At this moment, the sunlight outside the house was just right. Lou Xingyao opened the door and felt the warmth of the golden sunlight shining on his body.
In the middle of the courtyard, Wen Hanshan was still practicing his sword swing as usual.
Obviously, everything was a familiar scene but Lou Xingyao had a strange feeling of reunion after a long absence.
Just when he was puzzled by this sudden emotion, he saw Wen Hanshan’s action of pulling his sword and sheathing it.
The next moment, Wen Hanshan had already walked in front of Lou Xingyao. “You came out?”
“Have I been studying in my room for a long time?” A trace of doubt crossed Lou Xingyao’s heart.
“It has been less than three months, not too long.” Wen Hanshan obviously expected this, and his tone was plain.
On the contrary, a trace of astonishment appeared on Lou Xingyao’s face.
He thought it was just a few days at most. Who knew it would be three months?
It was no wonder he was tired when he first got up, and that he felt so strange when he opened the door.
Then he thought about the mountains of fasting pills in the space, and felt that it wasn’t strange.
Even if it was calculated according to the situation of a furnace full of pills, more than 2,000 fasting pills must be more than 200 furnaces. No wonder it was so costly.
“It looks like you were rewarded?” Obviously, from Lou Xingyao’s reaction, Wen Hanshan already had an answer.
Not only was it rewarding, but it was also a big gain.
Sure enough, the next moment, he saw Lou Xingyao take out a few jade bottles, hand them to him and look at him with a smile. “Brother Wen, please take a look.”
Wen Hanshan raised his hand to take it. After a bit of probing, he took a thorough look at the items inside. “Fasting pills?”
“Yes. Brother Wen, look at it again!” Lou Xingyao smiled and nodded, motioning to Wen Hanshan to look at the other small jade bottles.
Wen Hanshan looked at them one by one. He found that the four small jade bottles were all fasting pills.
Originally, he was still puzzled by Lou Xingyao’s behavior. Then after seeing the other person’s smiling eyes, he seemed to think of something and carefully tested the fasting pills in his hand again.
Sure enough, he quickly discovered the difference. He pinched one of the jade bottles and asked with a bit of surprise, “This is the best-grade fasting pill?”
“Brother Wen really has good eyesight.” The smile in Lou Xingyao’s eyes deepened a bit, and he gave an affirmative answer.
He didn’t know that his answer immediately caused a lot of ripples in Wen Hanshan’s heart, who had always been calm.
Prior to this, Wen Hanshan only knew that Lou Xingyao was interested in alchemy.
Every time he went out, he was always willing to look at these spiritual plants a few more times.
Even in the matter of planting, he was willing to spend more energy on the black soil in the courtyard where spiritual plants were planted.
He also thought that the other person’s wood and fire spiritual roots were indeed very compatible with alchemy, so he found a lot of books and materials for them on the black market.
Before this, Wen Hanshan didn’t have much hope.
The Zhou family had provided for many alchemists, so no one knew the difficulty of entering this path better than him.
Even his former cousins, the young masters and ladies of the Zhou family who wanted to learn a bit of knowledge from the alchemists supported by the clan, needed to go through layers of tests and selections.
Nevertheless, among the people who passed through layers of tests and selections, there was only one in ten who could successfully refine a pill.
This was still under the condition of an alchemist’s careful teaching.
How easy was it to get started without the guidance of a predecessor and only relying on a few materials?
Now Lou Xingyao had done it, and listening to his tone, this best-grade fasting pill didn’t seem to be difficult for him.
Looking at Lou Xingyao’s current appearance, he didn’t seem to know what this meant at all.
Lou Xingyao really didn’t know what this meant. Since Wen Hanshan saw through the matter of the best-grade fasting pill, so the desire to share could no longer be controlled. He directly rambled on.
“I have obtained some best-grade fasting pills these days, and I will give some to Brother Wen first. If you spend a long time in seclusion in the future, this can solve Brother Wen’s urgency.”
Of course, he knew that Wen Hanshan also had a lot of fasting pills in his hands. However, Lou Xingyao was already able to refine the best-grade fasting pills at this moment. He naturally looked down on the middle or even top-grade fasting pills.
Speaking of this, Lou Xingyao couldn’t help feeling a bit regretful. “It is a pity that there aren’t many best-grade fasting pills obtained this time. Otherwise, I could still sell some and gain a lot of income.”
Don’t look at the nearly 200 best-grade fasting pills as a lot. If it was divided with another person, each person could have less than 100 pills at most.
The consumption of fasting pills by cultivators during the qi condensation wasn’t small. They always needed to prepare some for when practicing and staying in seclusion.
One hundred pills was barely enough for the two of them to use when training. It was a bit difficult to exchange it for some money now.
Just as Lou Xingyao was thinking about adjusting the arrangement of spiritual plants planted in the space, he heard a sharp warning from Wen Hanshan.
“No!”
The seriousness of his tone could even be compared to when he warned Lou Xingyao that cultivation wasn’t child’s play before treating the meridians.
“What?” The relationship between the two of them had long been different from what it used to be, but Lou Xingyao was still taken aback by this attitude.
“Do you know what the best-grade pill means?” Wen Hanshan’s expression didn’t ease in the slightest.
“Is there something wrong with this?” Lou Xingyao blinked.
Seeing the blank expression on the face of the person in front of him, Wen Hanshan knew that he really didn’t know.
It wasn’t surprising when thinking of the ignorance that the other person often showed about the affairs of cultivators.
It was just that the other person had an inheritance and knew a lot of things that others didn’t know, so Wen Hanshan ignored this.
He informed Lou Xingyao about the specific reason for this matter. “Do you know that the Zhou family has two third-grade alchemists working for the family?”
“Yes.” Lou Xingyao nodded. He had indeed heard of this.
In order to hire these two third-grade alchemists, the Zhou family spent a large amount of money every year. At the same time, they also promised to set aside two fixed rooms for the alchemists to use at any time in the earth fire cultivation room. This allowed the two sides to reach a cooperation.
But what did this have to do with the best-grade fasting pills?
“Then do you know that even the two third-grade alchemists in the Zhou family still find it difficult to refine the best-grade pills?” The moment doubts arose in Lou Xingyao’s heart, Wen Hanshan had already asked another question.
After a pause, Wen Hanshan didn’t forget to add, “Even if it is just a first-grade fasting pill.”
“What?” A hint of surprise appeared on Lou Xingyao’s face. There was even disbelief in his eyes.
“Otherwise, why do you think there are never best-grade pills on the market?” Wen Hanshan asked again.
“Isn’t it because the alchemist wants to keep it for themselves?” It was just like him. The first thing he thought about was to share the best-grade pills with Wen Hanshan and to keep it.
“If you want to keep it for yourself, you have to be able to refine it.” As he spoke, Wen Hanshan described the general level of the two alchemists working in the Zhou family to Lou Xingyao.
The two third-grade alchemists in the Zhou family often consumed three batches of spiritual plants before successfully refining a furnace of pills.
Even so, it was rare to see top-grade, let alone best-grade. Most of them were middle or low-grade.
Alchemists would indeed keep the better quality pills for themselves, so there were few high-quality pills on the market.
“As far as I know, the only two best-grade rejuvenation pills in the hands of the head of the Zhou family today were accidentally refined by these two alchemists four years ago.” Speaking of this, Wen Hanshan didn’t forget to add, “The Zhou family has always been generous to the cultivators working in the clan, so the requirements are higher than those of ordinary families.”
Let’s not talk about the large amount of money and spiritual plants that were usually available to the other person. Just talking about the earth fire cultivation room was enough to make many alchemists rush to it.
The Zhou family was one of the best families in Canglan City. They paid such a huge price, so they naturally refused to accept crooked melons.
Even the two third-grade alchemists currently in the clan were already the best of those among the same level.
Nevertheless, the results were often unsatisfactory when refining pills, not to mention the other alchemists on the continent.
It had to be said that Wen Hanshan’s words really subverted Lou Xingyao’s cognition.
Lou Xingyao’s understanding of the success rate of alchemists came from the original novel.
In the original novel, there was also an alchemist in Ye Hantian’s harem.
Ye Hantian was very fond of this alchemist heroine, so the original novel spent a lot of pen and ink describing this heroine.
In addition to mentioning the other person’s background and qualifications, the heroine’s standard configuration was also described, which meant her talent in alchemy was described.
In the description of the original novel, this heroine was able to easily refine low-grade pills.
Not only could she achieve a furnace full of pills, but she could achieve it to the extent that all nine pills were best-grade pills.
There was this example in front, so Lou Xingyao naturally worked hard according to the achievements described in the novel.
Who knew that the true level of alchemists on the Tianming Continent would be so different according to Wen Hanshan?
At this moment, Wen Hanshan finally realized that something was wrong and pinched the small jade bottle containing the fasting pills in his hand. “How many spiritual plants did you consume on these pills?”
“…I haven’t done the math.” Lou Xingyao shook his head. He wasn’t intentionally concealing it. He really hadn’t figured it out.
But he understood what Wen Hanshan wanted to know, so he added, “In the beginning, I wasn’t very skilled, and the success rate was slightly lower. I could always refine a furnace after five or six batches of spiritual plants. Later, I became proficient and was able to stop wasting the spiritual plants.”
The success rate of one furnace in five or six batches of spiritual plants was actually called low!
Wen Hanshan was taken aback by the hidden meaning in Lou Xingyao’s words.
This was especially the case when he realized that Lou Xingyao was able to achieve a 100% success rate. The surprise on his face could no longer be suppressed.
How much talent did it take to get to this point with just a few basic books?
It had to be said that Wen Hanshan’s reaction at this moment made Lou Xingyao feel a trace of irrepressible joy in his heart.
Since the two met, Wen Hanshan had always been much stronger than him.
The other person had always been like a lighthouse to light his way. Lou Xingyao was also very glad that he could walk with such a person who was very strong in all aspects.
But occasionally, Lou Xingyao also felt a trace of frustration in his heart.
Obviously, the two of them were the same age, but Wen Hanshan had always been like the moon in the sky or the pearl at the bottom of the sea for him. There was an unattainable sense of alienation.
Lou Xingyao didn’t know how to describe the loss in his heart, but he knew that he didn’t like it.
Therefore, when he was practicing, he worked harder and harder. His purpose was just to get closer to the other person.
But Lou Xingyao had explored the meridians and dantian of Wen Hanshan and knew that the gap between him and the other party was more than just a chasm.
It wasn’t an exaggeration to say that it was like the difference between heaven and earth.
Even if he tried to catch up, it was difficult to touch the shadow left by the other party.
Lou Xingyao originally thought that he might never be able to move side by side with the other party, but he found that things didn’t seem to be as hopeless as he imagined.
At least due to the pills, he still had the opportunity to move forward bravely and provide assistance to the other person.
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