Bai Fanxian hung up the phone with a sigh. She decided to repay him with some high-level pills and raw materials.
The best alchemy cauldron—as she'd said before—was one with equal Yin and Yang balance. Because high-level pills couldn't have even a sliver of error in proportions. So Tier 5 or 6 alchemists and above who needed to pay close attention to such things naturally wanted the most balanced cauldrons.
At least they wouldn't have to worry about Yin-Yang balance in the cauldron. They just needed to manage the proportions of each pill type through fire strength, qi, and raw materials—that was enough.
When talking about alchemy cauldrons earlier, she suddenly remembered that man who'd opened a booth at the seminar that day. The cauldron he created—she remembered it had very high Yang, which dissatisfied her. Because it would destroy the pill's balance in the cauldron, reducing its properties significantly.
But if it was Tang Yeye who had concentrated Yin in her body, she thought that cauldron should be able to offset it. Though she could roughly guess that Tang Yeye's Yin would still be greater anyway.
At least until the children could control the Yin and Yang in their bodies that came with their qi, using cauldrons with these extreme characteristics to help first would probably be their only choice.
.
.
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Time passed another week. Finally, it was time for filming the program "Master Alchemist."
At the station building owned by the Yang family, staff from many departments ran around busily because the number of viewers who wanted to watch the first recording exceeded the limits that even the largest studio could handle.
At first, they'd estimated competition applicants would be at most a few hundred people. But when the actual day came, after a rough count, the number probably reached several thousand!
"Young Master Yang! We don't have enough seats, and there are way more people outside who can't get in."
A male employee ran in breathlessly. He quickly reported the latest situation to "Brother Yang," the owner of this place.
"More people interested than expected..." Novice Alchemist laughed lightly. He was watching the lively atmosphere through the open window.
"We probably shouldn't have announced the Empress would come as honorary judge beforehand..." Brother Yang sighed. The young man had just wanted to stimulate interest from the cultivator world a bit. But it turned out it wasn't ordinary stimulation. It was more like a strong drug that summoned massive numbers of people.
"Too late now. Even I'm so excited I want to compete too."
Novice Alchemist looked enviously at the contestants entering and lining up to register. Since he had to help his brother in the background, he couldn't join in.
"...What should we do, Young Master?" The employee watched them converse calmly. But his phone had been vibrating non-stop for a while. That meant the situation downstairs was probably getting busier.
"...Wait a moment."
Brother Yang sat down calmly. But the moment his phone rang, he grabbed it to answer without hesitation.
"Okay... got it."
The young man nodded. He talked with the caller for several more words before hanging up.
"My father approved. All other filming's postponed today! Every location in this building, including staff from other programs—call them all to help!"
The moment this shocking order spread, all employees became alert. Because that meant the Yang family placed great importance on this program. So they gathered to listen to briefings and follow orders precisely.
This time, the Yang family truly invested a massive amount!
Of course, aside from the busy employees, the competition participants themselves were equally worried.
"Hey, where's the registration point?"
"Did you already register online?"
"Yeah?"
"Just go straight to the room on the right. There's a registration desk. Give them your contestant code and they'll hand you your name tag and number."
The entrance area was naturally the busiest part. Even though the station had spacious activity and filming grounds all around, it was still packed with crowds. The station's cameramen were running everywhere to capture this atmosphere as much as possible.
This was one of the selling points they'd set up for this program. They were moving beyond ordinary programs recorded in a single room. This program would broadcast from when people came to register. These lively atmospheres were good advertising for the program.
It also created credibility. They went to interview many applicants and viewers—some ordinary people, some cultivators. The purpose was to let viewers at home know it wasn't necessary to be famous or well-known to apply to compete in their program. It would have good effects if this program continued for many more years.
"Hurry and get that shot. I found an interesting applicant. I'll go interview them."
A middle-aged man wearing crew outfit conversed with coworkers through the earpiece in his ear. They divided work into their own areas of responsibility. Now he looked toward an old man carrying a large medicine cauldron on his back—clearly here to participate.
"Got it. I'll head over once I'm done here."
The young cameraman acknowledged. Meanwhile, his camera was filming one corner of the garden where people were crowding around a man who was openly setting up a stove to refine pills.
Interestingly, this man was still young but could already refine high Tier 2 pills. Meaning just one more step and he'd enter Tier 3 alchemist status.
If it were one month ago, ordinary people wouldn't know the excellence of these statuses. But this past month, many things had happened. Alchemists demonstrated miracles using medicine to help people recover. Even the government supported and made people know more. And they learned for themselves how difficult the paths of cultivators and alchemists were.
Now, just being called a cultivator—even if just early Qi Gathering stage—you could puff out your chest proudly.
So the young but talented man became the target of many girls' admiring gazes.
The moment the cauldron started boiling, he waved his hand to send qi in. It swirled and adjusted the balance inside the cauldron one last time before the cauldron trembled lightly and stopped.
The calmness and faint pressure that gathered at the cauldron before disappearing confirmed that this refinement probably succeeded!
He opened the cauldron lid. Inside were three brown pills rolling at the cauldron bottom. They gleamed in the sunlight. The young man smiled amid the admiring voices of the crowd. The young cameraman managed to capture this interesting atmosphere properly. If this man competed, he'd definitely draw attention.
Meanwhile, Fu Rong watched the situation unfold exactly as he'd expected.
He was an alchemist from the southern region. With the start of the cultivator era, his life had begun changing. He'd watched many of his colleagues become famous with endless work coming in. He himself, seeing opportunity from this program, quickly registered and traveled here as well.
If he could become famous through this program—even without winning—of course his reputation would increase and he'd become prominent like many others.
So the moment he saw many cameramen come out to film, he displayed his abilities to attract the program's attention.
Fu Rong picked up a pill, which attracted the crowd's attention well. This was a high Tier 2 pill whose refining method wasn't difficult and didn't take long. For Tier 3 alchemists and above, it might just be pills found everywhere. But for ordinary people, just this was more than enough to capture their attention.
He was thinking of giving them to someone to show goodwill. While the camera was filming, Fu Rong's gaze suddenly caught big, bright, round eyes staring with interest.
It was a small girl with a cute face whose height didn't reach adults' waists. She wore a white shirt with a small blue vest over it. Her skirt and leather shoes looked formal like a student. She was hugging a small red lizard doll with both arms.
The young man chose his target immediately. The best targets for showing goodwill and receiving praise were children, women, or the elderly. So he picked up one pill and walked to the little one.
"Are you lost, sweetie? Want Uncle to help find your parents?" While speaking, he had to be confident he was being filmed in every action. So his gaze kept glancing at the camera.
The girl didn't answer. She just tilted her head questioningly. Fu Rong was incredibly familiar with dealing with children. He extended the pill he'd just refined to her and said:
"You came with family, right? Here, Uncle will give you this pill. You can give it to Mom or Dad, okay?"
He bent down and tried to stuff the brown pill into those small hands without asking consent.
But before he could touch the little one, the lizard doll in her arms suddenly moved. It opened a tiny mouth revealing small fangs, then bit and took the medicine from his hand to chew and swallow before burping lightly. Everything happened in a split second—only the young man who was closest saw it!
The young man jumped, accidentally flinging his hand out. In his carelessness, he fell on his bottom. The cameraman happened to capture the moment he made a shocked face perfectly. It would definitely become an important scene to put in the program's opening.
He quickly stood up embarrassedly. At the same moment, a young man's voice rang out from behind the crowd.
"Yeye... your lady doesn't let you accept things from strangers. If something happens, I'll be in trouble."
The crowd felt pressure forcing them to part into a path, before the speaker appeared with a relaxed smile.
He was a young man who looked rather thin. Moreover, because he wore casual white clothes today, not his regular official uniform, even if someone said this man was an official military person, no one would believe it!
But of course, some people remembered. Because this person existed in both ordinary people and cultivator circles. The dignified, commanding personality full of authority when he moved—it had become his habit.
"That's the General, isn't it?"
"General Liu Yianfei!?"
"Why would someone like him be here too?"
Those who spoke up were cultivators who could perceive Grandmaster-level power well. So they were surprised because the General who'd barely appeared at all this past month was now standing before them!
The cameraman quickly panned to capture that shot, including girls who had admiringly watched Fu Rong—they abandoned him completely the moment Liu Yianfei appeared. Learning this handsome man was an army General, their eyes lit up even more.
The young man gritted his teeth with displeasure. But before he could say anything, the crowd lost interest in him and dispersed. Those remaining all moved their attention to the young General.
"I didn't accept it! Little Red was the one who ate it."
The little one walked back to Liu Yianfei without caring about the crowd's gazes. Her small hand was pulled to be held by the young General. This warm scene was recorded by the cameraman completely. He'd just looked away briefly to answer the phone and the child had disappeared. Fortunately, Dragon Queen had sent him a qi voice message, otherwise he'd definitely have a headache searching for her.
"Where are Sister Hui'er and Sister Mei Ying?"
"They're in line with Grandfather Zheng. Your lady had to go somewhere else today, so you need to be good and listen to me."
Liu Yianfei laughed lightly. No matter how great an existence, today Grandmaster Bai didn't allow her three little disciples to receive any privileges from the crew. Because this time she herself was one of the judges too. If she favored her own people too much, it would be seen as unfair.
"I understand... Oh! Little Red says she wants to eat snacks from that shop."
The little one nodded. Meanwhile, her eyes sparkled when pointing toward a street vendor stall that had set up nearby after seeing the crowds.
"...I don't want to eat at all."
Dragon Queen, who'd been quiet for so long because Bai Fanxian instructed her, couldn't help arguing. This child just wanted to eat snacks herself—why drag her into it?
"But there's grilled meat there too! Wonder if it's as good as Uncle Huang's?"
"Then what are you waiting for!"
Dragon Queen, who changed her tune one hundred eighty degrees, used qi in her body to drag the small form straight there without hesitation. This caused the young General holding Tang Yeye's hand to be dragged along helplessly. He laughed lightly from his heart. This comfortable life and family happiness was what he'd yearned for most.
They left without knowing that behind them, a young man's gaze was staring after them angrily for stealing his prominence.