Chen Fan picked up the piece of paper and slowly examined it, glancing first at the characters written upon it before running his cultivation technique to practice briefly.
At the sound of a chime, Chen Fan knew the inheritance was genuine, for a line of text had clearly appeared on his system panel:
Formation Apprentice (Incomplete cultivation technique)
Chen Fan then asked, "How does my young friend plan to sell this?"
"As long as the customer gives me sixty low-grade spirit stones, that will do."
The young man who had blocked his path earlier spoke up.
"Sixty? My young friend, this hardly looks like you're selling it in earnest!"
Unexpectedly, the youth who had just acted so timidly refused to budge an inch on the price.
After a battle of wits and a flurry of counteroffers, the price was finally settled.
"Let's make it forty-five, then!" the young man said with a helpless sigh. If he weren't in such urgent need of money and if buyers weren't so hard to find, how could he possibly have let it go so easily?
When Chen Fan took out his very last spirit stones, his pockets were left completely empty. His savings for a lifetime had been spent today.
Had he not already broken through to become an Alchemist, and had he not needed this for his own plans, he would never have squandered his money in such a fashion.
Once the transaction was settled, Chen Fan finally set off on the road back home.
Inside a house belonging to the Chen Clan in Yixin Village.
Chen Fan discussed his plans with his wife.
Li Lingyu naturally nodded and agreed, for a woman follows the man she marries, be he chicken or dog.
Zilong Mountain could neither be called majestic nor precipitous, and its spiritual energy was far from as abundant as that of Yixin Village, but its ranges were everywhere filled with low-grade spirit herbs and monster beasts. Being close to it certainly had its advantages.
However, Chen Fan now did not have a single spirit stone left to his name, rendering his grand plan mere empty talk. His most urgent task right now was to earn spirit stones.
Kaiyuan Town was an utterly ordinary small town—the poorest of all the surrounding settlements. Even so, it still managed to support four clans, each of which poured the strength of their entire clan into nurturing a Foundation Establishment cultivator.
Upon arriving in Kaiyuan Town, Chen Fan headed straight for one of its shops.
He stepped inside the store. A few days prior, the owner of this very shop had visited Chen Fan to commission several bottles of pills, with the price naturally open to discussion.
Walking into the pill-refining room equipped by the shop, he heard a neat chorus of voices:
"Greetings, Alchemist Chen."
Chen Fan was slightly startled. Turning his head, he saw three alchemy apprentices standing to one side, bowing respectfully and offering greetings. He realized at once that these were assistants arranged for him by the shop.
"No need for such formal courtesies. I'm not someone with a bad temper."
Feeling somewhat unaccustomed to this, Chen Fan waved his hands repeatedly.
This was his first time stepping into a pill-refining room officially as an Alchemist, whereas previously he had only ever entered as an apprentice.
All three alchemy apprentices had been invited by the shop. In the past, they had often worked together as fellow apprentices, maintaining a good relationship, understanding each other inside and out, and sharing a tacit rapport. Thus, the shop had hired them to assist with his pill refining.
He had not expected that on his very first time refining pills in the capacity of an Alchemist, he would have three skilled alchemy apprentices to help him, and that their attitude would be so deferential.
"All right, all right, everyone needn't be so rigid. Later on, while we refine the pills, I will give a thorough explanation, and I hope you'll all pay attention."
Seeing that the group still seemed somewhat nervous, Chen Fan tossed out some grand promises to them.
Of course, Chen Fan would indeed explain things during the pill-refining process later, but how much they managed to learn would simply depend on their own good fortune.
Realizing that Chen Fan truly did not seem to be making fun of them, the three could not help feeling a surge of joy.
"Alchemist Chen, this is the task assigned to our pill room by the shop owner. I've already collected the materials and placed them right over there."
Chen Fan took the list, glanced over it, and asked:
"Why are these all healing pills? Aren't there any other kinds at all?"
"I heard those clans have been having some friction lately, so the surrounding area hasn't been very peaceful lately."
People who frequently roamed about the town were bound to be better informed than Chen Fan.
Hearing this, Chen Fan furrowed his brow slightly.
This Kaiyuan Town was merely a mediocre little town. Although there were profits to be made, supporting several minor Foundation Establishment clans was already a tremendous strain.
The Foundation Establishment figures of these four great clans usually served merely as a deterrent; they dared not make a move lightly, terrified of accidents that would lead to them being devoured down to the bones by others.
Judging by the current situation, there must be enormous benefits at stake here, otherwise how could they have broken into conflict after so long of living in relative peace?
When these four great clans fought, how could they possibly care about the ants beneath their feet?
It seemed that the nearby rogue cultivators, and even minor households, had suffered collateral damage in this clan dispute and sustained quite a few injuries!
"Well, there's no such thing as peace in the immortal cultivation world. I was just an obscure, low-level minor cultivator before."
Had his golden finger not awakened, how could he have ever come into contact with these matters? No matter how fiercely the people on top fought and killed each other, it would have had nothing to do with him.
"I wonder how wide the scope of this fallout will be?"
Chen Fan mused to himself. With his meager level of cultivation, it would be disastrous if he were to get snuffed out before he even had a chance to grow.
This feeling of having to rely entirely on luck was deeply unpleasant, especially now that he was an Alchemist and consequently in even greater danger.
"I have to speed up my plans."
Chen Fan silently resolved within himself.
He turned his head to address the three alchemy apprentices waiting off to the side:
"You can start warming up the cauldrons. I'll process these spirit herbs first, and then we'll begin refining pills."
The three gave a joint assent and hurried over to busy themselves around the pill cauldrons.
...
After everything was prepared, the cauldrons were opened for pill refining.
As he refined the pills, Chen Fan lectured the three brothers, explaining his personal understanding of everything from techniques to pharmacology.
Time slipped away amidst the sound of Chen Fan's voice.
Three hours later...
Chen Fan opened his eyes. At that moment, the three brothers implored him to let them open the cauldron and witness the results themselves, because earlier, during the deep explanations, the brothers had even intervened and helped out to a small degree. If not for the fact that his skills were bestowed by the system, things might well have gone awry.
With a nod of permission, the three brothers eagerly opened the pill cauldron and let out a cry of astonishment.
"This is incredible!"
The three brothers exchanged glances, thinking they were seeing things, and hurriedly peered inside again.
A rich fragrance drifted from the pill cauldron. Within it, ruby-red pills lay distinct from one another, translucent and of extremely high quality—the kind rarely seen even in this town.
The group stared in dumbstruck amazement, unable to conceal the shock in their eyes. For no other reason than that before coming here, they had only heard he was someone who had just broken through to become an Alchemist; they had never expected his technique to surpass even those who had spent decades in the field.
The task assigned by the shop this time was to refine Vitality Pills, and the materials provided were enough for twelve portions. Judging by standard success rates, a junior Alchemist was expected to return seven finished portions.
Yet now, every single one had been successfully refined, meaning that after handing over the required amount, they actually had five leftover portions of their own—not even counting the compensation for the refining work.
No wonder people always said alchemy was a profession meant only for the wealthy; a single batch of pills could make you poor or make you rich in an instant!
The three looked on in awe. Alchemist Chen's skill was truly superb! Where on earth was this the level of a mere novice junior Alchemist as rumored outside?
Noticing that they remained frozen in place without moving, Chen Fan assumed something had gone wrong and walked forward.
Peering into the pill cauldron and seeing that all the pills had been successfully refined, he instantly understood why the few of them were standing there in a stupor.
Chen Fan felt no surprise whatsoever at this outcome. After all, cheating the system was no idle boast.
His alchemical proficiency had been imprinted directly into his mind by the system, granting him a mastery not a whit inferior to the most supreme alchemy inheritances or grandmasters who had practiced for centuries.
The three men naturally had no idea why this was; they only knew that the novice Alchemist they had imagined turned out to be every bit as proficient as a seasoned junior Alchemist, without the slightest discrepancy.
Looking at the exceptionally high-quality pills and recalling the guidance he had given them during the refining process, a fiery light ignited in the eyes of the three men.
They turned and offered a deep, formal bow of profound respect to Chen Fan.