"Since Sister Yu insists, how could I possibly refuse?"
Hearing this, Hu Yantu's face lit up with a wide smile. He patted his chest and agreed without hesitation.
While the two were talking, Wei Tu had already finished tempering the pill furnace and began refining pills.
Wei Tuâs pill refining skills had long reached the level of perfection. Now, with Nascent Soul-level magic power assisting him, everything felt even smoother and more controlled.
So after watching for just a short while, both Ancestor Yu and Hu Yantu felt their confidence in Wei Tuâs success rise by several notches.
For this session, Wei Tu decided to go from easy to difficult.
He placed the hardest pill, the "Clear Jade Pill," last, and began with the simplest oneâthe "Mortal Shedding Pill."
Thatâs right. Among these ten furnaces of pills ordered by the Guangyuan Yu family, the Mortal Shedding Pillârare even for ordinary cultivatorsâwas actually the easiest third-tier pill to make.
The reason the Mortal Shedding Pill was considered simple wasnât because of its lower rank or any trivial factor.
It was because the requirements to refine this pill were merely the base threshold among the ten furnaces:
1. Pure late-Golden Core stage magic power.
2. Mastery of third-tier top-grade pill-refining skills.
Once both were met, refining the Mortal Shedding Pill wasnât considered particularly difficult.
Of course, this simplicity applied only to Wei Tu. For other alchemists, it was a different story.
Even the first requirement alone would disqualify many third-tier top-grade alchemists.
âMost alchemists, due to consuming too many pills, had more impure magic power than other cultivators of the same level.
Ten days passed in a flash.
When the day came to complete the pillsâ
The lid of the pill furnace was lifted by rising spirit mist, and four dragon-eye-sized, flawlessly white pills were lifted by Wei Tuâs hand from the spirit flames.
"Four pills?!"
Ancestor Yu was visibly delighted.
Normally, a batch of Mortal Shedding Pill medicine would yield at most three pills. For Wei Tu to produce four from a single batch clearly exceeded expectations.
"That alone makes this worth it," Ancestor Yu thought to herself.
Barring any surprises, just one Mortal Shedding Pill could produce one Golden Core True Lord.
Golden Core cultivators, though insignificant at the Nascent Soul level, were still the backbone of any major Nascent Soul family.
With one more Golden Core cultivator, the Guangyuan Yu family would have one more potential candidate to break through to Nascent Soul in the future.
You need quantity before you can achieve quality.
"Fellow Daoist Yu, donât get too excited just yet. Who knows? Maybe Iâll mess up the remaining nine furnaces," Wei Tu said with a slight smile.
Ten days ago, although he didnât hear their private voice transmission, he could sense Ancestor Yu didnât fully trust his pill refining skills.
She had only agreed to let him try because of the spirit contract and the face of a newly advanced Nascent Soul cultivator.
If he had failed that first furnace, sheâd likely have taken back the spiritual ingredients for the other nine and politely kicked him out.
"This old woman naturally trusts Fellow Daoist Weiâs pill-refining skills," Ancestor Yu gave a dry laugh and stepped aside, no longer interrupting Wei Tuâs alchemy.
Seeing Ancestor Yu step back, Wei Tuâs eyes flickered slightly. He tucked his sleeve and placed the jade bottle containing the Mortal Shedding Pills on the small table beside him.
Wei Tu hadnât forgotten the kindness Yu Gongshou and the other two showed years ago when they transformed into the âFive Immortals Spirit-Gathering Arrayâ to protect his daughter Wei Yan during her Golden Core breakthrough.
And back then, the reason the three of them put in so much effort was because they were hoping to gain access to future Mortal Shedding Pills from the Guangyuan Yu family.
A pill for a pill.
So, when he used his words earlier to pressure Ancestor Yu into stepping aside and took temporary custody of the Mortal Shedding Pill, it was all to gain more say in how the pill would be distributed within the Yu family.
With the Mortal Shedding Pill completed, Wei Tu turned to refining the other third-tier top-grade pills.
Time passed.
In the blink of an eye, three months had gone by.
Among the ten furnaces of pill ingredients laid out on the table, only the âClear Jade Pillâ remained unrefined. The other nine batches had all turned into finished pills, each sealed inside its respective bottle, standing neatly in place.
While the quality of those pills didnât surpass expectations like the Mortal Shedding Pill did, with Nascent Soul magic power controlling the process, the yield and quality still landed comfortably within standard expectations.
"Begin!" After studying the Clear Jade Pill formula for several days, Wei Tu finally felt confident. He formed a hand seal and directed the ingredients one by one into the pill furnace, beginning the final batch.
A little over ten days laterâ
The furnace lid lifted on a wave of mist. Two emerald-green pills flew out of the spirit flames and landed into a jade dish placed off to the side.
"Glad I didnât fail!"
"All ten furnaces of pills are successfully completed!"
Wei Tu stood up and exhaled deeply. A smile spread across his face as he turned to look at Ancestor Yu and Hu Yantu, who had been watching the whole time.
With so many high-quality ingredients to work with, he could feel that his skill in pill refining had made a significant leap forward.
This kind of growth wasnât something he couldâve achieved just by sitting and training alone in a cave.
"Earlier, I was still worried that Fellow Daoist Wei was too young and lacked experience in pill refining. I didnât expect Iâd misjudged you... Youâve clearly got real skill!" Ancestor Yu beamed as she spoke.
Hearing this, Hu Yantu couldnât help but mutter inwardly. âThis old womanâs tongue could bring the dead back to life.â
That line was clearly her own worry at first. But now, with a twist of words, she turned it into a friendly joke to flatter Wei Tu.
"According to the spirit contract signed between the Yu family and Fellow Daoist Wei, for every successful batch of pills, the Yu family owes you 10,000 spirit stones⊠But, with your current status, a mere 100,000 spirit stones wonât do you justice."
Ancestor Yu paused for a moment.
She glanced at Wei Tu, clearly gauging his reaction.
Seeing that his expression didnât change, she continued, "So this old woman and Fellow Daoist Hu Yantu discussed it and decided to offer you an opportunity. A chance to go further."
"An opportunity? Go further?" Wei Tu raised his brows slightly, unsure what kind of surprise the two were hinting at.
After all, if it were truly something precious, Ancestor Yu and Hu Yantu wouldnât still be stuck at the early Nascent Soul stage with no progress for so long.
"Brother Wei, have you ever heard of the Flying Immortal Alliance?" Hu Yantu didnât beat around the bush like Ancestor Yu. He hesitated for a second, then spoke up directly.
"Iâve never heard of it," Wei Tu replied after thinking for a moment.
He couldnât recall any major power called the Flying Immortal Alliance.
Seeing this, Hu Yantu immediately explained:
"The Flying Immortal Alliance is an organization of Nascent Soul cultivators. Only those who have reached the Nascent Soul stage can join."
"Most of the members are from the Chu Kingdom and Wushan Kingdom. Donât say youâve never heard of itâeven before arriving in the Chu Kingdom, I had no idea this alliance existed..."