90: West Lake Leisure Moon

Time flowed like water, passing silently. In the blink of an eye, Qin Feng had spent nearly two months of relatively calm time in West Lake City.

Under Li Kui's strict orders, the Cao Gang had completely quieted down and no longer sought trouble. The cooperation between the Four Seas Merchant Guild and the Hundred Flowers Palace progressed steadily, bringing in tangible profits. The Wonderful Sound Workshop maintained its aloof posture, and the Green Robe Tower also strictly abided by their agreement. West Lake City seemed to have returned to its former prosperity and tranquility, at least on the surface.

During this month, besides his daily cultivation and occasional inspections of his properties, Qin Feng's greatest pleasure was receiving the daily refreshed System intelligence. In particular, the "drama and gossip" concerning various people in West Lake City allowed him to get his fill of entertainment without even leaving his house:

1. The Young Miss of the City Lord's Manor has grown increasingly obsessed with "Jade Dew Buns." It is said she has spent a large sum to "invite" the pastry chef into the manor for her exclusive service, causing the business of many pastry shops in the city to suffer and leading to widespread complaints. (White)

2. Jin Buhuan, the prodigal son of Jin Wanguan, the president of the Four Seas Merchant Guild, has indeed restrained himself much more after experiencing a life-and-death ordeal. He has begun learning to manage the business, but his aesthetic sense is worrying. Recently, he insisted on purchasing a batch of overseas fabrics with extremely gaudy colors, nearly causing his old father's illness to relapse out of anger. (White)

3. The favorite concubine of Li Kui, leader of the Cao Gang, is having a secret affair with a young and vigorous Incense Master under his command. They think it's a secret, but it has long since become a laughingstock among the lower-level members of the gang. (White)

4. Lei Zhen, Sect Leader of the Dragon Tiger Sect, has entered seclusion to Breakthrough to the Late Stage Martial King Realm. Several of his eldest Disciples are fighting both openly and secretly for temporary management rights, nearly coming to blows on the martial arts field. (White)

5. A wealthy merchant from out of town lost half his fortune in a single night at the Thousand Gold Workshop. His shrewish wife rushed over upon hearing the news and staged a full-on physical brawl in public, dragging the merchant away by his ear in a scene that was once very heated. (White)

6. A newly joined musician at the Wonderful Sound Workshop, due to his exquisite skills and handsome appearance, has caused several young ladies in the city to fight over him out of jealousy. Some even anonymously wrote sentimental poems on the workshop's outer wall, which Su Xiaoxiao ordered to be cleared after discovering them. (White)

7. Rumor has it that the Vice City Lord has a strange hobby of visiting private residences at night to investigate "special public sentiments." Although unconfirmed, it has already begun to spread quietly within a small circle. (White)

8. A manager in charge of procurement within the Green Robe Tower was found by Leng Yue to have been lining his own pockets by falsely reporting purchase prices for three consecutive years. After his cultivation was crippled, he was thrown out of West Lake City, a fate that left many sighing in lamentation. (White)

9. Sun Simiao, the Master of the Medicine King Manor, recently successfully refined a batch of Grade 4 Medicinal Pills, drawing a heaven and earth anomaly. However, due to being too excited when opening the furnace, his entire beard was blackened by the pill gas, completely ruining his image. (Yellow)

"Tsk tsk tsk... this West Lake City is truly... full of emerging talent and brilliantly exciting." Every time Qin Feng finished reading this intelligence, he couldn't help but shake his head and laugh. These absurd or ridiculous trifles added a lot of fun to his calm cultivation life.

That night, at the zi hour.

Qin Feng sat cross-legged in the quiet room of the Green Bamboo Courtyard, checking the System panel as per his routine:

[Name: Qin Feng]

[Age: 18 years old]

[Rank: Mid-stage Grand Martial Master (Advanced)]

[Talent: Sword Heart (Elementary), Sword Bone (Elementary)]

[Cultivation Technique: Primordial Unity Qi Art (Third Layer, Early Stage)]

[Martial Skill: Finger Sword Among Flowers (Proficient), Hundred Flowers Sword Technique (Proficient), Qingfeng Sword Art (Perfection), Butterfly Dance Steps (Perfection), Breath Concealment Art (Major Achievement)...]

[Weapon: qingming sword (mysterious rank, extreme grade)]

[Armor: Black Tortoise Armor (Profound Rank, Advanced)]

[Status: Good]

Looking at the information on the panel, Qin Feng nodded slightly. This month, he hadn't been eager for success but had instead made steady progress, slowly digesting and absorbing the many resources he had obtained previously, such as the peiyuan pills and hunyuan pills bestowed by the City Lord's Manor. His cultivation had already stabilized at the Advanced stage of the Mid-stage Grand Martial Master Realm, not far from the Late Stage. His Cultivation Techniques and Martial Skills had also each improved.

"Since joining the Hundred Flowers Palace, there is indeed no lack of resources. I haven't worried about Medicinal Pills for a long time," he thought with emotion. Whether it was the rewards from Star South City or the supplies from the Western Headquarters and the branch, they far exceeded what he could have imagined back when he was a Loose Cultivator.

He took out the last hundred flowers jade dew pill given by Su Yuetang and placed it in his mouth. The pill turned into a warm current, nourishing his Meridians and consolidating his Foundation. After the medicinal power was digested, he felt his Internal Energy become a bit more pure and thick.

"However, always relying on the Sect and external purchases is not a long-term solution," Qin Feng mused. "Especially high-grade Medicinal Pills, which are expensive and not easy to obtain. It seems the art of Alchemy cannot be neglected."

He remembered that he still had savings of one hundred thousand gold coins, plus the one hundred thousand gold coins saved from the music score task and the one hundred thousand gold coins rewarded by Su Yuetang, totaling three hundred thousand. If he wanted to buy enough Profound Rank Medicinal Pills to support his rapid improvement, it should be enough for someone below the Martial King Realm.

"I've been in West Lake City for nearly two months. Although the Sect affairs are somewhat troublesome, there are indeed many benefits." He had to admit that it was easy to enjoy the shade under a big tree. If he weren't in the Hundred Flowers Palace, it would have been impossible for him to accumulate resources and improve his strength so quickly, let alone come across an Opportunity like the Finger Sword Among Flowers.

"It's time to find an Opportunity to Breakthrough to the Late-stage Grand Martial Master Realm," he set his goal. Once he stepped into the Late Stage, with his many trump cards, he would have the ability to contend even against an ordinary Early Stage Martial King.

As his thoughts drifted, he remembered Star South City, his Master Chu Tianhe, Xiaochun's father, and Xia Xue, with whom he had fought side by side, as well as... Ghost Head, whom he had promised to help refine a "qi burst pill." Ghost Head must have participated in the great battle of Star South City; he wondered if he was well.

"Once matters here are settled and things have stabilized, I must find time to go back and visit," he thought to himself.

Setting aside his distracting thoughts, Qin Feng flipped his wrist, and a Pill Furnace about a foot tall, dark green in color and carved with flame cloud patterns on the surface, appeared in the center of the quiet room. It was the Grade 2 Pill Furnace, the "azure flame furnace," which he had obtained through an Opportunity in his early years.

He prepared to resume his Alchemy. Currently, the ones that would help his improvement the most were naturally the hundred flowers jade dew pill (Grade 3) and the hunyuan pill (Grade 4), but those required the level of at least a Grade 3 or even Grade 4 Alchemist, which he was still far from reaching.

He chose to start with the most basic and currently most suitable "qi condensing pill" for practice. The qi condensing pill is a yellow rank high grade Medicinal Pill, mainly used for Martial Artists and Martial Masters to quickly condense Internal Energy. It was no longer useful to him, but the refining process could well-temper his control over heat and the Fusion of medicinal properties.

Taking out several sets of prepared qi condensing pill Materials, Qin Feng held his breath and focused, channeling the Earth Fire (there was a miniature Earth Fire vein under the quiet room) to preheat the Pill Furnace.

Adding the herbs, tempering, fusing, forming the pill... he was fully focused on every step, attempting to combine the theoretical knowledge from the Medicine King Valley Legacy with practice.

However, the Dao of Alchemy emphasizes experience tempered a thousand times. Although he had rich theoretical knowledge and his techniques appeared decent due to the Primordial Unity Qi Art's exquisite control over Internal Energy, he was, after all, out of practice for a long time.

*Puff—*

With a soft sound, a puff of black smoke rose from the Pill Furnace, and the first batch of Materials turned into charcoal.

Qin Feng's expression remained unchanged as he cleaned the Pill Furnace and summarized the reason for the failure—his control over the Earth Fire temperature was a bit too hasty, causing one of the medicinal ingredients to carbonize instantly.

For the second batch, he was even more careful, but at the critical moment of the medicinal liquid Fusion, his Mental Energy wavered slightly, the Fusion failed, and the liquid turned into a pool of waste.

Third batch... fourth batch... he failed four batches in a row until the fifth batch. When the Pill Furnace was opened, three qi condensing pills with slightly mottled colors and faint pill auras lay quietly at the bottom of the furnace.

The success rate was still less than twenty percent!

Looking at those three barely successful pills, there was no discouragement on Qin Feng's face; instead, a satisfied smile appeared.

Failure is the mother of success. Every failure was an accumulation of experience. He could feel that his perception of the heat and his grasp of the changes in medicinal properties were slowly becoming sharp again.

"The road is still long..." He put away the pills, cleaned the furnace, and prepared to continue refining after meditating to recover.

In the quiet room, the furnace fire was lit once more, reflecting the focused and determined face of the youth. In these calm years in West Lake City, he was silently accumulating strength in another way, waiting for the next Opportunity to soar.