"Miss Meng, please calm down. Alchemy is a technical skill. You can’t just force it..."

Ding Fei quickly tried to smooth things over.

Seeing Chen Che’s grim expression, he was genuinely afraid this master would get annoyed and silently slaughter Meng Qingxuan. If that happened and the Meng Family investigated, they would absolutely have their ashes scattered to the winds.

"The Fiery Flying Crane eggs will hatch in a month, and the young cranes will be flying a month after that. A round trip for me will take at least two or three months. By the time I get back, they’ll have long flown away. Where am I supposed to find them then?"

Meng Qingxuan realized she was being too aggressive, and her tone softened slightly.

"If you can refine the Cold Pill, why can’t you refine the Linghan Pill? Can’t you just try a little harder?"

Any other cultivator might have just gritted their teeth and accepted the job.

However!

Chen Che knew that one should never agree to something they weren’t certain they could do. The consequences of failing to deliver on time were far worse than simply refusing from the start.

"Find someone else."

Chen Che had no patience for her spoiled-brat attitude and remained completely unmoved.

’The Meng Family is far from here, and they have no jurisdiction over Jinyun Valley. I don’t want to curry favor with her, so there’s no need to be like Li Hong—a total simp who’s always putting himself out.’

"Alchemist Chen, are you really unwilling to help?"

When she saw Chen Che shake his head, Meng Qingxuan stomped her foot in frustration.

Anywhere else in Yunzhou, all she had to do was ask, and people would come scrambling to present her with whatever she needed. Even if they hesitated, a firm tone was all it took to make them comply. But here, of all places, she had run into Chen Che, who couldn’t be swayed by either threats or rewards.

She was about to leave, but the thought of the travel time made her suppress her anger.

"Name your price!"

"It’s not a matter of price..."

Chen Che shook his head.

"Name any request, and I’ll satisfy it! Do you want a Weapon? A Talisman? A Pill Formula? Or Spirit Stones?"

Meng Qingxuan made a gesture with her hand.

Instantly, an exquisitely crafted ring on her finger flashed, and a huge pile of items appeared before them. "If you’re not satisfied with any of these, I can even give you a written guarantee. I, Meng Qingxuan, will absolutely not go back on my word!"

’Most of these birds live in flocks, so you can only occasionally capture and tame a stray one.’

’If I can get this clutch of crane eggs and raise them, the Meng Family’s long-range assault capabilities will increase dramatically in the future.’

She had to have them!

"This..."

Ding Fei’s eyes went wide. He secretly tugged on Chen Che’s sleeve. This deal was too good to pass up.

Zhao Deyou’s breathing grew ragged. He had never seen so many treasures in his entire life. Unfortunately, he could only refine Tier One Lower-grade Elixirs, and he wasn’t even very proficient at that. The shop was essentially carrying him.

"How about these Crocodile Mouth Swords? Tier One High Grade!"

Meng Qingxuan held up a longsword. The cloud-like patterns on the blade were uniform, and one side was shaped like a crocodile’s mouth.

"I don’t need it."

’It’s far inferior to my Pure Jun Sword.’

"A Water Dragon Talisman?"

"The Metallurgy Technique? The Cyan Wood Skill?"

Next, Meng Qingxuan presented Martial Techniques and Cultivation Techniques.

"What use do I have for these?"

Chen Che shook his head again. ’The three-year high school curriculum on Earth Element Star is countless times better than these obscure techniques.’

However, as she waved a particular pill formula past him, Chen Che’s eyes couldn’t help but narrow.

"Sigh... Since you’re not interested in any of this, then forget it. I’ll just have to go back to my family and hope those two Fiery Flying Cranes decide to linger here a while longer..."

It was a seller’s market, after all!

Seeing that Chen Che wouldn’t budge, Meng Qingxuan, as annoyed as she was, felt helpless.

"Let me see that pill formula you just had."

Chen Che suddenly spoke up.

Though confused, Meng Qingxuan handed the formula over and explained,

"It’s a Tier Two Middle Grade formula, but it’s for an extremely obscure Body Refining elixir used to widen one’s meridians. Its value isn’t particularly high..."

Chen Che remained silent, his eyes scanning the formula.

He did his best to hide the excitement in his eyes. After a moment, he put on a reluctant expression.

"I’m interested in this pill formula, but the Linghan Pill is a Tier Two Elixir. I’ve never refined one before, so I can’t guarantee anything..."

"Is there really no other way?"

Meng Qingxuan was taken aback.

Chen Che glanced over, feigning a casual tone. "That’s a nice-looking ring you have there..."

"My ring? What about it?"

Meng Qingxuan froze for a second, then it dawned on her. "You want my Space Ring?"

Just as Chen Che was about to speak, a series of coughs suddenly echoed from outside the Pill Shop. He looked up to see an old man in gray robes covering his mouth, as if he’d choked on water. At the same time, the man shot a cold glance in his direction.

The corner of his mouth twitched. ’I almost forgot,’ he thought, ’she has an old servant protecting her from the shadows.’

"I was just making a casual comment. Forget it. We’ll use this pill formula as payment. In addition, I’ll charge three times the market price for every pill, and you’ll provide all the materials. But let me be clear up front: I can only give it a try. I can’t guarantee success."

"Really?"

Meng Qingxuan was overjoyed. She even took the initiative to extend the deadline:

"I’ll give you half a month!"

"I’ll do my best."

’It was the same old story.’

’It wasn’t that he couldn’t refine the pill, he just didn’t want to.’

’Unless the price was right.’

...

After seeing Meng Qingxuan off, Chen Che rushed back to his Cave Mansion, took out the Pill Formula, and studied it meticulously.

"The heavens are truly smiling on me..."

The Leopard Embryo Elixir. It also existed on Earth Element Star, though it was called the Leopard Embryo Marrow Cleansing Pill.

Tier Two Middle Grade.

Its greatest function was to aid in widening one’s meridians!

However, the Leopard Embryo Marrow Cleansing Pill was a niche Body Cultivation Elixir, and its formula was rarely circulated.

After the Calamity of Heaven’s Fall, half of the formula was lost completely.

On top of that, the primary ingredients required by the formula—Demon Beasts like the Snow Leopard and Golden Tiger—had become protected species on Earth Element Star, and hunting them was forbidden.

Since it was no longer practical, no one bothered to complete the lost half of the formula.

"If this formula is real, I can absolutely widen all the meridians in my body before reaching Foundation Establishment!"

Chen Che could hardly contain his excitement.

Of course.

One couldn’t just take any pill formula and use it directly. It had to be analyzed, the pill refined, and the result tested before it could be confirmed as safe and effective.

After all, every Immortal Sect exam included cautionary tale questions about a "Xiaoming" who got poisoned after carelessly using a pill formula he’d found.

He suppressed his excitement.

He set the pill formula aside for now and began attempting to refine the Linghan Pill.

The knowledge he’d learned in high school mostly pertained to Tier One Elixirs.

Occasionally, some information about Tier Two Elixirs would come up, but these were considered "beyond the curriculum." Teachers would usually just skip over them. For a competitive student like him, however, mastering topics beyond the standard curriculum was normal.

In fact,

Ding Dawei had even privately encouraged Chen Che to study Tier Two Pill Formulas to broaden his knowledge.

For Tier Two Elixirs, not only were the alchemy techniques more advanced, but the difficulty of refining also increased exponentially. Even with the help of the Chixia Tripod, he failed seven or eight consecutive batches. Chen Che didn’t try to hide his struggles. Whenever he ran into a problem, he went straight to Ding Dawei for help.

「Four days passed in the blink of an eye.」

SCRAPE~

Ding Dawei scraped off a layer of the pill with his fingernail, flicked it into his mouth, and grimaced.

"Not bad!"

Then, he held the Linghan Pill up to his eyes and appraised it carefully.

"The heat control was a bit off, which is why no ice crystals formed on the surface."

Although Ding Dawei’s words were critical, inwardly he was overjoyed.

’A Tier Two pill!’

’So many high school students struggle to even refine Tier One Middle Grade elixirs.’

"Without the ice crystals, it’s barely a successful formation."

Chen Che shook his head as he glanced at the pill, which was emitting a faint cyan glow.

’Tier Two Elixirs really are difficult to refine,’ he thought. ’There are too many details and techniques to focus on. It’s a good thing I’ve awakened my Divine Thought; otherwise, I couldn’t even dream of refining a Tier Two Elixir.’

"How long have you been working on this pill? Four days! I didn’t even start on the Linghan Pill until I was in college, and after a full half-month of practice, I still wasn’t at your level!"

Ding Dawei was very satisfied, and his voice filled with anticipation.

"And you’re only a sophomore! At this rate of progress, by the time the college entrance exams come around, you’ll be able to get a perfect score on the alchemy section with your eyes closed!"

Ding Dawei took the pill, planning to show it off to the other Alchemy Teachers.

Just as he was about to leave, he suddenly remembered something. "Oh, right! For the city alchemy competition—the results aren’t fully public yet, but the city has already notified the school. You qualified. You can head back to class now!"

"Thank you, Teacher Ding!"

Chen Che nodded.

With Ding Dawei’s endorsement, this batch of pills was good enough to deliver to Meng Qingxuan.