第50章 做担保

Soon, the white smoke within the pill furnace dissipated. Song Huai leaned in to look, his pupils contracting uncontrollably.

At the bottom of the furnace lay six round, plump pills.

"This... you produced six Blood-Qi Pills on your very first attempt?!"

Song Huai's voice rose involuntarily.

As the chief Alchemist of the Benevolent Heart Medicine Hall, he could only manage five pills at most in a single batch of Blood-Qi Pills.

Yet Jiang Feng, handling the furnace for the first time, had produced six.

This result was enough to explain everything. Could it be that the boy's seemingly chaotic operation just now was actually the correct way to refine Blood-Qi Pills?

He took the six pills out one by one and examined them closely in his palm.

Four were low-grade, two were mid-grade; the overall quality was not particularly high.

But for someone who had never operated a furnace before, this was already an astonishing achievement.

The raw edges and flaws in the details would naturally be smoothed out with more practice, and the quality of the finished pills would certainly rise with the tide.

"Teacher, is this batch of pills... acceptable?" Jiang Feng asked tentatively.

Song Huai did not answer immediately.

He stared at Jiang Feng's excessively young face, his eyes swirling with complex, indescribable emotions—part amazement, part deep reflection.

After a long silence, he let out a deep breath, his tone carrying an unprecedented gravity:

"Jiang Feng, you are a true alchemy genius.

Surpassing me in the future is a certainty. Your prospects are limitless."

Jiang Feng felt a bit embarrassed by the praise. He scratched his head, his tone tinged with shyness:

"Teacher, isn't that a bit of an exaggeration? I didn't really do anything special, just made a small, impulsive change during the pill-coalescing step."

He had no extraordinary alchemy talent. That move hadn't been a sudden whim, but rather experience forcibly instilled into his brain by the system after his proficiency in Blood-Qi Pills reached the minor achievement stage.

All he had done was replicate that process at the right moment.

But Song Huai waved his hand, his expression growing even more solemn, his tone devoid of any polite formality:

"Jiang Feng, you need not be humble.

You have no idea what your actions just now signify. To make an improvement in the refining method of a long-inherited recipe like the Blood-Qi Pill is a matter of profound significance."

At this point, Song Huai fell silent, his gaze landing on Jiang Feng with a rare sense of unease.

This was a method Jiang Feng had devised, yet he had told him everything without reservation.

He had only taken the boy on as an Alchemy Boy today, and not only had he provided no decent favors, but he had also taken a massive advantage of him.

He had always been proud and self-disciplined, but the sense of indebtedness now was impossible to suppress. He paced back and forth in the alchemy room, brow furrowed, calculating how to compensate him.

Jiang Feng did not know what Song Huai was thinking, but seeing his grave expression, he waited quietly to the side, not daring to disturb him.

After a while, Song Huai suddenly stopped, a flash of light in his eyes. He turned to look at Jiang Feng solemnly and said, word by word:

"Jiang Feng, with your current level of alchemy, you have fully met all the conditions to become a true Alchemist.

It is too much of a grievance to keep you as my Alchemy Boy. I am willing to personally vouch for you so that you may officially become an Alchemist of the Benevolent Heart Medicine Hall."

Jiang Feng was stunned.

An Alchemy Boy was, at the end of the day, just a laborer, but an Alchemist's status in the Benevolent Heart Medicine Hall was entirely different.

The Alchemy Hall was the core of the medicine hall, and the benefits for an Alchemist were extraordinarily high—the monthly stipend far exceeded that of guards and apprentices, and even most stewards could not compare.

As for status, it went without saying; Alchemists answered almost exclusively to the Wu Family itself. Other stewards had no authority to command them and had to be polite and smiling whenever they met.

After all, everyone had times when they needed an Alchemist's help. Offending one often meant no one else in the entire hall would be willing to refine pills for them, forcing them to spend a fortune to hire someone from the outside.

"Teacher, I only just became an Alchemy Boy today. Wouldn't it be too fast to be promoted to Alchemist already? Perhaps... we should wait a while?"

Jiang Feng was not playing hard to get; he had genuine concerns.

This speed of promotion was far too eye-catching and would inevitably invite more hostility.

Not to mention anything else, the second young master, Wu Han, was only ignoring him for now because he was preoccupied. If he suddenly found out that Jiang Feng had transformed into an Alchemist of the hall, it would be strange if he didn't stir up some trouble.

But his polite refusal did not work.

Song Huai waved his hand, leaving no room for negotiation:

"Your concerns are not problems in my eyes.

What if you just became an Alchemy Boy? You can already refine Blood-Qi Pills independently.

Given the current situation of the hall, and with my personal guarantee, no one can stop you if you want to be an Alchemist."

Jiang Feng opened his mouth, wanting to say more, but Song Huai raised a hand to cut him off, his voice carrying the unquestionable authority unique to a senior:

"Jiang Feng, I know you are humble and not the type to covet fame and fortune. But I have decided this for you; you need not worry about anything else."

Looking at Song Huai's unyielding expression, Jiang Feng finally nodded helplessly.

Meanwhile, in the courtyard of the Guard Hall, the atmosphere was murderous.

The Patrol Team had long since assembled, but instead of lining up to depart as usual, they stood stiffly under the scorching sun, letting the brutal heat bake them, with no one daring to make a sound.

A moment later, Tie Rong pushed open the door and strode into the courtyard.

His gaze swept across the entire team like a blade, yet he could not find the figure he wanted to see.

"Where is Jiang Feng? Why hasn't he arrived yet!"

A hunched middle-aged man trotted out from the end of the line, approaching Tie Rong with a fawning smile, saying cautiously:

"Reporting to Steward Tie, we have already sent men to look for him, but he is nowhere to be found. This one feels... he seems to be deliberately hiding from us."

A cold sneer tugged at the corner of Tie Rong's mouth, though there was no warmth in his eyes. His voice was as gloomy as muffled thunder:

"Interesting. This kid is truly interesting.

It's been a long time since I've run into someone so tired of living. He enters my Guard Hall and dares to disobey my orders? Does he think I, Tie Rong, have a good temper?"

The entire courtyard was deathly silent.

Tie Rong's fury pressed heavily upon everyone's heads; no one dared to provoke him at this moment.

"The patrol mission for this afternoon is canceled."

Tie Rong stood with his hands behind his back, surveying the scene. His tone turned suddenly cruel and decisive, each word falling like a death warrant:

"You have only one task: capture Jiang Feng within the entire medicine hall. You don't need to bring him back in one piece—just make sure he's still breathing."

A ferocious grin spread across his fleshy face.

The patrol members below seemed ignited by a certain vicious energy, shouting their compliance one by one, their expressions excited, as if they were soldiers about to charge into battle.

Just as the entire patrol team was about to surge out of the courtyard gate, a leisurely figure walked in from outside.

Tie Rong narrowed his eyes, recognizing the newcomer as Xie Shu.

He raised an eyebrow, and a bad premonition surged in his heart. Xie Shu coming to find him at this time had everything to do with Jiang Feng.

He snorted inwardly:

Could it be that the coward went to Xie Shu to complain?

No wonder the patrol team couldn't find him after searching the whole hall. How ridiculous. Did that kid really think that by clinging to Xie Shu, he could have an easy life in the medicine hall?