"Huh? Is there a bazaar going on today? How come it's so lively around the marketplace?" crossing through the market where the villagers sell their wares is a must for Yanglin if he wants to get to the chief's house.
And this was his first time witnessing a bazaar full of people gathering around a stall.
Out of curiosity, Yanglin joined the crowd to see what was actually happening here. By pushing left and right and struggled through the sea of people, Yanglin eventually came to the front, where an outsider was performing alchemy using the Foundation Fruit as an ingredient.
In alchemy, it was compulsory to have precise control over their Spiritual Energy. Without absolute precision, the essence extracted from the fruit would be scattered all around the refining cauldron, causing it unable to form into pills.
Right now, the outsider was in the middle of extracting the essence before congealing them into pills. His precise movement awed the villagers as the fruit was processed into a blob of extracts before falling into the refining cauldron.
The heat within the refining cauldron quickly removes all the water content that remains in the extract until it starts to thicken and reaches the congealing state. And not too long after that, two Foundation Pills were formed after an incense worth of time went by.
This Foundation Pill created from alchemy was comparable to what a cultivator painstakingly formed during their meditation process. But the process is smoother and takes less time compared to meditation.
'Is this how the alchemy works in this realm? It was indeed more different compared to what I've read before coming into this world!' Yanglin thought.
Out of curiosity, he stayed for a little longer to see to what extent is the outsider's ability and achievement in alchemy.
He then found out that a regular one-year Foundation Fruit can be refined into one to two Foundation Pills. The yield is between five to six pills for a ten-year fruit and above ten for a hundred-year fruit.
After studying the outsider's pill-refining process for about an hour, he finally decided that was enough for today. He made his trip to the chief's house quickly after that to exchange the Foundation Fruits in his hand into forty Foundation Pills.
Although he knew that he could refine them into pills through copying what the outsider did, Yanglin lacks a refining cauldron right now. And even if he had one, his skill was too low to refine the fruit successfully every time.
If alchemy was this easy, he would be swimming in a pool of Foundation Pills right now.
After getting his pay, Yanglin left the chief's house and headed straight to the grocery store to purchase a few cakes as his ration again. He did try to ask if the store had a refining cauldron for sale, but he stumbled against a wall when the storekeeper told him its impossible for the store to get one.
The storekeeper said that an alchemist always received their first cauldron from their mentor. And for them to receive one, a disciple would have to study under a teacher for at least a year or two before qualified to try their hand in alchemy.
This information devastated Yanglin after hearing it. But it didn't diminish his interest in alchemy. Furthermore, he had the alchemy-related book in hand given by the village chief.
Of course, the sudden urge for him to do alchemy is mainly related to his interest in fulfilling his fantasy from reading all the fantasy novels before he arrived at this world. The profit from this profession was also significantly better than working as a Foundation Fruit Grower.
...
"This alchemist, are you interested in refining these Foundation Fruits the village had?" the village chief asked after hearing how good is this visitor's skill in alchemy. If he was not mistaken, this alchemist's purpose here today is to provide his service for a fee while taking this opportunity to sharpen his skills.
It was a win-win offer as he could earn a few pills as his pocket money while helping the people. Unfortunately, the village chief knew too little about this person. The outsider had a smiling face on his all the time, but not in his heart.
After agreeing to refine the fruits for the price of one Foundation Pill per fruit, he began to work tirelessly. It took him about two days to refine all the fruits provided by the village chief. On top of that, he was given a clean room to stay in throughout his refining process.
"Thank you, alchemist. You've been a great help to the village." the chief accepted the two sacks full of Foundation Pills from the outsider.
"Are you preparing to leave the village?" the chief asked.
"Yes, the village chief. I had an obligation to report to my master regarding what I've done every few days or so. I might be coming back here a week later to see if anyone needs help again." the outsider said.
"If that is the case, then I won't be wasting your time any longer." the chief said.
"Out of curiosity, does the village have someone that awakened a Blood-Type Spiritual Soul?" the outsider suddenly asked.
"From what I know, we don't have anyone with Blood-Type Spiritual Soul. Is there a problem?" the chief answered without suspecting the motive behind the outsider's question.
"There's nothing. Just that my master was looking for a Blood-Type Spiritual Soul cultivator as a disciple. I thought I found one on behalf of my master." the outsider smiled.
"If there's nothing else, please excuse me as I returned to my master. Looking forward to seeing you again, the village chief." the outsider politely excused himself and left the village.
His smiling face turned into a darkened, ruthless one after leaving the village more than a mile.
"No such person in your village? Then who the hell grows those Foundation Fruits that can be refined into Blood Foundation Pills?" the dark Spiritual Energy from the outsider is flowing out uncontrollably. It was evident that he was not convinced by the answer the village chief gave him.
"It's okay... The next time I'm back, it's the death of your entire village. Kekeke..."