All Things Are Contracts

Chapter 47

“What’s wrong?” Luo Mingtao asked, looking at the visibly disturbed black-robed person.

“Why isn’t there even a trace of impurity? How is this possible? It’s perfectly formed, without a single impurity? What kind of precise technique, or is there some principle I don’t know about?” The black-robed person was lost in thought. Although it was a first-grade pill, she couldn’t purify it to this level.

“Qing Luo said the effect of this first-grade pill is excellent. Can you reverse engineer the formula?” Luo Mingtao asked with great expectation.

The black-robed person shook their head, “No, it’s too clean. There’s not a single impurity. I can’t distinguish which herbs were used to refine it.”

“Even you can’t?” Luo Mingtao was somewhat surprised. Although the black-robed person was only a fourth-grade alchemist, their understanding of alchemy was at an incredible level. Luo Mingtao highly valued them.

“The way of alchemy is as vast as the sea. What I’ve mastered is just a spoonful of water. I still have much to learn,” the black-robed person sighed.

Although not an alchemist himself, Luo Mingtao could sense the profound depth of alchemy. He asked again, “Can those few third-grade alchemy formulas from before be further optimized?”

“Yes, after optimization, the formulas could probably save about half of the herbs,” the black-robed person answered.

Hearing this, Luo Mingtao’s eyes lit up with joy. How much money could they save? This black-robed person was truly a god of wealth.

Luo Mingtao nodded, “Through my connections, I’ve confirmed that the item you want will indeed appear at next month’s auction. And I’ve successfully added those few items of yours to the auction list. They will be auctioned at the event.”

The black-robed person nodded with satisfaction, their eyes hiding both worry and anticipation. “I hope we can successfully acquire it,” they prayed silently.

In Thousand Feather City, Zhanyue generously rented an independent courtyard instead of staying at an inn, because he needed to refine pills and practice martial techniques. An inn was no longer suitable. Fortunately, he now had money, and renting this small courtyard was no problem. Moreover, this small courtyard came with a hidden basement.

In the basement, the Earth Mother Golden Cauldron revealed its true form. Zhanyue sat cross-legged, his hands forming seals, meticulously controlling the flames. Various herbs melted, boiled, separated, and combined in the golden cauldron. Gradually, several round pills took shape. The purple pills were somewhat strange, emitting a pungent odor.

“Purple, pungent odor, smelling nauseous. It’s done!” Zhanyue took out the seven pills with a look of joy. Only seven pills in one batch, but it officially meant Zhanyue had entered the realm of third-grade alchemist. Around him were many pitch-black failed pills, products of his previous failures. Even with his talent, he had failed several times. Each pill refinement was very draining, and ordinary people would need several days to recover. Fortunately, Zhanyue had the Ghost Fruit, allowing him to refine pills so frequently. After four failures, he finally successfully refined seven third-grade alchemys on the fifth attempt.

third-grade alchemy – Vein Sealing Pill. When used, it could seal the contractor power of cultivators below the Profound Realm for a period of time, quite domineering.

“I remember the Vein Sealing Pill formula was lost. I didn’t expect the formula discovered in the Mountain Goblin Clan to be so ancient. This kind of pill has obvious characteristics, smelling terrible, so it can’t be used as a poison,” Zhanyue said with some regret, after all, it wasn’t colorless and odorless.

“In the world of martial arts, there will always be times when such harmful pills are useful. The herbs I bought last time only made these seven pills. Being an alchemist really burns money,” Zhanyue said painfully. However, this was because he wasn’t very skilled before. Now his success rate would be much higher.

“Normally, refining fourth-grade pills requires soul power equivalent to a Profound Being. Although I’m not born with a strong soul, with the Ghost Fruit, soul power isn’t a problem. However, the difference between third and fourth grade is like heaven and earth. Countless alchemists are stuck at this step for life. I should prepare early. It will probably consume a lot of herbs,” Zhanyue opened the booklet Luo Mingtao gave him. The items recorded in the booklet were dazzling. Not only materials for fourth-grade pills, but even fifth and sixth-grade materials were available. Among the finale items of the auction, there was even a seventh-grade pill, though its effect was unknown, deliberately teasing people’s curiosity. Besides that seventh-grade pill, there were two hidden finale treasures, also unknown.

“These days, I should refine more first and second-grade pills to sell for money. I’ll probably need to bleed a lot of money to get a large number of herbs at this auction. Fifth and sixth grade are not considered for now, but I should try to get fourth-grade materials as much as possible,” Zhanyue planned.

After finishing pill refinement, he came to the backyard of the small courtyard, which was a small bamboo forest with nice scenery. He condensed fire into a sword and practiced swordplay in the dense bamboo forest. After completing a set of sword techniques, the illumination Goddess’s voice came.

“Three leaves. You burned three bamboo leaves. Still far from qualified. These days you’ve been busy refining pills, and have become a bit lax in cultivation,” the illumination Goddess reminded. However, it was very difficult to focus on both pill refinement and cultivation. There were experts who excelled in both alchemy and martial arts, but a person’s time was limited. There was no such thing as being a hundred or thousand times more hardworking than others. Could you work hard for a hundred hours in a day when others work hard for one hour? Talent was actually a more important factor at this point.

“Sister, is there any shortcut?” Zhanyue asked jokingly.

“You’re already taking a shortcut. What more do you want? How many people in this world can get my personal guidance?” the illumination Goddess was a bit speechless.

“My realm progress is too slow,” Zhanyue sighed. Spirit Communication Realm sixth stage was far from enough.

“Do you really think the faster the realm improves, the better?” the illumination Goddess taught, “Cultivation is like climbing a mountain. Each stage has different scenery. If your realm improves too quickly, you might miss a lot of scenery. These missed scenes might be what you lack when you want to go further after reaching the peak. Feel your current weakness well, and become stronger bit by bit. This is my insight from living a second life. In my previous life, I advanced too quickly, which is why I got stuck at that step and found it hard to progress further.”

“Uh, sister, what realm are you actually at?” Zhanyue asked very curiously.

“Wonderful Law Realm,” the illumination Goddess didn’t avoid answering.

“Wonderful Law Realm? I’ve never heard of it,” Zhanyue was a bit speechless.

“Don’t aim too high. Practice well for me. By tomorrow at the latest, I want to see you ‘dance fire in the forest without burning a single leaf’. You’re personally taught by me, don’t embarrass me,” the illumination Goddess became extremely strict when it came to cultivation.

“Alright, alright, I’ll practice hard,” Zhanyue once again condensed fire into a sword and walked into the bamboo forest. He couldn’t be said to be not diligent.

In Sun City, Cheng Lu was arranging for his subordinate soldiers to change shifts when he received a special letter.

After reading the letter, Cheng Lu’s face was full of wild joy, but then he suppressed his emotions and burned the letter without showing any expression. “I knew you wouldn’t die so easily. Don’t worry, I won’t reveal to anyone that you’re still alive.”

“Bring that family of three here,” Cheng Lu ordered. Soon after, he saw the little girl mentioned in the letter.

“Little girl, look at these weapons. Try to cut them,” Cheng Lu looked kindly and friendly at Meng Xiao Die, pointing to a row of weapons nearby.

Meng Xiao Die still had those strange red eyes. With just a glance, all the metal weapons in the row were cut, the cuts clean. These days, she had become more adept at using her ability.

Cheng Lu drew in a sharp breath, his palms sweating. This was truly an ability that could kill with just a glance. Knowing the importance of the matter, he immediately arranged for the three to stay, while he hurriedly went to the City Lord’s mansion. Everyone only knew that three days later, the red giant dragon familiar to everyone in Sun City descended from the sky again.