Over the next few days, Jia Shiheng continued guiding Lu Zhiyuan's alchemy. After concealing his ability for a few days, Lu Zhiyuan revealed Proficient skill in brewing Blood Vitality Pills.
Jia Shiheng laughed heartily, deeply gratified. He even gave Lu Zhiyuan several hearty pats on the shoulder.
"At this point, there's nothing more I can teach you about brewing Blood Vitality Pills. From here, you'll have to gain insights through your own practice."
His own skill in brewing Blood Vitality Pills naturally went beyond Proficient. But at Proficient, the brewing technique was already sound. Only subtle adjustments in heat control remained.
Those adjustments were difficult to explain in words. An alchemist had to discover them through practice. Besides, pills brewed at Proficient were already fit for sale. Lu Zhiyuan could start earning money.
Under his agreement with Clearwell Clinic, he would receive thirty percent of the monthly profit from his Blood Vitality Pills after the cost of medicinal ingredients was deducted.
Was that a small share?
Of course not. He was very satisfied. All he had to do was brew pills. Medicinal ingredients, premises, alchemical furnaces, and sales were the clinic's responsibility.
With Clearwell Clinic behind him, he only needed to concentrate on brewing.
Jia Shiheng must have used his influence to secure such a share of the profits for him.
Other alchemists received similar shares. They were valuable. Without adequate compensation, they would simply leave.
Household guards were different. They might be difficult to recruit, but enough martial artists existed that money could always attract some. Alchemists were so scarce that one could not hire them at will.
Jia Shiheng stopped supervising him constantly. Lu Zhiyuan went out a few times when he could, raising his proficiency in brewing Blood Vitality Pills to Mastered.
He was in no hurry to reach Perfected. Mastered proficiency already met his current needs.
Every pill was plump, and each batch yielded many pills. He extracted all the medicinal properties from the ingredients without wasting any.
At Perfected, he guessed, he might be able to innovate and improve the effects of Blood Vitality Pills themselves.
That would certainly be good, but earning the required ten thousand proficiency points in a short time would not be easy. He was in no hurry. He could take it slowly.
Alone in the alchemy room, he put his full skill into every batch. The main difference between Mastered and Proficient was pill yield; the other differences were small. New chapters come out on g.com first.
Unwilling to reveal such high alchemy proficiency, he simply ate the extra pills.
Blood Vitality Pills were well suited to ordinary martial artists. Each gave him one point of realm progress. He could take five a day. With the progress from his own cultivation method, that totaled six points per day.
"Even without simplifying the Windborne Breathing Method, I could break through to the Flesh Tempering stage in a little under five months and change."
Murmuring to himself, he experienced the power of pills for the first time. Or rather, the power of money.
One silver tael bought five Blood Vitality Pills. An ordinary household guard's monthly wages at the clinic would buy only twenty-five. That expense kept guards from regularly using the pills for cultivation.
Only those with further potential in martial arts were willing to invest that much. Even then, they would have to keep spending for several years before they might see results.
In Stillshade, only members of great clans or direct disciples of institutions like Highpeak Martial School could afford to take the maximum daily amount of Blood Vitality Pills, as he now did, to advance their cultivation quickly.
"Skilled alchemists really do make money. And I'm only brewing Blood Vitality Pills."
He shook his head, tossed a pill into his mouth, and began assimilating its medicinal potency. A smile appeared on his face.
In a few days, he planned to ask the clinic for an advance so he could simplify his two fused techniques.
Blood Vitality Pills already gave him a decent rate of cultivation progress, but how could he refuse a chance to grow stronger even faster?
Besides, this world always left him uneasy. In his previous life, he had lived in peaceful, prosperous Singapore. Now he was in a world filled with uncanny entities and human cruelty. He could hardly feel safe.
Ten days passed in a flash. Apart from brewing Blood Vitality Pills and cultivating, he went out when he could to gain more proficiency by stir-frying pork liver.
While stir-frying pork liver in the rundown courtyard, he noticed that he was being followed, but paid little attention. He was now the person drawing the most attention at Clearwell Clinic.
Everyone could see Jia Shiheng's fondness for him. The man had all but announced him as his final disciple. Naturally, many were curious how he had managed it.
Perhaps there was some special means?
Cooking pork liver could hardly have anything to do with brewing pills. Otherwise, every restaurant cook would probably become a master alchemist.
They could only put it down to a personal eccentricity. They could think of no other explanation.
Some refused to give up and followed him for several days. Every time, he was stir-frying pork liver, and every time, he cooked only a fingernail-sized piece. Eventually, the sight left them numb.
What kind of bizarre hobby was this?
"Normally, we don't advance silver, but I understand your situation. I asked Steward He, and he approved it. Here are thirty silver taels. Keep them safe."
The accountant handed over the money. Lu Zhiyuan glanced at it and smiled.
With his deliberately limited reported pill yield, he earned around fifty silver taels a month, ten times an ordinary household guard's wages. Others could hardly help envying him.
The clinic had readily approved the advance of thirty silver taels because it recognized his potential and knew he could repay it.
Back in his room, he felt a stir of excitement.
"Panel, simplify Windborne Breathing Method!"
"Simplifying Windborne Breathing Method... Simplification successful... Windborne Breathing Method → Highpeak Breathing Method!"
"Huh?"
He stared at the panel, stunned. Why had the simplification led back to the Highpeak Breathing Method?
A possibility occurred to him. He performed the Highpeak Breathing Method once, using his already Perfected proficiency. The panel showed his proficiency in Windborne Breathing Method increase by one.
Well, then!
His eyes widened. The panel kept surprising him. One simplified method nested inside another!