Zhang Fei - The Abandoned Son

Chapter 529: Alchemy Feature

Zhang Lingxue began by cutting the stalk of one of the herbs until only the stem was left, and for the second herb, she only took the youngest part. She then proceeded with the third herb, cutting and cleaning the roots until they were completely clean. For the final two herbs, she simply cleaned them without making any changes.

”Do you understand?” Zhang Fei nodded at her, and Zhang Lingxue started heating her alchemy furnace using her fire qi. ”To process herbs, each one requires a different method. Some herbs must be processed on shallow heat; some require medium heat, but some require high heat.

Since your control of the fire element is perfect, Iʼm sure you wonʼt have any difficulty doing it, but you must remain fully concentrated in processing each ingredient.”

Zhang Lingxue then started to process the herbs one by one while explaining to her husband the detailed process, and Zhang Fei only asked if he didnʼt understand the process. Given that the pill was the most basic, it took her only ten minutes to concoct it. She immediately opened her furnace and took out two white pills from it.

Zhang Fei immediately picked up one of the pills and looked at it seriously. ”Lingxue, Iʼve never asked you before because I wasnʼt interested in alchemy to begin with, but what is your alchemist rank? What about pill ranks?”

”Haha.” Zhang Lingxue laughed at that. ”Feiʼer, these two pills are only intermediate grade, and their grade cannot be higher, especially since they are both rank-1 pills. Anyway, there are 10 ranks in alchemy: apprentice, master, grandmaster, king, emperor, ancestor, saint, venerable, celestial, and God. According to Big Sis Yao, my alchemist rank is the king rank, while hers is the sovereign rank.

Pill ranks consist of ten ranks, and each rank has five different grades: normal, intermediate, advanced, superior, and god.”

”Hmm?” Zhang Fei looked at Zhang Lingxue and raised his eyebrows, especially since the pills in the system shop only had four grades: normal, intermediate, advanced, and superior. ”God grade pill? What kind of pill is that?”

Zhang Lingxue shakes her head in response. ”Iʼve never seen a god-grade pill myself, and Iʼve only heard about it from Big Sis Yao, but Iʼm sure sheʼs not lying to me. Moreover, she came from the upper realms, and the alchemy there is much more advanced than the lower or middle realms.

Anyway, she told me that there are only two alchemists who can concoct god-grade pills there, and they refer to them as Alchemy God and Goddess, especially since they are the only alchemists who have reached god-rank.”

”Eh? Only two people have reached the god-rank alchemy level?” Zhang Fei asked in surprise.

”Yes.” Zhang Lingxue replied with a nod. ”Tian Shuixiang is the alchemy god, and Lin Jingxia is the alchemy goddess, both of whom reside in the Void Heaven Realm.”

”Yes.” Zhang Lingxue replied with a nod. ”Tian Shuixiang is the alchemy god, and Lin Jingxia is the alchemy goddess, both of whom reside in the Void Heaven Realm. To be honest, Iʼve always been curious about how you manage to possess so many superior-grade pills, despite your lack of understanding of alchemy and your inability to concoct any.

Besides, your two beauty pills also have such amazing effects, and Big Sis Yao told me that the two god-rank alchemists canʼt concoct such pills. However, I realize that you still donʼt want to reveal them to me, so I wonʼt ask anything, and you can try concocting the pill I concocted earlier. Once you successfully concoct it, then you will officially become an apprentice alchemist.”

After listening to Zhang Lingxue, Zhang Fei felt a deep sigh in his heart. He wanted to reveal the system with his other wives, but he decided to keep it a secret for safetyʼs sake. After all, cultivation is full of mysteries and techniques, including mind-reading.

Zhang Fei did not say anything and began to process the herbs according to Zhang Lingxueʼs previous instructions. Although he had never done alchemy before, he had a strong memory, and his comprehension of learning new things was much higher than that of other cultivators. This, coupled with the comprehension feature of the training space, made it easy for him to follow her instructions.

A few minutes later, Zhang Fei started heating the furnace, causing Zhang Lingxue to nod repeatedly with a faint smile on her face. ʼAs always, his ability to learn new things truly makes people jealous; even I myself am jealous of him. I am truly fortunate to have met him and become his wife, and all his secrets can help me become a better alchemist.

However, he will definitely surpass me, and he might be able to reach the god-rank alchemist like those two in the future.ʼ

Since it was Zhang Feiʼs first time concocting pills and he was still unfamiliar with the process, he proceeded with extreme caution. Even so, he was able to complete his first alchemy in twenty minutes, and Zhang Lingxue immediately opened the furnace to see the results.

===

[Ding]

[Alchemy feature has been unlocked.]

[New features and items are available.]

===

[Ding]

[Hidden Quest: Become an alchemist.]

[Status: Done.]

[Reward: Alchemy gift pact x1 sent to the inventory.]

===

Zhang Fei was not surprised by the appearance of the two notifications. ʼAs expected! I can only unlock the alchemy feature by becoming an alchemist! This way, I also have to become a blacksmith to unlock the blacksmith feature!ʼ

Zhang Lingxue immediately took the two pills and nodded in satisfaction. ”These two pills are indeed rank-1, but not all novice alchemists can concoct them right away, and most of them will fail on their first try. In fact, when Big Sis Yao taught me how to concoct these pills, I failed five times. However, you were able to concoct them perfectly in a single attempt, proving your talent in alchemy.

This way, you have officially become an apprentice alchemist, and the rank of alchemist is determined by the maximum rank of the pill we can concoct.”

”Haha.” Zhang Fei laughed, moved the furnace aside, and pulled Zhang Lingxue into his lap. ”I have a great alchemy teacher, so itʼs natural that I succeeded in concocting it in one try, right?”

Zhang Lingxue shook her head and put her arms around Zhang Feiʼs neck. ”Iʼve taught many disciples in the Blazing Phoenix Sect, remember? None of them managed to concoct these pills in one try, so my ability as a teacher is only so-so, and you were able to do it because of your own talent.

Anyway, you can send me out, but Iʼll leave a lot of ingredients for you, so you can concoct as many pills as possible until you have no trouble at all concocting them. Once you become proficient at concocting these pills, I will teach you how to concoct rank-2 pills.”

After Zhang Lingxue took out several batches of ingredients, Zhang Fei immediately sent her out of his training space. After that, he spent several hours finishing all the ingredients, and his speed at concocting them increased with each batch.

Although Zhang Fei was originally not interested in alchemy, he became more interested in it with each batch, and it only took him five minutes to concoct the pill using the last batch of ingredients. After he finished all the ingredients, he immediately stored those pills in the systemʼs inventory. ʼMei, open the gift pack.ʼ

[You obtained Heaven Creation Furnace x1. Grade: Divine.]

[You obtained Divine Alchemy Method x1. Grade: Divine.]

ʼHmm? This is the first time the system has given me divine grade items, not just one but two at once.ʼ Zhang Fei immediately read the description of both of them, starting with the Heaven Creation Furnace.

[Heaven Creation Furnace: This furnace can not only be used for alchemy, but it can also be used as a weapon and defense, and its size can be adjusted according to the ownerʼs wishes. In addition, this furnace also has two other functions. First, it cuts the time required to concoct pills. Second, it increases the quality of pills by one rank.]

Zhang Fei was completely shocked after reading the two effects of the Heaven Creation Furnace, and he felt that both effects were too overpowered. Although he was still an apprentice alchemist, he knew that the higher the rank of the pill, the longer it would take to concoct it. If the furnace could cut the time by half, then he could concoct more pills faster.

The higher the pill rank, the harder it was to produce the highest grade, and the furnace could improve his results by one rank. ʼHey, Mei! This furnace is truly a sacred treasure! If I concoct an advanced-grade pill, it will turn into superior-grade. If I concoct a superior-grade pill, will it also turn into a god-grade?ʼ

[I donʼt think so, Master. If god-grade pills were so easy to concoct, Iʼm sure the system would have already given you ones. However, the highest pill in the system shop is only superior-grade, so the furnace effect will not exceed that grade.]

ʼYeah, youʼre right. Even so, this furnace is still too precious, so I canʼt use it carelessly, and I will only use it inside this training space.

Otherwise, I will only invite trouble if I use it outside, and people will definitely try to snatch it from me.ʼ After Zhang Fei dripped his blood into the furnace, he immediately stored it into the system inventory, especially since it was the safest place compared to his storage ring.

[Divine Alchemy Method: This technique has three sub-techniques. Concocting simulation technique: the alchemist to use their mind and alchemical knowledge to simulate whatʼs going to happen when concocting pills, increasing the probability of the concoction, and most useful when concocting a specific type of pill for the first time.

Repeating simulation technique: the alchemist can simulate how to concoct a certain type of pill before actually concocting it. Combining simulation technique: the alchemist can simulate several concoctions simultaneously and fuse them together to find the most probable mistake to correct it.]

After reading the description of the alchemy method, Zhang Fei nodded in satisfaction. That way, he only needed to simulate everything in his mind first, so he could save ingredients in concocting pills, especially when he was concocting complicated pills. Additionally, he could repeat the concoction until he achieved perfect results, allowing him to create it in just one attempt.

ʼAnyway, what about the alchemy shop, Mei?ʼ

[The alchemy shop only sells alchemy recipes, but not all of them are open yet, and we have to wait for the shop to upgrade to level 2. Most of them are recipes for all the pills available in the pill shop, but there are three new recipes that should be useful to you, master.]

ʼBuy them, Mei.ʼ

[Yes.]

{You got Five Elemental Pill Recipe x1}

{You got One Star Yang Pill Recipe x1}

{You got Golden Ointment Recipe x1}

{1,500,000 Red Jewels has been deducted from your balance.}

Zhang Fei immediately read about the benefits of the three pills. The one-star Yang Pill could increase the amount of his Yang Qi by 20% for one hour, and it had no usage restrictions, so it would be very useful to help all his wives and partners. The Five Elemental Pill was more useful in battle, especially since it would increase the power of the five basic elements for one hour.

As for the Golden Ointment Recipe, it was more useful for healing wounds, especially external wounds.

[Unfortunately, master, there is no ingredient shop in the system, so you have to go to Lian Jinshu to buy them. You can use the One-Star Yang Pill every time you dual cultivate with your wives, so you donʼt need to use the harem sharing to help them too often.]

Zhang Fei nodded in agreement with Mei, especially since the amount of Qi he needed kept increasing every time he broke through, so he could focus on his cultivation and help his wives if he used the pill. ʼAll right; Iʼll see Lian Jinshu again in two days, and Iʼll buy all the ingredients to make all three.ʼ

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When Zhang Fei came out of the training space, everyone had already returned to their residences, but their appearances were in disarray, especially his wives from Earth and the other Earthlings.

As soon as she saw Zhang Fei, Xu Lingʼer immediately jumped into his arms as usual. ”Big brother! I killed some beasts just now, but Aunt Yuan and Aunt Xuan forbade me from approaching those big beasts, and they deliberately found small beasts to be my opponents.”

”Haha.” Zhang Fei laughed when he heard that. ”Lingʼer, your cultivation has indeed reached the core realm, but you are still a child now. There is no way you can face those big beasts, so their decision to find small beasts to be your opponents is right.”

Xu Lingʼer nodded to Zhang Fei. ”I will fight those beasts again tomorrow, so I will be a good fighter when I grow up, and I can help you beat up those bad guys.”

Actually, Zhang Fei did not want his wives from Earth to fight with the other cultivators, let alone kill them. However, they were cultivators, and the harshness of life in the cultivation world, compared to life on Earth, meant that such events were inevitable in their lives.

”All right, you can help me fight them, but you have to grow up first, and you have to continue to improve your fighting skills under the guidance of Wen Xuan and Wen Yuan.”

”Yes!” Xu Lingʼer replied with repeated nods. ”I will definitely train very hard, and I will become a female assassin like the two of them when I grow up.”

Zhang Fei laughed bitterly in his heart, especially since he himself had never been interested in being an assassin, and he killed those people just to protect them. He then distributed recovery pills to them so their condition could recover quickly. ”How do you guys feel?”

”Iʼm dead tired!” Ru Xue was the first to answer. ”I used to be a doctor and saved peopleʼs lives, but Iʼve killed a lot of beasts in the past few days, and Iʼm still not used to it, so I often feel nauseous from their blood.”

Zhong Yan then said. ”Like Xue, Iʼm also not used to it, but I have no other choice because I want to be strong like Sister Hua and the others, so you wonʼt keep worrying about my safety if I can protect myself.”

”Me too, son.” Qing Yi said while catching her breath. ”I also donʼt want to continue to burden you, so I have to be able to protect myself.”

As she panted heavily, Tang Ziyu also answered Zhang Fei. ”Hah... Hah... Even though Iʼve been practicing using the battle simulation feature, actual combat is completely different, so I still have to constantly adapt myself to the situation.”

Unlike them, Zhang Yue looked more relaxed, but her face also looked pale. After all, her heart was too kind, and she had never killed an animal before, but she had killed so many beasts in a few days.

”Itʼs okay; you all will get used to the situation soon.” After that, Zhang Fei lifted them all up using aura, and he brought them to the bathing pool behind their residence, so they could cleanse their bodies. He also asked all his wives from the Sky Jade Realm to join them, as he wanted to discuss certain matters with them.

After all of them entered the bathing pool, Zhang Fei immediately used his fire qi to heat the water inside so that their fatigue could quickly disappear. Usually, he did not allow Xu Lingʼer to join them, especially since he would have fun with them while bathing, but he did not want to do anything with them now that they were so exhausted.

- To Be Continued -