Chapter 53: Temptation

  "Intermediate Alchemist!" Lin Feng's mentor in alchemy, Yang Ze, was only a primary alchemist, which meant he could only refine second-grade pills and not even one third-grade pill. But the unassuming cultivator before him was an intermediate alchemist who could refine third-grade pills, with cultivation that had reached the sixth layer of the Foundation Establishment stage, surpassing Yang Ze in every aspect.

  Seeing Zhu Yan's serious self-introduction, Lin Feng didn't dare to be arrogant and hastily paid his respects: "Junior Lin Feng, fourth layer of Qi Refining stage, apprentice alchemist, at your service Senior Zhu."

  "Haha, no need to be polite, sit down, with a four-layered spiritual energy cultivation, you can refine such low-grade pills. It seems that Lin Xian has great talent in alchemy, I wonder who his master is?"

  "Senior's praise is misplaced, junior is just blindly guessing. It took many years of guidance from Master Shu in the family to occasionally gain some insight, and now senior will see it as a joke." Lin Feng measured himself by his own standards, thinking that as a Dan-making apprentice, he was nothing in the eyes of a mid-level Dan master, so he kept a very low profile. However, he didn't know that with his age and cultivation, being able to refine such a good first-grade Dan actually showed great talent. Zhu Yan's question already had the intention of taking him in as a disciple, but Lin Feng's response showed that he was a person with a school and a sect, so Zhu Yan couldn't say anything more.

  In his heart, he secretly sighed and regretted it. Zhu Yan smiled and asked: "Since we are both Dan masters, let's not talk about dark matters in front of Ming people. With your current ability, you should have a good chance of refining middle-grade Tiqi Dan. What I want to know is, how many furnaces of Dan can you produce one middle-grade Dan?"

  Lin Feng was suddenly speechless, he had the heart to say that even one wouldn't be able to refine it, but Zhu Yan's words in front of him were very clear, being able to refine such good low-grade dan, it's impossible not to have any chance of refining mid-grade dan, Lin Feng understood this point clearly, and as a mid-level dan master, Zhu Yan was even more aware of it, wanting to tell lies was impossible.

  But how much should be said? Lin Feng's use of the Five Elements Entering the Microcosm method was his own unique way, and he had also borrowed from Bao Yu to strengthen his spiritual consciousness, making it almost every furnace that could produce middle-grade elixirs. This is definitely not something that can be spoken of. And for a cultivator with this level of attainment and this level of alchemy, the probability of producing middle-grade elixirs should be how much, he had no idea.

  Lin Feng hesitated for a moment before bowing and saying, "If I work hard to refine the elixir every day, I can probably produce one or two middle-grade elixirs in a day or two. I apologize for not being entirely truthful with you earlier, Senior Yang." Lin Feng vaguely remembered that Yang Ze had been able to produce a middle-grade elixir every three or four furnaces when he was refining the first stage of the elixir, and now he could refine ten furnaces in a day, which meant that it would take him around ten or more furnaces to produce one middle-grade elixir.

  But what he didn't expect was that a typical Qi-refining fourth-layer disciple of the Dan-cultivation sect, due to their low spiritual awareness, could only refine three to five furnaces of dan per day. By this standard, Lin Feng's words meant that he could produce about one mid-grade dan every five furnaces or so, which was already close to the level of a beginner dan-refining master.

  Zhu Yan chuckled and said, "No worries, young people who are new to a place, unfamiliar with the local customs, it's normal to be cautious." Zhu Yan didn't mind Lin Feng's secrecy at all, but seeing Lin Feng's astonished gaze, he understood that Lin Feng was surprised by how he knew he was new to Yaoguang City. So, he explained further: "You buying those talismans and cauldrons shows that you've just started learning about wilderness survival, especially since you bought a cauldron but not a flame stone, which reveals that you're a young master from a family who doesn't have a flame stone. Without a flame stone, how can you refine pills in the wild? Are you going to use high-grade fire-attribute spirit stones?"

  Lin Feng's face turned red with embarrassment, in the wilderness using a refining furnace to refine Dan requires fire attribute spirit stones to increase heat he knew, but just forgot to buy flame stones, exposing himself not being very familiar with outdoor life habits.

  "Don't worry, I've already told them. I'll prepare 100 flame stones for you as a gift." Zhu Yan said with a big laugh.

  "How can this be!" Lin Feng knew that although Flame Stone was the cheapest among fire attribute spirit stones, one hundred of them were worth thirty or forty low-grade spirit stones. He had received a windfall gain, so he must have to repay it, and thus thought of refusing.

  As expected, Zhu Yan interrupted him before he could finish speaking, saying: "Actually, our sect has also set up a dan room in this underground place. In addition to being used for internal alchemy, it is also rented out to outsiders at a low cost, about five to ten spirit stones per hour. If fellow daoists need to refine pills in the city, they can rent it, which is more convenient and faster than using a pill furnace."

  Lin Feng had inquired about this aspect from Liu Kai, and he knew that there were many places in the city that rented out dan rooms, with prices being roughly the same. He thought that Zhu Yan's words were just a way of drumming up business, so he nodded politely and said: "I'm a bit busy lately, I won't be refining any dan for the time being, but when I need to refine some in the future, I'll definitely come to disturb you."

  But he didn't think that a sixth-layer Foundation Establishment expert and a mid-grade alchemist with the title of Master would be so friendly and talkative to him, a Qi Refining disciple, just for the sake of renting out a few spiritual stones?

  Zhu Yan knew that Lin Feng had misunderstood his meaning, and he didn't get annoyed. He continued to explain: "Actually, there's another rule in our hall. Just talking about the first-grade dan, if you can provide more than ten middle-grade first-grade dans for our hall every month at market price, preferably middle-grade tonic dans, then you can use a medium-level or lower dan room for free for an hour every day. If you can provide more than twenty, then you can use the medium-level dan room freely without any time limit, and it's equivalent to the internal treatment of our hall. How about that? Isn't it generous enough?"

  Lin Feng was not very interested in the first condition, as he could refine about ten furnaces of elixirs within an hour, and a few pieces of spiritual stones were nothing to him. However, the second condition was too attractive, because refining elixirs wasn't just about refining, but also about processing and preparing materials beforehand, which was the most time-consuming and complicated part. Although it didn't take long, it was too frequent, making renting a dan room not worthwhile and very troublesome. Therefore, Lin Feng had the idea of buying his own dan furnace, mainly because he needed to process materials in advance.

  The preferential condition of Baibao Hall allows Lin Feng to process his materials at any time, just like at home, and it is very beneficial for preserving the spiritual energy of the spiritual medicine, making Lin Feng hard not to be tempted.

  Lin Feng couldn't help but admit that Zhu Yan's words hit his weak points one by one. From the beginning, he had vaguely known that Zhu Yan was a master of alchemy, specifically a master of refining pills and elixirs. He had been careful in his responses, but under the sharp eyes and tongue of this old alchemy expert, he quickly surrendered.

  He was first induced to inadvertently reveal that he could refine elixirs, then was half-forced to admit that he could refine medium-grade elixirs. Finally, under the temptation of benefits, he began to waver back and forth. He knew that if he came here to refine elixirs, he would definitely go for the second preferential condition. Although delivering twenty medium-grade elixirs every month was not a difficult task for him, would this lead to any future troubles? What if the other party discovered that his probability of producing medium-grade elixirs was very high, and would they imprison him?

  He didn't think he was afraid, but suddenly Lin Feng felt a chill run down his spine. He had an overwhelming urge to leave immediately. With the other's cultivation level, if they wanted to forcibly detain him, he feared he wouldn't even be able to call out for his mother. What to do? Lin Feng suddenly found that not only were his palms sweating, but his back was also breaking out in a cold sweat.

  Zhu Yan kept staring at Lin Feng's reaction, and when he saw Lin Feng showing a look of longing after proposing the second favorable condition, he suddenly felt that there was a chance. While feeling happy in his heart, he also suspected that twenty middle-grade elixirs might not be a difficult problem for him, so what was the probability that he would take out the middle-grade elixirs?

  But when he looked at Lin Feng again, he found that he was obviously uneasy. This unease was due to... fear? Why should he be afraid? Zhu Yan was also an old man in the Xiu Xian world and understood what Lin Feng was afraid of after a moment's thought.

  Haha, a smile caught Lin Feng's attention, and Zhu Yan finally spoke up: "Looking at Brother Lin's expression, it seems like there are still some concerns. I don't want to say more, but you've just arrived in Yaoguang City, so you might not know about our Baibao Hall. Just ask around casually, and you'll find that my words are true. Although we can't say that everyone praises us, we can at least be called 'honest and trustworthy'."

  Seeing Zhu Yan's face and complexion, which was not as evil as he had imagined, Lin Feng suddenly felt embarrassed. He secretly blamed himself for overthinking and quickly covered up by saying: "I still trust you, senior. I just suddenly remembered that there was something urgent that I hadn't taken care of, and it made me misunderstand."

  Zhu Yan didn't say anything, and just then the monk who had helped Lin Feng with his shopping returned with a list. The two of them tacitly avoided mentioning the topic again and busied themselves checking the goods. In the end, Lin Feng spent a total of 7,200 spirit stones, with the majority going to the mid-grade pill furnace, which cost 5,500 low-grade spirit stones. Then there were the jade slips and talismans, one costing 1,000 and the other nearly 600. The most numerous item was actually the spiritual medicine seeds, which only added up to a little over 100 spirit stones in total.

  I don't know if Zhu Yan himself had the right to do so, or if he was trying to win over Lin Feng. In any case, with a wave of his hand, he waived the remaining amount and accepted 7,000 in full. As it turned out, the total value of Lin Feng's 100 bottles of dan was only 6,700, and he had to take out four more good-quality lower-grade dan to settle the account.

  Lin Feng's face hurt for a moment, the elixir he had been refining for several months was almost gone in an instant. This path of cultivation wasn't something ordinary people could take. But Zhu Yan laughed even more happily, the more low-grade elixirs Lin Feng took out, the more mid-grade elixirs he must have on hand. The generous conditions she had offered would ensure that Lin Feng wouldn't hesitate to come back in the future. Winning over a future alchemist wasn't just about getting his hands on spiritual elixirs, but also because alchemists were rich and willing to spend money - what a big customer!

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