Chapter 30: Su Yuqing

“Is this your level of strength? Daring to call yourself a Tribulation Cultivator?”

Qin Ming returned to his shack in the slums.

He opened the storage pouches he’d collected and began sorting through them.

From the two Lingyu Sect cultivators’ storage pouches, he found over five hundred spirit stones, two low-grade magic treasures, one mid-grade magic treasure, several low-grade talismans, and two mid-grade talismans.

One mid-grade Golden Halberd Talisman and one mid-grade Fire Cloud Talisman.

Neither had time to use them before they were dead.

The only mid-grade magic treasure was the black circular shield that Qin Ming had smashed away with a single shovel strike.

The shield had a crack running along its edge—likely still usable after repairs.

Aside from these.

There were also five vials of elixirs: two of Qi-Nourishing Pills, and the other three were various detoxifying pills.

Their cultivation manuals and spell texts were there too.

Qin Ming couldn’t use any of them.

The spirit stones from the other three storage pouches totaled over six hundred.

The rest were three low-grade magic treasures and some low-grade talismans.

This haul alone netted him over a thousand spirit stones.

“So killing and burning really does earn you a golden belt!” Qin Ming mused.

He collected all the valuable items from the five corpses into his own storage pouch.

He burned everything else with a Fireball Spell.

After finishing this.

Qin Ming began to ponder how these five had ended up together.

From the bearded giant’s words, Ru the friend must have joined them later.

They were lured by his Beast Tooth Rice and planned to ambush him.

And furthermore.

Among the Lingyu Sect cultivators, there were close ties to Tribulation Cultivators—this was deeply unsettling.

There might be even deeper hidden traitors within.

But as long as they didn’t come after him, it wasn’t his concern.

Right now, he only wanted to focus on farming.

If Qin Ming hadn’t broken through to Body Refining Level Five, today he’d be the one having his storage pouch counted by others.

The outcome would have been entirely different.

Two days later.

The atmosphere in the slums grew tense once more.

The sudden deaths of two patrol members from Lingyu Sect caused a major uproar.

This was an open provocation against the sect! Lingyu Sect began enforcing curfews and conducting searches near the marketplace.

“This Tribulation Cultivator is truly audacious!”

“Last time he killed Long the friend and dumped his body in the river as a warning.”

“Now he’s directly attacking Lingyu Sect members.”

“He’s utterly reckless—utterly—”

“Exactly! It’s terrifying!”

Qin Ming listened to the neighbors’ gossip in the alley and couldn’t help but twitch his lips.

He slung his Spirit Hoe over his shoulder and went out to work.

He tilled his own five mu of spirit fields, then turned and tilled Su Yuqing’s three mu as well.

Afterwards.

Qin Ming gathered the entire swarm of four-winged Frost Bees from the tree and sealed them into his Spirit Beast Pouch.

These bees.

Would prove immensely useful when he cultivated spirit herbs in the future.

The Bee Summoning Technique was simple to use—he’d only tried it once and already grasped the essentials.

He had just finished his work when he received a message from Su Yuqing.

It informed him that he was about to begin refining elixirs.

He was to come to Su Yuqing’s courtyard.

Upon hearing this, Qin Ming’s spirit trembled.

“Finally, he’s going to refine elixirs!”

Qin Ming hurried to Su Yuqing’s courtyard.

Inside the house.

Su Yuqing was already preparing.

“Today, I will refine a First-Rank Superior Elixir: the Bone-Washing Pill.”

Even though Qin Ming had guessed Su Yuqing would likely refine this kind of elixir,

he still couldn’t help but be moved.

‘Could it be that Su Yuqing intends to break through to Superior Alchemist today?’

‘Then I am the sole witness.’

…

“Come with me—I’ll show you something impressive.”

“Hehehe!”

Su Yuqing wore a sly grin and gestured for him to follow.

That grin sent a chill of goosebumps down Qin Ming’s spine.

Qin Ming followed Su Yuqing.

He led him to a room at the very back.

Su Yuqing opened the door—and a wave of heat slammed into them!

Qin Ming peered inside, and the sight left him stunned.

In a room two zhang wide stood a purple alchemy furnace.

Around it were all manner of workstations: tools for extracting herbal paste, vessels for blending ingredients—everything you could need.

What shocked him even more—

Beneath the purple furnace ran a direct connection to a geothermal vein!

Though small, it had all the essentials.

This was a complete alchemy chamber.

Su Yuqing watched Qin Ming’s stunned expression and grinned proudly. “Well?”

“Who would’ve thought a geothermal vein lay hidden beneath these slums?”

“I stumbled upon it by accident.”

“This vein is a hidden branch of the Qingyang Marketplace’s geothermal current.”

“I built this entire alchemy chamber directly atop it, channeling the geothermal fire for refining.”

“And oddly enough, this is the only spot in the entire slum district where the geothermal fire can be fully channeled.”

Qin Ming remained silent for a long while.

You could do that?

Geothermal veins were always controlled by sects.

Su Yuqing’s move was nothing short of free plunder.

No wonder such a mid-grade alchemist would linger in the slums for years.

“But this method of using geothermal fire only works for low-rank elixirs.”

“For Second-Rank elixirs and above, you need the cultivator’s own true fire or high-grade spiritual fire.”

Qin Ming inwardly winced at Su Yuqing’s words.

Even First-Rank elixirs were considered low-rank to him? He couldn’t even refine the basic elixirs taught to alchemy apprentices.

Compare Su Yuqing’s setup.

Then look at Qin Ming’s own pile of junk.

The gap wasn’t just ten thousand miles—it was beyond measure.

It’d be miraculous if he ever succeeded.

‘Hmm… I need to find a way to borrow Su Yuqing’s alchemy chamber.’ Qin Ming thought.

…

“Alright, I’m starting.”

“Watch from the side—just don’t disturb me.”

“Alchemy is an extremely complex art.”

“The entire process demands absolute focus—you must complete it in one unbroken flow.”

“Even the slightest fluctuation or minor misstep will ruin the outcome, greatly increasing the chance of producing a dud.”

Master Su spoke with great solemnity.

Qin Ming nodded and stood quietly to one side.

Master Su opened the flame valve.

Boom! Scorching flames burst instantly from beneath the ground, and the temperature in the alchemy chamber surged.

Then.

Master Su retrieved various spirit herbs and materials and began extracting the medicinal cores with practiced ease.

Qin Ming held his breath, eyes wide open.

He carefully observed every detail of Master Su’s movements.

Gradually.

He realized the elder’s method of extracting the medicinal cores was clearly an extremely refined technique.

Quickly.

Master Su’s hands moved like flowing clouds and water, utterly smooth.

In an instant.

He had finished extracting all the medicinal cores.

The medicinal cores Master Su extracted were far superior in both quality and precision to his own.

Moreover, he did so with effortless ease, clearing away all useless dregs from the vessel.

Next came the formulation.

Alchemical formulation was not simply mixing herbs together.

It required precise measurement of spirit herbs—no room for the slightest error.

These two steps were the most time-consuming.

Master Su reached out casually, and the quantity he took was perfect, utterly precise.

When Qin Ming had reached this stage before, it had taken him half a day.

Yet Master Su had completed all of this in less than a quarter-hour. That was the difference.

The next step was the main event.

Master Su swiftly formed hand seals, then gently stirred the flame.

The previously fierce and turbulent earth fire instantly ceased its thrashing.

It became utterly docile.

The red flames began to evenly heat the alchemical furnace.

Qin Ming stared intently at Master Su’s astonishing flame-control technique.

His heart burned with longing. (End of chapter)