A violent impact force spread out. Lin Qingyi waved her jade hand, and the powerful aura of the eighth level of Qi Cultivation erupted from her body, sweeping across the sky like a surging tide, blocking the impact of the black cauldron's explosion.
As the smoke and dust dissipated, Lin Qingyi's pretty face turned pale as she looked at Ling Xian, who was leaning against the wall with blood staining his veil. She knew very well that the biggest taboo for an alchemist during alchemy was being disturbed by others, especially when the pill was about to be formed. If the soul was startled, it not only meant that this batch of pills would become waste, but it also posed a life-threatening danger.
For someone like Ling Xian to only spit out a mouthful of blood was already considered fortunate.
"Master, I didn't do it on purpose... I'm sorry." A hint of apology was hidden deep within Lin Qingyi's beautiful eyes. She moved her lotus-like steps lightly and bowed deeply.
"Looking at you, you must have been watching for a long time. Has no one ever taught you that peeking at others is very immoral?" Ling Xian sneered, carefully examining the woman not far away, and felt a sense of astonishment.
Her skin was like congealed fat, her eyes and brows were as beautiful as a painting, and her three thousand strands of black hair flowed down like fine silk. A light green palace dress enveloped her graceful figure, making her resemble a lotus emerging from water – serene, otherworldly, and stunningly beautiful.
It was impossible to tell her actual age. From her appearance and physique, she seemed like an unmarried sixteen-year-old girl, but there was a mature charm about her, tempered by wind and rain and the passage of time – dignified, elegant, and exceptionally poised.
"This... Your Excellency didn't activate the formation that isolates aura, so I accidentally became immersed in Your Excellency's smooth and flowing alchemy process," Lin Qingyi said apologetically, a hint of surprise flashing in her star-like eyes. This voice... why did it sound a bit like a young man?
Immediately, she dismissed the thought. How could it be? How could a young man have such high attainments in the Dao of Alchemy? It must be an old man whose voice sounded very young, but who was actually over fifty years old.
"So, it's my fault instead?" Ling Xian frowned.
"Master, you've misunderstood. Qingyi didn't mean that. Lin Qingyi stood tall and elegant, like a celestial maiden descending to the mortal realm, possessing an ethereal and transcendent aura.
"Don't call me Master, I don't deserve it." Ling Xian stood up and waved his hand, saying, "Tell me, how do you plan to compensate me?"
"Compensate you?" Lin Qingyi's pretty face turned cold, and she said coldly, "I thought he was a master of the Dao of Alchemy, but I didn't expect him to be a lecherous scoundrel."
"I said 'compensate' as in 'make amends', not 'accompany' as in 'stay with'." Ling Xian narrowed his eyes. If he hadn't felt the aura of the eighth level of Qi Cultivation, he would have rushed up and given this woman a good beating. To disturb him just as he was about to form the pill, even if it wasn't intentional, was unforgivable.
Being disturbed during alchemy was not only a taboo but also a matter of life and death. If it weren't for the low grade of the pill cauldron in the mortal-grade alchemy room, the explosion wouldn't have been very powerful. Otherwise, he might have already died and disappeared.
Ling Xian gritted his teeth. He had to make her bleed heavily.
Hearing this, Lin Qingyi was taken aback, and a blush of embarrassment appeared on her pretty face.
"It's only right. Just tell me how many spirit stones you want to be compensated, and Qingyi will pay accordingly."
"Because of your disturbance, the pill cauldron exploded, and you need to compensate for that. And I was injured because of this, so you need to compensate for that too. As for that batch of spiritual pills, you don't need to compensate for them." Ling Xian extended his right hand, and the Evil-Purging Divine Flame rose in his palm, with six purple pills the size of longan suspended within it.
A refreshing pill fragrance permeated the air. Lin Qingyi gasped, staring intently at the pill patterns on the six Qi Gathering Pills.
"To think he could still refine the pills after the pill cauldron exploded, and all six Qi Gathering Pills actually have eighty percent efficacy!"
But this wasn't what shocked her the most. She looked at the silver-white flame, her face full of disbelief.
Divine Fire!
The Divine Fire, one of the two treasures of the Dao of Alchemy!
Who exactly was this person, to possess the Divine Fire that all alchemists in the world desired but could not obtain?
If she knew that Ling Xian not only possessed the Divine Fire but also the Dan Heart, the other treasure of the Dao of Alchemy, she wondered what she would think.
"Only today do I realise that there are people beyond the heavens." Lin Qingyi showed a bitter smile, feeling that the blow she received today was more than all the blows she had received in the past thirty years combined.
First, she marvelled at the perfect refining process that was like a textbook. Then, she was shocked by the eighty percent miraculous efficacy. Finally, she was stunned that Ling Xian could still refine eighty percent of the spiritual pills after the pill cauldron exploded. Unexpectedly, in the end, Ling Xian even possessed the Divine Fire that she had always dreamed of, which was undoubtedly a cruel stab to her heart.
Ling Xian frowned, put away the Divine Fire and Qi Gathering Pills, and said coldly, "Stop looking, let's talk about the compensation first."
"You don't need to compensate for this pill furnace. As for your injuries, how about Qingyi compensates you with ten thousand spirit stones?" Lin Qingyi recovered her senses and asked tentatively.
"Ten thousand spirit stones?" Ling Xian said in surprise.
"Master, are you not satisfied? Then... how about twenty thousand?" Lin Qingyi thought he was dissatisfied with the amount and quickly changed her offer.
Ling Xian's eyes lit up, but he didn't believe that this incredibly beautiful woman could actually produce that much. He said indifferently, "Okay, bring it."
Lin Qingyi breathed a sigh of relief. She was originally a gentle and kind woman. When she thought that this alchemist master, who possessed the supreme treasure Divine Fire and had such high attainments in the Dao of Alchemy, had almost been ruined by her, she felt a pang of guilt and unease.
With a wave of her jade hand, twenty thousand spirit stones were neatly arranged on the ground. The dazzling light and rich spiritual energy intertwined into a hazy brilliance.
"You're really willing to give it to me?" Ling Xian's eyes widened. Twenty thousand spirit stones! That was equivalent to half a year's income for the entire Ling family. Was this woman really that rich?
"Of course, what are these spirit stones compared to that? If a master like you, with such a bright future, were to die because of Qingyi's rashness, wouldn't I have to live in self-reproach and guilt for the rest of my life?" Lin Qingyi smiled, a hundred charms blooming.
Now it was Ling Xian's turn to feel embarrassed. In fact, he wasn't seriously injured. The power of the pill cauldron's explosion wasn't very strong; it just caused him a sharp pain and made him spit up some blood, but there was no major issue. It was just that he was filled with righteous indignation and wanted to ruthlessly fleece this woman.
However, he hadn't expected that this woman, who was truly a peerless beauty, actually had the heart of a Bodhisattva. She was even more distressed and felt more guilty and uneasy than he, the injured party, did.
"Forget it, I'm not seriously injured. I'll take five thousand spirit stones from you, and you can take the rest back." Ling Xian was silent for a moment. He felt that taking five thousand spirit stones as a form of punishment was sufficient. Although he really wanted the twenty thousand spirit stones, his body wasn't seriously injured. If he took it for that reason, wouldn't that be extortion?
One shouldn't be like this.
Ling Xian silently praised himself.
"Could it be that Master doesn't care about these twenty thousand spirit stones? Qingyi can add another ten thousand." Lin Qingyi gritted her silver teeth. Even as an eighth-grade alchemist, thirty thousand spirit stones was a considerable fortune.
Ling Xian chuckled and said, "How about this? I'll give you three eighty percent purity Qi Gathering Pills in exchange for your twenty thousand spirit stones. That way, we'll be even. What do you think?"
According to market price, an eighty percent purity Qi Gathering Pill is worth five thousand spirit stones, but they are priceless. So, exchanging three eighty percent purity Qi Gathering Pills for fifteen thousand spirit stones meant neither party was at a disadvantage.
"As Master says." A hint of surprise flashed in Lin Qingyi's beautiful eyes. She had been stuck at the eighth level of Qi Cultivation for a long time and had been unable to break through the bottleneck. If she had these three eighty percent purity efficacy Qi Gathering Pills, perhaps she could reach the ninth level of Qi Cultivation. Moreover, maybe she could gain some insight from them, analyse the spiritual herb ratios inside, and thus be able to refine eighty percent purity pills herself.
"I told you not to call me Master, I don't deserve it." Ling Xian waved his sleeve, put the twenty thousand spirit stones on the ground into his storage bag, and then threw out a jade bottle containing three Qi Gathering Pills, all with eighty percent efficacy.
Taking the jade bottle, Lin Qingyi looked at the eight purple patterns on the spiritual pills, her pretty face full of envy.
She had been obsessed with the Dao of Alchemy since childhood. Under her grandfather's guidance, she gradually displayed extraordinary talent in alchemy. After being promoted to an eighth-grade alchemist, she had been traveling outside and only recently returned to Qingcheng.
Just now, she was reading in her boudoir, which was only a wall away from the mortal-grade alchemy room, when she suddenly smelled a strong pill fragrance. This sparked a bit of curiosity, and she came here. She didn't expect that the alchemy room here not only didn't have an isolation formation activated, but it also didn't have a door. So, with a glance, she couldn't help but become immersed in it.
Having travelled for many years, she had seen many so-called alchemy masters, but compared to the one in front of her, they were more than just a cut below. The meticulous control of the heat, the clear understanding of spiritual herb usage, the smooth and perfect refining process – every single aspect could make those usually arrogant masters cover their faces in shame and bow down in submission.
"Master doesn't need to be modest. Although Qingyi is not talented, I do have some discerning eyes in the Dao of Alchemy. In all these years, I have never seen anyone who could refine Qi Gathering Pills with eighty percent efficacy in such a short time." Lin Qingyi revealed a breathtaking smile that made all the flowers lose their colour.
"You flatter me." Ling Xian's face flushed slightly, but fortunately, the black veil covered it, preventing Lin Qingyi from seeing it. After all, he was only a fourteen-year-old boy. Although the hardships of life had given him a maturity and composure far beyond his peers, being praised face-to-face by a peerless beauty like this inevitably made him feel a little embarrassed.
Moreover, he was currently only a ninth-grade alchemist. Although with the help of the two treasures of the Dao of Alchemy, he had refined Qi Gathering Pills with eighty percent efficacy, he didn't feel that he deserved the title of Master.
"By the way, I still don't know your name?" Ling Xian changed the subject.
"My name is Lin Qingyi, and Lin Yuan is my grandfather." The beauty smiled, a hundred charms blooming.
"I don't know him, but the name Lin Yuan sounds a bit familiar." Ling Xian frowned slightly.
"My grandfather is the owner of this alchemy workshop, one of the three alchemists in Qingcheng." Lin Qingyi's pretty face darkened. He didn't know her.
"So you're the young lady of the Lin Clan's Alchemy Workshop. No wonder you're so wealthy and generous." Ling Xian suddenly understood. No wonder she said he didn't need to compensate for the pill cauldron; it turned out to be her family's.
Lin Qingyi felt a little disappointed. Although she had always been very low-key, as the only eighth-grade alchemist in Qingcheng, even if not everyone knew her, she should at least be well-known in the alchemy circle of Qingcheng. Could it be that he wasn't from Qingcheng?
"Young Lady Lin, I'll trouble you to have someone clean this up. I have something else to attend to, so I'll take my leave now." Ling Xian walked towards the door.
"Wait." Lin Qingyi tidied up her disappointed mood, regaining her usual graceful demeanour, and smiled lightly, "The City Lord's daughter was poisoned by a strange toxin while hunting demons yesterday and is on the verge of death. City Lord Ye is currently gathering alchemists to go and detoxify his daughter. It is said that the reward is a Three Marvellous Treasure Lotus. I wonder if you would be willing to give it a try?"
Three Marvellous Treasure Lotus?
Ling Xian turned around and saw the beauty leaning against the door, bathed in the setting sun's afterglow.
A shallow smile on her dimpled face, a beauty in a green dress that could topple cities.