88: A sudden enlightenment

Jiang Donghua looked down at the fifth-grade crimson flame beast armor on his body. The fiery red scales shimmered with a faint crimson glow under the sunlight, and a subtle, scorching aura flowed within, as if a sleeping fierce beast lay dormant inside.

He couldn't help but reach out and touch it. The armor felt warm and smooth like jade, yet incredibly tough. Even a full-force strike from an ordinary Dou Wang Expert would likely struggle to penetrate its defenses.

“Master, why are you so generous this time?”

Jiang Donghua looked up and asked with a smile.

“Could it be that you feel bad about dragging me along when we escaped last time?”

Mo Xuan's old face darkened upon hearing this, and his beard bristled.

“Stinky Kid! Have I given you too few things? I lent you the sixth-grade Mystic Turtle Spirit Armor for so long, and you didn't even say thank you. Now you're mocking your Master?”

Jiang Donghua chuckled, not refuting, but secretly sighing in his heart.

Alchemists are indeed rolling in money!

This fifth-grade crimson flame beast armor alone, if put up for auction in the Black-Corner Region, would fetch an astronomical price of at least a million gold coins!

Not to mention those high-grade elixirs and rare medicinal ingredients; just taking out one of them would cause countless Dou Wang Experts and Dou Huang experts to fight over it!

And his Master, though usually incredibly stingy, meticulously calculating even a single fifth-grade pill, never hesitated at crucial moments.

Last time, when he caused an alchemy explosion, Mo Xuan directly threw out a fourth-grade “Ice Snow Pill,” allowing him to instantly recover to peak condition!

And now, the sixth-grade Mystic Turtle Spirit Armor was just returned, and in the blink of an eye, it was replaced with a fifth-grade crimson flame beast armor. Although it was one grade lower, its attribute was compatible with his Fire Attribute Dou Qi, making it even more practical!

How is this a Master?

This is simply a golden pig that can explode with gold coins!

The more Jiang Donghua thought about it, the more absurd it seemed, and he even began to suspect.

“Master, could it be that you're actually a rich second-generation from some hidden family? Or did you secretly rob the Pill Tower's treasury?”

Mo Xuan immediately bristled and glared upon hearing this.

“Nonsense! This old fellow has lived a life of integrity and honesty! All this family fortune was accumulated through hard work!”

“Accumulated?”

Jiang Donghua eyed him suspiciously.

“Then why do you always take things out as if they cost nothing?”

Mo Xuan snorted coldly and said proudly.

“Can an Alchemist's actions be called 'costing nothing'? This is called 'investment'! If you, Stinky Kid, get killed one day, wouldn't this old fellow suffer a total loss?”

Jiang Donghua.

“...”

Good heavens, so that's what he was getting at!

This old fellow was afraid that his “long-term meal ticket” would suddenly die, so he desperately poured resources into him?

This Master is simply the ultimate schemer!

However, Jiang Donghua looked down at the crimson flame beast armor again, then touched the various life-saving elixirs stored in his storage ring, and a smile involuntarily appeared at the corner of his mouth.

Having such a Master is truly wonderful!

But this Master immediately brought up the water spirit pill formula he had given him yesterday.

“Why is your success rate for a first-grade elixir less than twenty percent?”

“I remember you could achieve nearly seventy percent success rate with your third-grade pill, the mysterious spirit pill?”

Mo Xuan narrowed his eyes, staring at Jiang Donghua suspiciously, his gaze seemingly able to penetrate hearts and see what secrets this Stinky Kid was hiding.

“Stuttering like that, there must be something fishy!”

Mo Xuan snorted coldly.

“You can refine third-grade pills with great success, but a first-grade water spirit pill explodes? Do you think your Master is senile?”

Jiang Donghua's forehead slightly beaded with sweat, and he inwardly cried out that things were not good.

He couldn't possibly say...

“Master, I'm actually a cheat, my proficiency is all from the system grinding,” right?

He gave two dry laughs and quickly said.

“Master, you've misunderstood! It's just that I've been using Fire Attribute Dou Qi too smoothly recently, and suddenly refining a water spirit pill, the attributes clash, so I'm a bit unaccustomed to controlling it!”

Mo Xuan raised an eyebrow, a half-smile playing on his lips.

“Oh? Is that so?”

Jiang Donghua nodded frantically.

“Yes, yes, yes! Think about it, the water spirit pill is a water-element elixir, and I mainly cultivate Fire Attribute Dou Qi. When controlling fire, I accidentally over-burn it, wouldn't it explode then?”

Mo Xuan stroked his beard, deep in thought.

“That does make some sense.”

Jiang Donghua had just let out a sigh of relief when he heard Mo Xuan suddenly change the topic.

“Alright then, starting today, you will refine ten furnaces of water spirit pill every day until your success rate reaches above fifty percent!”

“Ah?!”

Jiang Donghua was dumbfounded.

Ten furnaces?! Wouldn't that make him refine until he vomited blood?!

Seeing his reaction, Mo Xuan smiled smugly.

“What? Too few? How about twenty furnaces?”

Jiang Donghua.

“...”

This Old Fox is definitely doing it on purpose!

He gritted his teeth and said, forcing himself.

“Ten furnaces it is! I'll go refine them now!”

With that, he turned and ran towards the alchemy room, afraid that Mo Xuan would increase the quota again.

Mo Xuan watched his Disciple's hurried escape and couldn't help but shake his head and laugh.

“This Stinky Kid has talent, but he relies too much on fire-element elixirs.”

He stroked his chin, a hint of cunning flashing in his eyes.

Jiang Donghua stared at the alchemy furnace before him, a look of deep bitterness on his face.

“water spirit pill... water spirit pill...”

He sighed and resignedly began to control the fire and add the ingredients.

Without the system's proficiency boost, he truly was just an ordinary Third-Grade Alchemist!

“Bang!”

Another furnace of elixirs exploded.

Jiang Donghua wiped his sooty face, gritting his teeth.

“I don't believe it!”

He took a deep breath, once again added the medicinal ingredients, and focused intently on adjusting the flames.

This time, the flames were much gentler, and the medicinal liquid slowly fused. Finally, the elixir was formed!

Jiang Donghua eagerly opened the furnace to check.

A round, sky-blue elixir lay quietly at the bottom of the furnace. Although its quality was average, at least it didn't explode!

“Success!”

He excitedly clenched his fist.

It seems that while grinding proficiency on autopilot is convenient, doing it himself really does bring some different insights!

“Boom—”

Inside the alchemy furnace, the deep blue medicinal liquid slowly condensed under the embrace of the flames, finally transforming into a round, crystal-clear water spirit pill, with clear pill patterns and a fragrant medicinal aroma wafting out.

Jiang Donghua's eyes were slightly closed, but a smile couldn't help but curve his lips.

It's done!

And, it's a pill with a pill pattern quality!

He reached out, and a water spirit pill lightly landed in his palm. It felt cool to the touch, and the pill body was translucent, allowing him to faintly see the flowing water-element energy within.

“Mastery of the furnace, so that's how it is.”

Jiang Donghua took a deep breath, feeling an unprecedented clarity in his mind.

For the past half month, he had refined the water spirit pill day after day, from an initial success rate of less than twenty percent to now effortlessly producing perfect quality with every furnace, even able to precisely control the heat with his eyes closed!

The proficiency gained from autopilot was ultimately just “knowing how to do it,” but now, it was truly “understanding”!

Before, relying on the system's autopilot, he could refine the third-grade mysterious spirit pill, but that was more like “muscle memory,” knowing what to do but not why.

But now, through repeated hands-on refinement of the first-grade water spirit pill, he had thoroughly assimilated and integrated those vague alchemy insights!

“So, the true essence of alchemy lies not in the grade of the elixir, but in the ultimate control over 'medicinal properties' and 'heat'!”

Jiang Donghua's eyes sparkled with brilliance, and his mind suddenly cleared.

He even had a feeling that now, if he were to refine the third-grade mysterious spirit pill again, his success rate would definitely increase by another ten percent!

A sudden enlightenment, it was truly exhilarating!