Chapter 51: High-Grade Level 1 Recipe

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'Yes, it's me. Who else were you expecting?'

Ethan thought sarcastically, though he dared not voice his thoughts.

He pulled out a pouch, just like last time, and placed it on the counter, saying,

"I'd like to sign up for the apprentice alchemist exam next week."

The receptionist frowned slightly upon hearing this.

She remembered this young man clearly; after all, he had left a profound impression.

The expert alchemist presiding over the last exam had said he did exceptionally well, earning two stars immediately.

Although it was true that with two stars one could directly enroll in the apprentice alchemist exam, it was generally advised to take gradual steps.

Thinking he was yet another overconfident individual aiming too high, she shook her head slightly and took the pouch of spiritual stones.

After verifying the contents and nodding to confirm the amount, she put it away and retrieved a tag from under the counter.

As she took out the tag, she hesitated for a moment, then smiled slightly and handed it to Ethan.

"Make sure you're here in the morning on the day of the exam, okay? If you're late, you won't be allowed to participate.

You can bring your own cauldron, or the pavilion can provide one if needed. Any questions?" she asked.

Ethan took the tag without further questions.

He already knew a bit about how the exam worked, so he thanked the receptionist and headed out of the pavilion.

The receptionist watched him leave and couldn't help but recall what the expert alchemist had said last time.

"Perhaps it won't be long before this candidate takes the apprentice exam."

Thinking of the expert's words, she couldn't help but smile.

'Who would have thought the candidate would indeed show up so soon?

Let's hope he's not all talk and no substance,' she thought, preparing to receive the next client.

Ethan left the Medicine Pavilion and headed toward the sect.

As he walked, he couldn't help but think about his future plans.

With the agreement still being finalized with Da Shu, he had almost secured a buyer for his pills, so that aspect was settled for now.

Ethan's initial idea was to ensure he had enough money to cultivate without problems in the future.

But with the system rewarding him with Qi every time he produced a pill, he was also more or less set in that regard.

He wasn't sure how much Qi he would need to level up in the future stages, but he knew it was pointless to worry about that now since he was still far from the Qi Refining stage.

'It seems the only thing left for me to do is to continue my routine for now,' Ethan thought.

And so he did.

Over the next few days, Ethan spent most of his time either cultivating or making pills.

The materials at his disposal were almost exhausted by the second day, so he went to restock them just like last time.

After the second trip, he realized he couldn't keep doing this every time he ran out of refining materials.

It was fine for now because he was making level 1 pills, but in the future, when he would need to create higher-grade pills, it would be difficult to find all the materials he needed in nature.

Many materials grew only in specific places under certain conditions, and the rarer the material, the more challenging it was to find its location.

Ethan knew he couldn't go on like this forever; he needed a source to supply him with the resources for his pills.

Eventually, he decided to see if Da Shu could find a source for alchemical resources.

Da Shu readily accepted the request.

Apparently, the pills Ethan had sold were all bought, and the customers had no complaints about their quality, so their trade continued.

They agreed that a percentage of the pill profits would be deducted in exchange for resources, which Da Shu managed to provide at the base price without any markup, like those sold at the pavilion.

Though the idea of spending his newly earned money didn't thrill Ethan, he decided to endure it.

To give an example of his pill-selling earnings:

If Ethan produced 20 mid-grade level 1 pills, he would earn about 13 low-grade spiritual stones.

From these, 7 stones would be deducted to cover material costs, and 2 stones for the selling services in Da Shu's family shops where the pills were sold.

The rest went to Ethan.

Ethan decided not to overdo it, so he produced a maximum of 10 mid-grade pills per day.

This amount was enough to earn a good amount of Qi and system points, allowing him to remain low-key.

Though this pace was a bit unusual for an alchemist at his level, Da Shu chose to ignore it, attributing it to Ethan's talent.

After all these transactions, Da Shu was increasingly confident in his decision.

On the sixth day, Ethan broke through to level 4, and his system points exceeded 100.

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[------------------------------

Name: Ethan

Cultivation: Body Refining (Lvl. 3 --> Lvl. 4)

QI: 55/500

Physique: Heavenly Body of the Sacred Flames

Strength: 35 --> 47

Agility: 31 --> 41

Intelligence: 36 --> 48

Soul Strength: 118 --> 120

[Shop]

[Storage]

[System points]: 108

-------------------------------]

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As usual, all his attributes increased differently.

Strength and intelligence increased more than the other two, which Ethan attributed to his practice.

But that wasn't why Ethan had opened his status screen.

Turning his gaze down, he pressed on the shop function, and another screen appeared before him.

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[----------------------------------

[Basic Recovery Pill Recipe]

Level: 1

Grade: Mid

Description: A pill capable of restoring fatigue after intense physical exertion and accelerating the healing of minor superficial wounds.

The purity of this pill cannot exceed 75%.

[Upgrade] (100 Sp)

-----------------------------------]

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The pill information had slightly changed since last time.

The recipe's grade was no longer marked as low but instead as mid.

Ethan had accumulated enough points in recent days for this moment. Searᴄh the ηovёlFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

Without hesitation, he pressed [Upgrade], and the familiar tingling sensation began in his head.

The process of downloading the high-grade recipe had started.

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FRANK_LEE_JUNIOR:

Here's today's chapter. I hope you enjoy it.

So, I've decided to go premium from chapter 41 onwards.

I won't do it immediately as I need to sort out a few things first, but roughly within a week, I will go premium.

Use this time to catch up with the novel, so you won't have to buy the chapters from 41 onwards ????

As for the extra chapters I mentioned earlier, I've more or less established the goals to achieve them. I'll put them in the author's notes to avoid filling this chapter with just information.

The extra chapters system will start in a week or two. I'll give you the exact date in advance.

This system is provisional; consider it a test to see if I can maintain a stable rhythm with these new implementations.

If there are any changes, you'll be notified in advance.

Let me know what you think of the extra chapters system, and if you have any suggestions, I'm all ears.

See you tomorrow with a new chapter.