Chapter 118 - 113: Calling the Administrator

Chapter 118: Chapter 113: Calling the Administrator

"Master, what do you think of the elixir I refined?"

During their post-meal leisure time, as Su Tan lay basking in the sun, Yun Buliu took the opportunity to bring out the Red Fire Glaze Pill he had refined the previous night and asked for his critique.

The jade bottle was opened. A fragrant aroma wafted through the air as a distinct medicinal scent spilled from the bottle.

"The medicinal aroma is overpowering. At first sniff, one might think it’s some incredible treasure, but in reality, it’s just a half-ruined elixir. The scent escapes because the medicinal properties aren’t locked in. A truly good elixir should be completely odorless. The fact that your scent is so strong means its efficacy is leaking away every passing moment. Only by storing it in a jade bottle can you barely preserve a fraction of its functions," Su Tan said without taking the elixir.

If anyone else had given such a critique, Yun Buliu would have brushed it off in disagreement. But since it was Su Tan saying it, he believed it. He had genuinely witnessed the perfect medicinal liquid Su Tan had refined before.

"Master, please take another look. What other flaws does this medicine have?" Yun Buliu immediately tipped the elixir out and handed it to Su Tan.

Having nothing better to do, Su Tan casually inspected it. His willingness was largely due to the favorable impression the recent meal had left on him.

"Half of this elixir consists of impurities...

"The lock on its medicinal properties is far from secure...

"The vital connections are not smooth; it looks as though the condensation was forced...

"The various attributes within the elixir are unbalanced."

He had originally thought this was a perfectly normal elixir, but after Su Tan pointed out its flaws, he realized it was utterly worthless and riddled with defects. Yun Buliu began to doubt his entire existence.

He wondered, "Am I really an Alchemist? Do I actually know Alchemy? I don’t know a damn thing! I’m nothing more than an amateur Medicine Boy..."

It had been a very long time since he had entertained such thoughts. The last time he felt this useless was over a century ago, when he first stepped into the martial world, bowed to his first master, and was just introduced to Alchemy...

In front of Su Tan, he once again experienced what it meant to be unable to hold his head high! He felt genuine admiration from the bottom of his heart.

"Then, Master, if you were to refine this elixir, how would you do it?" Yun Buliu asked.

"I can’t refine an elixir of this tier!" Su Tan said, waving his hand.

He hadn’t reached that level yet. However, he could still discern the good from the bad when inspecting an elixir. If asked to correct the refinement process, he might be able to offer some pointers.

Couldn’t refine it? This phrase could carry two meanings. First, that he couldn’t refine such a garbage elixir. Second, that his level wasn’t high enough to refine such an advanced elixir.

Naturally, Yun Buliu assumed Su Tan meant the former. He figured Su Tan simply didn’t want to instruct him. He hadn’t expected Su Tan to teach him right away, anyway. That was someone’s trump card; how could it be taught to others so easily? Although he constantly addressed Su Tan as his master, Su Tan had yet to actually take him in as a disciple. Even his title of "half-master" was something Yun Buliu had forced upon him.

"Then, Master, is there any way to salvage this elixir?" Yun Buliu asked again.

Generally speaking, after an elixir was refined, its quality could still be elevated. This was known as secondary refinement. How much the quality could be improved depended on an individual’s Alchemy Skill and the strength of their methods.

"It can indeed be improved a bit," Su Tan said. "It’s just a pity that I don’t have a cauldron for secondary refinement."

Su Tan only had one cauldron. A Pill Furnace. As for other miscellaneous tools, he didn’t have them, nor did he need them, because for him, refining once was enough.

"Master, I have one. If you aren’t busy, please demonstrate and let your disciple broaden his horizons," Yun Buliu said.

He then took out a Glazed Small Cauldron, about the size of an incense burner, from his Storage Space Bag. Yun Buliu’s equipment was very comprehensive.

"Ignite!"

WHOOSH.

Flames surged and roared.

"Master, please!"

Su Tan thought about it. It was just a small effort anyway, and it wouldn’t delay anything important. He expanded his Overlord Body Realm and felt the fire within the cauldron.

SWISH.

With a flick of his wrist, he tossed the elixir into the Pill Furnace. He slapped a few simple hand seals onto it.

The flames flickered high and low. The Spiritual Qi inside the cauldron surged and receded.

With just a few casual strikes, the elixir in the Pill Furnace reacted as if it were vomiting, expelling black impurities along with unbalanced, excess medicinal properties.

Because the connections between its various attributes weren’t tight, Su Tan could accomplish this. He couldn’t refine an elixir of this tier from scratch, but merely improving it was very simple. The medicine Yun Buliu had refined was full of flaws... somewhat akin to a semi-finished product. Su Tan only needed to execute a straightforward step to casually fix the bugs. Yet, this casual step was absolutely crucial to the elixir’s overall quality.

Yun Buliu was completely unaware of this underlying issue.

The medicinal properties sealed tightly once more, leaving no gaps.

"Done!" Su Tan said.

Yun Buliu, Shangguan Xiu’Er, and Yun Chu all gaped with their mouths wide open. In their eyes, Su Tan had just slapped the cauldron a few times and then... it was done? It felt incredibly perfunctory.

"Doing this can elevate the elixir’s quality. Understood?" Su Tan asked.

Since he had partaken of their excellent meal, he felt obligated to return the favor. Offering a few pointers during his free time meant neither party owed the other anything. After finishing, Su Tan lay back down on his lounger.

Yun Buliu was stunned.

Understood?

Understand my ass!!!

He wondered, "He slapped it randomly a few times and then asks if I understood? Does he really think I could comprehend that? It’s impossible to understand..."

A troubled expression appeared on Yun Buliu’s face as he grew even more bewildered.

HISSS...

The flames extinguished.

With a wave of his hand, Yun Buliu summoned the elixir from the cauldron into his palm. At this moment, the scent of the elixir had become incredibly faint. Upon closer inspection, his pupils shrank.

"High-tier, upper-grade!"

Initially, it had only been a mid-tier, upper-grade product. Yet, with just a couple of casual slaps, Su Tan had actually elevated the elixir’s quality to a high-tier, upper-grade level. He had raised it by an entire tier!

Shock filled Yun Buliu’s eyes. The more ordinary the method, the more devoid of flashy movements it was, the more astonishing the result proved to be.

"This is nothing. If my skills were a bit higher, I could have made it even more perfect," Su Tan said.

He was telling the truth. With his current abilities, this was the extent of what he could achieve. Any further forced purification would cause the elixir to spiral out of control. Su Tan couldn’t possibly suppress the properties of a fifth-tier elixir. The recent purification was just him "going with the flow," taking slight advantage of the direction in which the medicinal properties were naturally moving.

PFFT...

Yun Buliu felt like coughing up blood. It had been elevated by an entire tier, and that was "nothing"?

"Thank you, Master, for broadening your disciple’s horizons!"

After finishing the remaining chores, Yun Buliu, his disciple, and Yun Chu took their leave. They had no reason to stay any longer. Yun Buliu also wanted to hurry home to study Su Tan’s recent methods and examine the newly enhanced elixir.

If he had asked Su Tan to teach him? Su Tan would only have said to just toss it in randomly and mess around with it. This was also a major reason why Su Tan refused to take Yun Buliu in as a disciple. Refining on his own was fine, but teaching someone else? He didn’t know how to teach.

Upon returning to the Yun family’s home, Yun Buliu diligently devoted himself to his research. Having witnessed Su Tan repairing the elixir with his own eyes, he was bound to glean some insights. He benefited immensely from the experience.

"Master, with your Alchemy Skill drastically improving this time, you should be able to beat that person, right?" Shangguan Xiu’Er asked.

Hearing this, Yun Buliu’s face darkened, and he remained silent.

After they left, Su Tan also began his own cultivation.

Aside from Body Refinement, Su Tan had also equipped many weapons and armor. At present, his cultivation base was composed of the buff effects provided by the Ten Thousand Dao Furnace and those from his equipment slots. The gains from the Ten Thousand Dao Furnace were far in the lead. For the sake of balance, Su Tan began equipping items. The Xu family and the Yun family could both serve as his sources of equipment.

Su Tan glanced at his system panel. Recently, the quality of the items in his equipment slots had been upgraded to their limits, unlocking new slots.

"DING. Unlocked new Inventory slots +3..."

In truth, the Inventory slot limitations weren’t much of a restriction. He only needed to elevate the quality of equipped items to a certain degree to unlock new Inventory slots, as well as trigger system upgrades to continue strengthening his original items. This was merely to make the host prioritize balancing item quality. If there were no limits, his attack power might occasionally reach hundreds of millions while his Defense Power remained in the mere hundreds... That would be completely absurd.

"DING. Equipped Iron Sword +1... Attack Power +100..."

"DING. Equipped Iron Sword +1... Attack Power +100..."

"DING. Equipped Vajra Armor +1... Defense Power +400..."

"Directly equipping items really is much simpler," Su Tan remarked. It required no brainpower whatsoever.

His cultivation base grew stronger by the day. Equipping items was far more comfortable than cultivating on his own. However, Su Tan would absolutely never lose himself in this fleeting pleasure.

Before he knew it, half a month had passed.

During this period, Yun Buliu, Shangguan Xiu’Er, and Yun Chu frequently came over to curry favor. At first, Su Tan would tell them to stop acting like that, but as time went on, he just let them do as they pleased.

"Calling... calling Admin Number Two. Calling Admin Number Two... The Marching Battlefield is showing anomalies again. The Yin Demons are causing trouble! Requesting backup! Requesting backup!" The Fat Monk sent a message from the Void God Realm.

"Big Brother, come quickly! Come quickly!"