Chapter 44 You Are Lacking in Virtue Too

The little black ball acted all smug for a long time before finally saying, "Those jade slips are all pages of the very same book; otherwise, they wouldn't have entered your sea of consciousness all at once. I just have no idea why it fell apart."

Seeing that the little black ball only had limited knowledge, Feng Xi temporarily put the matter aside. For now, cultivation was her top priority.

For the next few days, Feng Xi went to the lecture hall during the day and returned to cultivate at night. She slept for at most two hours a day.

Even the little black ball had to admit that this good-for-nothing lass was truly relentless!

On this day, Feng Xi trotted over to class, only to find to her surprise that apart from her and Jun Wen, who were permanent fixtures, there were only a sparse few others present.

"Fifth Senior Brother, why are there so few people attending the lecture today? Is something going on in the sect?"

Jun Wen let out a yawn. He had also been cultivating through the night these past few days, leaving him somewhat low on energy during the day.

"Junior Sister, the reason hardly anyone is here is because today's class is on alchemy."

Feng Xi understood the moment she heard this.

Sword cultivation, alchemy, beast taming, weapon crafting, array formations, and talisman making were collectively known as the Six Arts of Cultivation.

Among Xiao Baidao's five direct disciples, only the second disciple, Pei Zhou, was a talisman master, while the other four practiced sword cultivation exclusively.

Unlike the other three sects, where the direct disciples spanned at least three of the Six Arts of Cultivation, this was one of the reasons why the Xuantian Sect always came in last at every grand tournament of the four sects.

To put it bluntly, the direct disciples of the Xuantian Sect had a severe imbalance in their studies.

Well, now with Feng Xi, whose Dantian was damaged, they had directly... failed the course.

It wasn't just the direct disciples; ninety-nine percent of the inner and outer sect disciples of the Xuantian Sect also specialized exclusively in sword cultivation.

In truth, it wasn't that the disciples of the Xuantian Sect weren't interested in alchemy and the like, but rather that it was simply too expensive!

Take alchemy masters, for instance. To achieve any level of success, it required countless rounds of practice. Given how utterly broke the Xuantian Sect was, it simply couldn't provide free herbs for the disciples to practice with.

Then there was the paper and ink for talisman masters, the various materials for weapon crafting, the array discs for array masters...

Over time, no one chose those other five paths anymore, and everyone devoted themselves wholeheartedly to sword cultivation.

That was why hardly anyone came to the lecture.

Just as Feng Xi was pondering this, Elder Ji, who taught the alchemy class, arrived.

Elder Ji was evidently already used to the desolate and deserted lecture scenes, so he skipped any introductory remarks and directly began teaching the method for refining Hemostatic Pills.

Jun Wen listened until he grew drowsy and fell asleep shortly after.

Feng Xi wasn't particularly interested either. Her most pressing task right now was to swiftly cultivate her other two spiritual roots, and she had no energy to spare for alchemy.

Just as she was also growing sleepy, Elder Ji sighed.

"It seems none of you have any interest in alchemy, so there is no need for us to waste each other's time. You may practice on your own!

Sigh, if only our Xuantian Sect had a few more alchemy masters—especially Earth-grade alchemy masters—would we still be worrying about spiritual stones?!

If we just stoked the cauldrons a few times a month, vast amounts of spiritual stones would flow in, and the sect would have been wealthy long ago!

Forget it, there's no use saying more..."

Feng Xi: (✧◡✧)

How could it be useless? It was immensely useful!

Right now, apart from lacking spiritual roots, all she lacked was money!

The little black ball whispered faintly within her spiritual sense: "You also lack virtue!"

Feng Xi had no time to deal with it. As soon as Elder Ji turned and walked away, she trotted after him.

"Elder Ji, I am interested in alchemy—extremely interested! I dream of refining pills every single day! Can I study alchemy with you from now on?"

Elder Ji still held a rather favorable impression of Feng Xi. To be precise, everyone in the Xuantian Sect adored Feng Xi.

Hearing her words, he chuckled and said, "Xiao Xi, it's a good thing that you want to refine pills, but you must wait until your Dantian injury is fully healed."

In truth, this was just an excuse; he didn't hold high hopes for Feng Xi.

The best alchemy masters possessed fire spiritual roots, followed by dual fire and wood spiritual roots.

Someone like Feng Xi, who had water, wood, and fire spiritual roots—especially since water and fire spiritual roots were mutually opposed—was exceptionally unsuited to be an alchemy master.

Not to mention, her Dantian was injured on top of that.

Naturally, Feng Xi refused to give up, but unfortunately, Elder Ji wouldn't budge.

In the end, Feng Xi left drooping and crestfallen.

Elder Ji thought she had given up, but the next morning, the moment he arrived at the alchemy room, he saw Feng Xi.

"Elder Ji, the lecture hall is taking a mid-decade break today, so I've come to see you."

Elder Ji naturally knew her true intent wasn't just to visit, but he didn't chase her away either and began teaching alchemy to the disciples.

These disciples were all alchemy masters of the Xuantian Sect, though their talents were merely average, with the highest among them being only a Mysterious-grade Tier 2 alchemy master.

Alchemy masters were divided into four major tiers: Heaven, Earth, Mysterious, and Yellow, with each tier further divided into nine grades.

Elder Ji was an Earth-grade Tier 5 alchemy master, which could be considered a top-tier existence within the Northern Domain Continent.

The topic Elder Ji was explaining today was the Clarity Pill, which required over thirty kinds of herbs and involved extremely cumbersome refinement steps.

There were as many as five types of pill seals alone.

The vast majority of those disciples furrowed their brows, evidently failing to grasp it.

Elder Ji repeated the process a few times and then instructed the disciples to begin refining.

Feng Xi asked curiously, "Elder Ji, are you only teaching the Clarity Pill today? You're not teaching anything else?"

Elder Ji... "The Clarity Pill is enough for them to digest for a month or even a few months, and they might still not master it."

Feng Xi uttered an "oh" and said nothing more.

She chatted with Elder Ji for a little longer, then scurried off in a rush.

Elder Ji shook his head; this lass was young after all, acting on whatever whim crossed her mind.

Feng Xi went to find Jun Wen.

"Fifth Senior Brother, where can I get an alchemy furnace? I'm going to start refining pills!"

Jun Wen... "..."

Things had just quieted down for a few days, so why was she talking crazy again?

You're going to start refining pills?

Do you even know how?

Besides, refining pills continuously drains spiritual sense and spiritual power. Can you possibly hold out?

Yet, no matter how much he tried to persuade her, Feng Xi remained adamant about refining pills.

Thinking it over, Jun Wen decided: fine, if you want to refine them, go ahead. Once you taste hardship, you'll stop!

So he said, "There is a small market on the North Peak where sect disciples sell some of their idle items. I'll accompany you to see if anyone is selling a second-hand alchemy furnace."

The two of them immediately headed to the North Peak, and sure enough, they managed to buy an alchemy furnace—albeit one missing a leg.

Feng Xi felt it didn't matter; she could just prop something underneath it.

Since it was just for practice anyway, a high-quality one was unnecessary.

Aside from that, she also bought quite a few auxiliary herbs for refining the Clarity Pill.

She already had several of the main ingredients in her storage ring, which saved her a substantial amount of spiritual stones.

Then, she hurried back to her courtyard in high spirits.

Jun Wen was worried and followed her there as well.

Following Elder Ji's steps, Feng Xi began refining the pills.

And surprisingly, it actually looked quite authentic; even the pill seals were successfully formed.

Just as Jun Wen was about to offer her a few words of praise, thick black smoke billowed out from the alchemy furnace, soaring straight into the clouds!

Cough! Cough! Cough!

Jun Wen nearly choked to death!

It wasn't just Jun Wen; violent coughing sounds echoed from several neighboring courtyards as well.

Feng Xi frantically scrambled to destroy the evidence, but she was still caught red-handed by Xiao Baidao.

"Little Five! It must have been you making trouble again! I knew it, you never have a peaceful moment!"

Jun Wen, whose eyes had been reddened from choking like a rabbit... "..."

Master, have you forgotten? I am a metal spiritual root holder, for crying out loud!

I might want to refine pills, but do I even have the conditions for it?!

Feng Xi chuckled dryly. "Master, you've wronged Fifth Senior Brother; I'm the one who caused this mess.

I heard Elder Ji say that alchemy masters can make money, so I wanted to give it a try. If I actually become an alchemy master, I can help relieve the sect's burdens, right?

I just didn't expect that a momentary slip of the hand would turn it into this.

You can punish me however you see fit, but please don't be angry, lest it harms your health."

Upon hearing this, Xiao Baidao wore an expression of gratified paternal pride.

"Xiao Xi, you're just such a sensible child!"

Jun Wen... "..."

If I do it, it's making trouble, but if Junior Sister does it, it's being sensible?

Do you think this is fair?

People always talk about wicked stepfathers and stepmothers, but as for me... I have a wicked master!