"As long as you’re okay!" Fan Ancestor sighed with relief and said.
His gaze fell on Li Shiming’s hand, more precisely on the jade bottle in his hand.
It was a jade bottle made of Third Grade Spiritual Jade, something not typically used for ordinary third-grade spirit pills.
"I’m glad I fulfilled my duty and didn’t waste your ’Heavenly Mysterious Earth Blood Ginseng,’ Ancestor!" Li Shiming knew exactly what Fan Ancestor was most concerned about, so he smiled and handed over the third-grade jade bottle.
Fan Ancestor suppressed his excitement as he took the third-grade jade bottle from Li Shiming.
He opened the jade bottle, and the situation inside was immediately perceived by him.
His eyes widened with an expression of disbelief.
Beside him, Elder Zuo noticed Fan Ancestor’s expression and couldn’t help feeling anxious, almost wanting to snatch the jade bottle from Fan Ancestor’s hand.
But the jade bottle contained fourth-grade spirit pills, such a precious item that he didn’t dare to seize it.
"Old Fan, say something!" Elder Zuo shouted impatiently.
"Hahaha!" Fan Ancestor did not answer him but instead burst into laughter.
The laughter was full of pride and satisfaction because his lineage produced such a genius Alchemy Master as Li Shiming. Now, Li Shiming could truly be called the number one Alchemy Master on the Beishu Continent.
Unlike before, when Li Shiming, due to his cultivation level, could not refine fourth-grade spirit pills, which made his reputation as the top alchemy master on Beishu Continent feel somewhat unearned.
"Shiming, soon I’ll apply to transfer a Nascent Soul Level Spirit Vein for you. Even if resources are tight, we’ll definitely relocate one for you!" Fan Ancestor looked at Li Shiming and made a promise.
The sect provides Li Shiming with necessary resources, even collecting cultivation techniques independently. The sect can best help Li Shiming by offering protection; there aren’t many other ways to assist him.
Now, given Li Shiming’s skill at refining fourth-grade spirit pills, his treatment should be elevated to match that of the Nascent Soul Ancestors.
"Old Fan, I support what you said, but can you at least let me know how the spirit pills in the jade bottle are?" Elder Zuo couldn’t hold back any longer and asked beside him.
"Take a look; in the future, we’ll need to desperately seek out fourth-grade spiritual medicines!" Fan Ancestor didn’t hide anything and tossed the jade bottle to Elder Zuo.
Elder Zuo caught the jade bottle and perceived the fourth-grade spirit pills within, his smile growing wider, even narrowing his eyes in delight.
Inside the jade bottle were three ’Shushan Tianxuan Treasure Pills,’ all fourth-grade high-level spirit pills, and their quality was something Elder Zuo had never seen before.
Li Shiming maintained his skill level as when refining third-grade spirit pills, producing a full pill count and all high-quality spirit pills.
Fan Ancestor’s single fourth-grade spiritual medicine was utilized to its fullest effect.
"I still have a few fourth-grade spiritual medicines here. Let’s queue them up now. Shiming, there’s no rush. You must rest well, and alchemy should not interfere with your rest and cultivation!" Elder Zuo returned the jade bottle to Fan Ancestor and said to Li Shiming with a smile.
"Old Zuo, wait a moment before you say anything else. Can’t you see how exhausted Shiming is?" Fan Ancestor, with little patience for Elder Zuo’s attempt to cut the line, waved him off.
"Shiming, regardless, the rules for alchemy masters must be followed. Of these three ’Shushan Tianxuan Treasure Pills,’ one is your rightful share, and you must accept it!" He turned toward Li Shiming and said.
He then extracted one ’Shushan Tianxuan Treasure Pill,’ placed it in another jade bottle, and handed it to Li Shiming.
Li Shiming did not refuse; sometimes, the rules of alchemy are unbreakable.
In the Cultivation World, alchemists are a group with traditions, and the rules of alchemy have been passed down for over ten thousand years.
No matter the relationship, at most, they might waive other compensations, but the rule of taking a share of the refined pills cannot be broken.
Since learning alchemy, Elder Ma had instructed him that breaking this rule would be akin to undermining the livelihoods of all alchemists, bringing trouble upon himself.
Today you might waive it for this friend, but what about tomorrow’s friend?
An alchemy master might inadvertently offend someone, better to collect consistently—it’s a fair rule.
Li Shiming presented all three ’Shushan Tianxuan Treasure Pills’ to demonstrate his level of alchemy to Fan Ancestor.
Chances are Fan Ancestor hadn’t realized that not only did Li Shiming get his rightful share of one ’Shushan Tianxuan Treasure Pill,’ but using the ’Hundred One-point Pill Technique,’ he divided out three ’Shushan Tianxuan Treasure Pills.’
This meant that by refining a batch of fourth-grade spirit pills once, Fan Ancestor, who provided the fourth-grade spiritual medicine, received two pills, while Li Shiming received four.
It’s not that he’s greedy—Fan Ancestor’s satisfied expression was evidence enough of the successful alchemical endeavor.
"Master Ancestor, regarding the schedule for refining fourth-grade spirit pills, how about one batch per month? What do you think?" Li Shiming thought for a moment and suggested his plan.
"Might that be too tight a schedule?" Fan Ancestor looked at him, slightly hesitating as he asked.
"It’s alright; the first time consuming more energy is normal. It’ll be much better going forward," Li Shiming explained with a smile.
"Very well, on my side, I have three more fourth-grade spiritual medicines. Take them first, and I’ll handle preparing the Nascent Soul Level Spirit Vein for you!" Fan Ancestor smiled, taking out three jade boxes and giving them to Li Shiming.
These three jade boxes had been prepared long ago, waiting to be given to Li Shiming.
Originally, he planned to use two of the fourth-grade spiritual medicines to provide practice opportunities for Li Shiming, anticipating that using two fourth-grade spiritual medicines for practice would be enough for Li Shiming to master refining fourth-grade spirit pills, considering his alchemical talent.