"An assessment, then."
"Very well, please follow me."
With the agreement reached, the richly dressed young man didn't press further. Wang Yu grew even more curious.
"How long have you been following Steward Xu, Elder? How should I address you?"
"This old man's surname is Zhu. You may call me Elder Zhu."
"As for following Steward Xu, it has only been a few days. The Xu Family Pill Shop opened, and I have some reputation in the manager circles, so I was invited to manage the pill shop on his behalf."
"I see."
Every trade had its own circles. Being eloquent was also a talent, so having a manager circle was normal. However, hiring someone to manage on one's behalf might be somewhat inappropriate.
Elder Zhu led Wang Yu into the backyard and pointed to a room. "This is a first-grade earth fire room. Medicinal ingredients are prepared inside. I'll wait here for you to refine the pills, young friend."
"Certainly."
Wang Yu was confident and naturally unafraid of a simple assessment. Another two months had passed; not only had the two basic pill formulas been elevated to perfection,
**[Slot 2: Frost Python Alchemy (Remnant Method)]**
**[Frost Python Alchemy (35/100): Twelve practices per day. Mastery achievable in eight months.]**
Reaching this stage in alchemy could be considered minor achievement. Paired with fully comprehended pill formulas, there was no reason to fail.
Therefore, even though it was his first time hands-on, he felt exceptionally proficient.
Pill refining consisted of four steps:
Extraction, Fusion, Pill Condensation, and Pill Nurturing!
**[Extraction]** is the most widely known step: removing impurities and extracting the essence.
These impurities are often misunderstood as toxic or harmful substances. Actually, that's not the case. Spiritual herbs mostly gather the essence of heaven and earth; they are elegant and refined, with almost no impurities, being the purest spiritual substances.
Extraction involves, according to the pill formula, removing the medicinal properties that don't meet the requirements, eliminating earthy smells, and influences from earth energy during the growth of some roots.
Depending on the growing environment, the parts needing removal differ—another field of study.
Apart from the medicinal properties required by the pill formula, everything else is considered impurities.
This is true extraction!
The second step, **[Fusion]**, as the name implies, involves fusing the medicinal properties of multiple spiritual herbs. This requires deep knowledge of medicinal principles, understanding the rationale and sequence of pill formula combinations. A single mistake increases the difficulty of pill formation.
Medicinal properties, principles, and methods of processing ingredients are enough for ordinary people to study for twenty or thirty years. Fire control hand seals also play a key role in this step, forming the core of the Fire Refining Method.
The third step, **[Pill Condensation]**, primarily uses pill condensation seals to coalesce the medicinal liquid into pill form. This step emphasizes technique and cultivation level, requiring spiritual sense for fine control and spiritual power for blending.
Therefore, the young master's skepticism towards Wang Yu wasn't unfounded. His displayed cultivation was only the third layer of Qi Refining; his spiritual sense couldn't even leave his body, so how could he control the details for pill refining!
The fourth step, **[Pill Nurturing]**, after successful pill condensation, requires slow refining over a gentle fire to fully unify the medicinal properties through spiritual power blending. Only then can it be considered successful.
If hidden flaws remain from previous steps, it can cause cracks in the pills or conflicting medicinal properties turning them into waste pills. It emphasizes order within slowness, seeking speed through stability!
Refining one batch of Fasting Pills takes only a quarter of an hour—thirty minutes.
They are refined mainly from Five Essence Grass and Spirit Grain, supplemented with ordinary first-grade spiritual items like spirit spring water, non-decaying root, long-fragrance fruit, and honey liquid.
Before refining the [Frost Python Pill] and condensing the "Frost Python Fire Seed," the Frost Python Alchemy is just an ordinary alchemy technique without any peculiarities.
Therefore, Wang Yu's refinement was also ordinary.
Half an hour later, one batch of Fasting Pills was completed—five pills, all mid-grade. This was because his fire control skill was not refined, affecting the success rate.
Actually, thorough comprehension of the pill formula can improve the pill quality.
Of course, the depth of alchemy skill also affects pill quality and success rate—it's comprehensive.
Overall, Wang Yu's brain understood, but his hands were slow. This would gradually change as his alchemy skills advanced. Next was the second batch: Spirit Restoration Pills.
It succeeded without a hitch—six pills formed, two high-grade and four mid-grade—a slightly better situation.
Looking at the two bottles of spiritual pills in his hand, Wang Yu pocketed one Fasting Pill and the two high-grade Spirit Restoration Pills, submitting only four of each.
A reasonable amount of loss during refining; otherwise, how could he get rich?
Even so, when he opened the door and showed the pills to Elder Zhu for inspection, he still received amazed praise.
"Excellent skill. It's not impossible for you to refine high-grade spiritual pills in the future."
"This is the employment contract for the Xu Family Pill Shop, certified by the sect. If you agree, you can sign it directly."
Wang Yu took it and reviewed it, immediately shocked by the alchemist's earnings. No wonder it was a rare production-class profession; it could make big money.
The Xu Family Pill Shop offered two hundred spirit stones per month. It seemed little, but he worked at Tantai's herb garden for half a year and only got two hundred contribution points. Although the latter was more precious, this was a monthly income. Half a year would be twelve hundred spirit stones—a high salary.
Enough to buy two high-grade Coldblood Pills.
There were also requirements for pill refining: ten batches per day, equally split between Fasting Pills and Spirit Restoration Pills, with a low-grade rate not exceeding 20%, and at least three pills per batch.
Two and a half hours of refining time, plus recovery time in between, meant about five hours of work daily, occupying almost the entire daytime.
Calculating this way, a sense of exploitation suddenly arose.
After some thought, Wang Yu said, "Elder Zhu, the contract itself is fine, but the duration needs to be changed to one year. Ten years is too long."
"That can be negotiated."
Elder Zhu smilingly invited Wang Yu to the side reception room, stating succinctly,
"The pill shop needs to make money but will also give you some pill formulas for free. In other words, there is a training responsibility. Master Xu might give you pointers occasionally, saving you much time."
Wang Yu still shook his head.
"Ten years is too long. I'll only sign for one year."
"Eight years."
"One year."
"Six years."
"One year."
Seeing Wang Yu unwavering, Elder Zhu added,
"The high compensation is offered because we value long-term benefits. In this aspect, the pill shop doesn't make money; it might even lose money training you."
"If you want to reduce the time, the monthly earnings must also be reduced."
Such familiar tactics almost triggered Wang Yu. He took a deep breath before asking,
"How much reduction?"
"One hundred."
"Farewell!"
Wang Yu was impervious to both soft and hard tactics, adopting a 'then I'll leave' attitude. Elder Zhu gritted his teeth and said, "Fine, fine, one year it is. No reduction in treatment, but you won't receive training from the pill shop."
"Acceptable."
After modifying the contract terms, Wang Yu checked it repeatedly before signing and fingerprinting. There were three copies: one for him, one for the pill shop, and one for the sect's Enforcement Hall.
Working at the Xu Family Pill Shop, he could save enough to buy a high-grade Coldblood Pill in just one month. Then he wouldn't have to worry about slow cultivation progress.
"Pleasant cooperation."
"Pleasant cooperation."
After bidding farewell, Wang Yu returned to the ordinary disciple cave residence. In another year or so, his strength would undergo a transformation. On the other hand, he could also consider purchasing a magical instrument.
(End of Chapter)