Chapter 113 - 108: Cracked!

Chapter 113: Chapter 108: Cracked!

BAM!

After Yun Buliu pushed the door open and entered, Shangguan Xiu’Er casually closed it behind them.

The farmhouse they had rented was a vacant one in the village. The owner didn’t live with them and had leased the entire courtyard to Yun Buliu. Thus, Yun Buliu and Shangguan Xiu’Er were the only ones in the courtyard.

"Master, tell me, what incredible benefit did you get?" Shangguan Xiu’Er asked as she followed behind Yun Buliu.

"Hehe... this!" Yun Buliu carefully took out the liquid elixir he had obtained from Su Tan from his robes.

SWISH!

He held it out in front of Shangguan Xiu’Er.

POP!

He pulled out the red cloth stopper. Instantly, a refreshing medicinal fragrance wafted from the bottle. Upon a closer look, pools of green liquid elixir swirled inside the small jade bottle, looking like melted emeralds. The color was crystal clear and translucent.

"This is..." Xiu’Er’s expression was initially one of confusion. "A liquid elixir..."

Then, her confusion turned into surprise. "This liquid elixir is already very diluted, but... the quality is extremely high."

Finally, it morphed into sheer shock. "My God... it’s a perfect-quality liquid elixir! And... and there are no restrictions placed on it!!! Is this the treasure you obtained, Master? It really is a treasure!" Shangguan Xiu’Er said, dumbstruck.

"Hehe... you have a good eye. To think you could see through the secrets of this liquid elixir. Not bad, not bad!" Yun Buliu chuckled.

SWISH!

PLOP!

He pulled the jade bottle back and plugged it with the red cloth stopper once again.

"Your master here has truly met a peerless expert and stumbled upon a real treasure." Yun Buliu flicked his sleeves and placed his hands behind his back, looking extremely excited. He had completely lost his usual reserved demeanor. "Come, let’s go to the Alchemy Room to study it. You’ll be my assistant."

It had been a very, very long time since Shangguan Xiu’Er had seen her master this happy.

"Yes, Master!" She followed respectfully behind Yun Buliu.

They had specifically converted one of the large rooms in the farmhouse into a makeshift Alchemy Room.

After entering the Alchemy Room...

"As everyone knows, when Alchemists refine medicine, they add certain restrictions to their Elixirs to prevent others from stealing a Pill Master’s Alchemy Skill, Pill Formulas, and the like.

"For Elixirs or liquid elixirs with restrictions, if any other Pill Master tries to forcibly decipher the Elixir’s Secret Skill and triggers it, the Elixir will self-destruct and become a waste pill. The refinement techniques imbued within it will be completely erased," Yun Buliu muttered to himself.

Peers were naturally rivals. Even a chef wouldn’t share their recipes to protect their business, let alone someone in a highly sought-after profession like an Alchemist. They certainly wouldn’t let their secrets leak out. Placing restrictions had become the standard method of intellectual property protection for Alchemists.

"Therefore, it is basically impossible to acquire an Alchemy Skill from another Alchemist’s finished Elixir.

"However, Mr. Su’s liquid elixirs have absolutely no restrictions on them," Yun Buliu said.

"Master, could it be that Mr. Su simply forgot to place them?" Shangguan Xiu’Er asked.

"No, no, no... impossible. I thought so at first too. But looking at how calm and breezy Mr. Su was, he didn’t care about this liquid elixir at all. He even left it out in the courtyard, completely ignoring it. Furthermore, when I asked to take some of it for research, Mr. Su didn’t mind at all. He tossed it to me like it was dirt... His expression clearly showed that he didn’t think anything of this liquid elixir.

"Therefore, it’s not that Mr. Su forgot to place restrictions. He simply disdained to do so. Perhaps to him, a liquid elixir and an Alchemy Skill of this level are nothing special," Yun Buliu said.

Little did they know, Su Tan had absolutely no idea what restrictions even were... Moreover, despite reading so many novels in his past life, he had never heard of an Alchemist needing to place restrictions when refining medicine.

"Master, are you overthinking this? Could it be that this liquid elixir was just something Mr. Su brewed by accident? Maybe he actually knows very little about alchemy and simply doesn’t know how to place restrictions?" Shangguan Xiu’Er said.

"How is that possible? I asked him about it, and Mr. Su’s expression was very calm. He said that this was just some unrated liquid elixir, not a true Elixir, so it didn’t matter. Do you understand what he meant by that? It means... not only can he refine Elixirs of this level, but he can also refine even higher-grade ones. The reason he didn’t place restrictions might just be out of disdain; he couldn’t be bothered to do so," Yun Buliu explained.

In his heart, Su Tan was a master Alchemist.

"Then... exactly what kind of figure is Mr. Su? To make you so convinced..."

After hearing Yun Buliu’s words, Shangguan Xiu’Er also developed a strong interest and curiosity toward Su Tan.

"He is a peerless expert! Think about it... if he wasn’t an expert, would he be able to treat Young Master Yun’s injuries?" Yun Buliu said.

"True..."

"Let’s not waste time. Quickly, help me decipher the Alchemy Skill Mr. Su bestowed upon us," Yun Buliu urged.

"When I asked if I could take some liquid elixir back to study just now, Mr. Su readily agreed. This was him tacitly passing down his Perfect Alchemy Skill to me. Although he didn’t agree to take me as a disciple, he bestowed this liquid elixir upon me and accepted my half-master bow... He can still be considered my, Yun Buliu’s, master.

"Perhaps... bestowing this liquid elixir was a test of my abilities. If I can’t even decipher the Alchemy Skill within it, then I truly don’t deserve to be his disciple," Yun Buliu guessed.

He firmly believed that Su Tan’s actions carried a profound underlying meaning!

If he couldn’t even decipher an Alchemy Skill that had no restrictions on it, what qualifications did he have to become Su Tan’s disciple?

What he didn’t know was that Su Tan’s actions had absolutely no profound meaning. Su Tan just didn’t want to be pestered anymore and casually gave him some liquid elixir to shoo him away...

Even if Su Tan didn’t want to take him in as a disciple, he couldn’t exactly beat the man to death and tell him to get lost, right? He, Su Tan, was a peace-loving man who wouldn’t resort to violence and killing at the drop of a hat.

"Understood, Master. I am willing to help you unlock the alchemical secrets Mr. Su left behind," Shangguan Xiu’Er said.

"There’s no time to lose. Let’s begin immediately!"

HUM!

Yun Buliu flicked his wrist.

A large Purple Gold Cauldron was thrown out from the spatial bag in his sleeve. It expanded dramatically in size and landed squarely in the center of the Alchemy Room.

This Purple Gold Cauldron had a unique design, quite different from ordinary Alchemy Cauldrons.

"Ignite the fire!"

WHOOSH!

Shangguan Xiu’Er did as instructed.

This Purple Gold Cauldron was specifically used for researching the composition of Elixirs and the Alchemy Skills imbued within them. Blue flames roared to life.

Yun Buliu formed numerous hand seals, striking them onto the Purple Gold Cauldron. Shangguan Xiu’Er assisted from the side.

HUM...

The Purple Gold Cauldron hummed loudly. Small Arrays condensed from light lit up brightly inside the cauldron, incredibly dazzling.

Alchemists possessed many cauldrons. Some were for refining medicine, while others were evolutionary cauldrons used to dissect the Elixirs of other Alchemists.

"That should do it..."

Seeing that the heat in the Purple Gold Cauldron was just about right, Yun Buliu withdrew his hand seals and slowly poured the liquid elixir he had just received from Su Tan into the cauldron.

A miraculous scene occurred. The liquid elixir slithered down like a conscious little snake, winding its way to the center of the Purple Gold Cauldron and into the numerous small Arrays.

SIZZLE...

As the liquid elixir met the fire, a large amount of its water content evaporated, leaving only a portion in a liquid state. With the loss of moisture, the originally diluted liquid elixir actually began to concentrate. Although the volume was small, its purity was already about one-tenth of the liquid elixir Su Tan had initially poured into the vat.

"The purification is a success..." Yun Buliu’s expression grew tense. "Next comes the most crucial part: dissection and evolution..."

His gaze sharpened. "Separate!"

SWISH...

A brilliant green light flared.