"This is the seven-month supply of Inferior and Wasted Wood Element Pills. They're all here."
Ink Master pointed to a stack of long wooden boxes on the table, then explained to Lin Changheng in detail how to process these wasted and inferior pills.
Lin Changheng finally understood after hearing the explanation.
It turned out that the method for processing wasted and inferior Wood Element Pills wasn't complicated, but it had a high barrier to entry and was extremely time-consuming and draining.
This was the fundamental reason why he had only given Lin Changheng the Red Flame Pills in the first place.
One needed to reverse-apply twelve specific Pill Formulas—the ones used to infuse the Demon Beast Essence Blood during the final combination step.
The goal was to extract the Cyan Wood Snake Essence Blood contained within.
This was impossible for anyone who wasn't an Entry Tier Alchemist!
Then, they were all sent back to the Xu Clan and not sold to outsiders.
They could be used to cultivate the eggs of a certain Spirit Fish in the Black Water River, giving them a foundation for a higher survival rate and better growth in the future.
But because it was too time-consuming, Ink Master had always just taken them back every year and handed them directly to the clan.
Although he had been repeatedly asked to process them himself, Ink Master shamelessly kept doing it. The clan was helpless, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.
But after so many times, Ink Master was starting to feel a bit embarrassed. Now that Lin Changheng had presented himself, he took the opportunity to hand the task over to him.
'Young people should do more and learn more. It's not bad for them!'
Before Ink Master could even get out the "persuasive" words that would have made his old face burn with shame, Lin Changheng had already taken on the task, moving Ink Master deeply!
Then, he watched as Lin Changheng gathered all the boxes—eight long wooden boxes filled with wasted and inferior Wood Element Pills, and three with Red Flame Pills—into his arms. Seeing him clutch them tightly as he went downstairs, Ink Master was filled with emotion at his attitude toward the task.
'If you're going to take a disciple, they should be like Lin Changheng!'
"Wait!"
Suddenly, Ink Master called out, stopping Lin Changheng.
"What is it, Ink Master?"
Lin Changheng's heart skipped a beat.
"Take this. It's my old Storage Bag that I replaced. It has one cubic meter of space. Don't look down on it; consider it a congratulatory gift for your promotion to Pill Master."
A wisp of Magical Power wrapped around a gray Storage Bag and sent it flying over.
"How could I?! Thank you, Ink Master! I'll treasure it!" Lin Changheng's eyes lit up.
"Heh, no need for thanks. Now go on!"
...
Lin Changheng finished executing the Pill Formulas in the Alchemy Room and returned to the small Cultivation Room on the first floor of the shop.
With a wave of his hand, he took out the last of the eight long wooden boxes of Wood Element Pills from his Storage Bag.
He had long heard of the wonders of Storage Bags. Even the lowest-grade one, with a single cubic meter of space, was worth a hundred Lower Grade Spirit Stones.
That was thirty percent more expensive than a Lower Grade Spiritual Artifact.
A used Storage Bag with clear signs of wear would still cost sixty or seventy Spirit Stones, but there wasn't much of a market for them. People were afraid they were stolen goods and would bring trouble, so they avoided them.
When he first got the Storage Bag, he had a lot of fun putting things in and taking them out before carefully hiding it under his robes to avoid being seen.
"Continue!"
Lin Changheng was very patient. He could have extracted all the Cyan Wood Snake Essence Blood at once, but he was doing it slowly.
He extracted from a dozen or so pills a day.
It had taken him just over ten days to finish them all. This was the last batch!
'Even if Ink Master suddenly stopped me and inspected the Storage Bag, he wouldn't find anything amiss!'
This was Lin Changheng's unique brand of caution!
He opened the long wooden box and, looking at the dozen or so wasted and inferior pills before him, swept his hand over them.
At the same time, his consciousness connected with the Primordial Cauldron at the center of his sea of consciousness.
SWOOSH!
A green light flashed, and in an instant, all the Essence Blood was drained from the wasted and inferior Wood Element Pills.
It then sank into his sea of consciousness. The Primordial Cauldron trembled slightly, and its radiant light parted, revealing a new, jade-green Treasure Seed alongside the gold and red ones.
[Cyan Wood Snake Treasure Seed · Spirit Stealing Metamorphosis in Progress]
[Spirit Stealing: 79/100]
[Utility: Mixed Grade Demon Beast Bloodline. Naturally possesses Wood Attribute. Contains Lifebound Talents: Entanglement, Poison Transformation, Spraying Miasma. Upon Spirit Stealing Success, one can be chosen and refined.]
'I've already gathered nearly eighty percent! In another two or three months, this Cyan Wood Snake Treasure Seed will achieve Spirit Stealing Success!'
A look of satisfaction flashed in Lin Changheng's eyes.
He himself hadn't expected to make so much progress in such a short time.
'Entanglement, Poison Transformation, or Spraying Miasma... which one should I choose?'
Lin Changheng had been agonizing over this for some time. Besides Entanglement, both Poison Transformation and Spraying Miasma seemed like good options. Today, he finally had an idea.
'Poison Transformation!'
Lin Changheng ultimately decided to choose a defensive ability.
Unlike High Tier Cultivators, Qi Cultivation Stage cultivators have limited methods and rely heavily on poisoning techniques. All sorts of poisons are widespread and endlessly varied.
Moreover, this place wasn't far from the Wilderness Border. Within the Wilderness, there were countless poisonous insects and beasts, and poisonous miasmas were a common sight. One could be afflicted without even knowing how.
Whether on "major expeditions" or "minor expeditions," quite a few cultivators had been crippled or had their cultivation paths completely ruined by poison.
Having a Poison Transformation technique would truly provide a great deal of peace of mind.
Having figured this out, Lin Changheng nudged the Red Treasure Seed with his consciousness and took a look.
[Fire Crow Treasure Seed·First Layer]
[Spirit Stealing: 22/100]
'Hmm, the progress is steady.'
...
Next, Lin Changheng began to take stock of his current assets.
They were quite substantial.
He had originally been down to his last Spirit Stone.
Last month, his ten percent cut from alchemy—five Red Flame Pills—were sold to the shop at market price, earning him ten Spirit Stones.
Adding the three he received as an apprentice, then subtracting the twelve he spent on six Blood Replenishing Pills—a half-year supply—he was left with two.
But that wasn't the main part.
The crucial thing was the twenty-five Genuine Red Flame Pills hidden in his Storage Bag. The five sets of materials he had previously stored had all been successfully refined into elixirs!
At market price, that was fifty Lower Grade Spirit Stones!
He had consumed one of them himself.
It was indeed effective. Lin Changheng estimated it was equivalent to five days of arduous cultivation.
However, it would take Lin Changheng half a month to completely refine and slowly absorb this single pill.
Moreover, a small amount of Pill Poison lurked within it, but it was still present.
Lin Changheng was a bit worried and had asked Ink Master about this. The answer he received was to consume them in moderation.
He recommended taking one Genuine Red Flame Pill a month, as the benefits would outweigh the drawbacks.
Any more than that, and the drawbacks would outweigh the benefits.
If one were to take a Masterpiece Red Flame Pill, the effects would be stronger and the Pill Poison minimal. In that case, one could try taking two a month.
This would be equivalent to half a month of arduous cultivation in total!
He also encouraged Lin Changheng to strive toward refining pills of that quality.
He even used himself as an example, saying his success rate for Masterpiece Pills was only about ten percent per batch, and not every batch would produce one.
Some extremely poor Middle Grade Alchemists might go their whole lives without ever refining a single Lower Grade Masterpiece Pill.
...
'Masterpiece Pills...'
Lin Changheng walked home, lost in thought.
He considered himself quite skilled at refining Red Flame Pills, but after seeing the Masterpiece Pill that Ink Master had shown him, he knew he still had a long way to go.
He tried often, but still couldn't succeed.
'Is my Fire Control still insufficient? Is the tempering not deep enough?'
As he was thinking this, he suddenly saw a slender, graceful figure at his door, knocking.
He was taken aback.