Zhong Cai pulled Wu Shaoqian to the altar together and arrived in front of the “Card Pool.”
A cluster of forty strands of colorful light drifted above the altar, resembling a piece of colored clouds.
Wu Shaoqian suggested softly, “Shall we offer ten strands of colorful light first?”
Zhong Cai also thought so, so he recalled the method of using the altar, pointed towards the colorful light, made a gesture towards the pit, and said, “Perform a sacrifice.”
As if understanding Zhong Cai’s words, the colorful light separated into ten strands, suddenly descending and entering the pit.
In an instant, the white flames in the pit devoured the colored light. Amidst the rolling flames, a burst of white light floated unsteadily in front of Zhong Cai.
Zhong Cai took a closer look, his expression peculiar.
Inside the white light was actually a white seal slightly larger than an adult’s palm, with many strange patterns winding around it, full of mystery, making people dare not ponder deeply. But at first glance, doesn’t it look like a card? —— This altar of his, is it really just drawing cards?
Zhong Cai took the seal, which had a grandly written “Qi” character on it. As long as he injects his spiritual energy, he can open it.
Wu Shaoqian leaned over to take a look.
Zhong Cai took a deep breath and infused a bit of spiritual energy.
In the next moment, the seal floated up and turned into smoke, dispersing.
Within the smoke, there floated a piece… of heavy gold.
In terms of weight, it was a jin of gold.
Zhong Cai’s face was a bit stiff: “With my luck, I drew the most common one.”
Wu Shaoqian was stunned: “The most common one?”
Zhong Cai promptly pulled Wu Shaoqian to sit on the stone seat and began to explain in detail: “I only found out after choosing the Alchemy Path. I forgot to tell you. Look at that pit ahead; there should be five types of flames inside. Currently, this white flame is the lowest level, and each sacrifice yields ten strands of spiritual aura. Next are blue, red, purple, and gold flames, each sacrifice yielding one hundred, one thousand, ten thousand, and one hundred thousand strands respectively.”
“According to the altar’s description, for sacrifices of this lowest level, the most common result each time is a jin of gold. When the flame changes to blue, the most common offering is a Xuanzhu. The most common offerings from red flame, purple flame, and gold flame are respectively low-grade Xuanshi, mid-grade Xuanshi, and high-grade Xuanshi, each one piece.”
“In addition, if I simultaneously perform sacrifices ten times, among the ten items obtained, there will be the highest-grade treasure obtainable from that level of sacrifice, which is the guaranteed resource. For example, if I now invest one hundred strands of spiritual aura and get ten seals, I will definitely be able to extract a third-grade rare medicine. The guaranteed resource in the blue flame pool is a fourth-grade rare medicine, in the red flame pool is a sixth-grade rare medicine, in the purple flame pool is a seventh-grade rare medicine, and in the gold flame pool is a ninth-grade rare medicine.”
Zhong Cai speculated, “It might be related to the Pill Department I chose, they are all guaranteed to be rare medicines, indirectly encouraging me to work hard on alchemy?”
Wu Shaoqian nodded knowingly, “Not bad. Even if it’s just one gold piece, it’s still gained for free, a profit.” He comforted Zhong Cai with a smile, “One gold is enough to buy dozens of medicinal materials. If what you get is several first-grade rare medicines, or several silver or copper pieces, wouldn’t it be worse than this one gold?”
Zhong Cai thought about it and agreed. Common or not, it is still shiny gold!
In this world, one gold was similar to ten taels of gold from the previous world, and one silver was still about one or two taels in weight, with a similar exchange ratio. So, one gold in this world was probably equivalent to one hundred silvers. If converted to the previous world, it would be about fifteen thousand dollars.
Not bad at all.
So, Zhong Cai eagerly made his second exchange.
Once again, white flames spat out white seal. When Zhong Cai opened it, it was still one gold.
Zhong Cai handed both the gold he got before and after to Wu Shaoqian, generously saying, “Pocket money. From now on, any gold I get from here, I’ll give it to you as pocket money.”
Wu Shaoqian accepted the items with a smile and put them into his mustard seed bag. He asked, “Sacrifice again?”
Zhong Cai casually offered the last twenty strands of spiritual aura as a sacrifice and replied, “Do you think those two seals look like they were drawn out of the pool by the spiritual aura? We can’t reveal anything about the altar to others, so let’s stop talking about sacrifices and the like. But ‘drawing seals’… sounds too awkward. The seals also look a bit like cards, so let’s call it ‘drawing cards’ instead. This way, even if someone overhears a bit of our conversation, they won’t understand the context, which gives us an extra layer of protection, right?”
Wu Shaoqian was silent.
…Do they look like it?
But that doesn’t matter. Drawing cards it is.
Wu Shaoqian nodded and suddenly remembered something, quickly reminding him, “A Cai, you need to be careful. Even if you’re in a closed room, don’t summon the altar if you’re outside the Wu family estate.”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
“Qtfc j meialnjabg gfjmtfr atf atlgv ifnfi bo atf Scilutafcwfca Efjiw, atflg atgff rbeir jcv rfnfc rqlglar oeiis mbcvfcrf lcab j qglwbgvlji rbei, ufcfgjalcu rbei rfcrf. Ktf rbei rfcrf rmjcr lar reggbecvlcur, jcv fnfgsatlcu klatlc lar gjcuf lr nlrlyif ab la lc vfajli. Ubkfgr ilxf atf Qe ojwlis rfa eq obgwjalbcr atgbeutbea atflg frajafr ab yibmx rbei rfcrf. Po jcs rbei rfcrf rkffqr atgbeut, la kbeiv yf mbcrlvfgfv jc boofcrf, jcv atf ojwlis’r ragbcu meialnjabgr kbeiv lcafgnfcf, wjxlcu la wemt rjofg.”
Zhong Cai nodded seriously, “I’ll be careful.”
Wu Shaoqian saw him like this and softened his expression a bit, saying, “You don’t need to worry too much. In the future, we can get something that can block soul sense. Whether it’s an array disk, a mystical artifact, or a talisman, once it’s set up in a room, we can summon the altar freely.”
Zhong Cai smiled brightly again.
Both of them happily looked at the last two seals.
Zhong Cai handed one to Wu Shaoqian and said, “Do you want to open one too, for fun?”
Wu Shaoqian didn’t refuse and took it.
Zhong Cai placed his finger on the “Open” mark and enthusiastically suggested, “Come on, let’s open them together!”
Wu Shaoqian still didn’t refuse and also placed his finger on the “Open” mark.
They looked at each other and then simultaneously infused their spiritual energy into the seals.
In that instant, the two seals flew out, undergoing subtle changes.
The seal in Zhong Cai’s hand was suddenly coated in a layer of golden light, glittering brightly; while the one in Wu Shaoqian’s hand had golden streams swirling around its edges, quickly rotating once.
Then, both seals simultaneously turned into smoke.
In front of Zhong Cai appeared a small bottle.
In front of Wu Shaoqian appeared a fist-sized stone.
Zhong Cai grabbed the small bottle, opened the stopper, and a surge of energy emanated, making him gasp and quickly seal it again.
Wu Shaoqian observed the stone for a moment and said, “A Cai, give me a dagger and a small bowl.”
Zhong Cai instinctively complied, and watched as Wu Shaoqian suspended the stone above the small bowl, infused the dagger with spiritual energy, and slowly cut into the stone.
A faint sweet and bloody scent wafted out, with fine juice flowing from the stone’s crevice into the bowl.
The liquid was reddish, slightly pungent, and full of energy…
If it were the old Zhong Cai, he wouldn’t have recognized it, but now he immediately knew and exclaimed, “Old Wu, this seems to be second-grade rare medicine, Chilin Blood? If I remember correctly, each drop is worth a gold. Now there’s enough to cover the bottom of the bowl, which should be over thirty drops.”
Wu Shaoqian said, “I counted, thirty-seven drops.”Zhong Cai gave him a thumbs up and, with a mysterious air, gestured him over, saying, “Although your luck was great this time, you definitely can’t guess what I got!”
Wu Shaoqian looked at the small bottle Zhong Cai was holding and raised an eyebrow, “I guess it’s a pill.” He pretended to think, then smiled and said, “And it might be a third-grade pill?”
Zhong Cai’s eyes widened in surprise.
Wu Shaoqian crossed his arms and laughed, “Looks like I guessed right.” He said smugly, “Your seal was completely coated in gold, while mine just had a golden glow around it. Clearly, yours is of a higher grade.”
Zhong Cai punched Wu Shaoqian’s chest playfully and said fiercely, “You’re not as dumb as you look!”
Wu Shaoqian couldn’t help but laugh out loud.
The two of them playfully shoved each other for a while before they went to inspect the small bottle together.
Zhong Cai brought out a small bowl and poured the pill into it.
Wu Shaoqian stared in surprise, “Hu Bao Tai Xi Dan?”
Zhong Cai nodded, “That’s it. It’s used to reduce the pain of soul fusion during the Enlightenment Realm. Taking one of these pills can suppress the pain of an entire minor realm to just three-tenths.”
Wu Shaoqian said, “Keep it well. You can use it when you reach the Enlightenment Realm. This type of pill is rare, usually only available at auctions. Its market price is a hundred thousand gold, but to actually obtain one, you’d need at least a hundred and fifty thousand.”
Zhong Cai hesitated briefly, then said, “I want to take it back for my cheap father.”
Wu Shaoqian was taken aback.
Zhong Cai explained, “Old Wu, look closely. This is just a low-grade pill.”
Wu Shaoqian certainly knew it was a low-grade pill, and the price he mentioned was for low-grade pills. However, he quickly understood and was moved, “A Cai, you mean, you can make better ones in the future?”
Zhong Cai immediately smiled, “As expected of my good friend, you understand me.” He cleared his throat, “I’m not one to underestimate myself. I believe I can definitely make higher-quality pills in the future. My inheritance is quite exceptional, and it includes the recipe for the Hu Bao Tai Xi Dan. If I manage to reach the Enlightenment Realm, I think I can at least make a mid-grade version.”
Wu Shaoqian listened and agreed.
Zhong Cai shared his thoughts one by one: “My cheap father is now at the Palace Aperture Realm. Before I left, I sort of tricked him… well, maybe not entirely. Anyway, we agreed to stay in contact.”
After recounting the conversation he had with his cheap father, he continued, “It’s been about seven or eight days since we got married, so I should go back to see him. I’ll give him this pill and say it came from you. If he knows you still have resources, he’ll be more willing to maintain our relationship. We should avoid using the Wu family’s channels for anything, but my cheap father still has some connections. If we can’t get certain herbs, we can ask him for help.”
Wu Shaoqian realized something: “Are you planning to tell him about your alchemy skills?”
Zhong Cai smiled: “Yes. Although my cheap father has some feelings for me, they are limited. To keep this relationship going, I need to entice him with benefits. I’ll give him a taste first, then tell him I can learn alchemy. He’ll naturally be more patient.”
“My public Huang Rank inferior qualification means my potential in cultivation is limited to the Enlightenment Realm. However, alchemists can sometimes create pills beyond their grade. The ‘Companion Cauldron’ is a second-grade top-quality pill furnace, which means my aptitude is close to Huang Rank middle level. There’s hope for me to become a fourth-level alchemist… Help me figure out how much of my inheritance I should disclose to him.” He added quietly, “Currently, I have recipes for pills from first-grade to fifth-grade, divided into regular and premium recipes.”
“The regular recipes often have overlapping effects, while the premium recipes have unique differences even for similar types of pills.”
“Right now, I have over 1,800 regular and 168 premium first-grade recipes; over 1,700 regular and 128 premium second-grade recipes; 1,500 regular and 108 premium third-grade recipes; over 1,200 regular and 88 premium fourth-grade recipes; and around 1,000 regular and 68 premium fifth-grade recipes.”
Wu Shaoqian pondered, “To strictly match the cauldron’s grade, just say you have recipes from first-grade to fourth-grade…” He hesitated, “How about this: since the numbers of recipes at each level end with ‘eight,’ arrange it similarly without distinguishing between regular and premium. Just say you have 28 first-grade recipes, 18 second-grade and third-grade recipes each, and 8 fourth-grade recipes.”
Zhong Cai found it intriguing and promptly said, “I’ll do as you said.”
Wu Shaoqian chuckled, “Although there aren’t many who have opened the alchemy inheritance in Kunyun City, there are still about a dozen or so publicly known ones, each with a varying number of accompanying pill recipes. I know of someone with a low-grade aptitude. Despite having only first-grade to third-grade pill recipes in his inheritance, he has twenty-five first-grade recipes, ten second-grade, and five third-grade. Your public qualification is higher than his, so having a few more recipes in the same level is perfectly normal.”
Zhong Cai nodded eagerly, discussing with him, “Exactly! Let’s settle on this number of recipes first. It’s enough to get by in our Kunyun City. If someone insists on me handing over the inheritance, I’ll simply write out the most basic recipes. If there’s a need to use other recipes for alchemy later, it won’t matter. We’ll just say I had some hidden away.”
Wu Shaoqian smirked.
Zhong Cai suddenly lowered his voice and said, “I found many life-prolonging pills among the recipes.” He nudged Wu Shaoqian, “You know what I mean, right? From first-grade to fifth-grade, they can extend life by ten, thirty, fifty, eighty, and one hundred years respectively.”
“I’ll take more pills, work harder, and strive to break through to the Suspended Illumination Realm by the time I’m over 200 years old. Then I can make fifth-grade life-prolonging pills. With all the pills combined, we can extend our lives by almost 300 years! By then, my altar might level up and spit out more recipes, potentially extending our lives by several hundred more years.”
Wu Shaoqian, of course, understood and couldn’t help but feel both touched and amused. “I can only maintain my strength at the Heavenly Induction Realm. If I live that long, wouldn’t I be a burden to you?”
Zhong Cai waved dismissively, “A burden? We’re partners, aren’t we? If that day comes, I’ll put you in the altar and take you wherever I go. As long as I’m safe, you’ll be safe too.”
Wu Shaoqian couldn’t hold back and laughed again.
“Alright, as long as you don’t mind, wherever you go, I’ll go too.”
Then, Wu Shaoqian told Zhong Cai to put away the Chilin Blood for future alchemy use.
Zhong Cai pulled Wu Shaoqian out of the altar and yawned.
By now, it was already dawn.
Last night, Zhong Cai stayed up late refining pills and didn’t realize how late it had gotten.
Zhong Cai quickly pushed Wu Shaoqian, saying, “Go take a bath and get some sleep.”
Wu Shaoqian, unprepared for Zhong Cai’s shove, ended up in the bathroom and then in the bath, getting soaked through.
Seeing his drenched friend, Zhong Cai burst into laughter.
Wu Shaoqian didn’t say much. He just reached out—and the useless guy at the twelfth level of the Heavenly Induction Realm pulled the rookie at the fourth level of the same realm into the bath, making him just as soaked.
Zhong Cai: “…” Watch my water-splashing technique!
Wu Shaoqian: “…” Splashing back!
They had a lively water fight, each occupying one side of the bath, stripping off their clothes, and enjoying a vigorous bath.
Then they returned to the main room, collapsed onto the bed, whispered a few more things about their public cover stories, and finally fell asleep.
…
Early the next morning, Zhong Cai returned to the Zhong family residence under Xiang Lin’s protection.
The doorman at the Zhong family naturally hadn’t forgotten Zhong Cai so quickly, but he routinely asked who Xiang Lin was.
Zhong Cai smiled and said, “Just Young Master Shaoqian’s guard.”
Xiang Lin took out a token from the Wu family.
Seeing this, the doorman immediately allowed them to pass.
Once inside, Zhong Cai led Xiang Lin to Yuehe Garden.
There was also a gatekeeper here, a robust elderly man.
Zhong Cai greeted him, “Uncle Qian, is my father here?”
The gatekeeper, Qian Chong, quickly replied, “Sixth Young Master, you’re back? The master is currently drinking in the courtyard. He asked you to wait a moment while this old servant goes to inform him.”
Zhong Cai immediately understood, showing a subtle expression. “Alright, then please go inform my father,” he said, lowering his voice, “but Uncle Qian, make sure there are no other ‘elders’ around.”
Qian Chong nodded and quickly went on his way.
Before long, he returned briskly and opened the gate.
Zhong Cai, still accompanied by Xiang Lin, made his way to the main courtyard.
The courtyard was filled with the lingering scent of cosmetics, the tables faintly smelled of alcohol, and there was a hint of spilled liquor on the ground.
Zhong Guanlin’s face was still flushed, reeking of alcohol, as he sat propping his chin on a brocade stool. Seeing Zhong Cai approach, he waved and smiled, “Xiao Liu’er, you’ve been married for so many days, and only now remember your poor old father waiting at home? Truly, a married son is like water thrown out of the house. How pitiful for me.”
Zhong Cai, showing no sign of remorse, instead grinned cheekily and said, “Father, if you knew what I brought back for you, you wouldn’t feel so pitiful.”
Zhong Guanlin’s interest was piqued, “Oh? What did you bring?”
Zhong Cai plopped down on the stool next to Zhong Guanlin and pulled a small bottle from his mustard seed bag.
“Father, you’ll definitely recognize this!”
Zhong Guanlin casually opened the bottle, then quickly sealed it again.
At that moment, he looked at Zhong Cai with a touch of emotion and disbelief in his eyes, exclaiming in surprise, “Hu Bao Tai Xi Dan?”
Zhong Cai, proud, replied, “Exactly.” He added even more proudly, “Young Master Shaoqian gave it to me.”
Zhong Guanlin asked, “Why did he give it to you?”
Zhong Cai chuckled and leaned in to whisper, “Let me tell you, this marriage was a great gain for me. Young Master Shaoqian used to be incredibly powerful and still retains the twelfth level of the Heavenly Induction Realm! He’s far from being a useless person. And on our wedding night, I saved his life in the bridal chamber, and the next day I borrowed his luck to open a companion artifact …”
Following his earlier discussion with Wu Shaoqian, Zhong Cai carefully selected and concealed parts of the story, mentioning things like “Young Master Shaoqian’s broad-mindedness and gratitude,” “the family’s wealth,” and “current living conditions and servants.”
Zhong Guanlin narrowed his eyes. “Just that alone is hard to believe,” he said after a brief pause, “Your inheritance—”
Zhong Cai calmly repeated the previously agreed-upon explanation about the number of pill recipes and added, “Young Master Shaoqian certainly has noble character, but the reason he’s willing to train me and even give me this Hu Bao Tai Xi Dan is because among the recipes, there’s a…” He deliberately lowered his voice, “…a third-grade life-prolonging pill. It can extend life by a full fifty years.”
Zhong Guanlin’s pupils suddenly contracted.
Zhong Cai, brimming with confidence, continued, “I am now diligently practicing making Buqi Dan. As long as I can provide enough pills, Young Master Shaoqian can freely exert his peak strength at the twelfth level of the Heavenly Induction Realm!”
Thanks for the chapter!
Intriguing
Thank you for your translation 💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛
Gosh darn pity system only enables my gacha addiction
I love alchemy and cultivation novel. This novel is a new style and interesting. Thank you for picking this. 😍😍😍
i was thinking how cards didn’t look like seals but then i remembered, “ah! mahjong cards.” will people think they’re gambling??? lol
“borrow his luck” that’s not what you said on the bed!