Chapter 40: Alchemy Room and Immortal Beans

It's not clear if it's because Xiuxiu has been at home these past few days.

Bai Meiling seems to come home a bit earlier every day after work.

After returning, she would drag Xiuxiu out to go shopping or chat in the courtyard, often letting out clear, gentle laughter.

Of course, she would also drop by Luo Chen's room from time to time, for no particular reason.

Watching Luo Chen build the alchemy room bit by bit, her eyes showed a growing admiration.

"Your skills are so good that even if you can't make it as an alchemist in the future, you could still find a job at Ailao Mountain."

"Ailao Mountain? What do they do there?"

"A Jinyu Domain's Golden Core sect, known for various mineral resources. They are also very skilled at building houses. Didn't you buy these bricks and stones from Xianzhuju, a direct shop of Ailao Mountain?"

Xianzhuju is a property of Ailao Mountain?

Luo Chen didn't know this.

Or rather, he didn't know much about the Ailao Mountain sect.

Bai Meiling explained casually, and he learned that Ailao Mountain was thriving in the Jinyu Domain.

Cultivators who were not part of a sect didn't care much about where they lived; a wooden house or a cave would do just fine.

But wealthy sect cultivators were not so casual.

Their residences and caves were often meticulously designed.

From lighting to medicinal gardens and alchemy rooms, everything had to be in the right place and built with the best materials.

Especially for large buildings, there were many intricate details involved.

From the grand mountain gates to the small market buildings, it wasn't just about building the house and laying the floor; the entire large array had to be completed.

How to match spiritual wood, how minerals gathered spiritual energy, and how the feng shui direction affected the long-term residence of cultivators.

Even whether the floor was suitable for large flying ships to take off and land had to be considered.

Some famous large arrays were specially designed, not only integrating with the mountains and rivers but also merging with the buildings to achieve a mutual support effect.

In the past three hundred years, after the Yuding Sword Sect established itself in this domain, there was a grand development and construction boom.

Ailao Mountain took on many projects during this massive development, making a fortune.

"The initial construction of our Dahuang Market, from layout design to implementation, was all handled by Ailao Mountain."

"Rumor has it that a single cave dwelling in Ailao Mountain's Divine Craft City starts at ten thousand spirit stones and is only sold for seventy years."

After listening to Bai Meiling's explanation, Luo Chen was stunned.

The real estate market in the cultivation world is also quite lucrative!

No, I must hire an expert from Ailao Mountain to redesign my place once I have enough spirit stones.

"By the way, is there any conflict between Sister Xiuxiu and Sister Caiyi?" Luo Chen curiously inquired about the gossip.

Women's affairs are complicated, and he didn't want to get involved.

But women's gossip always sounds interesting.

Bai Meiling tilted her head, "No conflict!"

"Sister Xiuxiu is very gentle, usually friendly and rarely gets into conflicts with others."

Luo Chen was puzzled, "Then why does Sister Xiuxiu seem uncomfortable when I mention Sister Caiyi?"

"Oh, you mean that!" Bai Meiling smacked her lips and waved her hand, "It's all because of Sister Xiuxiu's dao partner."

Xiuxiu had a dao partner before?

Luo Chen was instantly intrigued.

"Sister Xiuxiu's dao partner was an inner disciple of the Yuding Sword Sect. But after failing to reach the Foundation Establishment stage, he was transferred to the outer disciples as an attendant."

"Outer disciples can't focus solely on cultivation; they need to be dispatched to various places to manage the sect's various industries."

"This person came to Dahuang Market and met Sister Xiuxiu, who was still a wandering cultivator, and they became dao partners."

Bai Meiling shook her head as she spoke.

"But this person, after failing to reach the Foundation Establishment stage and suffering a damaged dao heart, later indulged in pleasure. Even with Sister Xiuxiu, he often spent nights at Tianxiang Tower."

"One morning, he died, right in a room at Tianxiang Tower."

"Senior Sun Shou personally brought back the body."

Dying under the peony, even as a ghost, one remains romantic?

Luo Chen couldn't help but give a thumbs up, a model for us all.

"Since then, Sister Xiuxiu hasn't been fond of people or things related to Tianxiang Tower. Sister Caiyi works there, so she might feel a bit emotional and thus doesn't like Sister Caiyi!"

Bai Meiling explained the reasons, and Luo Chen finally understood.

Hating the house because of the raven, that's the situation.

Satisfied with Luo Chen's curiosity, Bai Meiling also remembered her own question.

"Can Fire Dog Whip be used to refine high-grade grain-repelling pills?"

Luo Chen quickly pushed her out, "I'm busy, it's going to smell a lot soon!"

"Ew, remember to open the Light Smoke and Sparse Rain Tower, or I'll complain about you."

Bai Meiling pinched her nose and ran away in disgust.

With a wave of his hand, he activated the exhaust fan and took out the Purple Cloud Copper Furnace from his storage bag.

Clang!

"The capacity of this storage bag is still a bit small. If only I had a storage bag with a capacity of three, five, or even a hundred cubic feet."

It's still a first-grade inferior magical tool, unable to change size at will.

This Purple Cloud Copper Furnace alone took up almost eighty percent of his storage bag.

Before, he had no choice but to store the herbs inside the furnace.

If he didn't take them out, the main ingredients would start to mix flavors.

He carefully placed the Purple Cloud Copper Furnace above the fire pit and added water.

He took a bundle of yellowish-green steel wood and cast a Fireball Spell, and the wood slowly began to burn.

With the new alchemy equipment, the peach wood and red cedar he used before were no longer suitable.

The heat released by those two types of wood was too weak; it would take a long time to heat the Purple Cloud Copper Furnace.

Therefore, Luo Chen specially purchased the expensive green steel wood.

This first-grade spiritual wood contains oil and can release a considerable high temperature when ignited.

"High-level cultivators use either their internal dan fire or borrow the earth fire and sky fire from the world when refining pills. I wonder when I can use such methods?"

Muttering to himself, he confirmed that the fire pit's heat insulation was fine and then turned to leave the alchemy room.

First, he needed to heat the furnace, warm it up, and burn out any residual medicinal qi inside.

These operations were based on experience.

When the girl sold him the furnace, she also left a note with instructions.

Heating the furnace was just the first step; next, he needed to test it and get familiar with it before he could refine pills confidently.

For the next two days, he would process the herbs.

Crackling!

Crack!

"What's that sound?"

A lazy, puzzled voice came from outside, and Luo Chen opened the stone door of the alchemy room, his face covered in soot.

Gu Caiyi couldn't help but laugh at his disheveled appearance.

"What are you doing? And why did you partition a room in your house?"

Huff!

Luo Chen fanned the air and cast a cleaning spell on himself.

With a bang, the dust on his body scattered, causing Gu Caiyi to quickly step back.

He went to the water tank, scooped a large ladle of cold water, and drank it, finally catching his breath.

"Damn, no wonder famous alchemists have fire attendants. This alchemy room is not a place to stay in often."

After cursing, he had time to explain to Gu Caiyi.

"This is my new alchemy room. How does it look? Pretty good, right?"

Gu Caiyi waved her hand to brush off the dust around her.

"It's good, I suggest you stay in there all the time."

Luo Chen's face turned sour, but he didn't mind, "I'm testing the furnace. I fried some immortal beans. Want to try some?"

"Immortal beans?"

Luo Chen quickly went back into the alchemy room and soon came out with a plate of golden beans.

The beans had shells, but they had cracked during the high-temperature frying.

With a light peel, the white kernels inside were revealed.

"It's bitter hazelnuts!" Gu Caiyi picked one up, half-believing, "They are very bitter. Can you eat them?"

"Try and see."

Luo Chen was already peeling the shells and putting several in his mouth.

Gu Caiyi peeled the golden shell and put the white kernel in her mouth.

Her red lips moved slightly, and her eyes gradually brightened.

"Wow, not bad! How did you fry them? They are fragrant, crispy, and even contain a bit of spiritual energy."

Luo Chen said proudly, "Secret recipe, can't tell you!"

Gu Caiyi rolled her eyes and snatched the plate of immortal beans.

Luo Chen didn't mind, added a bucket of water to the Purple Cloud Copper Furnace, and then took a small water pot and went out.

In the courtyard, Gu Caiyi sat on the child-sized swing that Xiao Hu usually used, holding the plate of immortal beans and peeling one from time to time.

Across from her, Luo Chen held the small water pot and watered a row of potted plants.

"These are Xiuxiu's flowers and plants, right?"

Luo Chen nodded, observing the two special spiritual plants that Sister Xiuxiu had specifically instructed him to take care of, confirming that there were no problems.

It had been four days since their last gathering.

Xiuxiu's leave had ended, and she had returned to work at the Divine Symbol Pavilion, which only gave her one day off a month.

She had accumulated three days off after spending a long time at the Divine Symbol Pavilion due to her recent promotion to attendant.

Before leaving, she had entrusted Luo Chen with taking care of these flowers and plants.

"You're quite familiar with her. You've only just met, and you've already taken over her plants."

"Don't say that! It's a neighborly thing, not cheating."

"Tsk, I just saw you put the Moonlight Grass by your bed. You must be secretly practicing hard every night, right?"

Luo Chen's face turned red. How sharp are this woman's eyes!

But it's true, the Moonlight Grass is quite effective. Although it's not as good as the Tranquility Incense, it still has about one-tenth of its effect.

In the past two days, he had increased the maximum limit of his Eternal Spring Technique once.

After practicing every day, he felt more energetic in the morning!

This also led to a rapid increase in his daily spell proficiency, and several spells had broken through to new levels.

Luo Chen quickly changed the subject, "Why haven't I seen you come back the past few days?"

"Huh, wait, your cultivation?"

Gu Caiyi smiled, the narrow swing squeezing her plump buttocks, creating a striking visual contrast with her slender waist.

"Did you notice? I'm at the ninth level of Qi Condensation!"

(End of Chapter)