In a secret cave located deep inside the back-mountain, a mixed scent of burnt grass and medicine permeated the air.
At the center of the cave, there was a brass furnace with three legs and two nozzles placed above a stone platform.
Xiao Lin sat infront of the furnace with his hands stretched and eyes focused.
For the past few days, he has gathered multiple sets of ingredients for refining the lowest 1st grade pill recorded in his inheritance.
But alchemy proved to be much more complicated than he imagined. Even with his top-level comprehension, he couldn't refine a pill in one try.
On the contrary, he has already used four sets of ingredients in vain.
He understood the essence of extraction, merging and refinement but still failed to put them into practice.
Despite this, he didn't admit defeat. He has been sitting inside the cave for the past twelve hours with strong determination.
Everytime his douqi is exhausted, he cultivates right here before starting again.
This cycle of emptying and re-filling douqi not only helped his progress in alchemy but also his cultivation speed increased a lot.
Suddenly, a rich medicinal fragrance spread across the interior of the cave.
Xiao Lin became excited but he didn't lose focus.
He knew that the last stage is the most important in pill refinement.
As time passed, small pills, the size of an eyeball condensed inside the furnace while the fragrance became stronger and stronger.
Soon, the process was complete and Xiao Lin went to check.
It was a success!!
According to the alchemical knowledge in his memory, one must keep multiple aspects in mind when refining a pill.
The temperature of the fire, the control over soul power and the medicinal characteristics of the herbs— all play a major role in successful pill formation.
Xiao Lin with his comprehension already understood this but his experience and muscle-memory were lacking. That is why even with all the insights, it took him 27 tries before success.
A small, round, green pill was put inside a jade bottle that Xiao Lin had prepared earlier.
This is the Qi healing pill. It's function is simple — to heal injuries. But the extent of healing is only limited to scratches or small internal bleeding.
Even common cold or acute illnesses can be relieved but for slightly advanced cultivators, this is useless.
Still, it was Xiao Lin's first time refining his own pill so he was a bit excited.
Soon, he started practicing again.
Let's strike when the iron is hot!
Today he will completely master this pill.
Hours passed and soon it was night.
Xiao Lin looked at the results lying inside the bottle and smiled in satisfaction.
He can now be said to be a 1st rank alchemist. Although he can only make low grade pills for now, but he did it in one day!
For any alchemy apprentice, it takes months to become a 1st rank alchemist and they even have to start from making unranked pastes/liquids but thanks to the inheritance insights, Xiao Lin could skip this stage directly.
After exiting the cave, Xiao Lin leisurely walked towards his residence.
It was a new moon night so it was extremely dark, even the stars were hidden by the clouds in the sky.
But Xiao Lin was familiar with the area so it wasn't a big problem.
Suddenly he stopped. A feeling of someone watching from the shadows came over him.
Without getting flustered, Xiao Lin expanded his soul power.
Being a transmigrator, his soul power is naturally stronger than his peers. Unless it was someone much more powerful than him, he can definitely sense his/her presence.
But when he probed a little, he found the other party wasn't even a Dou Zhe.
His mind relaxed and he kept moving forward.
Xiao Ning who was following him, thought that he was exposed for a moment but looking at Xiao Lin walking again, he was relieved.
He has always secretly admired Xun'er but his talent wasn't good enough. Still, he was the grandson of the first elder so he always believed he has a chance.
"If it was Xiao Yan, I would back down willingly, but you, a nobody wants to snatch Sister Xun'er from me. Dream on."
Looking at Xiao Lin's disappearing back, he spat darkly before keeping up with the trail.
The forest was dark and there was only a single way back.
Xiao Ning wasn't afraid that he would lose Xiao Lin.
Today he was determined to teach him a lesson, to let him know his place.
Shortly after, coming to a dense area inside the forest, Xiao Ning was stunned.
There are tall trees everywhere.
But.
Where are the people?!
There is only a narrow trail coming out of this forest and now it is empty.
Did Xiao Lin run away?!
Xiao Ning couldn't help but scratch his head in confusion.
Suddenly, a blow landed on the back of his neck.
The force was so strong that he immediately felt darkness and collapsed to the ground, completely unconscious.
"Hmph...want to sneak up on me. You are still too young."
Xiao Lin sneered, appearing behind Xiao Ning like a ghost.
He looked around.
Suddenly, an idea struck him.
He did it all and looked at his masterpiece in satisfaction before walking away whistling a happy tune.
Next Morning...
Xiao Lin was exhausted yesterday so he spent the entire morning in bed.
At noon, when he left for the canteen to eat his lunch, he came across a rumour.
Almost everyone along the way was talking about it in hushed tone. Some were shocked while others snickered.
This morning, Xiao Ning, the grandson of the first elder and also a core disciple was seen hanging from a tree in the back-mountain.
The most shocking part is that all his clothes were taken off and carefully arranged over a rock a dozen meters away.
It is said, he was knocked unconscious by some mysterious person last night. After coming to his senses, he was so ashamed that he didn't even scream for help.
Fortunately some people who were passing by noticed him and informed the clan about it.
The first elder almost flew in a rage and launched a search for the perpetrator.
But Xiao Ning was so shocked that he didn't utter a single word the whole time.
Xiao Lin who heard all this, just smiled slightly.
The perpetrator the first elder is after, is naturally him but he didn't feel guilty.
Xiao Ning is a well-known bully and he is aware of his affection towards Xun'er.
He also knew about his intention yesterday which is why, he will never be lenient towards Xiao Ning.
He even felt the punishment was not enough!