229: Chapter 229 Preparing to try something new

"I heard you hammering away with such gusto, I didn't want to interrupt."

Zhou Changgeng snorted, rubbed his hands on his apron, and pulled out two stoneware cups from under the counter to pour some Spiritual Tea. "Is this about the wanbao mirror?"

"Yeah, how's the progress?"

"You come by every few days, don't you know the situation? The old man has already torn down and recast all the outer Array Inscriptionss. It cost thirty thousand Spirit Stones more in Materials than the original plan."

Zhou Changgeng took a gulp of tea. "He's doing the final touches now. The Five Elements interfaces in the core area have been reserved for you to connect. It should take about another half a month."

"Half a month?" Su Cheng repeated.

"Yeah, half a month at most. That mirror of yours has the old man hooked. Lately, when he's not Artifact Refining, he's pondering the core structure of that Five Elements Fusion. I don't think he even wants to hand it over."

Su Cheng smiled. Although it was taking a while, as long as it turned out well, it was fine.

"In all seriousness," Zhou Changgeng set down his teacup, "the old man has put a lot of effort into this. You should make sure to thank him properly later."

Su Cheng stopped smiling and nodded.

He had kept this debt in mind. Sun Boyong had agreed to upgrade the wanbao mirror on the condition that he owed him a favor.

Su Cheng acknowledged this favor and was more than willing to repay it.

But Zhou Changgeng had been busy helping out for so long—from coordinating to running errands to assisting—and for all that to be glossed over under the umbrella of a single "favor" didn't sit right with him.

"I've prepared some things for you; I'll bring them along next time." Su Cheng didn't elaborate, speaking in a casual tone.

Zhou Changgeng waved his hand. "I'm working for the old man. Why are you thanking me?"

"Helping Senior Sun is the same as helping me. One thing is separate from the other." Su Cheng paused. "If you consider me a friend, don't refuse."

Zhou Changgeng opened his mouth to speak, then set his teacup down firmly on the table. "Fine, have it your way."

Su Cheng stood up. "Then I'll come back in half a month. I hope to see the finished product."

"Just go back and wait for my word."

When he left Qingfeng Alley, it was still early.

Su Cheng walked for a bit, mentally calculating what gifts to prepare for Zhou Changgeng.

Medicinal Pills were a must.

Zhou Changgeng was in the Late Foundation Establishment Stage. Although he might not care much about his cultivation progress, three supreme grade clear spirit pills, qi sea pills, and bone forging pills would help him polish his Foundation. Once Su Cheng could refine spirit nurturing pills, he would send a few supreme grade ones over as well.

He also needed to prepare some Artifact Refining Materials. Since Zhou Changgeng was an Artifact Refiner, giving him Spiritual Ores was more appropriate than giving him Spirit Stones.

He needed to gather at least five or six types of second-tier Advanced Ores. They should be varied and expensive. An Artifact Refiner's obsession with rare Ores was similar to an Alchemist's search for Pill Formulas.

He didn't have any Ores on hand, so he would have to ask Fang Zhenhai to purchase them from the Treasure Gathering Tower.

Su Cheng turned a corner and walked back to the Four Seas Chamber of Commerce. As he entered, he happened to run into Zhao Shan coming out of the side hall.

"Young Master Su."

"Perfect timing." Su Cheng beckoned to him. "Come with me."

The two entered a secret room on the second floor.

Su Cheng took out a new Storage Pouch, which had a Restriction placed upon it.

"Take this with you. When you arrive, give it to my father. Don't let anyone else touch it."

Zhao Shan took it with both hands without asking what was inside.

Su Cheng didn't plan to explain the contents of the Storage Pouch to Zhao Shan in detail. Inside, he had packed another hundred second-tier High Grade Talismans and twenty spirit burst pills.

These were his own stock. He had previously thought his father's trip would be safe, but since the incident with the Tianyang Sect, he felt it was better to prepare more.

In truth, Su Cheng had considered his father's lineup: twelve newly recruited Loose Cultivators plus Li Shi and the others, totaling seventeen Foundation Establishment Cultivators. If they truly faced a hard battle and the whole team needed to take pills, twenty would barely be enough for one round.

But one round should be enough, right? He couldn't help it; he had only refined that many. Most of the Talismans were bought from the Sect, and some were from the Treasure Gathering Tower.

(The Treasure Gathering Tower is currently just a tool for the protagonist; just know it's a place that sells things.)

"Stay safe on the road. When you reach the outskirts of Tongbao City, stop first to scout the situation and see if the Tianyang Sect still has people stationed inside the city. Regardless of what you find, quickly head to Jiangping Prefecture to contact my father and follow his commands for everything thereafter."

Zhao Shan noted down everything.

"You will be the leader for the first stage. The twelve Loose Cultivators will be under your command. Meet up with my father as quickly as possible."

Zhao Shan tucked the Storage Pouch into the deepest part of his inner garment, cupped his hands in a salute, and withdrew.

Su Cheng sat in the secret room for a while before calling Fang Zhenhai in.

"Two things. First, go to the Treasure Gathering Tower and help me buy a batch of second-tier Advanced spiritual Ores. No specific type required—the rarer and more precious, the better. The budget is within one hundred thousand Low-Grade Spirit Stones. As fast as possible."

"Second, I will be using a secret room in the chamber for a half-month secluded meditation. During this time, unless the sky is falling, do not disturb me."

Fang Zhenhai complied and personally led Su Cheng to the innermost secret room on the second basement level of the chamber.

This was the place Fang Zhenhai used for his own secluded meditation. Several isolation Array Inscriptionss were embedded in the walls, and a medium-sized Spirit Gathering Formation was laid underground, making the Spiritual Qi abundant.

Su Cheng walked around the secret room, took out his own formation stones from his Storage Pouch, and layered another isolation formation on top of the existing defensive formation to seal off all leaking spiritual power fluctuations.

Once the door closed, the entire secret room was completely isolated from the outside world.

Su Cheng brought out the qiankun creation furnace and placed it in the center of the secret room.

In these two weeks, he had three tasks: first, refine a batch of second-tier supreme grade Medicinal Pills to restock; second, prepare thank-you gifts for Zhou Changgeng and Sun Boyong; third, squeeze in time to continue mastering the Wangchuan Formula so he could erase memories once his father returned.

The first batch he started was supreme grade bone forging pills.

The medicinal ingredients had been prepared long before coming to the Prefecture City. The second-tier Spirit Medicine stored in the Qingmu Peak spiritual fields was of good quality, and he had also requested a batch of sufficiently aged auxiliary herbs from the Four Seas Chamber of Commerce warehouse and Lin Feng.

Su Cheng spread out the medicinal ingredients one by one, using the Qi of Creation to probe and identify their medicinal properties and activity, promptly replacing any with weak spirituality.

Su Cheng kept a very tight schedule, performing Alchemy by day and Cultivating by night, with practice of the Wangchuan Formula interspersed in between.

He rotated through clear spirit pills, biling pills, qi recovery pills, spirit burning pills, spirit burst pills, ning shen pills, and po zhang pills, doing four to five batches a day. Nearly seventy percent of the Spirit Medicine accumulated in the creation furnace's space was consumed, and the output of Medicinal Pills piled up like a small mountain.

Alchemy itself no longer required much of his focus; what truly occupied his mind was something else.

When the creation furnace operated on its own, extremely subtle creation dao rhyme would emanate from the inner walls of the furnace chamber.

These Dao Rhymes were naturally emitted during the process of the Pill Furnace purifying and fusing medicinal liquids; they were faint and fleeting.

Over the past few years, Su Cheng had passively absorbed a wisp or two every time he performed Alchemy. Over time, he had gained some clear perception of the Creation Concept, but it was limited to that—passive absorption.

During this brief period of secluded meditation, he planned to try something new.