Chapter 5

As the saying goes: a person feels refreshed when good things happen.

Ye Tong unexpectedly received a large sum of money, and naturally felt particularly elated. With this money, not only could he rebuild the Precious Medicine Shop, but he could also buy life-prolonging herbs.

And...

In Ye Tong's mind, the bright and shiny cabinets of the "Jubao Pavilion" came to mind, filled with crystal-clear silver crystals. Back on Earth, he had obtained crystals containing spiritual energy, but the silver crystals in this world were of even higher quality, purer than the crystals on Earth. Moreover, they were not divided by attributes, and any cultivator could absorb the internal spiritual energy, accelerating their cultivation.

In Ye Tong's original memory, there were even higher-quality gold crystals above silver crystals. At the same time, silver crystals and purple crystals were also the circulating currencies used by powerful cultivators.

One liang of blue gold could be exchanged for ten liang of blue silver.

One silver crystal could be exchanged for one thousand liang of blue gold.

"It seems the money isn't enough."

Thinking of the price of silver crystals, the light in Ye Tong's eyes dimmed again. Suppressing the thoughts of things he couldn't do, he ordered, "You, I'm talking to you. Go and clean all the herbs, then sort them into three categories. What are you staring at? Your father is already old and has even bought his own coffin. Do you want him to personally assist me? Go quickly."

"Cough, cough..."

Zhang Pinsou, hearing Ye Tong's words, couldn't catch his breath and coughed several times before glaring angrily at Ye Tong. If it weren't for needing Ye Tong to prepare the medicine and if it weren't for fearing the poison demon Hu Lanqiu, he would have really wanted to slap this young man who was cursing his own death.

Zhang Zhongying was even more furious, but the evil fire in her heart couldn't be vented. She could only grit her teeth and obediently follow Ye Tong's orders.

Black Obsidian.

It was the fuel needed by alchemists. Without cultivating true fire, they could only rely on it to burn and refine medicines. The Precious Medicine Shop had previously stored a lot of black obsidian, and Ye Tong easily found over a dozen pieces.

Light it, throw it into the furnace.

Feeling the temperature inside the tripod rising, Ye Tong immediately crushed the purple tea fruit and another spiritual fruit, pouring them into the tripod. Then, he threw the herbs that Zhang Zhongying had cleaned and sorted into the tripod at a very precise timing.

Controlling the fire.

It was a technical skill.

Over the years, Ye Tong had already mastered the art of controlling fire to perfection. As the meager amount of primordial energy in his body slowly flowed into the fire control array inscription beside the furnace, the flames inside the furnace seemed to come to life, sometimes burning fiercely and sometimes flickering as if about to go out.

Time passed.

After half an hour, Ye Tong's face had already turned as pale as paper, and large beads of sweat rolled down his cheeks. The more precious the herbs, the harder it was to refine them and extract their essence, which almost exhausted all of Ye Tong's strength.

"Boom..."

Ye Tong's wrist trembled, and the flames inside the tripod instantly ignited. The refined spiritual liquid burned like fuel, and in just a few breaths, it was completely consumed, leaving only charred ashes.

Not far away.

Zhang Pinsou showed a hint of disappointment, but he also knew that preparing the Universal Antidote was difficult. Even a pharmacist with decades of experience would find it hard to succeed on the first try. The young man in front of him couldn't even be described as preparing the medicine; he was using the methods of an alchemist, refining the Universal Antidote!

Pharmacists!

There were as many as cattle in the entire Zifu County.

But alchemists were as rare as phoenix feathers and unicorn horns!

However, Zhang Pinsou thought of the poison demon Hu Lanqiu and felt relieved. After all, Hu Lanqiu was a true cultivator, rumored to have touched the threshold of the Foundation Establishment stage. It was well-known that Hu Lanqiu was very skilled in alchemy, although the pills he refined were almost all poison pills.

Failure is the mother of success.

Ye Tong's first attempt at refining the Universal Antidote failed, but he didn't lose heart. With the rich man Zhang Pinsou around, even if the next two attempts failed, he had nothing to worry about; it would just mean more financial loss for Zhang Pinsou.

"I need jade."

Ye Tong's primordial energy was almost depleted, and he couldn't perform a second refinement right now.

Zhang Zhongying was very dissatisfied with Ye Tong. Hearing his request, she immediately retorted, "Why do you need jade to refine the Universal Antidote? Don't tell us that jade is an additional ingredient in the Universal Antidote."

Ye Tong said, "With jade, I can refine it again today; without it, I'll have to wait until tomorrow. My primordial energy is depleted and needs to recover."

Zhang Zhongying showed a look of disdain and said, "Are you fooling a three-year-old? Can jade really speed up the recovery of your primordial energy? Don't think that just because we need your medicine, we'll be taken for fools."

"No!"

The usually quiet Mu Qianlan now stepped forward, looking at Ye Tong thoughtfully and said to Zhang Zhongying, "From what I know, alchemy and array formation are closely related. A truly skilled alchemist would also be proficient in array formation, as the pills they refine require array inscriptions. Jade is a good material for setting up arrays. I think I understand why he needs jade."

Ye Tong glanced at Zhang Zhongying and coldly snorted, "If you don't know, don't speak. Look at someone who understands; if I didn't explain it to you, you wouldn't question me."

"You..."

Zhang Zhongying felt her face burning, but she found it hard to believe that this young man, who looked no more than sixteen or seventeen, not only knew how to refine medicine but also understood array formation. After all, to successfully set up an array, a cultivator needed to break through the Foundation Establishment stage and transform their true qi into true essence.

Moreover.

The total number of Foundation Establishment stage cultivators in the entire Zifu County was probably less than three, and in the entire Tiwang Empire, it was probably less than ten. Those who could set up arrays were even fewer.

Him...

A young man who hadn't even grown a full beard, could set up an array?

Zhang Zhongying wanted to mock Ye Tong again, but considering that every time she questioned him, she ended up being embarrassed, she didn't say those sharp and biting words.

"I'll go buy it myself."

Zhang Zhongying wanted to see what Ye Tong was up to with the jade.

In less than half an hour, Zhang Zhongying returned with a jute bag containing over a dozen fist-sized pieces of raw jade, which she threw in front of Ye Tong.

Ye Tong didn't say anything, took out a piece of raw jade, and began to carve it according to his thoughts. He was setting up a Spirit Gathering Array, which would help him quickly recover his primordial energy and, during the refinement of the Universal Antidote, increase the time he could input primordial energy into the furnace if the surrounding spiritual energy was more concentrated.

For a hundred years on Earth.

Especially during the time he spent with his wife, he devoted a lot of time to carving, so his skill in carving jade had already reached the level of a master. In just a quarter of an hour, he carved a dragon-shaped jade, which looked vivid and lifelike.

"This jade carving..."

Zhang Pinsou and Mu Qianlan showed expressions of disbelief, their minds completely captivated by the jade carving. Even Zhang Zhongying widened her eyes in disbelief.

This speed...

This skill...

They had seen many master carvers at work, but they had never seen such terrifying speed or such exquisite and lifelike carving. This was clearly a statue, a lifeless object, but in their eyes, this rather strange dragon seemed to come to life.

Ye Tong didn't have time to ponder their thoughts, focusing entirely on his carving. Soon, he carved a tiger-shaped jade, a sparrow-shaped jade, and a turtle-shaped jade.

The array Ye Tong was setting up was the "Four Saints Spirit Gathering Array," which he had developed in the latter part of his hundred years on Earth. Its power was stronger than the Three Talents Array, the Four Symbols Array, and the Nine Palaces Eight Trigrams Array. However, he was not as powerful as he used to be, so the Four Saints Spirit Gathering Array he set up would be much weaker.

But...

It was enough for now.

Then, Ye Tong ordered the three to leave the side courtyard and quickly set up the Four Saints Spirit Gathering Array. The moment he activated the array, the spiritual energy within a few kilometers seemed to be summoned, rushing toward the side courtyard where Ye Tong was.

"What a pity! My strength is too weak; the true power of the Four Saints Spirit Gathering Array is not even one percent of its peak."

However.

Zhang Pinsou and Mu Qianlan, outside the array, felt a wave of shock. They looked at each other and then back at Ye Tong, as if they were looking at a monster. With their cultivation, they could keenly sense the direction of the spiritual energy flow, indicating that Ye Tong had successfully set up the array.

But!

Ye Tong's cultivation was only at the third level of Qi Refinement, so weak that it could be ignored. How did he set up the array?

In the cultivation world.

The cultivation levels were clearly defined: eighteen levels of Qi Refinement, nine levels of Postnatal, and nine levels of Prenatal. Above that were the Foundation Establishment stage and the Core Formation stage. Currently, in the entire Tiwang Empire, the number of Foundation Establishment stage cultivators could be counted on one hand, and there was only one Core Formation stage cultivator, the old ancestor of the Tiwang Empire's royal family, rumored to have lived for over four hundred years.

"Playing tricks."

Zhang Zhongying's cultivation talent was actually not bad, but she had wasted a lot of time in business, so her cultivation was not high, and she had yet to break through to the Prenatal stage. Therefore, she couldn't sense the subtle flow of spiritual energy.

"Shut up."

Zhang Pinsou's face changed, and he sternly shouted, "Little Brother Ye is right. If you don't know, don't speak. Don't bring shame upon yourself."

"Father..."

Zhang Zhongying looked stunned, as if she couldn't believe her ears. Her usually gentle father had never scolded her like this before.

Zhang Pinsou pointed to the side courtyard and sternly said, "You haven't reached the Prenatal stage, so you can't sense the flow of spiritual energy. But I can clearly tell you that Little Brother Ye has successfully set up the array and can attract nearby spiritual energy. If you step into the array, you should be able to feel the increasing concentration of spiritual energy in that area."

Successful?

He, who hadn't even grown a full beard, could set up an array?

Zhang Zhongying was dumbfounded, completely lost in confusion.

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