The Foundation Establishment Pill, as a low-level basic pill, had a publicly available prescription, and the required materials were not complicated. Chu Xinghui spent a whole month collecting all the materials listed in the prescription.

After he checked the materials thoroughly and confirmed they were correct, he went to the Wanbao Trading Company again.

The Wanbao Trading Company employed long-term alchemists. Some independent cultivators, having no other connections to alchemists, brought their prepared materials and commission fees to these alchemists to place orders.

Although this public channel couldn’t produce high-level pills or some special-purpose pills, it was sufficient for most situations.

Chu Xinghui took a booklet and was studying the expertise areas and good reviews of several alchemists registered at the Wanbao Trading Company when suddenly a short, delicate-faced young boy jumped out beside him.

He sneakily tugged at Chu Xinghui’s sleeve and whispered: “Fellow Cultivator, looking for an alchemist?”

Chu Xinghui looked at him in puzzlement and put down the booklet: “Yes.”

The boy furtively watched the guild attendants’ movements and quietly explained his purpose: “Fellow Cultivator, finding alchemists through the Wanbao Trading Company is not cost-effective. I’m also an alchemist, please consider me.”

From his tone, Chu Xinghui suspected the two of them were being sought after, so he lowered his voice as well: “What benefits are there?”

The boy raised his voice slightly and enthusiastically promoted himself: “Of course there are benefits! If you find an alchemist at the Wanbao Trading Company, they take a commission from you. But if you choose me, we can trade directly and save that commission.”

Chu Xinghui nodded slowly: “Oh.”

The boy eagerly asked again: “So, what do you say? Deal?”

Chu Xinghui did not get carried away by the small profit and calmly pointed out: “But the alchemists hired by the Wanbao Trading Company have legal qualifications, and if the traded items do not match the description, you can return or exchange them.”

The boy stood there wide-eyed and speechless for a moment.

Only after Chu Xinghui’s words did he realize how uncompetitive he was.

Chu Xinghui waited patiently for a while, and seeing that the boy had no other offers, he prepared to leave and politely wished him: “I hope you find customers soon.”

“Wait!” The boy hurriedly stopped him when he was about to leave: “Actually… I do have legal qualifications. I’m a Level One Alchemist, with certification.”

Chu Xinghui stopped and looked back at him.

The boy thought he didn’t believe him, blushed, and whispered: “I know it’s embarrassing to have only a Level One certificate at eighteen, but my certificate is genuine, and there won’t be any problems!”

While speaking, he took out his Level One qualification certificate from his storage bag to show Chu Xinghui.

Chu Xinghui took it and looked over it, it was indeed real.

He actually had no concept about what qualifications an alchemist should have at certain ages, but since the boy said so, he sympathetically comforted him: “Maybe you’re a late bloomer. Fellow Cultivator, don’t lose heart.”

The boy sighed and waved his hand listlessly: “Sigh, I know my own situation. Maybe I’m really not cut out to be an alchemist. I don’t know if it’s too late to change careers now…”

After lamenting a bit, he caught sight of the spirit sword in Chu Xinghui’s hand and suddenly lit up: “Hey, wait, you’re a sword cultivator?”

Chu Xinghui didn’t understand why his thoughts jumped so abruptly, but having lived with Xie Liufeng for so long, he was now very tolerant of everything and nodded: “Yes.”

The boy happily clapped his hands: “Then this is how it’ll be. I’ll refine pills for you for free, with a guarantee of return or exchange. But you have to accompany me into Songjian and protect me.”

Chu Xinghui frowned: “Songjian?”

Seeing his reaction, the boy scratched his head and explained: “Oh, the news probably hasn’t spread yet, right? Yesterday, some big shots found out about the situation at Wanchun Mountain. There’s said to ‘be a secret realm because it’s located near Songjia’n, so it’s called the Songjian Secret Realm. This secret realm only allows Qi Refining and Foundation Establishment cultivators to enter, and it will open in about two or three months.”

Chu Xinghui thought for a moment and recalled that something like this did seem to have happened.

Before he came to Beiyue, there had already been disturbances at Beiyue Wanchun Mountain. The situation had caused a big fuss, and many powerful beings had come to investigate. To prevent ordinary people from entering by mistake, Wanchun Mountain had been closed off for some time.

But frankly, these matters mainly concerned those powerful beings, cultivators without sufficient strength didn’t need to get involved. For most people, these were just rumors heard on the streets.

Chu Xinghui had been busy cultivating and making money lately, while also dealing with Xie Liufeng’s various whims, so he hadn’t paid much attention to this matter.

He hadn’t expected that after such a long investigation, a secret realm had actually been discovered.

The contents of a newly opened secret realm were unknown. No one knew if it was full of incredible riches or just rubbish. If unlucky, one might lose their life without earning a single spirit stone. Opportunities and risks coexisted, whether to explore it was a personal decision.

For cultivators specializing in auxiliary paths like alchemists, secret realms and such trial places were especially risky, and most had to find trustworthy cultivators with combat ability to form teams.

Thinking of this, Chu Xinghui looked up at the boy in front of him.

Here was the problem: the two had just met and had no clear understanding of each other’s strength… so it was hard to say whether trust was possible.

But free pill refining was indeed a very attractive offer, as hiring an alchemist was quite expensive.

The boy saw his hesitation and immediately raised the stakes: “I won’t let you suffer losses. We’ll act together, and I’ll provide all the pills throughout. Whatever we find, we split half and half!”

He added in a lower voice: “…But if we find any medicinal materials I need, could you give them to me first? I’ll compensate you for your share with spirit stones or other materials.”

Chu Xinghui was tempted by the generous offer, and his eyes flickered slightly.

He pondered for a moment and finally agreed: “Deal.”

The boy immediately beamed with joy, took out paper and pen, and wrote down his address: “My name is Cheng Yu, this is my address in Beiyue.”

Chu Xinghui took the note and exchanged names with him: “Chu Xinghui.”

The two agreed on the specific details of the transaction, then signed a contract. Chu Xinghui handed over the materials for the Foundation Establishment Pill to Cheng Yu, and the two parted ways for the time being.

*

Cheng Yu was very proactive. Within two days, he hastened the delivery of the refined Foundation Establishment Pills to Chu Xinghui.

Upon receiving the goods, Chu Xinghui first opened the bottle to inspect the pills inside.

They were smooth all over, had excellent coloration, and the medicinal properties of the raw materials were well sealed inside the pills with almost no waste.

Although Chu Xinghui knew little about alchemy, he could tell that these pills were of much better quality than those produced by ordinary alchemists.

It really didn’t seem like pills that could have been made by an alchemist without talent.

Feeling a bit puzzled, Chu Xinghui planned to find someone who might understand the trade to take a look.

Xie Liufeng had been idle lately and had become obsessed with tea-making, spending most of his time at home.

Although he rarely seemed to have anything important to do.

Chu Xinghui stepped out of his room, looked around, and found Xie Liufeng brewing tea under the shade of a tree.

He walked over and directly handed the pills to Xie Liufeng: “Take a look for me.”

Chu Xinghui never avoided him when doing things, and Xie Liufeng was somewhat aware of Chu Xinghui’s recent activities, so he took the pills and glanced at them without much questioning: “Hmm? The alchemists hired by the Wanbao Trading Company aren’t bad. The refining technique has a hint of the Danding Sect’s style.”

He tossed the pills back to Chu Xinghui: “The pills are fine, and the quality is good. Eat them with confidence.”

Chu Xinghui grew even more puzzled.

To resolve this doubt, he burned a communication talisman and directly asked Cheng Yu himself.

Unexpectedly, after hearing his doubt, Cheng Yu choked up and said: “…I know the pills I refined are only average. Fellow Cultivator Chu, you’re really kind. Thank you for comforting me. If you don’t mind, next time you need pills, you can come to me. I’ll give you a discount.”

Chu Xinghui: …

He didn’t quite understand, but since Cheng Yu insisted he had no talent, he chose to believe him for now.

Xie Liufeng watched the whole exchange without revealing the issue, laughing so hard he almost died from it.

Chu Xinghui gave him a faint look.

Xie Liufeng cleared his throat and barely suppressed his laughter: “The alchemist you mentioned is named Cheng Yu?”

From his tone, Chu Xinghui was a little confused: “You know him?”

Xie Liufeng shook his head, speaking sincerely: “How could I? I’m just a mortal.”

Chu Xinghui looked at him coldly: “Oh.”

Xie Liufeng cleared his throat and quickly changed the subject: “Want some tea?”

Chu Xinghui didn’t bother to argue and sat beside him, waiting for his tea.

Xie Liufeng poured the boiling tea into two cups and skillfully used his spiritual power to lower the temperature of the water.

Chu Xinghui watched him perform the fluid movements and reminded him: “You’re a mortal without spiritual power.”

Xie Liufeng paused, pondered in frustration for a moment, then touched the cup and adjusted the water back to boiling hot, his brow relaxing: “Alright, your turn.”

He pushed the cup toward Chu Xinghui and began bossing him around confidently: “I want it a bit cooler.”

Chu Xinghui: …

Xie Liufeng was like this. He only needed to be fooled by him, but what Xie Liufeng fooled him into thinking required more consideration.

Chu Xinghui had no choice but to fill his own pit and dutifully cooled the tea before handing it back.

Xie Liufeng was satisfied and smiled brightly at him: “I added the Ice Moon Flowers you picked at the Cold Pond recently. How does it taste?”

Ice Moon Flowers were especially compatible with ice-type spiritual power, nourishing the ice spiritual root and accelerating spiritual power circulation.

Chu Xinghui suddenly understood why Xie Liufeng had tricked him into picking Ice Moon Flowers last time.

He said nothing, just took a sip of the hot tea.

Xie Liufeng lazily looked at him. His gaze dropped to Chu Xinghui’s tightly buttoned collar, then glanced at the hot tea beside him, suddenly frowning.

It was midsummer, but Chu Xinghui’s cultivation level hadn’t reached the point of being immune to heat and cold. He was always somewhat sensitive to cold and dressed thicker than others even in this season.

Xie Liufeng looked at him for a while, then suddenly took his hand.

Chu Xinghui didn’t pull away, just raised his head and looked at him curiously.

After all, Xie Liufeng often acted strangely, and Chu Xinghui was used to it.

Xie Liufeng felt the temperature of his hand and asked: “Your hand is very cold. Are you cold?”

Chu Xinghui nodded and after thinking a bit, added: “I do get cold more easily than others. Maybe it’s because I have an ice spiritual root.”

Xie Liufeng considered for a moment and told him: “You might not know… although the ice spiritual root causes a person’s body temperature to be lower than normal, it doesn’t make them feel cold. In fact, the ice spiritual root greatly enhances a person’s tolerance to cold environments. In other words, people with ice spiritual roots rarely feel cold.”

Chu Xinghui was stunned on the spot.

 

Support translation: