Brilliant rays of morning light lit up the horizon as a new day quietly dawned.
Inside the dormitory, Zhu Ziyang's face beamed with joy. He retracted his soul power, extinguishing the flame in the pill furnace, then eagerly reached out and lifted the lid. The furnace was still scorching hot, yet he didn't hesitate—ice crystals instantly formed around his hand, freezing the furnace and dropping the temperature in an instant.
Ultimate Ice—Absolute Zero!
The moment the lid was lifted, a fragrant aroma wafted out, filling the entire dorm room. It instantly revitalized Zhu Ziyang, who hadn't slept all night, his eyes sparkling with excitement.
Pill fragrance!
Zhu Ziyang flipped the furnace, letting dozens of greenish pills, speckled with traces of black, pour onto the furnace lid.
He was overcome with joy. Looking at the pile of pills, he couldn't hide his excitement.
"One… two… three… eleven!" Zhu Ziyang counted softly, his voice growing more and more thrilled. "There are actually eleven finished pills! With this success rate, I must be a pill refining genius! Hahaha!"
Out of this batch of Essence Gathering Pills, eleven were successful and ten were failures. A success rate over fifty percent! For a novice refining pills for the first time, surpassing fifty percent was more than enough to call himself a genius.
"Haha, let's test the effect first!" Zhu Ziyang placed the eleven pills into a jade bottle and tossed the ten failed ones into the furnace bottom as fuel. Then, he picked one pill and swallowed it, sitting cross-legged on his bed to begin cultivating.
The moment the pill entered his stomach, Zhu Ziyang felt his soul power tremble joyfully. As it circulated, the surrounding elemental energy was continuously drawn into his body.
He immediately entered a cultivation state.
——
By the time he finished cultivating, it was nearly noon. Luckily, it was a rest day, or he would've surely been punished for skipping class. Not that he cared about such trivial matters—he was grinning widely.
He'd broken through!
Yes, after consuming one Essence Gathering Pill, he had successfully broken through to level 36. Although he had already been close to the threshold, the pill's effect was undeniable. Without it, he would've needed at least a week to break through.
"Excellent! The effect is far better than recorded in the formula! Looks like I didn't waste all those high-quality ingredients!" Zhu Ziyang's tone brimmed with excitement. Glancing at the remaining materials, he said, "In that case, let's refine the rest into Essence Gathering Pills too!"
Creak—
Just as he was preparing to begin his second batch, the dorm door opened. Jiang Nannan walked in from outside.
"Ah! Brother, you finished cultivating!" Jiang Nannan's face lit up when she saw Zhu Ziyang standing by the pill furnace. She hurried over with delight.
"It's Nannan. Perfect timing! Come, look at the pills your brother just refined!" Zhu Ziyang greeted her with a smile. He wasn't surprised—he had given her a key to his dorm. He held up the Essence Gathering Pills in front of her.
"These are Essence Gathering Pills?" Jiang Nannan's eyes sparkled like gold when she saw the green pills radiating fragrance. "There are so many! These should sell for a good amount, right?"
Zhu Ziyang hadn't hidden his plan to make money through pill refining, so she already knew and fully supported him.
"Of course!" Zhu Ziyang grinned.
"That's amazing!" Jiang Nannan said happily, placing the lunch box she brought on the table. "Let's eat first, brother."
"Sure." Zhu Ziyang smiled at the food and happily dug in.
Jiang Nannan sat beside him, watching quietly as he devoured the meal, a look of quiet satisfaction on her face.
After he finished eating, while Jiang Nannan cleaned up, Zhu Ziyang took out five Essence Gathering Pills and placed them in a new bottle.
"Nannan, these five are for you." He handed them over with a reminder. "Remember, each pill lasts one week. One pill at a time. Don't take more than one a week, understand?"
"Mm-hmm! Got it!" Jiang Nannan accepted them without hesitation and agreed with a smile. Their relationship had long since surpassed formalities—no need for polite refusals.
"Good. You can head back to your dorm now. I'm going to continue refining. Once I make more, I'll send some to Mom and Dad. Then we'll find a trade union to sell the rest."
"Okay!" Jiang Nannan nodded with anticipation. Holding the lunchbox, she said, "Then I'll head back. I'll come again at dinnertime."
"Go on," said Zhu Ziyang.
——
One week later.
"Phew… finally finished refining all the materials." Zhu Ziyang let out a long breath, his face relaxed and content.
He turned to the empty bed beside his own, where over twenty jade bottles lay, each filled with Essence Gathering Pills. In the span of one week, he had refined a total of 137 pills. Aside from the first batch of eleven, the second yielded fourteen, and the third eighteen. Every batch after that had a one hundred percent success rate.
He separated the batch, setting aside one hundred for sale and keeping thirty-seven for personal cultivation. Of those, twenty would be sent to Zhu Changhe and Liang Ying. The remaining seventeen he would save for after he met with Xia Yu.
After all, he would continue refining.
With that thought, he placed the 120 pills into his emerald jade bracelet, and the other seventeen into Xia Yu's soul tool ring. He then prepared to go find Xia Yu.
Just then, Jiang Nannan arrived.
"Brother, where are you headed?" she asked, a bit surprised.
"Going to find Brother Yu." Zhu Ziyang smiled, patting her hair.
"Oh! I'll go with you!" she said, stepping forward and placing his uniform on the bed. Then she looped her arm through his affectionately.
"Alright," he replied.
The two headed for the teaching building.
Freshman Teaching Building, Teacher's Office.
"…These are the pills you refined?" Xia Yu held an Essence Gathering Pill in his hand. His expression was full of surprise, amazement, and delight. "Kid, you really opened my eyes!"
"Hehe!" Zhu Ziyang grinned proudly. "Of course."
"If I'm not wrong, this Essence Gathering Pill enhances soul power cultivation efficiency. As for quality, probably a low-grade pill? Am I right?" Xia Yu sniffed the pill and correctly guessed its function and grade.
"Exactly. Great eye, Brother Yu!" Zhu Ziyang praised him honestly. "In your opinion, what's the market value of this pill?"
"Oh?" Xia Yu raised his brows and thought for a moment. "I'm no professional appraiser, but based on its effects, it far exceeds other pills of similar quality. Plus, it's a lost formula. I'd say… at least thirty thousand gold soul coins per pill!"
"Really?" Zhu Ziyang's eyes lit up, beaming with joy.
"Actually…" Xia Yu lifted a brow and smiled. "If you trust me, I can purchase the entire batch on behalf of the Flowing Cloud Trading Guild. Since you're my student, I'll offer fifty thousand gold soul coins per pill!"
"What!" Zhu Ziyang was stunned, staring wide-eyed at Xia Yu like he was joking. Fifty thousand? That price didn't even exist on the market! Calming down, he asked, "Why? That kind of price is guaranteed to lose money. What's your motive?"
"Haha!" Xia Yu laughed. "Consider it an investment."
"I see." Zhu Ziyang immediately understood and accepted. "Then let's do it. These are the pills I've refined."
"This!" Xia Yu's eyes widened as he saw all the jade bottles. "Whoa… just how many are there?"
(End of Chapter)
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