After resting for two days and meeting with the fellow sect members who had come to reinforce the front lines, Li Ye, now with a clearer understanding of the situation in the Zimo Forest, finally made his way to the elder's residence and entered the alchemy chamber established by the sect at this location.
Though the local environment lacked a geomantic fire vein that could be harnessed, meaning he had no chance to leverage the conditions necessary for refining second-grade pills, the alchemy room itself was still impressively equipped.
Everything from firewood to other consumables was provided, requiring no effort or expense on Li Ye's part.
Even the pill furnaces were fully prepared.
And compared to the one he normally used, these seemed to be of even higher quality!
It was clear they intended for the stationed alchemist to simply focus on refining pills and fulfilling supply needs everything else had already been taken care of.
Given the abundance of spiritual herbs in the region, the previous alchemists stationed here had likely spent every day happily immersed in refining and improving their craft.
As Li Ye examined the various tools and instruments in the room, the young female disciple standing beside him couldn't help but speak up.
"Senior Brother Li, your timing really couldn't be better. A portion of our pill stockpile was recently diverted to supply other urgent areas, and now we're running dangerously low and in dire need of replenishment!"
"Here's the task list. The corresponding spiritual herbs will be delivered shortly. Please begin refining as soon as possible so we can distribute them to the other disciples and prepare for emergencies!"
"Hmm... no problem,"
Li Ye nodded, casting a glance at the petite girl with large eyes beside him.
"You'll be in charge of delivering herbs and collecting pills from me going forward?"
"Yes, that's right… I'm Yu Xiaoshan. I'm the logistics steward here, and the elder has assigned me to assist you with various alchemy-related tasks."
Also surnamed Yu?
And she's in charge of a job that's more relaxed and far safer than mine, yet requires a high level of trust?
She's probably related to Elder Yu by blood. Hmm... now that I look more closely, they do resemble each other.
So… she might be a family disciple as well?
I wonder if the other sect disciples would even dare mess with her...
Li Ye's gaze flickered slightly.
"Then that's settled. Aside from the herbs, I'll also need a copy of the pill formulas required. Once I have that, I can begin refining today."
"You need the formulas too?"
Yu Xiaoshan asked reflexively, giving Li Ye another curious look, a hint of suspicion in her eyes.
Is he just here to steal formulas?
He hasn't even reviewed the recipes yet how's he going to start refining them?
Is he planning to use our herbs just to practice? Can he meet the task requirements?
If he turns out to be unreliable, she might as well go straight to Alchemist Luo for emergency help!
"Is there a problem?"
Li Ye asked, his expression calm. As long as he could meet the task quota, so what if he was "scavenging" pill formulas?
Even if Elder Yu found out, he'd probably just laugh it off and might even value Li Ye more for it!
Yu Xiaoshan immediately shook her head. "No problem, I'll handle it right away!"
She gave a slight bow and turned to leave, but in her heart, she'd already made up her mind: if Li Ye proved incompetent, she'd report it to Elder Yu.
There's no way she'd allow him to jeopardize such an important matter!
Watching the girl walk away, Li Ye withdrew his gaze and moved toward the pill furnace. From the other side of the room, he picked up some neatly stacked bundles of firewood and began lighting the flame.
Even the firewood used here was made from trimmed and discarded branches of spiritual trees. The flames they produced burned not only hotter but also far more steadily only slightly inferior to geothermal flames.
Compared to the spiritual rice stalks he'd used before, this was an entirely different league.
No doubt about it this place is a prime spiritual herb production site. Everything is just top-tier!
Since he had time to spare, he figured he might as well warm up the furnace by refining a batch of Qi-Gathering Pills get used to the setup, and enjoy himself a little.
With Li Ye's current first-grade top-tier alchemy skills, refining something as basic as Qi-Gathering Pills was second nature.
There was no longer any need for meticulous measuring he casually grabbed handfuls of spirit rice and other ingredients, tossing them into the furnace as the temperature rose.
As time passed, faint wisps of fragrant scent began to drift out with the rising heat.
Just then, Yu Xiaoshan returned with the herbs and pill recipes. Catching the scent in the air, her expression subtly changed. She murmured under her breath:
"He's already refining pills before even starting on the mission quota? This senior brother doesn't follow protocol…"
"But the smell is clean no hint of burning or bitterness. This batch likely succeeded. Seems like... he does have some skills after all."
She quickened her pace and walked straight into the alchemy room, whose door Li Ye hadn't even bothered to close. Inside, she saw him sitting in front of the pill furnace, intently studying a jade slip.
It looked as if he wasn't paying the slightest attention to the pill currently being refined in the furnace!
Such a relaxed demeanor made Yu Xiaoshan pause mid-step, even more unsure of what to make of Li Ye.
She couldn't help but silently erase some of the assumptions she'd made earlier.
"Junior Sister Yu, you're here?"
Li Ye looked up and glanced at her, then smiled as he turned his gaze toward the furnace.
"Your timing is perfect. This batch of Qi-Gathering Pills is just about ready to come out..."
As he spoke, he put the jade slip away and raised his hand, forming a series of hand seals. With a sudden hiss, the furnace's mouth opened, releasing a wave of heat and a rich medicinal fragrance.
Swish, swish, swish
Ten faintly red pills shot out one after another, landing in a jade tray, their spiritual glow gradually fading.
In the end, only one pill turned black, while the remaining nine were perfectly intact.
"Ninety percent pill success rate?"
Yu Xiaoshan's already large eyes widened even more in surprise, her expression looking adorably shocked.
She had heard that even Alchemist Luo, when refining low-grade pills for others, only achieved a success rate of about sixty to seventy percent. And when it came to mid-grade pills, the results were often downright tragic.
But Li Ye had reached a ninety percent success rate?
That would suggest his alchemy skills were at least approaching first-grade top-tier level capable of consistently producing pills that could significantly boost late-stage Qi Refining cultivators...
He might even be qualified to attempt refining Foundation Establishment Pills!
At that thought, Yu Xiaoshan couldn't help but look at Li Ye with a bit more admiration and excitement, completely forgetting the doubt she'd felt just moments earlier.
Alchemist Luo? Who even needs him anymore?
Just then, she saw Li Ye himself light up with surprise, turning to her with an excited look.
"Huh? Nine pills made it? That's unbelievable!"
"Usually, I only get seven or eight at most, and there's almost always at least one subpar. But today I got nine in one go... Junior Sister, you must be my lucky charm!"
His reaction caught Yu Xiaoshan off guard.
So it was just a fluke?
She quickly shook her head, "Senior Brother's hands are guided by heaven, it has nothing to do with me!"
"Here are the spiritual herbs and pill formulas for the first batch of pills. Please take a look. I won't bother you further if anything comes up, just call for me…"
With that, she hurried off, even remembering to close the door behind her.
As if she was afraid of getting caught up in something.
Watching her leave, Li Ye raised his hand and activated the room's protective array. Then, looking back at the nine Qi-Gathering Pills in the jade tray, he couldn't help but laugh in exasperation.
"I was planning to deliberately keep it at a modest seventy percent success rate, so she'd report it accordingly makes it easier for me to control costs and earn some benefits…"
"But the conditions here are so ridiculously good that even a casual attempt ended up perfect. I couldn't fail even if I wanted to... seriously?!"
Shaking his head, Li Ye collected the pills.
"Oh well! There are unspoken rules in the alchemy world. Even if it's obvious I'm making a decent profit, as long as I meet the task quota, Elder Yu will probably just turn a blind eye…"
"It's just that when I start taking on extra commissions, I'll have to make sure to keep this girl's mouth shut... might need a different strategy for that."
"But that's a problem for later. For now, let's check out these pill formulas!"
Rubbing his hands together, he opened the storage pouch Yu Xiaoshan had left behind.
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