"Fourth... Fourth Senior Sister, I came to learn the art of medicine-making from you today," Ye Chen stammered, swallowing hard.
With a soft "Oh," Fourth Senior Sister let Ye Chen inside.
"Wait for me for a second, let me change my clothes first!" Fourth Senior Sister said, and right there in the cave dwelling, she began stripping off her nightgown, completely ignoring Ye Chen.
At that moment, Ye Chen stared at Fourth Senior Sister in utter shock as her beautiful body suddenly appeared right before his eyes.
"Fourth... Fourth Senior Sister! Y-Y-You..." Ye Chen was extremely shocked.
"Ah—sorry, I forgot that Junior Brother was here!" Fourth Senior Sister said calmly, as if she had just remembered Ye Chen's presence.
Ye Chen was left speechless.
Didn't she just let him in a moment ago?
She forgot already?
"Well, you're just my Junior Brother anyway, it's no big deal," Fourth Senior Sister said, and then proceeded to ignore Ye Chen and continue changing her clothes.
Ye Chen remained dumbfounded.
Once she finished changing, Ye Chen finally managed to calm down a little.
At that moment, Fourth Senior Sister brought over a large stack of books for Ye Chen.
"Memorize these first! In a while, I'll take you to the Herb Garden so you can get familiar with the spiritual herbs needed for alchemy," Fourth Senior Sister said.
She placed the books in front of Ye Chen, then walked over to her alchemy furnace and began her own work.
Ye Chen started looking through the books Fourth Senior Sister had given him.
They were all texts on alchemy.
Titles like *Complete Analysis of Spiritual Herbs*, *Complete Analysis of Alchemical Pills*, *Introduction to Alchemy*, and *The Complete Encyclopedia of Alchemy: From Novice to the Grave*—a thick stack of books sat right in front of Ye Chen.
"So many!" Ye Chen was somewhat surprised. He hadn't expected alchemy to be this troublesome.
Still, if he wanted to grow stronger, he had no choice but to read them!
He picked up *Complete Analysis of Spiritual Herbs*.
Suddenly, a voice echoed in his mind.
[Ding! Congratulations to the host for unlocking the skill: Photographic Memory.]
Photographic memory.
Ye Chen was extremely astonished. This meant that from now on, no matter what book he read, he would remember it entirely after just one glance?
Ye Chen began picking up the books to read.
An hour later, he had finished reading every single book Fourth Senior Sister had brought him.
He had flipped through every volume and committed nearly all the contents to memory. Even the parts he couldn't quite understand, he firmly engraved in his mind.
At that point, Ye Chen wanted to go tell Fourth Senior Sister, but he noticed she was deeply engrossed in her alchemy.
She was tossing various herbs into the furnace, controlling the heat and refining medicinal pills.
Watching Fourth Senior Sister so deeply focused, Ye Chen chose not to disturb her. He knew that Fourth Senior Sister wasn't truly airheaded; rather, she often poured all her concentration into a single task and could not be distracted by the outside world, which was why she sometimes appeared a bit dazed.
Finally, a batch of pills was completed.
The fragrant pills instantly flew into a small bottle.
She then turned her head, handed the pills to Ye Chen who was watching her from the side, and said, "Junior Brother, these are Foundation Establishment Pills; they can help you achieve Foundation Establishment as soon as possible."
At that moment, Ye Chen felt a warmth in his heart. So Fourth Senior Sister had been refining Foundation Establishment Pills for him all along.
"Thank you, Senior Sister!" Ye Chen accepted the gift.
At this moment, as if suddenly remembering something, Fourth Senior Sister looked at Ye Chen and asked, "Junior Brother, why did you stop reading?"
"I've memorized them all," Ye Chen said immediately.
Fourth Senior Sister let out an "Oh" and said nothing more.
Seeing that his Senior Sister didn't seem surprised, Ye Chen guessed that she must possess a photographic memory just like him.
After a short while, however, Fourth Senior Sister's expression gradually turned to one of shock. Looking at Ye Chen with a hint of disbelief, she asked, "You said you memorized all of them?"
Ye Chen looked back at her in astonishment and said, "Fourth Senior Sister, your reaction time is way too slow!"
Fourth Senior Sister Yue Lingxi led Ye Chen to the Herb Garden.
The Herb Garden, true to its name, was the Xinyao Peak's spiritual herb garden. All kinds of spiritual herbs were cultivated here, and if disciples needed any, they had to pay with spirit stones to exchange for them.
But Yue Lingxi didn't need to do that. Who was she?
She was a disciple of the Holy Mother of Xinyao. Within this Xianyuan Holy Land, aside from the sect elders, Yue Lingxi's alchemy skills were absolute top-tier among the disciples. She could freely enter and leave the Herb Garden and pluck any spiritual herbs inside for alchemy; she only needed to give a casual notice to the Herb Garden elders.
Dressed in a verdant long dress, Yue Lingxi led her Junior Brother Ye Chen into the Herb Garden.
"Lingxi, here to gather herbs again?" The Herb Garden elder greeted her warmly the moment he saw Yue Lingxi.
"No, I'm bringing my Junior Brother here today to learn about the herbs!" Yue Lingxi answered with a smile.
At this, the Herb Garden elder looked over at Ye Chen.
Who in Xinyao Peak didn't know Ye Chen? He was the son of the Holy Mother of Xinyao. The Holy Mother had once gone out on travels and returned pregnant, yet she kept mum about whose child it was no matter who asked, which had sparked many rumors within the sect about her loose morals.
Even though the Holy Mother's reputation was tarnished, credit where credit was due: every single one of the seven disciples under her command was like a celestial maiden, possessing not only formidable strength but also peerless beauty.
From the Eldest Senior Sister down to the youngest Junior Sister, each was stunningly gorgeous and supremely powerful.
If not for these seven talented disciples under her, her unmarried pregnancy and scandalous behavior would likely have cost her the position of Peak Master of Xinyao Peak long ago.
Although the Holy Mother had seven immensely powerful disciples, everyone also knew that when he awakened his Spiritual Root at age six, Ye Chen had awakened an empty Spiritual Root. An empty Spiritual Root meant no spiritual root at all, implying he could never cultivate in this lifetime.
Unable to cultivate meant he could also never become an alchemist.
It seemed Yue Lingxi had brought him here to learn pharmacology so he could at least become a physician in the future and avoid starving to death.
The Herb Garden elder glanced at Ye Chen and said nothing.
Useless as Ye Chen might be, he was still the Holy Mother's son and had seven powerful senior sisters backing him—figures he could not afford to offend.
He certainly wasn't going to cross the Holy Mother and her seven disciples over something like this.
"Please, come in!" The elder gestured with a wave of his hand.
Yue Lingxi led Ye Chen into the Herb Garden.
As soon as they stepped inside, Ye Chen immediately felt that the spiritual Qi within the Herb Garden was incomparably dense, radiating immensely powerful auras everywhere.
Ye Chen understood that this must be a place where the grand Dao auras were exceptionally strong.
He could check in once every day, so he might as well try checking in here in a moment.
"Junior Brother, since you've memorized those books, do you recognize the herbs here?" Yue Lingxi asked, looking at Ye Chen.
Ye Chen nodded. Nearly all of these spiritual herbs were recorded in the books, so he recognized them.
"Very well, then let me test you!" Yue Lingxi said calmly.
Pointing to a stalk of spiritual grass, Fourth Senior Sister asked, "What spiritual herb is this?"
Ye Chen looked at the grass and blurted out instantly, "Star-seeking Grass."
"Mm-hm... And what about this one?" Fourth Senior Sister asked next.
"This is Everlasting Flower," Ye Chen replied.
A trace of surprise appeared on Fourth Senior Sister's face. She continued pointing to over a dozen more herbs, yet Ye Chen answered every single one of them correctly.
"Not bad, not bad. You've completed the first step. Next, you can begin your training as an alchemist," Fourth Senior Sister smiled as she looked at Ye Chen.
"Xiao Chen, wait here for a moment, I'm going to gather some herbs!" Fourth Senior Sister said.
Ye Chen nodded. This moment was the perfect opportunity to check in.
As soon as Fourth Senior Sister walked away, Ye Chen immediately recited silently in his mind: "Check in."
[Ding! The host has checked in at the Herb Garden. Congratulations to the host for obtaining the Supreme Holy Body!]
[The reward has been issued.]
[The Supreme Holy Body is merging... Holy Body integration successful.]
[Holy Body effect: Cultivate to the Great Vehicle stage, and your physical body will become sacred, achieving the fruit status of a Great Emperor!]