You call this alchemy?

Upon hearing this, Pu Genshuo wore an expression that said "You've come to the right person" and immediately slapped his chest with a resounding thud: "Rest assured, Brother Qi. Between us, your business is as good as done by me."

"To tell you the truth, I am close friends with the closing Disciple taken in by Senior Ancestor Zu. I will personally take you to see him; he certainly won't refuse."

Qi Yuan was overjoyed to hear this. He hadn't expected that by sheer luck, he had actually made a connection. He hurriedly said: "In that case, I will have to trouble you, Senior Brother Piao."

"Haha, it's a small matter." Pu Genshuo laughed heartily, grabbed Qi Yuan, and walked out of the Immortal Workshop. "Let's go. Junior Brother Liu's place of Alchemy is located in Wildwood Valley, east of the Immortal Workshop. Let's go and ask him to help us now."

"Wildwood Valley?" Qi Yuan paused, confused. "Senior Brother Piao, why isn't the Pill Refining Room of Senior Ancestor Zu's closing Disciple built inside the Pill Saint Sect, but instead out in that desolate wilderness?"

Upon hearing the question, Pu Genshuo's expression stiffened slightly, and he said in a strange tone: "Junior Brother Qi, you may not know this, but my good friend is naturally obsessed with Alchemy and is not very good at dealing with people."

"Moreover, his concepts of the Dao of Alchemy are not recognized by the alchemists within the Sect, so he simply moved out to find some peace and quiet."

"I see." Qi Yuan nodded, suddenly enlightened.

For some reason, he couldn't help but feel that this wasn't very reliable, but seeing Pu Genshuo's confident appearance, he could only suppress his thoughts for the time being.

After a while, the two arrived at a secluded valley.

Qi Yuan looked around and found that it was lush and green, with abundant vegetation. The scenery was quite nice, but not a single living thing could be seen; even creatures with incredible vitality like snakes, insects, rats, and ants were nowhere to be found.

In the air, there was a faint, strange smell of smoke and fire, which made him frown as he smelled it.

Entering the valley, Pu Genshuo's expression suddenly became grave. He nervously swallowed, stopped in his tracks, and admonished Qi Yuan: "Brother Qi, if Junior Brother Liu asks you to test his Medicinal Pill later, you must absolutely not agree easily. Remember, remember."

"Why is that?" Qi Yuan was somewhat puzzled. "As the closing Disciple of Senior Ancestor Zu, is his level of refining Medicinal Pill really that bad?"

Boom!

Before Pu Genshuo could answer, a loud noise suddenly erupted in the distance. A pillar of fire shot straight into the sky, and then countless colorful specks of light drifted down from the smoke...

Holy crap! What is this situation? Watching this strange phenomenon before him, Qi Yuan was dumbfounded.

Pu Genshuo also stared blankly at the direction where the mushroom cloud rose, frozen in place. Only after a long while did he react and explain: "Don't panic. It seems Junior Brother Liu is practicing Alchemy. Let's just go over and find him."

You call this Alchemy? Are you sure he isn't making bombs?

The corners of Qi Yuan's mouth twitched violently, and he began to wonder if he had lost his mind to actually believe the nonsense of this fellow Pu Genshuo.

Although he felt very messy at the moment, he was already here, so he had to go and investigate.

Thus, Qi Yuan bit the bullet and silently followed Pu Genshuo to the place where the explosion had occurred.

As soon as they approached, a scorched smell mixed with sulfur hit their faces, causing both of them to cover their noses simultaneously.

Looking up, before them was a vast clearing. The clearing was in a mess, covered with scorched earth, and all the flowers, plants, and trees had turned into carbonized ash.

In the center of the clearing, a huge Pill Furnace several zhang wide and long was overturned on the ground, while the lid of the Pill Furnace was deeply embedded in a rock face a thousand zhang away.

Beside the Pill Furnace, a pitch-black figure was sitting cross-legged on the ground, deep in thought, muttering to himself: "That's not right. I clearly removed the dryness of the Fire-Fierce Vine, so why did the Pill Furnace still explode... Could it be the order was wrong, or did my technique have a problem..."

"Junior Brother Liu Qi, your big brother has come to see you, and I've brought a fellow Daoist along." After discovering the figure, Pu Genshuo's eyes lit up, and he stepped forward quickly to greet him.

Upon hearing this, the black figure finally turned his head. His face was blackened by smoke, making it impossible to see his specific features clearly, and his robes were tattered and torn; he had clearly been ravaged by the explosion.

"Senior Brother Piao, why do you have time to come here today?" The black figure named Liu Qi was instantly revitalized after seeing the two and hurriedly stood up to greet them: "Have you figured it out and are ready to come and help me test the Medicinal Pill? I told you long ago that my Medicinal Pill are strictly controlled, and they absolutely won't have any problems if you eat them."

"Junior Brother Liu, please spare me." Pu Genshuo shook his head like a rattle-drum and waved his hands, saying, "Your Medicinal Pill have too much kick. Last time, you almost sent me to my grave; I'm truly afraid of you."

Hearing this, Liu Qi's face revealed disappointment, and he said, "Big Brother Piao, that's not very kind of you. As the saying goes, every Medicinal Pill has three parts poison. As long as the effect of the Medicinal Pill is good, a little side effect is very normal."

"You have to believe me, I guarantee that this batch of Medicinal Pill is even more powerful than the last..."

Before he could finish, Pu Genshuo calmly changed the subject: "Uh... Junior Brother Liu, where is your Pill Room?"

Facing this question, Liu Qi scratched his head somewhat embarrassedly and laughed sheepishly: "I didn't control the heat well while refining pills the other day, and the Pill Room was blown up. I was just worrying about how to build a new one..."

At this moment, Liu Qi finally noticed Qi Yuan on the side and asked with a curious expression: "Big Brother Piao, who is this fellow Daoist?"

While speaking, he casually cast a spell, condensing a ball of clear water out of thin air to wash his face and hands clean.

"I forgot to introduce him." Pu Genshuo said with a chuckle, pulling Qi Yuan over. "This is my good friend, named Qi Yuan, the newly appointed Dao Child of Tai Xuan of the Taixuan Holy Land. He came specifically to visit you today, Junior Brother Liu."

Liu Qi didn't seem very impressed by the identity of the Dao Child of Tai Xuan. He just looked Qi Yuan up and down and cupped his hands in a calm tone: "So it is the Dao Child of Tai Xuan. Nice to meet you."

Qi Yuan also returned the salute with a warm expression and proper etiquette: "Brother Liu is too polite."

Pu Genshuo interjected at the right moment: "Junior Brother Liu, this Brother Qi wants to ask your Revered Master to refine a furnace of Medicinal Pill. The Pill Formula and Materials are all ready, but as you know, it is not an easy thing to get your Revered Master to act, so he came specially to ask for your help."

Liu Qi's face showed understanding: "Indeed, because there are simply too many people asking my Revered Master to refine pills, my Revered Master established a rule: he only helps people refine three furnaces of Medicinal Pill a year."

"Even if you are the honorable Dao Child of Tai Xuan, to get my Revered Master to act, you must first go to the Treasure Pill Pavilion to make an appointment. At that time, it is highly likely that you will be scheduled for five hundred years later, or even longer."

Five hundred years later? Hearing this, Qi Yuan's face turned green. He hurriedly asked: "My need is quite urgent. I wonder if Brother Liu has a way to let me cut the line ahead of time. Spirit Stones are not an issue."

Liu Qi's expression was somewhat troubled. After hesitating for a moment, he said sheepishly: "You are Big Brother Piao's good friend, so reasonably and sentimentally, I should strive for you. But to tell you the truth, I was personally kicked out by Revered Master; I was practically expelled from the Sect."

"If I were to go and ask Revered Master, it might even have the opposite effect..."

"Ah?" Qi Yuan was stunned. He never expected that this Liu Qi was actually an abandoned Disciple chased out of the Sect by Zu Chengzhi.

What should he do now?

Just at this moment, Liu Qi seemed to have been stimulated by something and said with an excited face: "Although Revered Master is the person I, Liu Qi, admire most in this life, I do not agree with his concepts."

"I believe that as an alchemist, one cannot be limited by the various experiences of predecessors. One must have a spirit of innovation. Only by constantly pioneering and innovating can the Dao of Alchemy advance further."

"Currently, the alchemists of the Pill Saint Sect only know how to regard the Pill Formula left by predecessors as the golden rule, without even a shred of courage for reform. If they continue to work behind closed doors like this, the road ahead will only get narrower."

As he spoke, Liu Qi's expression became increasingly sacred, and his eyes shone with a different kind of brilliance: "In order not to let the Dao of Alchemy decay, I proposed my ideas to Revered Master many times. Unexpectedly, Revered Master did not approve, but instead chased me out of the Sect, telling me to reflect properly."

"Revered Master said that when I finally wake up, he will consider taking me back into the Sect, but this is absolutely impossible. I, Liu Qi, firmly believe that my path is correct, and there is nothing worth reflecting on."

"The ones who really need to reflect are that group of self-complacent, stubborn alchemists in the Pill Saint Sect!"

Hearing this impassioned speech, Qi Yuan couldn't help but feel a sense of respect.

This guy is quite spirited, but it's just that he didn't know how his level of the Dao of Alchemy was.