Chapter 58: Preparing to Break Through

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For Ethan, producing level 1 pills had become simple.

This was not only because he had updated recipes for all three grades of this level of pill, but also because the recipes came directly to his mind.

Therefore, all the steps were extremely clear to him, making his refining process much smoother and without any risk of error.

He had already tried producing high-grade level 1 pills and noticed that the ease of production for these pills was similar to that of the lower two grades.

In about half an hour, Ethan had finished refining the 15 medium-grade pills required.

Seeing that he still had time, he wondered if it was better to continue refining pills here.

In recent days, he had accelerated his refining process to accumulate the 1000 system points needed for a recipe upgrade.

Ethan couldn't wait to update the recipe and see if he would receive the level 2 recipe.

If he truly received it, he would have another tool in his arsenal to earn more.

Just as he was about to start refining again, another thought crossed his mind.

What if he broke through while refining?

Since he had reached level 4, Ethan hadn't had a chance to check his status screen.

He wondered how close he was to breaking through to the next level.

So, with a mental command, he opened the status screen.

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

Name: Ethan

Cultivation: Body Refining (Lvl. 4)

QI: 180/500

Physique: Heavenly Body of the Sacred Flames

Strength: 47

Agility: 41

Intelligence: 48

Soul Strength: 120

[Shop]

[Storage]

[System points]: 142

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

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Seeing that he was still far from reaching level 5 in body refining, Ethan calmed down.

He also checked his system points and, seeing that he had only a little over a tenth of what was required to upgrade the recipe, shook his head.

'Haaa, at this rate it will take me forever to accumulate a thousand system points. If only there were a faster method,' he thought, disheartened by his alchemy progress.

If other alchemists had heard him, they would probably have hit him.

What Ethan called a slow progression in alchemy was something others had to spend months, if not years, to achieve.

And he was complaining that it was still too slow?

Ethan finally closed the system screen and prepared to refine.

Since there was no risk of breaking through during this period, he could refine in peace.

So, sealing the 15 medium-grade pills in three glass bottles, he set about producing high-grade pills.

In no time, the remaining 30 minutes flew by.

In those thirty minutes, Ethan managed to produce about fifteen high-grade level 1 pills, accumulating a considerable amount of QI and system points in the process.

[Congratulations, you have successfully created three high-grade basic recovery pills.]

[You have gained 10 QI] (x3)

[Congratulations, you have successfully created three high-grade basic recovery pills.]

[You have gained 10 QI] (x3)

[Congratulations, you have successfully created three high-grade basic recovery pills.]

[You have gained 10 QI] (x3)

...

By the end of the refining, Ethan could already tell that his cultivation base had made half a step towards level 5.

He knew that at this rate, he would break through by the end of the day, so he hurried to deliver the 15 pills required by the mission and then go to his dormitory to gather the remaining QI needed to break through.

The receptionist, seeing Ethan approaching, thought he was coming to return the keys to the refining room.

He didn't expect that Ethan had already finished his commission, as he still remembered what the commission was about and didn't believe Ethan had already produced the 15 pills in an hour.

According to estimates, an alchemist of Ethan's level should take at least two or three days to refine this number of pills.

But against the receptionist's expectations, along with the keys, Ethan handed him three glass bottles, each containing 5 pills.

For a moment, the receptionist didn't know how to react.

'Wait, has he really finished refining 15 medium-grade pills in such a short time?'

He was stunned with disbelief for a moment, but then quickly recovered and said,

"It seems like you have mistakenly handed me some other pills," he said, thinking that perhaps Ethan had mistakenly given him low-grade pills of the same type.

It wasn't difficult to confuse pills of the same type but different grades, as their appearance was almost identical regardless of their grade.

Thinking this, the receptionist calmed down.

"No, they are all medium-grade pills," Ethan said calmly.

"..."

Once again, the receptionist didn't know how to react.

Thinking that Ethan was joking with him, he said, S~eaʀᴄh the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

"Is it a problem if I check them? It's my job to ensure there are no errors in the delivery of commissions," he said calmly.

In his mind, however, he was thinking: 'Do you think I was born yesterday? There's no way you finished refining 15 pills in such a short time.'

"Sure, no problem," Ethan said, still calm.

Seeing that Ethan showed no signs of panic, the receptionist proceeded to examine the contents of the three bottles.

He wondered for a moment if Ethan had really prepared all the medium-grade pills, but then, rethinking, he shook his head and began to examine them.

To avoid contaminating the contents of the bottles, he didn't directly take the pills but instead smelled the aroma they emitted.

Having done this job for several years, he had learned to distinguish the various pills and their grades by their aroma.

It was known that although the appearance of pills of the same type was the same, their smell varied according to their grade, so he adopted this method for inspection.

He hadn't considered that the bottles might contain a mix of medium-grade and low-grade pills, because otherwise, the aroma would have been weaker and clearly different.

Opening the cap of the first bottle, the receptionist was immediately overwhelmed by the aroma of the pills inside.

Upon smelling it, the receptionist could immediately tell that there didn't seem to be anything unusual about the contents of this bottle.

But he expected this result. What he was interested in knowing was whether the aroma of the other two bottles would be identical or not.

'Let's see if the second one is also fine or not,' he said to himself as he opened the cap of the second glass bottle.

Once again, the aroma spread quickly, and the receptionist wasted no time examining it.

'Oh? It seems this one is also regular.'

Closing the second bottle, he prepared to examine the third bottle.

Although he was surprised that the contents of the previous bottles seemed correct, it was still within acceptable limits.

'Well, even if the third bottle turns out to be irregular, at least he successfully produced 10 medium-grade pills in an hour,' he thought, recognizing Ethan's talent.

To his dismay, as soon as he opened the third bottle, its aroma also seemed to be in order.

"..."

Now the attendant seemed to have some doubts and re-examined the aroma.

'It's the same,' he thought anxiously, wondering how such a thing was possible.

He checked Ethan's badge again to see if he had misread it before, but to his surprise, the silver badge still showed two stars.

Ethan, seeing that the receptionist seemed lost in his thoughts, said:

"So, are the contents of the bottles okay?" he asked a bit hurriedly, eager to return to the dormitory to break through.

The receptionist, who was still lost in his thoughts, was brought back by Ethan's question.

"Ah, haha, yes, the contents are fine. Wait here while I get the reward for this commission," he said, hurrying away and then returning with a bag containing the spiritual stones.

He marked the commission as completed and respectfully greeted Ethan.

Ethan didn't have time to worry about the receptionist's change in attitude, so he took the bag and headed for the exit.

The receptionist, watching him leave, couldn't help but think:

'The pavilion is going to have some tumultuous days ahead.'

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FRANK_LEE_JUNIOR:

Here's the full chapter, hope you enjoyed it.

As usual, if you have any comments, suggestions, or errors to report, you know where to do it.

See you tomorrow.