Chapter 76: with translation of chapter title

This is a dispelling curse technique; if someone ever casts a curse on you, you'll also have a means to counter it.

Can it break the curse on you?

No, the three curses on me are too strong; using my blood is useless, so don't even think about it for now.

At the start of the new month, Princess Barbara awoke again and taught Lu Xun a new incantation.

Curse‑breaking technique.

This incantation is quite complex; Lu Xun couldn't learn it in one try.

After the matter with Bai Ling was settled, Lu Xun's life returned to peace, and he could continue his comfortable, laid‑back lifestyle.

From time to time, Lu Xun would pop over to the Spirit Pill Pavilion to check the situation.

Recently the Spirit Pill Pavilion's business has improved; the pills that previously didn't sell are now moving better.

Most customers are outside cultivators, not Qingbei students.

As Lan Xing was about to enter the Ancient Starry Road, many cultivators felt a sense of urgency and even bought the heavenly‑tier pills they'd usually hesitate to purchase.

【Bai Ling's alchemy proficiency broke through to third tier (earth rank), granting you thirty times her harvest.】

【Bai Ling's cultivation broke through to the second layer of Qi Gathering, granting you thirty times her harvest.】

One week later, Lu Xun suddenly received a new reimbursement.

This reimbursement came from Bai Ling.

She successfully refined a third‑tier pill, thereby advancing to third‑tier alchemist.

While her alchemy proficiency improved, Bai Ling's cultivation also rose in tandem.

This is the heaven‑defying aspect of the alchemy meridian.

An alchemist who possesses an alchemy meridian needs no separate cultivation; simply refining pills continuously will boost their cultivation.

The reimbursements for alchemy proficiency and cultivation arrived together.

First, a warm current entered Lu Xun's body, raising his cultivation.

Immediately after, a vast amount of information flooded Lu Xun's mind.

This information was the reimbursement for alchemy proficiency, a return of knowledge and experience.

Although it was knowledge and experience, after the reimbursement Lu Xun naturally mastered it, as if he'd been born knowing it.

His alchemy proficiency was zero.

But under the thirty‑fold reimbursement, Lu Xun's alchemy proficiency kept rising.

Starting from an alchemy apprentice, he quickly broke into first‑tier alchemist, then the ranks rose.

The four ranks—earth, yellow, profound, heaven—he rose from yellow up to profound, then earth, and straight to heaven.

After reaching the heaven rank, it didn't end; he surged straight into a brand‑new rank—the saint rank!

Isn't the heaven rank the highest?

Lu Xun's eyes were opened wide.

Upon reaching the saint rank, he finally paused, then in one breath pushed up to second tier.

Thus Lu Xun became a second‑tier alchemist.

This still wasn't over; his alchemy proficiency kept climbing.

Soon Lu Xun became a second‑tier saint‑rank alchemist, his prowess surpassing Bai Ling's former level.

Then his alchemy proficiency broke into third tier, making him a third‑tier alchemist.

This still hadn't ended...

Nice, fourth tier!

After an hour, the reimbursement for alchemy proficiency finally ended.

At that point Lu Xun had become a fourth‑tier earth‑rank alchemist.

That is, he could now refine fourth‑tier earth‑rank pills!

A fourth‑tier alchemist still capable of producing earth‑rank fourth‑tier pills is rare throughout the East.

Lu Xun achieved this easily with just a single reimbursement from Bai Ling.

If other alchemists found out, they'd be jealous to death.

Lu Xun felt that, had he not surged to the saint rank, on the pure alchemist tier he could have gone straight to fifth tier and become a fifth‑tier alchemist.

However, the tier only indicates which realm of pill you can refine.

For an alchemist, what matters most is still the rank—that is, the quality!

For example, a fifth‑tier yellow‑rank pill is inferior in efficacy to a fourth‑tier earth‑rank or higher pill.

My saint rank ought to be one‑of‑a‑kind, right?

Lu Xun thought.

Bai Ling being able to refine heaven‑rank pills is already incredibly impressive.

He now can refine saint‑rank pills.

Just give it a try and you'll see.

Lu Xun felt an itch to try.

He cradled Little White and headed out to Bai Cao Street in the capital, where medicinal ingredients for alchemy are sold, intending to buy some materials and try refining.

Upon arriving at Bai Cao Street, Lu Xun found that he still needed quite a few things for his alchemy.

First is an alchemy furnace; once the furnace is settled, he also needs to purchase the furnace fire.

To refine high‑quality pills, a good furnace and furnace fire are indispensable.

Alchemy furnaces also come in the four ranks of earth, yellow, profound, and heaven.

Below the yellow rank there's also a low‑grade furnace, very cheap, ranging from a few thousand to tens of thousands of Hua Xia coins.

If it's a Yellow Rank pill furnace, the price is high—for example, black iron cauldrons, red copper furnaces, white stone pill cauldrons and the like, they often cost tens to hundreds of millions of Huaxia yuan.

Mysterious Rank pill furnaces are even more expensive, and they can only be purchased with Dark Energy.

On this street, the highest-grade pill furnace available is only of Earth Rank, priced at one hundred thousand units of Dark Energy; it is a pill furnace called the Yin-Yang Twin Cauldron.

Its interior consists of an upper and lower chamber; the upper chamber refines, the lower chamber condenses the pill, giving extremely high efficiency, but the operation is complex and ordinary pill masters cannot handle it.

Besides the pill furnace, the fire is also not cheap, and most of it is single-use, meaning it can only be used once.

For example, a kind of Earth Fire Pill, once activated, can provide several hours of earth fire.

Refining different pills requires different kinds of furnace fire.

Furnace fire is also graded; using ordinary fire to refine high-grade pills will only increase the failure rate.

"If I want to refine Saint Rank pills, even an Earth Rank pill furnace isn't really enough... Forget it, I'll just mooch off Bai Ling's."

Lu Xun thought for a moment and decided not to buy a pill furnace or fire for now.

He can first mooch off Bai Ling's.

Bai Ling's pill furnace seems to be of high quality.

Thus, Lu Xun bought a large amount of spiritual herbs and medicines and then went to the Star Moon Pavilion.

"Ah? Boss, you also want to refine pills?"

"Mm!"

"Then you can use it first; I'll go study some spiritual talismans."

Bai Ling handed the pill furnace over to Lu Xun.

"It's actually a Heavenly Rank pill furnace..."

When Lu Xun approached the pill furnace and took a look, he discovered that the pill furnace Bai Ling was using was actually a Heavenly Rank pill furnace.

No wonder her success rate in refining Heavenly Rank pills is so high.

In front of the pill furnace, there were also many fire pills placed.

Lu Xun picked one and tossed it into the pill furnace.

A roaring furnace fire blazed up.

Only then did he take out the materials and begin pill refining.

This was Lu Xun's first time refining pills.

But his movements were extraordinarily skilled, like a veteran driver who has refined pills many times over.

After just over an hour, all the materials had been poured into the pill furnace by Lu Xun.

Then he swiftly issued a series of pill arts to control the fire inside.

"Almost there."

After another half hour or so, Lu Xun issued a pill art to collect the pill and then suddenly lifted the lid of the pill furnace.

Instantly, medicinal fragrance filled the room; smelling it made one's whole body feel refreshed and all ailments vanished.

"Wow, boss, it smells so good."

Bai Ling smelled the fragrance and walked over.

As soon as she arrived, she was stunned.

Because around the pill furnace, pill rosy clouds actually appeared!

Faintly, celestial music could be heard.

"What rank of pill is this?!"

Bai Ling froze.

Normally, only Heavenly Rank pills produce pill rosy clouds, but they do not produce celestial music.

Moreover, the pill rosy clouds from Heavenly Rank pills are not this extensive.

"Rise!"

Lu Xun flicked his hand, and the pills inside the furnace flew out one by one, landing in the jade bottle.

There were twelve in total.

That is exactly one furnace's worth of pills.

On his first pill refining attempt, his success rate was 100%.

"Boss, can I take a look at your pills?"

Bai Ling could hardly hold back.

Going by intuition, she felt that the pills Lu Xun had refined this time might be astonishing.

"Here."

Lu Xun handed over the jade bottle.

"Three lines..."

Bai Ling looked, and her originally cute, adorably clueless big eyes widened even more, making one think of a Disney princess with the pause button pressed.

She reacted this way because the pills Lu Xun refined actually bore three golden pill patterns!!

The pill patterns on pills: Yellow Rank has none, Mysterious Rank has white lines, Earth Rank has silver lines, Heavenly Rank has golden lines.

The Heavenly Rank pills Bai Ling refines are just golden lines.

But golden lines can be at most one.

No one had ever told her that pill patterns could have three lines.

Heavens!

At that moment, this genius girl, born with a pill meridian and destined for pill refining, was deeply shocked.