"These are seven months' worth of defective and waste [Wood Origin Pills]. They're all here."
Master Mo pointed to the stack of long wooden boxes on the table, then carefully explained to Lin Changheng how to handle the defective pills.
Only after listening did Lin Changheng understand.
It turned out that dealing with defective [Wood Origin Pills] wasn't complicated, but it did require a certain level of skill and consumed a tremendous amount of time and effort.
That was also the fundamental reason Master Mo had only given Lin Changheng the [Crimson Flame Pill] recipe back then.
He had to reverse the twelve pill formulas, merging the demonic beast's blood essence into twelve of the steps used to combine the pills.
The goal was to extract the [Green Wood Snake] blood essence contained within them.
Only a qualified alchemist could do it!
Afterward, the pills were all sent back to the Xu Family, not sold to outsiders.
They could be used to raise the eggs of a certain spirit fish in the Black Water River, giving the hatchlings a better foundation, a higher survival rate, and better growth in the future.
But because the process took too much time, Master Mo had always simply brought them back each year and handed them over to his clan.
Though they had repeatedly asked him to handle the pills himself, Master Mo had kept brazenly shirking the task. The clan could do nothing but laugh and shake their heads.
But after doing it so many times, even Master Mo had started to feel rather embarrassed. Now that Lin Changheng had volunteered, he simply took the opportunity to pass the task on to him.
Young people should do more and learn more. It wouldn't hurt them!
Before Master Mo could even bring out this rather shameless "persuasion" that made his old face burn, Lin Changheng had already taken the task off his hands. Master Mo was deeply moved!
Then he watched Lin Changheng gather up the eight long wooden boxes of defective [Wood Origin Pills] and the three boxes of [Crimson Flame Pills], hug them tightly, and carry them downstairs. His attitude toward the task filled Master Mo with even more emotion.
If you're going to take on a disciple, let it be someone like Lin Changheng!
"Wait!"
Master Mo suddenly called out, stopping Lin Changheng.
"What is it, Master Mo?"
Lin Changheng's heart gave a start.
"Take this. It's a storage pouch I replaced some time ago. It has a space of one cubic zhang. Don't turn your nose up at it. Just consider it a congratulatory gift for your promotion to alchemist."
A gray storage pouch flew over, wrapped in a strand of magical energy.
"How could I? Thank you, Master Mo. I'll treasure it!" Lin Changheng's eyes lit up.
"Heh, there's no need to thank me. Go on!"
After finishing his pill formulas in the alchemy room, Lin Changheng returned to the small cultivation room on the first floor of the shop.
He waved his hand and took out the last of the eight long wooden boxes of [Wood Origin Pills] from his storage pouch.
He had heard plenty about the wonders of storage pouches. Even the lowest-grade ones, with a space of one cubic zhang, were worth a hundred low-grade spirit stones.
That was thirty percent more than the price of a low-grade magical artifact.
Secondhand storage pouches with obvious signs of use still cost sixty or seventy spirit stones. They simply weren't in much demand. People worried they might be stolen goods and bring trouble, so they stayed well clear.
When he first got the pouch, he had spent quite a while playing with it, putting things in and taking them out. Only then had he carefully hidden it beneath his robe, to keep anyone from seeing it.
"Let's continue!"
Lin Changheng was patient. He could have extracted all the [Green Wood Snake] blood essence at once, but he had chosen to do it slowly.
A dozen or so pills a day.
It had taken him more than ten days to finish. This was the final batch!
Even if Master Mo suddenly stopped him and inspected the storage pouch, he wouldn't find a single thing amiss!
That was Lin Changheng's own brand of prudence!
He opened the wooden box. There were a dozen or so defective pills inside, and he swept his hand over them.
At the same time, he connected his thoughts to the [Origin Cauldron] at the center of his sea of consciousness.
Whoosh!
A flash of green light, and the blood essence was instantly extracted from every defective [Wood Origin Pill].
Then it sank into his sea of consciousness. The Origin Cauldron gave a faint tremor, and its rosy glow spread out. Beside the golden and crimson treasure seeds, a third seed appeared, its surface a verdant green.
[Green Wood Snake Treasure Seed · Spirit Snatching Transformation in Progress]
[Spirit Snatch: 79/100]
[Effect: Common-grade demonic beast bloodline. Naturally attuned to wood. Innate talents: Entanglement, Poison Neutralization, Miasma Spray. Once Spirit Snatching Transformation is complete, choose one to refine.]
"I've already gathered almost eighty percent! In another two or three months, this [Green Wood Snake Treasure Seed] will complete its Spirit Snatching Transformation!"
A hint of satisfaction flashed through Lin Changheng's eyes.
He hadn't expected to make so much progress in such a short time.
"Entanglement, Poison Neutralization, Miasma Spray... Which should I choose?"
Lin Changheng had been torn over it for some time. Aside from Entanglement, both [Poison Neutralization] and [Miasma Spray] seemed useful. Today, he had finally made up his mind.
"Poison Neutralization!"
Lin Changheng decided to choose the ability that could protect him.
Unlike high-level cultivators, Qi Refining Realm cultivators had limited methods at their disposal and were heavily reliant on poisons. All sorts of poisons came in endless varieties.
Besides, this place was not far from the Wilderness border. The Wilderness was teeming with poisonous insects and beasts, and poisonous gases and miasma were commonplace. Anyone could fall victim without knowing how.
Whether during the "Great Reclamation" or the "Small Reclamation," plenty of cultivators had been crippled by poison, their Dao Paths destroyed.
Having a method of [Poison Neutralization] would certainly put his mind at ease.
After thinking it through, Lin Changheng touched the crimson treasure seed and took a look.
[Fire Crow Treasure Seed: First Layer]
[Spirit Snatch: 22/100]
Mm, the progress was proceeding as planned.
Next, Lin Changheng began counting up what he had on hand.
He was quite well off.
He had originally had only one spirit stone left.
From last month's alchemy, he had received one-tenth of the pills he made, which amounted to five [Crimson Flame Pills]. He sold them to the shop at the going rate and earned ten spirit stones.
Adding the three spirit stones issued to apprentices, then subtracting the twelve he had spent on six [Blood Replenishing Pills] that would last him half a year, he had two left.
But that wasn't the bulk of it.
The key was that he had twenty-five genuine [Crimson Flame Pills] hidden in his storage pouch. He had also refined all five batches of ingredients he'd originally put in storage!
At the going rate, they were worth fifty low-grade spirit stones!
Lin Changheng had taken one of them himself.
It really had worked. He estimated it was equivalent to five days of hard cultivation.
But it would take him half a month to fully refine and slowly absorb that one pill.
And it contained a trace of latent pill poison, though very little.
Lin Changheng was concerned, so he had asked Master Mo about it. The answer was that he should take them in moderation.
Master Mo recommended taking one genuine [Crimson Flame Pill] a month. The benefits outweighed the drawbacks.
More than that, and the drawbacks outweighed the benefits.
If he took a [Premium Grade] [Crimson Flame Pill], its medicinal effects would be stronger and it would contain even less pill poison. He could try taking two a month.
Together, they would be equivalent to half a month of hard cultivation!
Master Mo encouraged Lin Changheng to work toward refining pills of that quality.
He even used himself as an example, saying that the rate of [Premium Grade] pills in one of his batches was only one in ten, and not every batch yielded one.
Some extremely poor mid-grade alchemists never managed to refine even a single [Premium Grade] pill in their entire lives.
"Premium Grade pills..."
Lin Changheng walked home, deep in thought.
He considered himself quite skilled at refining [Crimson Flame Pills], but after seeing the [Premium Grade] pill Master Mo had produced, he knew he still had a long way to go.
He had tried again and again, but still hadn't succeeded.
"Could it be that my Fire Control is still lacking? That I haven't refined it deeply enough?"
As he thought this, he suddenly saw a slender silhouette at his front door, knocking.
He couldn't help but freeze.
Before you continue