Chapter 37: Alchemy
Lin Qingyue said, “Since Senior Brother wants to keep it, let’s give it a name. How about Goudan? It’s simple and catchy.” (T/N: Goudan: Dog Egg)
The little fox was instantly enraged!
“Chiu chiu chiu!!”
‘I’m not called Goudan! My name is…’
‘Oh, right. Mom said I’m not an adult yet, so I don’t have a name.’
Su Yan shook his head and said, “That name is no good. Look at its golden fur. Why don’t we just call it Little Gold?”
“Chiu chiu chiu.”
‘That name is ordinary, but since you’re the one giving it, I’ll go by that for now.’
The little fox nodded in agreement.
“See, it nodded too. It seems to like it,” Su Yan said with a smile, rubbing the little one’s head.
But Lin Qingyue couldn’t smile. She looked at the little fox coldly.
Su Yan said, “The herbs have been collected. I’m going to start refining pills now. You should go and do your own thing, Junior Sister.”
Lin Qingyue replied, “I want to watch Senior Brother refine pills.”
Su Yan shook his head and refused. “What’s so interesting about refining pills? It’s quite boring. Let’s just forget it.”
It was his first time refining pills, so he would definitely be clumsy. This would damage his dignity as a Senior Brother. Su Yan would not agree to it.
“Alright.”
Lin Qingyue was a little disappointed, but she didn’t say anything more. She always listened to her Senior Brother, and this time was no exception.
After sending his junior sister away, Su Yan returned to his room. In the room was a cauldron, the lowest-grade pill furnace he had brought back from the Artifact Pavilion.
“Let’s see. To refine a pill, you first need to start a fire, then add various auxiliary materials. You add the herbs while refining and have to constantly stir with a large spoon to make the medicine condense evenly at the bottom of the furnace…”
Su Yan had thought that refining a pill just required throwing all the herbs into the furnace and boiling them over a high fire, eventually concentrating the essence into the shape of a pill.
But in reality, this method was impossible to succeed. It was more like cooking than alchemy.
Only after reading a professional alchemy book did Su Yan know how to do it.
“I never thought alchemy would be so complicated. I have to be careful.”
Su Yan followed the instructions in the book, adding saltpeter, salt, and various other miscellaneous materials.
The little fox helped him tend the fire. The spoon in Su Yan’s hand moved as if he were drawing a magic circle, and in the end, he actually succeeded.
“Is this a White Sun Pill? Why does it look different from the ones I’ve eaten?”
Pills were divided into nine grades, but below the ninth grade, there was also an unranked level.
As an unranked pill, the White Sun Pill’s effect was to relieve pain. It was the easiest healing medicine to refine.
“This thing…”
Su Yan looked at the seven black balls in the bowl. No matter how he looked at them, they didn’t seem normal. They were supposed to be the essence of the herbs, but they looked more like impurities.
“I must be overthinking it.”
He had followed the instructions in the book. It couldn’t be wrong. So this was undoubtedly the essence, just that the color was a bit strange.
“Why don’t I test its effect?”
Su Yan picked up a black ball, but he couldn’t bring himself to put it in his mouth after several attempts.
“I’m not injured, so it won’t have any effect if I eat it. Right, little one, you’ve just recovered. You must still have some lingering effects. Why don’t you try it?”
Su Yan looked at the little fox sitting obediently beside him and couldn’t help but say with a smile, holding a piece of “coal” to its mouth.
“Chiu chiu chiu.”
The little fox held up its front paws and shook its head, indicating that it didn’t need any follow-up treatment.
Su Yan was persistent. He said with a smile, “Come on, come on, my little one. Just help me out this one time, okay?”
“Chiu chiu chiu!”
Faced with the young man’s gentle words and seeing his brilliant smile, the little fox’s heart wavered.
The beautiful person is smiling at me!
Eat! I can eat it!
The little fox subconsciously opened its mouth. Su Yan was quick, and a pill was stuffed into its mouth.
There was no legendary melting in the mouth. Instead, it had to be chewed.
“Crunch, crunch!”
Su Yan heard the noise coming from the little fox’s mouth as it swallowed with difficulty.
“How’s the effect?” Su Yan asked hastily, watching the little fox’s reaction.
The little fox didn’t speak, not even a ‘chiu chiu chiu’.
Su Yan found it strange. He reached out and poked it, and the little fox fell over stiffly.
“Hey, hey, hey! Why did it faint!?”
Su Yan’s eyes widened. The little fox’s body was twitching, and white foam was coming out of its mouth.
Seeing that things were not looking good, Su Yan quickly cast several Nourishing Dew spells. The little fox slowly came to, then began to shout.
“Chiu chiu chiu.”
‘What is this thing you refined? It almost sent me to see my great-grandmother!’
Su Yan couldn’t understand the little fox’s words, but he could roughly guess its meaning. He quickly bowed his head and apologized, “I’m sorry. Next time, I’ll be more certain before I let you eat it.”
“Chiu chiu chiu!”
The little fox’s face was full of terror. There’s a next time for this kind of thing!
“What do you think?”
Having failed once, Su Yan was not discouraged. Instead, he worked even harder at alchemy.
As for the test subject each time… of course, it was the little fox.
Although it would say no, as long as he asked sincerely, the little one would always agree.
“Chiu chiu chiu.”
‘This is the last time. This is the last time.’
The little fox wanted to refuse every time, but it could never bring itself to. It couldn’t bear to see his disappointed expression and couldn’t say the words of refusal.
“Chiu chiu chiu.”
‘Am I the vixen, or are you the vixen?’
The little fox buried its head and lamented.
…
Just like that, Su Yan became obsessed with alchemy, wanting to master the skill.
Lin Qingyue became obsessed with cultivation, wanting to grasp a power that could ignore everything.
The little fox became obsessed with taking pills, already used to being tormented by him.
Half a month passed slowly, and Xiao Wu once again relayed Bai Shuixin’s command.
“Junior Brother, Master wants to see you.”
“What is it?”
“Master said it’s a physical examination.”
Xiao Wu’s expression was strange. She didn’t know what her Master meant by that.
Su Yan suddenly remembered. His Master had said last time that she would give him a physical examination in half a month.
“This is a complete waste of time.”
Su Yan knew his own situation. The special nature of Dragon King’s Waterspout was entirely due to the skill points. But he couldn’t explain it to his Master, so he could only cooperate with her.
“Alright, I’ll go see Master now,” Su Yan said helplessly.
“I want to go too,” Lin Qingyue suddenly said.
“What are you going for?”
Su Yan was a little confused. His Master hadn’t summoned her. Why was she following him instead of cultivating here?
“I’m a little tired from practicing my sword and want to rest for a bit. I’ll just accompany you, Senior Brother,” Lin Qingyue said evasively.
Of course, that wasn’t the truth. The real reason was that she was worried.
Master was going to give Su Yan a physical examination. What exactly did this so-called examination entail?
Lin Qingyue couldn’t rest easy. She had to go and see for herself.
“Alright.”
Su Yan didn’t notice his little junior sister’s thoughts and agreed nonchalantly.
