CHAPTER 16: LEARNING ALCHEMY

" If you want to lie, at least lie properly" Jia reprimanded the system with a contemptuous expression.

"How many days have I used here," She asked the system.

[3] It answered curtly.

She widened her eyes.

[I'm going to have a system upgrade soon] The system said.

"Take all the time you need. I don't care" Jia said coldly to the system.

She continued moving in the ruin steadily.

" Uh, No quests or anything. I can't keep moving in this place" Jia said realizing she needed the system's help.

She shrugged and moved on.

As she moved, she didn't notice when she stepped into a mini trap door.

CRASH!

She came crashing down several flights of stairs.

"What happened "Jia asked dazed.

She brushed the dust off her face so she could see clearly.

It was a courtyard designed with white jade. There was a streak of sunlight shining through, Illuminating the place.

" How is this place... different? "Jia said confused. She stood up slowly and decided to explore the place.

" This looks like a fallen city," Jia said to the system.

[It is]The system replied coldly

A statue of a lion with its mouth wide open was intricately designed and carved with jade. It looked alive.

Another statue was that of a fairy was there too. The fairy had eyes curved into slits with a wicked smile.

As she moved further, there was a dilapidated mausoleum before the palace. Things were strewn across the mausoleum in a very hasty manner.

"Looks like they were running from something or someone, "Jia said looking around.

The real palace was right ahead. It was a huge structure that was bigger than the pyramids. The palace was inlaid with gold, jade, sapphire, and ruby.

All these made everything shiny.

Some parts of the palace had collapsed.

As she entered, she was greeted by splendor and elegance.

"So, what happened here and how did this place get underground," Jia thought aloud.

She saw some bones scattered across the floor which were dyed in blood.

She saw a crown with some inscriptions on it.

"King of Treyan kingdom," she said reading the inscriptions.

She took some pictures with her linker.

"Hey, A kingdom is this beautiful. But the empires we have now are not half as cool as this" Jia thought with a scowl.

She gathered all the bones in the surrounding areas that she was in and set fire to them.

The throne room was empty except for the crown there. She entered some other places, but they were empty as well.

"I fell into the wrong place," Jia thought, returning to where she had crashed.

The door refused to open up. So, she summoned the Buddha's sword body which was golden colored.

Its height alone tore open the door and it carried her out.

"This feels like landmines" She muttered under her breath.

'System, what kind of ruin is this' Jia asked the system.

[Low-level ruin]The system answered

"Seems right that there's barely anything useful here" Jia complained.

[.....]

She sat down in a place that she cleared and brought out the alchemy materials.

"Hmmm. Let's make a .... healing pill" Jia said looking at the book she got from entering the ruin.

"So, we need this, just this, "Jia said with a smirk like it was no big deal.

She used her fire to heat the materials to extract their essence. Using qi, she synthesized their energies together. The pill was done.

At least she thought it was.

Opening her eyes, she saw a red pill.

" According to the book, it's supposed to be green, "Jia said, blinking several times.

[Ding! progress in the path of alchemy;0.1%] The system announced.

FIVE TRIALS LATER

" It looks blue?! "Jia mumbled confusedly.

" Red, orange, pink, purple, yellow, now blue?! "Jia said looking at the six 'pills ' she had made.

[Ding! Progress in the path of alchemy;0.5%] The system announced.

She snapped the pills in pieces and threw them away. The snapped pieces were blown away by the wind.

"How is a lightning body to be cultivated "Jia asked the system.

[Let yourself continually get struck by lightning] The system answered

" Oh please, "Jia said closing her eyes to practice gravity law.

After practicing for some unknown number of hours, Jia stops.

" Hunting time, "she said excitedly rushing into the middle of the ruin.

She finds a nearby river but no fish in it.

She continues and finds a wild pig.

"Pig in the middle of a ruin," Jia says stalking it.

[Host, That's a wild boar.] The system corrected.

" I need a bow and arrow these days. "Jia said wondering how to catch it.

Jia decided to take a fast approach to it. She decided to stalk the boar.

She caught it and dragged it to where she was before.