Chapter 10 Selection 2
Seeing the other party pointing and gesturing, the youth's brows subtly furrowed, and a flash of displeasure surfaced on his forehead. He immediately reached out to take back the medicine bottle.
The middle-aged cultivator's expression flickered slightly, but he quickly withdrew his hand and then spoke:
"The quality of your medicine pills might not be considered top-notch, but they are fairly good. It's not easy for a youngster like you to come out and sell medicine pills. How about this, I am willing to buy this bottle of Spirit Enhancing Pills from you for a price a hundred Spirit Stones higher than that of a common low-grade Spirit Pill."
What a talent, Yang Ji saw from the middle-aged cultivator's head a clear display of surprise and greed "These high-quality low-grade Spirit Pills with such few impurities are rare; I must find a way to get them," yet he was verbally offering insincere words.
An ordinary child would have been flustered by his bluffs, but the youth in front of him was obviously no ordinary youngster, as could be seen from his composed and smooth response without raising any fuss.
"My master has said that this bottle of Spirit Enhancing Pills is to be sold for five hundred Spirit Stones, non-negotiable. I also dare not take the liberty to change the price, lest I be punished by the old man when I return, I'm truly sorry."
The youth scratched his head with an expression of difficulty.
Little did he know, within Yang Ji's gaze, his subtle changes in demeanor were clearly displayed from above his head "Humph, do you really think I'm a kid? This is a medicine pill personally refined by my master; how can you take it for just three hundred Spirit Stones? If it were any other time, you wouldn't even have the chance to buy it. If you want cheap, go consume those lower-quality pills full of impurities, huh, beware of the pill poison accumulating inside your body and poisoning you to death."
With that, he extended his palm, ready to take back the medicine bottle.
The middle-aged cultivator showed hesitation, and above his head appeared "Hesitation," "Buy?" and "But with these five hundred Spirit Stones, I could buy two bottles of ordinary low-grade Spirit Pills. Although this bottle of Spirit Enhancing Pills contains more refined Spiritual Energy, which can speed up cultivation, it's only one bottle and far less than the amount of Spiritual Energy provided by two bottles of ordinary low-grade Spirit Pills. It's not worth it, not worth it."
After an internal struggle, the middle-aged cultivator frowned and a hint of unusual light flashed in his eyes, he said, "Do you only have this one bottle of Spirit Enhancing Pills? If you could bring out another bottle, I'd buy them both."
"I only have this one bottle, are you buying it or not?" the youth responded.
The middle-aged cultivator stared into the youth's innocent eyes for a while, and seeing that he did not seem to be lying, reluctantly handed the medicine bottle back to him.
"Let me take a look at the medicine pill!" At this moment, Yang Ji said with a smile.
"Sure, friend, here!" The youth, seeing the first person who had come to inquire at his stall, happily passed the medicine bottle over.
Yang Ji took the medicine bottle, scanned it at a glance, and saw the information displayed "Spirit Enhancing Pill, low-grade Spirit Pill, high-quality, contains very few impurities, safe to refine and absorb without fear of leaving pill poison inside your body."
He had consumed Spirit Enhancing Pills before; the ones his cheap master had given him were mainly Spirit Enhancing Pills and Cultivation Pills.
But those were lower quality low-grade Spirit Pills, with a lot of impurities, significantly inferior in quality compared to the Spirit Enhancing Pills in front of him.
Whether it be the color, the form of the pills, or the fragrance they emanated, none could compare.
Looking at these plump, round, and translucent medicine pills, Yang Ji smiled and said, "The medicine pills have been well refined, indeed they are high-quality low-grade Spirit Pills, with only a trace of impurities remaining. I think these five hundred Spirit Stones are quite worth it."
"Friend, you have good eyesight. My master is none other than He Gu, the Alchemy Master. The medicine pills from his hands are naturally extraordinary." Hearing such praise, the youth responded with a smile that opened between his brows, his eyes revealing a trace of pride.
What?
He Gu, the Alchemy Master?
Upon hearing this, the crowd immediately became more respectful, and one after another they said, "Is the He Gu Alchemy Master the youth refers to the chief alchemist of the Mo Family Shop?"
"Exactly!" the youth said, not without pride.
"He Gu, the Alchemy Master being able to refine high-quality low-grade Spirit Pills, doesn't that mean his alchemy skills have reached an even higher level, advancing to a Peak Alchemy Master, and he is just one step away from becoming an Alchemy Master?"
An Alchemy Master?
Yang Ji was somewhat moved.
Alchemy, as a profession, although profitable, is actually very difficult to achieve success in.
To refine medicine pills, the most important four conditions are materials, fire source, control, and alchemy experience.
The materials, of course, are various Spiritual Medicines; alchemists are not gods, and without Spiritual Medicines, they too can't make bricks without straw.
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To become an Alchemist, the initial stage demanded a vast amount of Spiritual Medicines for trial and error and practice. Just this luxurious step stumped ninety percent of Cultivators.
Secondly, a fire source—a vital flame required for crafting Medicine Pills.
Generally, there are two types of fire, one is the flame produced by one's own fire-attribute techniques, the other is the Heaven and Earth Spirit Fire born within the world.
The latter is hard to find yet is the superior choice for crafting Medicine Pills.
Not only will the success rate of Alchemy be much higher, but the Medicine Pills crafted with the Spirit Fire are also better than those produced with technique-induced flames.
The potency is stronger, purer, with fewer impurities.
Producing a batch of Medicine Pills is a lengthy process, taking three to five days for a single batch. If one only uses technique-induced flames, they'll run out of steam and fail to produce pills.
Even if one can sustain it, technique-induced flames still fall far short of Heaven and Earth Spirit Fire.
It's not that the flames aren't fierce enough, but they lack Spiritual Charm—the innate spiritual energy bestowed upon Spiritual Fire that is the fundamental reason for increasing the pill formation rate.
Spiritual Medicines can only fully melt and retain their medicinal strength within Spiritual Fire, allowing for the maximum elimination of impurities, something ordinary flames cannot match.
With Spiritual Fire, one can go further on the path of Alchemy.
Additionally, two more things are necessary for Alchemy—experience and control.
When conducting Alchemy, controlling the heat is of utmost importance.
Sometimes, just a bit too much heat can turn an entire batch of Medicine Pills into ash, so controlling the temperature is a crucial skill Alchemists must master.
As for Alchemy experience, there's no need for an extensive explanation; it simply requires a guiding master or books recording various Alchemy experiences.
Under such stringent conditions, very few qualify to become Alchemy Masters.
With so few Alchemy Masters, those supreme Medicine Pills with minimal impurities are naturally scarce.
Due to their rarity, Alchemy Masters possess an esteemed status and identity that is somewhat distortedly revered.
Looking at the entire Thousand-Islands Sea Area, there are not a few junior Alchemists capable of crafting lower-grade inferior Spirit Pills.
However, there are only over five thousand Peak Alchemy Masters who can craft higher-grade inferior Spirit Pills.
Even fewer are the Alchemy Masters who can craft mid-grade Spirit Pills, barely more than a thousand.
As for Alchemy Grandmasters capable of crafting high-grade Spirit Pills, there are merely over a hundred of them.
And regarding the ability to craft Treasure Pills, within this Thousand-Islands Sea Area, there are only a mere three Alchemy Grandmasters of such calibre.
From this, one can see the difficulty of the alchemical path; seeking achievement in it is indeed immensely challenging.
Compared with that, encountering a bottle of Medicine Pills today, personally crafted by a Peak Alchemy Master, emphasizes its preciousness all the more.
No wonder the young man said that usually, you wouldn't even be able to get your hands on them.
Yang Ji instantly understood the meaning of his words.
If there weren't significant benefits involved, a Peak Alchemy Master would never easily make a move.
Everyone's minds were as clear as mirrors; it seemed that He Gu had been promoted from an advanced Alchemist to a Peak Alchemy Master, letting his disciple display the achievement indirectly.
The reason there was only one bottle might be that they had just successfully crafted this one and couldn't wait to show it off.
At this moment, He Gu might be somewhere, watching this scene with pride.
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