A Chance Encounter with an Old Acquaintance?

Given Zhou Ning's wealth, he wasn't short of this spirit rice. He simply couldn't use it openly.

Otherwise, how could a young fisherman have several Spirit Stones?

"Did you find some fortuitous opportunity? You insignificant Qi Refining junior, hand it over! Die!"

The retainers at Cuiwei Lake were no kind souls. It was common for them to report people.

Every bit of money he saved could go toward the cost of refining pills, making it all the more natural for him to become an Alchemist.

The sky was bright today, and the lake lay like a great mirror, reflecting the green trees on its surface.

"Fire up the furnace and refine pills!"

Zhou Ning prepared the purple river carriage grass, sweet fruit, and other medicinal ingredients.

Then he took out the Pill Furnace the fairy had personally used.

"One batch of ingredients costs sixteen jin of spirit rice, while a single Stasis-Clearing Pill sells for five."

"I need at least three pills to come close to breaking even."

"But as far as I know, the success rate for Chen State Alchemists refining low-grade pills is around thirty percent?"

"In other words, even if I reach the level of an ordinary Alchemist, I'll still lose money on these low-grade pills?"

"Forget it. Let's refine them first."

Zhou Ning injected spiritual power into the array stone. The array activated, and a small flame rose from its center.

He used the fire-control method from the Divine Cauldron Inner Landscape Scripture. The little flame swayed smoothly from side to side, lively and spirited.

Zhou Ning placed the brass Pill Furnace over the lively little flame.

Once the furnace had warmed slightly, he used Law Power to pick up the purple river carriage grass and toss it inside. It quickly melted into a small glob of purple liquid, floating in the furnace.

He slowly heated it over the little flame, driving out the impurities. After about the time it took an incense stick to burn, the scent of medicine filled the air.

"Refining pills is as easy as turning over my hand!"

He picked up a blood rose blossom and tossed it into the furnace, where it quickly melted into a red glob.

"Fuse!"

Zhou Ning formed a seal with both hands.

To his surprise, the instant the two globs of liquid fused, it was like water meeting oil. With a sizzle, thick smoke shot skyward, and the faint medicinal fragrance turned pungent in an instant.

Zhou Ning peered into the furnace and saw nothing but blackened dregs.

His vision went dark, and his head buzzed. "My sixteen jin of spirit rice!"

Losing money like this felt terrible.

With a sigh, Zhou Ning found the He Household's Jade Slip and began searching for the reason the fusion had failed.

A long time later, realization dawned on him. "Because the ingredients differ, the slightest error in the heat can make the difference between heaven and earth."

"So hard!"

No wonder they said Alchemists burned through money. Ruin batch after batch like this, and even a cultivation Lineage could be dragged to ruin!

Fortunately!

Zhou Ning had the Divine Cauldron Inner Landscape Scripture.

The strength of this pill-refining cultivation method lay in its ability to simulate the entire pill-refining process within his Divine Sense, with extraordinary realism.

Any mistakes in the order of ingredients or excess heat would all show up.

Once the simulation was free of errors, he could fire up the real cauldron and succeed every single time.

Zhou Ning focused his mind and gathered his Qi, beginning to practice the method. "Concentrate the spirit within the inner landscape, and the Divine Cauldron will arise of itself..."

Using his Divine Sense, he condensed a miniature Pill Furnace in his mind, controlled the fire with his thoughts, and recreated the pill-refining process...

Kindling the fire, taking the ingredients, removing impurities, fusing...

Half a month later.

Zhou Ning produced a pill.

Its color was dark, and its surface was speckled, like the freckles on Su Wen's face.

It had none of the luster or flawless appearance a proper pill should have. Its scent was also quite faint, with a trace of astringency.

"A defective pill!"

It could be eaten, but its medicinal potency was lacking, and its pill toxins were strong. Hardly anyone would buy it.

Zhou Ning pondered. "I've more or less mastered the fusion step, but my pill condensation is still far from good enough."

The finishing stage hadn't been clean enough, and the pill had picked up impurities.

"One second's mistake, and the whole game is lost," he said with a sigh.

The Divine Cauldron Inner Landscape Scripture wasn't all-powerful. At least in the Qi Refining Realm, it couldn't create something from nothing. He had to try it himself before he could simulate it in his sea of consciousness.

Zhou Ning straightened up.

He still had a few days of leave left. If he wanted to focus on refining pills, he would have to ask Steward Su for more time off.

First, though, Zhou Ning planned to hunt fish and earn some spirit rice openly to cover his pill-refining expenses.

He could also stockpile eel blood in preparation for his next trip to the Land of Wei.

"It's time to visit the Forget-Return Market!"

Dusk was approaching.

A light boat glided slowly across the lake. Xu Qinghou came ashore empty-handed today; Yuan Dahu had taken charge of handling the Fuluo Eels he had caught.

Seeing that Zhou Ning had come out of seclusion, he greeted him first.

Then he asked tentatively, "How many pills have you made in the past half month?"

Zhou Ning said, "Once I make two more, I'll have two."

Xu Qinghou stared at him in astonishment, thinking he had actually succeeded. Only afterward did he catch on.

He couldn't help pressing a hand to his forehead. "You scared me! I was just about to congratulate you, big brother!"

Zhou Ning clasped his hands behind his back and said proudly, "It's fine. Once I become a real Alchemist, it won't be too late to congratulate me."

Though Xu Qinghou hoped things would go well for Zhou Ning, he had never believed he could become an Alchemist.

Even Yuan Dahu, the leader of their fishing group, only dared to try learning insect control.

Xu Qinghou said, "Do you know Jiang Xi?"

After thinking for a moment, Zhou Ning said, "The one who grows spirit lotus roots?"

"Yes."

Zhou Ning nodded. On the day he had asked Steward Su for leave, he had seen a woman of twenty-five or twenty-six with a cultivation at the Third Layer of Qi Refinement.

Xu Qinghou said, "Jiang Xi tried refining pills before too. She ended up owing a mountain of Spirit Stones, and she couldn't pay it all back in ten years."

Zhou Ning said, "...Are you trying to tell me something?"

Xu Qinghou changed tack, his tone turning gossipy. "But lately, Jiang Xi and Steward Su have gotten together."

Zhou Ning wondered, Is this how she's settling her debts?

Xu Qinghou went on. It turned out that Steward Su had sent his mortal wife, now old and faded, back to her hometown.

She had never borne him a child with a Spirit Root, so Steward Su was eager to remarry, even if it meant taking a woman in debt.

After all, female cultivators were relatively rare in the cultivation world.

Zhou Ning exclaimed, "Wonderful. One isn't after money, and the other isn't after beauty."

Xu Qinghou froze, then held back a laugh.

He sighed. "We'll have to attend the banquet when the time comes and bring a gift."

This time it was Zhou Ning's turn to freeze. "I have to give a gift too?"

Xu Qinghou sneered. "Steward Su won't remember who gave him a gift, but he'll definitely remember who didn't."

Zhou Ning had to concede.

Night fell.

Zhou Ning hung a sign on his door: "Do not disturb."

Then he used the Flowing Light Concealing Shadow Technique and passed a hand over his face. His originally handsome features instantly aged twenty years.

Concealing his figure, Zhou Ning walked through the sky above the lake, gradually receding into the distance.

After leaving Cuiwei Lake, he altered the appearance of his cultivation to the Qi Refining Sixth Layer.

With cultivation like that, he could already travel outside alone.

Old Jia, for example, was only at the Qi Refining Sixth Layer, yet he traveled between Cuiwei Lake and the Forget-Return Market year-round, buying and reselling spiritual materials.

And the Su Household's eldest young lady, at the Qi Refining Eighth Layer, even dared to ride an eye-catching, dazzling vermilion rainbow flying boat.

Zhou Ning still didn't know how strong he was in battle, but he supposed he shouldn't be weaker than someone at the Qi Refining Middle Stage.

Unfortunately, he wasn't truly at the Qi Refining Sixth Layer. If he could reach that realm, he could gain a measure of freedom, like Old Jia.

He wouldn't have to be at someone else's mercy, reporting to Steward Su just to ask for leave.

He flicked out a palm-sized spirit boat and injected spiritual power into it. The Flowing Plainness Boat grew in the wind.

The boat was plain and unadorned, far less conspicuous than Su Yunjin's vermilion boat.

After Zhou Ning boarded, the flying boat paused briefly, then glided smoothly forward.

"It really is marvelous. It makes very little noise cutting through the air, and there's no turbulence... very steady."

It was a completely different experience from when Zhou Ning had ridden the eldest young lady's flying boat: both discreet and nimble.

He steered the Flowing Plainness Boat into the distant night sky as a streak of plain-colored light.

An hour and a half later.

Standing on the flying boat, Zhou Ning saw the Forget-Return Market in the distance below, spread across dozens of li in a vast valley.

A sea of lights blazed like fire, burning through the night.

Flying boats streaked past nearby from time to time, trailing brilliant light. Some people rode spirit birds, while others were great Foundation Establishment cultivators traveling through the air, their streaks of light flashing.

Compared with Cuiwei Lake, it was like another world.

As he drew closer, he saw the light of the market's protective array flickering in and out of sight overhead.

He wondered, How many Spirit Stones does this array cost?

Zhou Ning had heard Old Jia say that the Forget-Return Market possessed a low-grade third-tier spirit vein. It was jointly controlled by the Lei Household, a Core Formation Lineage, and four False Core Lineages: the artifact-refining Duan Household, the Guo Household, the Ye Household, and the Han Household.

As for the Su Household, it wasn't qualified to sit at the table.

Zhou Ning landed with the other cultivators at the bluestone gatehouse at the mouth of the valley. Only after paying half a jin of spirit rice and registering his information did he receive an identity token and permission to enter the market.

Zhou Ning looked at the three characters for "He Zhuoran" on the token and chuckled.

He entered the market with the other cultivators. People came and went across the white jade square, making for a lively scene.

"Senior, do you need a guide? Just one jin of spirit rice."

A girl's charming voice rang out.