"Pharmacist?"
Hearing this, Xiao Yan was taken aback, then immediately frowned, "In the Douqi Continent, everyone wants to become a pharmacist, but can just anyone become a pharmacist? Those harsh requirements..." Suddenly pausing mid-sentence, Xiao Yan abruptly raised his head, mouth agape: "Have I made it?"
I really admire the look on Xiao Yan's face, a mix of shock, anticipation, and ecstasy. The old man stroked his beard, thought for a moment, then sized him up again before finally letting out a somewhat troubled sigh and said, "Even though it's barely enough, who told me I owe you a favor? Sigh, fine, let's just consider this paying off a debt of gratitude..."
Glancing at the old man who looked quite reluctant, Xiao Yan couldn't shake the feeling that this old geezer's claim of barely qualifying was a bit fake. But at that moment, he was too lazy to dig deeper; amidst his joy, he still felt a bit doubtful: "Even if I meet the requirements, usually, alchemists are taught hands-on by their teachers. Are you, perhaps, also an alchemist?"
Looking at the doubtful expression on Xiao Yan's little face, the old man chuckled, puffed out his chest a bit, and his voice carried a hint of pride: "That's right, I am an alchemist!"
With a blink of his eyes, Xiao Yan's gaze towards the old man suddenly brightened, a pharmacist, huh, that's a rare creature...
"Old sir, may I ask, what rank of pharmacist were you before?" Xiao Yan licked his lips, his youthful voice carrying a hint of politeness. Read the latest chapter, please lock in.
In the Douqi Continent, although pharmacists are rare, due to their noble status, there is also a clear ranking system, from low to high, divided into first to ninth ranks. The master of the gathering gas powder in the hall earlier, Dan Wang Gu He, was a sixth-rank pharmacist, considered the best in the pharmaceutical world of the Gama Empire.
"What rank? Hehe, can't remember... Hey, kid, are you really learning or not?" Shaking his head, the old man suddenly asked with a hint of impatience.
"Learning, learning!"
Xiao Yan no longer hesitated, quickly nodding his little head; an alchemist, even someone from a huge power like the Yunlan Sect, is considered a precious VIP.
"Hehe, willing? If you're willing, then let's make you my disciple," the old man said, sitting cross-legged on a slab of green stone with a cunning smile.
"Do I really have to become your disciple?"
"Of course! You think you can get me to share everything without becoming my disciple? Dream on!" The old man rolled his eyes; clearly, this somewhat old-fashioned guy was very serious about the master-disciple relationship.
With no choice, Xiao Yan pouted; in order to become a distinguished alchemist, he had no choice but to respectfully perform the bowing ceremony to the old man.
Looking at Xiao Yan with a serious expression, the old man finally nodded with satisfaction, his voice carrying a bit more warmth: "My name is Yao Lao, as for my background, let's not discuss it for now, so you won't get distracted. You just need to know that those so-called Pill Kings, well... they are actually just a bunch of crap."
Xiao Yan's mouth twitched, staring at the old man's casual demeanor. Just as he was about to speak, he swallowed his words: "What the hell is this old man」s background? The Pill King Gu He, who is famous in the Jia Ma Empire, is just a piece of crap...? If this gets out, I'll probably be laughed at as a lunatic by the entire Jia Ma Empire!"
Taking a deep breath to suppress his shock, Xiao Yan rolled his eyes, grinning cheekily as he said, "I」m curious, how do you plan to help me reach the seventh stage of fighting spirit in just one year?"
"Although your fighting spirit has been regressing for these three years, it is precisely because of this that your foundation is more solid than that of ordinary people. In fighting spirit cultivation, a strong foundation is of utmost importance! In the future, you'll realize just how much benefit this regression in strength has brought you!" The old pharmacist's smile slowly faded, and he said seriously.
Xiao Yan was a bit taken aback; he really didn't know what benefits a regression in strength could bring him.
"So when are you going to teach me alchemy?" With his eyes spinning, Xiao Yan focused on the most important thing.
"To become an alchemist, you need the support of flame fighting spirit. Therefore, before you learn alchemy, you must at least become a fighter and practice a fire-type fighting skill!"
"Fire-type skill? Hehe, teacher, since I'm your disciple, hand over a heavenly tier fire-type skill for me to cultivate!" Xiao Yan stretched out his hand, smiling as he asked.
"Bullshit, is your Earth-level cultivation technique just some wild yam? Can't believe you actually said that!" Upon hearing this, the old man」s face twitched, and he couldn't help but scold with a mix of laughter and tears.
"Old man, since I've entered your school, you can't expect me to go back to my clan for techniques, right? The best fire attribute technique in my family is only at the yellow level high rank, that」s just pathetic!" Xiao Yan's small face looked quite gloomy.
"Kid, it's 'teacher,' not 'old man!'"
The old man rolled his eyes in anger at Xiao Yan's address, not expecting that after just finishing his apprenticeship, this little brat would climb on top of him.
"Hmph, since you」ve joined my school, I won」t treat you poorly. I don」t have a sky-level technique! But I do have a technique that's even stranger than a sky-level technique, do you want to learn it?" With a snort, the old man」s murky eyes suddenly brimmed with conspiratorial intent.
"Stranger than a sky-level technique?"
His heart skipped a beat, and Xiao Yan swallowed hard, his black eyes inadvertently glowing with a quiet heat: "What level of cultivation technique is that?"
"Yellow rank, low level." The smile from Old Yao made Xiao Yan's little face instantly stiffen.
"Old man, are you messing with me?"
Moments later, an angry roar erupted from the top of the mountain.
Looking at the little guy in front of him whose face was twisted in anger, Old Yao chuckled with satisfaction; being able to make the usually calm Xiao Yan this riled up gave him a sense of accomplishment.
"What」s so weird about that technique?" Fixating on Old Yao's teasing face, Xiao Yan suddenly fell silent, frowning as he asked.
"It can evolve!" After a brief pause, Old Yao smiled.
Xiao Yan's pupils contracted sharply, staring unblinkingly at Old Yao in front of him. After a long while, he shook his head: "Impossible! I」ve never heard of any cultivation technique that has the ability to evolve!"
"Tch, what do you know, you little brat? The Dou Qi Continent is vast beyond measure, with countless, and in your eyes, having never left the Jia Ma Empire, things that seem impossible are just far out there." Ya Lao scoffed.
Xiao Yan was taken aback and then retorted, "Have you heard of other techniques that can evolve?"
Ya Lao's smile froze for a moment, and after a while, he dryly shook his head and said, "It's precisely because there aren't any that my technique stands out!"
"Can it really evolve?" Seeing Ya Lao's serious face, Xiao Yan couldn't help but ask again.
"It can really evolve!" Ya Lao nodded firmly.
"Have you cultivated it yourself?" Xiao Yan asked again.
"Uh... no." Ya Lao chuckled awkwardly and shook his head.
"So someone else has cultivated it?"
"Uh... no."
On his forehead, the veins throbbed as Xiao Yan tightly clenched his fists, suppressing the impulse to throw a punch and forcing his voice to contain his anger: "If no one has practiced it, how do you know it can evolve?"
"It's described like that in the techniques," Elder Yao replied with an awkward smile.
"Is there really such a technique?" Furrowing his brow tightly, Xiao Yan hesitated for a moment, then turned his dark eyes and asked, "Can I take a look?"
"Hehe..." With a strange laugh, Elder Yao glanced at the curious Xiao Yan, and with a sudden change in tone, said, "Forget it, it wouldn't do any good for you to see it now. Let's wait until you become a fighter, and then I'll teach you."
With his outstretched hand feeling a bit stiff, Xiao Yan's mouth twitched violently for a while before he managed to squeeze out two words from between his teeth: "You're ruthless!"
After a hearty laugh, Elder Yao ignored Xiao Yan's furious black eyes and said with a smile, 「Your current task is still to cultivate your Dou Qi to the seventh stage within a year.」
「Do you have any methods?」 Xiao Yan forced down his curiosity about that mysterious technique and gritted his teeth as he asked.
「The cultivation of the initial stage of Dou Qi mainly focuses on expanding the meridians and strengthening the body, laying a foundation for the future condensation of Dou Qi within the body. At this age, the human body's meridians are the most fragile and malleable, so this cultivation process must be gradual and cannot involve any external force. Otherwise, when the Dou Qi within the body gradually becomes stronger, the meridians will be unable to withstand the increasingly powerful impact of the Dou Qi, ultimately leading to a fate of severed meridians and death!」 Elder Yao said with a serious expression.
Regarding this, Xiao Yan actually understood that during his three years of being a waste, his father, in his eagerness, had tried several times to forcibly infuse Dou Qi into him, but each time he stopped at the critical moment. Therefore, Xiao Yan was very clear about the pros and cons involved.
Yao Lao glanced at the calm-faced Xiao Yan, nodded with satisfaction, and smiled, "For others, that's indeed the case, but you are different. The foundation within you has been solid and reliable since three years ago, and over these years, your character has been steadfast; you haven't missed a single day of cultivation. So now, I can say without hesitation that your foundation is excellent!"
"Are you trying to boost my strength with external force? Like taking pills?" Xiao Yan's eyes shifted around.
"Pretty much, but with the current toughness of your meridians, you can't withstand the impact of any pill's energy, even the lowest-level Gathering Qi Powder won」t work!" Yao Lao said with a faint smile.
"The lowest level of energy gathering and dispersing..." With a slight tremble of his fingers, Xiao Yan almost rolled his eyes. That miraculous medicine, which was auctioned for sky-high prices in the Gama Empire, in the mouth of his mysterious teacher, turned out to be the lowest grade item. The difference between the two was truly shocking to Xiao Yan.
"So what's your method?" Taking a deep breath, Xiao Yan replied calmly, frowning as he spoke softly.
"Hehe, the potency of the pills is too strong, it can easily harm the meridians, so we must take a gentler approach!" Old Yao smiled slightly and said, "Tomorrow, prepare three complete Purple Leaf Orchid grasses, the older, the better. Also, two Bone-Washing Flowers; their age doesn't matter. Oh, right, and a level one Wood-type Magic Core. These are all low-level materials, so I believe you can get them... Someone's coming up, I'll return to the ring now! Also, don't let anyone know of my existence, including your closest ones." After finishing, Old Yao ignored Xiao Yan, who was gaping wider and wider, and directly dove into the black ring. The ring shook slightly and fit precisely onto Xiao Yan's finger.
"Three complete purple leaf orchids? Two bone washing flowers? A level one wood magic core? Old man, are you out of your mind? Do you think I'm some royal prince or something? All these things combined, it」s gotta be at least a thousand gold coins! After all these years of penny-pinching, I barely have four hundred gold coins saved up, which is just enough to buy a level one magic core!" Xiao Yan shouted while holding the ring, his eyes wide with rage.
"That's your problem, heh heh, the nurturing spirit liquid I concocted can't be bought even if others have money; I'm just asking you to cover the material costs, and you're acting like this…" The teasing laughter of the Medicine Old Man echoed in Xiao Yan's heart.
「...Damn it, the stuff made by the alchemist can only be afforded by the rich.」 Xiao Yan let out a helpless bitter laugh. His monthly pocket money from the Xiao family wasn't small; it was a full twenty gold coins. This amount could allow a common family to live comfortably for a year, but using that money to buy the materials the old man mentioned for making medicine was just a drop in the bucket. This is the gap!
「Sigh, I can only find someone to borrow from…」 With a frustrated sigh, Xiao Yan slowly reined in his emotions, his small face returning to its usual calmness. He turned to look at the mountain path, where a purple figure, like a fairy, gracefully leaped over.