"Have you heard? The Xiao Clan's third young master, Xiao Yan, has reached fourth-stage Dou Qi."
"What? Fourth-stage Dou Qi? Isn't the Xiao Clan's third young master only six? Fourth-stage Dou Qi at six years old? Isn't that talent a little terrifying?"
"Terrifying talent isn't all he has. I heard the Xiao Clan's third young master is also engaged to Nalan Jie's granddaughter, from one of the empire's three great clans. She's the granddaughter of the empire's Lionheart Marshal."
"The Lionheart Marshal's granddaughter! Tsk, the Xiao Clan's third young master really is lucky. If I could marry into the empire's Lionheart Marshal's family-or have talent like the Xiao Clan's third young master-that would do too!"
"..."
Su Yun quietly listened to everyone's discussion. After his investigations, he could now confirm that this was the Battle Through the Heavens World.
After confirming this, Su Yun first took a look at the design of the Dou Qi Continent's gold coins, then returned to his clan and began recalling the original text of Battle Through the Heavens.
Thanks to his soul Martial Soul, he could retrieve everything he had seen in his previous life from the depths of his soul.
"The Pulse-Protecting Pill, a tier-two pill. Xiao Yan used it to protect his meridians when he absorbed the purple flame. It would be good for increasing the age limit of Soul Rings I can absorb. And since it's a tier-two pill, it shouldn't be hard to buy."
"The Purple Cloud Wings. In the Battle Through the Heavens World, those are a Flying Dou Technique, but under the Douluo World's rules, who knows whether they could become an External Soul Bone."
"Besides those, something I could use soonest and get relatively easily..."
Rubbing the space between his brows, Su Yun wrote four characters on the paper.
Foundation Establishment Spirit Liquid.
This was what Yao Lao had given Xiao Yan in the original novel to rapidly increase his cultivation speed during the Dou Qi stage.
It was Yao Lao's own creation, an exceptionally unusual substance that could be used even at the Dou Qi stage.
Su Yun was very glad that, to showcase Yao Lao's alchemy skills, the original text of Battle Through the Heavens had clearly described everything from the proportions of the medicinal ingredients and the order in which they were added to the state they should reach after refinement.
With Su Yun able to inspect the memories deep within his soul, there was a process he could follow for this, just like the Rasengan in Naruto.
After having all the Gold Soul Coins he possessed recast in the design of Battle Through the Heavens' gold coins, Su Yun returned to the Battle Through the Heavens World and exchanged every coin he had for ingredients to refine Foundation Establishment Spirit Liquid.
He did not save any money to hire an alchemist, because he simply could not afford one.
The alchemists' rules were three sets of ingredients for one pill. For special pills, clients had to provide the recipe themselves, as well as additional benefits for the alchemist.
From an alchemist's perspective, it was great.
But for someone looking to hire an alchemist, this was rather unfriendly.
Of course, the most important point was still that Su Yun simply could not afford it.
Su Yun was only six. Since people on the Douluo Continent matured early, they also received pocket money early, and because his family was fairly well-off, he received quite a bit.
But how far that money went depended on what it was spent on.
It was certainly enough for food, drink, and entertainment, but once cultivation resources were involved, the money in Su Yun's pockets became a short blanket that could not cover everything.
Most of the money he currently had was something his father, Su Lie, had given him on the spot while comforting him.
As someone who could not scrape together ten thousand gold coins, he had to budget carefully. There was no spare money to hire an alchemist.
Fortunately, Foundation Establishment Spirit Liquid was only a tier-two pill-or rather, it was not even a pill. Unlike pills, Foundation Establishment Spirit Liquid did not require pill condensation. It was merely a medicinal liquid with a relatively low refinement difficulty.
And on the Douluo Continent, especially in the Sun Moon Empire, there were also people who could refine medicine.
The Su Clan, for instance, had people who could use Soul Tools to refine medicine.
And when it came to refining medicine, Su Yun was very grateful to Tang Jia San Shao.
Because the intelligence-lowering halo on the Douluo Continent was so powerful, Su Yun had worried that refining medicine here would consist of throwing a pile of medicinal ingredients into a pot and boiling them.
Fortunately, to show off Huo Yuhao's status as a Level 9 Soul Engineer in the original novel, Tang Jia San Shao had not wreaked havoc on the medicine-refining side of things.
Refining medicine in the Sun Moon Empire required high-grade Soul Tools. It was not simply a matter of tossing things into a pot and boiling them.
In fact, refining medicine in the Sun Moon Empire also required extraction and a whole series of other procedures, somewhat reminiscent of the Dou Qi Continent's alchemists.
Although medicine refinement on the Douluo Continent was far inferior to that in Battle Through the Heavens, Su Yun was not trying to refine some high-tier pill.
For a tier-two Foundation Establishment Spirit Liquid, whose refinement difficulty was even lower than a normal tier-two pill and merely had somewhat unusual conditions for use, the Su Clan's medicine-refining techniques should work... right?
"First, take out one stalk of this and burn it down into a small blob of green liquid. Once the first stalk is done, burn the other two into that green liquid one after the other. The resulting liquid must be only about the size of a thumb."
"Then calcine these two medicinal ingredients and blend the extracted essences with the green liquid from before."
"Finally, burn this green thing. Once it's been reduced to a blob of pale green liquid, blend it with the other medicinal liquids, and that's it. Understood?"
Su Yun quietly explained the steps to the clan's alchemist, who patted his chest.
"Understood. Don't worry, Young Master Su Yun. Give me some time, and I guarantee I'll refine what you want!"
"Thank you for your hard work."
Time flew, the sun and moon racing like a weaver's shuttle, and three days passed in the blink of an eye.
Looking at the pile of medicinal dregs, Xu Qing remained silent for a long time.
"Young master, I'm truly sorry. I underestimated how difficult refining that last crystal core would be and let you down. But I'm starting to get a feel for it now. With a few more attempts, I'll definitely succeed."
The clan's alchemist spoke apologetically.
He had thought this would be an ordinary medicine-refining task, never expecting the final crystal core to be so difficult to refine. Several attempts had failed at that very step.
"Is that true? With a few more attempts, you're certain you can succeed?"
Su Yun did not dwell on the failures. After all, these were experiments with new medicinal ingredients, so a few failures were normal.
Besides, Su Yun had not provided many ingredients to begin with. To him, this outcome actually counted as good.
"I'm certain, young master. I'm willing to pledge my life on it. Give me another ten... no, fifteen attempts, and I'll definitely succeed in refining what you need at least once."
"Fifteen attempts?"
Su Yun's brow twitched. At the thought of how much fifteen experiments would cost, he began to feel rather unwell.
A single set of ingredients cost over a thousand gold coins altogether. Even using inferior ingredients for practice, or refining only the Magic Core, would still cost a considerable sum.
Especially now, when his innate Soul Power had just been measured at level three, asking his father for money would be somewhat difficult.
It was not that his father would refuse. The problem was that this was a clan.
If the clan was nurturing a genius, it would accept however much money was spent.
But clearly, Su Yun was no genius now. In fact, in everyone's eyes, innate level-three Soul Power made him outright trash.
Because his father was the clan leader, few dared kick up a fuss in front of Su Yun, but that did not mean the clan had no complaints about him.
It was taken for granted that the clan leader's son could receive a share of resources even if he was trash, but if he wanted more, the clansmen's objections would be far from minor.
In Battle Through the Heavens, Xiao Zhan had often been berated by the clan elders precisely because he had given Xiao Yan plenty of resources while he was still trash.
Su Yun did not want his father to be targeted by the elders like Xiao Yan's father, but he really was short of money right now.
Left with no choice, he could only...
"Big sister, let me wash your feet."