Chapter 9: Nested Dolls
In the following days, Zeng Defang continued to instruct Chen Fei in alchemy techniques, and after a few days of hiding his skills, Chen Fei revealed his mastery of the Qi and Blood Pill technique.
Zeng Defang laughed heartily, feeling comforted in his heart. He even patted Chen Fei's shoulder forcefully.
"At this stage, there's nothing more I can teach you about the Qi and Blood Pill. The next step depends on your comprehension during the usual refining process."
Naturally, Zeng Defang's alchemy skills were not limited to just mastery level. However, once you reach the mastery level, there are usually no major issues with the refining technique, only minor adjustments in the timing.
These adjustments were difficult to express in words, and they required the alchemist to comprehend and practice on their own. Moreover, the mastery level of the Qi and Blood Pill was already suitable for regular trading, which meant that Chen Fei could start making money.
According to the agreement with the Qingzheng Medical Hall, after deducting the cost of medicinal materials, Chen Fei could take thirty percent of the remaining profits from the Qi and Blood Pills he refined each month.
Was that a small amount?
Certainly not. Chen Fei was quite satisfied with this result. After all, he only needed to refine the pills. Matters like obtaining medicinal materials, managing a shop, and selling the pills were all unrelated to him.
With the support of the Qingzheng Medical Hall, Chen Fei just needed to focus on refining the pills.
One could say that this profit-sharing ratio was likely influenced by Zeng Defang's influence, allowing Chen Fei to receive such treatment from the Qingzheng Medical Hall.
Of course, the profit-sharing ratio for other alchemists was not much different. After all, alchemists were precious resources, and if you didn't offer them enough benefits, they would simply leave.
Unlike guards, who might be easier to find due to the large number of martial artists. However, with alchemists, their numbers were limited, and it was not easy to find and recruit them.
Zeng Defang did not continue to accompany Chen Fei, who took the opportunity to go out a few times and improve his proficiency in the Qi and Blood Pill technique to the point of perfection.
Chen Fei wasn't in a hurry to push the Qi and Blood Pill to the highest level of perfection. The perfected technique already fully met his current refining requirements. Each pill was not only full of medicinal properties but also produced a considerable quantity, extracting every bit of medicinal essence without waste.
As for reaching the highest level of perfection, it would probably mean discovering something new, making the effects of the Qi and Blood Pill even better. Although this would be great, achieving the required ten thousand points of proficiency in a short time wasn't easy. So Chen Fei took it slowly.
There were no other people in the alchemy room, and Chen Fei put all his efforts into refining each Qi and Blood Pill. The only difference between a perfect pill and a mastery level pill was the quantity produced, but there was not much difference in other aspects.
Externally, Chen Fei naturally didn't show such a high level of alchemy. Any extra pills he produced, he would consume directly.
The Qi and Blood Pill truly deserved to be the pill for ordinary martial artists. One pill could raise Chen Fei's cultivation by 1 point, and he could take up to five of them a day. Combined with the progress from his cultivation technique, he could gain 6 points of cultivation progress in one day.
"Even if the Wind Hanging Breathing Method hasn't been simplified, I only need less than five months to break through to the Body Refining Realm."
Chen Fei murmured to himself, feeling the power of the pill for the first time, or rather, the power of money.
One or two silver could buy five Qi and Blood Pills, which was the monthly salary of an ordinary guard at the medical hall. So not many guards would choose to buy and cultivate with these pills because it was too expensive.
Unless they had martial talent and were willing to invest in their potential. However, this investment needed to continue for several years to see results.
In Pingyin County, only disciples of prominent families or direct disciples of renowned martial arts schools like the Extreme Mountain Fist School, could afford to cultivate with the Qi and Blood Pills like Chen Fei, rapidly improving their strength every day.
"Powerful alchemists indeed make money. And I'm just dealing with the Qi and Blood Pills for now."
Chen Fei shook his head slightly, throwing a Qi and Blood Pill into his mouth and revealing a smile on his face.
In a few days, Chen Fei planned to withdraw some silver from the medical hall in advance to simplify the fusion of the two techniques.
Although his cultivation progress was already impressive with the help of the Qi and Blood Pill, Chen Fei couldn't resist becoming stronger even faster.
And he couldn't help but feel uncertain and uneasy in this world. After all, in his previous life, it was a peaceful and prosperous era, while the current world was full of strangeness and dangers, making it difficult for him to truly feel at ease.
Ten days passed in the blink of an eye. Besides focusing on refining the Qi and Blood Pills and cultivation, Chen Fei also found time to level up his stir-fried pig liver dish.
In the dilapidated courtyard, Chen Fei had noticed that he was being followed, but he didn't pay too much attention to it. After all, he was now the most popular person in the Qingzheng Medical Hall, thanks to Zeng Defang's favoritism. It was natural for many people to be curious about how he achieved this.
Perhaps they thought he had some special connections? But what would those people think when they saw him frying pig livers every time he went out?
Frying pig livers had nothing to do with alchemy; otherwise, the chefs in restaurants would all become alchemy masters.
They could only attribute it to Chen Fei's peculiar hobby because they couldn't think of any other reasons.
Some people were not satisfied and followed Chen Fei for several days, only to see him frying pig livers every time, and each time he only used a small piece of liver the size of a fingernail. They were puzzled.
What a strange quirk!
"According to the rules, it's not good to withdraw silver in advance. But I know your situation, so after discussing with Manager Cui, he agreed. Here are thirty taels of silver, take it."
The accountant handed the money to Chen Fei, who glanced at it and smiled.
Based on the number of Qi and Blood Pills Chen Fei was currently refining, his monthly income was around fifty taels, which was ten times that of an ordinary guard. Naturally, this made others envy him.
The fact that he could withdraw thirty taels in advance showed that the medical hall recognized Chen Fei's potential and believed he had the ability to repay the money, hence their swift approval.
Back in his room, Chen Fei was somewhat excited.
"Panel, simplify the Wind Hanging Breathing Method!"
"The Wind Hanging Breathing Method is being simplified... Simplification successful... Wind Hanging Breathing Method → Extreme Mountain Breathing Method!"
"Huh?"
Seeing the information displayed on the panel, Chen Fei was taken aback for a moment. How did it get simplified back to the original Extreme Mountain Breathing Method?
Then Chen Fei realized something and tried to activate the original Extreme Mountain Breathing Method. As he did so, he saw the experience points of the Wind Hanging Breathing Method increase by 1.
"This panel truly keeps surprising me." Chen Fei's eyes widened. The panel had once again played a trick on him, making it a nested doll of techniques.
(End of this chapter)
(Note: The original text uses nested doll metaphorically to describe the surprise element in the protagonist's cultivation journey, like a Russian nesting doll where each layer reveals a new surprise. The author uses it to convey the unexpected twists and turns in the protagonist's alchemy and cultivation experiences.)