Invincible Soul Emperor

Chapter 187: Chapter 187: Top-Grade Breakthrough Pill

Another hour passed. Ye Qingchen once again revised the many areas he felt contained flaws before beginning another attempt.

It seemed as if the heavens were joking with him. After five consecutive attempts at refining, he had failed every single time.

But Ye Qingchen possessed a spirit that refused to admit defeat. Although the consecutive failures were truly disheartening, he promptly summarized his experience after each one, making progress with every attempt.

Fortune favors the persistent. On his sixth attempt, Ye Qingchen finally succeeded in refining a third-grade Breakthrough Pill. However, to his chagrin, while he had successfully refined the pill, its quality was only low-grade.

A low-grade third-grade Breakthrough Pill could still help someone break through to the Martial Master Realm, but its effects were significantly inferior.

Moreover, Ye Qingchen could not accept having refined only a low-grade pill. Looking at the few remaining sets of herbs, he clenched his teeth and decided to continue. Before starting again, however, he took a moment to review his successful attempt, as well as the lapses that had occurred during the process.

The seventh attempt was a success, yielding a mid-grade third-grade Breakthrough Pill!

Feeling a surge of excitement, Ye Qingchen decided to press on, striving to refine a Spirit Pill of even higher quality. To his disappointment, both the eighth and ninth attempts ended in failure.

Reflecting on his painful failures, Ye Qingchen continued to improve his technique and began his final three attempts.

The tenth attempt: high-grade!

The eleventh attempt: high-grade!

The twelfth attempt: top-grade!

Gazing at the top-grade Breakthrough Pill in the Alchemy Furnace, Ye Qingchen felt exhilarated. Two sleepless days of relentless effort had finally paid off. Moreover, it was a top-grade pill, which would make his breakthrough to the Martial Master Realm much easier.

Besides this top-grade Spirit Pill, he also had two high-grade, one mid-grade, and one low-grade, for a total of five third-grade Breakthrough Pills. If he were to auction these off, the Spirit Stones he would receive would be enough for him to splurge for quite a while.

However, Ye Qingchen was not in the mood to think about that now. As the joy of success faded, it was replaced by an overpowering exhaustion that made him feel drowsy. He put away the Breakthrough Pills, extinguished the flames in the Alchemy Furnace, sat cross-legged on the ground, and began circulating his Cultivation Technique to recover.

By the time the door to the Alchemy Room was opened, Ye Qingchen had mostly recovered. To his surprise, however, the one who opened the door was not Qin Yue, but the young maid who had attended to him in the auction house’s private box.

”Young Master, Miss Qin Yue sent me to fetch you.”

The flames in the Alchemy Furnace had been extinguished, but the residual heat still made it difficult for the young maid to approach. She could only stand timidly outside the door as she spoke.

Though full of doubt, Ye Qingchen stood up and walked out. Once they had left the Alchemy Room, he finally asked, ”Where is Miss Qin Yue?”

Panic flashed across the young maid’s face for a moment as she stammered, ”Miss Qin Yue... she’s been delayed by some matters and couldn’t come. However, she asked me to tell you, Young Master, that you can leave now. The miss will find you when she has time.”

The young maid’s expression did not escape Ye Qingchen’s notice. Discreetly, he activated his Dual Pupil Martial Soul to perceive her thoughts. It is rather presumptuous to probe a young girl’s thoughts, but I have to, as this concerns Qin Yue. After all, given her personality, she would have come to meet me herself unless she ran into trouble.

The moment he activated his Martial Soul, the young maid’s thoughts appeared in his mind. The miss was going to come, but she got entangled with that crazy woman Qin Xi at the auction house again. Sigh, the miss is really something. She should have just said the Spirit Stones were a loan to Ye Qingchen. There was no need to make trouble for herself.

So that’s how it is. Ye Qingchen nodded, sighed inwardly, and turned to leave.

Drawing on his memory, he quickly found his way to the auction venue. So the so-called credit limit of ten thousand low-grade Spirit Stones wasn’t real. Qin Yue, oh Qin Yue, you’ve made me owe you another favor.

Ye Qingchen sighed. Qin Yue is in trouble, and it’s my fault. I can’t just stand by and do nothing. With that thought, he pushed open the door of the auction hall.

The auction had ended two days ago, leaving only Qin Yue and Qin Xi inside the venue. The two were in the middle of a fierce argument, their faces flushed red with anger.

Qin Xi shouted at Qin Yue, ”Qin Yue, why are more than three thousand low-grade Spirit Stones missing from the accounts after the auction? Tell me, did you embezzle them for your own benefit?”

Qin Yue was at a loss for words. Ye Qingchen had only possessed 2,600 low-grade Spirit Stones, so she had advanced him the remaining 3,400. On any other day, she was fully authorized to handle such an amount. But Qin Xi was the type to be unreasonable even when she was in the wrong, let alone now that she had found a discrepancy in the accounts. Thus, she had been making a scene ever since.

Qin Yue sighed and said to Qin Xi, ”I did borrow those Spirit Stones, but I’ve already left an IOU with the counter. I’ll repay it in a couple of days.”

Qin Xi sneered relentlessly. ”Repay it? Easy for you to say. I just happened to discover it this time. If I hadn’t, you definitely wouldn’t have admitted it. In fact, I suspect this isn’t the first time you’ve done something like this, is it?”

Qin Yue began to grow angry. She had followed protocol perfectly by borrowing the Spirit Stones and leaving an IOU, yet in Qin Xi’s mouth, it had become embezzlement. She retorted furiously, ”I went to the counter and wrote the IOU the moment the auction ended. The manager can vouch for me. Qin Xi, mind your words! If you keep making baseless accusations, don’t blame me for getting rough!”

Unfazed by Qin Yue’s anger, Qin Xi replied, ”Get rough with me? Did I strike a nerve? Are you angry out of shame? Let me tell you, Qin Yue, unless you replace these Spirit Stones today, I’m reporting this to our superiors. The choice is yours!”

Qin Yue was infuriated, but she truly could not produce that many Spirit Stones on such short notice. Besides, with Qin Xi’s scheming nature, if she dared to make such an accusation, she must have already prepared a thorough plot to frame her. Qin Yue knew she would be in real trouble.

Just as Qin Yue was at her wit’s end, Ye Qingchen walked over.

He looked at Qin Xi with a sneer and declared, ”How many Spirit Stones does she owe? I’ll cover it!”

Qin Yue pulled at Ye Qingchen’s sleeve and whispered, ”Ye Qingchen, it’s fine. You don’t have to worry about me! I can handle this myself.”