Chapter 155: Chapter 136: Many Thanks for Master Xiao’s Guidance, I Am Infinitely Grateful

’It feels strange to suddenly be carrying such a massive debt.’

So, Xiao Chen went straight to the Alchemy Hall to see if there were any elixirs he could craft for a quick profit.

The Alchemy Hall had five floors.

When he arrived, Chen Tianyuan and Elder Chen were on the fifth floor of the Pill Hall, deep in thought as they studied how to improve the refinement method for the Blood Piercing Pill.

The Blood Piercing Pill was a special elixir adapted from a formula originating from the Divine Fire Sect.

It could temporarily stimulate a cultivator’s potential and amplify their Magic Power.

Six months ago, the Lingyuan Sect had sent over the first batch of materials, along with a temporary Pill Formula they had managed to crack, and ordered a large batch of Blood Piercing Pills in preparation for war.

Given the urgency, the price they offered was very generous.

However, hampered by a Pill Formation Success Rate of less than fifty percent, the Li Huo Sect was making almost no profit from the deal.

For the past six months, the Chen Family had been engrossed in this problem, trying every method they could think of to raise the Pill Formation Success Rate.

Unfortunately, their efforts yielded little result. In six months, they had only managed to stabilize the refinement time.

Upon learning that Xiao Chen wanted to take on an alchemy task, Chen Tianyuan casually called over a disciple.

He had the disciple take Xiao Chen to the second floor to pick a task of his choosing.

"Junior Martial Master Xiao, all the current tasks are posted here."

"The gray slips are for common elixirs that we’re currently short on. The green ones are commissioned tasks transcribed from the Merit Hall."

"And those few red ones at the very top are orders from other sects."

.

Listening to the disciple’s explanation, Xiao Chen quickly scanned all the tasks with his Divine Sense.

Although there appeared to be a wide variety, in reality, all the alchemy tasks posted here had rather limited profit margins.

Refining these elixirs for a whole month would probably only earn one or two hundred Spirit Stones.

For an ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivator, that was already an excellent income.

But for Xiao Chen, this amount of money was a mere drop in the bucket.

If the Liu and Chen Families hadn’t agreed not to charge him interest, this amount probably wouldn’t even cover the payments.

Xiao Chen frowned slightly. ’It seems I overestimated how many Spirit Stones I could earn from alchemy.’

Both Foundation Establishment Pills and Lifespan Extension Pills suffered from a severe shortage of their main ingredients.

’Now it seems that’s one of the reasons they command such a high price.’

Meanwhile, the other elixirs with relatively abundant raw materials basically didn’t earn many Spirit Stones.

After looking through his options, only the Blood Piercing Pill, one of the red tasks at the top, seemed decent.

Xiao Chen chose the most expensive task, pulling the order slip from the wall. He then went to the nearby counter to register and collect the Pill Formula and raw materials.

He had wanted to take several sets of materials at once and bring them back to Cuiwei Valley for alchemy.

However, the disciple behind the counter explained with a troubled expression, "Junior Martial Master Xiao, the Pill Hall has a rule. You aren’t allowed to take the Spirit Grass for tasks outside. You can only perform the alchemy here."

A sign hung on the wall behind him.

It read: "Hoarding and reselling Spirit Grass is strictly forbidden. Spirit Grass may not be taken off the premises."

"I see. All right, then. Here it is."

Not wanting to make things difficult for the disciple, Xiao Chen turned and went directly to a Small Alchemy Room on the third floor to begin.

He hadn’t brought his own Pill Furnace with him this time.

Furthermore, the public Pill Furnaces here were of a slightly flawed quality.

But times were different now. To the current Xiao Chen, there was almost no difference between a low-grade and a Middle-Grade Pill Furnace.

He planned to finish today’s two batches here, then take the materials for tomorrow’s two batches back to Cuiwei Valley.

「Noon. Second Floor of the Alchemy Hall.」

Jiang Shize, an Alchemist from the Jiang Family, held two jade vials, each containing three freshly refined Blood Piercing Pills.

A large group of Alchemy Hall disciples surrounded him, all of them exclaiming in amazement.

"Congratulations, Hall Master Jiang! To think you’ve pushed the Pill Formation Success Rate to sixty percent!"

"Hall Master Jiang truly is more skilled with these volatile types of elixirs."

"To reach sixty percent so quickly... it seems a stable profit is not far off." 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

"I heard the Lingyuan Sect is in urgent need of a large batch of Blood Piercing Pills. It looks like Hall Master Jiang is going to be the one to earn all those Spirit Stones."

Jiang Shize stood beaming in the center of the crowd. Seeing Chen Tianyuan and Elder Chen coming down from the fifth floor, he greeted them smugly, "Senior Brother Chen, I had a sudden insight today."

"I’ve figured out a method to raise the Pill Formation Success Rate for the Blood Piercing Pill to sixty percent."

"I wonder if you’ve made any new progress on your end, Senior Brother Chen? Perhaps we could exchange some notes?"

He said it as an invitation, but in truth, he’d already found out that the Chen Family had made no progress whatsoever.

"Oh, is that so? Vice Hall Master Jiang, you truly live up to your reputation as the sect’s publicly acknowledged Alchemy Master."

Chen Tianyuan deliberately emphasized the word "Vice." "In that case, my congratulations, Vice Hall Master Jiang."

Jiang Shize wasn’t discouraged by this. On the contrary, his smile grew even brighter.

’So the Chen Family really has made no progress,’ he thought. ’Otherwise, they wouldn’t have to resort to pulling rank on me.’

"Alas, and I was hoping to ask for your guidance on my findings, Senior Brother Chen. I suppose I’ll have to wait for another opportunity to ask for your instruction."

His taunt delivered, Jiang Shize turned to the counter. "Bring me all the remaining raw materials for the Blood Piercing Pill."

"I’ll put in some extra work this month and finish this order."

However, the disciple at the counter faltered. "Hall Master Jiang, the order for the Blood Piercing Pill has already been taken by Junior Martial Master Xiao."

"What? It’s already been taken?"

Jiang Shize asked in astonishment, "What Junior Martial Master Xiao?"

Aside from the four Honored Guest Elders—Zhang, Wang, Li, and Zhao, everyone else in the Alchemy Hall was from either the Jiang Family or the Chen Family. Where did some "Junior Martial Master Xiao" come from?