Half a Year! Dou Ling!

Half a Year! Dou Ling!

Time passed bit by bit, and half a year had already gone by since Wang Chen formally became Medicine Elder's disciple.

Over those six months, Wang Chen's life had been exceptionally regimented.

Every day, he spent two and a half hours familiarizing himself with various pill-refining techniques and methods.

In the morning, he trained his combat skills to increase his fighting strength.

In the afternoon, supported by all kinds of resources and his Golden Finger, he cultivated his Dou Qi.

This was the foundation of everything, so Wang Chen naturally would not neglect it.

Of course, every half month, Wang Chen replaced his morning combat-skill training with pill refining.

Some of the pills were for his own future cultivation, while others were for Academy missions he had specifically accepted.

Although he already had a Peak Fifth-Grade Alchemist as his teacher, some Academy missions were still unavoidable.

Even Medicine Elder said nothing about it. Instead, he used some of his authority to secure as many missions for Wang Chen as possible.

It was not because Medicine Elder had any issue with Wang Chen.

On the contrary, these were benefits Medicine Elder had fought to obtain for him.

After all, practical experience was indispensable for improving one's alchemy skills.

Missions where the Academy provided the medicinal ingredients and one bore no responsibility for failed refinement were something every Alchemist in Jia Nan Academy wanted to obtain.

Even though such missions offered no reward, everyone still fought over them.

After all, being able to hone one's alchemy techniques without spending a single coin was a blessing found only in Jia Nan Academy.

Medicine Elder's support was one reason Wang Chen could obtain such missions, but Wang Chen's own alchemy skills were also an extremely important factor.

After all, Jia Nan Academy was not a charity. It could not possibly waste vast resources on ordinary people.

If Wang Chen's skills had been lacking, then even if Medicine Elder's influence allowed him to receive one or two missions early on, he would never have been able to keep receiving such missions afterward.

Wang Chen was also quite interested in these missions.

Although there was no reward, he could find a reward for himself.

After all, no Alchemist could guarantee a one hundred percent success rate.

Wang Chen could achieve that with his Golden Finger, but he was not foolish enough to reveal his trump card.

Thus, every time Wang Chen completed a mission, he would skim off a tiny portion of the resources.

He did not dare go too far, only taking twenty-five percent.

Yet his seventy-five percent pill success rate directly shocked the Academy.

One had to know that such missions were meant for Alchemists still developing their skills.

For example, refining Tier 3 Medicinal Pills was generally assigned to Alchemists who had broken through to Third Grade but were not yet particularly proficient.

Through these missions, relatively inexperienced Alchemists could be nurtured into mature ones.

Yet no one had expected Wang Chen's first attempt to be so outstanding.

His pill success rate rivaled that of peak Alchemists of the same grade.

When Wang Chen learned of this, his first thought was regret!

Damn it! I was far too conservative.

Because he had skimmed too few medicinal ingredients, he had instead performed far too abnormally.

But after learning the news, Wang Chen had no other choice.

After all, what was done was done. There was no medicine for regret in this world.

It was already impossible for him to skim any more medicinal ingredients.

Still, it did not matter. The ingredients Wang Chen had skimmed were already enough for his cultivation.

Besides, he had a Peak Fifth-Grade teacher and could accept missions from time to time, so he did not need to worry about cultivation resources.

Under such circumstances, the alchemy skills Wang Chen displayed rose at a terrifying rate.

In only half a year, Wang Chen had already become a Peak Fourth-Grade Alchemist.

Of course, that was merely the strength Wang Chen displayed.

His actual level had already reached that of a Fifth-Grade Alchemist.

Of course, in terms of theory alone, Wang Chen could even be considered a Seventh-Grade Alchemist.

Unfortunately, when it came to alchemy, practical operation was what mattered most.

The further one advanced, the harder it became to improve.

That was precisely why Wang Chen had only become a Fifth-Grade Alchemist by now.

Although Wang Chen was not particularly satisfied, the level he revealed had already shocked every Jia Nan Academy higher-up except Medicine Elder.

The reason Medicine Elder had not been shocked was simply that he had grown accustomed to it.

As Wang Chen's teacher, he understood better than anyone just how terrifying Wang Chen's talent was.

Therefore, when he heard that Wang Chen had become a Fourth-Grade Alchemist, he was not surprised in the slightest.

He merely said, "Oh," then gathered several helpers and left Jia Nan Academy.

He had gone to prepare Beast Flame for Wang Chen.

A Tier 6 Beast Flame was relatively precious.

On the Northwestern Continent, even a Peak Fifth-Grade Alchemist could not simply obtain one whenever they wished.

More than half a month had already passed since Medicine Elder left Jia Nan Academy.

One could imagine how difficult it was to find a high-grade Beast Flame.

Aside from his rapidly rising alchemy level, Wang Chen's Dou Qi realm had also surged greatly.

From his original Da Dou Shi strength, he had directly broken through to Two-Star Dou Ling.

After breaking through to Dou Ling, Wang Chen also felt the rule of every cultivation world: the stronger one became, the slower cultivation progressed.

Over an entire half year, Wang Chen had only increased by five stars.

One had to know that back when he was a Dou Zhe, he could raise more than that many stars in a single month without much effort.

Even with ample resources, he had only managed to reach Two-Star Dou Ling in half a year.

Without the medicinal ingredients he had skimmed from missions, and without the various resources provided by Medicine Elder,

he might still be circling around the Da Dou Shi realm even now.

Of course, this was mainly because Wang Chen had spent half his energy on alchemy.

If he had devoted himself entirely to cultivating Dou Qi and sought out a few more Advanced Beast Flames, his cultivation speed could certainly have doubled.

But he still knew what was important.

His alchemy level was the key to whether he could continue improving at high speed in the future.

If he rushed things now, the later stages would become difficult.

Wang Chen had long since given up hope regarding his own cultivation talent.

Without the boost of resources, his cultivation speed was only comparable to that of an ordinary Jia Nan Academy student.

That was only because, after using his Golden Finger for so long, his physical constitution had improved greatly, slightly increasing his cultivation talent.

One could imagine just how speechless his cultivation talent left people.

Fortunately, he had his Golden Finger. Otherwise, Wang Chen truly would not have been confident in facing the Xiao Clan's future calamity.

"Little Chen, Little Chen. Teacher is back. He wants you to come over."

Just as Wang Chen was reviewing his alchemy notes, a booming voice suddenly came from outside the room.

(End of Chapter)