Chapter 93: Meeting Gift

Xu Xiaoshou obediently shut his mouth.

"Why is everyone so irritable these days?"

Elder Sang glared at him, picked up the overturned pill bottle, and then, after carefully bottling the newly refined pills, pushed them all towards him.

"A welcoming gift."

Xu Xiaoshou's eyes widened in surprise. "For me?"

"If not for you, then for whom?" Elder Sang rolled his eyes. "Precisely thirty-six Yuan Court Pills, the number of the Heavenly Dipper — auspicious."

"Yuan Court Pills?"

"Don't recognize them?"

Seeing his bewildered expression, Elder Sang explained, "You must know Spirit Refining Pills, right?"

"Every major cultivation realm has corresponding pills that accelerate cultivation. These pills are generally the most valuable for that particular realm. Spirit Refining Pills, for instance, are used by disciples in the Spirit Refining Tenth Realm."

"Oh, and by the way, pills are classified into major tiers every two grades. Spirit Refining Pills belong to the Post-celestial level, ranking ninth-grade."

Xu Xiaoshou pointed at the bottles and jars on the ground. "So these..."

"Pre-celestial pills, seventh-grade."

Xu Xiaoshou's jaw nearly dropped.

Elder Sang chuckled. "Don't be embarrassed, I'm just..."

Before he could finish, the young man in front of him bowed, a necklace appeared, and the pills on the ground vanished instantly. "Thank you!"

Elder Sang was stunned. This kid...

Indeed...

He had naively thought the boy would be embarrassed...

What a joke!

Why would Xu Xiaoshou be polite? He was simply astonished.

Legendary seventh-grade pills were apparently refined by the basketful. Were they free?

He felt as if he were dreaming.

He suspected that all the Spirit Refining Pills in his ring combined wouldn't be worth a single Yuan Court Pill!

Seventh-grade pills...

The Pre-celestial pill awarded to the "Wind and Cloud Hegemony" champion was only eighth-grade, and there was only one of them...

Elder Sang didn't mind much. For him, as long as he had enough ingredients, these pills took only a few moments to refine.

"These should last you quite a while, but remember not to use them until you reach the Pre-celestial realm if possible; you might not be able to handle them..."

"Hmm, but you have a Pre-celestial physique, so never mind. Just use them as you see fit."

He waved his hand. "Come get more if you run out."

Xu Xiaoshou was astonished again.

Come get more if he ran out?

How extravagant!

He liked it!

Seeing his unpromising demeanor, Elder Sang couldn't help but sigh. "Don't be surprised. Alchemists might lack other things, but they can never lack pills. You'll be the same way in the future, so get used to it early."

Xu Xiaoshou nodded numbly.

To be honest, he hadn't taken alchemy seriously at first, but Elder Sang's words forced him to reconsider.

This was a path to riches!

Earning passive points was important, of course, but material pleasures shouldn't be neglected either!

Moreover, the two didn't seem to conflict.

Imagine, one day in the future, he too could so lavishly push dozens of bottles of pills forward. How much admiration would that earn?

Tsk, tsk!

Xu Xiaoshou was practically drooling.

But he quickly thought of a crucial question. "My talent isn't actually very good. Can I learn alchemy?"

Elder Sang said indifferently, "You basically don't need to learn this. With your aptitude, you'll pick it up with some practice."

Someone who could comprehend Pre-celestial Sword Will didn't have very good talent?

Elder Sang chuckled. How hypocritical!

Xu Xiaoshou was speechless.

He didn't know why the elder was so confident in him, but Elder Sang was an experienced figure. For him to believe in Xu Xiaoshou so strongly, he must have seen shining qualities that Xu Xiaoshou himself hadn't even discovered.

"Right! It must be!"

Xu Xiaoshou clenched his fist. "Let's start! I can't wait!"

Elder Sang looked at his high spirits, nodded with satisfaction, and then said, "Before we begin, there are a few other things I need to mention."

"Our 'Emberflame Lineage' alchemy is different from other alchemists; you should already be aware of that."

"Because of the domineering nature of the Emberflame, our alchemy is also very crude, with basically no sophisticated techniques involved. The only thing you need to pay attention to is precise flame control."

Xu Xiaoshou indicated that he understood.

He recalled how Elder Sang had thrown large bundles of herbs and handfuls of fruits into the cauldron when refining pills earlier. An uninformed observer might have thought he was making soup...

If another alchemist had done that, their cauldron would probably have exploded instantly.

Yet, Elder Sang's flame control was incredibly precise, able to separate and refine all the medicinal ingredients simultaneously in an instant.

This greatly reduced the time needed to extract the spiritual liquid, and the number of pills refined at once was...

Extremely impressive!

Elder Sang walked to the window with his hands behind his back and spoke earnestly. "Alchemy is just a sideline. It can bring you abundant resources, but remember not to become obsessed with it."

"Spirit cultivation is the primary path you must follow in the future. This point can never change."

He turned back, his dark-rimmed eyes fixed on Xu Xiaoshou. "If your strength doesn't keep up, the stronger your alchemy, the more miserable your life will be. Remember that!"

Xu Xiaoshou couldn't help but recall the first lesson of his apprenticeship. "Another cage?"

"Yes."

Elder Sang nodded. "If that situation occurs, unless you isolate yourself, you are destined to become a tool for powerful forces, losing your freedom entirely."

"Understood!"

Xu Xiaoshou's heart tightened slightly. What had this old man been through to possess such a cruel and realistic understanding of the world?

"So are you isolating yourself now?" he asked.

Elder Sang choked for a moment, then glared at him grumpily but didn't refute him. "I travel around, trying not to get caught."

Xu Xiaoshou had just asked casually, not expecting that powerful forces were indeed targeting this straw-hatted old man. He felt a little panicked.

"Then wouldn't it be very dangerous for me to become your disciple?"

Elder Sang remained silent.

"At your current level, you don't even qualify to be a pawn, so what are you afraid of?" Elder Sang realized that talking to this kid truly required a strong heart.

Xu Xiaoshou, instead, patted his chest and sighed in relief. "That's good, that's good..."

Elder Sang tapped the large bathtub. "You can use this for now."

"Again, the 'Emberflame Lineage' alchemy is incredibly potent. Other alchemists might not even be able to fight, but we are different."

"Alchemy is a secondary goal. The most important thing is that through the process of alchemy, you can eventually perfectly master the Emberflame. When you encounter a powerful enemy in the future, just refine them as if they were pills."

Xu Xiaoshou listened, dumbfounded, and after a long silence, could only utter, "Amazing."

Elder Sang pulled out a ring and tossed it over. "Later, when you're extracting the liquid essence, focus all your attention on flame control. Don't worry about anything else."

"Your next goal is to use all the ingredients in this ring to successfully extract one drop of liquid essence."

"There's a jade slip inside with common alchemy knowledge. Remember to read it first."

"Alright, I'll be going now. Take your time with the extraction."

Xu Xiaoshou wanted to say something more, but Elder Sang had already vanished. He looked at the large bathtub, somewhat speechless.

"Free-range teaching?"

"I only watched you refine pills once, and you think I'm ready?"

"Could I really be that much of a genius?"

He picked up the ring and glanced inside, instantly collapsing to the ground.

Inside were piles of medicinal herbs as tall as small mountains, so green they were unsettling. It looked like enough to fill the entire first floor of the Spiritual Treasury Pavilion!

He immediately understood why Elder Sang was letting him "free-range."

Once he finished extracting everything in that ring, he'd probably know it all!

Xu Xiaoshou lacked many things, but not perseverance. He gritted his teeth and looked towards the large bathtub.

"Time to get to work!"