“Hoo—”

Qin Lu carefully controlled the flame in his palm, allowing the alchemy furnace to heat evenly.

His expression was tense, his body rigid, and beads of sweat the size of beans slowly slid down his forehead.

“Now!”

Seizing the opportunity, Qin Lu activated the Object Control Technique. A medicinal ingredient levitated from the ground and shot swiftly into the furnace.

“Add the final ingredient, then slightly increase the temperature…”

He murmured to himself while channeling his spiritual energy to stoke the flame.

Having upgraded the Ignition Technique to the “Grandmaster” level, Qin Lu handled the fire with ease, controlling every flicker according to his will.

Inside the furnace, the ingredients fused. Impurities were expelled one by one under the high-temperature roasting, and the mixture gradually turned into a medicinal liquid, suspended in the heat.

“Finally, fuse them together…”

With a thought, Qin Lu increased the temperature once more, extending his spiritual energy into the furnace to guide the pill’s formation.

But right at that moment…

Thump!

A dull sound echoed from within the furnace.

Immediately, the suspended liquid splashed onto the scorching furnace bottom, vanishing into wisps of green smoke.

“Dammit! Failed again!”

Qin Lu stared gloomily at the mid-grade tier-one alchemy furnace.

Half a month had passed since he bought it. Today was his eighth attempt at pill refining.

And now, all eight attempts had ended in failure. All his medicinal ingredients were exhausted.

“Just let me succeed once! Once is all I need to take off!” Qin Lu exclaimed, exasperated.

With his proficiency attribute panel, a single success would register the skill. Once registered, he could steadily grind its proficiency, guaranteeing a higher success rate.

Yet, after spending over a hundred Spirit Stones on materials, he hadn’t seen even a hint of success.

“Sigh…”

“Could it be that I truly have no talent for alchemy?”

Qin Lu sighed, standing up to look at the small furnace with helplessness.

After returning from East Head Ridge, his assets had skyrocketed to over five thousand Spirit Stones, greatly alleviating his financial stress.

He hadn’t neglected his livelihood, of course. Every day he drew Golden Light Talismans, producing four or five daily to trade at the Sky Book Pavilion.

However, during this period, Qin Lu had taken an interest in the more lucrative arts of alchemy and artifact forging.

With ample funds, he spent over five hundred Spirit Stones on a furnace and a forging platform. Another two hundred went to materials and instructional manuals.

Finally, he began learning pill refining.

But his confidence was met with eight consecutive setbacks—a one hundred percent failure rate.

Qin Lu flicked his sleeve and turned away from the alchemy room, his expression sour.

To ensure quiet for his new hobbies, he had specially designated two rooms in the backyard as workshops.

He made his way back to the courtyard.

He saw Chu Xiaoyi leading two young boys as they swept fallen leaves and dust. Upon seeing Qin Lu, all three stopped and bowed respectfully.

Since Feng Xi had begun cultivation training, she was exempt from chores. This left Chu Xiaoyi with a heavier workload, so Qin Lu had purchased six mortal servants from an agency to handle the daily tasks.

Naturally, Chu Xiaoyi became their little team leader.

Glancing at the three of them, Qin Lu nodded casually before heading to the main house.

Closing the door behind him, he went to the table and lit a stick of bamboo incense. Green smoke curled upward, filling the room with a natural, calming fragrance.

He walked over to a brand-new meditation cushion and sat cross-legged. Looking around the room eased his irritation.

Since coming into wealth, he had upgraded his lifestyle significantly.

Bamboo incense for focus, Qi-gathering cushions, refreshing spirit tea, temperature-adjusting bathtubs, page-turning desks, spiritual energy brushes, sound-blocking formations…

He had bought a whole series of cultivation gadgets that caught his interest. He even purchased several sets of defensive robes and boots, storing them in his Storage Bag.

“If alchemy doesn’t work out, then let’s look into artifact forging. Maybe I’m that one-in-ten-thousand forging prodigy?” Qin Lu silently encouraged himself.

With a thought, he retrieved a book from his Storage Bag.

The cover bore several large characters: A Novice’s Comprehensive Guide to Artifact Forging for Cultivators.

Letting out a breath to calm his mind, Qin Lu opened to the first page.

In the cultivation world, a hundred flowers bloomed; various professions emerged endlessly.

There were all kinds of arts: Alchemy, Artifact Forging, Formations, Talisman-making, Spirit Plant Cultivation, Spirit Cooking, Vein Prospecting, Treasure Appraisal, Beast Taming, Insect Taming, Puppetry, Medicine, Poison Arts, Astrology, and more.

But the most profitable were the Four Arts of Cultivation: Alchemy, Artifact Forging, Formations, and Talisman-making.

Among these, Alchemy was considered the highest, and Talisman-making the lowest.

Since he apparently had no affinity for Alchemy, he decided to let his restless mind wander toward Artifact Forging instead.

One hour later.

Qin Lu put down the book. “It seems artifact forging might be slightly easier than alchemy… But I’ll only know after trying…”

He sat lost in thought for a moment before opening his attribute panel.

[Name: Qin Lu] [Lifespan: 36/132 years] [Cultivation Base: Qi Refining Eighth Layer: 3/100]

[Cultivation Method:]

Mystic Sun Mantra (Grandmaster): 2653/3000

[Skills:]

Spells:

Ignition Technique (Grandmaster): 2920/3000

Finger Flick Technique (Grandmaster): 2995/3000

Illumination Technique (Grandmaster): 2150/3000

Cutting Technique (Grandmaster): 2155/3000

Soft Wind Technique (Grandmaster): 1258/3000

Spirit Shield Technique (Grandmaster): 15/3000

Heavenly Eye Technique (Grandmaster): 26/3000

Disguise Technique (Grandmaster): 4/3000

Object Control Technique (Grandmaster): 10/3000

Talisman-making:

Water Qi Shield (Grandmaster): 2/3000

Cleansing Talisman (Proficient): 13/200

Body Protection Shield (Proficient): 514/600

Swift Step Talisman (Novice): 12/100

Golden Light Talisman (Proficient): 594/600

Sword Arts:

Gray Shadow Sword Art (Grandmaster): 1263/3000

[Innate Talents: None]

After nearly two months of intensive effort, his strength had improved by leaps and bounds.

Thanks to an uninterrupted supply of Qi Gathering Pills, what would have taken over three months was compressed into two. Of course, those dozens of pills had cost him two thousand Spirit Stones.

At this moment, Steward Chen’s voice came from outside the door.

“Lord Master, there is news from the market.”

“What news?”

“The arena competition registration is open now.”

Hearing this, Qin Lu’s eyes lit up. “Good, I understand…”