My Synthesizer Has Talent

"Pill Master Li, please don’t take offense. Pill Master Su is perhaps on the younger side, so his schedule is quite tight."

"I see. And what elixirs can Pill Master Su refine?" Li Hengyu probed.

"For now, just the Qi Nourishing Pill. His alchemy success rate is around forty percent."

"That makes him a qualified Pill Master, I suppose," Baili Sudan said.

Hearing that Su Qing was not only young but could also only refine Qi Nourishing Pills, Li Hengyu dismissed him from his thoughts. ’This is just some young kid. He has nothing to do with what’s coming next.’

"In that case, Young Master Sudan, is the news from the Ten Thousand Tribulations Sect true?"

"Are they really recruiting Alchemy Masters next month?"

"Of course. It’s absolutely true. The requirements are just rather strict. An official announcement will reach Qianjie City by the end of this month."

HISS...

How could Li Hengyu let this opportunity slip by? He immediately handed a Storage Ring to Baili Sudan.

"I’d be grateful if Young Master Sudan could reveal a bit more. There are five thousand Spirit Stones inside—just a small token of my appreciation."

Baili Sudan accepted it with a smile. "I hear the assessment will involve a new Pill Formula, so..."

"Ah, I understand. The alchemy technique is crucial. How many portions of medicinal herbs will be provided?"

"I’ll practice refining some elixirs I’ve never made before to prepare."

Baili Sudan just smiled and shook his head. "I’ve accepted your Spirit Stones, so I’ll give you one more piece of information: the difficulty is comparable to a Tier Two Elixir."

"I’ve told you everything I know. I wish Pill Master Li success in entering the Ten Thousand Tribulations Sect." With that, Baili Sudan prepared to leave.

"Haha, you’re too kind."

"Take care, Young Master Sudan."

Li Hengyu had actually wanted to offer more Spirit Stones, but after hearing what Baili Sudan said, he figured he had likely been told everything Baili Sudan knew.

In the end, both men left with pleased smiles on their faces.

Only Su Qing remained, silently refining his elixirs.

This time, Su Qing was only clumsy with his technique once, ruining a single batch. After that, he succeeded every time.

He placed 80 elixirs into the Jade Box.

Su Qing took the remaining 156 elixirs with him.

He didn’t choose to sell them this time.

Instead, he was going to use them for synthesis.

[Normal Qi Nourishing Pill: An elixir that assists Qi Cultivation Cultivators in refining their Magical Power. Increases the efficiency of Magical Power refinement by 30%. Lasts for one hour.]

A quick glance confirmed they were all normal Qi Nourishing Pills.

Su Qing began the synthesis.

[Synthesis Successful: Fine-Quality Qi Nourishing Pill (Increases the efficiency of Magical Power refinement by 50%. Lasts for one and a half hours.)]

’Nine pills to synthesize one, and the efficiency only increases by twenty percent.’

’I feel like I’m getting the short end of the stick.’

Though he thought this, his actions didn’t stop.

He figured that now that he had mastered refining Qi Nourishing Pills, he would probably never be short on them.

[Synthesis Successful: Fine-Quality Qi Nourishing Pill...]

[Synthesis Successful: Fine-Quality Qi Nourishing Pill...]

...

Su Qing placed nine Fine-Quality Qi Nourishing Pills into the Synthesizer.

...

[Synthesis Successful: Top Grade Qi Nourishing Pill (Increases the efficiency of Magical Power refinement by 70%. Grants a 10% chance to break through a Small Realm. Lasts for two hours.)]

’This thing is the result of synthesizing eighty-one Qi Nourishing Pills.’

Seeing the description, Su Qing felt it was worthy of the "Top Grade" title.

A ten percent chance to break through a Small Realm.

It might not be useful to Su Qing, but for those cultivators who lacked aptitude and a good Immortal Cultivation Technique, even a ten percent chance would be enough to drive them into a frenzy.

’Too bad I can’t sell it!’

Su Qing knew that with his current strength, selling this elixir would only bring him endless trouble.

The elixir’s value was, at most, one thousand Spirit Stones.

After all, rarity creates value. Su Qing estimated that for an elixir in the Qi Cultivation Realm, raising a Qi Nourishing Pill to this level was likely the limit.

Unless, of course, he was the only one who could produce it.

’I’ll have to test it later.’

Su Qing put the Qi Nourishing Pill away, extremely satisfied.

Unfortunately, the twenty percent chance to trigger his Evolution Talent didn’t activate.

Otherwise, this Qi Nourishing Pill would have probably become something truly heaven-defying.

---

Life seemed to settle into a peaceful routine.

Su Qing spent the next few days leisurely occupied with Alchemy and Cultivation.

By now, he didn’t have many Spirit Stones left.

...

...

As Su Qing’s Magical Power was once again refined and improved, tides of Spiritual Qi appeared and surged toward him.

’Qi Refining Fifth Level.’

Su Qing was very pleased. The quality of his Magical Power now was far superior to what it had been at the First-Layer Qi Cultivation.

After another hour of stabilizing his Cultivation, Su Qing finally got up and left the Cultivation Room with its Spirit Gathering Array.

After paying fifty Spirit Stones, Su Qing went to Baili Sudan’s Alchemy Room again.

"Pill Master Su, Young Master Sudan requests your presence," a servant said respectfully, having approached Su Qing.

"Alright, lead the way."

Su Qing was also curious as to why Baili Sudan was looking for him.

...

When the two met, they both smiled.

"Brother Sudan, long time no see."

"Pill Master Su, it has been a while. You’ve been cultivating so diligently these past few days that you’ve been hard to find."

Su Qing asked, "Did you need something, Brother Sudan?"

"The Ten Thousand Tribulations Sect has issued a new proclamation."

"It concerns you Alchemy Masters."

This piqued Su Qing’s interest. He sat down and asked curiously, "Can you tell me the details?"

"Of course. I always make sure to pass on any news concerning you Alchemy Masters."

"It’s just that the Ten Thousand Tribulations Sect is recruiting Alchemy Masters again."

"This is a rare opportunity, one that only comes once a decade."

Hearing this, Su Qing grew even more interested. "How exactly are they recruiting Alchemy Masters? What are the requirements?"

"Please, tell me everything, Brother Sudan."

"Well... it seems to be an elixir refining competition. It’s a Tier One Elixir, but using a Pill Formula no one has heard of. So, if you’re interested, you should sign up."

"Would you like me to register for you?"

Upon hearing this, Su Qing nodded eagerly. "Then I’ll have to trouble you, Brother Sudan."

"Haha, don’t mention it. It’s my pleasure. I only hope that after you make it big, you don’t forget a small fry like me."

"How could I? Brother Sudan is hardly a small fry..."

They chatted pleasantly for a while.

Then, Su Qing left for the Alchemy Room to refine elixirs.

By now, Su Qing had an almost one hundred percent success rate with Qi Nourishing Pills.

He also knew why: his Silk Binding Hand technique had reached the Perfection realm.

His control over the flame’s temperature had practically reached the pinnacle of the Silk Binding Hand. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

And because Su Qing had refined so many, his experience grew, and practice made perfect.

[Alchemy: Tier One (131/10,000)]

That was how many successful refinements he had performed over the past few days.

Of course, that included today’s work.

’I’ve more or less mastered the Qi Nourishing Pill. I still can’t make the fine-quality ones from scratch, but the normal ones are enough for now.’

’What elixir should I refine next...’

Su Qing considered the mainstream elixirs available here in Qianjie City.

The Nourishing Yuan Pill?

That seemed like a good option, and the cost of trial and error was relatively low.

At the Treasure Tower, Nourishing Yuan Pills sold for five Spirit Stones a bottle.

With two pills per bottle.

They were quite precious.

That was almost two and a half Spirit Stones per pill.

And that was likely a cheap price, possible only due to the Treasure Tower’s cost control.

Su Qing would have to try refining it himself to know for sure.

Su Qing didn’t know if he could pass the Ten Thousand Tribulations Sect’s recruitment, since it involved a new Pill Formula.

He also didn’t know if there would be any chance for trial and error.

So, Su Qing figured he might as well practice his Alchemy more.

...

He bought ten sets of ingredients for the Nourishing Yuan Pill.

It cost Su Qing a full fifty Spirit Stones.

Each set of ingredients cost five Spirit Stones.

The same price as a bottle of the finished Nourishing Yuan Pills.

However, one set of ingredients could yield three or more Nourishing Yuan Pills if refined successfully.

It was said that a single set of ingredients could produce a maximum of ten Nourishing Yuan Pills.

---