All Things Are Contracts

Chapter 71: Fourth-Grade Alchemist

Baizhi sat alone in the room, a small bronze furnace before her, fragrant scents permeating the air. She was refining pills when suddenly, black smoke burst from the furnace.

A look of frustration appeared on her pretty face. She had actually failed at pill refining. She rarely, if ever, failed with fourth-grade pills. Somehow, she couldn’t calm her heart.

“I’m done refining,” Baizhi said, sulking. She put on her bamboo hat, deciding to go out for some air. She couldn’t help thinking how much better it would be if her strength was greater.

As soon as she opened the door, a familiar figure appeared before her. After all, it was the same style of bamboo hat and black veil.

“You… you’re back,” Baizhi’s eyes were full of joy and a hint of resentment. The weight in her heart finally lifted.

“I’m back. It went fairly smoothly,” Zhanyue smiled. Seeing Baizhi’s gaze on him, like a pining wife. “Hm? What’s that smell? Why is there a burnt odor?”

Zhanyue sniffed the strange scent in the room, a smell he was very familiar with. “Were you refining pills in the room? And failed?”

“No, just researching a new medicine,” Baizhi’s face reddened under her veil, quickly making an excuse.

“Really?” Zhanyue was puzzled how someone of Baizhi’s skill could fail. He didn’t know that Baizhi had been distracted with worry for him.

“You didn’t encounter any danger, did you? When are we going back in?” Baizhi walked into the room, quickly changing the subject. Failing at pill refining might be normal for others, but for her, it was too embarrassing.

“There was a bit of danger, but it’s fine now,” Zhanyue didn’t want Baizhi to worry too much, so he didn’t mention the details of the trial. Now he finally had a trump card to save his life. Even without contacting the illumination Goddess, with that armor and the Sun Divine Stone, he wasn’t afraid of ordinary Profound Beings.

“In three days, we’ll enter the Azure Sky Secret Realm again.”

Zhanyue needed time for the Sun Divine Stone to recover energy, and he also needed time to digest information and learn some pill refining knowledge. He now had ten top-grade spirit stones worth two million points. If he exchanged them, it would be a huge windfall, but he was unwilling and didn’t dare. It would easily arouse suspicion from the Ghost Shark clan. Moreover, these top-grade spirit stones could serve as energy for the Moon-Reflecting Divine Armor, used for life-saving purposes, so naturally couldn’t be easily exchanged for points. However, with the Sun Divine Stone as a rechargeable battery, the top-grade spirit stones weren’t so crucial.

“Alright, let’s rest well these few days,” Baizhi nodded. Without Zhanyue leading, entering the secret realm alone would be suicide for her.

Zhanyue brought out the Earth Mother Golden Cauldron again, first making a pot of delicious food. The two happily ate their fill, then entered the pill refining phase. With Baizhi’s step-by-step careful guidance, Zhanyue made rapid progress.

“Stupid, the temperature’s too high. Don’t use that extreme fire, use ordinary fire. That extreme fire requires more precise control, which you can’t manage yet.”

“Oh no, why did you mix the sunward flower and yin date ginseng together? It’s ruined.”

“Uh, didn’t I say last time? The earth spirit must be seven-tenths fine, with particles about sesame seed size. You forgot again. You ground it too fine; it’s already mushy once heated.”

“During the combining process, you need to continuously infuse power, like a gentle stream. Your force is too strong.”

“Yes, like that. Be careful, more careful. Oh no, it still failed.”

…

One day, two days, three days passed. A golden light flashed, and a furnace of pills was completed – fourth-grade Blood Mist Pills.

Looking at the round, full pills, Zhanyue excitedly stood up, hugging Baizhi beside him and spinning several times. Breaking through to fourth-grade alchemist meant Zhanyue had alchemy talent, a threshold many couldn’t cross in a lifetime.

Dressed in a white dress, Baizhi looked stunningly beautiful, her face full of bashful red. Suddenly hugged by Zhanyue, she didn’t know how to react, only glaring at him angrily. Zhanyue noticed her gaze and realized his impropriety, hurriedly putting her down. Baizhi was petite and delicate, arousing tender feelings. Her body was soft as if boneless, quite comfortable to hug.

“Um… I was too excited. I didn’t mean to. Do you believe me?” Zhanyue said awkwardly.

“Rogue, braggart, big liar. Do you think I’d believe you? You’ve finally shown your true colors! Hmph!” Baizhi said angrily. However, she was still shocked by Zhanyue’s talent. After three days of teaching, he had truly entered the realm of fourth-grade alchemist. Normally, refining pills, whether successful or not, consumed a lot of soul power. But Zhanyue seemed fine, refining pills non-stop for three days, which Baizhi couldn’t understand. But the final result was gratifying.

“Ah, finally succeeded,” Zhanyue sighed, examining the pill in his hand. Without Baizhi’s careful guidance, relying on his own exploration with just the pill formula, it might have taken much longer to advance. Having a pill formula and materials doesn’t necessarily mean one can refine pills. Many things might not be clearly written in the formula and need constant exploration. This accumulation of experience is the foundation of why alchemy families are family businesses.

“Little girl, consider that I owe you a favor. Let’s go, we need to hurry and play in the secret realm,” Zhanyue said.

“Hmph, don’t call me little girl. You’re only a few years older than me,” Baizhi said defiantly. In this world, Profound Beings had five hundred years of lifespan; being a few years older didn’t matter at all.

Looking at that beautiful, cute face, Zhanyue thought to himself, “This girl still lacks some life-saving methods. Let’s earn some points in the secret realm to arm her. This world ultimately respects strength. Alchemists have high status because various powerful figures keep each other in check. Otherwise, they might have been captured by ill-intentioned people to forcibly refine pills. So improving one’s strength is also essential.”

The two entered the Azure Sky Secret Realm again, once more arriving at the banks of the Heavenly Moat River.

Feng Bulang descended from the sky, once again collecting the fare, safely earning small money, unlike the cultivators on the other side risking their lives for points.

“Brother Feng, we meet again,” Zhanyue said politely. Now facing people like Feng Bulang, he felt much more confident. Wearing that armor, he was sure he could crush his opponents.

“Oh? You’re really cautious, returning after just a few days of adventure? Caution is good, it keeps you alive. You’re lucky. After this trip, I’m also going across the river to take a look. If you had come later, you might have had to swim across,” Feng Bulang smiled.

“You’re crossing too? Finally decided to take a chance?” Zhanyue asked curiously.

Feng Bulang shook his head, explaining: “You know that Golden Venomous Python’s cave, right? Many people have stayed there overnight, as it’s safe. A couple of days ago, something strange happened. The cave suddenly lit up with formation light, revealing a downward tunnel. Someone discovered the secret inside – it’s actually a trial ground. Now many people know about this and are rushing over. As long as you pass the trial, you can get some rewards. Those rewards are quite valuable, who knows how many points they can exchange for. I plan to try too. That Horse Face guy has already gone over.”

“I see,” Zhanyue sighed. After he took the ninth level’s reward, the trial ground had indeed changed, and the entrance had been discovered. He had planned to secretly go to the first to eighth level trials to see, after all, although he had taken the ultimate grand prize, each level had some small rewards. Now he abandoned this plan. With so many people, it would be troublesome if he exposed too much. He’d better continue deeper, using that spatial ring to obtain as many materials from the secret realm as possible.

More importantly, Zhanyue knew how difficult that trial was. These people could pass one or two levels at most. He wasn’t in a hurry at all. With his current strength, he couldn’t pass many levels without exposing the armor. There was no need to get involved now.

After crossing the river, Zhanyue led Baizhi to continue deeper, heading away from the trial ground.

“You’re not going to take a look? With your strength, you might have a chance,” Baizhi asked, puzzled.

“No need. Now that many people have rushed over, this is actually an opportunity. There will be fewer competitors for things deeper inside,” Zhanyue smiled, adding: “That trial isn’t interesting. I’ve already passed the ninth level and taken the ultimate prize. After eating the meat, I should leave some soup for others, right?”

Baizhi helplessly rolled her eyes at Zhanyue. Here he goes again, this man has started bragging again. This man was good in every way, except for his incorrigible habit of boasting. Although Baizhi knew Zhanyue had been busy for a day, she didn’t believe he could enter the secret realm and pass the ninth level in such a short time.

“You don’t believe me, huh? Ah, there’s no justice in this world. Even telling the truth, no one believes,” Zhanyue feigned a sigh.

“Who would believe you? You say the illumination Goddess is your master, you say the Holy Light Maiden loves you, and now you say you passed the ninth level of the secret realm in one day. Yeah, yeah, everything you say is true,” Baizhi felt Zhanyue was too shameless. Even bragging shouldn’t be this outrageous.

“What if one day, you find out I wasn’t lying?” Zhanyue grinned mischievously.

“Hm? Then I’ve wronged you, and you can do whatever you want with me,” Baizhi said instinctively, not taking it seriously.

“You said it. Whatever I want, crybaby. You wait and see, hehe,” Zhanyue’s malicious gaze fixed on Baizhi, making her heart flutter with anxiety.