The more Shen Xiang delved into higher-grade pills, the more he realized why skilled alchemists were so rare. Most people simply couldn't afford the materials. Despite Shen Xiang's talent and the assistance of the Flame Dragon Treasure Furnace, he had already failed three times trying to refine a high-grade Mortal level pill. How could others hope to succeed?
"Sister Meiyao, give me a kiss for motivation. Failing over and over is starting to scare me," Shen Xiang said timidly, grinning foolishly.
Su Meiyao scolded, "You little rascal! It's fine to joke with me, but if you say that to my sister, you'll be swollen for days."
Shen Xiang chuckled, "Of course, I know that. But you've kissed me before, so another one wouldn't hurt, right?"
The last time Shen Xiang received the Flame Dragon Treasure Furnace, Su Meiyao had kissed him in joy, and ever since, he hadn't forgotten about it.
"Dream on! Keep it up, and I'll stop talking to you," Su Meiyao snorted, her face flushing as she recalled that moment. A faint, charming blush made her even more alluring, leaving Shen Xiang stunned.
"Stop staring! Get back to refining!" Su Meiyao stomped her foot and turned into a streak of white light, returning to the ring.
Though a little disappointed, Shen Xiang knew that to win her heart, he had to become strong. After resting for a bit, he focused back on alchemy. If he failed again, he'd have to buy more herbs.
After more than half an hour, Shen Xiang's wicked laughter echoed through the chamber: "Haha! I've finally succeeded! In just half a day, I've learned how to refine the Great Yuan Pill!"
Su Meiyao and Bai Youyou immediately rushed out of the ring upon hearing that awful laughter.
"If you laugh like that again, I'll knock out your teeth," Bai Youyou's cold voice cut through his celebration, making Shen Xiang clamp his mouth shut in fear of her actually carrying out the threat.
Su Meiyao, on the other hand, was laughing so hard she could hardly stand.
The Flame Dragon Treasure Furnace opened, revealing five pure white pills, each the size of a longan, radiating strong spiritual energy. These were worth 80,000 large spirit coins each!
"This brat is always showing off. I thought he'd fail at least ten times, but it's always just two or three failures before he succeeds," Su Meiyao pouted but was clearly pleased.
Shen Xiang, although proud, responded modestly, "I couldn't have done it without Sister Meiyao's guidance, and of course, Sister Youyou's help…"
"This has nothing to do with me," Bai Youyou interrupted coldly.
"Well… it does! I'm always motivated to help both of you recover your strength," Shen Xiang said with a smile.
Though Bai Youyou knew he was flattering her, she couldn't help but feel a little moved since Shen Xiang always kept her in mind.
"Work harder, and when you start learning my demonic techniques, I'll teach you seriously." With that, Bai Youyou returned to the ring.
"Alright, kid, eat one and start cultivating. You need to reach the ninth level of the Mortal Martial Realm soon," Su Meiyao said as she wiped his sweat and then also returned to the ring.
Shen Xiang didn't eat the pill right away. Instead, he rested briefly before asking Su Meiyao to teach him how to refine the *Transformation Qi Pill* and *Spirit Condensation Pill*. Seeing Shen Xiang's eagerness, Su Meiyao patiently guided him.
The *Transformation Qi Pill* was the hardest to refine among high-grade Mortal level pills and also the most expensive. It was priced high because it could quickly improve divine sense, and divine sense was even harder to cultivate than true qi. Many powerful techniques required a strong divine sense as a foundation.
Despite its difficulty, Shen Xiang only failed once before succeeding on his second attempt, producing six pills in one batch. This left Bai Youyou and Su Meiyao both shocked and thrilled. They were convinced that Shen Xiang would one day become a master alchemist, standing at the pinnacle of the alchemy world.
Shen Xiang had four sets of materials for the *Transformation Qi Pill*. After one failure, he succeeded with the remaining sets, producing a total of 18 pills. Since each pill was worth 100,000 large spirit coins, this batch was valued at 1.8 million! Each set of materials only cost 150,000, so if he succeeded, the profits were enormous. However, Shen Xiang didn't plan to make his fortune in the mortal world—he intended to enter the true martial world to earn his wealth.
"You may feel confident now, but when you start refining Spirit level pills, you'd better not complain," Su Meiyao remarked. She was astonished and pleased by Shen Xiang's alchemy talent but didn't want him to grow arrogant.
Shen Xiang nodded. It was now evening, and after eating, he went outside the city to cultivate. He didn't only train his true qi; he focused on both internal and external cultivation, using various methods to temper his body. This not only made his physique stronger but also allowed him to quickly convert true qi into divine sense, refining it into spiritual power.
A month passed, and Shen Xiang had become proficient in refining the three most useful high-grade Mortal pills. He had also experimented with refining some less common pills to improve his alchemy skills. To test himself, he used other furnaces, and although he initially failed, he soon succeeded. However, ordinary furnaces took much longer to refine pills compared to the Flame Dragon Treasure Furnace.
For example, refining a batch of *Great Yuan Pills* took the Flame Dragon Treasure Furnace only half an hour, while a regular furnace took almost an entire day!
Over the course of the month, the Shen family's position in the capital stabilized. The pill business had expanded significantly. Although their prices were low, the increase in buyers meant the Shen family still profited greatly.
One morning, after returning to the new Shen family residence from outside the city, Shen Xiang had just finished bathing when the family steward, Old Ma, rushed in with an anxious expression.
"Young master, something terrible has happened," Old Ma cried out urgently.
"What's going on? Tell me quickly," Shen Xiang demanded.
"The family head left ten days ago to take care of some matters, but when he returned, he was poisoned! The elders and Old Meng are using their true qi to suppress the poison, but the family head is on the verge of death!" Old Ma explained hurriedly. Before he even finished, Shen Xiang had turned into a blur and disappeared.
Shen Xiang's expression was grim as he arrived at a secret chamber. Several elders and Old Meng were pressing their hands on Shen Tianhu's body, channeling their true qi to suppress the deadly poison.
Shen Tianhu's muscular body was pitch-black, devoid of any color, and faint traces of black mist emanated from his face. It was clear he had been struck by a deadly poison.
Meanwhile, Shen Lüzong stood nearby, frowning as he examined a small, thin steel needle.