104: practise

"Alchemy is truly a highly profitable business!"

"However, ordinary people cannot withstand the losses incurred before reaching the entry level of Alchemy. This isn't a game for regular practitioners."

Lu Xuan held the bottle of Medicinal Pills in his arms, feeling as if he could still sense the residual warmth on them.

It wasn't that he intended to consume the pills for cultivation; rather, he was preparing for his future Alchemy.

He had only seen descriptions of the qi gathering pill in Peng Liangcai's manuscripts but had never seen one himself.

Since these qi gathering pills weren't particularly expensive, he thought about buying a bottle to consume, experience the effects, observe their form, and smell their fragrance.

Following a map is always better than crossing a river by feeling the stones... West Mountain Village.

"Take it slow, my wife."

Lu Jingan had been practicing his horse stance in the courtyard during the morning. After he finished, Shen Qingyan stood to the side, looking at her husband with eyes full of love.

Although Lu Xuan did not oppose polygamy and even encouraged it, he still taught his children during their daily upbringing that a husband and wife should treat each other with mutual respect.

Since they were young, several of them had been influenced by the way Lu Xuan and Su Jing interacted, and they had indeed achieved this.

Shen Qingyan was already pregnant when Lu Xuan left. Now that nearly half a year had passed, her belly was prominently rounded.

"It's fine. I am a Martial Artist, after all, not some delicate Young Miss."

"Hahaha, Qing Yan, you are a heroine among women and naturally no ordinary person. But after becoming pregnant, every woman becomes a little vulnerable; you still need to be careful."

"Before Father went into secluded cultivation, he already chose a name in advance for the little fellow in your belly."

"Don't worry."

In the study, Su Jing was leading Zhao Ya in organizing the Family account books.

"In the first half of this year, the Family's income has increased significantly."

After years of growth, Su Jing had clearly become a master accountant; no entry could escape her eyes.

"Yes, the surplus is indeed thirty percent higher than at this time last year."

"Furthermore, the number of Martial Artists in our Lu Family has increased again this year, and we now have three Grandmasters. Even under these circumstances, the surplus still grew by thirty percent. It seems Wang Weifeng has fully operationalized all of the former Wang Family's properties in the county seat."

Zhao Ya sat next to Su Jing, analyzing as she flipped through the ledgers.

"By the way, Mother, my husband said he wants to incorporate several villages surrounding West Mountain Village. If they are all truly brought in, will it affect our Lu Family's finances?"

"It should be sufficient. At worst, we'll just tighten our belts. This is the first major policy An'er has implemented since becoming the Family Head; it must succeed."

"Mhm."

"By the way, Xiao Ya, when is your younger brother getting married? You've been married for half a year now, and he's not young anymore, yet there's no word at all."

"That brat. I'll give him a nudge when I see him."

In Thousand Peaks Mountain, Lu Jingyan was leading Zhao Lei and several Innate experts, preparing to hunt a Mutated Beast.

Although his current Innate cultivation level made things somewhat dangerous, his source of confidence was the archery he took such pride in. This wasn't his first hunt.

"Young Master, that beast just finished eating and is sleeping on a bluestone slab on the other side of the mountain. Your subordinate didn't dare get too close for fear of disturbing it."

"Good. Xiao Lei, go set the traps according to the plan we formulated earlier. Today, we hunt this beast."

"Yes, Young Master, just you wait and see."

Zhao Lei left with two Innate experts and several hunters.

Zhao Lei no longer managed the Lu Family's inner household. His older sister was now the Lu Family's young mistress; if he remained as the steward within the Lu Family, gossip would eventually be inevitable.

Although Lu Jingan had tried to persuade him otherwise when he first proposed following Lu Jingyan.

But a person must have self-awareness. While his generation was fiercely loyal to the Lu Family, no one could predict the future. It was better to retire at the height of his career to avoid making things difficult for his sister or the Eldest Young Master.

Take Uncle Ye Wentao, for example. Ever since Ye Feng broke through to become a Great Grandmaster, he had handed over all his stewardship duties to Lu Dafu.

And Lu Dafu was now training Gu Ran.

Back then, Gu Ran had risked his life to return to the Family and report news, thereby entering Lu Xuan's sight and receiving focused cultivation.

Wang Weifeng was currently in the county seat managing the former Wang Family properties, yet his wife, mother, and children all remained in the village. He never spoke of bringing them back, and he even took the initiative to return to the village every month to report the situation to Lu Jingan.

Even though Lu Jingan said he could report once every three months, Wang Weifeng still reported monthly.

His actions also demonstrated his resolve, delivering a stinging slap to the faces of those who thought he would break away once he controlled the Wang Family.

The Lu Family did not experience any turmoil due to Lu Xuan's departure. Under Lu Jingan's management and with Su Jing's assistance, everything was progressing in a positive direction... There is no sense of time in cultivation; Lu Xuan focused single-mindedly on practicing fire control, and in the blink of an eye, half a year had passed.

The orange-yellow flames beneath the Pill Furnace flickered continuously.

Under Lu Xuan's control, the flames changed shape at his whim, their temperature and size shifting according to the amount of Spiritual Qi he channeled.

While the flames burned fiercely below, several soybeans above were constantly being arranged and transformed under Lu Xuan's control.

The most basic requirement for Alchemy was the ability to perform two tasks at once.

Fire control and medicinal control must be carried out simultaneously.

If the fire is too strong, the medicine is destroyed. If the sequence of ingredients is wrong or they aren't flipped in time, at best, the Materials are ruined; at worst, a good pill could turn into a toxic one.

Separating fire control and medicinal control isn't difficult for a Cultivator. The difficulty lies in multitasking—controlling the fire perfectly while also managing the medicine.

Before he was completely certain, Lu Xuan naturally didn't dare use real medicinal Materials for practice.

He could only find other things to substitute for medicinal Materials to practice medicinal control.

The intensity of the heat, the level of temperature, and the changes in the soybeans were timed to the second according to the records in the book.

Even so, some sweat broke out on Lu Xuan's forehead.

Alchemy consumed not only physical strength but also Lu Xuan's mental energy.

If not for his Heaven Rewards the Diligent talent, his progress wouldn't have been so rapid; he would likely still be stuck at the stage of fire and medicinal control.

After all, which ordinary Alchemy practitioner doesn't study for many years before refining? Even the talented ones must study for several months.

Now, with the help of his talent, although Lu Xuan wasn't as good as those top Alchemy prodigies, he could still be called a Genius.

This was also something he discovered after practicing Alchemy: while Heaven Rewards the Diligent helped his cultivation, its effect wasn't exceptionally high.

However, for craft-based skills, the Heaven Rewards the Diligent talent could be described as adding wings to a tiger.

Back when he was farming and learning carpentry in the Family, he had found them simple, but those tasks couldn't fully exploit the upper limits of this talent.

Only after learning Alchemy this time did he truly experience the terror of this talent. Furthermore, he felt that as his cultivation level increased, the effect of this talent would become even better.

"By the next trading day, I can buy some supplementary Materials. Combined with the main medicinal ingredients in the space which are almost ready for harvest, I can then begin refining pills."

Extinguishing the Spiritual Fire, Lu Xuan went to the outdoor kitchen.

Lifting the lid, the fragrance of the Spiritual Rice in the clay pot instantly wafted out.

"Although this Spiritual Rice is far less useful for cultivation than Medicinal Pills, its strength lies in being mild and non-toxic. As long as one can eat and digest it, one can keep eating it indefinitely."

Although the Spiritual Rice outside was still over a month away from harvest, Lu Xuan had already harvested the Spiritual Rice in the Luck Space twice, and the third wave was already half-grown.

Moreover, he had compared them; the Spiritual Rice produced in the space had a higher Spiritual Qi content, tasted better, was milder, and was easier to digest.

These anomalies also dispelled his plan to sell the rice; for now, he could only take the path of Alchemy.

As for that Tattooing Technique from before, although he had already perfected it and even bought high-quality Materials to ink a tattoo on himself, it couldn't generate wealth for him right now.

He was currently thinking about how to refine it so that it would eventually be like the stickers from his previous life—once applied, the mark would remain.

While Talismans were more effective, this tattooing method was cheaper and more convenient. When the time came, targeting the mass market should be quite profitable.