"1, 2, 3... 18. Eighteen Spirit Concentration Pills."
Ji Fenghe took one out of the Pill Furnace and examined it carefully in his palm.
The pill was green and slightly translucent, with a delicate fragrance that helped concentrate the mind.
"A flawless pill. It's another flawless pill."
Ji Fenghe stared at Ye Xuan, his eyes growing brighter and then increasingly fervent, until Ye Xuan felt his hair stand on end.
"Junior brother, wait here. I'll be right back."
Ji Fenghe took all the pills, left Ye Xuan with those instructions, and hurried toward the mountaintop.
"Master! Master!"
Before he even reached the summit, Ji Fenghe could not wait any longer and shouted at the top of his lungs.
A palace stood at the summit of Wood Spirit Peak. Before it, a massive Pill Cauldron hovered in midair, blue flames licking its underside as though some sort of pill was being refined within.
"How many times have I told you? Stay calm when something happens. Don't shout and yell."
A white-haired elder appeared before the main hall. He was Ji Fenghe's master, Zheng Huaiyuan, and he looked at Ji Fenghe with the exasperation of someone disappointed that iron had failed to become steel.
"Master, look at this pill."
Ji Fenghe acted as though he had not heard his master's complaint and handed over the Qi Gathering Pill.
"A flawless Qi Gathering Pill. Not bad. You can finally refine one."
Zheng Huaiyuan could tell at a glance that this Qi Gathering Pill was not one he had given Ji Fenghe before. Every Alchemist had their own habits and techniques, and even when the pills they refined were of the same quality, subtle differences could still be discerned.
"Then take a look at this one too, Master."
Ji Fenghe chuckled and took out a Spirit Concentration Pill.
"A Spirit Concentration Pill. You've made progress lately, brat. You've already refined a flawless Spirit Concentration Pill."
Zheng Huaiyuan gave Ji Fenghe an approving look. This disciple of his was highly talented, but rather unreliable.
He had not expected Ji Fenghe to be able to refine two kinds of flawless pills now, and it gratified Zheng Huaiyuan immensely.
"Hehe, Master, I didn't refine these."
Ji Fenghe hurriedly waved his hands.
Then he carefully recounted the origins of the two flawless pills and everything about Ye Xuan to Zheng Huaiyuan, leaving nothing out.
"You're saying these two flawless pills were both refined by an outer sect disciple at the Qi Refining fourth layer, and that he produced twenty-four Qi Gathering Pills and eighteen Spirit Concentration Pills?"
Shock appeared on Zheng Huaiyuan's face as well. He had encountered countless young geniuses, but he had never heard of anyone capable of refining near-perfect flawless pills at the Qi Refining fourth layer.
"You said he doesn't have a master yet?"
"That's right!"
Ji Fenghe nodded hurriedly. That was precisely why he had come. How could they let such a monstrous genius slip away?
Zheng Huaiyuan's alchemy ranked among the very best in the entire outer sect. Only he could draw out Ye Xuan's talent for alchemy.
"Good. Bring him here."
Zheng Huaiyuan nodded, a fondness for talent stirring in his heart as well.
Having received his orders, Ji Fenghe ran excitedly down the mountain. For years, he and his master had been the only two people on Wood Spirit Peak. Usually, he could only talk to the medicinal herbs on the peak.
Now, he could finally have a junior brother.
"Ye Xuan! Ye Xuan! Quick, come with me."
Ji Fenghe pulled Ye Xuan up the mountain and told him the good news that his master intended to take him as a disciple.
Ye Xuan was a little dazed by the news, but then grew happy as well.
After taking a master, he would have someone else to back him up and could safely get through the period when he was weak.
Moreover, the concentration of Spiritual Qi on Wood Spirit Peak was several times that of his residence, and signing in at the spirit fields could also improve his Wood Spirit Root.
Ye Xuan could think of no reason to refuse.
Immediately, Ye Xuan activated the Chaos Dao Scripture to conceal his Spirit Roots and cultivation, making himself appear to have a trash Spirit Root and a cultivation at the Qi Refining fourth layer, lest Zheng Huaiyuan spot anything amiss.
The two soon reached the summit, where Zheng Huaiyuan had already been waiting for some time.
"Greetings, senior."
Ye Xuan stepped forward and bowed.
Zheng Huaiyuan smiled and nodded. He tested Ye Xuan's knowledge, then had him refine Qi Gathering Pills on the spot, finally nodding in satisfaction.
"A Five Elements Defective Spirit Root, with cultivation at the Qi Refining fourth layer."
After examining Ye Xuan's aptitude, Zheng Huaiyuan frowned slightly.
Ye Xuan's aptitude was truly too poor. A trash Spirit Root would not take him far along the path of cultivation, but Spirit Roots could be improved, so Zheng Huaiyuan did not dwell on it.
"Ye Xuan, are you willing to take me as your master?"
"This disciple is willing!"
Ye Xuan immediately knelt and performed the formal ceremony of accepting a master.
"Good, good, good! From today onward, you are my second disciple. You must work diligently from now on. Don't be like Ji Fenghe, fishing for three days and drying his nets for two, squandering his talent."
Zheng Huaiyuan clapped his hands and laughed heartily.
Ji Fenghe secretly rolled his eyes, rummaged through his qiankun bag, and took out a Pill Furnace.
"Congratulations, Junior Brother Ye. I don't have anything particularly good to give you, so take this high-grade Law Artifact Pill Furnace as my welcoming gift."
"Thank you, eldest senior brother!"
Ye Xuan sucked in a breath. The low-grade Law Artifact Pill Furnace he had bought back then had cost over a hundred Spirit Stones.
A high-grade Law Artifact Pill Furnace would cost at least eight hundred low-grade Spirit Stones.
Hearing Ye Xuan call him eldest senior brother, Ji Fenghe smiled even more broadly and even shot Zheng Huaiyuan a challenging look.
Since he had given such an expensive welcoming gift, how could Zheng Huaiyuan, as their master, give anything less?
Zheng Huaiyuan noticed Ji Fenghe's look as well. After a moment's thought, he reached out and produced a green lamp.
"Whoa, the supreme-grade Law Artifact Azure Wood Lamp. Master is really being generous this time."
Seeing his master take out the Azure Wood Lamp, Ji Fenghe also revealed a look of longing.
Ji Fenghe had once begged Zheng Huaiyuan for the Azure Wood Lamp for a long time, only to be refused every time. He had never expected it to be given to Ye Xuan now.
"The wick of this Azure Wood Lamp is Azure Wood Divergent Flame, an exceedingly rare flame source for alchemy. Had there been enough of the flame source back then, this Azure Wood Lamp would certainly have entered the ranks of Spirit Artifacts. Even so, its power remains astonishing. If shattered, it can burn even a cultivator at the Foundation Establishment middle stage to ashes."
Zheng Huaiyuan gave Ye Xuan the Azure Wood Lamp as a gift for becoming his disciple.
"Thank you, Master!"
Ye Xuan solemnly accepted the Azure Wood Lamp and the Jade Slip containing its instructions. This was his first supreme-grade Law Artifact.
"These are some notes on medicinal properties and insights into alchemy that I compiled previously. Study them carefully when you return. If you encounter anything you don't understand, you can come here and ask me. For other questions about cultivation, you can consult Ji Fenghe. Also, this is a Wood Spirit Peak disciple token. With it, you can freely enter and leave all the spirit fields on Wood Spirit Peak."
Remembering that Ye Xuan was more talented than Ji Fenghe, Zheng Huaiyuan hurriedly changed his wording, telling Ye Xuan to consult him about alchemy.
Ji Fenghe did not mind at all. He draped an arm over Ye Xuan's shoulders and said,
"Hehe, junior brother, did you already have a cultivation method?"
Ji Fenghe took out more than a dozen cultivation methods, including quite a few Golden Core Realm cultivation methods, and stuffed them all into Ye Xuan's hands, telling him to choose carefully after he returned.
"Junior brother, apart from the residences, our Wood Spirit Peak is covered in medicinal fields from the foot of the mountain to the summit. The closer you get to the summit, the more precious the medicinal herbs grown in the fields are."