Bottleneck

That evening, after bathing, changing clothes, and resting up, Su Heng and Qing Lin arrived at Chengyue Tower as arranged with Lin Fei.

The food at this restaurant was second to none in Black Rock City. Many Alchemist Guild apprentices dreamed of having a grand meal at Chengyue Tower.

After all, once one reached the Dou Ling realm or above, one could fast without eating, sustain oneself on Dou Qi, and occasionally drink tea. Interest in the pleasures of the palate would diminish by more than half. While they could still enjoy fine food, they could not miss the chance.

Of all things in the world, only beautiful women and delicious food must not be let down.

On the Dou Qi Continent, no matter how high or low a man's cultivation was, his interest in beautiful women would never fade in the slightest. Yet his interest in food alone would gradually diminish as his realm rose.

By the Dou Emperor level, one fed on the Dou Qi of heaven and earth and simply could not muster any interest in delicacies.

Although Su Heng did not understand why, he was still deeply shaken. He suddenly seemed to understand why Gu Yuan, a Nine-Star Dou Saint who had lived for over a thousand years, could have a daughter about Xiao Yan's age.

At the entrance of Chengyue Tower, Lin Fei had already been waiting for quite some time. Two expressionless men in purple robes stood behind her, while Master Otto cheerfully waved at Su Heng from the side. Su Heng's performance today had greatly boosted his prestige, so how could he not be happy?

"Two Da Dou Shi guards?"

As Su Heng approached Lin Fei, he clearly sensed the Dou Qi fluctuations from the purple-robed men behind her. Their strength was comparable to the Rock-Scaled Rattlesnake he had fought before. They were at least Three-Star Da Dou Shi.

"Senior Sister, you came early. May I ask who these two are?"

"Oh, they're my guards. You don't need to mind them."

Lin Fei was far less calculating than Su Heng. She had been cherished by her family since childhood, and her father was the city lord of Black Rock City, a Dou Wang expert. Thus, unlike Su Heng, she did not cautiously concern herself with other people's feelings.

"Oh, then thank you for your hard work, Seniors."

Su Heng saluted the two Da Dou Shi, which instead left them somewhat flattered and embarrassed.

Cultivators had always shown Alchemists considerable deference. They had never seen an Alchemist take the initiative to salute a cultivator. Even Alchemist Apprentices tended to be arrogant and look down on everyone else.

The two hurriedly returned the salute. After some polite exchanges, the master and three disciples went up to the third floor and entered the private room Lin Fei had reserved.

The private rooms at Chengyue Tower were extravagantly decorated, with every detail displaying nobility and elegance.

The furniture inside was all made from precious golden-thread nanmu wood. Under the bright lights, it gave off a faint golden sheen, warm and smooth to the touch, and exceptionally comfortable.

The armrests and backrests of the chairs were carved with exquisite patterns of birds, beasts, and flowers. Their lines were graceful and their details delicate. The moment one sat down, the chair back fit perfectly against the body, instantly dispelling all fatigue.

Special incense also burned in the room. The instant one entered, a refreshing fragrance greeted the senses and lifted the spirit.

As for the most important tableware, it was made from a translucent, milky-white porcelain.

According to Lin Fei, this porcelain was called "Bone China." It was made by adding a certain proportion of magical beast bone powder to ceramic clay. The finest pieces could be "thin as paper, white as jade, bright as a mirror, and clear as a chime."

Other than the Imperial Family of the Jia Ma Empire, only a handful of cities could afford tableware made of this porcelain, and Black Rock City was one of them.

Lin Fei had invited Su Heng to such an upscale restaurant not only to celebrate today's "great victory," but also because she wanted to know exactly how he had improved so quickly.

In fact, it was not only Lin Fei. Even Master Otto was very curious about how Su Heng had progressed so rapidly in just five short days.

One softened after accepting another's hospitality. Besides, Su Heng quite liked this straightforward Senior Sister of his, so he decided to share his insights without reservation.

At the dinner table, Su Heng explained everything he had learned: how he sensed impurities within medicinal powder, how he improved his control over flames by refining those impurities, how he circulated Wood Qi and regulated the flames, and more.

Lin Fei listened with her eyes wide in astonishment. Although she could sense impurities within medicinal ingredients as well, she simply could not use the process of refining impurities to train her control over flame temperatures.

Su Heng's talent had already far surpassed Lin Fei's imagination, while Master Otto nodded repeatedly.

Su Heng's method of refining impurities from medicinal ingredients required an immensely powerful soul as its foundation. Otto had only barely mastered it after becoming a Third-grade Alchemist, yet Su Heng could already do it when he had just begun learning alchemy.

At this rate, by the time Su Heng reached his age, he would at least become a Sixth-grade Alchemist. It was even possible that he could reach the seventh grade. The future president of the Jia Ma Empire's Alchemist Guild might very well be this young man before him.

Throughout the meal, Master Otto drank heartily and soon became overwhelmed by the alcohol. He was simply too happy. Becoming the teacher of the future president of the Jia Ma Empire's Alchemist Guild was enough to make him wake up laughing several times in his dreams.

As for Su Heng and Qing Lin, although they had been eating fairly well lately, their meals were indeed far inferior to the standards of Chengyue Tower.

Moreover, Su Heng had been refining pills day and night these past few days, while Qing Lin had cared for him with meticulous attention. Both of them badly needed nourishment, and this meal made up for the deficit of the past five days.

After eating and drinking their fill, Lin Fei arranged for guards to escort Master Otto back to the Alchemist Guild. She then strolled through Black Rock City's night market with Su Heng and Qing Lin, taking an after-dinner walk to aid digestion.

Unlike the night market in Salt City, which was oppressed by the Mo Family, Black Rock City's night market only grew livelier after dusk fell.

Since there was no family in the city as lawless as the Mo Family, the city lord of Black Rock City, as a Dou Wang expert, suppressed all evildoers here.

Because of this, the people of Black Rock City had less hostility and more kindness.

Looking down from the windows of Chengyue Tower, Black Rock City's night market resembled a river of glittering lights flowing through the veins of the city.

The streets were brilliantly lit, stalls lined up one after another, and vendors warmly called out to passing customers. Hawking cries and bargaining voices rose and fell without end.

Wandering through it had a unique charm. Su Heng felt as though he had returned to the peaceful and harmonious world of his previous life, where there had been no such endless slaughter and survival of the strong at the expense of the weak.

It was Qing Lin's first time entering such a bustling night market. The dazzling scene before her made her eyes sparkle with excitement.

The moment Su Heng let his guard down, the palm of his right hand, which had been holding Qing Lin's, was left with nothing but air. He had not even let go, yet the child had already run off.

Like a joyous little butterfly, Qing Lin darted freely through the crowd. She had no resistance whatsoever to the exquisite accessories and adorable trinkets on either side of the street, and soon her arms were piled high with purchases.

She could not bear to let Su Heng put them into the Storage Ring. Instead, she bought several dark-green shoulder bags to carry them herself, taking out the little items inside from time to time to play with them.

As for Su Heng, he had little interest in shopping. He simply followed Qing Lin closely, afraid she would get separated from him in the crowd.

Watching Su Heng, whose eyes were filled only with Qing Lin, Lin Fei let out a faint sigh. An exceedingly complicated emotion lingered in her heart, leaving her somewhat at a loss.

Qing Lin continued shopping until the night market closed before finally leaving reluctantly. No matter what kind of girl she was, interest in shopping seemed to be written into her genes.

By then, four dark-green shoulder bags full of little trinkets hung from Su Heng's body, while Qing Lin had two hanging from hers. More than half of the fifty thousand gold coins on the Azure Gold Card had also been spent.

Seeing Su Heng's comical appearance, Lin Fei laughed so hard she could not straighten her back.

All night, Su Heng had kept a considerable distance from Lin Fei. From Qing Lin's slightly jealous expression, Lin Fei also received the answer she wanted. In the end, she and Su Heng could only be fellow disciples, Senior Sister and Junior Brother.

Letting go of her unnecessary thoughts, Lin Fei became that cheerful, laughing girl again. Seeing her put aside those feelings, Su Heng also felt relieved. He did not want to hurt her.

Over the next few days, Su Heng gradually received the "spoils" that belonged to him.

With reddened eyes, Xue Mei delivered twenty sets of ingredients for Blood-Staunching Pills. The other apprentices did not renege on their debts either. The most pitiful was that "patriarch-level" gambler, whose mental state seemed somewhat unstable when he handed the Blood-Stanching Grass to Su Heng.

Still, a bet was a bet. People always had to pay the price for their choices.

Having mastered the method of refining medicinal ingredients, Su Heng decided to try refining First-grade Pills.

He first spent three days refining some of the ingredients to a relatively high purity. Then, after resting for two days and completing his practical lessons, he returned home to continue refining medicinal ingredients.

A month passed in the blink of an eye. Su Heng successfully refined five sets of ingredients for Blood-Staunching Pills, all of which had been refined to the highest purity. As long as they formed pills, they would definitely be top-tier among First-grade Pills.

During that month, Su Heng also came to understand why most Alchemists were not skilled at fighting.

In the course of refining medicinal ingredients, Su Heng's realm rose from Two-Star Dou Zhe to Three-Star Dou Zhe. The complicated use of Dou Qi during alchemy alone had allowed him to advance.

A person's energy was limited. There were only twenty-four hours in a day. While Alchemists spent ten hours bent over their cauldrons refining medicine, others spent ten hours sparring and diligently practicing Dou Techniques.

At the same realm, setting aside people like Xiao Yan who were covered in cheats, the vast majority of Alchemists could not defeat other cultivators.

An Alchemist's true Dou Technique should be the art of controlling fire: condensing Dou Qi flames into physical form, then controlling those tangible flames to fight enemies. That was the standard method of combat for an Alchemist.

Venerable Yao, the Eighth-grade Alchemist and master of Starfall Pavilion, Xiao Yan's teacher Medicine Elder, had mastered the Flame-Splitting Wave-Devouring Ruler to perfection. His fighting style belonged to this category.

He would coat the Profound Heavy Ruler in Bone Chilling Flame, then combine it with Dou Qi for long-range attacks. Dou Qi and Heavenly Flames would form energy blades several zhang, or even dozens of zhang, long, killing opponents from a hundred zhang away.

In other words, if Xiao Yan fought according to the standard Alchemist method, he should start rolling Fire Lotuses on the way to a duel. The moment he met his opponent, he would throw one point-blank. If it exploded, he would use Three Thousand Lightning Movement to flee, eat Qi-Replenishing Pills like snacks, then roll another Fire Lotus, turn around, and go back to blow them up again.

During this time, Su Heng also made several trips to the Mittel Auction House in Black Rock City, hoping to learn whether any fire-control Dou Techniques were for sale. Unfortunately, such Dou Techniques were far too rare. They were in demand but unavailable, so Su Heng could only give up unhappily.

As for movement Dou Techniques, he did see a Mid-Yellow Tier movement technique for sale at the Mittel Auction House. It was priced at sixty thousand gold coins. Su Heng let out a long sigh, cursing his lack of funds.

Though he did not have the money to buy it now, that did not mean he would not have it soon. A top-tier First-grade Pill could sell for three to five thousand gold coins. As long as he refined twenty First-grade Pills, Su Heng could obtain this Mid-Yellow Tier movement technique, Cloud-Stepping Movement.

The materials Xue Mei had given Su Heng were just enough to refine twenty First-grade Pills. Su Heng was confident he could refine them all into top-tier First-grade Pills.

Besides, once he could refine top-tier First-grade Pills, he would effectively count as an Alchemist and could enjoy the special discounts offered by the Mittel Auction House.

Alchemy should be done sooner rather than later. Su Heng decided to enter seclusion and refine pills during his first long break.

Every two months, the Alchemist Guild's apprentices had a ten-day long break. During that period, they could freely arrange their own time, so many chose to enter seclusion and train diligently.

On the first day of vacation, Su Heng made all the necessary preparations in the cultivation room. He told Qing Lin that she no longer needed to look after him and said that he was going into seclusion to refine pills.

At the same time, Su Heng handed Qing Lin the house key and told her that if she became bored, she could go shopping and have fun with Lin Fei.

After locking the door from the inside, Su Heng officially began refining pills.

There were three major steps to refining pills. The first was gathering the medicinal ingredients needed for the pill. The second was refining the ingredients to improve their potency and purity. The third was combining the refined ingredients in proportion according to the pill formula.

Of these, fusing the pill was the most difficult step. Different medicinal ingredients had different tolerances for flame temperature.

After refinement, some pill ingredients became medicinal powder while others became medicinal liquid. If the temperature was too high, the liquid would evaporate. If it was too low, the powder would clump together and fail to merge with the liquid.

Thus, Su Heng had to control the temperature of the flames in the medicinal cauldron according to his needs. Where low temperatures were needed, he had to suppress the flames. Where high temperatures were needed, he had to greatly increase them.

Blood-Staunching Pills required only two ingredients. In theory, the fusion should not have been difficult, but Su Heng discovered that no matter how he tried, he could not fuse the two ingredients.

His Dou Qi flames seemed to have struck an invisible barrier. Clearly, the ingredients would fuse into a pill if he raised the flame temperature just a little more, but he could not increase that final trace of heat no matter how hard he tried.

Even when Su Heng's Dou Qi was exhausted and black smoke rose from the medicinal cauldron with a muffled bang, he still failed to complete the fusion.

"What's going on? Why can't they fuse? I'm clearly just a little short, so why can't I break through?"

An immense question lingered in Su Heng's heart, leaving him unable to figure it out no matter how much he thought.

After resting for a day and recovering his Dou Qi, Su Heng took out another set of ingredients and began refining again. This time, he was even more careful and focused.

Yet four hours later, as another cloud of thick smoke rose, his second attempt was declared a failure.

People should not make trouble for themselves, especially by stubbornly butting their heads against a wall.

Once Su Heng confirmed that he had already done everything he could and still could not fuse the pill, he rose, pushed open the door, and headed toward Master Otto's residence.

What should one do when faced with a problem one could not solve? Ask the teacher, of course!