Chapter 217: Chapter 217: That Sounds Familiar

Tier Two Pills were no ordinary matter.

Not only were the required materials numerous and varied, but processing them was also exceptionally troublesome.

Mei Hao had once watched the Sect’s Tier Two Pill Master concoct pills—a batch of Tier Two Lower Grade Peiyuan Pills.

He remembered that the man had spent a full seven days just purifying and processing the various Spiritual Materials. And even after he was finished, he looked weak, as if his Magical Power had been greatly depleted.

As for the final pill creation, that took a whole ten days, and only six pills were successfully formed.

In other words, to concoct a single batch of Peiyuan Pills, the Sect’s Tier Two Alchemist had spent over half a month, and the yield was barely over half.

Yet this Alchemist Yan before him was concocting Tier Two Middle Grade Golden Crane Pills, which were far more difficult to create than Peiyuan Pills.

But he had finished the concoction in just two days, and with a yield of ten pills!

’Don’t tell me they’re all duds...’

As numerous thoughts flashed through his mind, still in shock, Mei Hao subconsciously took the Medicine Bottle and removed the stopper.

Instantly, a rich medicinal fragrance filled his nostrils. He swept his Divine Sense into the Medicine Bottle and immediately saw ten round, plump pills, brimming with Spiritual Qi, lying quietly at the bottom.

Based on their appearance and spiritual aura, even though Mei Hao wasn’t an Alchemist, he could easily tell that these were not only not duds, but were in fact Spirit Pills of exceptional quality.

At this, Mei Hao was utterly in awe of Alchemist Yan’s skill.

Li Ping’s previously casual movements now seemed perfectly natural and divinely skillful in his eyes, a sign of absolute confidence in his own alchemy techniques.

’As expected of a Tier Two Upper Grade Alchemist!’ he thought to himself.

Just then, a placid voice sounded by his ear, "Fellow Daoist Mei, it’s time to pay the remaining fee."

Mei Hao snapped back to his senses and saw Alchemist Yan watching him calmly. He hurriedly took out Spirit Stones from his Storage Bag to pay, his mouth overflowing with compliments.

The status of a Tier Two Upper Grade Alchemist was far beyond that of an ordinary Late-stage Foundation Establishment Cultivator.

After collecting the final payment, Li Ping saw Mei Hao off.

Li Ping stood in the courtyard, a thoughtful look in his eyes.

To be honest, with his current alchemy skills, concocting Tier Two Middle Grade Pills was not difficult at all.

However, finishing the concoction in just two days had also cost him a considerable amount of Magical Power.

The reason he had been willing to expend so much Magical Power was mainly to awe Mei Hao, achieving the best possible advertising effect so that Mei Hao would promote him well upon returning to the Sect.

’Other than earning Spirit Stones, this is completely meaningless. In the future, if anyone else comes asking me to concoct Tier Two Middle Grade Pills, I’ll just refuse them outright.’

Li Ping shook his head slightly and returned to the Alchemy Room to continue concocting Tier Two Upper Grade Pills.

...

While Li Ping was busy with his alchemy,

Mei Hao, holding the newly concocted Golden Crane Pills, went to the Sect Leader’s hall to have an audience with the Sect Leader of the Flying Snow Sect.

"Sect Leader." Walking into the hall, he bowed respectfully.

A pleasant, gentle voice sounded in his ear. "Senior Brother Mei, there’s no need for such formalities."

Mei Hao looked up just in time to see a young woman with unique silver hair and a white robe rise gracefully to her feet.

The woman’s skin was like fine cream, fairer than snow. She had a gentle temperament and an exquisite face, appearing to be no older than seventeen or eighteen. This was none other than the current Sect Leader of the Flying Snow Sect, the Late-stage Foundation Establishment Cultivator, Shi Yutong.

Of course, she had an even more prominent identity—the only daughter of the Sect’s two Core Formation Masters.

After just one glance, Mei Hao didn’t dare to look again. He turned the conversation to the matter of the alchemy, exclaiming, "I personally witnessed Physician Yan concoct the pills. The process was simply incredible, as smooth as flowing water. Two days... it only took two days for Alchemist Yan to successfully concoct a batch of Golden Crane Pills, with a yield of ten pills, every single one of exceptional quality..."

Throughout his account, Mei Hao lavished praise on Li Ping. In his telling, Li Ping’s alchemy skills were simply profound and unfathomable.

Hearing such high praise from Mei Hao, a curious look appeared in Shi Yutong’s eyes. She waited for him to finish before smiling and saying, "Senior Brother Mei, may I see the successfully concocted pills?"

"Oh, forgive me, Sect Leader. I almost forgot." Mei Hao hurriedly took the bottle of Golden Crane Pills from his Storage Bag and used his Magical Power to make it float over to Shi Yutong.

Shi Yutong extended a fair, delicate hand and took the Jade Bottle. With her Magical Power, she uncorked it and examined the pills at the bottom with her Divine Sense.

After a long moment, an amazed expression appeared on her face. "Senior Brother Mei was right. These can indeed be considered pills of exceptional quality."

But what amazed her even more was Li Ping’s alchemy skill.

To produce a batch of top-quality Golden Crane Pills in just two days, and to do it so effortlessly—she guessed that he was likely not a newly-promoted Tier Two Upper Grade Alchemist, but a veteran one.

’His success rate for concocting Tier Two Upper Grade Pills might even be over seventy percent!’

Of course, what she didn’t know was that Li Ping was actually a Tier Three Alchemist.

After finishing his report on the alchemy, Mei Hao took his leave. "Sect Leader, if there is nothing else, I will be on my way."

Hearing that he was about to leave, Shi Yutong quickly stopped him. "Senior Brother Mei, don’t be in such a hurry."

Mei Hao looked up and saw Shi Yutong use her Magical Power to float the bottle of Golden Crane Pills in front of him.

Then, he heard Shi Yutong say with a smile, "You’ve gone to a lot of trouble this time, Senior Brother Mei. Please accept this bottle of Golden Crane Pills as payment for your hard work."

"For me?" Mei Hao was overjoyed, but also a little hesitant.

After all, he had just run an errand. A whole bottle of Golden Crane Pills was far too valuable a reward.

But at Shi Yutong’s insistence, he finally accepted the pills and left, thanking her profusely.

Shi Yutong was left alone in the hall, watching his departing figure thoughtfully.

Her own cultivation had already reached the Late-stage of Foundation Establishment, so the Golden Crane Pills were of no use to her. But for Mei Hao, who was only at the Early-stage of Foundation Establishment, they were incredibly precious.

Therefore, she gifted the entire bottle of Golden Crane Pills to Mei Hao, making him feel immensely grateful to her.

Most importantly, she had ordered a Foundation Establishment Cultivator to run an errand for her. Even if he had agreed due to her power and status, he would certainly have harbored some resentment and wouldn’t have put his heart into the task.

But by gifting Mei Hao the Golden Crane Pills, she transformed the situation. Now, she was seen as generous, magnanimous, and someone who clearly distinguished rewards from punishments.

This way, when she ordered other cultivators in the Sect to do things in the future, she wouldn’t be met with passive resistance.

On the contrary, they would do their utmost to complete the task well in hopes of receiving her rewards.

Give Spirit Stones, enough Spirit Stones—this was her way of managing subordinates.

Shi Yutong thought to herself, ’If there are no problems with this Alchemist Yan’s identity, what benefits can I offer to persuade him to join the Flying Snow Sect?’

...

More than half a year after the last alchemy session, Mei Hao came to his door again.

This time, however, he was not alone. With him was a beautiful Female Cultivator with silver hair and a snow-white robe, who looked to be about sixteen.

As soon as they entered the courtyard, Mei Hao immediately made the introduction to Li Ping. "Alchemist Yan, this is our Sect’s Sect Leader."

"Oh?" Li Ping looked at the Female Cultivator with some surprise.

He hadn’t expected the Sect Leader of the Flying Snow Sect to be a Female Cultivator, let alone a young and beautiful one.

What also surprised him was her hair color.

As far as he knew, silver hair seemed to be a unique trait of the ’Snow People,’ a type of Alien from the Land of the Far North. Yet this young, beautiful Female Cultivator before him also had silver hair.

Shi Yutong gave a small smile and spoke softly, "I am Shi Yutong. It is a pleasure to meet you, Fellow Daoist Li."

"Sect Leader Shi is too kind," Li Ping replied, nodding calmly.

’Fellow Daoist Li?’ Mei Hao was puzzled. He thought the Sect Leader had misspoken.

However, he didn’t correct her. He just said with a smile, "Sect Leader, Alchemist Yan, I still have some matters to attend to, so I won’t disturb your conversation."

He knew the Sect Leader likely had important business to discuss with Alchemist Yan, and it was inconvenient for him to be present.

Shi Yutong smiled and nodded. "Please go on ahead, Senior Brother Mei."

Mei Hao left, leaving only Li Ping and Shi Yutong in the courtyard.

Li Ping invited Shi Yutong to sit down in the courtyard before speaking coolly, "Sect Leader Shi, I wonder what business you have with me?"

This young, beautiful Female Cultivator had called him ’Fellow Daoist Li’ the moment they met. She had clearly investigated him and perhaps even knew he was from the Western Wilderness.

After all, he hadn’t hidden his relationship with Ji Shu Xuan in the slightest.

Anyone with the mind to could discover this with a little investigation. By tracing the connections back through Ji Shu Xuan, it would be easy to uncover his origins and learn that he was a Cultivator from the Western Wilderness.

To show his displeasure at being investigated, he deliberately made his tone sound somewhat distant.

"Is Fellow Daoist Li angry?" As she spoke, Shi Yutong covered her mouth with a laugh, revealing a playful expression that made it hard for anyone to be harsh with her.

Li Ping shook his head stiffly. "Angry? Not really."

"Fellow Daoist Li, you’ve misunderstood. I didn’t investigate you on purpose. I just happened to discover your relationship with that young friend Ji, and only then did I realize you were a Cultivator from the Western Wilderness."

Shi Yutong continued to explain with a smile, "After all, young friend Ji’s master has astonishing combat power and sweeps away all others at his level. I never expected that Fellow Daoist Li also had a connection to them."

Li Ping nodded slightly, his gaze inadvertently sweeping over Shi Yutong’s magnificent silver hair again.

Following his gaze, Shi Yutong knew what he was looking at. She smiled and said, "Fellow Daoist Li, you’re not the first person to be curious about my hair color. There’s no harm in telling you. My silver hair actually comes from my mother, because my mother is of the Snow People clan."

"Oh? Sect Leader Shi’s mother is one of the Snow People?" Li Ping was very surprised.

He knew there were many Aliens in the Land of the Far North, but he never thought that the beautiful Female Cultivator before him was born of a union between the Human Race and the Snow People.

"That’s right." Shi Yutong nodded lightly. "Very few people in the city know about this. Now that I’ve told you today, Fellow Daoist Li, I must ask that you keep it a secret for me."

Li Ping nodded solemnly. "Sect Leader Shi, please rest assured. I am not a gossip."

Hearing this, Shi Yutong couldn’t help but smile. "By the way, I feel like we’re kindred spirits. From now on, is it alright if I call you Brother Li? You don’t have to be so formal and keep calling me ’Sect Leader Shi,’ either. Just call me Yutong. That’s what my friends call me."

Li Ping frowned slightly. He felt that her words sounded very familiar.

Just then, Xiao Yunzhi pushed open the door to the training room and gracefully walked out.

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