"You two take a seat, I'll go and bring out the dishes."
Lin Jing said, as he headed toward the kitchen, and soon came out carrying the meals.
Following that, the three of them gathered around the stone table and took their seats. Lin Jing served the rice, and Luo Luo considerately placed the first bowl in front of Ning Yue.
"Mother, here."
Ning Yue smiled and took the bowl.
"Mother, the food Uncle Lin makes is really delicious, you should try it."
"Alright."
Ning Yue nodded, picked up a piece of green vegetable with her hand, and placed it in her mouth.
Immediately, the delicious taste flooded her entire mouth; her eyes brightened as she picked up a piece of egg, smooth and tender, still unbeatably fresh…
"Mother, what do you think? Uncle Lin's cooking is so much better than yours, isn't it…"
Luo Luo accidentally blurted out her inner thoughts.
After realizing what she had said, she quickly covered her mouth and then buried her head in her bowl.
Ning Yue gave her a glare.
However, she did not say anything; it was obvious that her cooking skills were worlds apart from Lin Jing's.
She was self-aware and naturally wouldn't blame Luo Luo.
"Lin Daoyou, I didn't expect your culinary skills to be this excellent."
During the meal, Ning Yue started to compliment.
"My mother passed away when I was very young, and my father was busy all the time, so that's how I developed these cooking skills."
Ning Yue had not expected to touch upon Lin Jing's family history and hastily apologized.
"I'm sorry, Lin Daoyou."
"It's fine, that's all in the past."
Silence followed…
"Ning Daoyou, why did you go to someone else's residence to refine pills?"
In an attempt to break the silence, Lin Jing spoke first.
"That household is quite special; they plant their own spirit grass and also to deal with the recent beast tide, so they thought of harvesting all the spirit grass in their home to refine into elixir medicine."
"And they didn't want to collaborate with other forces and share the profits. Thus, they recruited alchemists externally to come to their home to refine spirit grass into elixir medicine."
"I see," Lin Jing responded.
"Daoyou, I have read your Elixir Scripture today in my spare time and made some revisions, but due to time constraints, I haven't made many changes."
"I estimate that to revise the entire thing will take more than half a month."
"Ning Daoyou has worked hard," Lin Jing said gratefully.
"Mother, are you going to teach Uncle Lin alchemy? Didn't you say Grandfather's alchemy shouldn't be taught to just anyone?"
Ning Yue heard this and glared at Luo Luo.
"Eat your meal and don't interrupt the adults."
"Oh…"
Under Ning Yue's authority, Luo Luo lowered her head and hastily shoveled food into her mouth, as if to vent her dissatisfaction onto the meal.
Afterward, Ning Yue and Lin Jing started to talk about refining pills again…
The sunset beneath the trees, with two adults and a child sitting at the table having dinner.
To anyone unaware, they would certainly be envious of this seemingly happy family…
Perhaps because Lin Jing's cooking was so delicious, Ning Yue ate two more bowls than she usually did today.
After the meal, as the sky darkened, Ning Yue didn't leave but started to explain the art of alchemy to Lin Jing.
Luo Luo was beside them initially but soon got bored and ran off to count the stars.
The two talked until it was nearly Zi Time, Luo Luo was so sleepy she could hardly keep her eyes open, and the two finally went back.
After they had left, Lin Jing also did not go to the System Space.
The System Space was different from the outside world; Spirit Rice and Seven-Star Grass inside did not require his attention at all.
And now, Ning Yue was helping him repair the Elixir Scripture; as for Alchemy, that would have to wait until after the Elixir Scripture was fixed.
Thus, there was absolutely no need to waste the entry time into the System Space; he could simply accumulate the time first.
...
The following days were all like this.
In the mornings, Ning Yue would bring Luo Luo over and then go to practice Alchemy.
At night, she would come back to explain Alchemy knowledge to Lin Jing, always leaving late into the night.
And the repair of the Elixir Scripture was also nearing completion.
Lin Jing and Luo Luo spent most of their time at home; of course, they would occasionally go out for a stroll.
During this time, he had only seen Wei Zhengqing twice; Wei seemed to be quite busy as well, often going out.
As for the Zhang Family brothers, who knew what they were up to these days, as they were frequently seen leaving the house.
Although they had seen each other a few times, it was just a brief greeting before the two excused themselves with other matters and never brought up repaying the Spirit Stones.
But, it was just five Spirit Stones; Lin Jing didn't care.
If it had been a few months ago, tsk tsk...
Five Spirit Stones, unthinkable.
People really do change…
Aside from them, Ning Yue had been having meals at Lin Jing's place daily during this period and her figure had noticeably filled out a bit, giving her a more charming appearance.
However, Ning Yue said that she should be able to finish repairing the Elixir Scripture by tomorrow, and he had already accumulated 70 hours in his System Space.
Next, he was just waiting for the Elixir Scripture to be repaired...
That day, Ning Yue returned with good news; the Elixir Scripture was finally repaired.
At the dining table, Ning Yue passed the mended Elixir Scripture to Lin Jing.
"I've modified some of the content for you, then filled in some missing parts; it should be fine now."
"If you encounter any problems on your Alchemy journey, let me know in time, and I'll help you find answers."
"Alright," Lin Jing replied.
They returned quite early today; after the explanations over the past half-month, there wasn't much left to talk about.
The most crucial aspect of Alchemy is still experimentation; only through constant experimentation can one gradually correct mistakes.
That night, Lin Jing was alone, flipping through the newly repaired Elixir Scripture—parts that were previously unclear now became crystal clear.
Even some of his own previous thoughts were mentioned.
That night, he still did not practice Alchemy but went to bed early instead.
He needed to reread the Elixir Scripture and understand the content.
Perhaps it was due to having listened to Ning Yue's explanations; in just three days, Lin Jing had memorized all of the content of the Elixir Scripture and reached a point of complete understanding.
Only on this night did Lin Jing re-enter the System Space.
Upon arriving at the Alchemy Room, Lin Jing prepared the materials and began his first attempt at refining.
Starting the fire, adding the Spirit Grass in batches, he then covered the Pill Furnace.
Lin Jing's movements were fluid, completing the process in one smooth action.
Then he carefully controlled the flames...
Until half an hour had passed, the fragrance filled the air, Lin Jing was sure that the pill would be a success.
Indeed,
It wasn't long before the System prompt appeared.
"Pill refining successful, Alchemy Proficiency +6"
Lifting the furnace lid, he took out the Elixir Medicine, Lin Jing examined it in his hand.
A Medium Grade Fasting Pill, it looked rounder than before.
Indeed,
There had indeed been significant issues with the Elixir Scripture before; now, after the repair, on his first refining attempt, he'd created a Medium Grade Elixir Medicine, and there were three of them.
Then, achieving a Flawless Elixir might just be around the corner.