Zhou Qing looked at the noticeably younger Pill Master Yun, unable to keep a swell of emotion from rising in his heart.
In the simulation, Pill Master Yun was the person he had interacted with most.
Although Zhou Qing had been only an apprentice for the first twenty-odd years.
Pill Master Yun had never treated him any differently.
After observing him for decades, Zhou Qing was certain that Pill Master Yun had a good character and was a genuinely kindhearted man.
When Ye Feng wanted his freedom and told Pill Master Yun, Pill Master Yun had not refused. He had merely asked Ye Feng to pay one hundred spirit stones.
Those one hundred spirit stones had been the cost of the Spirit Contract Ye Feng had signed back then.
Who among other craftsmen would have agreed to that?
"Fellow Daoist, which mid-grade pill do you intend to refine?"
Unaware of the emotions stirring in Zhou Qing's heart, Pill Master Yun asked in a gentle tone.
Assessing a Mid-Grade Alchemist naturally required watching him refine a batch of mid-grade pills in person.
Furthermore, to prevent other factors from influencing the assessment, both the pill furnace and Earthfire used in the refining process had to belong to the Pill Alliance.
Only then could the Alchemist's true skill be seen more clearly.
"Qi Nourishing Pills."
Zhou Qing answered.
Qi Nourishing Pills were the mid-grade pills Zhou Qing had been most adept at refining in the simulation.
Their main effect was to assist cultivators in the middle Qi Refining period with their daily cultivation.
Although they were not as precious as Realm-Breaking Pills, they were still considered quite good among mid-grade pills.
"Qi Nourishing Pills?"
Pill Master Yun's eyes lit up.
He was also adept at refining Qi Nourishing Pills.
In fact... the reason Zhou Qing was so adept at refining Qi Nourishing Pills was that Pill Master Yun had taught him.
However, the recipe for Qi Nourishing Pills was widely circulated, and cultivators had a great demand for them. Out of every ten Alchemists, three or four were adept at refining them.
Pill Master Yun thought nothing of it.
"Begin."
Pill Master Yun led Zhou Qing to the furnace prepared by the Pill Alliance. All the medicinal ingredients needed to refine Qi Nourishing Pills had been laid out beside it.
"Rise!"
With a slight stir of Zhou Qing's will, magical power surged into the furnace, and Earthfire began to rise and leap.
"Melt!"
Zhou Qing flicked a finger. The dozens of medicinal ingredients laid out beside him immediately flew into the furnace. Under the scorching heat of Earthfire, they swiftly melted into separate masses of medicinal liquid.
Every medicinal ingredient required a different temperature to meld. This demanded an extremely thorough understanding of their properties, as well as precise control over the earth fire's temperature to accommodate each one.
As Earthfire burned, the masses of medicinal liquid were refined, their impurities stripped away until they reached their purest state.
The entire process proceeded with almost no pause. From igniting the furnace to removing the impurities from the medicinal liquids, everything flowed in one unbroken breath.
Watching from the side, Pill Master Yun was inwardly astonished.
Although the pills had yet to take shape.
Zhou Qing's temperature control and techniques were unquestionably at the level of a Mid-Grade Alchemist.
Moreover, Pill Master Yun felt that the fire control techniques Zhou Qing displayed while refining the medicinal liquids had given him considerable inspiration.
Just then, all the medicinal liquids reached their optimal state.
Zhou Qing's expression grew slightly solemn, and he swiftly formed a series of spell seals.
"Condense!"
The dozens of masses of medicinal liquid rapidly melded together.
This was the most important step in pill refining, also known as Pill Condensation.
The slightest carelessness could bring all the effort to ruin.
However, Zhou Qing had decades of pill-refining experience from the simulation, and Qi Nourishing Pills were his greatest specialty. Naturally, nothing went wrong.
After more than half a day of melding, the dozens of masses of medicinal liquid finally fused completely.
Without the slightest hesitation, Zhou Qing formed another series of spell seals, fully stabilizing the fused medicinal liquid.
Half an hour later.
Zhou Qing began the finishing process, gradually lowering Earthfire's temperature.
Until he finally formed the pill-retrieval spell seals.
Crack.
The furnace opened.
Fourteen perfectly rounded pills of uniform color flew out.
The surfaces of all fourteen pills were covered in pill markings. Those with the fewest had one marking, while the one with the most had three. The instant they flew out, a rich medicinal fragrance spread through the air.
"Fourteen pills! Eleven ordinary pills, two standard pills, and even one Premium Qi Nourishing Pill?"
"Excellent! Excellent! Excellent!"
"Your pill-refining skills are truly admirable, Fellow Daoist!"
Pill Master Yun's eyes shone with wonder.
Pills of the same type were divided according to quality into Waste Pills, ordinary pills, standard pills, and Premium Pills.
Waste Pills needed little explanation. They could not form pill markings, contained large amounts of pill toxin, and were unsuitable for normal cultivators to consume.
Ordinary pills formed one pill marking. Their medicinal properties were largely melded, and they contained relatively little pill toxin. This was also the quality of pill that the vast majority of cultivators consumed.
Standard pills, meanwhile... had two pill markings. Their medicinal properties were more perfectly melded, and not only did they contain even less pill toxin, but their effects also surpassed those of ordinary pills.
As for Premium Pills? They had three pill markings, perfectly melded medicinal properties, and almost no pill toxin. Their effects were several times those of ordinary pills.
Premium Pills could only be encountered by chance, not sought at will. Whenever one appeared, it was usually bought up by second-generation cultivators with powerful backgrounds.
"Just luck."
Zhou Qing spoke as he looked at the fourteen round Qi Nourishing Pills.
There was no false modesty in his words. During his decades of pill refining in the simulation, Zhou Qing had never refined a Premium Pill.
At best, he had produced standard pills, and even then, it often took several months to produce one.
Zhou Qing guessed that his success in refining a Premium Pill was mainly due to excellent luck. Another factor was that, during the final years of the simulation, he had been tormented by pill toxin and had scarcely touched a pill furnace.
But not touching a pill furnace did not mean he had completely abandoned the art of pill refining.
During those years of torment from pill toxin, Zhou Qing had continued studying pill refining.
After the simulation ended, Zhou Qing perfectly inherited everything from his simulated self. Then, when he returned to pill refining for the first time in years, inspiration burst forth. Combined with his peak condition, this had produced the result before him.
This was the result of several factors coming together and could not be replicated.
"Luck is also a kind of strength."
Pill Master Yun smiled as he looked at the fourteen Qi Nourishing Pills.
Then he revealed his purpose. "Fellow Daoist, might you be willing to sell these fourteen Qi Nourishing Pills... to the Pill Alliance?"
Although the Pill Alliance had supplied all the medicinal ingredients for the Qi Nourishing Pills, the pills produced during a successful assessment belonged to the Alchemist joining the Pill Alliance as a Mid-Grade Alchemist.
This could also be considered a welcoming benefit from the Pill Alliance for its new members.
Refining a batch of Qi Nourishing Pills cost only a few dozen spirit stones. Using that to win over a Mid-Grade Alchemist was hardly much of a
price to pay.
"No problem."
Zhou Qing naturally had no objection.
Even if Pill Master Yun had not made the request, he would have quietly sold these fourteen Qi Nourishing Pills himself.
First, he was desperately short of spirit stones.
Second, in reality, Zhou Qing would not consume any pills.
Every medicine carried three parts poison. Even Premium Pills were merely said to contain almost no pill toxin. In truth, they still contained some.
Reality was the starting point for Zhou Qing's simulations. Once he chose to consume pills and accumulated pill toxin in his body, every subsequent simulation would be affected.
Even the "Pill Toxin Nemesis" talent could not grant complete immunity to pill toxin.
Thus, Zhou Qing would only consume pills within simulations.
No matter how much pill toxin accumulated from consuming pills in a simulation, once the simulation ended, Zhou Qing would inherit only the pure cultivation, without inheriting the pill toxin along with it.