The messenger hawk was a first-tier spiritual bird purchased by the family from the Beast-Taming Pavilion in the Ling Kingdom. Slightly intelligent, it could travel 3,000 miles a day and was typically used by Qingyuan Mountain to communicate with various family outposts.
Since the hawk had arrived at Linghu Isle, it was clear that the family had an important message for Elian.
He fed the hawk a handful of spirit rice and retrieved the message tied to its claw. After reading it, his expression shifted slightly, revealing a trace of joy.
"It seems I need to make a trip back to Qingyuan Mountain."
The next morning, Elian packed up his belongings and activated the array on Linghu Isle to manage itself before setting off for Qingyuan Mountain.
Five days later, he arrived at Qingyuan Mountain. As soon as Third Elder Chen Qinghao saw him, his face lit up with delight.
"Good, good, good!" He grabbed Elian's hand, his expression filled with excitement.
"Your progress in cultivation is even more astonishing than Qingyuan's!"
"Thirteenth Uncle, you overpraise me," Elian replied humbly. Chen Qinghao was ranked thirteenth among the Qing generation, so Elian usually called him Thirteenth Uncle.
"I'm still far behind Uncle Qingyuan."
Seventh Elder Chen Qingyuan had been cultivating in Qingyang Sect for many years. Now thirty-four, he was said to be on the verge of breaking through to Foundation Establishment.
In Qingyang Sect, cultivators could exchange for Foundation Establishment Pills at a cost of just 10,000 contribution points, equivalent to 10,000 spirit stones—far more accessible than the tens of thousands of spirit stones the Chen family had spent to purchase one on the open market.
Furthermore, due to karmic debts owed by Qingyang Sect from sixty years ago, Chen Qingyuan's chances of successfully reaching Foundation Establishment were much higher than those of the Chen family's Qi Refinement cultivators.
"There's no need for modesty; your talent is undoubtedly superior to Qingyuan's."
"Unfortunately, the family doesn't have the resources to buy you a Foundation Establishment Pill."
Third Elder sighed before moving on to the matter at hand.
"The main reason I called you back this time is for the refining of Naqi Pills."
As Chen Qinghao explained, Elian nodded. Of the seventeen acres of spirit fields on Qingyuan Mountain, five were dedicated to growing Yunqi Grass.
Yunqi Grass was a mid-grade first-tier spiritual herb and the primary ingredient for Naqi Pills. These pills were essential for Qi Refinement cultivators, helping them break through bottlenecks, and they always sold well.
Every five years, the Yunqi Grass matured, yielding enough to refine fifty furnaces of Naqi Pills. This was one of the Chen family's most reliable sources of spirit stones from their herb garden.
The task of refining Naqi Pills had always fallen to Sixth Elder Chen Qingmeng, a high-grade first-tier alchemist with a success rate of over 60% when refining mid-grade first-tier pills. Each batch brought considerable profit.
However, with Chen Qingmeng's failure to establish his foundation and his future prospects limited, the family decided to train a new alchemist to ensure the continuity of their alchemical heritage.
Although Chen Qingmeng would still be responsible for this batch of Naqi Pills, Elian was to assist him and begin learning alchemy.
"This time, follow Sixth Elder closely and learn alchemy well," Chen Qinghao instructed as he led Elian to the family's alchemy room.
Inside, Elian saw Sixth Elder Chen Qingmeng for the first time in two years. During his time on Linghu Isle, he had rarely interacted with him.
Now, Chen Qingmeng appeared significantly older, a clear sign that his failure to reach Foundation Establishment had taken a heavy toll on him.
The failure had been a devastating blow. He owed the family 30,000 spirit stones, an insurmountable debt that had become a lingering burden, weighing heavily on him.
Chen Qingmeng noticed Elian, paused briefly, then sighed with a defeated expression.
"Come in. I've been waiting for you."
As soon as Elian entered, Chen Qingmeng began the alchemy process. With a large batch of pills to refine, the work was particularly demanding.
Elian's role was to sort and preprocess the herbs, including the Yunqi Grass and secondary ingredients. As a high-grade first-tier spirit planter, his understanding of herbal properties was on par with that of an alchemist of the same tier, allowing him to work quickly and efficiently.
Chen Qingmeng initially worked at his usual fast pace but slowed down upon noticing Elian carefully observing his technique. He patiently explained each step of the process.
At first, Elian barely understood, but as time went on, he began to respond with increasingly insightful questions and answers, earning nods of approval from Chen Qingmeng.
"It seems you have some talent for alchemy," Chen Qingmeng remarked.
Having reached the level of a high-grade first-tier alchemist by his forties, Chen Qingmeng was considered highly gifted in alchemy. His recognition of Elian's potential underscored the latter's aptitude.
Of course, Elian's expertise as a high-grade first-tier spirit planter also played a role. His deep understanding of herbal properties significantly lowered the barrier to entry for learning alchemy.
Soon, the first batch of pills was completed, yielding five Naqi Pills.
"Not bad," Chen Qingmeng said as he packed the pills into a porcelain bottle with satisfaction.
The first batch served to "warm up" the furnace, so its yield was typically lower. A 50% success rate was already quite good.
True to form, the success rate improved steadily in subsequent batches, with the second batch producing six pills.
Over the next six or seven days, the two of them worked tirelessly, eventually completing all fifty furnaces of Naqi Pills. The final yield was 336 pills.
"Finally done," Chen Qingmeng said with a sigh of relief as he surveyed the pills.
Elian couldn't help but admire the results.
"This success rate is nearing 70%. Twenty-Sixth Uncle, you might be ready to attempt becoming a second-tier alchemist."
Generally, achieving a 60% success rate with mid-grade first-tier pills indicated a 30% success rate with high-grade first-tier pills—a benchmark for advancing to the next tier.
"It's not that simple. I'm still far from it," Chen Qingmeng replied, shaking his head, though a smile crept onto his face.
"Still, 336 pills—30 more than usual—is the highest yield in sixty years."
"Even though I failed to reach Foundation Establishment, advancing to the tenth level of Qi Refinement has clearly helped my alchemy."
After they finished, Third Elder Chen Qinghao inspected the pills.
Naqi Pills slightly increased the chances of Qi Refinement cultivators breaking through bottlenecks, making them highly sought after in Yuyang County. Each pill sold for more than five spirit stones.
The 336 pills would bring in over 1,600 spirit stones, providing a significant financial boost to the family.
"An excellent year," Chen Qinghao remarked with joy.
"With the new year approaching and Elian back, let's hold a family assembly."