"Reading your words is like meeting you; may opening this letter bring a smile.
Shi Yiniang, today I began cultivating the Dao of Alchemy and felt deeply how difficult it is. I ruined sixteen batches of medicinal ingredients before finally producing pills.
The first pills I refined today are called Eight-Treasure Flesh-Regenerating Pills. One batch yielded five. My Academy Master has already tested their properties, and he said they were good pills.
Taking these pills can whiten the skin, freshen the breath, and sweeten the saliva. I would like to give them to you, but my cultivation duties are heavy and I cannot get away. The elders on the mountain do not want me leaving the sect either, so, shamefully, I must ask you to send someone to collect them.
I still remember that when we parted at Changbai, you said you would come down to the lower realm to find me after returning to Peacock City. Yet the cicadas on the mountain have sung three times, and still no one has come. If you have time when collecting the pills, I hope you will come yourself.
Also, my Academy Master asked me to gather more metallic alchemical ingredients for my own use, but I have internal alchemy to cultivate and many duties, and truly do not wish to spend time on this. Since you run a trading company, please keep an eye out for me. I can pay with finished pills.
..."
After finishing, Cheng Xinzhan set the letter aside, closed his eyes, and recalled the details of that day's alchemy, going over them again and again in his mind.
He had previously thought his fire techniques passable, but only after trying them today did he realize how shallow his skills were.
He repeatedly chewed over what he had