The fates of Chen Baxing and Lu Shaojun had thoroughly terrified Lu Yifang. Chen Baxing was one thing—though he had some background, it was just an ordinary cultivation family, at best a young master in the cultivation world. But Lu Shaojun's father was on an entirely different level!

Seventh layer Foundation Establishment, a Saint-level Alchemist.

Saint was a special title, signifying that this alchemist was extraordinary. An ordinary alchemist could at most refine pills of their own cultivation realm.

But a Saint-level Alchemist could refine pills beyond their own realm.

Some exceptionally outstanding Saint-level Alchemists could even refine pills needed by Nascent Soul stage cultivators while still at Foundation Establishment—truly defying the heavens!

However, Lu Shaojun's father clearly was not such an outstanding Saint-level one.

Otherwise, the Nascent Soul stage Ancestor would have been somewhat willing to give him face.

"Many thanks, Uncle-Master Fang. This is a token of this junior's regard. Please, Uncle-Master Fang, you must accept it." Lu Yifang presented a gift, a red sandalwood box.

Opening it, one could see irregular spirit stones laid out inside.

A rough glance showed at least five hundred inside, enough to buy a low-grade spirit tool.

"Junior Brother Lu is thoughtful. I'll accept it then." Seeing Lu Yifang so sensible, the small amount of resentment Fang Jinyu held toward this fellow vanished completely.

After all, at the end of the day, Lu Yifang was just an errand runner, and he hadn't offended him verbally that day either.

Moreover, with this box of spirit stones, Lu Yifang's sincerity was indeed sufficient.

This was probably several years of his savings!

Seeing Fang Jinyu accept it, Lu Yifang finally breathed a sigh of relief. Settling a grudge with a Foundation Establishment cultivator using a few hundred spirit stones was an extremely worthwhile deal!

"Then this junior will not disturb Uncle-Master Fang further." Although Fang Jinyu addressed him as Junior Brother, he dared not call him Senior Brother.

This sort of mixed-address method was quite common among cultivators.

Fang Jinyu had nothing else to say, so he had Du Man'er see him off.

Du Man'er was sent by this Spirit Medicine Peak after Fang Jinyu expressed his desire to learn alchemy, effectively assigned as his alchemy assistant.

However, Fang Jinyu was not very willing.

After all, he had his own secrets.

Fortunately, from his careful observations, Du Man'er also didn't seem very eager to follow him.

In terms of appearance alone, Du Man'er was no less beautiful than any famed fairy of the cultivation world, and not the slightest bit inferior to that female lead. And a woman possessing such beauty, after witnessing the vastness of the cultivation world, would naturally be unwilling to follow a Foundation Establishment cultivator like him—someone so "honest and dull-witted," and with only triple-attribute spiritual roots at that.

Triple-attribute spiritual roots gave one a hope of establishing a foundation, but taking another step further to achieve a Golden Core was widely acknowledged to be incomparably difficult!

And even if one could, it would often hover between the eighth and ninth grades.

Thus, Fang Jinyu only needed to find a time to express that he didn't intend to take her away.

Oddly enough, though, someone of Du Man'er's looks had never appeared in that book. That was very unreasonable. With Du Man'er's looks and ambition, even at worst, she'd count as cannon fodder who couldn't survive one chapter!

‘Also, where exactly did my reputation as an honest man spread from?’

Fang Jinyu was particularly baffled by this.

Could it be that because his predecessor's parents were honest people, he was also an honest man?

This reasoning... actually seemed somewhat logical.

After all, it's often said that parents are a child's first teachers.

Rubbing his chin, Fang Jinyu continued studying the Basics of Alchemy in his hands. And with such effort, he soon reaped a reward.

[Today was a day of studying the Basics of Alchemy diligently]

[Extraction obtained: Alchemy Essence +1]

In an instant, all the rote-memorized alchemy knowledge in his mind seemed to come alive. And when this alchemy knowledge settled down, Fang Jinyu had already grasped how to refine pills.

‘I truly am a genius, grasping the essence of alchemy all at once!’

A certain someone brazenly declared.

Then, after spending a hundred spirit stones to rent an alchemy furnace and purchase a batch of ingredients, he began pill refining.

Ignite the fire, add the spirit herbs, begin refining.

Extinguish the fire, open the furnace, and immediately thick smoke billowed out.

‘First time, it's inevitable to fail.’

Fang Jinyu nodded, not taking it to heart, and continued to the second furnace.

Again ignite, again add herbs.

Again refine, extinguish, and open—the three steps.

Boom!

This time, the thick smoke erupted like a volcanic explosion, directly smearing Fang Jinyu's entire face.

‘It's perfectly normal for a novice to fail alchemy on the second try.’

Fang Jinyu still didn't mind, cleaned out the furnace ash, and continued refining.

This time, before he could even open the furnace, the furnace itself exploded first.

* * *

"Junior Brother, this is alchemy, not training thunder techniques. If there's something you don't quite understand, feel free to ask your alchemy assistant. I recall you were assigned Du Man'er, right? That girl is extremely sharp and willing to endure hardship; she once refined a successful furnace of pills on her own. If not for the Sect Leader's special attention, she wouldn't have been assigned to you."

The Foundation Establishment cultivator of Spirit Medicine Peak, who had replaced Fang Jinyu's alchemy furnace, couldn't help but say.

Fang Jinyu looked utterly embarrassed.

No wonder alchemists were so rare. He had already grasped the essence of alchemy, yet all three furnaces of pills had failed, and the third one had even exploded!

Fortunately, this furnace was a talisman tool and not a spirit tool; otherwise, Fang Jinyu would have to pay until he was utterly destitute today.

Seeing this, Fang Jinyu quickly said, "Since Du Man'er can refine pills on her own, why not train her as an alchemist?"

He was purely trying to change the subject.

Of course, Fang Jinyu was indeed somewhat puzzled by this. Alchemy was so difficult that he had failed repeatedly, yet Du Man'er could single-handedly refine a successful furnace—this showed that Du Man'er's alchemy talent was not weak!

At least above average.

"She has five-attribute spiritual roots. Reaching even the first layer of Qi Refining back then was a stroke of luck. And the opportunity she obtained then, had it been someone else, they might already have established their foundation by now." That Foundation Establishment cultivator said with a regretful expression.

Cultivators, ultimately, were measured by their cultivation aptitude.

"Even if she had four-attribute spiritual roots, with this talent, we would've grit our teeth and trained her." That Foundation Establishment cultivator sighed again.

Fang Jinyu nodded, understanding why the sect had given up.

Then, he summoned Du Man'er and earnestly consulted her.

Perhaps because Fang Jinyu's attitude in seeking instruction was extremely good, Du Man'er shared everything she knew without reservation, which confirmed that the Spirit Medicine Peak senior brother's words were true.

Du Man'er was indeed very proficient in alchemy.

After listening to her explanations, many of the points he had been unclear about suddenly became clear.

So Fang Jinyu took out a finger ring: "Many thanks, Junior Niece Du. This talisman tool is a gift for you."

This was a talisman tool he had once used, one of a pair.

Although only a mid-grade talisman tool, it could enhance the power of spells cast, a relatively rare auxiliary talisman tool that had been of considerable help even when Fang Jinyu was at the ninth layer of Qi Refining.

Originally, Fang Jinyu had planned to give it to Xin Qianqian, as he no longer needed them, but Xin Qianqian had wood-earth dual attributes, and only one of these two rings suited her.

The other he now gifted as a convenient favor.

"Mid-grade talisman tool, many thanks, Uncle-Master!" Du Man'er recognized the tool's grade and, amidst her astonishment, was filled with irrepressible joy.

After all, she was only at the first layer of Qi Refining, and a mid-grade talisman tool was something she could only encounter by chance, not by seeking.

Fang Jinyu nodded and dismissed Du Man'er.

He then went to purchase another batch of spirit herbs and entered the alchemy room.

But less than two hours later, Fang Jinyu came back out.

This time, his face was full of dejection.

Because although the alchemy furnace hadn't exploded this time, he still hadn't succeeded in a single furnace.

‘This is just too damn difficult!’

So he prepared to go buy some more spirit herbs needed for alchemy. However, just at that moment, Du Man'er, having already familiarized herself with the talisman tool, happened to come by. Seeing this, she asked, "Is Uncle-Master preparing to buy spirit herbs?"

Fang Jinyu: "..."

Though Du Man'er's expression was very proper at that moment, Fang Jinyu couldn't shake the feeling that this woman was secretly laughing.

But he figured it was probably just his own psychological reaction from embarrassment and anger, so he nodded expressionlessly.

"Uncle-Master, although the prices of medicinal ingredients are uniform across all Spirit Medicine Peaks, each peak's internal spirit veins are different. This results in certain herbs growing more easily and in greater quantities on certain peaks..." Du Man'er quickly said.

"You mean there are places where spirit herbs can be bought cheaper?" Fang Jinyu immediately caught the meaning behind her words.

After all, when supply increases, prices inevitably drop.

While prices were fixed to prevent unhealthy competition within the sect, people were flexible, and there were always those who could find other ways.

"It's said that several Uncle-Masters jointly set up an underground market, and each purchase requires buying at least one hundred portions of herbs. But the price is relatively much cheaper. For example, the herb portions you bought before cost ten spirit stones each here, so one hundred portions would be one thousand spirit stones. But at that underground market, one hundred portions only cost seven hundred spirit stones."

As soon as Du Man'er finished, Fang Jinyu was tempted. That was a full three hundred spirit stones saved!

When he had transmigrated, his predecessor had painstakingly saved, along with what his parents left behind, only about six hundred spirit stones. This was directly half of that.

"Where did you hear about this?" Fang Jinyu asked uneasily. It wasn't that he doubted Du Man'er—with his Foundation Establishment cultivation, which Qi Refining disciple would dare deceive him? He was worried Du Man'er had been fooled by someone else.

After all, who among Qi Refining cultivators would have qualms about deceiving a first-layer Qi Refining five-attribute spiritual root?

"I previously attended a gathering among Spirit Medicine Peak disciples by invitation and heard it mentioned by several ninth-layer Qi Refining senior brothers. Those senior brothers were all from other peaks, with hope of establishing their foundation." Du Man'er said.

"A gathering of ninth-layer Qi Refining disciples, and you could attend?" Fang Jinyu was slightly surprised. In his predecessor's memories, when his predecessor was at the fifth layer of Qi Refining and wanted to attend an in-sect gathering of late-stage Qi Refining, he had been driven out.

"Probably because of my looks." Du Man'er smiled bitterly.

Fang Jinyu understood.

With Du Man'er's looks, if any Foundation Establishment cultivator's gathering needed a flower vase, she could go and make up the numbers.