Chapter 12: A Good Place for Sightseeing and Recreation

The next day, on the carriage going to the elixir workshop, Lu Bei sat upright while Zhu Yan leaned over familiarly.

Yesterday, after roll call, she had made plans to go shopping with several noble ladies who also idled their time away in the Great Victory Pass. Lu Bei had taken the carriage home alone, which made Zhu Yan feel that as his senior sister, she hadn't given him enough attention. If Bai Jin asked about it, she wouldn't have a good excuse, so she quickly decided to make up for it.

"Xiaobei, did you have fun in the elixir workshop yesterday?"

"Fun?!"

Lu Bei leaned slightly backward, increasing the distance between them. As always, he maintained a straight earnestness.

"I meant studying alchemy, did you enjoy it?"

"It was extremely beneficial."

Lu Bei nodded seriously, then said, "Sister Zhu, it's better if you call me 'junior brother.' Xiaobei... sounds strange."

"What's so strange about it? The formalities between 'senior sister and junior brother' feel so distant. We should be closer…"

"By the way, Sister Zhu, has there been any news from Sister Bai?"

Seeing that Zhu Yan was preparing to tease him for her amusement, Lu Bei successfully shifted the focus. Zhu Yan immediately perked up and began to gossip about the happenings at the Lingxiao Sword Sect.

"There won't be any news from your Sister Bai for a while, these things can't be rushed. Listen, you must never let this slip, the Sect Leader is extremely narrow-minded... Blah blah blah... Blibber blabber..."

The carriage arrived at its destination while Zhu Yan was still prattling on. Lu Bei quickly got out, and headed towards his private alchemy room.

"This kid, he's a decent person, but too polite."

Zhu Yan was slightly dissatisfied. Lu Bei showed much more warmth towards Bai Jin, even though Zhu Yan was also his senior sister.

"Could it be…" Zhu Yan's eyes lit up with the fire of gossip. She knew her thoughts were highly improper, but once the idea formed, it was impossible to suppress.

"Indeed, our little junior brother has been greatly sought-after everywhere."

...

In the alchemy room, as soon as Lu Bei entered the room, he spotted Lin Bohai. After courteously greeting him, he collected the ingredients and began to refine the elixirs without stopping.

Lin Bohai stood by the side with a strange expression, not disturbing Lu Bei but also not leaving.

After roll call yesterday, when he was counting the number of completed elixirs, he was shocked to find the Spirit Awakening Elixirs made by Lu Bei. Although none of them were of exceptional quality, the quantity was substantial. Considering the material consumption rate, Lu Bei had nearly reached the pass rate of the elixir workshop.

This was very odd!

He remembered Lu Bei saying he had never refined or seen anyone refine elixirs before.

Therefore, he came over today to personally investigate. If he found out that Lu Bei had been lying to him, he wouldn't hesitate to turn against him and deny the promises made when he agreed to refine a batch of elixirs while standing upside down.

Lu Bei continued refining happily, completely oblivious to Lin Bohai's presence. Lin Bohai silently watched him finish an entire batch of Spirit Awakening Elixirs and left without a word.

Being an old-timer at the elixir workshop, Lin Bohai was far from becoming wise despite his age, though he was plenty experienced. This experience gave him more room for speculation, and thus caused misunderstandings.

Firstly, he was certain that this was not Lu Bei's first time dealing with alchemy. All his claims of never having refined or seen anyone refine elixirs before were nonsense, a deception designed to fool someone of his age, over fifty years old.

Secondly, people like Lu Bei had appeared before. They were planted by higher-ups for inspection, hiding their true identity to facilitate matters.

Trouble!

Sweat poured down Lin Bohai's forehead. Two months ago, the supplier of medicinal ingredients for the elixir workshop in the Great Victory Pass had been replaced. Having many years of experience, he could tell at first glance that the quality of these raw materials was not as good as before.

How much price difference this change presented, Lin Bohai never thought about, as it was not his business. He had only accepted a bribe to keep his mouth shut.

Now on second thought...

These thoughts were too frightening to continue. The more he thought, the more scared he became.

"The reckoning has come so swiftly, should I... confess and strive for a good ending, or…"

Swipe the cold sweat off his forehead, Lin Bohai decided to leak this news first. It wasn't his fault that he was bribed. He simply didn't want to offend anyone, and now that trouble had arisen, the other party should honor the promise to clean up the mess.

As Lin Bohai wallowed in guilt, Lu Bei was happily refining elixirs, oblivious to his newfound identity as a secret agent.

And like that, an entire month passed.

Name: Lu Bei

Race: Human race

Template: NPC

Level: 10

Experience: 10/40000

Cultivation: 100/100

Health: 120/120

Main Profession: Tao Cultivator

Side Profession: Farmer Lv1(0/100), Alchemist Lv6(50/30000)

Attributes: Strength 2, Speed 3, Spirit 10, Endurance 12, Charm 3, Luck 3

Evaluation: This doesn't need much evaluation, you already know how troublesome it is!

'Devil-Slaying Sutra Lv1(10/5000)'

'Emperor's Supreme Elixir Cultivation Skill Lv6(100/30000)'

Remaining 14 free attribute points, 930 skill points, 220,000 experience points.

The increase in spirit and endurance came from the upgrade of the 'Emperor's Supreme Elixir Cultivation Skill', which also increased cultivation level and vitality. Lacking the skills is because I didn't invest my experience in the 'Devil-Slaying Sutra'.

Free attribute points and skill points are derived from the promotion of the main and secondary professions.

Lu Bei invested a lot of experience in the alchemist's secondary profession and the 'Emperor's Supreme Elixir Cultivation Skill'. One reason is to increase the success rate and speed of alchemy. Secondly, he wanted to test the quality of the 'Emperor's Supreme Elixir Cultivation Skill' and whether it could allow him to advance from an alchemist to a senior alchemist.

He stopped investing experience after raising it to level 6 without seeing any effects.

The remaining 220,000 experience points are kept in the stock. At present, there is no survival crisis. He has not considered strengthening his combat power. Additionally, he also lacks attack skills, so it's not meaningful to level up.

Another factor is that it's been a month and there is no news from Bai Jin.

Lu Bei is waiting for news from Bai Jin. It would be hard to explain such a sudden increase within a month. But once Bai Jin takes him to the Lingxiao Sword Sect, reading advanced Taoist books and having an 'enlightenment' would be a good excuse.

According to Lu Bei's idea, ending the novice period at level 20 in one enlightenment, let all attributes skyrocket, and officially stepping into the path of cultivation, he would be able to gain a lot of resources from the Lingxiao Sword Sect.

Then, it would be a joy to gain experience points.

The reason why he can gain a large amount of experience within a month and have a surplus after investing, is all thanks to Lin Bohai's secret help.

During this period, Lin Bohai has been following Lu Bei's instructions. Even when Lu Bei absurdly makes five elixirs at the same time, Lin Bohai takes it in stride, stroking his beard and smiling calmly, satisfying all requests and bending the rules for Lu Bei.

Lu Bei didn't understand it, but he was deeply moved. He felt ashamed for looking down on Lin Bohai before. He had assumed Lin was just an old slicker in the system, but he never expected Lin to be of a high realm, treating Lu Bei like his own son, even more affectionate.

A good old slicker indeed.

"Since there is no news from Sister Bai, as a precaution, I should consider attack skills. Whether I practice or not, it is good to at least try them out," Lu Bei thought.

Experience is valuable, but after a month of continuous alchemy, Lu Bei was tired and wanted to change the environment to refresh his mind.

Listening to other alchemists, Cloud Water Tower had some new specialties from You Province. He thought about going there to take a look.

Lu Bei didn't know much about Cloud Water Tower, but the word "specialty" had a local flavor, and it was a good place to travel.

The world is so vast, he couldn't go to You Province, but experiencing the unique scenery at the Cloud Water Tower could make up for the regret.

"It's just tourism, Mrs. Zhu should let me go... right?"

"There should be no problem, if she is worried about my safety and finds it difficult to explain to Sister Bai, let We Mao accompany me!"

...

At night, in the master's room of the We Mansion.

Zhu Yan slept under a thin silk quilt. Her curves were enchanting and the minimal linen couldn't cover her charm. In her dreams, she turned her body aside, allowing the thin silk quilt to slip to the edge of the bed, filling the room with an intense allure.

At that moment, a shadow quietly pushed open the door, stopped next to the bed, and a large hand reached out from the dark.

Then...

He picked up the silk quilt and covered Zhu Yan.

Bang!

Zhu Yan kicked out a foot, aiming directly at the vital part three inches below the shadow's belly button.

Slap!

The large hand in the dark caught it firmly, and as Zhu Yan surged up, the large shadow picked her up and threw her back to the bed with a smooth movement.

Looking at this proficiency, they must be a long-married couple.

"Madam, why haven't you gone to sleep yet?" We Mao asked as he lit the lamp.

"This bed is as cold as ice, how could I sleep!" Zhu Yan snapped.

"I'm busy with official duties, I also..."

We Mao tried to explain, but seeing Zhu Yan covering her ears not wanting to listen, he changed the subject: "Madam, what's the situation with the elixir workshop? Recently, there's always an excess of Spirit Awakening Elixirs being delivered."

The Imperial Sect has control over all cultivation affairs in Wu Zhou, including military pill supplies. As the Imperial Sect becomes more disillusioned with the central royals, local military logistics have become elusive.

For example, daily consumables like Hemostatic Elixirs and Qi-Keeping Elixirs are often delayed. Yes, they're still making them.

"Isn't that a good thing?" Zhu Yan kicked We Mao repeatedly in irritation.

This dead man, spending all day amongst men and rarely spending time with his wife.

We Mao didn't dodge, and frowned: "It's a good thing, but we used to get a few high-quality pills, now they're all regular quality."

"You should be grateful they didn't cut your supply of Spirit Awakening Elixirs, what more do you want."

Zhu Yan huffed coldly: "I'm going back to my parents' house in a few days, and you'll take care of Xiaobei. Take him to the barracks, keep a close eye on him, and don't let him go astray."

"Why are you going to your parents' house?"

"You're not good to me, so I'll go back to my family and wait for you to apologize!"

"..."

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Thank you to 'Right Hand's Fish' for the Alliance Leader reward!