Chapter 7
Improving Skills by Cheating
Lu Yifang was shocked by Chen Baxing and Lu Shaojun’s consequences. He didn’t care about how Chen Baxing ended up. Although he had some background, he was only from an ordinary cultivation family. He could only consider a toff. However, things were different for Lu Shaojun!
Lu Shaojun’s father was at rank 7 in the Foundation Establishment stage. He was also a Holy Alchemist.
Lu Shaojun’s father was special to be named a Holy Alchemist, which meant that he differed from the other alchemists. Ordinary alchemists could only refine elixirs from the stage he was in.
However, a Holy Alchemist could refine elixirs beyond their stage.
Some outstanding Holy Alchemists could even refine elixirs needed for the Nascent Soul stage cultivators at the Foundation Establishment stage. It could be said to be changing one’s fate!
However, Lu Shaojun’s father was not an outstanding Holy Alchemist.
Otherwise, the Nascent Soul stage Grandmaster would be willing to respect him.
“Thank you so much, Martial Uncle Fang. This is a token of my appreciation. I hope Martial Uncle Fang will accept it.” Lu Yifang took out a gift. It was a red sandalwood box.
When Fang Jinyu opened it, he saw many irregular-shaped spirit stones.
At a rough glance, there were at least 500 of them, which he could buy a low-tier spirit tool.
“That’s very kind of you, Junior Brother Lu. I’ll accept it then.” Fang Jinyu forgave Lu Yifang for his previous action while seeing him being polite.
After all, in the end, Lu Yifang was just conveying Chen Baxing’s message, and he didn’t offend Fang Jinyu with his words that day.
Moreover, the box of spirit stones showed Lu Yifang’s sincerity.
He probably saved them for several years!
Lu Yifang heaved a sigh of relief when he saw Fang Jinyu accept the gift. Lu Yifang thought, “It’s definitely a good deal to use hundreds of spirit stones to resolve a grudge with a Foundation Establishment stage cultivator!”
“Then I won’t disturb Martial Uncle Fang any further.” Although Fang Jinyu had addressed him as his junior brother, he did not dare to address him as his senior brother.
Different ways of addressing each other were quite common among the cultivators.
It was just a name.
Fang Jinyu didn’t say anything and asked Du Maner to send him off.
When Fang Jinyu expressed his interest in learning alchemy, the peak of Mount Lingyao named “Li” sent Du Maner as his alchemy helper.
At first, Fang Jinyu was not willing to accept her.
After all, he had his secrets.
Fortunately, under his careful observation, Du Maner didn’t seem willing to acknowledge him.
Du Maner’s beauty wasn’t inferior to any of the famous fairies of the cultivation world, nor was she inferior to the female lead. After seeing the vastness of the cultivation world, such a beautiful woman was naturally unwilling to assist a “kind and honest” Foundation Establishment stage cultivator with triple-element spiritual roots.
Although cultivators with triple-element spiritual roots had the potential to break through the Core Formation stage, everyone acknowledged that it was tough!
Even if they succeeded, they often hovered between rank 8 and 9.
Fang Jinyu merely needed to choose a day to let her know that he didn’t want her to assist him with his alchemy.
However, the strange thing was the book never mentioned Du Maner’s beauty, which didn’t make sense. Du Maner would at least be cannon fodder that would die in chapter one with her appearance and ambitions!
“Wait, where did my reputation as a kind and honest man come from?”
Fang Jinyu was puzzled.
“Is it because my parents are honest, so people think I am honest too?”
It made some sense.
After all, as the saying goes, parents were their children’s first teachers.
Rubbing his chin, Fang Jinyu continued to study the basics of alchemy. With his efforts, he soon gained something.
[Today is a day of studying the basics of alchemy.]
[Refined knowledge of alchemy +1]
In an instant, the alchemical knowledge he had rote-memorized in his mind seemed to come alive. Fang Jinyu could master the art of alchemy once his mental understanding of the subject had returned to normal.
“I’m indeed a genius! I understood the key point of alchemy in a short while!”
Fang Jinyu said it shamelessly.
Following that, Fang Jinyu used 100 spirit stones to rent an alchemy furnace and purchase spirit herbs. Then he began to refine elixirs.
He lit the fire, put in the spirit herbs, and started refining.
He turned off the fire and turned on the alchemy furnace. Soon, dark smoke billowed.
“Since it’s the first time, making mistakes is normal.” Fang Jinyu nodded and started refining the second furnace of elixirs.
After lighting the fire, he again put the spirit herbs into the furnace.
After that, he repeated the steps of refining, extinguishing the fire, and activating the alchemy furnace.
“Boom!”
This time, thick smoke erupted like a volcano, covering Fang Jinyu’s face.
“It’s normal for a beginner to fail twice.”
Fang Jinyu was still unconcerned with the situation. He swept the ashes off the furnace and continued to refine elixirs.
This time, the furnace exploded before he activated it.
…
“Junior Brother, you’re here to refine elixirs, not cultivate storm techniques. If there’s anything you don’t understand, you can ask your alchemist helper. I remember that Du Maner is assisting you, right? This little girl is very clever and willing to endure hardships. She had once refined a furnace of elixirs alone in the past. If it weren’t for the sect leader, this girl wouldn’t have been assigned to you.”
The Foundation Establishment stage cultivator from Mount Lingyao, who had assisted Fang Jinyu in exchanging his alchemy furnace, could not help but grumble.
Fang Jinyu showed an awkward look.
Fang Jinyu thought, “No wonder there were so few alchemists. It’s too hard! I’d already mastered the key point of alchemy, but I’d failed to refine the three furnaces of elixirs. The third furnace even exploded!”
Fortunately, the alchemy furnace was a talisman tool, not a spiritual tool. Otherwise, Fang Jinyu would have gone bankrupt today.
Fang Jinyu quickly asked, “Since Du Maner can refine elixirs on her own, why don’t you train her to become an alchemist?”
He was trying to change the topic.
Moreover, Fang Jinyu was also curious about it. The elixir refining process was so complicated that even he failed repeatedly. However, Du Maner could refine a furnace of elixirs on her own, which indicated that she had the talent for refining elixirs!
At the very least, she was above average.
The Foundation Establishment stage cultivator said regretfully, “Sigh. She has five-element spiritual roots. It was only by chance that she could reach rank 1 in the Qi Condensation stage. Anyone else would have already broken through the Foundation Establishment stage.”
One’s cultivation aptitude was still the most crucial factor in cultivating.
The Foundation Establishment stage cultivator sighed again and said, “If she has four-element spiritual roots, we’ll try our best to train her since she has such talent.”
Fang Jinyu nodded and thought, “No wonder the sect had given up.”
Afterward, he went to find Du Maner and seriously asked for advice.
Perhaps because Fang Jinyu showed a good attitude, Du Maner told him everything she knew. Fang Jinyu also confirmed that the senior brother from Mount Lingyao was telling the truth.
Du Maner was indeed proficient in alchemy.
After listening to her explanation, Fang Jinyu suddenly understood everything.
Fang Jinyu took out a ring and said, “Thank you so much, Martial Niece Du. I’ll gift this talisman tool to you.”
It was one of the talisman tools he had used before. It had two rings.
Despite being only a middle-tier talisman tool, it could increase the power of a spell cast. It was a rare supplemental talisman tool. It helped Fang Jinyu a lot when he was a disciple who ranked 9 in the Qi Condensation stage.
Initially, Fang Jinyu wanted to give it to Xin Qianqian since he had no use for it. However, Xin Qianqian had both earth and wood attributes, so only one of the two rings was suitable for her.
As for the other one, he gifted Du Maner as a token of appreciation.
“It’s a middle-tier talisman tool. Thank you so much, Martial Uncle!” Du Maner was shocked when she recognized the grade of the talisman tool, but uncontrollable joy soon filled her.
After all, she was only at rank 1 in the Qi Condensation stage, and a middle-tier talisman tool was something she could only come across by luck.
Fang Jinyu nodded and dismissed Du Maner.
He purchased more spirit herbs and then walked into the alchemy room.
However, two hours later, Fang Jinyu came out from the alchemy room again.
Meanwhile, he showed a gloomy expression.
Although he didn’t burn the furnace, he still failed.
“It’s too difficult!”
Hence, he prepared to purchase some more spirit herbs. Meanwhile, Du Maner, who had been familiar with the talisman tool, came over. When Du Maner saw the situation, she asked, “Martial Uncle, are you going to purchase spirit herbs?”
Fang Jinyu was speechless.
Although Du Maner asked him with a serious tone, Fang Jinyu felt that she was laughing at him.
However, he knew it was probably a psychological effect of his anger, so he nodded expressionlessly.
Du Maner immediately said, “Martial Uncle, although the herbs on each Mount Lingyao are sold at the same price, the spirit veins on each Mount Lingyao are different. As a result, certain peaks can grow a large amount of some spirit herbs easily…”
Fang Jinyu immediately understood what Du Maner meant and asked, “Do you mean there’s a place where I can buy cheaper spirit herbs?”
After all, the more scarce an item was, the more expensive it was. When there were too many spirit herbs, the price would drop.
Although the price was fixed to prevent cut-throat competition in the sect, there would always be people who could come up with other ways.
“It’s said there’s a dark market jointly created by several martial uncles. You must buy at least a hundred portions of spirit herbs for each purchase. However, the price would be much lower. For example, a portion of spirit herbs costs ten spirit stones, so a hundred portions would cost a thousand. However, one hundred portions only cost seven hundred spirit stones in the dark market.”
As soon as Du Maner finished speaking, Fang Jinyu was excited. It would save him three hundred spirit stones!
When he first transmigrated here, the former Fang Jinyu had only saved 600 spirit stones, including the ones left by his parents. It was equivalent to half of the total.
Fang Jinyu asked worriedly, “Where did you hear that from?” Although he believed that Du Maner wouldn’t lie to him, he was worried that Du Maner had been deceived. After all, no Qi Condensation stage cultivator would dare to lie to a Foundation Establishment stage cultivator.
It would be possible since no Qi Condensation stage cultivator would have a psychological burden to lie to a cultivator who ranks 1 in the Qi Condensation stage and has five-element spiritual roots?
Du Maner answered, “I heard a few senior brothers who ranked 9 in the Qi Condensation stage mention it when I was invited to a gathering of the Mount Lingyao disciples. They are disciples from other peaks who have the potential to break through the Foundation Establishment stage.”
Fang Jinyu was surprised and asked, “You can attend a gathering of disciples who ranked 9 in the Qi Condensation stage?” He remembered that the former Fang Jinyu had once wanted to participate in a gathering of the late-stage Qi Condensation stage disciples when he was ranked 5 in the Qi Condensation stage. He was escorted out, though.
Du Maner smiled bitterly and said, “Maybe it’s because of my appearance.”
Fang Jinyu finally understood the situation.
Du Maner’s beauty allowed her to attend gatherings of any stage of disciples to make up the numbers.