Chapter 95: Checking Effeciency

Chapter 95: Chapter 95: Checking Effeciency

After finishing up in the dimension, Sui Sui quickly returned to his room and continued refining pills. He became so absorbed in the process that he spent the entire day refining without stopping, completely forgetting to rest or eat. By the time he finally looked up, it was already the next day.

Feeling somewhat exhausted, Sui Sui drank some of the remaining Spirit Water he had. Although its purity was not particularly high, it was more than enough to replenish the spiritual energy of someone at the Qi Refining stage, and the refreshing sensation quickly washed away his fatigue.

Sui Sui looked at the twenty-nine pills on the table. After a whole night of refining, he had finally used up all the herbs Senior Brother Ji Ling had given him the day before. He had genuinely enjoyed the process, and the repeated practice had given him a much deeper understanding of alchemy. He could even feel that his cultivation had improved, reaching the peak of Qi Refining Level 6. If he continued at this pace, he might be able to break through to Level 7 soon.

Sui Sui quickly cleaned everything up before taking a quick bath to freshen himself up. After changing into a fresh sect uniform, he headed out to find Senior Brother Ji Ling and have him check the quality of the pills.

However, when Sui Sui arrived at the herb garden, he learned that Senior Brother Ji Ling was not there. Instead, only Elder Jingyan was overseeing the garden in his absence.

The elder looked up when Sui Sui approached. He stroked his beard thoughtfully as his gaze traveled up and down Sui Sui, scrutinizing him with a faintly curious expression.

"You?" After a moment, Elder Jingyan raised an eyebrow. "I heard you’ve recovered your ability to cultivate?"

"Yes, Elder," Sui Sui replied honestly.

"Hmm. Not bad, not bad at all." Elder Jingyan stroked his beard again, his eyes revealing a trace of approval. "You’re already at Qi Refining Level 6 after only starting. You seem to have some decent potential, kid. What brings you here?"

"Well, I’ve been practicing alchemy recently, and I wanted Senior Brother Ji Ling to take a look at the pills I made and see if they’re any good," Sui Sui explained.

"You’ve been practicing alchemy too?" Elder Jingyan raised an eyebrow, a rare flicker of interest appearing in his usually indifferent expression. He was not normally a talkative person, but the mention of alchemy seemed to catch his attention.

"There’s no need to wait for Little Ling. Let me see them. I’ll take a look for you," he said, extending a hand toward Sui Sui.

Sui Sui initially wanted to refuse. What if his pills turned out badly? He still wanted to save some face, especially since this was his first attempt at alchemy. However, after thinking about it, he realized that it was rare to receive guidance from a more experienced alchemist. Even if there were problems with his pills, Elder Jingyan could point out where he had gone wrong and tell him what he needed to improve. With that in mind, Sui Sui decided to take the opportunity and handed the bottle over to him.

Elder Jingyan opened the bottle and immediately caught a strong medicinal fragrance wafting from within. He tipped out one of the pills and held it between his fingers, his eyes widening slightly when he saw its deep green color.

This was the color of a high-grade pill.

Although it was only a low level pill, it is still nonetheless high-grade, specially since it is made by a beginner.

"You’re saying you only started doing this yesterday?" Elder Jingyan asked, his eyebrows drawing together as he stared at the pill in disbelief.

"Yes. I only learned the basics recently, and yesterday was the first time I actually tried refining a pill," Sui Sui explained. Seeing the elder’s unusual expression, he suddenly became nervous. "Why? Is there something wrong with the pill?"

"No, no. I didn’t mean that." Elder Jingyan quickly shook his head, a hint of approval appearing in his eyes. "The pill is actually very good. I just didn’t expect your first attempt to turn out like this. Kid, tell me exactly what you did yesterday."

Sui Sui nodded and began recounting the entire process. He explained how he first extracted the medicinal components from the herbs, then carefully purified the essence to remove the impurities and toxins. He went on to describe how he had purified it three times before merging the medicinal essence together and finally condensing it into a pill.

When Elder Jingyan heard that Sui Sui had purified the medicinal essence three times, his expression changed immediately. A look of genuine amazement appeared in his eyes as he stared at the young man before him.

"You actually purified it three times?"

Sui Sui nodded.

Elder Jingyan looked at him with a trace of appreciation, silently marveling at his talent. For most beginners, being able to purify the medicinal essence once was already considered quite good. Those with greater talent might manage it twice, but only a very small number could successfully purify it three times.

Even experienced alchemists had struggled to achieve that level of purification when they were starting out. Elder Jingyan himself had only been able to purify the medicinal essence twice when he was a beginner.

And Elder Jingyan was no ordinary alchemist.

He was already a Soul Transformation cultivator who is considered half-stepped in the realm of High-Level Alchemist meaning his Soul Force was vastly stronger and more refined than that of ordinary cultivators. Yet even with his current cultivation, he still remembered how difficult it had been to control his Soul Force during his early days.

The reason was very simple, it’s because purification consumed a considerable amount of Soul Force, and Soul Force itself relied on spiritual energy. For beginners, their spiritual energy was often limited by what their bodies could safely handle. Overusing it could leave them completely drained and, more seriously, increase the risk of Qi Deviation. As a result, most beginners simply did not have enough spiritual energy to support repeated purification.

But this disciple Sui Sui had managed to do it three times on his very first attempt.

Elder Jingyan stroked his beard thoughtfully, his eyes lingering on Sui Sui with increasing appreciation.

It was a pity that he had already taken a close-door disciple and had no intention of accepting another. Otherwise, with Sui Sui’s talent, he might have seriously considered taking him under his guidance.

Still, Elder Jingyan wasn’t too disappointed.

If he thinks about it carefully, with this child’s ability, perhaps Sui Sui might even surpass him one day in the future, wouldn’t he lose face if his disciple is much stronger than his master? He will leave this kid to choose his own master in the future, the Wenjian Sect has a few High-Level alchemists too, or maybe he will get poached by the other sect like the Medicine King Valley.

"You have a bright future ahead of you, kid. Your talent is definitely not inferior to the geniuses from Medicine Peak. Keep it up, and you may even surpass them one day," Elder Jingyan said.

Hearing the praise, Sui Sui’s spirits immediately lifted. It seemed that he really did have some talent for alchemy, and knowing that he genuinely enjoyed the process only made him more excited to continue learning.

Elder Jingyan then gave him a few more practical pointers, explaining some of the areas where he could improve. Sui Sui listened carefully and thanked him sincerely.

Before Sui Sui left, he suddenly remembered that there were still herbs remaining from his previous allocation.

"Elder, can I take a few more herbs? Yesterday, I only took thirty portions each because I was worried I wouldn’t be able to finish refining them quickly. But since I managed to finish them ahead of time, I’d like to take the rest."

Normally, only disciples of Medicine Peak were eligible to receive a monthly allocation of herbs. As a probationary disciple, Sui Sui was not included in that arrangement. However, he had previously worked in the herb garden for three months, so he was entitled to three months’ worth of herbs from the allocations he would have received during that period.

After deducting the thirty stalks each of Hollowmint and Pale Lotus that he had taken the previous day, there were still another 120 herbs available to him.

With Elder Jingyan’s approval, Sui Sui went to collect the remaining herbs. He took another forty stalks each of Hollowmint and Pale Lotus, then used the rest of his allocation on a new variety called Starveil Root, along with a few stalks of Spirit Dew Grass.

He was planning to try another low-level pill next—the Spirit Recovery Pill. As for the Spirit Dew Grass, he deliberately took only a few stalks so that he would not attract unnecessary attention by only taking the portion for Starveil Root.

After collecting his remaining allocation, Sui Sui thanked Elder Jingyan and left the herb garden, returning to his room to continue practicing.