"Help me? Aren't you overestimating yourself? You're just a tiny human. Even if you're an Alchemist, I don't think your current rank can be of much help to me."
Queen Medusa wasn't swayed by Yan Qingshan's words. She remained quite calm, expressing her distrust towards him.
Yan Qingshan calmly stated, "As a Fifth-Grade Alchemist, of course, I can't be of much help to the Queen, but my Heavenly Flame can. And... I can help the Snake-people Race leave the Tager Desert."
"You're a Fifth-Grade Alchemist!" Both Queen Medusa and Hua Shen'er were astonished.
The status of a Fifth-Grade Alchemist was not low. Looking at the entire Jia Ma Empire, there were no more than three Alchemists above Fourth-Grade, and this included the Pill King Gu He, a Sixth-Grade Alchemist.
Although Yan Qingshan was not a Sixth-Grade Alchemist, considering his young age, his potential was surely even greater. In time, it might not be impossible for him to surpass Pill King Gu He.
Yan Qingshan shrugged, "It's true. My presence at the Divine Hall today to cooperate with the Snake-people Race is also in hopes that the Queen can provide me with materials. I believe that with the Snake-people Race's long-standing foundation, you can help my alchemy skills advance rapidly."
"You certainly have a good plan!"
Queen Medusa snorted displeasedly, but she seemed somewhat moved. The Snake-people Race had been trapped in this vast desert for many years. Although they had collected many rare resources, most of them could not be fully utilized because they lacked Alchemists.
For an Alchemist to improve their alchemy skills, the best way was to continuously refine pills. However, continuously refining pills had an extremely high failure rate and was, in essence, a money-burning process. Therefore, most Alchemists would choose to cooperate with a major force.
Now, Yan Qingshan also seemed to have such intentions: to cooperate with the Snake-people Race, not only to help Queen Medusa undergo her transformation but also to have the Snake-people Race open their treasure vault to him, allowing him to obtain a large number of medicinal ingredients for practice.
"Does the Queen agree?"
Yan Qingshan smiled. He wasn't worried about Queen Medusa disagreeing, because his conditions were already excellent, and he possessed the Heavenly Flame that Queen Medusa desperately needed.
The Green Lotus Core Flame had been completely refined by him. If Queen Medusa wanted to use the Green Lotus Core Flame for her transformation, she could only cooperate with him.
Of course, the Snake-people Race could also choose to try and kill him to seize the Heavenly Flame, but doing so would only introduce unforeseen variables. If Yan Qingshan were to detonate the Heavenly Flame during a crisis, the entire Snake-people Divine Hall would be destroyed along with him.
Furthermore, if their encirclement failed and he escaped, the grudge of a young Fifth-Grade Alchemist was not something to be trifled with. As long as the high-ranking members of the Snake-people Race weren't foolish, they wouldn't do such a stupid thing.
Queen Medusa was also a decisive individual and quickly made her decision. "I will need three months to prepare the secret method. During these three months, all of my Snake-people Race's medicinal ingredients will be at your disposal. Of the successfully refined pills, my Snake-people Race will take 50%.
However, you cannot casually experiment with overly advanced medicinal ingredients and waste the ingredients obtained at the cost of my Snake-people Race's lives.
Hua Shen'er, take him to the medicine treasury."
Queen Medusa warned him at the end. She was well aware that many Alchemists had the bad habit of experimenting with pill formulas. Some Alchemists particularly liked to experiment with strange and extremely advanced pill formulas, many of which they couldn't master at the moment but used to accumulate experience.
In such cases, some major powers unknowingly became the scapegoats. Although the Snake-people Race's accumulated wealth over the years was considerable, it certainly couldn't withstand such waste, so she had to warn Yan Qingshan. After the warning, she then had Hua Shen'er take Yan Qingshan to get the medicine, not knowing what intentions she had.
Within a quiet chamber underground in the Snake-people Race Divine Hall in the Tager Desert, Yan Qingshan sat cross-legged before a rather ancient medicinal cauldron, refining pills. One after another, medicinal ingredients were thrown into the cauldron, and pills were rapidly drawn out and collected into jade bottles.
The biggest difference between Yan Qingshan's alchemy and that of others was that once he succeeded, his efficiency in progressing would greatly increase. For others, the success rate of refining a certain pill would slowly improve, but once he succeeded once, the probability of future failures would be extremely small.
All of this was thanks to the power of Dawn, which, by analyzing failures and summarizing successes, verifying data, and completing the generalization of successful refining methods for a certain type of pill for himself, greatly reduced his failure rate.
The role of Dawn was far from limited to this. With its assistance, Yan Qingshan's alchemy proceeded as smoothly as flowing water, as efficient as industrial production. In just a short while, only a pile of empty medicine bottles and a few dregs remained in the quiet chamber.
"Come in!"
Yan Qingshan's gaze shifted, then he put nearly 30% of the medicine bottles on the ground into his storage ring, and then called out. The tightly shut door was pushed open, and two swaying, graceful snake-women slithered in. Besides Hua Shen'er, another curvaceous snake-woman Dou King had also been arranged by Queen Medusa to be present.
"Young Master Yan's alchemy is truly profound. I've never seen an Alchemist with such a success rate as yours!"
A fiery-figured woman smiled alluringly at Yan Qingshan. Her long hair carried a faint fragrance, her fair shoulders were largely exposed, and her delicate, flawless skin appeared even more seductive under the firelight.
She moved with graceful twists and turns, her taut waist demonstrating extreme flexibility and suppleness. It was hard to imagine what kind of breathtaking curves that supple waist would create on a bed.
A green snake tail swayed slightly, exuding a mysterious allure. Her voluptuous figure was exquisitely curved, even more domineeringly so than Queen Medusa's, embodying both enchantress and charm. The allure of this woman, in Yan Qingshan's impression, could only be rivaled by Ya Fei.
However, Yan Qingshan would not let her charm distract him from her identity: Yue Mei, one of the Snake-people Race's Eight Great Leaders. She was not only a beauty second only to Queen Medusa but also a powerful Dou King expert, and the Snake-people Race's strongest female expert of this generation, second only to the Queen.
"Elder Sister Hua Shen'er! Commander Yue Mei! As agreed, half of these are yours."
Yan Qingshan wasn't overly enthusiastic, merely pointing at the jade bottles placed on the stone platform on the ground. According to his agreement with the Snake-people Race, the successfully refined pills would be split fifty-fifty.
Generally, if an Alchemist could achieve a success rate of over 30%, they would already make a substantial profit. Yan Qingshan's success rate, once he was proficient, exceeded 90%. If this result were to be revealed, it would definitely not be a good thing.
So he played a trick: he first collected about 30%, making it seem like his success rate was around 60-70%. Although a success rate over 50% was still quite shocking, most of these were Fourth-Grade Pills, with very few Fifth-Grade Pills. While the success rate was still relatively high, it wasn't too outrageous.
"Hehe..."
Yue Mei laughed and approached Yan Qingshan. Suddenly, she twisted her slender waist and placed her hands on his shoulders, leaning her exquisite head closer with slightly parted red lips.
"Young Master Yan, you're so biased! You call Hua Shen'er 'Elder Sister,' but when it comes to me, I'm 'Commander Yue Mei.' I'm so hurt!"
"Is this amusing?"
Yan Qingshan glanced at Yue Mei coldly. At this moment, her green snake tail swayed on Yan Qingshan's left side, while most of her body was on his right, as if she was circling his back almost completely, demonstrating the extreme flexibility and suppleness of her slender waist.
Queen Medusa was preparing to use a secret method to forcibly break through. Because Yan Qingshan was present, she was uneasy, so she naturally secretly recalled the Eight Great Leaders to guard the Divine Hall. Yue Mei had naturally arrived then and was later sent to be with Hua Shen'er by Yan Qingshan's side.
This woman was not an easy character to deal with. Several times after she arrived, she seemed to be tempting Yan Qingshan, but he remained unmoved and indifferent.
It wasn't that he was cold or anything, but he knew very well that someone like Yue Mei was definitely a seasoned veteran of romantic encounters; ordinary tactics would only lead to him being toyed with without gaining any advantage.
Yan Qingshan had come to this Snake-people Divine Hall with a different purpose. 'Seducing' Hua Shen'er was merely an impromptu decision because she had little experience in romance and was more 'innocent,' making her easier to approach.
As for the others, both Queen Medusa and Yue Mei were shrewd. Spending effort might not yield any returns. It was better to maintain a respectful but distant, cold attitude, which might instead pique their desire for comparison and competition.
"Have the medicinal ingredients I need been brought?"
Yan Qingshan sat cross-legged, a frown indicating a hint of displeasure, and his words, after turning his head, carried a touch of dissatisfaction.
"How dare this humble one neglect Young Master Yan's matters! Look, my arm is even red from fetching this Sand's Datura for you!"
As Yue Mei's storage ring glowed, a pale yellow plant was handed to Yan Qingshan, while her fair, lotus-root-like arm and her delicate head, exhaling warm breaths, leaned close.
This plant was coiled like a long yellow snake, with its raised 'snakehead' at the top. On the 'snakehead,' a fist-sized bulge protruded slightly. This bulge was the most concentrated essence of the entire plant.
The Sand's Datura was a unique and rare medicinal ingredient found only in the Tager Desert, and it was also an important material for refining the Sixth-Grade Breaking Adversity Pill.
Yan Qingshan had searched some suspected locations during his journey in the desert but found no trace. The Snake-people Race's abilities were indeed impressive, as they had found one in just a few days.
"Remember to close the door when you leave. Don't disturb me for the next half month."
Yan Qingshan took the Sand's Datura and immediately gave the order to leave. Yue Mei was about to speak but was directly swept out by a blast of Dou Qi. However, when bidding farewell to Hua Shen'er, Yan Qingshan displayed tenderness and special treatment.
This differential treatment, of course, displeased Yue Mei, but before she could say anything, the stone door of the quiet chamber slammed shut with a bang. Yan Qingshan then began preparing for the next round of alchemy.
Inside the quiet chamber, Yan Qingshan successively laid out the medicinal ingredients before him. A faint yellow, ancient pill formula floated in mid-air, a shimmering light dancing above it, displaying the refining method repeatedly.
After an unknown period, Yan Qingshan finally settled his mind and began working. One by one, medicinal ingredients were drawn into the medicinal cauldron. The Sixth-Grade Breaking Adversity Pill—he was now attempting to break through, attempting to refine a Sixth-Grade Pill.