I rely on learning to achieve immortality.

The next morning, Zhang Yuan and Zhou Sijin arrived at the alchemy room on time as usual.

Recalling what happened yesterday, the two of them couldn't help but feel a chill.

When Zhang Yuan returned home yesterday, he immediately went to his grandfather to complain, hoping that Deacon Zhang could put in a good word for him and persuade Xu Zhou to teach people a less extreme method.

Unexpectedly, his grandfather remained silent for a long time after hearing this.

In the end, he was simply told to learn from Master Xu, and that was all he said.

Zhou Sijin's expression was equally complicated, clearly indicating that her family had a similar reaction.

Since there was no way to escape, all they could do was grit their teeth and endure it.

Xu Zhou also assigned a considerable amount of work for today.

The amount of medicinal herbs is still the same, and the types of herbs have changed compared to yesterday, making the processing more difficult than it has become.

Looking at the pile of medicinal herbs in front of them, the two felt a chill run down their spines, but they still began processing them.

Fortunately, Xu Zhou remained seated beside them as always, rarely interfering with their actions. He only responded and offered advice when they encountered difficulties or asked questions.

His tone was as cold as yesterday, but his answers were precise and swift, accurately addressing their confusion every time.

Five or six hours later, all the medicinal herbs for the day were processed.

After checking, Xu Zhou found that there had been some progress this time, with 30% of the medicinal materials meeting the required standards, and the processing speed was also slightly faster than yesterday.

But he didn't praise it much, only saying that they would continue tomorrow.

Zhang and Zhou were both completely stunned.

Although Xu Zhou would answer their questions at any time, the intense processing of so many medicinal herbs in such a short time still left the two of them feeling dizzy and unable to keep up.

Stepping out of the alchemy room, Zhang and Zhou exchanged a glance, each seeing the confusion on the other's face.

"Shall we continue tomorrow?" Zhou Sijin asked with a wry smile.

Thinking of Xu Zhou's cold face, Zhang Yuan felt a pang of bitterness in his heart and almost wanted to back out.

But then he remembered his grandfather's instructions from yesterday, gritted his teeth slightly, and nodded, saying, "Come on."

...

Although they appeared extremely unwilling, Zhang Yuan and Zhou Sijin still appeared in front of Xu Zhou Cave on time every morning.

Xu Zhou's teaching method is indeed somewhat extreme, but its advantages are also obvious.

Although it was tough, their skills improved rapidly over time.

After only seven days of practice, their speed in processing medicinal herbs has more than doubled, and their teamwork has become increasingly seamless.

The final pass rate of medicinal materials has steadily increased, from only 20% initially to surpass the failure rate, reaching 60% to 70%.

This pass rate would take other apprentices at least half a year of hard training to achieve.

Zhang and Zhou initially thought that this was the result of practicing with a huge amount of medicinal herbs.

Gradually, the two realized something was wrong.

Xu Zhou always selects the medicinal herbs that put them to the greatest test.

No medicinal material was selected randomly; each one was precisely chosen to be within the limits of their processing capabilities, maximizing their processing skills.

This is unusual.

Logically speaking, the gap between them and other apprentices shouldn't be this large.

After all, everyone here has an inner sect background, so who doesn't need to buy medicinal herbs to practice with?

But in reality, their experience in handling medicinal herbs improved rapidly; they faced challenges every day and were always learning new things.

The two finally realized the problem.

Master Xu, you seem to have a very high level of knowledge about medicinal herbs!

Everyone knows how to throw resources at something; the only difference is the amount. People who truly rely entirely on rote learning of medical texts without any resources are practically extinct.

Those who can allocate resources effectively and achieve the greatest impact are indeed rare, like Xu Zhou.

Having figured this out, although the daily work was still arduous and difficult, the two stopped thinking about quitting and began to work diligently in the alchemy room.

...

Time flies, and three months have passed since the two entered the alchemy room.

For the past three months, the two of them have been working non-stop on medicinal herbs, busy in the alchemy room day and night, and have lost track of time.

Finally, one day, Xu Zhou gave them both two days off, something that was unprecedented for him.

"Return in two days to prepare for alchemy."

Finally, the holiday arrived, and both of them were in high spirits.

During these three months, they spent six hours a day in the alchemy room. After they came out, they only had enough energy left to eat a meal and rest briefly before they had to meditate and cultivate.

Their packed schedules had left them breathless. Now they could finally relax a bit.

At noon, the two arrived at the mountain outside the hall and encountered other apprentices who were taking a midday rest there.

"Oh my, isn't this Zhang Yuan and Zhou Sijin?"

A tall, thin disciple saw them and jokingly asked with a smile, "Finally escaped from that demon's lair?"

Surprisingly, Zhang Yuan didn't refute, but simply nodded, found a mound of dirt, and sat down: "I'm out."

The others immediately surrounded them.

These days, they had long been curious about what had happened to Zhang and Zhou.

After all, the changes in these two were quite significant. Compared to three months ago, Zhang Yuan had lost a considerable amount of weight. Zhou Sijin appeared outwardly the same, but her hair was somewhat disheveled, a far cry from her previous meticulous makeup.

"I heard that the alchemist you're following, surnamed Xu, seems pretty unreliable?"

The tall, thin disciple who had spoken earlier leaned over and said with a smile, "Judging from your appearance, you've suffered a lot these past few days."

"Ugh, this is no life for a human being."

Zhou Sijin said as if in a dream, "I've been processing medicinal herbs for six hours every day for several months now, and I really don't want to go back."

The others immediately burst into laughter.

"Only six hours?" the tall, thin disciple chuckled. "We spend at least seven or eight hours a day in the alchemy room. Sometimes, when the alchemist is strict, we stay for ten hours."

"You've been assigned to be medicine apprentices, haven't you? I've heard that some alchemists don't want to teach, so they make their apprentices handle medicinal herbs for years without letting them touch the alchemy furnace."

Zhang Yuan rubbed his temples: "Although it is indeed processing medicinal herbs, the herbs are changed every day."

"They'll all be replaced with new ones?" someone asked in surprise.

Upon seeing him nod, the man immediately fell silent.

After a moment, he murmured softly, "Here, we can only handle new medicinal herbs once a month."

"What do you mean you change it every day?"

Zhang Yuan scratched his head, never expecting that the torment he suffered every day would be envied by others.

The tall, thin disciple shrugged: "I'm using good medicinal herbs here, and the alchemist has treated me quite well."

"Also, I have some good news."

The tall, thin disciple pointed to himself and said with some pride, "We've started refining Qi-replenishing pills in the alchemy room. The senior brother in charge specifically asked me to help out with some of it, so I guess I've participated in alchemy before."

The others were somewhat envious when they heard about this.

For apprentices, they can only assist in alchemy after their skills have stabilized and they have gained the complete trust of the alchemist. Getting this opportunity within a year is considered quite lucky.

The tall, thin disciple had only been involved in the alchemy process for three months, and his progress was truly rapid.

Although it is a relatively basic Qi-replenishing pill, it is already a symbol of touching the threshold of alchemy for an apprentice.

The tall, thin disciple was particularly excited: "I did well this time, and my senior brother told me to keep up the good work. If everything goes smoothly, maybe in a year or two I'll be able to help refine the Yellow Sprout Pill."

"Huangyadan!"

"Then I can only congratulate you, senior brother. I'll be lucky to see Huang Yadan within three or four years."

"Huangya Dan is, after all, the most difficult type of low-grade pill. There are many different formulas, and the refining methods are extremely complicated. It is truly amazing that Senior Brother Yuan can refine it in just one or two years."

"No wonder he is a descendant of the late Mr. Yuan."

The tall, thin disciple, beaming with pride, then looked at Zhang and Zhou: "I heard your alchemist is a bit strange; he hasn't even opened his furnace once in three months. Does he know how to refine pills himself?"

Zhang Yuan pondered for a while and then said, "He said the furnace will be opened in two days, and he wants us to rest for a bit and then help out."

"Yeah?"

"You're also going to participate in alchemy?"

Everyone else immediately turned to look.

The tall, thin disciple, somewhat annoyed that the spotlight had been stolen, curled his lip in disdain, but then asked curiously, "Really? What kind of pills are you going to refine?"

Zhang Yuan and Zhou Sijin exchanged a glance, both looking somewhat bewildered.

Xu Zhou never specified what kind of pill he wanted to refine.

Seeing their blank expressions, the tall, thin disciple pressed on, "He needs medicinal herbs to start refining pills. You've been dealing with them for so many days, you should know exactly what kind of herbs you've been processing."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Yuan fell into reminiscence.

For the first two months, Xu Zhou had them handle mostly basic medicinal herbs. Only in the last month have the types of herbs they handle become more consistent, presumably in preparation for starting the furnace.

As for the specific medicinal materials...

"Henpeaceful Heart Grass, Heavenly Origin Fruit, Red Ribbon Grass..."

The more he talked, the more confused the others became.

Some people couldn't help but frown: "These medicinal herbs don't look like Qi-tonifying pills."

"It doesn't seem like a Mind-Concentrating Pill either."

"It has nothing to do with the Bone Tempering Pill."

As the others were discussing, the tall, thin disciple suddenly hesitated and said, "Could it be Huangya Dan?"

As soon as he finished speaking, the people next to him immediately shook their heads.

"How is that possible?"

"Nobody knows the formula for Huangya Dan, how can you tell?"

After a long pause, the tall, thin disciple shook his head: "Indeed."

"Forget it, maybe it's some obscure formula we don't know about. It can't possibly be Huangya Dan."

That being said, the conversation gradually quieted down.

After the lunch break, the other apprentices left one by one, leaving Zhang Yuan and Zhou Sijin to stay there.

After the others left, the two fell into an eerie silence.

At some point, Zhou Sijin finally couldn't help but say, "I just suddenly realized, haven't we processed a bit too many medicinal herbs this month?"

Zhang Yuan swallowed hard, speechless for a moment.

After a long silence, he finally said, "Judging from the total amount of medicinal materials, if it really is Huangya Dan, how many batches do we need to refine?"

Zhou Sijin did not reply.

The two lay on the ground, quietly enjoying this last moment of leisure.