Stir Fry

Zhen Hu, the current sect master of the Starry Sky Pill Sect, is a triple-cultivator in the Heaven Mending Realm, ranking among the top twenty figures in the entire realm.

Although he might be towards the end of the top twenty, he is still considered a formidable individual.

At this moment, Zhen Hu took the initiative to greet Chen Xia. In this simple and honest realm, this can be regarded as an extremely high-level reception.

This signifies that Zhen Hu recognizes Chen Xia's strength and treats him as a cultivator of the same level.

As he looked at Chen Xia, he appeared exactly as depicted in the portrait—leaning on a cane, with a refined appearance, and wearing a simple and elegant cyan robe.

"Welcome, Master, to the Starry Sky Pill Sect," Zhen Hu said with a smile.

The surrounding cultivators were astonished. They didn't expect Chen Xia to be so formidable that even the sect master personally came out to receive him. This indicates that Chen Xia is also a cultivator in the Heaven Mending Realm.

"Brother, this is our sect master, named Zhen Hu, a powerful triple cultivator in the Heaven Mending Realm," Bai Jie extended his hand and introduced Chen Xia.

"Hello," Chen Xia nodded politely.

"I heard that you can refine top-grade pills. The Starry Sky Pill Sect happens to have a high demand for this alchemy technique. I wonder if you would be willing to agree, and we can discuss the compensation and other details," Zhen Hu said with a light laugh. Black and white stripes faintly appeared on his face, resembling tiger patterns and the alternation of yin and yang.

"How much compensation can you offer?" Chen Xia asked. If he were to refine major pills, he would need to receive a 20% share, excluding the cost of medicinal materials. In other words, he would receive 80% of the spiritual stones from the sale.

In fact, for alchemists capable of refining major pills, the 20% share was already a disadvantageous price.

Because most sects would not sell major pills externally; they were exclusively used by their elder-level cultivators and above.

By waiving the cost of medicinal materials and retaining 80%, it meant that they only provided the financial resources for hiring the alchemist to refine the major pills, earning a 20% profit for themselves.

That being said, sects would still provide alchemists with the market price of spiritual stones and might even give more, in order to build good relationships.

No one wanted to offend an alchemist capable of refining major pills.

Unless it was another alchemist.

Otherwise, with just a request from an alchemist, several Heaven Mending Realm cultivators would come to hunt you down.

That's the allure major pills held for Heaven Mending Realm cultivators.

For an alchemist to refine major pills, it required extensive preparation and possibly thousands of years of alchemy cultivation to produce a single major pill.

To alchemists, this was a laborious task. According to statistics from some cultivators, an alchemist could only refine an average of thirteen major pills in their lifetime.

And these thirteen major pills could be sold for a price of three hundred thousand spiritual stones.

That was the baseline price.

It referred to the price of low-grade major pills.

As for high-grade major pills, they couldn't be bought with spiritual stones. They had to be exchanged with items such as peerless immortal techniques or fiercely lethal immortal artifacts.

These were things that spiritual stones couldn't buy.

Zhen Hu lightly lifted his foot and tapped the ground. The scene changed quickly, with the void distorting. In an instant, he and Chen Xia arrived in a secluded space before he asked again,

"Can you truly refine major pills?"

"This is not guaranteed, only an attempt at refining. However, I have previously refined half a large pill." Chen Xia spoke truthfully.

Zhen Hu nodded, "If you can refine half a large pill, it won't be long before you can refine a true low-grade large pill. Half a large pill is also an excellent thing, but unfortunately, it is not what our Starry Sky Pill Sect needs the most."

"Here's the deal." After thinking for a moment, he said, "The Starry Sky Pill Sect can give you the position of a Senior Elder. For the pills you refine, aside from the cost of ingredients, you will receive seventy percent of their market value, regardless of whether you make a profit or a loss. Moreover, the pills sold can bear your name."

For Chen Xia, this was a good thing. It would allow him to make a name for himself in the realm and focus only on alchemy without worrying about other matters.

Chen Xia chuckled lightly, "It's a very tempting offer, and it's good from all perspectives."

Suddenly, his expression changed, and he spoke earnestly, "But I refuse."

"What is your opinion then?" Zhen Hu furrowed his brow and asked.

"It must be a fifty-fifty split. That is the pride of an alchemist." Chen Xia lowered his head slightly and said in a deep voice.

In fact, there was no such thing as the pride of an alchemist. He just wanted to earn more.

He didn't even know if he could be considered an alchemist.

Well, he probably could since everything was refined with fire.

A smile tugged at the corner of Zhen Hu's mouth as he praised, "Good, indeed worthy of being an alchemist who can refine half a large pill. You have the audacity. Let's do it as you said."

"In addition, there is the assessment for joining the sect. As long as you can refine a high-grade Dao pill, you will be directly appointed as a Taishang Elder of the Starry Sky Pill Sect. Not only will you receive payment for alchemy, but you will also receive a salary."

Chen Xia nodded, "Then let's start refining quickly. I'm in a hurry."

"Hehe, you're really joking. Let's prepare first." Zhen Hu laughed.

"I'm not joking. Let's get started quickly so that I can hopefully finish and go back to have dinner." Chen Xia urged.

"Are you really going to start now?" Zhen Hu furrowed his brow. He had never seen such a peculiar alchemist like Chen Xia who didn't prepare at all and wanted to refine a high-grade Dao pill.

Wasn't this nonsense?

"I really am going to start now. If I mess up, I'll just compensate you for the cost of the ingredients. Don't worry," Chen Xia said.

In this way, Zhen Hu didn't hesitate anymore. He wanted to see what Chen Xia was capable of and how he could be so arrogant. He nodded and said, "Alright."

With another stomp of his foot, the scene changed, and the void twisted.

The two of them had already appeared in a spacious open space with a huge cauldron in the middle. The cauldron was inscribed with the emblem of the Starry Sky Pill Sect, and there was a deep blue flame burning on it.

Zhen Hu waved his hand around and loudly exclaimed, "Yin Yang Separation Fire Pill!"

Figures began to move around the surroundings, and at the same time, the intense burning of the deep blue flame on the huge cauldron in the center of the open space became even more intense.

The open space became filled with many figures, lined up one after another, looking towards the center, and the sound of conversations kept coming.

"Who is that lame guy in the middle? What kind of pill is being assessed this time? Such a grand setup?"

"I'm not sure, but it must have some influence. To have the sect master personally come forward for assessment, this person must at least have a solid foundation in Daoist medicine, right?"

Curiously, everyone watched as busy figures swiftly transported medicinal materials to the central furnace, giving the onlookers a rough idea of what was happening.

"Yinxu Flower, Yangshi Grass, what are they combined with? I can't see clearly, the appearance is hard to recognize."

"Tianhuo Orchid, this is to refine the Yin Yang Separation Fire Pill!"

"A top-grade Daoist medicine!"

As soon as these words were spoken, the expressions of the observing cultivators became tense, their gazes falling on Chen Xia.

If he could really refine top-grade Daoist medicine, it meant that this person was at least a top-notch Daoist pharmacist, a rare powerhouse even in the middle realm!

The medicinal materials were gradually prepared and neatly arranged.

"Please." Zhen Hu extended his left hand, inviting Chen Xia.

Chen Xia inserted his crutch into the ground and limped his way up, clasped his ten fingers together, stretched lazily, and then flicked his finger towards the enormous furnace in front of him.

Dang!

The furnace emitted a crisp sound, with a flickering azure flame within.

"This is a Dao-grade alchemy furnace, it can speed up the pill formation process and promote the volatilization of medicinal properties. This azure flame has been tempered by a hundred types of Daoist medicine, making it extremely compatible with the medicinal materials."

Zhen Hu introduced from the side, his eyes squinting slightly, wanting to see how Chen Xia would handle the first step of processing the medicinal materials.

All beginnings are difficult, and so is alchemy. The first step in handling the medicinal materials can reflect the level of the alchemist.

A skilled alchemist would produce extremely harmonious medicinal materials, seamlessly blending them together, without any conflicts in the medicinal properties due to excess or insufficiency.

All the cultivators present were watching intently.

Suddenly, Chen Xia took a step back, his arm swayed, and he took out a slightly rusty iron pot from his storage treasure, placed it in front of him, and muttered.

"Let's stir-fry."

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