CHAPTER 968: CHAPTER 965: THE PATH OF THE PHARMACIST

"Oh, by the way, Brother Lin, before returning to Jinghua City, Miss Xiao asked me to bring you something, saying you might find it useful." Yun Xiaotian suddenly remembered something and turned around to pull out a wooden box from behind him.

"Oh, what did Miss ask you to bring me?" Lin Tian asked curiously.

Yun Xiaotian shook his head and said, "The box is locked, I don’t know what’s inside either."

"How am I supposed to open a locked box? Didn’t Miss give you a key or something?" Lin Tian questioned in confusion.

"Miss said you’ll have a way to open it." Yun Xiaotian replied with a shake of his head.

Come on, even receiving something has to test me, that’s definitely something Miss would do, Lin Tian shook his head helplessly.

Although he didn’t really have a way to unlock it, Zhou Botong was proficient in unlocking, but he was not bad either. However, not knowing how to unlock didn’t mean Lin Tian was out of options. In front of everyone’s astonished eyes, Lin Tian simply grasped the lock, and with a "crack," broke it open.

"Truly a brute." Zi Yan shook her head helplessly.

Lin Tian opened the box, inside was a pile of pitch-black stuff, looking like coal lumps. Seeing this, he laughed, thinking Miss indeed lives up to expectations; whatever I want, she could guess. From this, it seems we’re quite compatible, Lin Tian indulged in his own thoughts.

"Mr. Lin, is this coal?" An Xiaoru asked curiously, neither Zi Yan nor Yun Xiaotian could figure out what it was.

Lin Tian picked up a piece and smiled, "In terms of formation environment, it indeed shares some similarities with coal, but it requires a harsher environment. It’s called charcoal crystal, a high-quality fuel, perfect for alchemy."

"This was originally a pharmacist’s from Japan, but she lost a fight to me, so the charcoal crystal became mine." Lin Tian said casually, that pharmacist being Oda Manaka, whose secrets Lin Tian had taken.

"How fascinating, I’d love to see it in action. When are you going to start alchemy? I haven’t seen an alchemist at work before. Oh, right, what level of alchemist are you, junior brother?" Zi Yan asked curiously.

Lin Tian paused, uncertainly replied, "Well, I might be a beginner alchemist."

"What do you mean by maybe? Have you successfully made any elixir before?" Zi Yan questioned skeptically.

"No." Lin Tian answered bluntly.

This time it was Zi Yan’s turn to be dumbfounded, after a moment she said, "You’re just an apprentice herbalist if you haven’t successfully made an elixir. My goodness, I’m afraid those precious herbs will go to waste under your hands."

"Why worry? We have five Yin Yang Life Fruits, it only takes one to make an elixir each time, which gives me five chances. I don’t believe I can’t succeed at least once in five tries." Lin Tian said casually.

He was completely self-taught, without a mentor to guide him, and hadn’t learned formally, unaware of the difficulties of alchemy. If a genuine alchemist heard his words, they would undoubtedly leap up in anger.

Zi Yan’s face was full of exasperation, looking utterly defeated, then she pretended to be quite angry and advised, "Junior brother, you’re being wasteful, you know that? As your senior, I must tell you properly about the basics of alchemy today."

"Oh, if Senior Sister is an alchemist, then I should really listen carefully." Lin Tian asked curiously.

He knew he was new to this, self-taught but without accomplishment. Fortunately, he didn’t mind his lack of face, asking if he didn’t understand was his strength; pretending to understand wasn’t only foolish but begging for trouble.

But Zi Yan shook her head, "I’m not an alchemist, my master barely counts as one. Twenty years ago, my master had a brief encounter with a Ghost Valley Inheritor, who was a beginner alchemist. He couldn’t stay long to practice alchemy, so he shared the elixir recipe with my master."

"Actually, my master learned the recipe to take shortcuts at the time, so strictly speaking he wasn’t a genuine alchemist, but at least he understood the basics, which he passed on to me." Zi Yan didn’t explain why she didn’t learn alchemy.

Having someone who understands alchemy is rare, so Lin Tian paid serious attention.

"The first thing I want to correct is your earlier thoughts; an apprentice herbalist hoping to succeed in five tries is wishful thinking. Not to mention five Yin Yang Life Fruits, even if given five hundred, it wouldn’t guarantee success." Zi Yan said assertively, with typical senior sister demeanor.

Lin Tian wasn’t bothered by her tone but was rather skeptical, so he asked, "Five hundred tries won’t guarantee success? Senior sister, are you exaggerating?"

Yun Xiaotian was even more nervous than Lin Tian because the success of alchemy determined if his grandfather could regain health.

"Zi Yan isn’t exaggerating." A voice came from outside, everyone turned to see Zi Yan’s master, Jiang Xiu Ying, who surprisingly visited Lin Tian at Yunxiang Inn, or perhaps visited Lin Tian.

"Master."

"Elder Jiang."

Lin Tian and the others greeted Jiang and invited her in.

Jiang Xiu Ying, without putting on airs, sat down and said directly, "Lin Tian, Zi Yan has told me about your situation; I overheard your conversation too. I can tell you, Zi Yan’s five hundred tries is a conservative number."

"Isn’t that an exaggeration?" Lin Tian asked incredulously, finding the pair’s claims increasingly severe.

Jiang Xiu Ying chuckled, "Hehe, when I first heard Ghost Valley Inheritor say so, I had the same expression as you. Alchemist is a profession nearly lost to history, not only because of its secret inheritance but also because becoming an alchemist is extremely difficult."

"Starting is a threshold; if an apprentice herbalist successfully creates any elixir, even the simplest one, they upgrade to beginner alchemist, yet many apprentice herbalists can’t upgrade throughout their lives, trying thousands of times without success."

"While I can barely count as an alchemist, I can say, the path to becoming an alchemist is this hard. Now, do you think Zi Yan was exaggerating?" Jiang Xiu Ying asked.

"If Elder Jiang says this is true, alchemy does seem quite challenging, but I won’t give up. You never know until you try if you can’t succeed." Lin Tian wasn’t discouraged and replied earnestly.

"Hehe, I admire your persistence for not being frightened by what I said earlier. I wanted to test your mindset; I am very pleased with the result." Jiang Xiu Ying looked at Lin Tian with a full smile, like observing a son-in-law.

"Actually, there are ways to become an alchemist," Jiang Xiu Ying laughed.

"Oh, I’m willing to hear more." Lin Tian expressed surprise, thinking if he could become a genuine alchemist, there would be no fear of failing to create the Yin Yang Life Elixir.

"Alchemy, like any profession, relies heavily on talent. Though Heavenly Dao rewards diligence, sometimes hard work doesn’t pay off, while those with talent find it much easier. When others fail a thousand times, perhaps a talented person can succeed on the first try." Jiang Xiu Ying said solemnly.