Chapter 20: Alchemy Pavilion's Disdain, First Furnace Fails
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Yu Xian calmly walked away from the Spiritual Herb Pavilion.
The quarrels, insults, and even brawls happening inside had nothing to do with him.
He was just a buyer. When the quality of goods is the same, it’s natural to buy from whoever offers the lowest price.
No emotional attachment whatsoever.
Even choosing not to bargain for a discount of ten spirit stones, instead letting the other party win ten more, was simply following his father’s teaching—never push things to the extreme. That was all.
As for why he didn’t show compassion or offer a higher price, or consider how hard their lives might be?
Heh…
He strode familiarly toward the Alchemy Pavilion.
Yu Xian was going to rent an alchemy chamber.
This time, he planned to seriously and meticulously refine the Minor Spirit Pill a hundred times.
As for how many pills he would successfully produce, while Yu Xian did have some expectations, his heart remained calm.
Even if all one hundred batches of materials were wasted, it didn’t matter. These two thousand spirit stones were just his practice funds.
After walking for about the time it takes two incense sticks to burn, Yu Xian arrived once again at the Alchemy Pavilion.
The pavilion was still bustling with people.
Yu Xian walked straight to the young disciple who had sold him the Complete Compendium of Pills and the Myriad Pill Manual last time. With a smile, he said, “Senior Brother, I’d like to rent an alchemy chamber.”
That young disciple had been chatting with someone but quickly turned around when he heard the voice, spotting Yu Xian immediately.
Yu Xian had left quite an impression on him—such an earnest person was rare.
So, seeing it was Yu Xian, the disciple raised an eyebrow and grinned mockingly, “Oh? Isn’t this the alchemy genius? What, learned all the techniques in just eighteen days? Ready to make a big move?”
“Yes.”
Yu Xian nodded sincerely, smiling brightly. “I want to rent a chamber. Please show me the way.”
“Uh…”
The disciple’s mocking grin froze.
He looked at Yu Xian with suspicion. “You’re seriously renting a chamber?”
“Mm.”
Yu Xian nodded again.
“Heh. Hahaha…”
The disciple burst into laughter, shaking his head like he was looking at an idiot. “Sure, sure. You want to rent? Of course, we’ve got one. Come on, alchemy genius, follow me.”
Ignoring the heavy sarcasm in his tone, Yu Xian calmly followed him into the rear hall of the pavilion.
The alchemy chambers were specially designed for outer sect disciples to practice or for disciples of the Alchemy Pavilion to experiment and refine pills.
The pill furnaces within the chambers were only second-grade artifacts—very ordinary, offering no real enhancement to pill success rates.
Only true masters and alchemists had their own furnaces—third-grade, fourth-grade, even spiritual-grade ones—which could significantly boost pill refinement.
The young man soon led Yu Xian into the back chamber area.
It was a row of heavy stone rooms, each completely sealed by an array-protected stone door—fully isolated from the outside world.
“The chambers are categorized by rank,” the disciple said with a chuckle. “The best is the Heaven-grade chamber. Rental rate? Fifty spirit stones per hour.”
He smirked, “That’s where someone once refined a Foundation Establishment Pill. You should just rent that one, alchemy genius.”
Yu Xian ignored the sarcasm and pointed at a chamber down the middle of the row. “Too expensive. Something reasonable will do.”
The young man curled his lips in disdain and pointed at the last room. “No money but want to refine pills? That’s Mortal-Grade Chamber 13—eight spirit stones per hour. Go play there.”
Yu Xian acted like he hadn’t heard the nonsense at all.
After a brief thought, he pointed to another chamber. “What about Earth-Grade Chamber 4? How much per hour?”
“Twenty spirit stones an hour.”
The young man rolled his eyes, clearly annoyed. “Why ask so many questions? Are you renting or not?”
“Yes. That one.”
Yu Xian nodded. “I’ll take it for forty-eight hours.”
“Four… what?”
The disciple blinked. “You said forty-eight hours!?”
“Yes.”
Yu Xian confirmed, walking toward Earth-Grade Chamber 4.
“Are you crazy? What kind of pill needs that much time? That’s nearly a hundred spirit stones! You could buy dozens of pills with that!”
The disciple snapped out of it and rushed after him, yelling in disbelief.
Yu Xian simply tossed a storage pouch at him. “The spirit stones are inside. Open the door.”
Catching the pouch in a panic, the young man channeled a bit of spiritual energy inside—and his eyes lit up.
Eight mid-grade spirit stones!
“Well, well, what do we have here…”
He chuckled awkwardly, his expression shifting into professionalism. “Right away, alchemy genius! From now on, if you need pills, recipes, or rooms—just come find me, Hu Xiaoxuan. I’m your guy!”
With that, Hu Xiaoxuan performed a series of hand seals. A moment later, the stone door of Chamber 4 slowly creaked open.
“Please enter, alchemy genius! May your refinements go smoothly and every furnace succeed!”
“Thank you for your kind words, Senior Brother Hu.”
Yu Xian smiled. “But I’m not an alchemy genius. My name is Yu Xian.”
With that, he stepped into the chamber. The stone door closed with a thunderous boom, sealed shut until the forty-eight hours were up.
The chamber was tightly sealed and array-protected because pill refinement must not be disturbed.
“Yu Xian… huh. Just another spoiled rich boy with spirit stones to burn. Easy profit for me.”
Hu Xiaoxuan’s smile vanished the moment the door shut.
He sneered, full of disdain.
In his eyes, Yu Xian was probably the descendant of some inner sect elder, forced to start in the outer sect just to keep up appearances.
He had always looked down on people like this—living off their family names, wasting resources, totally useless!
But deep down, he envied them the most.
“Go ahead and waste all your spirit stones, little fool. I bet you won’t get a single successful batch! Hahaha!”
Scoffing once more at the stone door, Hu Xiaoxuan walked off, already imagining Yu Xian’s devastated face after forty-eight hours.
Meanwhile, Yu Xian made his way deeper into the chamber.
A luminous spirit pearl hung from the ceiling, glowing brightly. What would be a treasure in the mortal world was just basic lighting here.
In the main hall stood a five-foot-tall, four-foot-wide bronze pill furnace, gleaming with spiritual light—a genuine second-grade artifact.
To the left was a neat pile of bamboo charcoal.
To the right, a large vat of misty spring water—refining liquid essence.
Yu Xian sat cross-legged on the cushion before the furnace, took out his storage pouch, and laid out ten sets of ingredients for the Minor Spirit Pill.
Then he closed his eyes and began breathing calmly. After about fifteen minutes, he suddenly opened his eyes.
With a flick of his hand, spiritual energy surged, and several pieces of bamboo charcoal flew under the furnace. A Fireball Spell lit the fire, and the chamber quickly warmed up.
The furnace preheated for the time it takes half an incense stick to burn.
Then Yu Xian shouted softly, “Rise!”
One of the eleven herbs for the Minor Spirit Pill flew into the air. Yu Xian pointed with both hands, triggering its medicinal essence with spiritual energy, and threw it into the furnace.
Without pause, he followed the alchemical sequence he had practiced repeatedly. One by one, all eleven herbs were activated and tossed into the furnace.
With a final wave—
Boom!
The lid slammed shut. The fire roared. Fragrance wafted through the chamber, rich and medicinal.
Yu Xian’s face lit up. Could it be? Did he succeed on the first try?
“Pills, come forth!”
Timing precisely and controlling the heat, he waited for about thirty seconds before sending spiritual energy surging into the furnace.
Bang!
The lid burst open.
Out flew a blackened lump of something, landing right in front of him.
Yu Xian stared in shock. It was burnt to a crisp. Unrecognizable.
The light in his eyes faded. He shook his head with a bitter smile.
“Too much heat… it seems…”
Then, regaining his calm, Yu Xian adjusted the flame, lowered the heat, and took a deep breath.
Once more, he called out, and another set of eleven herbs flew up, ignited in turn by his hands.
The second attempt had begun.
