Yang Chen snorted at her remark. âYes yes. I know Iâm more prone than most. Every time I see a beauty my eyes shine. I met Jane about eight to nine years ago, back when she was just a kid. One could say I watched her grow up through the years the way older siblings do. So naturally, like all other older siblings, I would wish for her to find the right person when he comes by. So why would I swoop in and take her for myself?
Moving on, itâs time for you to get up now. I have to take you to examine the cauldron, then over to our house for a decent meal, My mum and the others couldnât wait to express their gratitude for you saving my life.â
âChill a little, I need to bid a proper farewell with the nurses. Do you know Ms Janeâs student, Grace? She took good care of me throughout my time here. Why donât you just sit and wait a while,â Xue Zhiqing replied.
Yang Chen ruffled through his hair. âHonestly, couldnât you have done all this before I came?â
âSheesh, why are you so frantic all the time? I didnât see you being all naggy and grumpy when Jane was around. Iâm still a patient you know.â
Yang Chen chuckled. âI wouldnât dare. But isnât it pretty obvious that itâs a problem with your scheduling?â
âOh so itâs okay for you to be spurting nonsense but I canât stay a little longer? Men are pathetic.â Xue Zhiqing grumbled as she got dressed in the clothes sent over by Jane. Women were indeed more detailed and meticulous when it comes to the little details.
Yang Chen awkwardly chuckled out loud. âHehe, obviously Iâm less formal when speaking to my loved ones. Jane is a friend. And itâs not like I was actually nagging you. Câmon Baby Qing, donât get madâŠâ
Xue Zhiqingâs cheeks instantly went red as a tomato as she glared at Yang Chen. âEww...Baby Qing? Arenât you embarrassedâŠ?â
Her emotions slowly took over as Xue Zhiqing quickly turned away from Yang Chen. Her heart was fluttering like butterflies in her belly when he mentioned âloved onesâ. While she found it affectionate, it gave her much anticipation of what lies ahead.
Throughout her rough and unforgiving life, never would she ever expect that one day she would feel such warmth within her.
Under Yang Chenâs constant nagging, Xue Zhiqing bid her farewells with Grace and the other nurses in a relatively little time, and subsequently on her way alongside Yang Chen towards the forgotten nation located deep in the Mediterranean.
As they landed onto a region where the sunshine rallied deep into autumn, Xue Zhiqing quickly found herself mesmerized by the sparkling blue waters, but was instantly dragged into a massive castle by the cliff.
Along the way, Yang Chen intentionally slowed down, taking the time to explain his background and upbringing, as a form of recognition towards her.
Xue Zhiqing nonetheless was hardly astounded by his narration. After all, she herself was a member of the great ancient clans. She, however, was rather dumbfounded by the scale of Yang Chenâs harem.
But the thought that she was one among them ultimately led to her acknowledgment.
On the path leading towards the basement, made in its entirety from carving out the mountain from within, huge slabs of rock boulders impeccably ran adjacent to each other creating a cool and dry environment.
The entire space was the size of half a football field. Excluding the exquisite sculptures placed by the corners of the space, there was a majestic bronze cauldron positioned right in the center.
âYou were talking about this cauldron?â Xue Zhiqing noticed the huge commodity nearly the height of a regular person and was perplexed.
Yang Chen, however, was enthusiastic. âWhat do you think? The qi resonating from the cauldron can be felt remarkably easily. My guess is that this treasured piece would be at least a mid-tier item, possibly more!â
Xue Zhiqing shook her head dismissively. âThis cauldron was nowhere to be seen in the ancient scriptures. Also, this cauldronâs carvings are peculiar, to say the least. It resembled the ancient Taotie, but the Taotie had a goatâs body and these sculptures donât quite resemble that of a goat. But if itâs not a Taotie, then I have no idea what it is.â
âHuh, doesnât matter what the carvings are, give it a touch, is this the divine rare metal that youâve mentioned?â
Xue Zhiqing nodded. Thereafter she brought herself closer, below her mouth promptly cracked open from amazement. âThatâs...ethereal hyacinth gold?â
Even though the entire cauldron was unmistakably covered in rusty green, the woman still managed to notice the bits that were untarnished.
Yang Chen frowned. âHyacinth gold? Howâs that rare? If I remember correctly, Russia exports it on a regular basis. I mean sure itâs expensive, but hardly any special.â
âThatâs where your understanding ends. Itâs called the ethereal hyacinth gold for a reason. Legend has it that when carnivorous beasts from the great ancient periods die, their corpses and bones transmute into these rare metals after tens of thousands of years. Itâs only been a myth for the longest time.
But one thing is for sure. These can be considered among the rarest and most precious metals there is on this planet right now. I have only once stumbled upon a ranked plate made from hyacinth gold once in my entire life. Thatâs how rare it is. Now you have an entire cauldron made of ethereal hyacinth gold right before us. If Hongmeng members of the mythical realm, or the Great Ancient clans find out about this, they would literally go mad.â
Yang Chen burst into laughter.âSo from what youâre saying, pill refining with this cauldron would be a breeze, right?â
âOf course. But I never heard any mention of a cauldron made from ethereal hyacinth gold, but this metal is resistant to Samadhi True Fire.â
Her reply sparked curiosity in his head as he added, âIf this metal could withstand the heat of the Samadhi True Fire, then how was it forged in the first place?â
Xue Zhiqing shook her head. âFirst off, I have never seen anyone forge this. I think that this metal might not actually be completely resistant to heat, but selective in the way it could be forged. Metals like these would not instantly melt at the touch of fire. But through divine awareness, its molecules get broken down, and gradually change its shape.
Rare metals like these require extensive refining and disintegration before forgery can take place. Anyways, are you thinking of destroying this cauldron, otherwise whyâd you care?â
Yang Chen eventually cut to the chase as he enthusiastically gathered the divine herbs and placed them by the cauldron rubbing his hands in glee he requested. âSince youâre here, do you mind arranging the useful remedies accordingly? Weâll leave after the herbs are sorted out and then Iâll come back tomorrow to attempt to wrap my head around the pill refining techniques.â
Xue Zhiqing was slightly nervous as she mumbled, âAre we really eating over at your place today?â
âAre you not interested?â Yang Chen replied, slightly dejected.
Xue Zhiqing bit on her lower lip. âI was wondering if we could postpone it for a few days. Iâm not ready to meet them yet.â
Yang Chen was quick to realize that Xue Zhiqing was still rather new towards genuine relationships and a change in identity. âNever expected you to be a shy person. We can sort it out. All I need to do is have a little talk with everyone at home. Iâll tell them that youâll stop two days from now. Regardless, just know my mom misses you a lot and you canât run away from this.â
Xue Zhiqing let out a sigh of relief. âWell then Iâll deal with the allocation of ingredients, there are more than enough herbs here to make more than two dozen rounds.â
Since the Xue clan was renowned for its pill refining techniques, Xue Zhiqing naturally was well accustomed to low to mid-range pills. As for high levels up to divine tier remedies, according to Xue Zhiqing, without the specific elusive ingredients, the pills can never be made.
After approximately an hour, Yang Chen dialed home. Xue Zhiqing by then already had two dozen herbs arranged accordingly to Spiritual pills, Red dewdrop pills alongside the Bodhi pills in Yang Chenâs possession, as well as mid-level pills such as the Dragon cloud and Eight extremities pills respectively.
Staying true to Xue Zhiqingâs methodology, it is most resource-effective to start with the refinery of the Spiritual pill, which provides them both with an opportunity to practice without consuming too much of their resources.
The spiritual pill, also known as the âEnergy retention pillâ, whose role was to assist Xiantian cultivators with solidifying and utilizing the surrounding qi, while the Red dewdrop pill increases the viscosity of the divine energy.
The mid-tier Dragon cloud pill was far superior as it gathers divine energy while simultaneously heightening the flow of true yuan from within the veins of the cultivators, supplementing Transformed Godâs cultivators with decent assistance.
As for the âEight extremities pillâ, it was by no means used for cultivation. Instead, it expanded all pulses and veins within the body, instantly hyper-charging the cultivatorâs true yuan energy and massively increasing their ability during battle. Naturally, if the userâs cultivation is not up to par, there wasnât enough true yuan to be channeled which meant they would die!
After a point to point explanation by Xue Zhiqing, Yang Chen finally understood that divine pills could be utilized for more than just cultivation which left him with anticipation for what he could create along the way.
Unfortunately, the refined pills were only useful for the cultivations of his women. They did not help him at all
Since he was not in a hurry to return to Zhonghai, Yang Chen kept Xue Zhiqing close by his side for his first attempt in pill refining. He needed her to assist him in order to perfect the technique.