They had agreed on half a month, so of course Chen Che wasn’t foolish enough to hand over the pills on the fourth day.

For every day he delayed,

he could fleece Meng Qingxuan for another day’s worth of expensive materials.

Why was it so expensive to train an Alchemy Master?

Because from the moment a batch of Spirit Grass was put into a Pill Furnace, it was the same as burning money. Why did so many students fail at alchemy, even after memorizing the Pill Formulas until they knew them by heart? It was because they lacked practice, resulting in a low success rate.

The same was true in Yunzhou.

"CHIRP! CHIRP!"

The Little Chick circled the Pill Furnace, flapping its wings and darting about anxiously.

Though it had been less than a month since it hatched,

it had already grown to weigh five or six pounds, making it a size larger than a two-and-a-half-year-old free-range chicken. Its body, covered in yellow fuzz, made it look a little goofy.

Chen Che held his breath and focused, his hands forming a series of Seal Techniques. His ten fingers blurred into afterimages, a continuous stream of Spiritual Mechanism flowing from them.

This continued for a full hundred breaths.

"CRACK!"

With a crisp crack, a layer of frost unexpectedly appeared at the base of the flame-engulfed Pill Furnace. The frost then spread upward until the entire furnace was encased in ice, at which point the flames just so happened to die out.

*Hoooo...*

Chen Che exhaled deeply as the True Essence inside him began to rapidly recover.

He walked up to the Pill Furnace and lifted the lid.

At the bottom lay seven perfectly round, brilliant blue Linghan Pills, all covered in ice crystals. There were also three failures, which had been reduced to a pool of Pill Mud.

"Success!"

Chen Che picked up one of the Pills with a smile and began to appraise it.

He hadn’t used the Chixia Tripod for this batch. Instead, he had used a standard-issue Pill Furnace, the kind stipulated for the college entrance exams.

This meant that if he were to encounter a question related to the Linghan Pill in a competition, he could score full marks without any trouble.

’It’s already the seventeenth day. I can finally turn them in today.’

With that thought, he casually tossed a Pill. The Little Chick immediately flapped its wings, caught the Linghan Pill in its beak, and swallowed it in one gulp. It then turned to stare expectantly at Chen Che.

Chen Che glanced at it, then poured the rest of the successful Pills into its bowl.

Then, he sat cross-legged on the Lotus Platform.

The Micro Crystal Brain, positioned directly in front of the Lotus Platform, flashed as data materialized on its screen:

[Name: Chen Che]

[Age: 17]

[Realm: Qi Refining Sixth Layer (43.3%)]

[Qi and Blood: Qi Refining Sixth Layer (70.7%)]

[Divine Sense: Foundation Establishment Second Layer (11.3%)]

[Right Foot: Meridian Progress (61%)]

After finishing his Cultivation, he rummaged through his Pill Books and began working out the Pill Formula for the Leopard Embryo Elixir.

...

"Is it done?"

The moment he stepped into the Pill Shop, Meng Qingxuan, who had been waiting for a long time, hurried over.

While waiting for the Linghan Pill,

this young lady had even rented a first-class room at an inn in the Market and moved in, traveling back and forth between the Fiery Flying Crane’s habitat and the Market every single day.

"Fortunately, I have not failed my mission! After seventeen days of refining, I finally managed to produce the Pills. Please inspect them, Miss Meng!"

Under Meng Qingxuan’s tense gaze, Chen Che slowly sat down, took a sip of tea, and only then produced a Jade Bottle.

Meng Qingxuan tipped out a Pill.

It was perfectly round and bluish-green, with no crystals on its surface. This was from the very same batch he had given Ding Dawei to inspect earlier.

She scraped off a bit of powder, touched it with the tip of her tongue, and carefully sensed its medicinal properties. A moment later, she nodded in satisfaction.

"The effects are stable, potent, and long-lasting. Alchemist Chen, you truly live up to your reputation!"

She immediately paid the Spirit Stones and departed in a hurry.

At the same moment, a grey-robed elder hidden outside the Pill Shop also took his leave.

"We’ve finally seen that young lady off. Doing business with her kind is too nerve-wracking."

Seeing Meng Qingxuan leave, Ding Fei couldn’t help but sigh in relief.

When you open a shop, you welcome customers from all walks of life.

But not all customers were the same. There were the sly and shifty, the cheats and swindlers, and the ones who haggled over every last coin. The most feared, however, were customers like Meng Qingxuan—powerful, arrogant, and with a formidable background.

"Is that so?"

Chen Che, on the other hand, was in high spirits.

’In fact, this feeling of being sponsored by a rich woman isn’t half bad.’

Ever since he had succeeded in the Pill Formation on the fourth day, every extra day he delayed meant another day’s worth of the Linghan Pill’s expensive materials pocketed. If he hadn’t seen Meng Qingxuan’s expression growing stormier by the day, he would have kept fleecing her for another half a month.

...

...

「Jinyun Valley, a small courtyard.」

Tributor Li was hunched over a desk buried under a Mountain of Books and Sea of Knowledge. Not far from him, a smirk played on Li Hong’s lips.

"The Linghan Pill is a Tier Two Elixir, after all. It’s in a completely different league of difficulty from Tier One Elixirs. Even with his experience from the Cold Frost Pill and the Cold Pill as a foundation, it’s not something he can refine so easily."

Without looking up, Tributor Li’s finger traced the characters on the Pill Book before him.

"Seventeen days? Hmph. Even seventy-seven days would be a stretch!"

A smug, even mocking expression appeared on Li Hong’s face. "I hear that young lady is growing incredibly impatient. If the Fiery Flying Crane leaves before he can produce the Pills..."

The longer this dragged on, the more delighted he became.

He could even picture the scene two months from now: Chen Che, having failed to refine even a single Pill, facing the full fury of a wrathful Meng Qingxuan.

"As for Meng Qingxuan!"

Tributor Li’s finger paused, his expression thoughtful.

"Hmph..."

Li Hong snorted.

He considered himself a smooth talker, but no matter how he flattered her, that little wench never gave him the time of day, always acting high and mighty.

’If one day I could just...’

"Her status is extraordinary, and she is a favorite of the Meng Family’s patriarch. A woman like that is extremely strict when it comes to choosing a husband. You’re just a rootless Loose Cultivator; your chances are slim."

Tributor Li looked up at Li Hong and said calmly:

"Of course, if you can reach Foundation Establishment before you turn sixty, it’s not entirely impossible. If you marry into the Meng Family, you’ll be considered a figure of renown in your own right. Don’t look down on marrying in. As long as you live long enough, who’s to say the Meng Family couldn’t one day be called the Li Family..."

"Your teachings are wise, brother."

Li Hong nodded.

"It’s too early to speak of such things. Your priority now is to focus on your Cultivation. Once you reach Foundation Establishment, if you decide not to marry into the Meng Family, you can still become a patriarch in your own right and establish your own faction."

Tributor Li advised:

"As for your connection to Meng Qingxuan, you can’t let it break. Chen Che is beneath her notice. She’ll be staying until the Fiery Flying Crane leaves, so you should use that time to get closer to her...

No matter how high her status, Meng Qingxuan is still just a woman, and women are susceptible to sweet words. When you see her, say some kind things, and don’t forget to show your concern for her well-being. If she fancies something, buy it for her. Even a heart of stone will soften over time."

"Even a heart of stone will soften?"

Li Hong asked curiously, "Really?"

Tributor Li ignored him and continued speaking:

"Once you succeed, you’ll have many more options. You can either enter the Meng Family and usurp their power from within, or you can establish your own faction and form a marriage alliance with them."

An elder brother is like a father, planning for the distant future.

Li Hong’s mind raced as he listened, his breathing quickening as if he could already see the bright future ahead.

"...I understand."

But when he touched his waist, he gritted his teeth in hatred.

Chen Che had extorted all of his Spirit Stones.

"Take this!"

As if sensing Li Hong’s financial embarrassment, Tributor Li tossed out a bag of Spirit Stones without looking up.

The two exchanged a few more words. Just as Li Hong was about to leave, he saw Zhao Ping rushing toward them. Zhao Ping’s voice arrived before he did: 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

"Steward Li, something’s happened!"

"What is it?"

Li Hong raised an eyebrow.

"Meng Qingxuan left."

Zhao Ping said, panting for breath.

"She left? Doesn’t she want the Fiery Flying Crane anymore?"

Glancing at the stunned Li Hong, Tributor Li asked in surprise.

"The Fiery Flying Crane has already been captured by her..."

Under the dark gazes of the two Li brothers, Zhao Ping’s voice grew hoarse. "It is said... that Chen Che successfully refined the Linghan Pill..."