Hard work, learning, progress

Back in the little courtyard.

The sky was growing dark.

Xiao Yu immediately began taking stock of his haul. After all, he had really hit the jackpot this time.

Not only had he obtained everything he wanted, but he had also gotten a Storage Ring for free.

"Green spirit grass... spirit returning red fruit... blood-coagulating grass... scorpion flower... fire spirit crystal... second-rank earth magic core, fire magic core, wood magic core."

"The Spirit Ascension Pill formula, the Qi-Replenishing Pill formula, the Spring-Rejuvenating Pill formula."

"The Alchemist Basics Notes, the Rank Identification Manual, the Medicinal Herb Records..."

He took the items out of the Storage Ring one by one, and with each addition, the light in Xiao Yu's eyes shone a little brighter.

These were exactly what he needed most right now. At the same time, they made him realize that he owed Gu Ni an enormous favor.

Even without the medicinal ingredients and alchemy books, the three second-rank pill formulas alone would have emptied Xiao Yu's purse of its hundred and twenty thousand gold coins.

The Storage Ring, medicinal ingredients, and alchemy books were probably worth two hundred thousand gold coins. In other words, Gu Ni had given Xiao Yu two hundred thousand gold coins' worth of goods for free as an advance investment.

For Xiao Yu at his current stage, that was no small favor.

I really have to thank that old man Gu Ni this time. How come I never noticed how generous he was in the original story?

That was what Xiao Yu thought.

It was hardly surprising. In the original story, the Foundation Establishment Spirit Liquid that Xiao Yan had presented while disguised as a man in black had only been a second-rank spirit liquid. Gu Ni had merely considered him an alchemist of the same rank as himself, or perhaps one rank higher. He naturally showed the appropriate respect, but that was all.

Xiao Yu was different. His pills were refined with lightning and fire, making them purer than those produced by ordinary alchemists.

It was lightning's terrifying purifying power that brought out the medicinal ingredients' full potency, thereby raising the pills' rank.

That was also why Xiao Yu could refine second-rank pills using low-grade ingredients.

Combined with the pills' almost perfect purity, which left them with virtually no side effects and no pill poison whatsoever, this had led Gu Ni to mistakenly believe that Xiao Yu's fictitious teacher was an alchemist above the fourth rank.

There were only a handful of such alchemists in the entire Jia Ma Empire. Gu Ni normally had no chance of meeting one, let alone befriending one. Even their disciples were beyond his standing.

Given Gu Ni's age, he probably had little hope of making any further progress in his lifetime. Now that he had a chance to form a connection with an alchemist of that caliber, he naturally did not want to miss it. Even a few pointers from Xiao Yu's mysterious alchemist teacher could benefit him for the rest of his life, and perhaps even help him advance another step.

Moreover, although two hundred thousand gold coins was no small sum to him, it was not enough to hurt him down to the bones.

He had accumulated considerable wealth during his many years at the Mittel Auction House. After all, alchemists were renowned money-making machines. Even a Second-Rank Alchemist could amass a substantial fortune over the years.

That was how things stood for Gu Ni, but for Xiao Yu, it was a completely different matter.

What did Xiao Yu lack most right now?

Medicinal ingredients, pill formulas, and books from which he could systematically learn alchemy. As for the Storage Ring, it solved the inconvenience of carrying all those things around.

It was like delivering charcoal in the snow when Xiao Yu had nothing. Whatever Gu Ni's motives, he had genuinely helped Xiao Yu, and Xiao Yu acknowledged that favor.

If Gu Ni needed anything in the future, Xiao Yu would help him to the best of his ability.

After sorting everything out and arranging it neatly in the Storage Ring, Xiao Yu grabbed a little food and began cultivating.

There was still some time before bed, and he could not waste it. With no other entertainment available anyway, he could only pass the time by cultivating.

Wisps of invisible Dou Qi were drawn into his body and guided through a full circuit along his body's innate circulation pathway. They were converted into lightning-fire Dou Qi and settled into his dantian, adding brick after brick to the foundation of Xiao Yu's strength.

"The Spirit Ascension Pill requires spirit ascension crystal, green spirit grass, spirit-nurturing mushroom, vermilion fruit, and a second-rank magic core."

"The Qi-Replenishing Pill..."

"The Spring-Rejuvenating Pill..."

The next day, Xiao Yu began studying the three pill formulas. Since the Lightning-Fire Pill Refining Method differed from the Dou Qi Continent's traditional methods, he needed to modify them himself to make them suitable for lightning-fire refinement.

Still, this was far easier than developing pill formulas from scratch. All he needed to do was replace the steps involving catalysis through wood energy with lightning tempering and fusion.

During this time, he also modified his earlier Qi-Nourishing Pill and Body-Tempering Pill formulas so that they could be refined using traditional fire-and-wood alchemy. With three second-rank pill formulas to draw upon, this was no great challenge for him.

Building on that foundation, he refined pills while making further adjustments, raising the Qi-Nourishing Pill and Body-Tempering Pill formulas from the first rank to the second.

It merely involved using older medicinal ingredients and higher-rank magic cores, then conducting refinement experiments and making improvements until he succeeded.

Over the next twenty-odd days, Xiao Yu refined pills, refined pills, and refined still more pills.

Every day was immensely fulfilling. Even before bed, he spent his time reading the alchemy notes.

Every day brought clear progress, a little at a time, and then a little more.

This joy of learning was something he had never experienced in his twenty-three years on Earth.

Earth offered far too many forms of entertainment, and it was easy to become absorbed in them. The Dou Qi Continent was different. There was no internet, no mobile phones-only the pursuit of greater and greater strength. After all, the strong reigned supreme here.

After more than three years, he had grown accustomed to these days. He no longer felt miserable every day as he had when he first arrived, longing for all the things he had left behind on Earth.

It also proved the truth of that saying.

"A treasured sword gains its edge through grinding; plum blossoms gain their fragrance through bitter cold."

He was now walking a path of "Long and far stretches the road ahead; above and below, I shall search."

The future was already beneath his feet. The Xiao Yu of today was no longer that shut-in with nothing to his name back on Earth, but a handsome young man who lived by "As heaven moves with unceasing vigor, the noble man strives tirelessly to strengthen himself!"

More than half a month passed.

Xiao Yu completed another stretch of arduous practice, with far greater gains than before.

Eight Spirit Ascension Pills, four Qi-Replenishing Pills, and three Spring-Rejuvenating Pills.

Thanks to those alchemy notes, Xiao Yu now understood how pills were classified. He was no longer stumbling about like a headless fly.

Under the Lightning-Fire Pill Refining Method, the three kinds of ordinary second-rank pills had reached the third rank, though they could only be considered bottom-tier among third-rank pills.

Even so, this was already incredible. After all, secret methods that raised a pill's rank existed only in the Central Plains. Yao Lao's Spirit Ascension Method was one such secret method.

But how difficult was a spirit ascension secret method to master? Without powerful soul strength, controlling it was impossible. Such methods were generally exclusive to high-rank alchemists-and here, "high-rank" meant seventh rank and above.

That was why Xiao Yu's Lightning-Fire Pill Refining Method could be called outrageously heaven-defying.

A single third-rank pill cost upwards of sixty thousand gold coins.

At sixty thousand gold coins apiece, Xiao Yu's fifteen third-rank pills were worth as much as nine hundred thousand-and that was only the minimum price.

With more than a million gold coins' worth of pills in his possession, Xiao Yu could hardly have been happier.

Strictly speaking, he was still only a Second-Rank Alchemist. After all, he could produce third-rank pills only because the unique properties of the Lightning-Fire Pill Refining Method allowed his pills to reach the third rank.

Over those twenty-odd days, he had also clearly felt the resistance involved in refining pills. It was nowhere near as easy as refining the Qi-Nourishing Pills and Body-Tempering Pills had been before.

Whether it was his control over flames and lightning, his soul strength, or his perception, all of them could only support the refinement of second-rank pills. If he wanted to go higher, he still had a long road ahead.