Alchemists really were rich.

By the time Xiao Yi Xian caught up, Han Chen was already rearranging the furnishings in the Pill Refining Room and taking out one thing after another. It looked as though he was preparing to refine pills.

"Senior Li... Brother Li, are you going to refine pills?"

Hearing Xiao Yi Xian's puzzled question, Han Chen raised his head to look at her.

"That's right. I have some time, so I thought I'd get some practice in. What do you think? Want to watch?"

Xiao Yi Xian waved her hands.

"No, no. Pill refining is so important. How could I just watch as I please?"

"What's the harm? I'm still learning myself. Come on."

As he spoke, Han Chen stepped forward and pulled Xiao Yi Xian over, pressing two pill formulas into her hands. Then he waved his own hand, releasing an entire roomful of ingredients for Blood-Clotting Powder.

"This!"

Xiao Yi Xian was struck speechless by the sight. Medicinal ingredients covered the floor and tables, and all of them were top-quality. This stockpile was larger than all the Myriad Medicine Pavilion's current supplies put together.

"They're all medicinal ingredients... Are all alchemists this rich?"

Converted into gold coins, everything here would be worth well over a hundred thousand at the very least.

Han Chen thought nothing of Xiao Yi Xian's astonishment. She had yet to see anything truly outrageous. What she saw now was what remained after he had used up a considerable amount. Otherwise, how could his pill-refining skills have advanced by leaps and bounds in just a few days?

"All right. How could I focus on practicing without plenty of ingredients? I'm going to start now. Stand beside me and watch with the pill formulas in hand."

Han Chen then sat cross-legged. With a turn of his hand, a deep blue flame appeared in his palm.

The moment the Tiandu Corpse Fire emerged, the temperature throughout the room rose. Looking at that flame, which was rather beautiful yet carried a touch of horror, Xiao Yi Xian could not help swallowing. She held the pill formulas in front of her chest and asked fearfully.

"Wh... what... kind of fire is that? It's so frightening."

Although Xiao Yi Xian had never seen other kinds of flames, she could clearly sense that the fire before her was anything but normal. With its deep blue color and the faint howls of ghosts coming from it, it looked nothing like an ordinary flame.

"Well..."

Hearing this, Han Chen fell silent for a moment. He looked at the Tiandu Corpse Fire belching black smoke in his hand. He very much wanted to argue that this was a perfectly respectable flame, but with the way it looked...

"Ahem, don't worry about those little details. This is purple qi, an auspicious omen! Yes, an auspicious omen. All right, let's start refining pills."

As he spoke, Han Chen flicked his finger, sending the Tiandu Corpse Fire into the Medicine Cauldron. It blazed fiercely, crackling as green phosphorescent light flared from it, bathing the entire room in green.

Once the Medicine Cauldron was hot enough, Han Chen tossed in yellow dragon grass to refine it, followed by blue-patterned flower and Dew Condensation Fruit.

Soon, under the intense heat inside the Medicine Cauldron, the three ingredients melted into liquids and began blending together.

Xiao Yi Xian stood beside Han Chen, scarcely daring to breathe for fear of disturbing his refining. Watching his practiced movements, she became utterly entranced.

After a while, the pills inside the Medicine Cauldron finished taking shape. With a bang, they knocked the lid open and shot out. Han Chen immediately stood and caught them in his hand.

Looking at the several translucent, lustrous pills in his palm, he casually put them into a medicine bottle and tossed it to Xiao Yi Xian.

"Not bad. Looks like I can try some more difficult pills now."

Xiao Yi Xian caught the pills. Feeling the lingering warmth of the jade bottle, she was visibly excited. This was her first time watching pill refining from so close.

"How amazing. So this is pill refining?"

"That's right. There's no insurmountable hurdle to it. Practice simply makes perfect."

Seeing how tempted Xiao Yi Xian looked, Han Chen decided to push a little harder. The more he invested now, the greater his returns would be in the future.

Han Chen quietly moved closer to her and spoke in a low voice.

"Actually, there's another way to become an alchemist."

"Really? What is it?"

Hearing that there was another way to become an alchemist, Xiao Yi Xian's eyes lit up, and she eagerly asked.

"Well now~ There's a wondrous treasure in this world called a heavenly flame. It's more precious than anything else.

The other way to become an alchemist is to obtain a heavenly flame. Unlike ordinary beast flames, heavenly flames are not only immensely powerful but also extremely stable.

Even alchemists flock to them like ducks to water. As long as you obtain a heavenly flame, becoming an alchemist isn't impossible."

"Huh? And here I thought you had some real solution. I want a heavenly flame too, but how could a heavenly treasure like that ever fall into my hands?"

Having expected Han Chen to offer some useful method, Xiao Yi Xian was sorely disappointed and muttered a complaint.

Han Chen smiled faintly at her words and reached out to pat her head.

"A heavenly flame isn't such a difficult matter. If you really have the ability to absorb one, I can always find one for you."

At the same time, Han Chen silently mused to himself.

She really is a young girl, so innocent. Sorry, Xiao Yan. For the sake of my future, you'll just have to suffer a little more.

Feeling the warmth atop her head, Xiao Yi Xian's pretty face flushed bright red.

"That... wouldn't be right, would it?"

"All right, let's leave that aside for now. I want to ask you something. Are there any unusual places in the Magic Beast Mountain Range? Places with mist, for example, or the lairs of powerful magical beasts?"

As Han Chen spoke, he took a bag of gold coins from his Ring of Holding and handed it to Xiao Yi Xian.

"Here's a task for you. Go buy me a map of the Magic Beast Mountain Range. The more detailed, the better.

Make sure places like the ones I just mentioned-misty areas and cliffs-are clearly marked."

Han Chen had arrived too early. The current Xiao Yi Xian had yet to discover that mysterious cave abode, so he could only rely on himself to find it.

He was not particularly interested in the Dou Techniques inside. His main targets were those few medicinal herbs, each a rare variety needed to refine many different pills. If he could obtain them and cultivate them with the Little Green Bottle...

"A map? What do you want that for? Aren't you here to buy medicinal ingredients?"

Hearing Han Chen ask for a map, Xiao Yi Xian immediately realized that he intended to enter the Magic Beast Mountain Range, and she could not help worrying. The mountain range was extremely dangerous; even the town's ordinary mercenaries only dared enter in groups of a dozen or more.

"I have a use for it. As for buying medicinal ingredients, that's just a smokescreen. Hurry along. If you find a good map, I'll take you with me."

"A smokescreen? Then have you been lying to me? Your background and name are both fake!"

Xiao Yi Xian was very clever. Although she was young, she knew that people who said such things were generally using false identities.

A wave of hurt immediately welled up in her heart. Someone had actually led her around by the nose. She now suspected that Han Chen had approached her from the start just to use her identity as cover.

"No, everything I told you was true. I really did come to Qingshan Town on business. As for buying medicinal ingredients, that was to make things easier. I couldn't very well announce that I was here to hunt for treasure!"

As Han Chen spoke, he spread his hands and gave her a helpless look. His words left even Xiao Yi Xian wavering.

"Really?"

Xiao Yi Xian questioned him suspiciously, her lovely, plaintive eyes calm yet brimming with doubt.

"Really. If you don't believe me, you can ask someone named Xiao Yan in the future."

Sorry, Xiao Yan...