The heavy stone door opened slowly, revealing the group waiting outside.
Besides the three Zhou siblings, there was a middle-aged man and a white-haired, white-bearded elder, followed by several people dressed as guards.
Shi Yu swept her gaze over them, her heart chilling slightly when her eyes met the elder's. His aura was deep and powerful, suggesting a formidable cultivation base, but her sharp divine soul detected a faint air of decay lingering around him, along with depleted blood and vitality.
She thought to herself: These are signs that his lifespan is drawing to a close. This elder must be the grandfather Zhou Yang mentioned, the patriarch of the Zhou Clan.
The thought lasted only a moment. Shi Yu nodded slightly to Zhou Yang and the others. “Long time no see.”
“Long time no see, Little Yu.”
Beside him, the middle-aged man couldn't help asking, “Yang'er, is this Miss Shi you mentioned?”
Zhou Yang nodded, stepping aside slightly to introduce the person behind him to Shi Yu. “This is my father.”
Although subtle doubt and worry crossed the middle-aged man's face, he still offered a polite smile. “Yang'er and the others told me about your accomplishments, Miss Shi. You truly prove that heroes come from the young.”
Noticing the skepticism in his eyes, Shi Yu smiled faintly. “Uncle Zhou flatters me.”
Zhou Yang then introduced the old man, who was indeed his grandfather.
Elder Zhou greeted Shi Yu with a polite tone and no airs whatsoever.
Coming in person as the clan patriarch showed that he had brought sincere intentions.
Understanding this, Shi Yu said, “You have all traveled far to get here. Please, come inside first.”
She led everyone into the cave dwelling's hall to rest at the pavilion on the left. Learning that guests had arrived, Qingzhou sensibly went off to boil spring water and brew tea.
Once seated, Zhou Yang and his siblings sang her praises again, describing how Shi Yu had made a stunning blockbusting debut at the Alchemist Association that day.
Unable to hold back any longer, Zhou Yang's father took the lead in asking, “Miss Shi... I have never heard of this Lesser Longevity Pill before. It may be presumptuous of me to ask, but how confident are you in successfully refining it?”
Because alchemists held a venerated status and were usually quite arrogant, he quickly made amends, fearing she might take offense. “It is not that I doubt you, Miss Shi, but we only have this single Blood Cloud Ginseng. If, if...”
He glanced at Elder Zhou and let out a long sigh.
When Zhou Yang and his siblings had returned to the family with the Blood Cloud Ginseng and brought up Shi Yu and the Lesser Longevity Pill, Father Zhou's immediate reaction was fierce opposition, refusing to let them gamble with their only Blood Cloud Ginseng.
Not only was it doubtful whether a girl so young had truly concocted a full cauldron of high-grade pills, but even if she had, what was a Lesser Longevity Pill? No one had ever heard of it.
The Zhou Clan was facing a crisis, barely held together by Elder Zhou's presence. But Elder Zhou was near the end of his lifespan, relying on this Blood Cloud Ginseng to extend his life. How could they afford to take such a risk?
Yet, right in the midst of his staunch opposition, Elder Zhou himself had stepped forward and decided to take the risk, leading to this visit.
Before Shi Yu could reply, Elder Zhou spoke up slowly in an aged voice, “A few years ago, several of Yang'er's uncles—all uniquely talented and at the Foundation Establishment Realm—perished in a secret realm. Our Zhou Clan suffered a heavy blow from this, and our strength was severely damaged.
“Now the Zhou Clan lacks a rising generation to take over, relying solely on this old man to hold things together. Naturally, I hope to cling to life for a few more years until Yang'er and the other juniors mature. Only when the Zhou Clan has a future can I close my eyes in peace.”
Hearing Elder Zhou's words, Zhou Yang and his two siblings felt their eyes redden.
Elder Zhou smiled at Shi Yu. “Young friend, you do not need to feel pressured.”
Taking out the Blood Cloud Ginseng from his storage ring, he pushed it toward Shi Yu. “This Blood Cloud Ginseng would only extend my life by three years. In three years, I know I cannot reach Foundation Establishment Realm Great Perfection. In the end, I would still perish, and it wouldn't change our Zhou Clan's current plight.
“So I might as well take a gamble. If we win, you will be the benefactor of our Zhou Clan. If we lose... wins and losses are normal at the gambling table, so what is there to fear? You will still be an honored guest of our Zhou Clan.”
The old man was very open-minded about life and death; his only concern was the younger generation of his clan.
“You are broad-minded, Elder Zhou. However...” Shi Yu waited for him to finish before accepting the box containing the Blood Cloud Ginseng. “You are not sitting at a gambling table.”
She looked up, smiling at Father Zhou as she answered his earlier question about her confidence in refining it. “If you ask what my chances of success are, my answer is a hundred percent.”
A game you are guaranteed to win cannot be called a gambling table.
Silence descended upon the room.
Father Zhou suspected he had misheard, letting out a dry laugh, unsure how to react.
Even Elder Zhou, who was in the twilight of his life and had weathered countless storms, felt momentarily stunned upon hearing Shi Yu's words.
A hundred percent... chance?
Was this sheer arrogance, or did she truly possess such ability?
Zhou Yang and Zhou Yue exchanged a glance, seeing shock in each other's eyes.
If Shi Yu's words were true, who among the younger generation could stand as her equal?
Zhou Shuo, who had not dared to speak from the side, stared at Shi Yu with gleaming eyes. Hearing those words from her lips, he found her calm, disdainfully confident aura intensely captivating. For a long moment, he gazed dazedly at the young girl, unable to pull himself back to reality.
Just then, Qingzhou returned with the tea. After bowing, he poured tea for everyone one by one, breaking the pervasive silence.
The tea splashed gently against the inner walls of the teacups, making a crisp, pleasant sound.
Zhou Shuo's gaze, glued to Shi Yu, was blocked by Qingzhou's figure. Coming back to his senses, he cast a dissatisfied look at Qingzhou.
After pouring the tea, Qingzhou stood quietly behind Shi Yu.
Shi Yu picked up her teacup, took a sip, and then said, “I need to go to the Alchemist Association tomorrow. Once I return, I can begin refining the Lesser Longevity Pill.”
Zhou Shuo couldn't help asking, “Are you going to take the certification examination for a Tier-2 alchemist?”
Shi Yu nodded. “Yes, the President and the others happen to be returning tomorrow.”
To prevent cheating, the certification exam required using spiritual plants and pill furnaces provided by the association, and the test taker had to refine common, widely known pills so that evaluation would be straightforward.
Otherwise, she could have directly refined the Lesser Longevity Pill for the assessment.
As a fellow alchemist, Zhou Shuo naturally wanted to feast his eyes on the process. He asked eagerly, “C-Can I come along?”
Shi Yu saw no reason to refuse. “Of course.”
Seeing this, Zhou Yue couldn't help squirming bashfully as she asked, “What about me?”
“You may come as well.”
Then Zhou Yang cleared his throat, his hopeful gaze speaking for itself.
Shi Yu: “...”
In the end, everyone wanted to tag along after asking around, including Father Zhou and Elder Zhou, who also wished to see it with their own eyes.
After setting a time to set off tomorrow, Shi Yu stood up. “The guest room has everything you need. Please make yourselves at home.”
With that, she returned to her room.
...
Sitting cross-legged in the center of the Spirit-Gathering Array, Shi Yu took stock of the remaining spiritual materials inside the Fate-Tapping Bell.
Aside from the two spirit beast carcasses occupying most of the space inside the bell, the remaining spiritual materials were few and far between.
Refining the Spirit-Gathering array plate and the Flowing Radiance spirit robe had consumed quite a lot. The remaining spiritual materials were of good quality, but the quantity was lacking, and refining a new pill furnace now would consume most of what was left.
“It seems I still need to save more money and collect more spiritual materials and plants.”
Aside from its biannual large-scale auctions, the Xie Clan Auction House also held a monthly small-scale auction. If she had free time, she could visit more often to see if she could pick up some good items.
In addition, she should also concoct more pills, refine more artifacts, and draw more talismans to sell for resources.
Shaking her head, she selected several items from the remaining materials.
These materials were not enough to refine a whole new pill furnace, so Shi Yu took out her original pill furnace, planning to re-refine it with these materials.
Though the quality would not be top-tier this way, reaching Tier-2 would pose no problem.
After all, the main material of her previous pill furnace—Iron Essence—had been soaked and tempered in Slaughter Spring water, giving it qualities close to higher-grade Profound Iron Essence. It was already quite good, and using it to refine a Tier-2 artifact would not be a problem.
Without wasting any time, Shi Yu processed the new spiritual materials with Slaughter Spring water, cast her spell seals, activated the Void Fissure Spiritual Flame, and began re-refining the pill furnace.
This method saved time and energy; after just one night, the re-refining was complete.
By the next morning, the new pill furnace had reached Tier-2.
“This will be more than enough to refine the Lesser Longevity Pill.”
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