Advancing Alchemy

As morning arrived I was feeling slightly strange. There was a heat source next to me, and the smell in the room was strange.

When I opened my eyes I saw a black silky hair.

It was a familiar hair of…

Xiao Lingxi.

…

…

Fuck…

Now I did it. Smashed my maid…

Though…internally I sighed in relief. I was ready for this. For several days I have been taking pills as Xia Qingyue was making her moves. The girl says one thing while doing another.

So I was ready in case we would go over the top.

In the end, I did go over the top with my maid. Though… It was strange. Didn't Xiao Lingxi have some sort of protection? Yun Che couldn't do anything apart from basic things.

Well, whatever… my hands sneaked around her and I proceeded to nap some more.

Some time later I woke up again as my heat source started to move. 

"...M-Morning…" Xiao Lingxi greeted me with a stuttering voice. 

"Morning."

"...I-I should get up and start making breakfast." The girl was suggesting it as she was looking away, somewhere, and not me.

"Embarrassed aren't we?" I teased her with a smirk, as her blush got much stronger.

"..."

"Come now… let's start the day with a morning kiss~" I pulled her close and the black-haired girl proceeded to do just that but she was quite stiff.

After the short kiss, I asked her.

"...Does my maid remember all the deals we made yesterday?"

I didn't give time for her to recover as she once again got stiff.

"...Yes…Lingxi remembers all of it." She said that while looking at the bed, instead of me.

"...Good girl. You can proceed with breakfast." 

The Maid moved and got out of bed. I could see her slender back and incredible curves. Sadly she dressed up quickly and slowly walked out of the room.

~~~

Xiao Lingxi swiftly walked into the kitchen before starting to pace back and forth. Now she has done it!

She remembered clearly the last day when she couldn't take it anymore and just decided to go to her Young Master and seal the deal.

Though…after doing it she was feeling…better?

But, this comes with another set of issues. She ended up accepting all those lewd promises.

'I can't believe I agreed to his request to be taken anywhere and any time! That's pure debauchery!'

The black-haired girl grabbed her head as she was trying to fight off her embarrassment!

It didn't work! So, instead, she proceeded to work on the food.

After finishing breakfast she had to call her Young Master who by that point was ready and walked into the dining room.

This was where she was alert. The black-haired girl's mind was on edge as she was wondering what he would make her do. 

…

…

…

Nothing has happened! Xiao Lingxi was disappointed and relieved at the same time. 

After breakfast, the girl went to clean up the room. While Xiao Long went to start his work. He has hundreds of Clan members collecting herbs for him.

Once her Young Master was gone the black-haired maid sighed in relief she could now focus on her cleaning and later on her cultivation.

With the Profound Energy Sensitivity pill, the girl's speed of cultivation was absurd.

She could not feel the difference between [Elementary Profound] or [Nascent Profound] in truth, it's maybe even faster to cultivate than it was before.

If her predictions are right, she should reach [Second of Nascent Profound] In a week or so.

Soon enough, evening arrived, and when her Young Master returned the maid once again was nervous. Though this time there was no escape as she ended up in his bed. 

On her violation. As her nerves could not hold. Well, more like it's better this way instead of just being nervous and waiting for something.

~~~~~~Next Morning~~~~~~ 

When I opened my eyes I saw several notifications.

I was pleasantly surprised that they indeed developed as arts.

One should train even if you are doing your maid. A naughty maid, but yes. My experiment had worked.

*Ding* 

{You have created [Focus] art!}

*Ding* 

{You have created [Dual Cultivation] art!}

'Curious what they do… well they are self-explanatory but this is a cultivation world…there are some bonuses…'

Mentally opened the Profound Arts window and checked the amount of Profound Arts I have. My eyes went to the last two which were added last night.

[Focus] (2/10) {2.31%}

[Mental Art]

[A basic art of mental focus, it focuses on concentrating on doing a single thing.] 

'Nice this could help me in cultivating alchemy…I still need to find ways to improve the heat of the flame, then improve the removal of impurities, and discover an improved way of refinement. 

*Sigh* so many things to improve…'

With a mental dismiss, I check the other art.

[Dual Cultivation] (3/10) {41.23%}

[Dual Cultivation Art]

[Basic form of Dual Cultivation, the connected flow of Profound energy adjusts bodies, increases the pleasure factor. Improves compatibility and Profound Energy circulation.]

'Heh…so I invented a primitive form of Dual Cultivation. Fascinating!'

As I was thinking about what to do next. My heat source started to wake up.

With a groan, the beauty lifted her head and looked at me.

"...Morning…"

"Morning. Why don't you rest, you look tired." I said with a smirk. The beauty herself walked into my bed and wanted that affection.

"Hnn…" She slowly nodded before putting her head back on me and starting to snooze off.

Since this was the case I decided to train while holding my beautiful maid.

Time for some Focus training!

~~~ 

"Oh No!!!" My maid swiftly lifted her head and looked ashamed. She did that out of nowhere.

"Hmm? What is it?" I stopped my focus training and asked her.

"I-I overslept!"

"You did? I didn't know that." I said with a confused tone. 

"..." Her nervousness slowly started to disappear.

"I am pretty sure you were doing your maid duties the whole time." My confusion slowly changed into a smirk as it was fun to look at this girl who is panicking for nothing.

"...S-Since my Young Master says so…" She calmed down slightly before starting to speak once again.

"Do you want me to start preparing Breakfast?" Xiao Lingxi asked me while I was stroking her silky black hair.

"...I guess…"

Hearing my answer she slowly started to leave the bed, starting to dress up. Now this is the view I don't mind watching every single morning.

Now that I think about it…

It's an Average Young Master's privilege to witness such a thing every morning.

Once my maid was out of the room I checked the Focus training I had been doing for several hours.

'Impressive that quite a bit of Profound Energy has been used.'

As I thought about it I mentally opened the Profound Arts window.

Profound Arts:

[Profound Energy Control] (10/10) {100%}

—[Profound Energy Manipulation] (3/10) {56.21%}

[Dash] (10/10) {100%}

—[Lightfoot] (6/10) {58.36%}

[Arm Thrust] (10/10) {100%}

—[Wind Current Thrust] (10/10) {100%}

——[Burning Wind Hawk] (3/10) {34.71}

[Claw Strike] (10/10) {100%}

—[Whirlwind Claw] (10/10) {100%}

——[Wind Hawk Style Martial Arts] (5/10) {75.02%}

[Xiao Clan Wind Sword] (10/10) {100%}

—[Xiao Sect Whirlwind Sword] (10/10) {100%}

——[Burning Whirlwind Sword] (2/10) {31.43%}

[Profound Fire] (10/10) {100%}

—[Alchemy Flames] (8/10) {21.91%}

—[Orange Flames] (8/10) {75.90%}

[Basic Refinement] (10/10) {100%}

[Purifying Profound Energy] (10/10) {100%}

—[Purifying Flames] (2/10) {43.01%}

[River Current Style Profound Energy Absorption] (7/10) {12.73%}

[Focus] (5/10) {37.78%}

[Dual Cultivation] (3/10) {41.23%}

'What a quick grind. I can cap it today without any sort of worries.' I thought about it as I checked the Focus art level.

It is already half of the way to the cap. And the effects could be easily felt.

It's easier to pay attention to the details, easier to discern and observe cultivation, and easier to control Profound Energy! 

There are several perks to this art just from observing this art in my bed!

There should be even more when I am working on alchemy!

Without waiting for more I left my bed and dressed myself up before walking out of the room and going outside to get some fresh air and feed my fishes.

~~~ 

Late afternoon a [Sky Profound] elder from the Black Moon Guild arrived and left a bunch of wooden crates in my pavilion. The guy was quite sneaky, no one even noticed that he was there.

After paying him the old man left. I quite giddily started to open the crates. They were full of Desert flowers!

"Young Master?"

"Lingxi check them out! I ordered Black Moon Guild to deliver some of the desert flowers from across the continent. I can start experimenting with them in my pill-making."

The maid dumbly nodded. She sensed the absurd cultivation of the old man who delivered the package to her Young Master. When did he form such a deep connection with powerhouses outside the City?

"...Master, how d-did you get in touch with Black Moon Merchant Guild in the first place?" She asked with some awe, is having a guild deliver stuff for you rare? Well, I don't know but it's lit.

"My future Father-in-law got in touch with them. They liked my pills so now I am one of their providers." 

Her eyes widened even more. She was having a hard time processing what I am saying.

"...You are an incredible Master!"

I simply nodded before starting to store the crates in my Storage ring.

"I will be testing out some stuff. I will give you some new pills in a few hours." 

"It's fine, Young Master, I still have some." She said that while fiddling with her robes.

I raised my eyebrow and walked over to her. 

"Oh? Are you saying no to me?"

For a second she didn't know what to say. Instead, I lifted her chin with my hand and proceeded to kiss her lips. This made her stiff for a second. Before she calmed down the kiss lasted for over a minute before I let her go.

"...I will see you in a few hours, Lingxi." 

"...Y-Yes."

As I left I proceeded to walk toward the storage areas where the herbs for refining are kept for me.

I still haven't explored the medical pavilion of my clan. I constantly push that visit to another day as I have other things to do.

But from my understanding the herbs they have are for headaches, anti-toxin, and other things. Which could be useful in pill making. 

Though for now, I have stuff of my own to work with. 

It was time to upgrade the Profound Energy sensitivity pill. For that, I took some of the catalyst grass and proceeded to use alchemy flames to melt the grasses into essence before moulding them into one pill. 

The process was quick as I worked with these two grasses for a while. Especially with the sensitive grass.

After cooking the pill up I used the Purifying fire to remove the remaining impurities.

The pill looked a light salad colour instead of that darker grass one.

"Not bad… I can sense it being much better than before." After inspecting the upgraded pill I proceeded to test it out.

The moment I swallowed it my eyes widened as the sensory range increased severely!

'Holy fuck! I can sense several times more!!!' 

I used my focus to sense the Profound energies in the air.

'...This is insane!!! I can perceive other types of Profound energies in the air!'

I focused more on this and tried to interact with them.

I could sense the Fire Profound Energy that comes from the sky, and there is some lingering coldness in the dark corners of the room. There is some gentle breeze-like Profound energy in the air which should be Wind Profound Energy. 

'Fascinating…'

After the effects ran out I opened my eyes. There was a grin on my face.

With this, I can grasp the specific Profound Energies! More specifically Fire and Wind! Those are the ones I want to focus on. Fire especially, since alchemy needs it.

After testing the new pill I proceeded to make more of these. For myself, my maid, the clan, and the rest to sell.

Same for other pills, the Vitality pill is something I am planning to sell to Black Moon Guild as well.

And finally some of the purifying pills. These will go directly to my grandfather who will arrange where they will go.

Once all the work was done I proceeded to return to my tests.

For that, I pulled out the desert flower and some catalyst grass, then some of the vitality roots.

Swiftly I encountered the first hurdle and that is that the desert grass absorbs my fire… and that it needs an extreme amount of heat to start melting.

I ended up burning several of them from the very beginning. By the time evening came I was able to achieve some success but again… refining them into pills was impossible at this very moment. Even in a semi-melted state, the flower essence absorbed the catalyst and then the vitality root.

I ended up not achieving anything that night.

I went back home and ended up hugging a very confused Xiao Lingxi who did end up pampering me with food.

The next day I was right back at my pill-making business.

The first thing I checked was the level of my Alchemy fire.

'Oh right…focus…I forgot to cap it out from that frustration.'

[Focus] (7/10) {10.78%}

[Alchemy Flames] (8/10) {72.91%} 

"Not bad, time to work…"

First was Alchemy Fire, it was time to cap it so that I could proceed to find a way to upgrade it.

While [Focus]…that level up in intense working sessions.

To swiftly level it up I proceeded to make several pills at the same time. It is not hard with the ones I have experience working with.

Using fire to pick up the material and then turning them into essence before using refining art to mould them into pills and lastly using purifying fire to remove the last remaining impurities.

Steadily, the pile of grass started to disappear, and instead, there was a steady growth of light salad pills in multiple bowls. 

Eventually, the awaited ping came.

*Ding* 

{[Alchemy Flames] art mastered!}

It was so natural to use these flames now. They are smooth and don't just burn, it simply melts away the things they burn instead of making them burn away.

Though, after maxing out the Alchemy fire I tried to work on the desert flower. Now, I could properly sense that the flames need more juice. 

Not JUST raw power, but control as well.

This led me to believe that it was time to learn another type of energy. Fire Profound Energy should do the trick.

Taking several pouches of upgraded Profound Energy Sensitivity pills I left the storage area. 

I instructed the guards to sort out the pills and let Grandfather know that more were ready.

With the amount of pills I made they are loaded for months, and the rest will be sold to the Black Moon Guild.

~~~ 

As I walked to my mountain I proceeded to look for the best spot where I could practise sensing and controlling the purest of forms of Fire Profound Energy.

The best source for that is the sun. At this moment the sun is moving towards the west so if I take the highest vantage point I should be able to feel wind and fire at such a place.

Once I discovered a good position close to the peak of the mountain I proceeded to swallow one of the pills.

When my senses flared up I started to look for Fire Profound Energy but what I found was something else…

'So this is how she learned about me…' 

I sensed my fiance! The girl was observing me from a distance, the only reason I sensed her is because of the remnant of her Profound energy in the air.

'That density of Profound Energy… She is a [True Profound].' I thought to myself as I got up and used my Lightfoot. It's a Profound art where you run incredibly fast. It lightens up one's body. 

Using this art I appeared behind her and sneaked my hands around her waist.

The girl turned stiff instantly. My nose was assaulted by her smell. 

"What do we have here?"

"..."

"A wild Fiance… What should I do with you?" I asked her with a teasing tone.

"...What does my future husband wish to do with Qingyue?" She asked with a simple tone.

"I didn't know you like to watch me from a distance like this~," I asked her while my hands tightened around her waist before effortlessly picking her up.

"...This…well…Qingyue is ashamed that she had no courage to visit you properly when you are in the wilderness." She said that with some shame.

"Well now I have discovered you, so I will be keeping you~"

She stiffly nodded at my suggestive words.

Taking her back to my open area I proceeded to adjust her visiting position before returning to my cultivation.

Yep, she is the perfect distraction to train my [Focus] and cultivation. So, I won't be leaving her when I can train like this.

As I focused I proceeded to find Fire and Profound Energy in the air and guide it towards my body so that I could replica it. 

The process was not as hard as I thought, maybe because Purifying energy is harder or maybe because [Focus] helps with the process.

Well, it doesn't matter, while I am thinking of Fire Profound Energy I ended up bringing all the regular Profound from around the area and towards our location. This was where my fiance started to absorb it. 

For such help, I am expecting proper compensation later.