If he hadn't looked carefully, he might not have noticed.
"Xiao Han Gege noticed?"
Maybe it was just his imagination, but Xiao Xun'er seemed happy after he said that.
"Yeah. You look beautiful today."
"Was Xun'er not beautiful before?"
Xiao Xun'er puffed out her adorable cheeks, pretending to be angry.
"Xun'er was already beautiful before. Now, you're as captivating as a fairy."
"Hmph. You caught on fast."
Xiao Xun'er took a bamboo tube containing a chilled drink from her Storage Ring. It was supposedly made by mixing the juice of several low-grade medicinal ingredients, and was popular among the younger generation.
Needless to say, this was another new product that Business Genius Xiao Han had introduced to this world.
Xiao Han took a bite of the food, then his eyes lit up. "This is delicious. Your cooking is already as good as that little Qinglin's. You must have put in a lot of work, right?"
"It's all right. As long as Xiao Han Gege likes it, it's worth it." Xiao Xun'er cupped her face in her hands and happily watched Xiao Han eat, making him feel strangely uncomfortable.
Something was off. What was this girl up to, suddenly treating me like this?
As he lowered his head to eat, Xiao Han considered all sorts of possibilities. After she gave him that technique last time, he had confirmed that Xun'er really did feel deep sibling affection for him. He could rule out his earlier suspicions of a scheme.
Still, because of the Gu Clan, Xiao Han had some doubts about Xiao Xun'er.
But when he happened to look up at Xiao Xun'er, he realized that something seemed different about her gaze.
That gaze... was the same one Qinglin gave him whenever he said something sweet to her.
That look was...
The look of someone in love!
Damn! What was going on? He'd only been away for a little over a month. What on earth had happened?
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