43: Managed alchemy

After leaving the medicine shop, Hong Yu immediately went to the place that rented out Alchemy Rooms and rented a Yellow-rank Alchemy Room.

The Alchemy Rooms for rent on Pill Mountain are categorized by quality into Tian, Di, Xuan, and Huang grades. Although the Yellow-rank Alchemy Room is the worst, it still costs ten Spirit Stones per hour.

Watching the continuous stream of people renting Alchemy Rooms, most of whom entered with eager anticipation only to leave dejected and disappointed.

Hong Yu marveled at Pill Mountain's exorbitant profits while also gaining a clear understanding of the success rate of Alchemy.

Fortunately, he had the System and wasn't taking the usual path of an Alchemist.

Thinking this, Hong Yu stepped into the Alchemy Room.

The Yellow-rank Alchemy Room was very small. Apart from a single Pill Furnace fixed in place, there was only a Fire-Control Array.

After carefully inspecting it, Hong Yu summoned the System panel.

Originally, there were only five options: 【Technique Cultivation】, 【Spell Cultivation】, 【Rule Cultivation】, 【Select Duration】, and 【Start Idle】. Now, an additional option 【Select Skill】 had appeared.

Clicking on 【Select Skill】, he saw a solitary option inside: 【Alchemy·Skin Tempering Pill】.

After taking out all the medicinal herbs and placing them in front of him, Hong Yu carefully recalled the old man's Alchemy process from yesterday. Confirming he hadn't missed anything, he decisively activated the auto-pilot mode.

"System, 【Alchemy·Skin Tempering Pill】 intelligent cultivation, activate auto-pilot."

"fully automatic managed idle cultivation system is starting up. Startup complete. Entering intelligent idle mode. Friendly reminder: During idle mode, the Host will temporarily lose control of the body. Please do not worry, leave everything to the System."

As control of his body vanished, Hong Yu watched the System's operations cautiously.

He saw the System walk up to the Pill Furnace. With practiced ease, its left hand formed seals while its right hand slapped the furnace. Accompanied by the flying lid and the spontaneous ignition of the pill fire, the System began the Alchemy process exactly as the old man had done yesterday.

Seeing this, Hong Yu breathed a sigh of relief. This time, the System actually didn't cause any trouble, which made him feel a bit unaccustomed.

Under the System's control, the medicinal herbs placed in front were tossed up one by one. Refined by spiritual power, their medicinal properties were extracted and then slowly fused together in sequence.

Hong Yu remembered the old man's explanation from yesterday: the most important aspects of the Alchemy process were fire control and the compatibility of medicinal properties. When different herbs fuse, the temperature of the pill fire is crucial; being one degree too low or too high can affect the quality of the finished pill.

This required absolute control and rich experience, which was also the key reason many other novice Alchemists failed during Alchemy.

Fortunately, there was no need to worry about the System's precision in this area.

It was proceeding exactly according to the old man's refining process from yesterday.

In some places, the System even performed better than that old man.

Of course, Hong Yu was unaware of all this. He was a complete layman in Alchemy, watching the System refine pills purely for the spectacle, understanding none of the intricacies.

Even so, Hong Yu could tell the System's Alchemy Technique was very skilled and fluid. The entire process seemed as relaxed and effortless as a leisurely stroll in a courtyard.

Apart from the significant consumption of spiritual power within his body, there wasn't a moment of hesitation or pause in the entire process. Soon, a rich medicinal fragrance wafted from the Pill Furnace.

Smelling this scent, Hong Yu was certain it was the fragrance of the skin tempering pill.

Sure enough, not long after, Hong Yu, now drenched in sweat, began the final pill collection.

He saw Hong Yu reach out and slap the Pill Furnace. Smooth, round Medicinal Pills, accompanied by an intensely rich medicinal fragrance, soared into the air and were collected into a porcelain bottle under the manipulation of spiritual power by the System.

Hong Yu counted them: exactly ten pills.

However, what struck him as odd was that the pills refined by the System were slightly different from the skin tempering pills he had taken before.

He remembered the skin tempering pills he got from Pang Hu were blood-red, while the pills before him were a dark crimson. Not only was the color deeper, but the previous pills also had some black spots on their surface. In contrast, the pills he had refined himself had almost no visible black spots; the entire pill seemed more translucent.

But before he could examine them closely, the pills were placed into the porcelain bottle, and the System began the next round of refinement.

"Ten skin tempering pills." Since he couldn't see them anymore, Hong Yu started calculating whether Alchemy would be enough to repay his debt. "According to the Outer Sect selling price, one skin tempering pill is worth ten Low-Grade Spirit Stones. But I only know this one refining method now. Selling in large quantities would definitely drive the price down. Calculating at eight stones per pill, one batch is worth eighty Spirit Stones.

Calculating further, if the System refines two batches, it would take about half an hour, with a total value of one hundred and sixty Spirit Stones. The cost is forty-five Spirit Stones, meaning a profit of one hundred and fifteen Spirit Stones in half an hour.

If I refine non-stop for a month, there's definitely hope. Even if I fall a little short in the end, as long as I demonstrate my Alchemy talent or learn more advanced Alchemy skills, I can definitely gather enough for this fine within the stipulated time!"

Thinking of this, Hong Yu's spirits lifted!

Recently, he had been troubled by this enormous fine, as it concerned his very life and livelihood. Now that he finally saw a glimmer of hope for survival, how could he not be excited?

But soon, his hope was shattered.

As a plume of black smoke rose, the System's prompt quickly sounded.

"Ding. Detected insufficient Host spiritual power. Alchemy failed. This auto-pilot service has ended. Please rate your satisfaction with this service!"

As control of his body returned, Hong Yu's vision went dark. He staggered and fell to the ground. The spiritual power that had been Abundant within his body was now completely depleted, not a single bit remaining.

After finally recovering, Hong Yu casually gave the System a three-star rating. Ignoring the discomfort in his body, he simply felt like crying but had no tears.

He had just seen hope, only to have the second batch of pills ruined directly due to insufficient spiritual power!

This meant his income might be halved. To gather enough for the fine within the stipulated time, he would have to find other methods.

Fortunately, Hong Yu had an idea in mind. With a gloomy sigh, he cleaned up the Alchemy Room, hurriedly exited, and headed straight for Pill Cauldron Tower.

Pill Mountain's Pill Cauldron Tower was quite famous within Xuan Yun Residence. It was the only place within Xuan Yun Residence dedicated to Medicinal Pill transactions.

Whether buying or selling Medicinal Pills, this place was the best choice.

Hong Yu hurriedly stepped inside. The vast Pill Cauldron Tower was already bustling with noise and excitement, with Cultivators coming and going in an endless stream.

Struggling through the crowded flow of people, Hong Yu overheard a conversation.

"I buy skin tempering pills outside for ten Spirit Stones each. Why is the minimum price here twelve Spirit Stones each? And this bottle you're giving me is actually selling for fifteen each, while your purchase price is only six Spirit Stones each! How dare you say this isn't a rip-off shop!"

Already in a bad mood, upon hearing that the selling price for skin tempering pills was only six Spirit Stones, Hong Yu's already anxious heart finally sank completely into despair!