Chapter 35: Chapter 35: Wood Puppet Fox Seed

Lin Changheng’s idea was simple: alternate between one Middle Grade Defensive Spiritual Artifact and two Lower Grade Attacking Spiritual Artifacts.

This would not only ensure adequate self-preservation but also provide versatility in his attacks.

With his terrifyingly unpredictable Fire Bomb Skill on top of that, his sense of security finally saw a welcome increase.

"I’ll take that one."

Lin Changheng’s gaze swept over the items, and he pointed at a Spiritual Bamboo Whip that Xu Xuyang had brought out.

"Alchemist Lin, you have an incredible eye! This Jade Bamboo Whip is primarily for attacking, but it also has the effect of Entanglement to trap enemies. You could say it excels in both offense and control. And it’s only seventy Spirit Stones. An excellent choice..."

Steward Xu Xuyang was in an excellent mood, having landed a major customer. A wide grin spread across his face as he lavished praise.

Lin Changheng just smiled, took out three hundred thirty Spirit Stones, and collected the two Spiritual Artifacts. The Steward personally saw him all the way to the door, watching him until he was out of sight.

He returned directly to his courtyard and methodically began refining the Spiritual Artifacts.

The Lower Grade Spiritual Artifact was relatively easy, taking less than half a day to refine.

The Middle Grade Spiritual Artifact, however, took a full two days to successfully refine.

In the middle of the process, he had even stopped to spend a day in the Alchemy Room performing Alchemy before returning to finish the refinement.

When he opened the cauldron that day, it was just as Lin Changheng had guessed: a yield of ten pills per batch, with two of them being Masterpiece Pills.

The effects of the Fourth Layer Fire Crow’s Fire Control Technique: Ascension were truly astonishing.

Even a Middle Grade Alchemist like Ink Master, who had been immersed in the art for years and worked with fire day and night, couldn’t match his Fire Control.

Whenever Lin Changheng went to the Alchemy Room, he would often run into Ink Master, and they would chat frequently.

The old man was living quite comfortably these days. He was full of vigor and in better spirits than ever, able to focus solely on Alchemy without the myriad administrative trifles of the Pill Shop bothering him.

...

「Half a month later.」

Lin Changheng received a letter.

It was from Xu Fugui, who had answered the call to develop the frontier and had finally arrived at the entrance to the Wilderness.

Besides the usual pleasantries and complaints, the letter mentioned only two things.

First, after so many years of development, the efforts in the Wilderness had entered deep waters.

Demon Beasts ran rampant, Poisonous Insects were endless, Miasma filled the air, and hidden dangers lurked everywhere...

Although the reclamation efforts were in full swing, progress was slow. They had only advanced about twenty-some li in four directions. From time to time, wailing Cultivators would retreat, missing arms or legs, their bodies turning deathly black from potent poisons. There had even been two instances where entire reclamation teams were completely wiped out.

Xu Fugui had never witnessed such a scene, and he was terrified to his very core. While forcing himself to hold on, he still remembered to write back with a warning: "Brother Lin, if you are summoned, you must not come. You have to find some other way to get out of it."

Second,

he stated that the Spirit Root Woman from the Xu Family whom he had recently married was now with child, thanks to his tireless labors.

If he were to fall out there, he hoped Brother Lin would look after them as much as he was able.

He asked that his wives and children not suffer any humiliation.

The letter ended with the words, "With my deepest gratitude."

After reading it, Lin Changheng picked up his brush to reply, but he couldn’t help but pause.

Xu Fugui was in the perilous Wilderness, surrounded by danger, yet he had not forgotten him and even sent a special letter to warn him. Such friendship truly moved him.

He, however, couldn’t bring himself to write back something like, "You just go on ahead. I’ll take care of your wives for you, don’t you worry."

Instead, he picked up his brush and simply wrote, "Young children cannot be without a father, and wives cannot lose their husband. Take care of yourself, and return to comfort your family."

Then, he took out two Decompression Pills that were close to Masterpiece quality, tucked them into a hidden fold of the rolled-up letter, and sent it all off.

Although these two Pills were not of Masterpiece Quality, their efficacy wasn’t far off. When taken as an antidote, they might produce an incredible effect.

This was the only thing he could do for now.

...

Time passed as Lin Changheng methodically continued his Alchemy and Cultivation.

In the blink of an eye, a month had passed since the standoff between the Xu and Chen Families began in the Wilderness, and skirmishes at the front lines were constant.

The atmosphere within the clan grew increasingly polarized.

The fearful were terrified, hoping the clan would exercise restraint and maintain temporary stability.

Then there were the belligerent, who were indignant. They believed the Chen Family was snatching food from the tiger’s mouth, that they had been secretly leeching off the Xu Family’s interests for some time, and that their designs on the Spiritual Land in the newly opened territory were an act of contempt and humiliation toward the Xu Family. They demanded the clan launch a direct assault on the Chen Family’s encampment to teach them a lesson and vent their anger!

Lin Changheng made no comment on the matter, concerning himself only with Alchemy.

After finishing a batch of Pills, he walked out of the Alchemy Room full of energy, without a trace of fatigue.

"Alchemist Lin, the Steward requests your presence."

A person had been waiting at the door for some time. Seeing Lin Changheng, he immediately reported.

He was secretly amazed when he saw Lin Changheng’s condition. He had been waiting here for a long time and had seen several Pill Masters emerge from the Alchemy Room looking completely exhausted, as if they’d been drained dry.

But Lin Changheng was completely different. No wonder the Steward held him in such high regard.

"Alright, let’s go quickly. We mustn’t keep Brother Xuzhong waiting."

As if he had thought of something, a flicker of joy appeared in Lin Changheng’s heart, and he immediately quickened his pace, moving like the wind.

Xu Xuzhong, the Vice Hall Master of the Miscellaneous Affairs Hall, had grown much closer to Lin Changheng recently. After getting drunk at a banquet one time, he felt that he had met Lin Changheng too late in life and insisted they address each other as brothers.

Lin Changheng couldn’t refuse and had to comply, calling Xu Xuzhong—a man nearly twice his age—"Elder Brother."

"Yes, sir."

The two of them made their way to a side room in the Miscellaneous Affairs Hall. There, Lin Changheng saw Xu Xuzhong sitting behind a desk, engrossed in his work. To his right was a tall stack of ten Long Wooden Boxes.

He was extremely familiar with these boxes; they were clearly the ones used for storing Pills.

"Elder Brother, you summoned me?"

"Ah, Changheng, you’re here? Have some tea and rest for a bit. Let me finish up this urgent matter first."

Xu Xuzhong looked up, his face dark and grave. He forced a smile, gave the brief instruction, and then went back to his desk. By then, the attendant who had led Lin Changheng in had already served the Spirit Tea.

"Of course, important matters come first. I’m not in a hurry."

Lin Changheng sensed his mood and replied immediately, suppressing the eagerness he felt for the Essence Blood from the Wasted Pills.

He waited until the sun had set. Only after sending someone off with the documents he was working on did Xu Xuzhong finally put down his brush. He apologized, got down to business, and pushed all the Long Wooden Boxes toward him.

Just as he’d expected—Wasted Decompression Pills.

Furthermore, it was the clan’s entire stock, given to him all at once.

Unlike before, they weren’t distributed among several people.

Lin Changheng accepted all the Long Wooden Boxes, expressed his thanks, and after a few more sentences of small talk, took his leave.

"Wait..."

As if recalling something, Xu Xuzhong suddenly called out to stop him.

"What is it, Elder Brother?"

Lin Changheng turned with a slight smile, only to see Xu Xuzhong with a hesitant look on his face, as if he wanted to say something but was holding back.

An idea suddenly struck him. ’Could this be related to the urgent matter he was just handling?’

On the surface, however, his expression remained unchanged.

A strange silence fell over the side room. After a long moment, Xu Xuzhong finally sighed and spoke again:

"When you go back, you must focus on pondering the Alchemy Dao and honing your Alchemy Skill..."

"Trust me, it will be beneficial for you. Mm, you should go..."

This cryptic remark left Lin Changheng a bit confused, but he could only reply, "Yes," and leave with his doubts.

But on second thought, Lin Changheng considered that Xu Xuzhong’s seniority and position in the clan were both high. If even he found it difficult to speak about something, it likely wasn’t a simple matter.

’I should just do as he says. Improving my Alchemy Dao is beneficial anyway, and there’s no harm in it.’

Back in his courtyard, he ran his palm over the ten boxes of Wasted Pills.

SWISH!

Above the Primordial Cauldron, a new, emerald-green Treasure Seed slowly took form.