"Kid, don't you believe your father?"
Qi Fei smiled kindly.
"How could I not believe my half-brother, born of different parents?"
Xiao Yan, tied to a wooden pillar, gave Qi Fei an ingratiating smile.
"Then why did you try to run?"
Qi Fei continued.
"I just remembered that I left the alchemy furnace at home burning. I was worried I'd ruin the pills."
Xiao Yan made up a story.
"I see. It was something important."
Qi Fei looked very understanding.
"I'm glad you understand. Um, could you untie me first? I'll go tend the fire and come right back."
Xiao Yan asked tentatively.
"No need. I know your alchemy skills inside out. I'll open the furnace now and refine pills for you at your level to make up for your loss."
Qi Fei spoke with confidence.
"Let me ask, what exactly do you mean by 'at my level'?"
Xiao Yan didn't quite understand what Qi Fei meant.
Was he saying I was lousy?
"Obviously, I mean your top-tier craft of turning Healing Medicine into aphrodisiacs."
Qi Fei said it as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
"Putting everything else aside, this skill may not be orthodox, but it's still a way for new alchemists to make a living."
As everyone knew, once something had anything to do with virility, it could become a top-selling product.
For example, all kinds of animal penises sold domestically, and mummy powder in the West back in the day.
The biggest problem facing new alchemists was that they couldn't refine pills that were properly formed and worth selling.
Practice required ingredients, and ingredients required money. If a batch failed, there were no pills to sell, which meant no money to buy more ingredients, which in turn meant no way to practice—