The Aloof Lord's Mysterious Wife
Chapter 701: The Stove Exploded Before All the Herbs Were Added

Chapter 701: The Stove Exploded Before All the Herbs Were Added

Afterward, Nanli pushed Elder Chen back and said, "Elder Chen, please control yourself. If you your saliva drop in it, I’ll have to make another batch."

Elder Chen only realized his lapse in manners when Nanli pointed it out. He wiped the corner of his mouth, still in disbelief. "Nanli, is this really your first time using spiritual energy to refine pills?"

"Yes," Nanli replied as she neatly packaged the pills. Then, she took out her pill refining manual and skimmed through it briefly. She was checking the herbs she had on hand to see what kind of pills she could make.

Elder Chen couldn’t help but sigh. "You really are a genius at pill refining!" He marveled at how she had managed to produce such a batch of intermediate-grade pills in no time. It was clear that her talent and potential were extraordinary.

Without thinking, he almost blurted out his desire to take Nanli on as a disciple, to teach her everything he knew. But the words died in his throat as soon as they formed. Nanli had just corrected him earlier, and in terms of skill, she was far ahead of him. How could he have the nerve to make such an offer?

Uncle De, who had been watching the scene, was equally stunned. He said, "Nanli, if you’re skilled in both talisman crafting and pill refining, in the Upper Realm, you would be one in a million."

Most cultivators only focus on mastering one or two abilities. Spreading oneself too thin only leads to failure, making it hard to excel at anything.

Nanli replied, "It’s a pity that many powerful pill formulas are controlled by sects and families. Just being good at refining pills isn’t enough. Without rare and precious formulas, I can’t sell high-quality pills or make much profit."

Then she asked, "Which pills are the best sellers in the Lower Realm?"

She needed to make enough spirit stones to feed the little ones.

Elder Chen answered first, "Naturally, the Base Building Pill and the Wound-Healing Pill are the most popular."

Uncle De added, "A low-grade Base Building Pill can sell for 800 low-grade spirit stones. The price for an intermediate-grade one is even higher, at least 3,000 low-grade spirit stones."

He didn’t mention high-grade pills, because in the Lower Realm, they were practically non-existent.

One reason was that Lower Realm pill cultivators couldn’t refine them. The other reason was that cultivators in the Lower Realm couldn’t afford them.

As for exchanging spirit stones, the conversion rate was 5,000 low-grade spirit stones for one middle-grade spirit stone, and 1,000 middle-grade spirit stones for one high-grade spirit stone.

In general, the higher the grade of the spirit stone, the purer its spiritual energy. Therefore, most cultivators would avoid carelessly exchanging spirit stones.

As for the top-tier spirit stones, they were extremely rare even in the Upper Realm.

Nanli glanced over her available materials and found that these two pills were indeed popular, though common. Even Elder Liang Jie had stocks of herbs to refine these pills. However, the problem with these pills was that while they sold well, there was also a lot of competition.

An idea suddenly came to Nanli. She decided to reduce her costs and undercut the competition by lowering the prices of both the Base Building Pill and the Wound-Healing Pill.

She immediately drew two purification talismans.

Sure enough, with the help of the purification talismans, the batch that originally yielded only three intermediate-grade Base Building Pills now produced an extra one. The Wound-Healing Pills also increased by two.

Nanli happily packaged the pills.

Elder Chen and Uncle De, watching from the side, were left speechless, their mouths hanging open.

Especially Elder Chen.

In his mind, he kept wondering how a beginner could produce so many intermediate-grade pills. If this was luck for one batch, then producing multiple batches in a row meant that she was a true genius! And what talisman was she using? It increased the number of pills produced!

He stared at Nanli, his admiration shifting to regret. He had spent years researching pill refining, and he occasionally still caused explosions. Yet, she casually produced three batches of pills...

Elder Chen muttered to himself, "Perhaps I chose the wrong path. I shouldn’t have pursued pill refining."

Nanli, seeing his expression, simply said, "You lack talent and aren’t willing to try new things. That’s why you’re not cut out for pill refining. To be more precise, you’re too rigid. That’s why you can’t excel at anything you attempt."

Uncle De cleared his throat lightly. Elder Chen was a late-stage Golden Core cultivator, stronger than many, and Unlce De felt that Nanli was being too harsh.

Elder Chen straightened his posture and said seriously, "The older generations have laid the groundwork, so what’s wrong with following the pill formulas they passed down? As you said, I lack talent. No matter how much I try, I could never match the abilities of those top-tier pill cultivators."

"The Bone-forming Pill earlier was probably just a fluke. Don’t assume there’s something wrong with every pill formula just because one failed. Trying to test every formula would waste time, effort, and precious materials."

Nanli smiled and expressed her thoughts: "Pill cultivators might be brilliant, but their formulas aren’t perfect. If there’s any doubt, why not try to improve them? Elder Chen, if you’re stuck with the idea that those formulas are perfect, you’ll never be able to make a truly great pill, let alone create a new one."

Elder Chen fell silent.

After a long pause, he finally bowed slightly to Nanli. "I understand now. Nanli, would it be alright to discuss some pill formulas with you?"

Nanli yawned. "I’m already tired. Maybe another day."

Pill refining took a lot of spiritual energy, and she didn’t have many spirit stones left, so she needed to conserve them.

Though Elder Chen felt it was a shame, he had just received a revelation and said, "Then I’ll practice by myself."

Nanli nodded. "Go ahead."

She couldn’t be bothered to walk back. She used a teleportation talisman to return to Chilling Garden.

She was about to lie down on the soft couch and take a short rest when a loud explosion suddenly echoed from the outer courtyard!

Not only the servants in Chilling Garden but also the guards outside were startled. They all began asking what had happened.

Nanli’s heart skipped a beat, and she immediately used another teleportation talisman to return to the scene.

The roof of the pill refining room had exploded, leaving a big hole in it. Black smoke billowed out from inside.

"Cough cough cough..."

Elder Chen staggered out, half of his clothes burned, and his face blackened. He was leaning on the doorframe.

Uncle De, though not as badly affected, was also covered in soot from the black smoke.

Nanli’s lips twitched. "How did the stove explode?"

This was a serious mess. Who would pay for the damage to the house?

Elder Chen looked as if he wanted to cry. "I tried innovating the formula for the Easy Muscle Pill, but I hadn’t finished adding the herbs before it exploded."

Nanli rubbed her forehead, utterly helpless. "The Easy Muscle Pill formula is nearly perfect in my eyes. Why did you choose to test it out when it’s already so perfect?"

"Huh? You didn’t say so," Elder Chen said with a look of grievance, almost ready to cry, his face full of despair.

Nanli sighed deeply. "I can see it now. You claim to be a Pill Cultivator, but you don’t understand herbs at all. That’s why you can’t recognize the perfection of the formula or the need for improvement. Some herbs need to be added in a specific order and at precise times, and the Easy Muscle Pill formula is one of them. If you mix up the order, it’ll explode. Even the timing of the decoction process needs to be strictly controlled before adding the next herb. You can’t just follow the formula blindly."

"Furthermore, the times given in formulas are rough estimates because each person’s cultivation level and spiritual energy vary. You need keen perception to adjust the timing and control the pill furnace to create high-quality pills."