Chapter 33: Three‑star Alchemist

After waiting a few minutes, a sudden sound of footsteps came from outside the door, gradually drawing nearer.

Then the wooden door of the VIP room was gently opened, and a man in his thirties walked in.

"Good day, sir. I am the chief administrator of the Hei Yan Cheng branch, named Lu Jin. Are you looking for a three-star alchemy formula?"

Upon entering the room, the man stepped forward, clasped his fists in a greeting, and politely asked.

"Exactly. Do you have one here?"

Lin Feng nodded slightly and asked again.

Chief Administrator Lu Jin glanced at the brim of Lin Feng's black cloak and replied, "As for the three-star formula, our Hei Yan Cheng branch indeed has two scrolls."

He then introduced them to Lin Feng: "These two three-star formulas are the Po Qi Pill and the Zhen Shang Pill."

"The Po Qi Pill, when taken, can raise a fighter's rank by one star, but it does not help in breaking through to Dou Shi."

"As for the Zhen Shang Pill, it is an excellent healing medicine that works well on many common injuries."

"I'll take the scroll for the Po Qi Pill. How many gold coins?"

After hearing Lu Jin's description of the two scrolls, Lin Feng immediately chose the Po Qi Pill scroll and asked back.

"It costs only 350,000 gold coins, and you may take it."

Hearing that, Lin Feng's eyebrows lifted slightly; the price seemed a bit too cheap.

One must know that on the Dou Qi continent, aside from the unattainably rare Imperial‑tier pills, formulas are ranked from first to ninth grade.

Formulas of the lowly or inferior first grade are considered unsavory because they are too basic, require few materials, and are not very complex.

Therefore, ordinary alchemists are reluctant to waste precious soul energy to inscribe such low‑level formulas.

For second grade and above, alchemists usually must use soul energy as ink to carve them onto special scrolls, and the failure rate is extremely high.

If one wishes to inscribe a three‑star formula, a Four-star Alchemist must be employed; without one or two years, don't even think of completing it.

And now it's being sold for only 350,000; if this scroll had no issues, he'd never believe it.

Sensing Lin Feng's doubt, Lu Jin explained, "The price is so low because both scrolls have already been read four times; now there is only one final chance to read them completely."

"No wonder!"

Hearing his explanation, Lin Feng instantly understood the reason for the low price.

Each time a soul‑written formula is read, it consumes a portion of the soul energy within the scroll, causing the soul traces to become somewhat blurred.

If a scroll is read more than five times, its contents become essentially fragmented and incomplete.

Reading it again at that point requires one to infer the vague parts with one's own ability, which inevitably wastes a lot of time and effort.

Although these two scrolls can still be read fully, the opportunity is only once.

That means if you purchase this scroll, it will be very hard to exchange it with others again, or to give it to your juniors for study.

Therefore, unless there is no alternative, most people would not want to buy such a formula.

However, for Lin Feng, that is rather indifferent.

Now he only wants to obtain the three‑star formula quickly, improve his alchemy, and has no intention of reselling the formula.

Thus, he doesn't care how many times the formula has been read, as long as he can read its contents fully.

Thinking that, he took from his bosom the Naji containing the gold coins he had obtained in the earlier cave, along with a gold‑coin card, handed them over, and said, "Let's trade."

Hearing that, Lu Jin was delighted; those two scrolls had been gathering dust in the treasury for so long, and finally one was sold.

He quickly took the items Lin Feng handed over, examined them, and found that the Naji held roughly over 200,000 gold coins.

Adding the balance on the gold‑coin card, it was enough to purchase the formula; his tone instantly became more respectful: "Please wait a moment, sir; we will prepare it right away."

After saying that, he left the VIP room and headed to the treasury to prepare the items.

After all, for items like a three‑star formula, only he has the authority to retrieve them within the entire Hei Yan Cheng branch…

Half a moment later, Lu Jin returned, this time accompanied by a maid holding a jade tray.

The maid followed Lu Jin to Lin Feng's side, bowed, lifted the jade tray, and softly said, "Sir, please."

Lin Feng's eyes, hidden beneath his cloak, scanned the Naji on the tray and saw that it contained what he wanted.

He lifted it, took out the scroll to examine it for a while, confirmed it was fine, and then hurried out of the Mi Te Er Auction House.

In a secluded alley he changed his attire, then casually entered an inn in the city, opened a room, and settled in.

He took the Po Qi Pill formula from the Naji, pressed it to his forehead, and his soul perception slowly entered it.

In an instant, the information on the scroll projected directly into his mind.

The Po Qi Pill, a three‑star elixir, when taken not only allows a fighter to advance one star.

Moreover, the excess energy in the pill flushes the taker's body once, providing a slight effect of strengthening tendons and bones.

However, fighters should not take it when attempting to break through to Dou Shi.

Because the Po Qi Pill cannot help a fighter break through to Dou Shi!

Furthermore, the energy inside the pill may run amok within the body, potentially disrupting the taker's breakthrough and causing failure.

Remember!

Required ingredients: second‑grade demon core, Qi‑containing grass, flowerless vine…

After a moment, Lin Feng finished reading the information in the formula and slowly opened his eyes.

Looking at the scroll in his hand, although he had already undergone a soul reading once, he couldn't help marveling at the wonder of this method.

Nevertheless, as the Mi Te Er Auction House had said, the soul traces were indeed rather faint when he read it.

If he reads it again later, how much he can glean will depend on fate.

He retrieved the formula and, after searching through several of his Najis,

found that Mu She's collection contained a few second‑grade demon cores, and together with the ingredients in Boss Yao's Naji, the materials for the Po Qi Pill could be gathered in three portions.

He then organized the gold‑coin card he had on hand, totaling about a hundred thousand, and breathed a sigh of relief,

these gold coins should be enough to support his practice until he successfully refines the Po Qi Pill.

One month later.

At this moment, Lin Feng stared fixedly at the misshapen, ugly-looking proto-pill inside the alchemy cauldron, fearing any further mistake.

As the fire nurtured it, the proto-pill continually became smooth and round, and only then did Lin Feng gradually relax.

Soon, with a flick of his hand, a silvery-white pill precisely fell into the jade bottle in his hand.

Hehe.

Because his battle qi was severely depleted, the pale-faced Lin Feng, looking at the Breaking Qi Pill in his hand, exclaimed excitedly: "I can now be considered a Three-Star Alchemist, right?"

However, thinking of the pitiful four-digit amount on his gold coin card, his excitement was greatly diminished.

A hint of bitterness appeared at the corner of his mouth as he muttered to himself: "Sigh, no wonder so many people fight tooth and nail to join a major power; going solo really puts you at a disadvantage, having to do everything yourself. It seems that once I find the Azure Scale, I should consider going to Canaan Academy."