Chapter 38: Seeking Support

Early the next morning, Chen Baolan packed his bags and left.

He left behind a book of his cultivation insights from when he established his foundation, and also gave a jade pendant to Chen Xinglan. The pendant's purpose was to calm the mind and soothe the spirit; wearing it could increase a Qi Cultivator's spiritual sense by 20-30%. This was equivalent to a quarter of the effect of taking a Spirit-Enhancing Powder. Chen Baolan had acquired it as a fortunate find during an excavation of ancient ruins.

Chen Xinglan didn't pretend to refuse it; after all, it was a gift from his younger brother, so he accepted it directly. However, he also stated that he would return it to Chen Baolan after he established his foundation, regardless of success or failure. Chen Baolan nodded with a smile.

Meanwhile, Wang Jianyuan and Chen Yulan, the couple, presented a generous gift. It was directly 800,000 Merit Points. Originally, they had intended to buy one of the 'Three Treasures for Foundation Establishment' as a gift, but they couldn't procure one due to high demand, so they could only offer Merit Points instead. However, Chen Xinglan and his wife naturally refused to accept it. Even between siblings, such a large sum of Merit Points felt undeserved. It had been difficult to decline at the theater entrance the previous night, so Tang Pancui specifically got up early this morning to return the 800,000 Merit Points.

“Son, go buy some hangover medicine for your dad. I’m going to your aunt’s house first.”

After seeing Chen Baolan off, Tang Pancui quickly took the bus. Chen Xinglan had drunk too much last night, and his alcohol tolerance wasn't high to begin with, so he hadn't sobered up yet.

“Understood,” Chen Mobai ate some casual breakfast and then requested a day off from his homeroom teacher. Chai Deyun was also very responsible; after seeing the message, he specifically called to ask what was happening. After all, the college entrance exam was approaching, and every day was crucial. However, upon learning that Chen Mobai was taking his father, Chen Xinglan, to Scarlet Cloud Academy to prepare for Foundation Establishment, he politely congratulated them and approved the leave.

It was still the Evergreen Pharmacy at the street corner. This time, Chen Mobai was experienced. He walked in and waited for a moment, and the girl in the white nurse's uniform came out. However, she didn't have a large iron kettle in her hand this time, appearing to be in the busy stage of extracting medicinal liquids. Fine beads of sweat were faintly visible on the fair skin exposed around the edge of her mask.

“What do you need this time?” After two transactions, they were somewhat acquainted. The girl first removed the medicinal scent from herself before walking over to ask.

“Hangover medicine.”

“How much?”

“One box.”

“30 Merit Points.”

Chen Mobai took the dose of spirit liquid for hangovers that she handed him from a cabinet shelf, and immediately took out his phone to scan and pay.

“Last time, I think I saw you packaging 'Qi-Replenishing Spirit Liquid'?” Seeing the girl about to return to the back room, he finally couldn't hold back and asked.

“Oh, that? My teacher refines those. They are exclusively supplied to the Treasure Bottle Pharmacy, so even if you wanted to buy them, I couldn't sell them to you.” Qing Nü clearly knew what Chen Mobai wanted to ask, and immediately spoke to block his idea.

“Aren’t there any extras? I heard online that alchemists always refine an additional 10% just in case of accidents, to ensure they can fulfill the full order.” But Chen Mobai didn't give up hope. If there were enough Qi-Replenishing Spirit Liquid, his father cultivating on a low-grade third-tier spiritual vein might be able to reach the ninth level of Qi Cultivation within the next two years.

“There are indeed extra portions, but my teacher sells them to long-time clients with whom he has established relationships. Even I don't get any.” Qing Nü shook her head, speaking words that made Chen Mobai give up the idea of buying Qi-Replenishing Spirit Liquid from here.

“That’s truly a shame.” Holding the packaged hangover remedy, Chen Mobai thanked Qing Nü and turned to leave.

“If you trust me, I can actually refine this Qi-Replenishing Spirit Liquid myself.” Just then, the girl's soft murmur came from behind him, making him turn around immediately.

“You! You can refine it?”

“Tier 1 should be fine. Although I haven't passed the Immortal Sect's official alchemist examination, I've pretty much learned all the basic knowledge.”

“But alchemists rely on practice to gain true knowledge. No matter how well you master the knowledge, you still need to refine it to make it usable.”

“Oh, alright then.” Qing Nü had merely said it casually. Seeing Chen Mobai's distrustful gaze, she didn't bother to explain further.

“Wait, can you really refine it?” Seeing Qing Nü pull back the curtain to the back and turn to leave, Chen Mobai couldn't stand still. With a 'nothing to lose' attitude, he pressed her with his question.

“Except for the final step of liquid blending, which my teacher always handles personally, I've gone through the other basic steps and processes more than a dozen times. My success rate can reach 80-90%.”

“How can I cooperate with you?” After recovering from his shock, Chen Mobai's high emotional intelligence returned. Instead of pressing her on her confidence for the final step, he humbly asked what he could do.

“You provide the materials, and I'll use them for practice. If successful, it's all yours; if it fails, the loss is entirely yours.” Qing Nü's words made Chen Mobai fall into deep thought. The truth was, they had only conducted three transactions, and their foundation of trust wasn't deep. With Wu Wan's previous example in mind, Chen Mobai was now wary of everyone who opened a business.

“I have something today. Are you free after school tomorrow?” Chen Mobai decided to think it over carefully. It was a rare opportunity, but Qing Nü seemed to be around his age, and even if she had been refining elixirs since childhood, her skill level couldn't be very high. Although he had some Merit Points now, he dared not waste them. Everyone knew that supporting an alchemist's cultivation was the most expensive endeavor! If artifact refining failed, some raw materials could still be extracted and reused by machines. However, if a batch of elixir refining failed, it would be completely scrapped and utterly unusable. But Qi-Replenishing Spirit Liquid was refined using the water method, which meant that as long as the initial medicinal liquid extraction process was correct, even if the final blending step failed the first time, one could still slowly experiment. This method had a much higher fault tolerance than fire-based elixir refining.

“I’m not particularly free; I need to complete the tasks my teacher assigned.” Qing Nü had seen Chen Mobai buy the spirit-testing instrument without bargaining last time, leading her to believe he came from a relatively wealthy family. Conveniently, she was planning to apply for the Immortal Sect's Tier 1 Alchemist examination soon and needed to practice water-method alchemy beforehand. Hearing Chen Mobai's need for Qi-Replenishing Spirit Liquid, she subtly brought up the topic. However, this was Qing Nü's first time seeking patronage, so she was a bit unpracticed. When it came down to it, seeing Chen Mobai's lack of enthusiasm, she became a bit hesitant.

“I still have two tickets to the Jade Phoenix Opera Troupe, for Meng Huang'er and Jiang Yuyuan's 'Moon-Treading Melody.' They're front-row seats, considered the best spots apart from the private boxes.” Chen Baolan had given him ten tickets. His family had used seven yesterday, and one was promised to his cousin Wang Xinying. He happened to have two left and thought that the girl in front of him, being around his age, might be interested in the Jade Phoenix Opera Troupe.

However, he completely underestimated Jiang Yuyuan's appeal to all girls in the Immortal Sect. The moment Chen Mobai finished speaking, Qing Nü's eyes lit up.