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Qiao Ranran smiled and nodded. "I understand, Senior Brother Zhou." She tilted her head. "I'd say I'm about a Third-Rank Alchemist now." Her cultivation limited her to refining third-tier Elixirs at most. She knew how to make higher-tier Elixirs too, but she lacked the Spiritual Power to sustain the process, and an exploding furnace would be dangerous. More importantly, it would waste ingredients.

"Th-third rank?!" Zhou Lukang strained his narrow eyes open wider than they had ever gone. He looked so shocked that the three fingers he held up nearly stabbed the sky.

Was this a joke?

Zhou Lukang took a deep breath and composed himself. Fine. He had been too narrow-minded. He had prepared for his junior sister to say something astonishing, but not this astonishing. He simply lacked the fortitude.

An ordinary Qi Refining Stage cultivator barely had enough Spiritual Power to maintain their own training. At that stage, a Medicine Cultivator or Pill Cultivator could identify Spirit Plants, perhaps grind medicinal powder, or at most try extracting a few simple Spirit Plants. Refining pills was out of the question.

The Qi Refining Stage was only the beginning. Cultivators did not formally begin refining Elixirs until the Foundation Establishment Stage, starting with first-tier Elixirs. Anyone who could successfully refine those basic Elixirs with a success rate of at least sixty percent qualified as a First-Rank Alchemist.

The Third-Rank Alchemist Qiao Ranran claimed to be had to be capable of refining third-tier Elixirs with a success rate of at least sixty percent, and at least sixty percent of those Elixirs had to be mid-grade or better. Under normal circumstances, even someone exceptionally gifted would need to reach at least Mid-Stage Foundation Establishment, if not late-stage Foundation Establishment, to earn that rank.

Zhou Lukang no longer wanted to understand how someone in the Qi Refining Stage had managed it. He knew Qiao Ranran had no reason to lie to him.

"Let's set that aside for now. There's no rush anyway. Junior Sister, can I discuss something with you?"

"Hmm? Go ahead, Senior Brother."

"Could you focus on your cultivation first? Your Alchemy is already this good, but even if you can refine third-rank Elixirs—or higher—you're still only in the Qi Refining Stage. No one would believe you if you told them, would they?"

Qiao Ranran couldn't help laughing. He was right, but her talent was what it was. She couldn't speed things up just because she wanted to.

After reassuring Senior Brother Zhou and collecting her things, Qiao Ranran returned to her little wooden house. She knew her own strength. She absolutely would not leave the Profound Heart Sect before reaching the Foundation Establishment Stage. With her bizarre Fortune, who knew what absurd trouble she might run into?

When she saw that Spirit Jade had finally started gnawing on the Water Ginseng and was no longer determined to cling to her calf like an accessory, Qiao Ranran smiled gently.

"Senior Sister's cultivation really is too low."

Qiao Ranran jumped. "!"

She genuinely had not noticed when Pei Ling entered the room. He was standing openly by the window, and though he was hardly someone easy to overlook, she had failed to sense him until he spoke.

Pei Ling looked so at ease that one might have thought he owned the room and she was the intruder. Even the Water Ginseng had fallen from Little Spirit Jade's paws in fright!

As for his comment about her low cultivation, it was true. Qiao Ranran had no desire to argue.

But Pei Ling apparently had no intention of letting the matter drop. "Since Senior Sister had the good fortune to visit the Langhuan Blessed Land and learned such a profound Acupuncture Technique and such a miraculous method of healing, did it mention any way to improve your aptitude for cultivation?"

Qiao Ranran pressed her lips together. By the time she came to her senses, Pei Ling had appeared before her like a ghost, barely a hair's breadth away.

"!" Qiao Ranran was sure this junior brother of hers had come here specifically to frighten her today. She stepped back, and Pei Ling stepped forward, until he had backed her against the wooden wall with nowhere left to go.

"Is there something Senior Sister finds difficult to say?" Or was she busy concocting some absurd excuse in that little head of hers to fool him? "You saved my life, Senior Sister. I'd like to do something for you too. Perhaps help improve your aptitude and speed up your cultivation? With your talent for pill refining, it would be a shame to let your cultivation hold you back."

Pei Ling truly thought it was a shame. Given Qiao Ranran's talent, he might not have the patience to wait for her cultivation to creep forward at a snail's pace before she gradually revealed her gifts as a Medicine Cultivator. Even he knew several ways to improve a Spirit Root's aptitude. Some were safe; others were rather extreme.

From the look of her, Qiao Ranran knew of a way. She simply refused to say it.

"What are you worried about, Senior Sister? That if you tell me, I'll steal your opportunity?"

Qiao Ranran: "..." To be honest, that was exactly what she thought.

She had long since made a sound plan to improve her Spirit Root. It was just that, in her previous life, so many opportunities had belonged to that person. Apart from what he had offered to share with everyone, she had never felt comfortable asking him for anything herself. This time, she no longer needed to agonize over whether to ask.

Only children had to choose. She wanted it all!

Qiao Ranran pursed her lips and looked at Pei Ling. In her previous life, she had trusted someone too much and paid the price. She had brought it on herself. This time, she would not trust anyone so easily.

Still, would it be a waste not to take advantage of such a powerful ally when he had come to her?

"Junior Brother Pei, given your background, why did you come to the Profound Heart Sect?"

Before returning, she had chatted with Senior Brother Zhou Lukang and learned that Pei Ling's origins were unusual. Unlike the others, he had not been brought back by their master during one of his outings. Pei Ling had found the Profound Heart Sect himself and knocked on the stone monument at the foot of the Immortal Ascension Road.

Only then had he become a member of the Profound Heart Sect, Nie Gui's disciple, and everyone's junior brother.

He had come of his own accord. Thinking of Pei Ling's strange background, Qiao Ranran was certain he had another reason for coming to the Profound Heart Sect.

"Is there something in the Profound Heart Sect that you want?"

Pei Ling bent slightly and lowered his head until his eyes met Qiao Ranran's. Every breath she took was filled with his icy presence. He looked like a beautiful young man, but only up close did she realize he was a block of ice—literally. His body temperature was far lower than an ordinary person's, yet he did not have an ice Spirit Root.

Rankings

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Transmigration into a Book

Sweet Romance Novel

Transmigration and Rebirth Romance

Dahei Loves Eating Fish

Dual Rebirth

Xianxia Fiction