Building a long-lasting family lineage starting with genealogy

Chapter 113 Dan Dian Yun Zhongzi (Seeking Subscriptions)

Before long, Prince Yong, Yun Zhongzi, Zhou Sen, and others arrived together in front of the alchemy room.

Seeing that Xu Chuan had not made a move for a long time, Steward Gu was so anxious that he wished he could directly attack the restrictions of the alchemy room.

"Why haven't you handed over the alchemy room yet?" Prince Yong raised an eyebrow, his gaze pressing down like a sharp sword piercing the mind of Steward Gu.

"Your Highness, perhaps Master San Shu is at a crucial stage in the refining process and cannot concentrate."

"Hmph! Get out of my way!"

Just as Prince Yong was about to personally lift the restrictions on the alchemy chamber, Yun Zhongzi raised his hand to stop him, saying, "Your Highness, things have come to this point, let's wait for that fellow Daoist to finish refining the pills in his hand before discussing anything else."

Zhou Sen stepped forward, clasped his hands in greeting, and said, “Your Highness, Fellow Daoist San Shu has astonishing skill in alchemy. He previously said that he was confident in refining a mid-grade Jade Sprout Pill, and I think he will give Your Highness an explanation.”

"If what you say is true, I will reward you handsomely. But if you use up all the materials and can't produce any mid-grade Jade Sprout Pills, don't blame me for taking you and him down with me."

Zhou Sen's heart skipped a beat. "I am willing to leave it to Your Highness to decide."

Xu Chuan was recommended by him, so both morally and logically, if Xu Chuan fails, he will naturally be held responsible.

The Zhou family is merely a newly established Foundation Establishment family. In terms of profound heritage, how can it compare to the Yong Prince's Mansion, let alone the Great Wei royal family behind it?

When he kills Zhou Sen, the Zhou family will not dare to utter a single complaint.

Half an hour passed in the blink of an eye.

In the eleventh batch, Xu Chuan refined three low-grade Jade Sprout Pills.

He thought that there was only one last batch of materials left, so he might as well refine it all and started refining it again.

The last batch turned out to be the most successful, producing one medium-grade and three low-grade Jade Sprout Pills.

This alchemy process yielded ten low-grade Jade Sprout Pills and two mid-grade Jade Sprout Pills from twelve portions of Jade Sprout Pill materials, which was truly beyond Xu Chuan's expectations.

"Shennong tasted hundreds of herbs; perhaps personally experiencing their medicinal properties is the correct way to use this innate talent."

Xu Chuan hesitated for a moment, then, considering that they only asked for one mid-grade Jade Sprout Pill, and also in order to restrain his alchemy abilities, he ultimately took half of it and put it in his own pocket.

Rumble~
The door to the alchemy room opened, and Xu Chuan walked out. Seeing so many people at the door, including two unfamiliar faces, he guessed that the two were Prince Yong and the so-called chief alchemist Yun Zhongzi.

He could tell at a glance that the old man had a faint, lingering medicinal fragrance, and he knew that this person was Yun Zhongzi.

So he bowed to the two of them and said, "Greetings, Your Highness, and greetings, Senior Yun Zhongzi."

"So you are the Three Vertical Daoist? I ask you, do you have any remaining Jade Sprout Pill materials?"

Facing the Prince Yong's piercing gaze, Xu Chuan remained unfazed and shook his head, saying, "Your Highness, the remaining twelve portions of materials have all been refined."

Yun Zhongzi sighed softly, "Your Highness, it seems that this is the will of Heaven."

"But I have already refined a mid-grade Jade Sprout Pill as promised."

As soon as he said this, everyone's eyes fell on Xu Chuan.

"Really? Do you know what the consequences are for deceiving me?" Prince Yong glared at him coldly, but there was also hope in his eyes.

Butler Gu and Zhou Sen exchanged a glance, their tense shoulders and backs finally relaxed, and the fists clenched in their sleeves quietly unfurled.

Master He and the others looked amazed.

They all knew how difficult it was to refine the Jade Sprout Pill; even if they were given twenty portions, they would only have a 10-20% chance of refining a low-grade pill.

As for Yun Zhongzi, he slightly moved his wide sleeves, put one hand behind his back, and showed surprise and approval in his eyes.

"He is not very old, probably not even sixty years old yet, but he has such a high level of alchemy cultivation."

"If that's the case, then hand over the elixir to me." Prince Yong said somewhat impatiently.

Xu Chuan didn't overestimate himself; he patted his storage bag and took out all the small porcelain bottles he had prepared beforehand.

Upon seeing the seven porcelain vases, Prince Yong's expression changed slightly. "Are you joking with me?"

Xu Chuan clasped his hands and said, "These are all pills I have refined. In addition to the five common second-grade pills in the manor, there are five low-grade Jade Sprout Pills and one mid-grade Jade Sprout Pill, which are respectively stored in these two white jade porcelain bottles."

"There are so many?" Prince Yong was surprised.

"May I have a look?" Yun Zhongzi suddenly asked.

"Fellow Daoist Yun Zhongzi, please make yourself at home," Prince Yong said with a smile.

Yun Zhongzi examined them one by one. "They were indeed recently refined. These two must be Jade Sprout Pills. Their color is as lustrous as yellow jade, with faint white ring patterns. Indeed, five of them are low-grade and one is mid-grade."

Seeing that Yun Zhongzi had spoken in this way, Prince Yong felt reassured. He put away the white jade bottle containing the mid-grade Jade Sprout Pill and said, "Steward Gu, please treat this master well."

After saying this, he turned to Yun Zhongzi and said, "Fellow Daoist Yun Zhongzi, please come with me to see my wife."

Yun Zhongzi nodded slightly and immediately left with Prince Yong.

As for Butler Gu, he led Xu Chuan to the hall, where he was treated like a star being fawned over, his face beaming with enthusiasm.

“Master San Shu, your alchemy skills are truly admirable. You have actually refined five low-grade and one mid-grade Jade Sprout Pills. Once the Princess is safe and sound, the Prince will certainly not be stingy with his rewards.”

Xu Chuan smiled faintly, "It's also thanks to Steward Gu's discerning eye that he allowed me to give this humble Taoist a try."

“Fellow Daoist San Shu, your alchemy is even more profound than when we parted.”

"Slight improvement."

Everyone praised him, and Xu Chuan responded to each compliment without showing any arrogance.

Half an hour later, Prince Yong and Yun Zhongzi entered the hall.

"Your Highness!" Everyone stood up and bowed.

But then Prince Yong smiled broadly, and with a flourish of his red robe, he strode to the main seat, the golden dragon pattern on the hem of his robe rippling with light as he moved.

When he sat down, the rosewood armchair remained motionless, only the dragon-shaped pearl on the red jade hairpin trembled slightly.

He waved for everyone to sit down and said loudly with a smile, "The princess is well and will be fully recovered by tomorrow. Everyone here has contributed to this."

Steward Gu lowered his head and said, "It's all thanks to Your Highness's good fortune. I only ask that Your Highness not blame me for acting on my own initiative."

"We have only done our bit," Zhou Sen, Master He, and the others said in unison.

Yun Zhongzi stroked his frosty beard and smiled faintly, "Your Highness can reward this fellow Daoist San Shu with a gift. Even if you cannot find me today, Your Highness's good fortune will surely bring someone to resolve your troubles."

“Master San Shu will naturally be richly rewarded, and others will also receive rewards.”

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

Prince Yong's gaze fell on Xu Chuan. "Master San Shu, if you have any requests, just say so. As long as it is within my power, I will grant them."

Xu Chuan had already planned it out: "A high-grade gold-type flying sword, plus three sets of materials. This is the materials list."

Steward Gu immediately took the list and handed it to Prince Yong.

Prince Yong glanced at it, his fingertips unconsciously stroking the red jade thumb ring. The list did not contain rare materials, but they were all related to array formations, which surprised him. He couldn't help but look at Xu Chuan a few more times.

Finally, he couldn't help but ask, "Master San Shu, are you perhaps also skilled in the art of formations?"

"No," Xu Chuan shook his head and said, "It was requested by a good friend."

"So that's how it is." Prince Yong then said to Steward Gu, "Go and fetch the top-grade gold-type flying sword and the three sets of materials on the list for Master San Shu."

Zhou Sen said in surprise, "Fellow Daoist is as always. But you really don't ask for anything for yourself. Even if you wanted a high-grade pill furnace, the Prince would grant it."

"No, this is enough. Being too greedy is not good."

A hint of approval appeared in Prince Yong's eyes.

The rest also received rewards.

Admittedly, it's not as generous as Xu Chuan's.

When the Prince of Yong learned that Xu Chuan was living in a cave dwelling in the market, and knowing that it would be troublesome for him to enter and leave the market, he immediately bestowed upon him a token.

With the token, no one dares to stop them; the restrictions will be lifted directly to allow passage.

"By the way, since Master Sanshu can refine the Jade Sprout Pill, why can he also refine other pills?" Prince Yong asked, voicing his doubts.

Yun Zhongzi was also surprised by this.

Butler Gu spoke first: "Your Highness, Master San Shu has never been exposed to second-tier pill formulas before, so he asked for these pill formula materials as practice."

"oh?!"

Upon hearing this, Yun Zhongzi exclaimed in surprise, "You dare to take on the task of refining an ancient pill like the Jade Sprout Pill without ever having refined a single batch of second-tier pills. It seems that Fellow Daoist San Shu is very confident in his alchemy skills."

"Senior Yun Zhongzi, you flatter me. I was merely trying my best. If you were to use these twelve ingredients to refine it, you would surely gain far more than I have."

Yun Zhongzi smiled noncommittally, "To have made such great progress in such a short time, fellow Daoist's talent in alchemy is truly remarkable. I wonder if you would be interested in joining the Pill Hall?"

"The Pill Hall? I've never heard of it before."

Zhou Sen said, "The Pill Hall is the only alchemy power in our Great Wei. It is located in the imperial city and has a superior status. It only accepts true alchemy masters or alchemy geniuses. I, Master He, and others are not qualified."

Senior Yun Zhongzi himself is the chief honorary elder of the Pill Hall, and can be said to be the most profound person in the Pill Dao of our Great Wei.

"I am only a few years older than you. In terms of talent, I am no match for Fellow Daoist San Shu."

Xu Chuan feigned deep thought, then looked up after a moment and said, "I've been strolling around, and it's impossible for me to stay in the Pill Hall forever, so..."

"Hahaha~" Yun Zhongzi laughed upon hearing this, "Fellow Daoist San Shu is overthinking it. There are indeed alchemists in the Pill Hall who have fully joined, but there are also those who are only guests."

These alchemists are free to come and go as they please, and they don't need to refine pills in the Pill Hall every day. They can even enjoy a salary from the Pill Hall, with a minimum of five spirit stones per month.

"You can get five spirit stones without even being in the Pill Hall? Aren't you afraid they'll run away?"

"You can collect your salary at the Imperial Palace, but you can also collect it every six months or even every year or two. However, you must finish all the tasks that have been piling up beforehand."

“Those tasks are easy for you, fellow Daoist. You can probably complete the year’s tasks in two or three months. After that, you can travel wherever you want. The extra pills you refine can be used to offset the tasks for the next year, or to settle any surplus spirit stones.”

Guaranteed base salary plus performance-based pay?!

Xu Chuan thought to himself, then asked, "May I ask how many spirit stones the Pill Hall's enshrined members receive on average each year?"

"Aside from myself, each person would receive approximately two to three hundred spirit stones."

Yun Zhongzi continued, "Don't think it's too little. The Pill Palace has the support of the Great Wei royal family, and few dare to offend it."

Many rogue cultivators with exceptional alchemy skills who do not wish to be suppressed by others choose to join the Alchemy Hall.

Any aristocratic family in the Great Wei would give the Pill Palace some face. Unless they were mortal enemies, they would never touch the Pill Palace's offerings, otherwise they would surely incur the wrath of the royal family.

Currently, there are only twelve people enshrined in the hall. If you join us, you will become the thirteenth.

Besides the worshippers, there are also apprentices in the Alchemy Hall; they are the future talents of our Great Wei in the field of alchemy.

(End of this chapter)