Wood Puppet Fox Seed

Lin Changheng's plan was simple: intersperse the use of one mid-grade defensive magical artifact with two low-grade offensive ones.

Beyond ensuring sufficient self-preservation, this would also allow for a diverse range of attacks.

With the addition of his terrifying and unpredictable [Fire Bullet Art], his sense of security had finally improved by a fair margin.

"This is the one."

Lin Changheng's gaze swept across the items, pointing to a bamboo whip artifact that Xu Xuyang had brought out.

"Alchemist Lin has an incredible eye! Although this [Jade Bamboo Whip] is primarily for offense, it also possesses the effect of binding and trapping enemies; one could say it is both offensive and controlling. It's only seventy spirit stones—a fine choice indeed..."

Steward Xu Xuyang was in a fantastic mood after landing a big client; the corners of his mouth curled high as he offered his praise.

Lin Changheng merely smiled, took out three hundred and thirty spirit stones, and collected the two artifacts. He was escorted all the way to the entrance by the steward, only departing under the man's watchful gaze.

Returning straight to his own courtyard, he began to refine the artifacts in an orderly fashion.

The low-grade artifacts were manageable, and he finished refining them in less than half a day.

The mid-grade artifact, however, took two full days to successfully refine.

During this time, he even paused halfway through to spend a day refining pills in the alchemy room before returning to his work.

When he opened the furnace that day, the results were exactly as Lin Changheng had guessed: ten pills per batch, with two being of premium quality.

The effect of the four-fold Fire Crow's [Fire Control Art: Ascension to Truth] was truly astonishing.

Even Master Mo, a mid-grade alchemist who had been immersed in the craft for ages and dealt with fire day and night, could not match his control.

Whenever Lin Changheng went to the alchemy room, he would often run into Master Mo, and they would frequently chat.

The old man was living quite comfortably these days; he was spirited and in better health, focused solely on alchemy without the trivial management affairs of the alchemy shop to bother him.

Half a month later.

Lin Changheng received a letter.

It was sent by Xu Fugui, who had enlisted for the Land Reclamation and had finally reached the edge of the Wilderness.

Beyond the usual pleasantries and complaints, the letter mentioned only two things.

First, after so many years of Land Reclamation, the Wilderness was now in a deep-water phase.

It was rampant with demonic beasts, endless venomous insects, pervasive miasma, and hidden perils...

Although the work was currently in full swing, progress was slow, with the four-way advance covering little more than twenty miles. Furthermore, cultivators would occasionally retreat while wailing, missing limbs or covered in dark, poisonous bruises; there had even been two instances where entire reclamation teams were wiped out.

Xu Fugui had never seen such scenes before, and his liver and gallbladder trembled at the sight. He forced himself to hold on, yet he did not forget to warn him in the letter, "Brother Lin, if you are summoned, you must not come. You must find another way to extricate yourself."

Second, He stated that the Xu Family woman with spiritual roots whom he had recently married was now pregnant, thanks to his unremitting efforts.

Should he perish out there, he begged Brother Lin to look after them to the best of his ability.

He asked that the mother and child not be bullied.

The letter ended with the words, "I bow my head in gratitude."

After reading it, Lin Changheng raised his brush to reply, but he paused.

Xu Fugui was deep in the perilous Wilderness, surrounded by crisis, yet he still remembered him and had written specifically to warn him. Such friendship truly moved him.

He could not bring himself to write anything like, "Go forth, I shall raise your wife and children; do not worry."

Instead, he lifted his brush and wrote a simple line: "The young child cannot be without a father, and a wife cannot lose her husband. You must take care of yourself and return to comfort your kin."

Following this, he took out two [Miasma-Clearing Pills] that were near-premium quality, tucked them into the folds of the parchment, and sent it off.

Although these two pills were not of premium quality, their medicinal effects were not far off, and they might produce miraculous results when used to neutralize toxins.

This was the only thing he could do for now.

Time slipped away amidst Lin Changheng's methodical alchemy and cultivation.

In the blink of an eye, a month had passed since the standoff between the Xu and Chen families in the Wilderness, and friction on the front lines was constant.

The atmosphere within the clan became increasingly polarized.

Those who were terrified were filled with dread, hoping the clan would exercise restraint and maintain temporary stability.

There were also those who were bellicose and indignant, believing that the Chen Family was snatching food from the tiger's mouth—stealing the Xu Family's interests in daily life and eyeing the spirit lands within the Wilderness was a sign of contempt and bullying toward the Xu Family. They demanded that the clan launch a direct attack on the Chen Family's encampment to teach them a lesson and vent their anger!

Lin Changheng offered no comment on this, focusing only on his alchemy.

Having finished a batch of pills, he walked out of the alchemy room, looking spirited and showing not a trace of fatigue.

"Alchemist Lin, the steward requests your presence."

A man had been waiting at the door, and as soon as he saw Lin Changheng, he immediately delivered the message.

He looked at Lin Changheng's state and was secretly amazed. He had been waiting here for a long time and had seen several other alchemists emerge from the room looking utterly exhausted, as if they had been drained dry.

Lin Changheng, however, was completely different; it was no wonder the steward held him in such high regard.

"Very well, go quickly; do not keep Brother Xuzhong waiting."

Lin Changheng seemed to recall something, a surge of joy in his heart, and immediately strode away, moving like the wind.

Xu Xuzhong, the steward of the General Affairs Hall, had grown much closer to Lin Changheng recently. After a drunken banquet, he had felt that meeting Lin Changheng was a case of meeting too late in life, and insisted they address each other as brothers.

Lin Changheng could not refuse him, so he had to comply, calling Xu Xuzhong—who was nearly twice his age—"Brother."

"Yes."

The two arrived at a side chamber in the General Affairs Hall, where Lin Changheng saw Xu Xuzhong buried in work behind a desk, with a tall stack of ten long wooden boxes piled to his right.

He was extremely familiar with these boxes; they were precisely what were used to store pills.

"Did you summon me, Brother?"

"Changheng, you've arrived? Drink some tea on the side and rest for a moment while I finish this urgent matter at hand."

Xu Xuzhong looked up, revealing a dark and solemn face. He squeezed out a smile, gave a brief instruction, and returned to his desk. By then, the attendant who had led the way had already served some spirit tea.

"Naturally, urgent matters take precedence; there is no rush."

Lin Changheng sensed his mood and spoke accordingly, suppressing the craving for the essence blood of the waste pills in his heart.

It was not until the sun had set that Xu Xuzhong finished his paperwork and sent it off with a servant. He then set down his brush, offered an apology, and began to discuss the business at hand, handing all the long wooden boxes over to him.

They were indeed the waste pills of the [Miasma-Clearing Pill].

Moreover, the entire quantity from the clan had been given to him in one go.

They were not being distributed among many people as they had been in the past.

Lin Changheng gathered all the rectangular boxes, expressed his gratitude, chatted for a few more moments, and then took his leave.

"Wait..."

Xu Xuzhong seemed to think of something and suddenly called him back.

"What is it, Brother?"

Lin Changheng turned and smiled slightly, only to see Xu Xuzhong looking as if he had something to say but was holding back.

His mind stirred instantly; could this be related to the urgent matter he had just been handling?

On the surface, however, he remained calm and composed.

A strange silence fell over the side chamber. After a long while, Xu Xuzhong sighed softly and spoke again:

"When you return this time, you must ponder the Dao of alchemy and refine your pill-making skills..."

"Trust your brother, it will be to your benefit. Hmm, go on then..."

This cryptic, head-and-tail-less remark left Lin Changheng somewhat confused, so he could only respond with a "Yes" before departing with his doubts.

But upon further reflection, Lin Changheng realized that given Xu Xuzhong's high seniority and position within the clan, if even he found it difficult to speak, it likely was not a simple matter.

"I shall do as he says; refining my alchemy can only be beneficial and never harmful."

Back in his courtyard.

He brushed his palm across the ten boxes of waste pills.

Whoosh!

Above the Origin Cauldron, a new Emerald Treasure Seed slowly took shape.