Spirit Sprout Pill Complete

Another three days passed.

The five-element true qi within Chen Jue had reached 281 strands. After he maxed out ten thousand proficiency points in the Wind-Splitting Saber Art, it transformed into a pale silver spirit pattern that clung to his right arm.

Unfortunately, his Six Directions Saber Art remained unaffected. 3,780 points were still 3,780 points; the complete mastery of the Wind-Splitting Saber Art had not stirred even the slightest ripple in it.

Unwilling to accept this, Chen Jue touched the pale silver spirit pattern, no thicker than his little finger, on his arm and tried his saber art again.

Then he made a startling discovery—

Whenever he used a move like a "cleaving strike," the spiritual energy of heaven and earth automatically poured into the spirit pattern on his arm, increasing the power of his saber strike by thirty percent out of thin air.

Damn, this boost was utterly unreasonable—like temporarily equipping a spirit-powered exoskeleton whenever he cleaved with his saber...

Chen Jue was shaken. With his strength stacking layer upon layer as it did now, he could rival some of the weaker seventh-level true qi martial artists.

"What a pity. If I hadn't taken Ding Ze out along with the others that night, I could've found him for a spar now..."

As Chen Jue pondered this, he suddenly heard someone unlocking the front door in the living room.

He looked up in surprise and saw three women—two adults and one child—flooding into the living room amid a chattering clamor, their hands laden with shopping bags.

"Cousin! I missed you to death!"

He Tang wore a short-sleeved red top today, her snowy skin like maple leaves reflected against snow.

She changed her shoes first, spread her arms wide, and pounced toward Chen Jue.

With a look of disgust, Chen Jue sidestepped and reached out to shove He Tang onto the sofa beside him.

"Young master, come try on the new clothes I bought for you."

Madam He Yin placed most of the shopping bags on the dining table, then picked out three of them and walked over to Chen Jue.

"Why are you back?"

Chen Jue let his mother hold the clothes against him for comparison as he asked in confusion.

"Your chief already killed off the Rat Gang remnants. Wouldn't it be a waste of money for us to keep staying in the inner city?"

Madam He Yin rolled her eyes at Chen Jue, then held the clothes against him and admired her son's handsome face from top to bottom.

"Tsk, tsk. With A-Jue's looks, if he doesn't bring home some aristocratic family's daughter to be my daughter-in-law, there's simply no justice in heaven or earth."

Aunt Chen Yun had always been a "Chen Jue fan." She regarded this nephew and grandson of hers as one of a kind under heaven.

"This brat..."

"Look how good Qingqing is to him. He stayed home nursing his wounds for ten days, and that girl spent ten days in the kitchen making medicinal meals for him..."

"If I were him, I'd have offered myself to her long ago." Madam He Yin spoke with frustration at his failure to live up to expectations.

"By heaven and earth, Miss Pei only sees me as an older brother, all right?!"

"Stop playing matchmaker and ruining her reputation."

Chen Jue spoke righteously, squashing the rumor on the spot.

The two adults and one child all looked at him with gossiping eyes, their faces written with disbelief.

An older brother?

What kind of younger sister would squat in the kitchen every day to brew medicine for an older brother with no blood relation to her?

This older brother was probably a lover brother...

Seeing that they did not believe him, Chen Jue did not force the matter. He slipped into the kitchen and began fussing with his jar of "spirit grain spirit sprouts," which had been left to settle for three days.

"Huh? Cousin, what are you doing?"

When she saw Chen Jue pour half a pot of amber-colored slurry from the earthen jar, He Tang came closer.

"What is that? Wine you brewed yourself?"

"Wow! It smells so good! Pour some out and let me have a taste!"

He Tang circled around Chen Jue, staring at the pool of amber liquid in the specially made iron cauldron with shining eyes, practically drooling.

"Go away, go away. One mouthful from you would cost me two whole spirit stones."

Chen Jue pushed He Tang aside in disdain and lit the fire beneath the stove.

"Huh? Two spirit stones for one mouthful? Is this thing made of gold?" He Tang stared blankly at Chen Jue, frightened by the sky-high price of "two spirit stones" per sip.

"Can't you tell? I'm refining pills." Chen Jue said it as though it were only natural.

"Huh?!!"

The two adults and one child were all stunned by Chen Jue's words. They stared at the amber slurry in the iron cauldron, where tiny bubbles rose with soft gurgles.

"Young master, who are you trying to fool? Other people at least use a pill furnace to refine pills. You're using a rice cooker inner pot?"

Madam He Yin felt that her son was spouting grand nonsense.

"What do you mean, a rice cooker inner pot?!"

Chen Jue became anxious and corrected her. "This is an alchemy vessel forged from red ironstone! As long as it's heated with an open flame below, the free metal- and fire-aspect spiritual energy in heaven and earth can enter the spirit liquid through the cauldron itself..."

"This fills in the hollow five-element spiritual energy within the spirit liquid. Then, by stirring it, they can be blended into one. Once the inside turns sandy and reveals a pale golden sheen... it condenses into Spirit Sprout Pills with six times the spiritual power of the original spirit grain!"

As he stirred the spirit liquid in the iron cauldron with iron chopsticks, Chen Jue explained the process of making Spirit Sprout Pills to them.

The two adults and one child could not understand a word Chen Jue was saying, but that did not stop them from being deeply shaken.

Especially when they watched the slurry in the iron cauldron do exactly as Chen Jue described: the constant stirring drove off its moisture, and it gradually turned into pale golden flowing sand.

Their breathing grew three times heavier.

No way? No way?!

They had only been apart for a little over ten days, and their Chen Jue had already transformed into an alchemist admired by all?

Was this really reasonable?

Feeling the shock of his closest relatives, a pleased curve slowly rose at the corner of Chen Jue's mouth.

Then tragedy struck because he had stirred unevenly.

A hint of scorched color appeared in the pale golden, translucent flowing sand due to uneven heating.

Chen Jue's heart ached at once. He hurriedly quickened his movements, stirring the scorched tint evenly through the mixture.

About ten minutes later, the spirit liquid in the steamer began to boil over, with huge bubbles rising from the bottom.

Chen Jue quickly extinguished the fire and poured the thick slurry bit by bit into the pill molds he had prepared beforehand.

One pill, two pills, three pills...

As forty pale yellow Spirit Sprout Pills took shape in the pill molds, the proficiency of Chen Jue's Basic Alchemy Art instantly surged by 80 points, reaching (440/100000), only one step away from "Mastery" in the technique.

Chen Jue peeled a Spirit Sprout Pill from its mold and popped it into his mouth.

The pill was yellow, with fine golden sand flowing within it.

Because a flaw had appeared during the refinement process, some loss in the pill's potency was unavoidable.

But Chen Jue had never taken a normal Spirit Sprout Pill before. He only knew that after swallowing this pill, he gained roughly one strand of five-element true qi.

Converted into single-aspect true qi, that meant five strands.

At black market prices, ten strands of true qi were worth around one spirit stone. This "Yellow-Sprout Pill" was worth approximately 0.4 to 0.5 spirit stones.

He had produced forty pills in one batch. If they sold well, he could almost earn back the entire cost of the ingredients.

I really am an alchemy genius!

Chen Jue was delighted. He casually peeled three Yellow-Sprout Pills from the molds and gave them to the two adults and one child.

Although his mother and aunt had not undergone martial Foundation Establishment, their overall blood and qi had remained above the seventh level.

After eating Yellow-Sprout Pills, the spiritual power would not remain in their bodies, but it would strengthen them to a certain extent. It could still be considered putting everything to good use.

Only He Tang's blood and qi cultivation was a little lacking. After swallowing a Yellow-Sprout Pill, she would most likely be unable to handle such nourishment and make a tiny fool of herself.

But what did his little sister embarrassing herself have to do with him, her older brother?