"Mother..."
Ye Xuan looked up at his mother’s face. He wanted to say something, but Gongsun Yanran just smiled and gently touched his cheek. Ye Xuan smiled back. All their feelings were conveyed without a single word.
His mother didn’t know, however, that these elixirs couldn’t possibly raise his cultivation to the ninth layer. This was because Ye Xuan’s consumption rate was nine times that of an ordinary person. Over two thousand high-grade Super Spirit Pills were equivalent to less than eight hundred top-grade ones.
Ye Xuan’s current cultivation was at the seventh layer. *(Author’s Note: Chapter 181 has been revised to fix a bug regarding his level. His resources were actually sufficient to raise his cultivation to the seventh layer, but one layer was previously missed.)* To break through to the eighth layer, he needed over 2,400 top-grade Super Spirit Pills! The amount of elixirs his mother had prepared was far from enough for him.
Fortunately, in addition to the elixirs, there were also quite a few stalks of spirit medicine. Among them were ten low-grade spirit-tier Smiling Flowers and three mid-grade spirit-tier Starry Night Grasses. There was even a high-grade spirit-tier Qishan Evergreen Ivy. A spirit medicine of this caliber could directly raise the cultivation of a seventh or even eighth layer Super Spirit Realm cultivator by an entire layer!
But that only applied to ordinary cultivators. Ye Xuan’s consumption was simply too massive. He estimated that a single stalk of evergreen ivy wouldn’t be enough at all. Refining them into elixirs was the most reliable method. Elixirs naturally maximized the energy contained within medicinal ingredients. Furthermore, his yield of finished pills was three to five times that of other pill masters. This was his massive advantage.
The energy contained within the Qishan Evergreen Ivy was ten times that of the Starry Night Grass and a hundred times that of the Smiling Flower. In other words, a single stalk of this spirit medicine was equivalent to two hundred portions of raw materials. What did two hundred portions mean? Theoretically speaking, Ye Xuan could use this single medicinal ingredient to refine three thousand Super Spirit Pills. By that calculation, a single stalk of evergreen ivy could indeed raise his cultivation straight from the seventh layer to the eighth.
"Wow, Mother, so many resources! This is great! That means I don’t even have to work hard. As long as I take elixirs every day, I can quickly reach the ninth layer of the Super Spirit Realm! Haha, the feeling of slacking off is so good!" Ye Ling’Er’s excited voice chimed in.
Ye Xuan shook his head. "You just know how to slack off. Alright, I need to perform alchemy now. I’m still a bit short on Super Spirit Pills."
"Alchemy?" Gongsun Yanran blanked for a moment. She hadn’t known that Ye Xuan was an alchemy master. Besides, weren’t the resources she gave him enough? The elixirs combined with the spirit medicine were definitely enough to push his cultivation to the ninth layer. Yet he was saying it wasn’t enough?
Ye Xuan didn’t explain. He summoned his pill furnace and began refining right there inside the beast vehicle.
When he successfully finished his first batch of Super Spirit Pills, Gongsun Yanran’s eyes widened in disbelief. Xuan’Er really was an alchemy master.
"Super Spirit Pills... He’s actually refining Super Spirit Pills!" Beside them, Liu Ruoxi cried out in shock. The last time, when she had been tied up by Ye Xuan, she only knew he was practicing alchemy, but she couldn’t see exactly what kind of elixirs he was producing. But at this moment, she could see clearly—what rolled out of the pill furnace were Super Spirit Pills!
Moreover, the color and the fullness of the pills were something that even the alchemy masters of the Liu family couldn’t match. She had always assumed he was only refining mortal-tier elixirs, yet he was actually making tier-four elixirs—spirit-tier elixirs. Was this Ye Xuan really a demon?
Ignoring their astonishment, Ye Xuan continued his alchemy. Although the Qishan Evergreen Ivy held the equivalent energy of a hundred Smiling Flowers, that was assuming its energy wouldn’t dissipate after a small piece was plucked off. For a short period, Ye Xuan could use his spiritual qi to seal the energy within, but as time went on, no matter how well he sealed it, there would inevitably be some loss.
Two hundred portions of materials meant his theoretical refinement time would be two hundred hours. Just the refinement process alone would take over eight days. Over these days, energy would certainly be depleted. Furthermore, Ye Xuan didn’t have that many supplementary ingredients on him; he only had a hundred portions left. Fortunately, supplementary ingredients weren’t hard to find. He could easily source them from the Ye family.
Throughout the journey, Ye Xuan focused entirely on alchemy, not taking a single bite of food or a drop of water. Four days later, he had completed a hundred batches, obtaining 1,500 Super Spirit Pills. On average, each batch yielded fifteen finished pills. This staggering quantity left Gongsun Yanran and Liu Ruoxi in a state of prolonged shock!
"Xuan’Er, why are you refining so many Super Spirit Pills?" Gongsun Yanran asked, seeing that he had finally stopped.
Ye Xuan frowned. "Is this a lot? A thousand and five hundred is still far from enough."
At this moment, he finally understood why the ancients said that one should specialize in their profession. Alchemy and cultivation were already incredibly time-consuming. If one were to study arrays or weapon forging on top of that, even with talent, would they have the time? Not unless they were willing to sacrifice rapidly growing stronger.
"What? Not enough? Do you mean it’s not enough for the entire Ye family, or just for you alone?" Gongsun Yanran’s tone turned a bit odd.
"Just me," Ye Xuan answered honestly.
"That’s... impossible!" Gongsun Yanran was utterly astonished.
Ye Xuan didn’t explain. Instead, he lifted the curtain and looked outside. The silhouette of Ye Family Town appeared before his eyes.
Four days later, they had finally arrived at the Ye Family Main Town.
In the distance, he spotted the Dragon Totem fluttering in the wind, overlooking the entire town.
"Ye family, I’m back." A wide smile spread across Ye Xuan’s face. He stepped out of the beast vehicle and stood in the open air. Although the small town’s spiritual qi was indeed inferior to that of a full-fledged city, he felt that the air here was fresh and free. Closing his eyes and spreading his arms, he felt as if he could embrace the entire sky. Under this patch of sky, everything was his to command.
"What... what grade of beast is this? It just glanced at me, and I felt my legs go weak."
"And what kind of tree is that? Why is it so huge?"
"Who are these people? What are they doing in Ye Family Town?"
Exclamations rang out from the surrounding crowd. Ye Xuan’s return caused quite a stir. Whether it was the beast vehicle pulled by a level-five beast, or the hundred Golden Armor Guards, everything instilled a sense of awe and fear in the townsfolk. The disciples guarding the gate were so shocked they couldn’t even speak; the hands gripping their weapons were slick with cold sweat. If these people were here to attack the Ye Family Main Town, they wouldn’t stand a chance.
"It’s the Patriarch!"
Fortunately, someone caught sight of Ye Xuan. In the Ye Family Main Town, Ye Xuan was akin to a god. His legendary tales were known to absolutely everyone in the town. Under everyone’s respectful gazes, Ye Xuan’s entourage entered the town.
"The air here is terrible! Is this even a place for people to live?" Inside the beast vehicle, Liu Ruoxi had a look of sheer disgust on her face.
Ye Ling’Er immediately grew angry. "No matter how terrible it is, this will be your home from now on. Don’t forget, you’re my brother’s fiancée!"
"What? I have to live here from now on?" Liu Ruoxi bit her lip, completely unable to bear the thought.
"What else? If you don’t live here, did you think you were going to live with the Gongsun family?" For some reason, even though Liu Ruoxi was a great beauty, Ye Ling’Er just couldn’t bring herself to like her! Perhaps it was because her brother didn’t like Liu Ruoxi, so she didn’t like her either. Who told this pampered miss to be so arrogant anyway?