Chapter 1920: An Obscure Pill

Upon hearing Ye Yuan's words, Shen Chang's face showed a hint of regret.

The alchemist who could refine such a high-quality Jade Flower Heart-Healing Pill was undoubtedly an extremely formidable figure.

At his level, being able to exchange insights with such a person was far more important than a Soil Qilin.

Shen Chang looked at Ye Yuan and nodded, saying, "Young man, following such a formidable figure, you must cultivate diligently! If you can learn even a tenth of his skills, it will be enough to benefit you for life."

Ye Yuan's attitude of admitting his mistake slightly improved Shen Chang's impression of him.

It is a great virtue to acknowledge and correct one's mistakes.

Only he did not notice how strange the expressions of Bai Chen and Ning Tianping behind Ye Yuan were.

Hearing this, Ye Yuan smiled and said, "Yes, I will definitely redouble my efforts in the future. So... can I put away the Soil Qilin now?"

The corner of Shen Chang's mouth twitched slightly, and he waved his hand, signaling Ye Yuan to put it away.

This Soil Qilin was too precious; it wasn't something you could buy just with money.

If he didn't get it this time, he didn't know when he would have another chance to encounter one.

Naturally, Ye Yuan did not stand on ceremony. With a gentle flick, he put away the Soil Qilin.

"Young man, may I ask your elder's name and origin?" Shen Chang was clearly unwilling to give up, still wanting to inquire about Ye Yuan's background.

But how could Ye Yuan fabricate a background for him? He could only evade, saying, "Master, my family repeatedly instructed me not to reveal my background when traveling outside, or I would face family discipline. I'm truly sorry."

Hearing this, Shen Chang could only sigh helplessly, a look of resignation on his face, and turned to leave.

The middle-aged man in the felt hat put away the pill and said to Ye Yuan, "Little brother, although this pill was not personally refined by you, it has helped me greatly. The value of your pill far exceeds that of the Soil Qilin. If you need any additional conditions, just speak up."

Originally, a fifth-grade divine pill of ninth-grade difficulty naturally far exceeded the value of a fifth-grade spiritual herb.

But the Soil Qilin was too rare, so the middle-aged man in the felt hat had driven up the price, using it to exchange for a divine-grade Jade Flower Heart-Healing Pill.

Although he was a True God Realm expert, if he really had to buy a divine-grade Jade Flower Heart-Healing Pill, he would have to sell everything he owned and still couldn't afford it.

A divine-grade Jade Flower Heart-Healing Pill—even Shen Chang couldn't refine it, so one could imagine how precious it was.

Ye Yuan cupped his hands and said, "No need. It's just a pill, nothing significant. Consider it making a friend."

The middle-aged man in the felt hat was slightly stunned, clearly not expecting Ye Yuan to be so magnanimous.

But on second thought, he understood.

Given Ye Yuan's background, he probably didn't care about a little compensation.

"Little brother, I consider you a friend! Consider this a favor I owe you. If you ever need help from me, Huo Zhen, just say the word." The middle-aged man in the felt hat clasped his fists and turned to leave.

...

In the alchemy room of Baicao Collection, Bai Chen and Ning Tianping both wore indignant expressions.

Tong'er held the Treasure Pig, a flicker of fervor in his eyes.

"That old man was clearly just saving face. How outrageous!" Bai Chen said.

"That old man couldn't refine the pill himself, yet he had the nerve to be suspicious and not believe the pill was refined by you. Ridiculous! Ignorant!" Ning Tianping said.

Ye Yuan smiled and said, "Not contending is contending. Remember, your own strength belongs only to you; it doesn't need others' approval. When they witness your power, why bother to argue?"

Ning Tianping and Bai Chen both narrowed their eyes, pondering Ye Yuan's words.

Even Tong'er looked at Ye Yuan in surprise.

He had lived a long life and thought he had seen through the mundane world, only to find that his insight was inferior to that of a child.

Ye Yuan's state of mind had already transcended; no wonder he had achieved so much.

Ye Yuan looked at Tong'er and said, "You're lucky, and I'm lucky too. In any case, the spiritual herbs are gathered, and we can start refining the pill."

Tong'er said, "Whether it succeeds or not, I owe you a favor!"

For a Heavenly Lord expert, ending up like Tong'er was clearly unwilling.

This feeling of powerlessness was something no one would like.

Even with the spiritual herbs gathered, Tong'er remained cautious about whether Ye Yuan could produce the pill.

Naturally, Tong'er didn't doubt Ye Yuan's ability; the Rain Dream Returning Pill was indeed not an ordinary pill and was extremely difficult to refine.

Even among pills of ninth-grade difficulty, it was one of the hardest to refine.

This pill was of a very obscure type; very few people in the world had even heard of it, let alone knew how to refine it.

The spiritual herbs used in this pill were also extremely obscure.

Obscurity meant a very narrow range of use.

If one hadn't even heard of it, how could one refine it?

Such obscure pills posed a great challenge to every alchemist.

Not to mention Ye Yuan, even Tong'er himself at his peak couldn't refine it.

If Ye Yuan hadn't reached the perfection of the Dao realm, he wouldn't have asked Ye Yuan to refine this pill.

Ye Yuan nodded and said, "You all wait in the outer room. I need to go into seclusion for a while to understand the properties of these spiritual herbs. After all, there's no second chance."

When the others reached the outer room, Tong'er's expression suddenly became tense.

"Lord Tong'er, why worry when my lord is taking action? Since I started following him, I've never seen him fail to refine a pill!" Seeing Tong'er's tense look, Ning Tianping said with some amusement.

Tong'er rolled his eyes and said irritably, "What the hell do you know!"

The amount of Soil Qilin was only enough for Ye Yuan to refine once; there was no second chance.

Therefore, Ye Yuan was extremely cautious.

Tong'er understood the difficulty of refining, and naturally, he understood it even more himself.

Being able to refine a ninth-grade difficulty Jade Flower Heart-Healing Pill didn't mean he could refine the equally difficult Rain Dream Returning Pill.

Alchemy was another form of cultivation.

If comprehending the Dao of alchemy was internal skill, then understanding pharmacology was external skill.

Cultivating both internally and externally was necessary to achieve high-quality pills.

But spiritual herbs like Ironwood Ash, Blackheart Seaweed, and Soil Qilin appeared far too rarely.

Ye Yuan had only one chance. How well he could refine the pill depended on how deeply he could understand these spiritual herbs.

He cut off a very small piece from the spiritual herb and carefully experienced its pharmacology.

Such an approach was extremely one-sided.

Because each part of a spiritual herb contained different fragments of laws, Ye Yuan could only deduce the entire herb's properties from this small piece.

Then, he had to deduce the entire alchemy process based on the pill formula.

This process was extremely complex.

Even with Ye Yuan's current soul power, he found it very taxing.

But he had no choice.

Taking more would affect the pill refinement.

Moreover, more than half of these spiritual herbs were ones Ye Yuan had never encountered before!

Each one required his careful study.