. Su Yun once again declined Kuang Tang's invitation.
His progress in cultivation over the years had given him some confidence. The Mitel family, a mere family, was not worthy of his reliance.
Su Yun left the Mitel Auction House and headed for the Alchemist Guild.
He had long been planning to refine the strange fire. He had previously asked Luo Qianchen and Kuang Tang to retrieve the Ice Spirit Cold Spring.
Kuang Tang hadn't received any news yet, but Luo Qianchen did have a clue.
Alchemists, after all, had broader connections. Although Kuang Tang was a member of the Mitel family, he was only a Grand Master and had no access to the Mitel family's power.
According to the news Luo Qianchen had sent a few days ago, the Ice Spirit Cold Spring should be in his possession today.
His increased strength and the Ice Spirit Cold Spring were a double blessing.
He came to the Alchemist Guild and met Luo Qianchen.
"This is what you want."
Luo Qianchen stroked his beard and pulled the Ice Spirit Cold Spring from his ring.
Su Yun beamed with joy as he stored the Ice Spirit Cold Spring into his system space.
"Thank you for troubling Elder Luo this time."
Luo Qianchen was curious, unsure what Su Yun wanted from the Ice Spirit Cold Spring.
The Ice Spirit Cold Spring was a rare item; it was just a coincidence that an old friend, at the Douling level, had it; otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to obtain it.
However, while rare, it wasn't particularly useful for alchemy. After all, alchemists were all fire-attributed Douling masters, and ice-attributed spiritual objects weren't very useful to them.
Although curious, Luo Qianchen didn't pry; after all, everyone had their secrets.
Su Yun retrieved a fourth-grade elixir recipe from the system space and handed it to Luo Qianchen.
"Elder Luo, this is the fourth-grade elixir recipe I wrote down with my soul power recently. Consider it your reward."
Luo Qianchen was surprised. "For me?"
You know, elixir recipes aren't easy to create. They're not something you can just write down on parchment.
Instead, the alchemist must use their soul power to write down the recipe on a specially crafted scroll. This is a challenging task, often with a high failure rate.
For example, the copy of the recipe for the Three-Striped Green Spirit Pill that Fa Ma gave Xiao Yan took Fa Ma a long time to write down, and it was only a single-use model.
"Master Luo, please accept this. The Ice Spirit Cold Spring will be of great use to me, and you deserve it."
Luo Qianchen, unable to suppress his desire, took the scroll from Su Yun.
"Then I'll take it."
Luo Qianchen placed the scroll in his ring, a smile spreading across his face, giving him a friendly air.
Su Yun nodded upon seeing Luo Qianchen accept it.
This item is indeed extremely valuable to ordinary alchemists, but to him, it was quite common.
The difficulty in writing down the recipe lies primarily in the high failure rate, but Master Yao was so experienced that he succeeded on his first try, without spending much time.
The saying "an elder in the family is like a treasure" makes perfect sense. He had previously considered obtaining Xiao Yan's storage ring.
After all, he had Yao Lao's memories, but not his connections.
But he'd only dared to think about it and eventually gave up.
After all, time was running out. When Yao Lao was conscious, he was only at the level of a Grand Master.
If he had any intentions towards Xiao Yan, Xiao Xun'er would likely teach him a lesson.
However, the pros and cons were hard to predict. If he truly became involved with Yao Lao, he would immediately come into conflict with the Soul Palace.
This was not something he wanted. With his small stature, he couldn't afford to appear within the Soul Palace's sight right now.
He was also using Han Li's fake identity to contact Xiao Yan, partly due to this consideration.
However, a confrontation with the Soul Palace was inevitable.
In other words, any alchemist, especially a high-level one, would inevitably come into conflict with the Soul Palace.
After all, this evil force particularly enjoyed harvesting powerful souls...
Su Yun regained his composure and didn't dwell on this matter too much.
It's too early to consider such things.
Su Yun told Luo Qianchen some more about his experience in achieving the fourth-grade alchemist level. Just as he was wrapping up and about to leave, Luo Qianchen asked.
"Speaking of which, there's something I've wanted to ask you for a long time."
"Master Luo, why don't you just be frank,"
Su Yun said. He had a very good impression of Luo Qianchen. When Kuang Tang had been unable to obtain some medicinal herbs, it was Luo Qianchen who had found them for him.
"Do you have any secret method to increase one's stature?"
Luo Qianchen couldn't help but ask.
He was a rather curious person, so he didn't ask about the Ice Spirit Cold Spring.
However, Su Yun's height had significantly increased since they first met, and since Su Yun hadn't concealed it, it shouldn't be a secret.
"Oh, that's what you're talking about.
To be honest, this is a fourth-grade elixir I developed myself. It's called the Height-Increasing Elixir. Long-term use can increase one's stature."
Luo Qianchen suddenly realized that elixirs were truly magical.
Yan Li had also used a pill at the Alchemist Conference that could change one's form and appearance, apparently nothing new to those on the Dou Qi Continent.
Su Yun nodded, said goodbye to Luo Qianchen, and returned home.
For a long time afterwards, Su Yun cultivated.
Occasionally, as before, he would journey to the Demonic Beast Mountain Range to battle monsters, strengthening his foundation.
Six months passed like this.
Su Yun's strength didn't improve much, after all, some of his energy was devoted to strengthening his foundation. Furthermore, the Grand Dou Shi stage wasn't as easy as the Dou Zhe and Dou Shi stages. In six months, he'd only broken through to the second star level, and now was only an eight-star Grand Dou Shi. Luo
Qianchen would probably be shocked if he knew of this pace.
In the Xiao family's backyard, Su Yun was visiting the Xiao family.
"Master,"
Xiao Yan looked at Su Yun, forcing a smile through his bitter face.
Xiao Yan had the utmost respect for Su Yun. He was deeply touched that he had helped the Xiao family and him, simply out of his grandfather's kindness.
He had already been labeled a loser for a year.
The mocking looks and sarcastic smiles of his clan members during this time had made him grow greatly, and he cherished his father, Xun'er, Master Han, and others even more.
These were the people who had helped him during his lowest moments; they were the ones he should truly cherish.
Thinking of the lows, Xiao Yan chuckled to himself. Would he ever see the brighter days again?
"Still no progress?"
Su Yun asked Xiao Yan.
He didn't always personally hand the elixir to Xiao Yan.
This visit was a routine check-in for the employees in the talent pool.
This allowed him to remain unemployed, allowing him to work diligently when a vacancy arises.
Xiao Yan smiled wryly.
"It's still the same. Every time I cultivate, I gather a burst of Dou Qi, but it dissipates immediately."
"Alas," Su Yun feigned helplessness, like a superior comforting a subordinate. "
The bridge will straighten itself out when it reaches the end. There will be a way,"
he continued, not forgetting to offer some promises.
"The meaning of hard work is to seize opportunities when they arise. Keep going. I'm counting on you."
Finally, Su Yun patted Xiao Yan on the shoulder in encouragement.
(End of this chapter)