Chapter 107: The Alchemist

“By the way, my alchemy furnace will need a few custom features.”

Yun Jiao, entirely unaware that Wenqing’s worldview was disintegrating, spoke matter-of-factly. “I’d like you to pay special attention when refining it.”

“Custom… features?” Wenqing blinked, finally regaining his senses. “What kind of requirements?”

A furnace was just a furnace, wasn’t it?

Yun Jiao thought seriously before listing them out one by one.

“Nothing complicated. I just need the furnace to have a built-in fire-control device—something that lets me adjust the flame intensity freely. It also has to gather spiritual energy, and the flow should be adjustable. Inside, I want measurement markings to track the potency of the concoction. Oh, and at least one side of the furnace should be translucent so I can see what’s happening inside.

“If possible, it should also have a timing reminder—a signal for when the pills are ready to open the furnace. That’s about it. The rest we can discuss later.”

Wenqing: “…”

Nothing complicated?

Why didn’t she just ask him to do the alchemy for her?!

Between controlling heat, channeling energy, and managing condensation, what exactly would be left for the alchemist to do?!

(╯°Д°)╯︵┻━┻

A black line popped on Wenqing’s forehead. He forced himself to stay calm—debts did that to a man.

“Little Martial-niece,” he said carefully, “a furnace like that would be… quite difficult to make.”

“Difficult? Really?” Yun Jiao looked puzzled. “But that’s all basic functionality.”

She had merely described a standard rice cooker.

“Little Martial-niece…” Wenqing sighed, thinking she simply didn’t understand alchemy. “In pill-making, the furnace is only a vessel. The real art lies in the alchemist’s control—drawing out medicinal essence through flame, tempering it with the world’s energy, and seizing the perfect moment to open the furnace. Every detail affects the result. The furnace itself plays a secondary role.

“I’ve never heard of a furnace doing all that on its own.”

Yun Jiao tilted her head. “What if you inscribe formation arrays inside it?”

“Arrays, yes… possible.” He frowned thoughtfully. “But it wouldn’t be simple. You’d need at least four or five, maybe more—multi-layered, interlocking formations. Even if I can fuse them into the furnace, that kind of setup would…” be impossible to complete, he almost said.

“That’s fine then!” Yun Jiao interrupted brightly. “I’ve already drawn the array diagram. You just need to refine the furnace.”

She turned, pulled a scroll from the shelf, and handed it to him.

Wenqing took it without thinking.

At first glance, his hands trembled. The diagram was insanely complex—at least a dozen nested arrays: Fire Intensification, Spirit Gathering, Resonance Control, Energy Conduction… and several he couldn’t even recognize. Each one interlocked seamlessly, complementing the others with perfect precision.

Even as a mere dabbler in array-craft, he could tell that if this pattern were truly merged into a furnace, it would produce exactly the kind of magical instrument she described.

“This… this…” He stared from the scroll to Yun Jiao in disbelief.

“Any questions?” she asked calmly.

“…No questions!”

Only existential dread.

Why did it feel like every alchemist in the world was about to lose their jobs?!

Taking a deep breath, Wenqing steadied himself. “Such an exquisite diagram… did Master draw this himself?”

“No,” Yun Jiao said.

“Not Master?!” His eyes widened. Besides their teacher, who else could design something this advanced? “Then… some reclusive immortal, perhaps?”

“Nope.”

“Then who—”

“I was bored last night,” she said casually. “So I doodled it.”

“…”

WHAT?!

Σ(°△°|||)︴

“You—you said you were a spiritual healer!” he stammered. “Why do you know formations?”

“That’s why I said I was doodling,” Yun Jiao replied matter-of-factly.

“…”

Wenqing’s throat locked up.

Doodling?!

You don’t just doodle a twenty-plus-layered interlinked array! Even in the Upper Realm, barely anyone could manage such a thing—not even Master’s most brilliant disciples.

If she kept this up, both alchemists and formation masters would be out of business!

“Well, I did rush it a little,” Yun Jiao mused, studying the design critically. “I only layered twenty-three formations. A bit simplistic, really. Should I add a few more?”

“…”

“Maybe throw in some dust-repelling and self-cleaning arrays too? Proper maintenance is important for any instrument.”

“…”

After a long silence, Wenqing finally said, “Daoist Yun… be honest with me.”

“Hmm?”

“You’re not actually my martial-niece, are you? You’re my martial-aunt, right?”

“…”

——————————

To his credit, Wenqing truly was a master of the forge. After one night of existential crisis, he pulled himself together and finished the furnace by the next evening.

The result?

A masterpiece.

It could automatically regulate temperature, adjust spiritual energy intake, issue alerts when the pill was ready, display internal readings in real time, and even transform in size—shrinking into a pendant for travel or expanding into full working mode.

The ultimate multipurpose appliance—half rice cooker, half miracle furnace.

Yun Jiao tested it with a basic Spirit-Gathering Pill. The results were excellent. The pill came out mid-grade—just a matter of fine-tuning the timing for higher quality next time.

If only they had more herbs.

Bai Yu was speechless. So it was her first attempt at alchemy, and she’d succeeded. Of course she had. With this girl around, nothing seemed impossible anymore.

╮(╯▽╰)╭

Wenqing, meanwhile, stared at the furnace he had personally forged, feeling his soul crumble.

So this is what alchemy has become…

The arrays were drawn by a “bored novice,” and he, a dignified immortal craftsman, had just built a glorified self-operating machine.

He suddenly felt that all his years of cultivation had been… in vain.

┭┮﹏┭┮

“Here,” Yun Jiao said, handing a pill bottle to Bai Yu. “You take it. No sense letting it go to waste.”

“Oh.” The old man accepted it without hesitation. Since Yun Jiao lacked spiritual veins, the pills were useless to her anyway. “With this bottle of Spirit-Gathering Pills, I should be able to break through to the fourth layer of the Mystic Heart Sutra.”

“Good.” Yun Jiao nodded, then added casually, “Once you do, you can start studying the Nine Melodies Codex. The manual’s on your shelf—finish it within two weeks.”

“…” Are you the devil?!

o(≧口≦)o

Wenqing’s expression twisted again.

Their Seventh Brother had taken seven—no, ten—years to reach the fourth layer of the Heart Sutra.

Bai Yu had cultivated barely a year.

At this rate, these two couldn’t possibly be their Master’s disciples… right?

He sighed, about to ask about his audit schedule when Yun Jiao’s communication talisman suddenly flared to life.

She lifted it instinctively.

A panicked voice rang out from the other end—

“Daoist Yun! Something’s wrong—please come to the Celestial Masters Hall at once! It’s an emergency!”

“…”

(End of Chapter)