Third-grade Alchemist

After waiting a few minutes, a burst of footsteps suddenly came from outside the door, gradually drawing nearer.

Then, the wooden door to the VIP room was gently opened, and a man in his thirties walked in.

"Hello, honored guest. I am Lu Jin, the manager of the Black Rock City branch. Do you require a Third-grade Pill Recipe?"

After entering the room, the man stepped forward, cupped his fists in greeting, and asked politely.

"That's right. Do you have one here?"

Lin Feng nodded slightly and asked again.

Manager Lu Jin glanced at the brim of Lin Feng's black hooded robe and replied, "Our Black Rock City branch does indeed have two Third-grade Pill Recipes."

Lu Jin then introduced them to Lin Feng. "These two Third-grade Pill Recipes are for the Qi Breaking Pill and the Injury Calming Pill."

"After taking the Qi Breaking Pill, a Dou Zhe can advance by one star. However, it is useless for breaking through to the Dou Master realm."

"As for the Injury Calming Pill, it is an excellent healing medicinal pill with fairly good effects on common injuries."

"I'll take the Qi Breaking Pill Recipe. How many gold coins?"

After hearing Lu Jin's description of the two recipes, Lin Feng immediately took a liking to the Qi Breaking Pill Recipe and asked.

"Three hundred and fifty thousand gold coins is all it takes for you to take it away, honored guest."

Hearing this, Lin Feng raised his brow slightly. Wasn't that price a little too cheap?

On Dou Qi Continent, aside from the unattainable Emperor-grade medicinal pills, medicinal pills were divided into grades one through nine.

Some unranked or relatively poor First-grade Pill Recipes were simply too low-level. They required few materials and were not particularly complex.

Thus, most alchemists were unwilling to waste precious Soul Power inscribing such low-grade Pill Recipes.

However, for Second-grade recipes and above, an alchemist generally had to use Soul Power as ink to inscribe them onto specially made scrolls. Moreover, the failure rate was extremely high.

To inscribe a Third-grade Pill Recipe, even if one hired a Fourth-grade Alchemist to make it, it would take at least one or two years!

Yet it was being sold for only three hundred and fifty thousand. If there was nothing wrong with this recipe, he would never believe it even if he were beaten to death.

Seemingly sensing Lin Feng's doubts, Lu Jin explained, "The reason for the low price is that these two Pill Recipes have each already been read four times. Now, they only have one final chance to be read in full."

"No wonder!"

Upon hearing his explanation, Lin Feng immediately understood the reason for the low price.

Each time a Pill Recipe inscribed with Soul Power was read, it consumed some of the Soul Power within the scroll, causing the Soul Imprint inside to grow fainter.

Once a Pill Recipe had been read more than five times, its contents would basically become fragmented and incomplete.

Reading it again at that point meant relying on one's own ability to interpret the unclear portions, which would undoubtedly waste a great deal of time and energy.

Although these two Pill Recipes could still be read in full, there was only one chance left.

This meant that if someone bought one of these recipes, it would be difficult to exchange it with others again or let their juniors study it.

Therefore, unless they truly had no other choice, most people would not want to buy such a Pill Recipe.

But to Lin Feng, it did not matter much.

All he wanted now was to obtain a Third-grade Pill Recipe as soon as possible and improve his alchemy skills. He had never intended to trade the recipe again.

Therefore, he did not care how many times it had been read, so long as he could read the contents in full.

With that thought, he took out the Storage Ring containing the gold coins he had obtained from the cave, along with a Gold Coin Card, and handed them over. "Let's make the trade."

Lu Jin was delighted. After gathering dust in the treasury for so long, one of the two Pill Recipes had finally been sold.

He hurriedly accepted the items Lin Feng handed over and examined them. There were roughly over two hundred thousand gold coins inside the Storage Ring.

Together with the balance on the Gold Coin Card, it was enough to purchase the Pill Recipe. His tone immediately became more respectful. "Please wait a moment, honored guest. We will prepare it right away."

With that, he left the VIP room and headed to the treasury to retrieve the item.

After all, for something as valuable as a Third-grade Pill Recipe, he alone had the authority to remove it from the Black Rock City branch's treasury.

After a while, Lu Jin returned. This time, the maid behind him carried a jade tray in her hands.

The maid followed Lu Jin to Lin Feng's side, bent down, raised the jade tray, and said softly, "Honored guest, please."

Lin Feng's eyes, hidden beneath his robe, swept over the Storage Ring on the tray. It seemed that the item he wanted was inside.

He raised a hand and picked it up, took out the scroll, and examined it for a while. After confirming there was no problem, he quickly left the Mittel Auction House.

After changing his disguise in a secluded alley, he casually entered an inn in the city, rented a room, and settled in.

He took out the Qi Breaking Pill Recipe from his Storage Ring, pressed it against his forehead, and slowly sent his Soul Perception into it.

In an instant, the information within the scroll flowed directly into his mind.

Qi Breaking Pill, a Third-grade Medicinal Pill. After taking it, not only could a Dou Zhe advance by one star.

The excess energy within the pill would also wash over the user's body once, providing a slight effect of strengthening the muscles and bones.

However, it must not be taken when a Dou Zhe was breaking through to the Dou Master realm.

Because the Qi Breaking Pill could not help a Dou Zhe break through to Dou Master!

Furthermore, the pill's energy could run rampant within the body, potentially disrupting the user's breakthrough and causing it to fail.

Remember this well!

Required medicinal herbs: a second-tier magic core, Qi Containing Grass, Flowerless Vine...

A moment later, Lin Feng finished reading the information in the Pill Recipe and slowly opened his eyes.

Looking at the scroll in his hand, even though he had already experienced soul reading once before, he could not help but marvel at the wonder of this method.

However, just as the Mittel Auction House had said, the Soul Imprint within was already quite faint when he read it.

If it was read again in the future, how much could still be understood would be up to fate.

He put away the Pill Recipe and searched through his several Storage Rings.

He discovered that Mu She's collection contained several second-tier magic cores. Adding those to the medicinal herbs in Boss Yao's Storage Ring, he could gather enough materials for three batches of Qi Breaking Pills.

After sorting through the Gold Coin Cards he had on hand, he found that he had a little over one hundred thousand gold coins in total, and he immediately felt relieved.

These gold coins should be enough to support his practice until he successfully refined a Qi Breaking Pill.

One month later.

Lin Feng stared fixedly at the ugly, irregular Nascent Pill inside the cauldron, terrified that the slightest mistake might occur again.

As the flames nurtured it, the Nascent Pill gradually became smoother and rounder, and only then did Lin Feng slowly relax.

Not long afterward, with a wave of his hand, a silver-white medicinal pill landed precisely in the jade bottle in his hand.

"Hehe."

Lin Feng, whose face was pale from the heavy depletion of Dou Qi, gazed at the Qi Breaking Pill in his hand and said excitedly, "I can be considered a Third-grade Alchemist now, right?"

However, when he thought of the pitiful four-digit balance on his Gold Coin Card, much of his excitement was immediately swept away.

A bitter smile appeared on his lips as he muttered to himself, "Sigh, no wonder so many people fight desperately to join major factions. Going it alone really is too disadvantageous. I have to handle everything myself. It seems that once I find Qing Lin, I can consider going to Jia Nan Academy."

There have been quite a few matters recently, so I did not carefully proofread the chapters before posting them, resulting in many mistakes. I am deeply sorry.

At the same time, I would like to thank those readers who pointed them out.

Thanks to Fukua._Ea for the reward.

Thanks to Lu Yifan for the monthly ticket.