A few days later.
Ye Xuan had gathered all the medicinal herbs and pill formulas that he needed and spent a total of 200,000 gold coins.
The purchasing power of gold coins in the secular world was extremely strong. 200,000 gold coins was equivalent to tens of millions in his previous life, but he could only buy one or two medicinal herbs.
Other than that, there was also some equipment needed to refine pills. He had spent hundreds of thousands of gold coins in total.
Fortunately, the Ye Family was rich and had accumulated a lot of resources, so buying these things did not consume too much.
When everything was ready, Ye Xuan entered the newly-built alchemy chamber and then slowly closed the heavy iron door.
The Ye Family butlers stood outside the alchemy chamber and looked at each other, their hearts filled with anticipation.
"I didn't expect Family Head to hide his strength so well. He's actually an alchemist!"
"I wonder if Family Head can refine ranked medicinal pills…"
"How is that possible! Ranked medicinal pills can only be refined by immortal cultivators. Family Head…"
As the butlers spoke, they suddenly fell silent.
This did not seem impossible.
When mortal alchemists refined pills, there were no rankings. There were only elementary, intermediate, and high grades.
Only the pills refined by immortal cultivators could be ranked. The lowest was Grade-1, and the highest was Grade-9.
And their Family Head's background was mysterious.
It might not have shown at first.
However, when they saw with their own eyes that their Family Head had taken in 20 concubines at once and was still lively after fighting consecutively for more than a month, everyone had a bold guess in their hearts…
However, this was a serious matter. As family servants, they naturally did not dare to ask, let alone say anything.
However, everyone had a vague answer in their hearts.
…
In the alchemy chamber.
Ye Xuan looked at the dark, two-meter-tall huge iron furnace in front of him and was speechless for a long time.
"Isn't this a little too crude? Is this thing worth 200,000 gold coins?"
The corner of Ye Xuan's mouth twitched. He felt cheated.
Looking at the huge iron furnace in front of him, Ye Xuan slightly condensed a trace of spiritual energy at his fingertips. Then, he slowly reached out and knocked on the outer wall of the furnace in front of him.
Knock, knock, knock!
"Knock knock~"
A dull sound came, and a faint echo resounded in the room.
"Phew~"
"Not bad. The quality is still acceptable."
Hearing this sound, Ye Xuan also heaved a sigh of relief.
As a Grade-1 alchemist, he was able to judge the basic quality of the alchemy furnace.
At the very least, using this alchemy furnace to refine pills would not cause the furnace to explode. That was enough.
After some preparation, Ye Xuan began to put the herbs into the designated positions in the alchemy furnace and added various auxiliary ingredients.
After all the preparation, the last step was to boil water in the pot and light the fire.
"Splash—"
Terrifying flames rose from under the alchemy furnace and instantly engulfed half of it.
Soon, the temperature in the room rose abruptly.
"Here we go."
Ye Xuan murmured in a low voice. Then, he slowly stretched out his hand and covered his palm with spiritual energy…
Finally, he placed his entire palm on the hot outer wall of the boiling alchemy furnace…
Nothing happened. With the protection of spiritual energy, this bit of temperature could not harm Ye Xuan at all.
Holding his breath and concentrating, Ye Xuan began to infuse his spiritual energy into the alchemy furnace and controlled the various medicinal herbs in the alchemy furnace to mix and react.
This was alchemy!
However, it looked a little crude…
Therefore, alchemists liked to refine pills alone and did not like to be watched by others, in case they became a laughing stock.
Ordinary people could only control the process of alchemy by controlling the temperature of the flames and flipping the ingredients. No matter how powerful an alchemist was, he would not be able to refine a ranked medicinal pill.
On the other hand, when immortal cultivators refined pills, they could control the reaction of various medicinal herbs more finely through their spiritual energy.
Each grade of alchemist was divided into four levels according to their proficiency: Elementary, Intermediate, Advanced and Peak.
Grade and proficiency were the criteria for evaluating an alchemist.
The grade meant that this alchemist could refine medicinal pills of the corresponding grade.
And proficiency represented the alchemist's proficiency in refining this grade of medicinal pill.
Grade-1 Peak alchemists could refine a Grade-1 pill, and the quality was almost perfect. However, they could not refine a Grade-2 pill.
Grade-2 Elementary alchemists could refine a Grade-2 pill, but they might only have Intermediate proficiency in refining a Grade-1 pill.
…
Two hours passed.
Four hours passed.
Finally, the pitch-black alchemy furnace trembled…
Chi chi chi!
"Swish, swish, swish…"
"Pop~"
A large amount of white gas emitted from the top of the alchemy furnace. The rich aroma of pills and other impurities instantly filled the entire alchemy room.
"Phew!"
"It's finally over!"
At this moment, Ye Xuan quickly withdrew his palm. He was already drenched in sweat and panting from exhaustion.
After all, his cultivation level was too low. It was already so difficult to refine a Beauty Retaining Pill.
Ignoring his fatigue, Ye Xuan quickly opened the furnace and waved his hand.
Swoosh!
A pink pill instantly landed in his hand.
"The Grade-1 Beauty Retaining Pill is finally successful!"
Ye Xuan looked at the pill the size of a green bean in his hand and a bright smile appeared on his face.
Although this pill was small, even the lowest Grade-1 Beauty Retaining Pill cost as much as 20 low-grade spirit stones!
Generally speaking, a low-grade spirit stone could be exchanged for 10,000 gold coins.
The ingredients he used to refine the Beauty Retaining Pill added up to only 50,000 gold coins.
In just four hours, he had earned 150,000 gold coins!
Although there were very few alchemists, it was not just talk that every alchemist was as rich as a country.
The Grade-1 Beauty Retaining Pill would allow Qi Refinement Stage cultivators to retain their youth for about a year. They would not age. If their cultivation level was too high, the effect would be poorer.
For mortals, a Grade-1 Beauty Retaining Pill could maintain the youthful effect for at least 10 years!
This was also one of the reasons why Ye Xuan was the first to refine the Beauty Retaining Pill.
In a month's time, each of his concubines would get one.
Since they had followed him, Ye Xuan would naturally give them the best life.
Which woman would not want her youth to last forever?
As long as it was a woman, she would definitely not be able to resist the Beauty Retaining Pill!
With this thought in mind, Ye Xuan started to refine pills again. With the remaining spiritual energy in his body, it was not a big problem to refine another pill.
However, this time, he refined the Essence Enhancing Pill.
His concubines had just given birth. The Essence Enhancing Pill had the effect of strengthening the foundation and nurturing the essence. It was what he needed now.
The faster his concubines recovered, the faster he could impregnate them. The cost-effectiveness was much higher than the Beauty Retaining Pill.
…
Crack!
Eight hours later.
The iron door slowly opened.
"He's out, he's out!"
"Greetings, Family Head!"
When the butlers saw Ye Xuan coming out, they hurriedly bowed.
"Eh?"
"Why are you all here?"
Ye Xuan looked at the dozen old butlers outside and was a little dumbfounded.
"It's Family Head's first time refining pills. We're just worried about you…"
A black-faced butler smiled awkwardly.
"Well, that makes sense. Don't say it again next time." Ye Xuan took a deep look at the black-faced butler and said softly.
"Ah, this…" Of course, the black-faced butler was stunned.
"Hahaha!"
The butlers also knew that Ye Xuan was joking, so they all laughed.
"Family Head, a mysterious person sent a letter not long ago. He said that he wants you to open it personally."
"This matter is very serious. We didn't dare to cause a delay, so we waited again."
At that moment, a white-bearded old man stood out and explained the situation.
Then, the white-bearded old man took out a letter and presented it to Ye Xuan.
The white-bearded old man's name was Kong Qiu. He was one of the oldest butlers in the Ye family and was also responsible for finding new concubines for Ye Xuan. Therefore, he had a good relationship with Ye Xuan and had great power in the Ye family.
"Oh?"
"Mysterious man?"
Ye Xuan was stunned and felt a little baffled.
"Family Head, after that mysterious person sent the letter, he mysteriously disappeared. I suspect…"
Kong Qiu wanted to say something but hesitated.
When Ye Xuan heard Kong Qiu's words, his eyes suddenly narrowed. He took the letter and waved his hand. "Got it. All of you can go back first."
"Yes!"
The butlers bowed and left one after another. They were nervous but also slightly excited.
In fact, everyone knew that the mysterious person was very likely an immortal cultivator.
And their Family Head had dealings with immortal cultivators. From the previous speculation, their Family Head might also be an immortal cultivator.
If this matter was exposed, their Ye Family would become an immortal cultivation family!
This was a great thing!
However, before Ye Xuan admitted it, none of them would say anything.
…
Ye Xuan quickly returned to his room and put the envelope on the table.
He wanted to open it directly, but he had read many cultivation novels in his previous life and felt that things were definitely not that simple.
"System, is this thing dangerous? Can I open it?"
Ye Xuan could only pin his hopes on his system.
He did not know if the system had such a function, but he had to at least give it a try.
[This is just an ordinary letter. Please don't be suspicious.]
[If you encounter danger, the system will warn you in advance.]
The system's answer was calm, but Ye Xuan could clearly hear a trace of speechlessness in it.
It was as if it was saying, "You're just a useless Qi Refinement Stage cultivator who has been hiding in the sect for more than twenty years. Who would be so bored as to harm you?"
"Ahem, that's good."
Ye Xuan coughed awkwardly, but he was still relieved.
Rip!
He tore open the envelope and took out the letter inside. He found that it was blank.
Ye Xuan was stunned for a second. Then, he quickly thought of something. With a thought, a weak spiritual energy surged out of his body and slowly surged into the letter.
As Ye Xuan's spiritual energy surged in, dense lines of small words appeared on the letter.
"As expected!"
Ye Xuan was overjoyed and quickly checked.
[Since Fellow Cultivator can see the content I wrote, it means that Fellow Cultivator is also an immortal cultivator. I'm an elder of the Ouyang family and have no ill intentions towards you…]
…
Very quickly, Ye Xuan skimmed through the contents of the letter.
The other party had guessed that he was an immortal cultivator through his mysterious background and a series of concubines. Ye Xuan was not surprised about this.
Other than that, there was only one main piece of information—a gathering of independent cultivators!
Ten Thousand Flower City was a large city, and there were actually many cultivators.
Not only were there three major immortal-cultivation family clans, there were also some small ones like the Ye Family Clan. There were also many independent cultivators operating in the city.
Some independent cultivators were lone rangers who were filled with hope for the future. They were usually either cultivating or searching for cultivation resources.
On the other hand, the cultivators of immortal cultivation family clans were more Buddhist. Or rather, they had reached the limit of their potential and it was very difficult for them to take another step forward. Therefore, they chose to marry and have children to carry on the family line.
This gathering of independent cultivators was led by the three major immortal-cultivation family clans. They invited all the independent cultivators in the entire Ten Thousand Flower City to participate.
The main purpose was to allow each independent cultivator to exchange for the resources they needed for their cultivation.
After all, every independent cultivator's technique was almost different, and the cultivation resources required were also different. However, independent cultivators were extremely cautious in private and were extremely vigilant against unfamiliar independent cultivators.
And now, with the joint guarantee of the three major family clans, it made it much easier for independent cultivators to trade and communicate.
After reading the letter, Ye Xuan tore the envelope.
There was still more than a year before the gathering of independent cultivators.
At this moment, he had some plans in his heart.
If he was lucky, he would definitely be the biggest winner of this gathering of independent cultivators!
…
There was still a long time before the gathering of independent cultivators. Ye Xuan naturally had to cherish what was in front of him.
In the blink of an eye, the sky turned dark.
Uncle Ye began to work hard again, looking forward to next year's harvest.
* * * * * * *