"Do you want sister to teach you hand-in-hand?"
As expected,
just as Mao Qingzhu anticipated, her shy Brother Ye, who lacked contact with female cultivators, immediately lowered his head with embarrassment:
"Sister Qingzhu is joking, I’m only slightly knowledgeable. Today, opening the furnace is mainly to guide my apprentice. This bit of trivial skill hardly requires Sister Qingzhu’s instruction."
Mao Qingzhu covered her mouth and laughed lightly, finding it quite interesting how innocent Brother Ye was.
Logically speaking, no loose cultivator could refuse guidance from a Foundation Establishment cultivator.
Yet, Brother Ye refused... is this reasonable?
It’s not reasonable at all, because Brother Ye is originally a diligent and hardworking cultivator, who wouldn’t miss any opportunity to improve himself.
Therefore, Mao Qingzhu could only think of one reason: which is that Brother Ye is embarrassed to interact with her, a female cultivator with somewhat of an appearance...
Sensitive and shy, he won’t find a Dao companion in the future!
For instance, that Li Qiuyun, Brother Ye usually keeps his distance from her, and thinking about it now, it’s probably just because Brother Ye is too shy.
Mao Qingzhu thought to herself, "In the future, I have to help Brother Ye get used to interacting with female cultivators. But in Lisong Valley, there is only Lin Qiongyu, a young female cultivator, who is just a loose cultivator at the Qi Cultivation Fourth Layer, totally unworthy of contact with Brother Ye—she ought to be a sect disciple... Alas, there’s no helping Brother Ye."
"Humph, there’s no helping Master at all!"
The little girl suddenly straightened up vigilantly, glanced back at Mao Qingzhu and shouted loudly,
"Since Master needs help, then Qing Jun will reluctantly assist Master! Let’s go to alchemy quickly!"
"Alright, alright!"
Mao Qingzhu mistakenly thought it was the embarrassed Chen Ye, but in reality she was a bit flustered herself.
Was this Sister Qingzhu showing off because she refined an upper-grade pill?
Little did she know that even Qing Jun now could refine upper-grade pills...
Chen Ye thought secretly, but didn’t show it on his face—he could only cough softly:
"Sister Qingzhu, you’d better take a rest, I’m taking the two apprentices to refine pills."
"Alright then..."
Mao Qingzhu didn’t insist, nodding her head.
She saw Chen Ye lead the two apprentices into the quiet chamber, but her own steps halted.
Lately, she hadn’t seen Brother Ye refine pills, nor heard of him refining pills.
So naturally, Mao Qingzhu was worried.
After all, alchemy is quite risky, and a misstep could result in an explosion—though it wouldn’t harm Chen Ye, it’d be particularly dangerous for the two little girls.
Oh well, she’d just wait outside a little longer to prevent any accidents.
...
Inside the quiet chamber,
both little girls looked slightly excited since they hadn’t seen their master refine pills in a while!
Especially Qing Jun, who was all fired up to compete with her Master!
She had been diligently practicing over these days and might surpass her Master in alchemy!
Chen Ye had no time to focus on the two apprentices, his gaze fell upon a panel:
[Qi Nourishing Pill Perfection: 390/400]
Based on his previous proficiency growth, refining a batch now should just meet the limit break.
Chen Ye held his breath, concentrating spirit, synchronizing his divine sense with the furnace flames, accurately and flawlessly tossing the prepared Spirit Grass into the furnace.
His actions were fluid, without the slightest delay.
The pharmacology flowed through his heart while the temperature shifted subtly under his control.
The whole alchemy process was more like a showcase of Dao techniques than mere pill crafting.
An hour later,
as a clear chime resonated from within the furnace, a majestic medicinal fragrance erupted.
Chen Ye withdrew his divine sense, glanced at the door outside.
He knew Mao Qingzhu was still outside, thus setting up a small barrier specifically to keep the fragrance confined within the quiet chamber.
Chen Ye didn’t want Mao Qingzhu to uncover his true alchemical prowess, after all, breaking through the pill limit was simply unbelievable.
Even to Mao Qingzhu, Chen Ye dared not disclose this.
[Qi Nourishing Pill Limit Break: 1/800]
Chen Ye suddenly opened the furnace lid, noticing ten pills quietly lying at the bottom.
These ten pills, perfectly round, exuded restrained spiritual light, with half bearing intricate pill patterns, swirling with pill clouds as if they were alive!
"Hmm? Wait a moment..."
Chen Ye fixed his gaze, picking up one of the pills,
"Three pill patterns?"
He had thought after the limit break, it would only progress from a single pill pattern to double ones, yet unexpectedly, it directly advanced to three!
"Master, there are a total of six top-grade pills, within which one has three patterns, two have two patterns, and three have one pattern!"
The eldest apprentice held a jade box, classifying and inspecting the pills one by one before presenting the box to Chen Ye.
As for the little girl, she was stunned.
That’s it, she’d never surpass Master for the rest of her life!
Isn’t it said that the highest quality pills are those top-grade pills with Dan patterns?
Why can Master craft pills with several patterns!
"Indeed, it is a great success. I shall try this pill first."
With that, Chen Ye picked up a three-striped pill and swallowed it.
In an instant, the pure medicinal power melted upon entering his mouth.
Chen Ye felt a shock throughout his body, and the spiritual power in his Dantian Energy Sea began to grow wildly under the influence of the medicinal power!
[Evergreen Technique Grandmaster: 2750/3200]
After taking just one pill, his proficiency in the Evergreen Technique increased by a full fifty points!
"This... doesn’t it mean that even if the Evergreen Technique reaches Perfection in the future, I would only need to swallow over a hundred of these three-striped Qi Nourishing Pills to break through again?" Chen Ye’s heart was filled with joy.
However, after the initial joy, Chen Ye came to a realization.
No... something’s not right...
The progress is indeed significant, but it’s not the progress supposed to follow a Limit Break.
A one-striped Qi Nourishing Pill already increases proficiency by forty points, but the three-striped one after the Limit Break only increases it by fifty?
And when he used to take lower-grade Qi Nourishing Pills, they could increase by thirty points...
"That’s it, pills are different from other things; they have a clear upper limit. This is because the Qi Nourishing Pill is crafted from only First Tier lower-grade Silver Scale Flower, and the material severely limits the final efficacy."
Chen Ye felt annoyed, initially he considered cultivating only using Qi Nourishing Pills.
After all, these Qi Nourishing Pills are easy to make; a lower-grade Spirit Plant can make about ten pieces.
"Master, is it really that delicious..."
The little girl saw Master standing still as if savoring the taste of the pill and couldn’t help but wipe her small mouth.
Though she wanted to eat, she knew these were Master’s cultivation pills!
She might request other things... but she wouldn’t take her Master’s cultivation resources!
How could Chen Ye be a selfish person?
He kept his top-grade Qi Nourishing Pills saved for his disciples to use.
Immediately, he took out four one-striped Qi Nourishing Pills from his Storage Bag and distributed them to the two disciples:
"Considering your current cultivation level, it’s best to take one-striped Qi Nourishing Pills. Hmm... treat them as candy, and break through to the late Qi Cultivation period early; that way, you can be helpful to Master."
The two disciples are currently at the Qi Cultivation Fifth Layer.
But with the help of top-grade pills, plus their extraordinary talent, they might reach the Qi Cultivation Late Period soon.
"Thank you, Master!" x2
The girl cheered, the girl rejoiced.
One was happy to eat delicious pills, the other happy for cultivation.
As for refusal?
For the two girls, refusal never existed.
For Qing Jun, no need to say, she would open her mouth whenever there’s food; as for Zhiwei, she considered every word from Master as a precious truth, so how could she refuse Master’s words?
"Alright."
Chen Ye clapped his hands, waking the two shocked little girls back to reality,
"Did you carefully observe the process of alchemy just now from Master?"
"I... I saw it carefully!" Qing Jun nodded like a chick pecking rice, "Master is amazing! Slightly better than Qing Jun!"
Zhiwei, though silent, showed admiration on her face, truly worthy as Master...
"Just watching without practicing means nothing."
Chen Ye revealed a mysterious smile, "Today, I will test you two. Qing Jun will be the main in charge of the furnace, assisted by Zhiwei, to craft a batch of Qi Nourishing Pills. You will rely on your own abilities, while Master will go rest."
"Yes! Master!"
The two little girls heard and immediately got spirited.
They had long wanted to show their skills in front of Master!
As for Chen Ye, he swaggered out of the Alchemy Room.
"Brother Ye... why have you come out?"
Mao Qingzhu was surprised, and then she sensed the fierce alchemy fire inside the Quiet Chamber.
This... Brother Ye actually let two kids operate the pill furnace??
This is nonsense!
She thought so and prepared to help if needed.
But as she watched, the anxiety and worry on her face froze once more.
"Sister Qingzhu, don’t worry. My two disciples are capable, getting about seventy or eighty percent of my true inheritance in alchemy."
Chen Ye smiled, he was never one to tolerate waiting patiently.
Oh...
It’s not about not pretending; it’s just not the time.
Exposing his attainment in Alchemy Dao is too risky.
But having the two disciples back up Master, why not?