On the other end of the small courtyard, what was once a bright, snow-white tiled wall had been blackened by heat and smoke, and half of a shattered, ruined cauldron was embedded in the wall.
Wang Zhiya stood there, sporting a charred and unconventional look, his whole body trembling with excitement as he cradled something in his hands.
“I did it! I really did it!!! Hahaha!!!”
By the time Lin Shu and Lu Zhiyun arrived, the two could only stare at each other in bewilderment.
“Senior Brother, what’s wrong with him?” Lu Zhiyun asked.
“He probably blew up his cauldron. Nothing too serious!” Lin Shu let out a sigh of relief.
As disciples of a top-tier Immortal Sect, it was only natural to master the myriad arts of cultivation. Each disciple, after taking the Basement Golden Pill, was required to choose a course of study based on personal interest.
Cultivation, Alchemy, spiritual cooking, talismans, and the like…
They didn’t do this for diversity’s sake, but simply to prevent disciples from starving to death while out in the wild.
Wang Zhiya possessed a fire-element single spiritual root, innately imbued with nearly pure Pure Yang Qi, making him best suited for either forging or Alchemy.
And as the future of the Myriad Arts Immortal Sect, it was no big deal for him to begin cultivating such skills early in the Qi Refinement stage.
Now, seeing Wang Zhiya apparently driven mad after blowing up his cauldron, Lin Shu was already prepared to offer some comforting words.
“Junior Brother Wang, blowing up a cauldron is a trivial matter. The road of cultivation is long, your life has only just begun, and you’ll have plenty of chances to learn from mistakes. This failure is only to pave the way for even greater success next time. Blowing up your cauldron isn’t necessarily due to lack of Alchemy skill—maybe you just need a good cauldron!”
“Allow me to recommend the Cooking Cauldron my Little Martial Uncle crafted especially for cooking. No matter what, it’ll never explode! Only a thousand spirit stones, delivered right to your door, with a ten-year warranty—ah, pfft! Got my lines mixed up!”
Lin Shu slapped himself to clear his mind.
Back when Lin Shu brought Lin Yingxue along to peddle goods, they sold many cauldrons with their “buy a meal, get a cauldron,” “ten percent off for a single bite,” and “finish your plate, get it free” sales pitches—all slogans Lin Shu had crafted and loudly promoted himself.
The results were excellent. Everyone bought at full price, no one felt any pain losing their spirit stones, and Lin Shu made a killing.
Now, seeing the cauldron again, Lin Shu had blurted out his sales pitch out of habit, and the atmosphere turned a bit awkward.
Fortunately, Wang Zhiya didn’t seem to notice. Shoulders hunched, he continued muttering joyfully to himself.
“Little Martial Sister, do you know what’s up with Junior Brother Wang?” Lin Shu asked.
“No idea! After dinner, he lay down for a bit, then suddenly said he had an epiphany about Alchemy, locked himself in his room, and that was that.” Lu Zhiyun waved her hand.
She truly hadn’t expected that, of all of them, it would be Wang Zhiya making the biggest commotion.
Was Alchemy really this dangerous? Looks like I’ll need to pick a different course!
Since he wasn’t getting any answers, Lin Shu stepped forward and gently patted Wang Zhiya on the back. The latter, seemingly unaware of anyone behind him, jumped with a start.
“Lin… Lin Senior Brother!” Wang Zhiya’s face was so blackened it could only be recognized by the youthful contour of his cheeks.
He was so excited he could barely speak, shaking Lin Shu’s hand, “Senior Brother Lin! I… I figured it out!”
“Take your time, Junior Brother. What did you discover?” Lin Shu asked.
“This!”
As Wang Zhiya opened his palm, a brilliantly golden pill sat in his hand.
Lin Shu stroked his chin in thought. The pill wasn’t of high quality—at best, it was at the Basement Golden Pill level—but its lustrous color was quite impressive, nearly qualifying as a high-grade pill.
Before long, Lin Shu reached a conclusion: this was a pill that would take one percent talent, one percent effort, and the remaining ninety-eight percent pure luck to concoct.
This kid is terrifying—he must not be allowed to remain… ah, pfft! I mean, he should be encouraged!
“As expected of a disciple of the Myriad Arts Immortal Sect, Junior Brother Wang. I don’t believe I’ve ever seen this kind of pill before.”
Low-level cultivators could only make a handful of basic pills—mostly those to restore energy, blood, or vitality, and at best, some enhancement pills.
Lin Shu was sure he’d never seen the kind of pill Wang Zhiya had made.
“Hehe! I came up with this after eating! Right after I finished, I suddenly felt like I was back in the recent battle with the tiger demon!” Wang Zhiya said excitedly.
“Wait, wait! Skip the flashback!” Lin Shu hit the “fast-forward button”—he’d heard this part twice already…
“Oh, right! The battle was about to erupt, but Junior Sister Tong and I had run out of spiritual energy, so we couldn’t fight any longer. It was thanks to Junior Sister Lu stepping up that we were saved!”
As he finished, he glanced at Lu Zhiyun, who turned to Lin Shu with a grin, clearly waiting for praise.
“At the time, I thought, if we only rely on energy-restoring pills, they’re hard to use mid-battle. Recovery takes time, and if something unexpected happens, we’re doomed!”
“So you invented a pill that instantly restores spiritual energy?” Lin Shu asked.
But even so, eating a high-grade recovery pill could do the trick; after all, these juniors didn’t have much energy to begin with.
As expected, Wang Zhiya shook his head.
“No! This is a Summoning Clone Pill!”
A pill for summoning a clone!!!
He knew the Myriad Arts Immortal Sect had many strange techniques, but he never imagined someone could fuse a clone technique and a pill!?
“Basically, it’s just inscribing a Summoning Array on the pill!” Wang Zhiya revealed.
“…”
“So the pill summons a clone to stall the enemy and buy time for the user to recover?” Lu Zhiyun asked.
Lin Shu nodded in approval. That was sound logic! His little junior sister was indeed sharp.
But Wang Zhiya just looked at Lu Zhiyun with a “That’s all?” expression.
“To be precise, this pill is meant for the enemy! It summons a clone of the enemy!”
Lu Zhiyun and Lin Shu: “???”
What use is that? Isn’t one opponent enough? Why not make the enemy take ten, so you can fight ten at once?
“Of course it’s not what you think. Let me show you!”
With that, Wang Zhiya swallowed the pill.
In an instant, spiritual energy surged from within him like a balloon inflating, then, reaching its limit, started to deflate and pour out. It formed a Summoning Array, and before their eyes, a being identical to “Wang Zhiya” materialized.
“Just like that!” Wang Zhiya pointed at “himself.”
“So… the effect…” Lu Zhiyun couldn’t help but ask, but before she finished, she saw a shocking scene.
The other “Wang Zhiya” lunged over, sat on the original’s body, and began pummeling him—fist after fist, each blow powerful and heavy.
“Ah! Senior Brother! That’s the effect! Ah! Not so hard!” Wang Zhiya wailed, introducing his pill as he took a beating.
“This…”
Lin Shu finally understood. The pill summoned a clone identical to the enemy, then set it to fight the original.
Moreover… watching Wang Zhiya dodge left and right, yet the clone’s fists landed perfectly as if reading his mind, Lin Shu had a bold guess.
The clone was connected to the original, able to anticipate the real one’s moves!
“Genius! If you’d been born a few years earlier and joined my Azure Luan Peak, you could have been my right-hand man!” Lin Shu exclaimed in admiration.
Wang Zhiya, taking hits, managed to say, “Thank you for the praise, Senior Brother! Ah! This was inspired by Junior Sister Lu!”
Lu Zhiyun pointed to herself, confused. What did I do?
Lin Shu laughed, “It’s probably because you fed the tiger demon and helped win the fight, which gave him the idea!”
That’s right! Ever since he witnessed such a devious combat strategy, Wang Zhiya had been determined to develop new techniques—thus, this pill was born.
Lin Shu felt gratified—it was finally not another “Senior Brother’s inspiration” moment!
He looked at Lu Zhiyun with an approving nod, but in her eyes, the look held another meaning.
Why does it feel like there’s a hidden warning in his smile? Is he upset I stole his thunder?
“No, no, no! I learned everything from Senior Brother, it’s all thanks to his excellent teaching!” Lu Zhiyun quickly corrected herself.
What? Again?
Lin Shu shook his head in resignation.
Before long, the clone vanished and Wang Zhiya passed out from the beating. After confirming he was unharmed, Lin Shu fed him a Third-grade Great Reversion Pill, then led Lu Zhiyun out of the room.
Looks like the clone from this pill isn’t fatal; it dissipates after reaching a certain point!
Stepping outside, the sun hadn’t set yet. By the distant stream, women washed clothes, and a few barks echoed from the fields. The senior and junior walked side by side, feeling the tranquil years of Qing Shan Town. When they reached a small mound, Lu Zhiyun suddenly stopped, turning to face Lin Shu.
“Senior Brother!”
“What is it, Little Martial Sister? Do you have a question?” Lin Shu smiled.
Lu Zhiyun hesitated for a moment before speaking:
“We’re currently inside a secret realm, aren’t we?”
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