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Chapter 20: Chapter 20: The Zhu Family’s Problem Child

The Alchemy Room was quiet.

Zhao Ci was completely focused, quietly watching Tributor Zhang perform alchemy. This was the first time he had watched someone refine pills from such a close distance, so it was impossible not to be curious.

Tributor Zhang selected a few supplementary herbs from the medicine cabinet and placed them into the Pill Furnace. He slowly burned away the impurities, leaving only a few strands of flowing light suspended inside. These particular herbs couldn’t be extracted with alcohol, but fortunately, the required amount was far less than that of the Qi Nourishing Grass, so it didn’t take much time.

Next, he used his True Qi to draw out the medicinal liquid from the jade bottle.

The moment the liquid was touched by the flames, it sizzled and rapidly evaporated, leaving behind only pure medicinal essence.

Seeing this, Tributor Zhang’s face was filled with an unconcealable, wild joy.

He quickly held his breath and focused his mind, concentrating all his attention on the medicine.

The flames fueled by True Qi fluctuated in size, causing the temperature in the Alchemy Room to rise and fall. With each temperature change, a wisp of flowing light would separate from the medicinal mass inside the furnace. Once fully separated, they were drawn together and fused by his True Qi.

’Alchemy is a truly technical skill!’

Zhao Ci sighed inwardly. Although he didn’t know how to perform alchemy himself, he had crammed a lot of theoretical knowledge in the past few days. The process involved separating the different medicinal components and then recombining them in the most perfect ratio and manner to achieve the strongest medicinal effect.

’The specific principles are complex, but I can draw an analogy from my experience as a research grunt. It’s like a certain brain medication that has poor lipid solubility, making it difficult to pass through the blood-brain barrier. This issue can often be solved by adding lipophilic groups to the drug molecules.’

’Of course, this explanation isn’t entirely accurate.’

’The pills of this world belong to a completely different system. But the underlying principle—getting the medicinal components to work in the most suitable place—is the same.’

The degree of success depended on the quality of the ingredients and the Alchemist’s skill.

「After a long time.」

Under Tributor Zhang’s guidance, the multiple strands of medicinal energy fused back into one.

The next moment, the furnace window shut, and the open-mouthed crucible was instantly sealed.

Tributor Zhang’s True Qi erupted as if it were free. The furnace fire flared several times stronger, making the entire Alchemy Room feel like a sea of flames that seared Zhao Ci’s skin.

The Pill Furnace itself was burned red-hot.

Finally,

BOOM!

The lid of the furnace automatically popped open.

Wisps of a refreshing medicinal fragrance wafted out.

”The pills are ready!”

Tributor Zhang was overjoyed. He immediately took out a gourd and used his True Qi to draw the contents from the furnace.

RATTLE RATTLE RATTLE RATTLE...

One after another, the pills fell into the gourd.

Zhao Ci walked over. ”How did it go?”

Tributor Zhang’s face was practically twisted into a grin. ”Congratulations, Your Highness! It’s a great success! This batch produced a total of twenty-seven pills!”

”Twenty-seven?”

Zhao Ci was puzzled. ”Is that a lot or a little?”

Li Fugui was also incredibly delighted. ”Your Highness! Of course it’s a lot! An ordinary Alchemist would be lucky to produce twelve Qi Cultivation Pills from a single batch.”

Oh!

’That is quite a lot.’

Zhao Ci felt gratified.

Tributor Zhang’s face was glowing. ”It’s all thanks to Your Highness’s miraculous medicinal liquid! It had already extracted the properties of the Qi Nourishing Grass. Otherwise, if I had to perform the Quenching Medicine process in the furnace, I wouldn’t have dared to process so much. The slightest mistake would risk the furnace exploding. Your Highness’s technique is truly divine...”

”Enough with the flattery! Quick, give me one!”

Zhao Ci snatched the gourd, poured out a pill, and tossed it into his mouth.

The pill dissolved the moment it entered his mouth, turning into a warm current that flowed down his throat. He instantly felt his entire body become energized, as if every cell had entered a state of bliss, drawing out threads of True Qi that seeped into his meridians and poured into his Dantian.

But...

Zhao Ci’s expression soured. ”Tributor Zhang, the quality of these Qi Cultivation Pills... doesn’t seem very high.”

He had taken Qi Cultivation Pills before.

The one he had just swallowed was clearly a grade lower.

The smile on Tributor Zhang’s face froze. He quickly cupped his hands. ”Your Highness! These are indeed only Middle-Grade Qi Cultivation Pills, but this is the limit of my ability. However, you need not worry, Your Highness. Our strength lies in high yield. We will definitely be able to secure a place at the Gongdan Conference.”

Zhao Ci sighed lightly. ”I’m not blaming you. It’s just that your thinking is far too idealistic.”

Tributor Zhang was taken aback.

Li Fugui couldn’t help but ask, ”Your Highness, what is your view on this?”

”I have two questions for you.”

”Please, Your Highness.”

”First, do you think the medicinal liquid in my bottle is easy to come by?”

”Well...”

The two of them hesitated. ’That’s right! If this liquid were really so easy to obtain, the price of Qi Cultivation Pills would have plummeted long ago.’

Zhao Ci continued, ”Tributor Zhang is already one of our stronger Alchemists, yet he can only just barely refine Middle-Grade Qi Cultivation Pills. What about the others? If your goal is simply to not get kicked out of the Gongdan Conference, how is that any different from having no ambition at all?”

The two of them looked at each other, speechless.

This was indeed a major problem.

It was true that the medicinal liquid could increase the yield, saving a great deal of energy for the later steps, and it did offer some improvement to the quality of the finished pills.

But given the average skill level of their Alchemists, the vast majority would find it difficult to break past the middle-grade barrier.

If they only increased the yield, they could indeed secure a decent number of orders. But that would only give them a foothold. In front of the three great families—the Feng, Zhu, and Yang—they would still be as insignificant as lackeys.

Unless the baseline quality could reach middle-grade, with some even reaching high-grade.

For a moment, both men looked ashamed.

Zhao Ci asked, ”Is there a way to improve the quality?”

Tributor Zhang quickly replied, ”If we could get our hands on the Zhuge Family’s pill furnaces, that should provide a significant boost!”

Zhao Ci asked again, ”Can we compete with the Feng, Zhu, and Yang families then?”

Tributor Zhang wore a pained expression. ”Your Highness! Aren’t you making things difficult for us? They are established Alchemy Families. How could we possibly compare? You saw my alchemy just now. My control over the fire is quite proficient; I believe I’m no worse than the Alchemists of the three great families.”

”But my innate talent is lacking, which means I can’t raise the temperature of the Pill Fire high enough before the pills are formed. That’s why I’ll never be able to surpass those top-tier Alchemists.”

”Not even if we get the Zhuge Family’s Pill Furnaces?”

”If we do, it should close the gap somewhat.”

”Alright.”

Zhao Ci was a little disappointed. He knew this point as well: during the final stage of sealing the furnace and condensing the pills, the higher the flame’s temperature, the more the medicinal properties could be drawn out.

But the temperature of the flame was not something that could be determined by hard work alone.

Li Fugui played the peacemaker. ”But this is already very good. As for the pill furnaces in a few days, we will certainly do our best to acquire them. We just hope that Your Highness’s medicinal liquid...”

Zhao Ci nodded. ”Don’t worry! I will definitely do my best to support you with a little.”

”Huh?”

”Huh?”

The two of them froze in unison.

’Just support us with a little?’

But Zhao Ci wore a worried expression, seemingly oblivious to their reactions. ”Let’s call it a day. I have some matters to attend to at home.”

With that, he turned and left the Alchemy Room.

The two men hurriedly followed him out, asking all sorts of questions about the pills, but Zhao Ci, frowning and lost in his own world, didn’t seem to hear a word.

BAM!

As he was exiting the Pill Workshop, a figure collided with him head-on.

Zhao Ci staggered back several steps, nearly falling to the ground.

’What incredible force.’

”Who was that! Don’t you have... eh?”

Zhao Ci paused, surprised to see it was an acquaintance.

”Zhao Ci?”

Zhu Li was also a bit surprised. ”What are you doing here? It’s been a while!”

Her attitude was quite friendly. At first, she had been a little worried, feeling that his actions might have been a stalling tactic to actually scheme for Kan Luotang’s affection.

But to her surprise, that very afternoon, the Emperor had summoned Kan Tianji to the palace to discuss the wedding date and successfully postponed it for three years.

In the seven days that followed, it was as if Zhao Ci had vanished, showing no signs of pestering anyone.

’He’s actually a pretty decent guy.’

’A good person!’

”Oh! I was discussing some business.”

”Business... Well, I wish you great fortune! You’re a good person, so you’ll definitely get rich!”

Zhu Li offered her sincere and simple blessing, then tossed a money pouch to Li Fugui. ”Shopkeeper Li, quickly prepare an Alchemy Room for me!”

Li Fugui looked troubled and turned to Tributor Zhang. ”Tributor Zhang, I’ll leave this to you!”

He watched as Tributor Zhang led Zhu Li away.

Zhao Ci was a little curious. ”Why would someone from the Zhu Family come here to rent one of our Alchemy Rooms?”

Li Fugui scratched his head. ”Your Highness may not know, but although this Zhu Li is the daughter of the Zhu Clan’s Patriarch, she is not on good terms with her family...”

After hearing his explanation, Zhao Ci finally understood.

Although Zhu Li’s father was the Patriarch of the Zhu Clan, she was his only daughter, and her talent for alchemy was exceptionally poor.

The second master of the Zhu Family, who served as the Steward in Lingge, had long been scheming to seize the position of Patriarch and was even showing signs of success. How could Zhu Li’s life in Lingge be easy?

Apparently, she desperately wanted to become a qualified Alchemist, but she was born with difficulty controlling fire and frequently caused furnaces to explode.

Over time, she couldn’t hold her head high in the Zhu Family and was endlessly ridiculed at home.

And according to Great Yu Laws, one must have the proper qualifications to purchase a Pill Furnace.

Therefore, she could only turn to small Pill Workshops like the Li Clan’s.

She blew up three or four Pill Furnaces almost every month. Li’s Pill Workshop’s profits were entirely supported by her.

’A problem child, indeed.’

Zhao Ci smiled and hopped directly onto his carriage.

”Your Highness, Your Highness!”

Li Fugui still wanted to ask about the medicinal liquid, but Zhao Ci’s carriage was already rumbling away.

Just then, Tributor Zhang returned after having arranged an Alchemy Room for Zhu Li.

Li Fugui said in a low voice, ”You watch over the Pill Workshop today. I’m going to have my daughter request an audience with Her Ladyship!”