Boom!
An explosion echoed from Bai Fanxian's workshop for who knows which time that day. Liu Yianfei and Sword Master Zheng Renyi, exchanging techniques at the seaside, turned toward the chaotic sounds, then back to each other with dry smiles.
"That should be the sixth time..."
"You just went out on an errand and came back... if counting from this morning, that's the thirteenth time already." The old man sheathed his sword and sighed.
At the same time, he looked toward his granddaughter sitting not far away. Mei Ying sat in meditation with her eyes closed and a serious expression. In her hands was some kind of mineral stone—a treasure from Bai Fanxian. Inside her body, a pill worked continuously, releasing energy.
"Already 9th-stage?"
Even the old man was surprised. In just a few days, his granddaughter had developed this far. That young lady's treasures and pills remained as astonishing as ever.
But what troubled him most was that even though Mei Ying developed rapidly, he'd only learned after talking with Bai Fanxian that she had a certain problem.
This child's qi accumulation was lower than standard!
Therefore, aside from having less qi than others, when she released it—either it ran out completely, or it was barely noticeable.
Like yesterday when she released all her qi during the pill refinement process—though fortunately it succeeded, she collapsed afterward and gasped for several minutes.
Previously, he'd only taught Mei Ying forms. Otherwise, he would've noticed earlier. So now, while the other children were busy making cauldrons explode or freeze solid, she had to spend time sitting and absorbing pill power and treasures like this.
"Seems like forcing her cultivation level up too quickly isn't a good thing." Liu Yianfei sat down to rest and wiped sweat with a towel. He and Sword Master Zheng Renyi, being fellow swordsmen, had become close quickly.
"Yes... what increased was just the capacity. But the qi accumulated in the body just couldn't keep up."
The old man shook his head. Mei Ying's cultivation increased by leaps and bounds because of the pills' influence. It was a special case that didn't happen often. If compared visually, it was like the size of a glass expanding but the water in the glass not increasing accordingly. She needed time to refill that water until the glass was full again.
"So how's the situation outside?" Zheng Renyi had become extremely happy living in this house. It was safe for his granddaughter, and people left them alone. But it also had a downside—he barely received any news from the outside world.
Except when the Marshal visited, or when he watched television in the living room. Though he didn't know where that man had disappeared to for many days either.
"Right now you can find cultivators on the streets everywhere. Most are people who just reached Qi Gathering stage. Because of support from the government and the Alchemist Association, the number of cultivators in the country has increased many times over."
Liu Yianfei recounted while drinking water.
"This fast? It's been less than a month." The old man was surprised by the speed the young General mentioned. Did this mean the new generation had more cultivation talent than them?
Suddenly, there was a small wing-flapping sound above their heads. Dragon Queen in Little Red form flew down from the sky. She used her small wings to snatch the water glass from Liu Yianfei's hand and flew off to drink comfortably.
"You can't compare yourselves with them... Right now the world's gradually changing. The life force of this world is recovering since she woke up. Maybe before long, you'll be able to reach the next level too?"
Dragon Queen drank the water dry, then flew away as if she'd just come to amuse herself. Left behind were only two Grandmasters surprised by her words.
Boom!
Before the two could continue conversing, another explosion echoed from Bai Fanxian's workshop area. They turned to look at each other and spoke simultaneously:
"That's the fourteenth time..."
.
.
.
In the workshop, Hui'er now had tears welling up in both eyes. Her hands reached out to grab the cauldron fragments that had just exploded and scattered, full of regret.
Since this morning, it had been over ten cauldrons already. But no matter how hard she tried, her abundant Yang qi would always create problems in the final step. She'd used the weakest fire and added more Yin-element raw materials than before, but it still didn't work—some pill formulas were almost distorted.
As for Tang Yeye, it wasn't much different. Except hers was better—her case just made the cauldrons freeze. So she just needed to chip it away and could still bring back some cauldrons in good condition to use.
Bai Fanxian felt a headache coming from these two little disciples and their opposite extremes. But she couldn't blame the children—it wasn't their fault. Both of their qi was too special. Normally, people with qi like this rarely chose to become alchemists.
Or if they really chose to become one, each of their alchemy methods would have unexpected characteristics.
The young woman looked toward her several alchemy cauldrons placed on the shelf. They were old ones she no longer used. Truth be told, she wanted to give them to these children and be done with it. Because those cauldrons were so durable—without Transcendent-level power, there was no way to damage them.
But it would be the children who got injured because of these cauldrons instead. High-level cauldrons were double-edged swords. They could help increase alchemy success for alchemists. But at the same time, they required enormous energy as payment. And that energy wasn't something beginner alchemists at only Qi Gathering or Martial Artist level could afford to use.
That's why beginner alchemists, no matter how great their backing family, all started from practice cauldrons.
But that didn't mean low-level cauldrons weren't good. Everything was in the alchemist's skill. Bai Fanxian had already demonstrated by using an ordinary cauldron to refine the Tier 4 Heaven-Defying Revival pill before.
"...You two rest for today."
Bai Fanxian waved her hand once. The scattered cauldron fragments and herbs gathered together and cleaned themselves up neatly. Hui'er, who at first just had tears welling, almost really cried because she thought my lady had given up on them.
The young woman looked at both little ones standing dejectedly in the room's corner. She sighed and extended both hands to gently pat their heads.
"Don't worry. Controlling Yin and Yang in the body can be practiced. If your cultivation level rises, controlling them freely won't be a problem at all."
Bai Fanxian explained patiently, and the children started feeling encouraged. Both looked up at Bai Fanxian hopefully again.
The truth was, both children had Yin and Yang in their qi that were far too concentrated. This imbalance completely overshadowed any other balance. If they went to refine pills that needed elemental strengths, like extreme Yang pills or extreme Yin pills, there probably wouldn't be problems—it would even enhance the pill properties.
But for ordinary pills, it was impossible—for now.
"Then can we try one more time? We still want to practice more." Hui'er was the one who spoke up, with younger Tang Yeye nodding vigorously beside her.
"No..." Bai Fanxian's unexpected refusal made the little ones' faces fall.
But the young woman quickly gave the reason:
"...There are no practice cauldrons left... Go tell Uncle Huang to call Sun Mingchuan for another batch of cauldrons."
"..."
.
.
.
In a building with a room resembling a research station, a young man in a white lab coat was busy with a cauldron placed on a table. The moment he opened the lid, it radiated heat, making sweat drip down the face under the mask.
"...Almost successful."
The young man murmured softly. He used tools to mix raw materials to coat the inside of the cauldron until it was smooth and uniform. The heat radiating out started noticeably decreasing. But it still had warmth that could be felt.
"...Phew."
Seeing the work nearing completion, he sighed and removed his mask. He walked to open the window to ventilate, then opened the computer to check news in the online world.
"Who's going to compete in this alchemy competition?"
"I think I'll enter the under Tier 2 division!"
"I'm still a beginner. Should I try entering to get experience?"
"Everyone! Go look at the program announcement quickly!"
"What? Why so shocked?"
"Holy crap!? The Alchemy Empress is going to be an honorary judge!"
"Is that true?"
"Then I definitely have to participate!"
"Me too!"
The young man watched the excited group chat. This place was none other than the "Alchemy Empress Fan Group," which now had many times more members than before.
"I'll compete too! I'll show everyone the results of the Empress's advice."
He typed into the comment box and quickly closed the screen. He was the same young man who'd opened a booth at the Alchemist Association seminar that day and had the honor of being the "first booth" that Bai Fanxian demolished.
After returning, he'd started researching frantically. He wasn't angry at being criticized by the young woman at all. Instead, he focused on one of her statements.
Previously, he'd focused too much on Yang element intensity to make the pill refine quickly. But the result showed that even high Tier 2 pills still exploded because the pill's balance collapsed.
So he adjusted his thinking. He focused on enhancing durability and refining only "pills below Tier 2" instead.
If his cauldron was designed to refine only low-level pills, for mass production to fit this era of cultivators just beginning, he could reduce the Yang power proportion further. But enhance stability instead, so it wouldn't reduce pill properties much. And still keep the concept of a cauldron that could reduce refining time.
He was proud of this work nearing completion. Just then, a strange number called.
"Hello?"
The young man answered with surprise. Normally, not many people called him. Wondering who was calling, he heard a clear, sweet voice full of calmness ring out from the line.
"...Hello."
He jumped, nearly pulling the phone from his ear. He never dreamed a woman other than his mother would call him like this.
But that voice seemed strangely familiar. Even though it came through the phone, he thought he'd heard this voice before.
"I am Bai Fanxian."
The moment he knew who the caller was, the young man nearly dropped the phone. He stammered back with a trembling voice in disbelief:
"Em... Empress?"
"...Mm." Bai Fanxian answered back. This was almost the first time she'd conversed through communication devices of this era. But with experience from the online world she'd seen, she could use it without any problems.
"...Do you still have the cauldron from the seminar?"
He was so surprised that the Empress asked him about this that he even forgot how she got his number. And answered back without hiding anything: "I still have some. But they're prototype versions. Right now I'm developing to reduce its intensity until it..."
"I want that first version. I need it for something." The young man heard a soft sigh from the line.
"Huh?"
"Moreover, I also want you to create another cauldron that's completely 'opposite' to the first cauldron."
"You mean a cauldron with eight to nine parts Yin power?" The young man asked uncertainly. Creating that was possible. He just needed to find materials. But how would a cauldron like that be marketable?
That was even harder to use than a cauldron with intense Yang power.
Because the user would need very strong fire or have enormous Yang element qi. Otherwise, by the time the raw materials melted uniformly, it would take who knows how much longer than normal.
Or maybe the Empress would use it to refine some special pills. If so, that would make sense.
"It's somewhat selfish... but can you finish it before next week?" Bai Fanxian showed a pleading tone. It was something she didn't do often. Because she knew this time she was truly bothering others.
But the moment the young man heard it, his spirit suddenly surged. He felt like his strength was overflowing—no matter how he used it, it wouldn't run out. Bai Fanxian's pleading voice echoed in his ears.
"Yes! I'll do it. I'll do it myself!"