48: Chidancheng

Lin Feng left the Pill Refining Room and came outside. After a month, Lin Feng felt the sunlight outside was a bit dazzling. At this time, the people outside saw Lin Feng's appearance and couldn't help but shake their heads.

Lin Feng, who had just walked out of the Pill Refining Room, had various burn holes in his clothes from Alchemy sparks, and his clothes were covered in dust. His hair was also a mess, like a chicken's nest. If Lin Feng hadn't come out of the Pill Refining Room, these Cultivators would have thought he was a beggar from somewhere.

Lin Feng saw the strange looks people gave him, took out a Bagua mirror to use as a mirror, and looked at himself. Seeing his reflection, Lin Feng's old face flushed. His once handsome face was covered in black dust. Fortunately, his face was dark enough that the passing Cultivators didn't recognize him. Lin Feng quickly ran to his dwelling and cast several Dust Cleansing Spells on himself.

At this point, Lin Feng felt much better, though his face was a bit pale. Lin Feng had expended too much mental energy these days. Not wanting to think about anything, Lin Feng immediately fell asleep and slept for a day and a night. Only after recovering his Origin Qi did Lin Feng's spirit recover.

Lin Feng sighed, thinking that Alchemy consumed too much energy. Lin Feng had originally planned to purchase Materials to refine Qi Gathering Pills after this batch of Spirit Medicine was refined and his Alchemy skills improved. However, he decided to change his mind; he would focus on Cultivation for the next month.

Over the following month, Lin Feng dedicated all his energy to Cultivation. Lin Feng did not craft Talismans, nor did he practice Body Refining. After all, his Body Refining had already reached Late Stage First Order, and it would be difficult to achieve a Breakthrough in the short term. It was better to quickly reach Qi Refining Level 9 and achieve Foundation Establishment early, which was the right path.

After a month of Cultivation, Lin Feng rested for a day, then sold most of the Medicinal Pills he had, keeping a few Pigu Pills and some Siling Pills. Siling Pills were Xiao Ying's main food, and Lin Feng intended to keep a portion.

Lin Feng went to a Spirit Medicine shop and bought Qi Gathering Pill refining Materials for five thousand Spirit Stones. These Spirit Medicine seemed expensive, but they were actually less in quantity than the one thousand Spirit Stones worth of Spirit Medicine Lin Feng used to refine Pigu Pills. This was because Qi Gathering Pills were Medicinal Pills for Qi Refining Cultivators to improve their Cultivation, and their value was incomparable to Pigu Pills.

After acquiring the Materials for refining Qi Gathering Pills, Lin Feng immediately rented a higher-grade Pill Refining Room for twenty days. This time, the cost was two hundred Spirit Stones. The reason was that higher-grade Pill Refining Rooms not only had more abundant ground fire but also more stable heat, which significantly helped in the success rate of Alchemy.

Therefore, Lin Feng chose a better Pill Refining Room, hoping to obtain a better environment and be able to refine Qi Gathering Pills sooner.

Lin Feng refined Qi Gathering Pills according to the requirements of the Qi Gathering Pill Formula, which he had diligently studied during this period. The difficulty of refining Qi Gathering Pills exceeded Lin Feng's imagination. Ten days later, Lin Feng looked dejected. These ten days had consumed two thousand Spirit Stones worth of Spirit Medicine, and not a single batch was successful.

Lin Feng even began to doubt his entries of 'Minor Talent' and 'Alchemy Mastery.' At the same time, he sighed, thinking that even with the entries' boost, he had wasted so many Spirit Stones. Even Alchemists with teachers to guide them probably spent more than him. No wonder Alchemists were so rare in the Cultivation World; ordinary people truly couldn't afford such expenses.

This Alchemy was much more difficult than Talismans crafting. No wonder Alchemists were either of Exceptional Talent or could only be cultivated by large Families. For ordinary Cultivators to become Alchemists was simply a pipe dream. What kind of Family could withstand such consumption?!

Lin Feng was haggard after these ten days. Due to continuous Alchemy failures and non-stop refining, his eyes were bloodshot, and his mental state had deteriorated significantly. After adjusting himself, Lin Feng decided to rest for a day in the Pill Refining Room.

After a good rest, Lin Feng decided to try again. Finally, after another five days of refining, with not much Materials left, Lin Feng successfully refined a batch of Qi Gathering Pills. Successfully refining a batch of Qi Gathering Pills, Lin Feng was as happy as a child, unable to resist letting out a long roar to the sky.

Just as Lin Feng was celebrating, an angry roar came from outside: "Which brat is making such a racket? He almost caused my batch of Medicinal Pills to explode!"

Hearing this, Lin Feng quickly shut up. He had been too excited just now and forgotten that this was a place for Alchemy. Lin Feng stopped his roar, but the smile on his lips did not diminish in the slightest.

Lin Feng decided to redouble his efforts and began refining Qi Gathering Pills again. In the subsequent five days, Lin Feng continued refining for another five days. However, this time, something strange happened to Lin Feng: the entries did not increase his Alchemy success rate to thirty percent.

It wasn't until the last three days that Lin Feng managed to maintain the Qi Gathering Pill's success rate at thirty percent. The success rate before that was shockingly low.

Lin Feng looked at the Medicinal Pills in his hand with a bitter smile. Even if these Medicinal Pills could be sold, they would only fetch a thousand Spirit Stones, a net loss of four thousand. He had been busy for two months refining Medicinal Pills and ended up losing money!

Although he lost money, Lin Feng was very happy. If being able to refine Pigu Pills and Siling Pills was considered entering the Alchemist profession, or rather becoming an Alchemy apprentice, then successfully refining Qi Gathering Pills meant Lin Feng could truly be called an Alchemist.

After refining all the Materials in his hand, Lin Feng left the Pill Refining Room. He saw a white-haired old man, radiating a Late-Stage Foundation Establishment aura, looking displeased. He demanded that a Qi Refining Cultivator at the registration desk tell him which ignorant fellow had been shouting loudly here, causing his batch of Medicinal Pills to be ruined. This was a batch of Medicinal Pills worth three thousand Spirit Stones, and he wanted the registered Disciple to be found and compensate him for his loss.

Lin Feng walked over, and hearing this, a hint of embarrassment flashed across his face, and his old face flushed. If it weren't for his extreme fatigue during Alchemy, which had covered his face in grime, the old man and the registering Qi Refining Disciple would have noticed Lin Feng's blushing and guilty expression.

At this moment, Lin Feng pretended to be angry, walked up to the registering Disciple, and said with a look of fury:

"Senior is right. I don't know which fellow suddenly shouted loudly here, causing my batch of Medicinal Pills to explode. It hasn't been cleaned up yet. Senior, look at what a mess it has made for me!"

The old man, whose face had been angry, couldn't help but laugh heartily when he saw Lin Feng's blackened face:

"I thought I was unlucky enough, but I didn't expect there to be someone else. If I catch that Alchemist, I will personally apprehend him, little brother. Then I'll call you, and make him pay Spirit Stones!"

Lin Feng pretended to be angry and agreed:

"Senior is right, he must compensate for the losses!"

The old man looked at Lin Feng's blackened face, where only his eyes and teeth were white when he spoke, and couldn't help but laugh. His earlier furious temper had subsided by half.

Looking at Lin Feng, he asked: "You, young man, are also an Alchemist? I find you pleasing to the eye. If you have any problems here in the future, just mention my name. My name is Chi Dancheng, you can call me Senior Chi. What's your name, young man?"

"Thank you, Senior. This Junior is from Cloud-Soaring Pavilion, named Lin Feng. Senior can just call me Xiao Feng, haha."

Chi Dancheng laughed for a while before he managed to stop. His earlier anger had completely dissipated. Grinning, he left the place. Lin Feng handed the token for the Pill Refining Room to the registering Cultivator and, before leaving, suggested that the registering Disciple quickly address the soundproofing issue of the Pill Refining Room here.

The registering Disciple then awkwardly informed Lin Feng that the Pill Refining Room originally had a soundproofing Formation, but it needed to be re-arranged recently. The original Formation had been dismantled a few days ago, which was why this had happened. He then repeatedly apologized to Lin Feng.