The horizon was awash with brilliant morning glow, and a new day quietly arrived.
Inside the dormitory, Zhu Ziyang, his face beaming with joy, stopped his spirit power and extinguished the alchemy furnace's flame. Then, he eagerly reached out and removed the lid of the alchemy furnace. The furnace's temperature was extremely high, but Zhu Ziyang didn't care in the slightest; a layer of frost formed on his hand, instantly freezing the furnace, and the temperature dropped in an instant.
Ultimate Ice, absolute zero!
The moment the alchemy furnace opened, a clear fragrance wafted out, filling the entire dormitory and immediately invigorating Zhu Ziyang, who hadn't slept all night. His eyes overflowed with uncontainable delight.
The scent of pills!
Zhu Ziyang inverted the alchemy furnace, and one by one, greenish pills mixed with a hint of black poured out, all landing on the furnace lid.
Zhu Ziyang's heart was filled with joy, and he couldn't suppress his excitement as he looked at the dozens of pills.
"One, two, three... eleven!" Zhu Ziyang counted softly, his voice growing more excited. "There are actually eleven finished products! With such a success rate, it seems I really am an alchemy genius! Hahahaha!"
This batch of Juyuan Pills yielded eleven finished pills and ten duds, a success rate of over fifty percent! As a novice, achieving over fifty percent on his first attempt at alchemy was more than enough for Zhu Ziyang to call himself a genius.
"Haha, let's try the effect first!" Zhu Ziyang put the eleven Juyuan Pills into a jade bottle, placed the ten duds at the bottom of the alchemy furnace to serve as fuel, then took out one Juyuan Pill, swallowed it, and immediately sat cross-legged on the bed to begin cultivating.
Upon ingesting the pill, Zhu Ziyang immediately felt the spirit power throughout his body tremble with joy. As his spirit power circulated, the surrounding world's elemental energy was continuously drawn into his body.
He instantly entered a state of cultivation.
—
By the time Zhu Ziyang finished cultivating, it was almost noon. Fortunately, today was a holiday, otherwise he would have definitely faced punishment for skipping class. However, he didn't care about these trivial matters; instead, he laughed excitedly, for he had broken through!
That's right, after taking one Juyuan Pill, he successfully broke through to level 36. Although his spirit power had already reached its critical point, the effect of the Juyuan Pill was still indispensable. After all, without the aid of the Juyuan Pill, it would have taken him at least another week to break through to level 36.
"Excellent! This effect is much stronger than what was recorded in the pill formula! It didn't waste all those super-quality materials!" Zhu Ziyang's tone was excited, and his gaze turned to the remaining materials as he said, "Since that's the case, I'll refine all the remaining materials into Juyuan Pills!"
"Creak ~"
Just as Zhu Ziyang was about to start refining the second batch of pills, his dormitory door opened, and Jiang Nannan walked in from outside.
"Oh! Brother, you're done cultivating!" Jiang Nannan was pleasantly surprised to see Zhu Ziyang standing in front of the alchemy furnace. She quickly walked over and said.
"Nannan, you've come at just the right time! Come and see the pills I've refined!" Zhu Ziyang wasn't surprised to see Jiang Nannan, as the dormitory key in her hand was given to her by him. He said to Jiang Nannan, and then took out an Juyuan Pill and held it before her eyes.
"Is this the Juyuan Pill?" Jiang Nannan's eyes lit up as she saw the clear, fragrant green pill, seemingly sparkling with golden light, and she said, "So many, they should sell for a lot of money!"
Zhu Ziyang had not concealed his idea of making money from alchemy from Jiang Nannan, so she knew his plans from the start and was very supportive.
"That's natural!" Zhu Ziyang said with a smile.
"That's great!" Jiang Nannan's face was pleased. She then placed the lunchbox she had brought on the table and said, "Let's eat first, Brother."
"Okay." Zhu Ziyang looked at the meal Jiang Nannan had brought back, smiled knowingly, and then began to eat heartily.
Jiang Nannan sat by his side, quietly watching Zhu Ziyang devour his food, a faint look of contentment on her face.
Soon, Zhu Ziyang finished his meal. While Jiang Nannan was tidying up the lunchbox, he took out five Juyuan Pills and placed them specifically in a new bottle.
"Nannan, these five Juyuan Pills are for you." Zhu Ziyang handed them to Jiang Nannan and instructed her, "Remember, the effect of one Juyuan Pill lasts for a week. One pill at a time, one pill per week. Do not take more, understand?"
"Mhm! I understand!" Jiang Nannan didn't act coy; she accepted the Juyuan Pills directly and promised with a smile. Her relationship with Zhu Ziyang had long passed the point of formalities, so there was no need for any false modesty.
"Good, you go back to your dorm first. I'm going to continue refining pills." Zhu Ziyang said, "I'll try to refine a lot more. After I send some back to Mom and Dad, we'll go find a merchant guild to sell them."
"Mhm!" Jiang Nannan nodded, full of anticipation, and, carrying the lunchbox, said, "Then, Brother, I'll head back first. I'll come over again for dinner."
"Go on!" Zhu Ziyang said.
—
A week later.
"Phew ~ Finally, all the materials have been refined into pills." Zhu Ziyang let out a long breath, a relaxed and pleasant smile appearing on his face, and said.
He turned his gaze to the empty bed in the dormitory, where more than twenty jade bottles were placed, all filled with Juyuan Pills. In one week, Zhu Ziyang had refined a total of one hundred and thirty-seven Juyuan Pills. Apart from the eleven pills from the first refinement, fourteen from the second, and eighteen from the third, every subsequent refinement achieved a hundred percent success rate.
He separated these one hundred and thirty-seven Juyuan Pills, taking out one hundred for sale and keeping the remaining thirty-seven for his own cultivation. He planned to send twenty to Zhu Changhe and Liang Ying. The remaining seventeen, he would arrange after meeting Xia Yu.
Anyway, he would continue refining pills.
Thinking this, Zhu Ziyang put one hundred and twenty pills into his emerald jade bracelet, and the other seventeen pills into Xia Yu's soul-guiding ring, then prepared to go find Xia Yu.
Coincidentally, Jiang Nannan also arrived at his dormitory at this time.
"Brother, where are you going?" Jiang Nannan was a little surprised to see Zhu Ziyang about to go out and asked.
"To find Yu-ge." Zhu Ziyang smiled, stroked Jiang Nannan's beautiful hair, and replied.
"Oh, oh! Then I'll go with you." Jiang Nannan said, quickly stepping forward, placing Zhu Ziyang's school uniform, which she was holding, on his bed, then turned around and affectionately hooked her arm through Zhu Ziyang's.
"Okay." Zhu Ziyang responded.
The two walked towards the teaching building.
Freshman Teaching Building, Teacher's Office.
...Are these the pills you refined?" Xia Yu held an Juyuan Pill in his hand, his expression quite rich—surprise, unexpectedness, and joy—as he said, "You rascal, you've really opened my eyes!"
"Hehe!" Zhu Ziyang said with a smug smile on his face, "That's natural."
"From what I can tell, this Juyuan Pill should be a type of pill that increases the efficiency of spirit power cultivation, right? And as for its quality, it should be a low-grade pill, am I right?" Xia Yu observed the Juyuan Pill in his hand, sniffed it, and then deduced its effect and quality.
"That's right, Yu-ge has a good eye!" Zhu Ziyang was not surprised by this and said openly, "From your perspective, Yu-ge, what is the value of this Juyuan Pill?"
"Oh?" Xia Yu raised an eyebrow, thought carefully for a moment, and said, "I'm not a professional appraiser, but I think, given the efficacy of this Juyuan Pill, it far surpasses similar pills of the same quality on the market. Moreover, it's a long-lost pill. In terms of price, I think it's at least thirty thousand gold coins!"
"Really!" Zhu Zi Yang's eyes lit up upon hearing this, and his face immediately broke into a joyful smile.
"Actually..." Xia Yu raised his eyebrows slightly at the sight and said, "If you trust me, I can represent the Flowing Cloud Merchant Association in acquiring this batch of Juyuan Pills from you. As for the price, considering you're my student, I'll give you fifty thousand gold coins per pill!"
"!" Zhu Ziyang was instantly unsettled after hearing this. He stared at Xia Yu with wide eyes, as if to confirm whether he was joking. Fifty thousand gold coins, this was a price that had never appeared on the market! He calmed down and asked, "Why? At such a price, no matter what, it must be a loss! What is your purpose in doing this?"
"Hehe!" Xia Yu smiled and said, "You can consider it an investment."
"I see." Zhu Ziyang instantly understood and felt relieved, so he said, "Since that's the case, it's decided. These are the Juyuan Pills I've refined."
"This!" Xia Yu's eyes widened when he saw the many jade bottles Zhu Ziyang took out, and he exclaimed in surprise, "Good heavens, how many are there?"