Mortal Alchemy

The moonlight was bright and clear.

Chen Ping sat cross-legged under the eaves, and the thought of a stunningly beautiful woman lying on his bed stirred his emotions, preventing him from finding peace.

Chen Ping sighed softly, got up, and left his residence to go to his alchemy lab in the Pill Hall.

Hearing the sound of Chen Ping leaving, Mu Luofei ended her pretense of sleep and truly drifted off.

...

Chen Ping arrived at the alchemy lab.

He picked up the small bead and entered the Legacy Hall.

He placed the three materials into the pattern on the wall.

The Azure Phoenix Furnace was unsealed.

Chen Ping looked at the palm-sized furnace in his hand, somewhat bewildered:

"It's so small... how can I refine pills with this?"

As Chen Ping's voice faded, the palm-sized furnace shrank even further.

Chen Ping's eyelids twitched slightly: "Small? Smaller?"

The Azure Phoenix Furnace became the size of a finger, small enough to be worn as a pendant on Chen Ping's waist.

Chen Ping finally smiled:

"This is convenient. The ancestors really thought things through."

The furnace could change size, which was great.

Chen Ping manipulated the furnace to enlarge, placing it above the earth vein spirit fire.

He took a deep breath:

"Let's see if I can increase the production of Spirit Sense Pills!"

He still had three sets of materials for Spirit Sense Pills.

Two hours passed, and the first attempt failed.

Chen Ping frowned, his face a little unsightly:

"The furnace is good, but the spirit fire isn't strong enough to reach the necessary temperature for refining pills."

"I'll try again with a clumsy method."

He cleaned the Azure Phoenix Furnace and started again, raising the earth vein spirit fire to its maximum, first heating the furnace, then adding spirit water, and finally putting in the materials.

Three hours later, he failed again, and the medicinal materials turned to charcoal.

Chen Ping didn't lose heart but stared at the Azure Phoenix Furnace: "What's this? A medicinal primer?"

Chen Ping discovered that the lid of the Azure Phoenix Furnace had collected some essence of the Spirit Sense Pill essence.

Chen Ping's spirits lifted:

"If I can accumulate enough Spirit Sense Pill essence, I can use it as a medicinal primer to successfully refine a batch of Spirit Sense Pills."

"Let's see how many batches of materials it takes to accumulate enough essence for a batch of Spirit Sense Pills."

He hadn't expected the Azure Phoenix Furnace to have such a benefit. With the Azure Phoenix Furnace, Chen Ping could successfully refine the pills he wanted, even if his experience was insufficient, by accumulating refining attempts.

Having run out of materials, Chen Ping rested for a while and then left the alchemy lab to go to the storage room.

The former Madam Flower Butterfly had been replaced by a twelve-year-old girl, who bore a seven-part resemblance to Madam Flower Butterfly, and was born beautiful, with a natural charm.

Chen Ping was stunned for a moment and asked, "This junior sister, what is your relationship with Madam Flower Butterfly?"

The little girl sweetly said, "Madam Flower Butterfly is my mother."

Chen Ping smiled, cupped his hands, and said, "We both work in the Pill Hall. Please take care of me in the future. I'm here to get this month's materials and buy some extra materials."

"By the way, my name is Chen Ping."

He hadn't expected Madam Flower Butterfly to have a daughter. He figured she must have sought out that Foundation Establishment cultivator for her daughter's cultivation resources.

Too many people were helpless.

The little girl chirpily said, "My name is Mu Hongluan."

Red Phoenix Star Moving?

Chen Ping felt a strange sensation in his heart: "Thank you, Junior Sister Hongluan."

He took out a small storage bag and handed it over.

Mu Hongluan nodded: "Then Senior Brother Chen Ping, wait for me for a while, okay?"

After waiting for about half an hour, Mu Hongluan finally packed the medicinal materials that Chen Ping needed and came out of the storage room:

"That's twelve spirit stones in total."

Fifty sets of Essence Qi Pill materials were given as part of the Pill Hall mission. Chen Ping additionally purchased twenty sets of Essence Qi Pill materials and thirty sets of Grain Avoidance Pill and Qi Return Pill materials.

Chen Ping returned to the alchemy lab to continue researching the Spirit Sense Pill.

Half a month later, Chen Ping's face lit up: "Finally succeeded."

"Fifteen sets of materials are enough to consistently produce a batch of Spirit Sense Pills."

After weathering the storm, he finally saw the rainbow. The gloom in his heart over the past two or three years finally dissipated at this moment!

Producing two bottles of Spirit Sense Pills a month meant that Chen Ping's Essence Qi Pills could finally be sustained.

Chen Ping took a deep breath and began to refine Essence Qi Pills, then was pleasantly surprised to find that the Azure Phoenix Furnace refined Essence Qi Pills half the time faster than the Pill Hall's furnace.

This meant that Chen Ping could refine four batches of Essence Qi Pills in an hour! He could free up more time for cultivation.

"If I had the Azure Lotus Spirit Fire, the production of Spirit Sense Pills would definitely increase further!"

He felt a surge of excitement, as this was related to Chen Ping's Foundation Establishment path.

After being happy, Chen Ping began to refine Essence Qi Pills, completing this month's mission first.

Another half month later, Chen Ping had two bottles of Spirit Sense Pills in his hand.

He could sustain his Essence Qi Pills, and he had one hundred and twenty-six spirit stones in his hand.

After submitting the mission, Chen Ping left the Pill Hall as soon as possible, tore open a Swift Travel Talisman, and headed to White Sand Market.

He sold two bottles of Spirit Sense Pills to Old Guo, earning thirty-six spirit stones.

He bought three bottles of Essence Qi Pills from other shops, enough for Chen Ping to cultivate for two months, but he didn't dare to spend the money in his hand recklessly.

If Mu Luofei had news of the Hundred-Year Azure Lotus Root, it was estimated that he would have to spend some more money.

But now that he could produce two bottles of Spirit Sense Pills a month, Chen Ping could solve his immediate problem, which was a flying artifact.

He was almost twenty years old, and the time limit for Foundation Establishment was getting tighter and tighter. Every trip to and from White Sand Market took six hours.

If he had a flying artifact, he could shorten this time by half, to three hours. The three hours he squeezed out could be used for cultivation.

"Low-priced flying artifacts for sale..."

"This fellow Daoist, would you like to buy a flying artifact?"

Chen Ping nodded: "How much is this gourd?"

The shopkeeper said, "Fellow Daoist, you have a good eye. This flying gourd used to sell for seventy spirit stones, but now it's only sixty spirit stones."

Chen Ping was immediately tempted. He had been following the price of flying gourds: "Why did it suddenly drop by ten spirit stones?"

The shopkeeper lowered his voice and replied:

"The Mu family of Autumn Moon Lake offended the Eastern Xuan Sect and needed a large number of spirit stones to appease the Eastern Xuan Sect. Their various immortal items are being sold at reduced prices, just to quickly recover spirit stones. There's no choice, we can only sell things at reduced prices."

The Mu family had a Golden Core ancestor, how could something happen to them in the Eastern Xuan Sect? It must be a big deal. But it had nothing to do with a Qi Refining cultivator like him.

Chen Ping counted out sixty spirit stones: "I'll buy this gourd."

The shopkeeper said, "This gourd only needs ten spirit sands to fly a hundred miles. It's economical and practical. Fellow Daoist, you have a good eye."

Chen Ping took the flying gourd, injected spiritual power into it, and the internal array was activated. The gourd grew larger, Chen Ping stood on it, and then took off flying.

Chen Ping's heart couldn't hide his excitement. After ten years of cultivation, he finally had his own flying artifact to travel on.

In the future, he wouldn't have to hitch a ride on Mu Luofei's white jade flying boat.

It was better to have your own than to rely on your parents.

Chen Ping laughed loudly, returned to the Mu family, entered the alchemy lab, took out an Essence Qi Pill and swallowed it, and began to refine it!

It was time to improve his cultivation!