Chapter 161: Chapter 149: Third Encounter with Longevity, Tier Two Alchemist (Part 2)

Deng Changsheng was now quite familiar with Lin Changheng. After the woman left and the door was closed, he immediately started wiggling his eyebrows suggestively at Lin Changheng.

"She was just a Fairy seeking a pill. Watch what you think and say."

Lin Changheng shot the Loose Cultivator an irritable look.

"Hehe, so that’s how it is. I was overthinking it."

Deng Changsheng scratched his head.

"Did you get the Essence Blood from that friend of yours?"

Lin Changheng gestured for him to sit down.

"Got it, got it. That fellow nearly got exposed last time, so he had to stop for a while."

As he spoke, Deng Changsheng once again took out eight vials of dark golden Essence Blood.

"What would have been the consequences if he was discovered?"

Looking at the Essence Blood, which was bringing him closer to collecting a hundred portions, Lin Changheng felt a little curious.

"Probably a reprimand from his superiors and then a transfer from his post."

Deng Changsheng said after a moment of thought.

"That light?"

Lin Changheng was taken aback. He had thought it would be a corporal punishment at the very least, or even expulsion from the temple.

As his relationship with Deng Changsheng had grown, Deng Changsheng had revealed a little more: his friend was a disciple from a major power, at the Ninth Layer Qi Cultivation.

Not the Purple Extreme Sect, but the Cyan Mist Temple to the south.

Deng Changsheng fell silent. After some thought, he gritted his teeth and revealed a few details. "That scoundrel has a decent standing in the Cyan Mist Temple, mainly because he has a Fake Core elder backing him. That’s why he dares to act so recklessly."

"A Fake Core elder?"

Lin Changheng’s pupils contracted, and a look of shock appeared on his face.

’A Fake Core! That’s still Core Formation! A Tier Three cultivator!’

It was just that the quality of the Core Formation was poor, an Inferior Pill, so his strength couldn’t compare to True Core or Golden Core Cultivators, and his lifespan was also slightly shorter. But bullying some Late Stage Foundation Establishment juniors was still a piece of cake for him.

The Cyan Mist Temple was a power on the same level as the Purple Extreme Sect. The highest cultivation level within the sect was Core Formation, and a Fake Core was still a foundational force that couldn’t be ignored.

"That’s right." Deng Changsheng nodded seriously.

"Logically, someone like him shouldn’t be short on resources, right? His Fake Core elder wouldn’t treat him poorly, would he?" Lin Changheng hit the nail on the head.

"It’s because he has some... peculiar tastes. He’s rather infatuated with the Sound Master Fairies of the Immortal Sound Pavilion. Ahem, once he gets hooked, he truly spends money like water."

Deng Changsheng said cryptically, a strange expression on his face.

"Huh?" This was an eye-opener for Lin Changheng. "At the Immortal Sound Pavilion, don’t the Sound Masters help you break through mental barriers, dust off your psyche, and return to clarity? How can someone get ’hooked’?"

Deng Changsheng’s mouth twitched. "That is true. The Music and Rhythm Dao does have that effect; it can cleanse the soul. However, for someone like my friend—with his impressive cultivation, youth, and wealth—many of the Sound Master Fairies will also willingly open their hearts to him... and offer more."

"I see..."

Lin Changheng nodded thoughtfully.

At this, Deng Changsheng looked at Lin Changheng. "Alchemist Lin, you absolutely must not spread this around."

"What kind of relationship do we have? You can rest a hundred percent assured, I definitely won’t get you into any trouble."

Lin Changheng clapped Deng Changsheng on the shoulder, indicating that his lips were sealed.

’But I remember now,’ Lin Changheng thought, ’Deng Changsheng was originally introduced to me by Sound Master Cui Jianshui from next door, and she happens to work at the Immortal Sound Pavilion.’

’It all connects.’

As for how Deng Changsheng and that friend met, he had little interest and felt it wasn’t his place to ask.

After discussing the matter, Lin Changheng put away the Essence Blood, paid the Spirit Stones, and took out the Elixir that Deng Changsheng had asked him to refine last time. Handing it over, he asked again, "I wonder how that matter I asked Mr. Deng to handle is going?"

Deng Changsheng immediately puffed out his chest with a "you-can-count-on-me" expression. "The news has already been spread among the Loose Cultivator community and at several high-traffic Spirit Wine Towers in the Inner City. I believe many people now know that Alchemist Lin has been promoted to a Tier Two Alchemist!"

After speaking, the fervor and admiration in his eyes for Lin Changheng grew even stronger.

This was the very reason he had revealed so many details and secrets just now.

Before this, he had been completely tight-lipped.

A Tier Two Alchemist!

That’s right. In the past year, with the blessing of the Enhanced Enlightenment Heavenly Gift·Cave Source (Fifth Layer) and his solid foundation in the Alchemy Dao, Lin Changheng had spent about half a year basically mastering the deep principles, new approaches, and procedural paths of Tier Two Lower Grade Alchemy.

While the Alchemy Dao was incredibly complex, it could be simplified into two parts: theory and practice.

He had more or less grasped the theory, but there were still problems that couldn’t be solved by "thinking" alone.

Lin Changheng took his questions directly into practice. He fired up his cauldron and began refining, attempting to find a focal point in the practical application to solve them.

After about three furnace explosions, Lin Changheng had solved eighty percent of the remaining problems and managed to produce a Success Pill.

But the quality was still lacking, not good enough.

After another long period of intense study, Lin Changheng even refused Pill Seekers who came to his door. He only kept up the essential tasks of Cultivation and refining his Magical Power, even pausing the daily hastening of the Earth Vein Yellow Ginseng’s growth.

He was fully focused on breaking through in the Alchemy Dao.

Three months later, through constant trial and error, continuous insight, relentless research, and unceasing improvement, Lin Changheng finally met his own basic requirement—

He could refine five portions of Medicinal Materials at once, almost always resulting in Genuine Success Pills, with only an occasional Secondary Pill appearing.

In Tier Two Alchemy, the concept of a Secondary Pill existed and was acceptable.

On one hand, Tier Two Medicinal Materials were more precious, and Tier Two Alchemy was more complex and difficult, so you couldn’t just dismiss them all as Inferior Pills and waste them.

On the other hand, Foundation Establishment Cultivators had a stronger resistance to Pill Poison than those in the Qi Cultivation Stage. The Secondary Pill category was created based on this acceptable limit.

Below the Secondary Pill were still the Inferior Pill and the Wasted Pill.

This also meant that Lin Changheng had transformed, becoming a Tier Two Alchemist!

He could now refine the Elixirs needed by Foundation Establishment Cultivators.

Next, he began to ponder the matter of "making a name for himself."

In the Cultivation Realm, even the finest wine can be overlooked if it’s hidden in a deep alley; advertising was crucial.

Lin Changheng had to establish his reputation to attract Pill Seekers for Tier Two Elixirs, all to plan for that extremely low probability of an Independent Practitioner Foundation Establishment!

Fortunately, he had appeared in Floating Immortal City as a Tier One Upper Grade alchemist from the start.

Others didn’t know how long he had been accumulating his skills, so they wouldn’t be overly suspicious or speculative.

If Lin Changheng had broken through to Upper Grade Alchemist within the Immortal City, then given his cautious nature, he would never have so easily "broken through again" and revealed his Tier Two Skills.

And the most convenient person to handle this matter was, naturally, Deng Changsheng.

A Loose Cultivator, long established in the Immortal City, who also needed favors from him.

These three points combined made him the natural choice for the task.

...

"Excellent. Thank you for your hard work, Mr. Deng."

Lin Changheng nodded in satisfaction.

Deng Changsheng was very reliable, which was one of the reasons he was willing to give him a discount before and deepen their relationship.

"Not at all, not at all."

Deng Changsheng knew full well that the man before him was extraordinary. Just in terms of the Alchemy Dao, befriending him and helping him had a hundred benefits and no drawbacks.

"I’ll have to trouble Mr. Deng with the subsequent batches of Essence Blood."

As Lin Changheng walked him to the door, he didn’t forget to add this reminder.

"Of course, of course. Alchemist Lin, no need to see me out."

After seeing Deng Changsheng off, Lin Changheng looked at the sky. It was noon, so he headed directly for Qingxi Villa, where the Yan grandfather and granddaughter lived.

He planned to go mooch a meal.

Occasionally mooching a meal was an easy way to deepen friendship and trust without putting obvious pressure on the other party.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK!

"Brother Lin."

Yan Mingyi was the one who opened the door. When she heard Lin Changheng’s intention to mooch a meal, her face lit up with a smile as she led him inside.

She was now twenty years old, in the prime of her youth. Her figure and features had fully blossomed, revealing bright eyes, pearly teeth, and a graceful, slender figure.

Upon entering the courtyard, Yan Mingyi called out sweetly towards the house, "Grandpa, Brother Lin is here!"

"Alchemist Lin is here? Please, have a seat."

An old man’s laughter immediately came from inside the house. As Lin Changheng listened, however, he keenly noticed that Puppet Master Yan’s condition was even worse than it had been four years ago.

He couldn’t help but frown.

’It must be due to a severe old injury or a hidden wound,’ he thought. ’Simple aging couldn’t cause such a rapid deterioration.’

In over four years, he’d had quite a few dealings with this Puppet Master Yan. He was a good man, and seeing him like this, he couldn’t help but feel a pang of regret.

Just then, Yan Mingyi brought out some snacks and set them on the stone table. Her twinkling eyes looked at Lin Changheng as she asked curiously, "The rumors outside are all saying that Brother Lin has been promoted to a Tier Two Alchemist?"

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