Marrying Wives and Attaining Immortality in a Chaotic World

Chapter 347: Teaching

Not wanting to give up, Zhao Mingxin continued to throw a wrench in the works and said, “All these years, Junior Brother’s alchemy skills have been occasionally guided by Master and me in our spare time. Although we haven’t taught him much, his alchemy has not fallen behind, and in some aspects he has even surpassed me.

It’s clear that Junior Brother is very well suited to this semi-guided, semi-independent style of learning. There’s no need to change it forcefully.

As the saying goes, Teach according to one’s aptitude – different talents require different teaching methods.”

His words made sense, causing Chi Sui to pause and contemplate the matter.

Ning Meixue grew anxious and quickly interjected with a smile, “What Senior Brother said is too one-sided. You see, under this semi-guided, semi-independent approach, Junior Brother’s alchemy skills were still able to catch up. This shows that Junior Brother has an extraordinary talent! If Master were to guide him closely personally, his alchemy skills would undoubtedly reach new heights!”

Her words struck a chord within Chi Sui. He couldn’t help but wonder: If he had been more patient with Qin Feng in the past and personally taught him for an extended period of time, what level would Qin Feng’s alchemy skills have reached by now?

Recently, Chi Sui had brought home the Cloud Pattern Barrier Breaking Pills that Qin Feng had refined at the Fifth Prince’s residence. After repeatedly studying them, he discovered that the alchemical techniques embedded within those pills were flawless-perfect to the point where even he couldn’t replicate such exquisite Cloud Pattern Barrier Breaking Pills!

Even though there might have been an element of luck involved when Qin Feng created this perfect-grade Cloud Pattern Barrier Breaking Pill, not every alchemist could achieve such luck. Those who did were truly one in ten thousand. Based on this alone, Qin Feng deserved his full attention.

Chi Sui made his decision: “I will take Qin Feng under my wing and personally guide him for a while.”

Zhao Ming felt a wave of anger. He couldn’t understand what had gotten into Ning Meixue today-she was acting completely out of character, opposing him head-on. He couldn’t help but suspect that Qin Feng must have cast a spell on Ning Meixue somehow.

Still unwilling to concede, Zhao Ming argued, “If that’s the case, Junior Sister will spend most of her days busy inspecting medicinal herbs and rare birds and beasts. She won’t have time to practice alchemy or cultivate herself. Won’t this hinder her progress?”

As he spoke, Zhao Ming shot a meaningful glance at Ning Meixue. His implication was clear – he was supposedly looking out for her benefit and hoped that she wouldn’t oppose him any further.

However, Ning Meixue completely ignored his signal, maintaining her cheerful demeanor as she replied, “Thank you for your concern, Senior Brother. I’ll be fine. We’re all fellow disciples. It’s no big deal if I put my alchemy and cultivation on hold for a while so that junior brother can spend time learning directly from master.”

Chi Sui thought for a moment before speaking, “This huge exclusive cultivation resource area is currently being managed by Meixue alone. It’s far too much for her to handle alone, and it’s inevitable that her alchemy and cultivation will suffer as a result. Very well, I’ll bring in another disciple to help her out.

The Prince of Rui has repeatedly pleaded with me to accept his direct granddaughter, the Lady of Qinghe, as my disciple. The Prince of Rui was among the earliest to support the Crown Prince and has earned his deep trust. Moreover, the Crown Prince himself has interceded on her behalf. I cannot simply refuse her request. Therefore, I will accept the Lady of Qinghe as my disciple.

In the future, she can help Meixue manage this exclusive cultivation resource zone, sharing the workload and allowing Meixue more time to focus on her alchemy and cultivation.”

With this, it was settled – Qin Feng would stay by Chi Sui’s side. Zhao Ming’s mood sank to its lowest point, but he dared not say anything further. Any more objections might lead Chi Sui to suspect that he was deliberately trying to exclude Qin Feng.

Ning Meixue looked at Xu Lian happily. Her junior brother’s future had finally taken a decisive step forward.

Of course, Xu Lian was also happy. As long as he performed well moving forward, he could earn Chi Sui’s favor just like Zhao Ming and potentially gain sole control over an exclusive cultivation resource zone in the future.

“Light the fire!”

Chi Sui was a man of action. Without delay, he led Zhao Ming and Xu Lian to the altar beneath the thousand-zhang-tall cauldron and ordered the furnace to be ignited.

Hundreds of apprentice herbalists sprang into action.

While waiting for the furnace to heat up, Chi Sui began to impart the alchemical knowledge that Xu Lian had yet to learn.

[Recording in Progress…]

[Recording in Progress…]

Upon receiving the prompt, Xu Lian’s heart swelled with joy. Like a dry sponge, he absorbed everything Chi Sui taught him, fully internalizing each lesson without missing a single detail.

Zhao Ming watched coldly from the side. Being by the master’s side and receiving guidance at any time had always been his exclusive privilege. Now that Qin Feng would also be following Chi Sui, it would inevitably divide the master’s attention. Zhao Ming was naturally displeased.

When the temperature of the furnace reached the desired level, Chi Sui stopped his teaching and said to Xu Lian, “I’m about to begin refining the Metamorphosis Elixir . Take what I just taught you and practice refining some of these pills on the side.”

Xu Lian replied, “Yes, Master.”

Then, realizing that he didn’t have his pill furnace or herbs with him, he added, “I left my pill furnace and herbs behind when I returned to the imperial city to visit my family. I will go and fetch them.”

Chi Sui frowned. “As an alchemist, your pill furnace and herbs should never leave your side. Have you forgotten my previous teachings?”

Xu Lian explained awkwardly, “It’s because I came back to the imperial city to visit my family… I forgot for a moment.”

Chi Sui waved his hand, conjuring up a pill furnace and a pile of herbs. “No need to go back. Use these for now, but be more careful in the future.”

“I will remember, Master,” Xu Lian replied.

Taking the furnace and the herbs, Xu Lian moved to the side to start practicing. In reality, however, he had already directly absorbed the knowledge, and his proficiency was maxed out – he actually didn’t need to practice at all. Doing so would be far too obvious. Even if he was pretending, he still needed to put on a show.

And so, he began practicing.

To avoid producing flawless pills outright, he racked his brain and devised various “creative” methods to sabotage his own efforts. Sometimes he’d intentionally add a little too much or a little too little of a certain herb. Other times he’d deliberately increase or decrease the heat. Occasionally, he’d even intentionally misalign a knot or two while casting the alchemical incantations.

These “clever” maneuvers naturally affected the quality of the pills, and there were even a few instances where the furnace exploded.

Hearing the commotion, Chi Sui took a break from his own work to come over and investigate. He frowned deeply as he surveyed the scene, utterly baffled. How could Qin Feng, who had produced the perfect Cloud Pattern Barrier Breaking Pill, repeatedly make such fundamental mistakes?

Zhao Ming, on the other hand, smiled inwardly. So, the Cloud Pattern Barrier Breaking Pill that Qin Feng had refined at the Fifth Prince’s residence was really mostly due to luck!

However, considering that Qin Feng had indeed successfully refined a perfect grade pill before, Chi Sui patiently pointed to the scattered remnants of failed attempts and began to instruct Xu Lian.

“In this batch, you added too much of one herb. Remember, the composition of this kind of pill is very complicated. The amount of each herb must be measured with absolute precision. Even the slightest deviation can affect the quality of the pill, potentially resulting in a defective, incorrect, or even poisonous pill.

In this batch, the heat control was uneven. Didn’t I just tell you? This kind of pill is particularly sensitive to heat. The true fire that comes out of your palm is made up of exactly thirty-nine thousand six hundred fire strands. As the fiery threads extend outward from your palm, their number gradually decreases. When refining this pill, the furnace must slowly rotate around the true fire emanating from your palm. Every five breaths the furnace should complete one and a half revolutions plus an additional quarter revolution-not a single moment more or less.

As for the charge that caused the explosion… the reason is undoubtedly that you either misplaced or omitted a point in the incantation. Judging by the shape of the scattered debris, it seems that when the pill inside the furnace was nearing the stage of forming its core, you made an error in the sixth and seventh nodes of the twenty-seventh incantation”.

Good heavens! The great alchemist Chi Sui was actually trying to teach him… Xu Lian nodded occasionally, pretending to listen attentively.