Chapter 104: Refining Pills to Get Rich (8th Update)

Jiu Shixiong was in the courtyard watching Fifth Senior Brother and Second Senior Sister play chess.

Seeing the two of them enter, both of their expressions turned slightly strange. Jiu Shixiong laughed heartily and said, "How come you look so unhappy after being beaten up by Seventh Senior Sister? Tell us about it and let us have a laugh!"

Xu Chen forced a smile and grabbed Jiu Shixiong, saying, "Jiu Shixiong, you're happy too early. I've come to collect a tribute from you."

Jiu Shixiong clutched his Storage Bag and said, "What kind of tribute are you collecting for no reason?"

Xu Chen said, "I just went to Third Elder's place and refined two batches of pills. It took me a whole half-day, and I'm tired like a dog, yet you are here playing chess and having fun. This was all exchanged for my suffering, so how can you be embarrassed not to give me some tribute? Otherwise, I will go ask Third Elder tomorrow to transfer you back to the Danyuan to refine pills with me. It just so happens I'm missing a helper to watch the furnace fire."

Upon hearing this, Jiu Shixiong was shocked and immediately fawned with a cheeky smile, "Little Junior Brother, have mercy. Please don't make me go back to the Danyuan. As long as I don't go back, anything is fine. Tell me, what kind of tribute do you want? As long as I have it, I will certainly satisfy you."

Second Senior Sister smiled without a word, while Fifth Senior Brother turned his head, bared his teeth in a grin, and said, "Little Junior Brother, Jiu Shixiong just obtained a Jade Locust Stone. You should ask for that; I guarantee you won't lose out, and I guarantee you won't be cheated."

Upon hearing this, Xu Chen was overjoyed and reached out his hand, saying, "Alright, the Jade Locust Stone it is. Hand it over!"

Jiu Shixiong was so angry he stomped his feet, clutching his Storage Bag and refusing to let go. Xu Chen probed his Divine Sense inside, and after a series of clattering sounds, he broke through the Soul Locking Array. He then raised his hand and took out a cyan-colored jade stone that looked like a flying locust. He took one look at it, quickly stuffed it into his own Storage Bag, and then laughed heartily as he ran away in a flash.

"You, you actually stole my things! Give it back to me quickly!" Jiu Shixiong took off in pursuit.

Fifth Senior Brother and Second Senior Sister looked at each other and shuddered simultaneously. The surprise on their faces turned into terror, and both of them immediately rushed to check their own Storage Bags.

"Little Junior Sister, where did Little Junior Brother learn this master thief technique? It's too terrifying!" Fifth Senior Brother looked at Zhao Xuan with lingering fear.

Zhao Xuan giggled and said, "How would I know? Last time in Jingshi, Little Junior Brother read a few Jianghu methods for breaking Soul Locks and actually managed to open the Ziyang Sect's Storage Bag. From then on, Little Junior Brother could open anyone's Storage Bag. Senior Brothers and Senior Sisters must be careful in the future and keep a close watch on your treasures!"

Fifth Senior Brother nodded seriously and said, "Indeed. One doesn't fear a thief stealing, but one fears a thief coveting. It seems I should stay far away from Little Junior Brother in the future; it would be best if we never meet again!"

Second Senior Sister stood up to walk outside and said, "It seems I must go down the mountain quickly and try to gather enough Spirit Stones to buy a better Storage Bracelet. This Storage Bag is truly too trashy."

"Hey, Senior Sister, wait for me! I'll go down the mountain with you!" Fifth Senior Brother hurriedly chased after her.

Thus, very quickly, the news that Xu Chen could open everyone's Storage Bag spread throughout the Taiyuan Sect. Early the next morning, several senior brothers and junior brothers and sisters left the mountain in groups to earn Spirit Stones, and the mountain became much more lonely and quiet.

Xu Chen also had no time to be as leisurely as before. Every two days, he would go to the Danyuan to systematically learn the art of alchemy from Third Elder. When he was free, he still had to memorize a large amount of knowledge such as recipes for Spirit Grass, Spirit Medicine, and Spirit Pills, so his cultivation time actually decreased significantly.

However, although alchemy is boring and hard work, it is not without its benefits. Every time he successfully refines a batch of pills, regardless of the quality or grade, he gets twenty percent.

Under his powerful Divine Sense control, the success rate of his alchemy is still very high. Especially for daily-use pills like the Small Yuan Pill, after refining them until he was skilled, it was completely stress-free for Xu Chen. One batch every half-day, ranging from ten to twelve or thirteen pills. For every batch he refines, he can take at least two pills, which calculates to about three Spirit Stones. Moreover, he doesn't have to provide any materials, and aside from consuming a bit of energy and vital essence, it is pure profit.

Therefore, over the course of a month, he actually obtained two bottles of Small Yuan Pill for free, plus a few other First-grade Pills.

These pills alone are worth at least fifty Spirit Stones.

It is evident that alchemy is truly a profitable job, so he gradually developed quite a bit of interest in it.

Originally, according to the previous strength of the Taiyuan Sect, it would have been impossible to have so many alchemy materials. But after Danchenzi achieved Spirit Transformation, all the large and small Immortal Sects of the Song Kingdom came to offer congratulations. The Yuqing Hall and Longmen Mountain alone sent various Spirit Medicines and Spirit Materials worth tens of thousands of Spirit Stones, and they were all high-grade goods. Other small and medium-sized Immortal Sects and rogue cultivators all had to send at least a few graded Spirit Medicines or Spirit Materials; they couldn't bring themselves to bring anything too poor.

Therefore, the Taiyuan Sect now has very sufficient Spirit Medicines for refining various basic First-grade and Second-grade Spirit Pills. Adding everything together, they could refine at least several hundred bottles of pills, so Third Elder also has plenty of medicinal materials to throw to Xu Chen for practice.

And Xu Chen did not let Third Elder down. He almost never failed when refining these First-grade Pills. At most, there were a few times when he was unfamiliar or distracted, causing some loss during the refining of the medicinal materials, which lowered the yield. But in Third Elder's view, this kind of mistake was completely acceptable and even far exceeded his expectations.

Therefore, Third Elder provided the materials, and Xu Chen worked like an ox or a horse to refine pills. The two got what they needed. After a month, Xu Chen had actually contributed more than ten bottles of pills to the sect. He was highly productive, and Third Elder's mouth would stretch from ear to ear with joy every time he saw him come to the Danyuan to learn.

Of course, with so many Buqidan, Xu Chen's cultivation became even more vigorous. Not only did his cultivation not fall behind, but it was also rapidly advancing every day.

Originally, according to his expectations, he would enter the late stage of the Kaiyuan Realm in half a year, but after only one month, he felt his dantian surging and faintly in a state of fullness.

At this rate, he felt that in at most two months, his dantian would be full, and he could start preparing for Foundation Establishment.

Therefore, it seems that an alchemist's cultivation speed does not necessarily slow down as imagined; instead, it is even faster.

Of course, this is Xu Chen's superficial understanding. It is because he happened to catch up with the good times of the Taiyuan Sect's vigorous development, having a large amount of Spirit Medicines and Spirit Grass to refine pills, and his powerful Divine Sense brought a super-high yield, which, when superimposed with high returns, made it possible for him to continuously improve his cultivation by consuming pills.

If it were in the previous Taiyuan Sect or other small and medium-sized Immortal Sects, such conditions and opportunities would never exist.

According to his current Soul state and Divine Sense strength, he could actually start refining Second-grade Pills, but Third Elder kept delaying letting him start learning. Xu Chen had to continue to be a furnace stoker, working hard to refine pills for the pill reserves of the ordinary disciples of the Taiyuan Sect.

And after the Taiyuan Sect had sufficient pills, the pills distributed to the disciples every month also increased several times over. Previously, Xu Chen could only be allocated one or two bottles of Small Yuan Pill a year, but now he can be allocated five Small Yuan Pills every month. His treatment has increased several times over.

Therefore, the few disciples with lower realms who remained on the mountain have also seen their cultivation advance by leaps and bounds recently. Even Zhao Xuan has entered the late stage of the Kaiyuan Realm, and Seventh Senior Sister and Jiu Shixiong are both preparing to start Foundation Establishment.

On ordinary days, besides learning alchemy, Xu Chen spends most of his time consuming pills and meditating to cultivate.

Another thing is looking after that batch of strange-looking plants in the Medicine Garden.

With his sufficient supply of Spirit Stones, these plants have also been growing rapidly in the past month. The Medicine Garden already looks like a colorful and eerie place, not only emitting rich Spirit Qi but also full of a terrifying life force that makes one's soul throb. It seems that every leaf and every plant is like it has eaten a strength-boosting pill, containing an extremely violent life force within its body.

All in all, Xu Chen has already invested more than two hundred Spirit Stones into the Medicine Garden.

This was something he could never have imagined before.

But now it is very easy.

Aside from these daily routines, every few days, Xu Chen would also join the senior brothers and sisters who remained to guard the mountain to patrol the Spirit Fox Valley in groups, observing the status of the Sealing Array and the Black Wind to see if any Soul Beasts were appearing.

Of course, the Array has always been very stable, and no situation has occurred.

During this period, Xu Chen was also invited by Yiyun Zhenren to go to Black Wind Ridge to exchange information about the Black Wind and Soul Beasts deep in the fissures of Black Wind Ridge, so as to make countermeasures.

What was set up at Black Wind Ridge was a Fifth-grade Five Elements Illusion Cloud Array, which has a larger range and higher intensity. Under the influence of the Array, the entire area near Black Wind Ridge has gradually turned into a huge illusion array with a radius of hundreds of miles. Inside, there are surging seas of clouds, swirling mists, rolling mountains, and intersecting lakes and rivers; the terrain and landforms have completely changed.

This change cannot be seen from the outside, but once you enter, all the seemingly calm and beautiful scenery can instantly turn into a killing array. Whether it is a cultivator or a Demon Beast that breaks in, if they cannot find the correct route, they will be ground into powder by the Array at any time.

Of course, unless one has the strength of a Spirit Realm Great Cultivator to break the array, there is only a dead end if one is trapped inside.

Therefore, relatively speaking, Black Wind Ridge is currently the safest place.

It's just that no one knows how long it can be safe.

After all, the Great Song Immortal World is too weak, has no understanding of the Netherworld, and there is no record of strange Demon Beasts like Soul Beasts.

But fortunately, Xu Chen passed the news out very timely, and a group of Great Cultivators also took action in time to temporarily suppress the two Evil Lands.

Otherwise, the entire Taiyuan Sect and even the Nanyang area might have already fallen into the range of the Black Wind, and a large number of Soul Beasts would have already invaded the mortal world.

And after seeing the powerful might of the Array Disk and Array Flag Magic Treasure that suppressed the two Black Winds, Xu Chen also began to feel that cultivation is not entirely dependent on diligent practice. Realm is one thing, but it also requires powerful Magic Treasures that match one's cultivation to be able to exert one's full strength.

He is still using the First-grade Flying Sword that Xuanhe Zhenren gave him back then. For his current powerful Divine Sense and a dantian energy sea ten times that of an ordinary Kaiyuan Realm cultivator, it is already completely inadequate.

But he is not yet in the Zhenyuan Realm, and he is a bit embarrassed to apply to the three Elders for a Second-grade Magic Treasure.

Therefore, Xu Chen decided to be self-reliant again and began to learn artifact refining, trying to find a way to forge a powerful Magic Treasure for himself.

(End of this chapter)