Time swiftly passed.
Countless years had gone by.
On this day, in the Alchemy Room.
Tang Wenhe stood by the Pill Furnace.
He looked just over forty, with a composed appearance and a serious expression.
Skillfully controlling fire, melting liquid, vortex condensation, solidifying pill, locking spirit...
A set of procedures.
Had already become muscle memory.
A quarter of an hour later, it was the final critical moment.
"Out!"
Tang Wenhe performed over a dozen Pill Collection Techniques in succession.
The furnace opened.
A faintly red pill slowly flew out, landing steadily in his palm.
Tang Wenhe respectfully held the pill with both hands and presented it to a spirited white-haired elder beside him.
"Grandfather, please offer your guidance."
This elder was none other than Chen Sheng.
He accepted the pill, nodded gently, and began to evaluate it:
"A good quality pill, eighty percent potent."
"The issue still lies in the timing of condensing the pill."
"Your technique and skill are adequate, but you always miss the right moment to condense the pill. Solve this problem, and you won't be far from being a High Grade Alchemist."
Tang Wenhe bowed his head: "Grandson is dull."
Chen Sheng shook his head and sighed lightly: "Watch my demonstration."
"Yes!"
Tang Wenhe folded his hands and eagerly focused on his grandfather's operation.
He saw Chen Sheng slowly raise his hand, his withered fingers making a few subtle gestures, then eight thousand threads of fire danced out from the furnace, after which he gestured again, and several processed herbs flew into the furnace.
With his left hand forming a spell, the fire threads, with extremely high temperature, enveloped all the herbs, quickly melting them... In just a moment, it reached the 'Condensing Pill' stage.
"Watch closely!"
As Chen Sheng's spell concluded, the furnace lid flew open, deliberately revealing the scene for Tang Wenhe to see clearly.
At this moment.
The mouth of the furnace opened wide, with faint white mist slowly rising.
Within, three pills could be seen faintly rotating.
The spirit road on their surface, originally blurred, grew clearer.
Until the spirit road was fully formed.
"It's now!"
"Wenhe, perform the spell, condense the pills!"
Chen Sheng shouted loudly.
Tang Wenhe snapped to attention, having been entranced by his grandfather's magical alchemy technique, and quickly awakened, hurriedly performing the Condensing Pill Technique.
"Drink!"
Tang Wenhe softly commanded, his hand signs changing, successively injecting them into the three pills, urging them to fully take shape.
Chen Sheng nodded gently and performed several more spells, using the 'Solid Pill Locking Spirit' technique to firmly seal within the pills.
Finally, wrapping them tightly in flames, serving as the furnace, merging pill qi as one.
"Out!"
The flames dispersed.
Three dazzling pills twirled in mid-air for a moment.
Ultimately landing in Tang Wenhe's palm.
The pills trembled slightly, as if breathing.
Chen Sheng, stroking his beard, nodded gently:
"Observe again!"
Tang Wenhe dared not be careless, immediately using the 'Pill Evaluation' magic, carefully examining the pill in his hand.
About the size of a longan, perfectly round and without blemishes.
The spirit patterns were as beautiful as a painting, with negligible spiritual power leakage.
Two hair-thin golden lines flowed along the pattern, known as Pill Pattern.
Tang Wenhe's eyes gleamed with astonishment, exclaiming repeatedly:
"The spirit road is perfect, with two Pill Patterns, and the pill itself radiates spirit light, this pill Grandfather made can be considered top grade."
Chen Sheng only gently shook his head:
"Three spirit patterns with ninety-nine percent potency are top grade, this pill at best has ninety-six percent potency, missing by a fraction, leading to great discrepancy."
"Did you see it clearly just now?"
Tang Wenhe hurriedly nodded:
"Grandson understands."
Chen Sheng nodded gently:
"Then step back and practice diligently."
"Yes."
Tang Wenhe earnestly nodded and retreated respectfully.
Watching his figure.
Chen Sheng sighed lightly in his heart:
"The next generations are lacking!"
Chen Sheng had always believed his talent was average.
Only the word 'diligence' could be credited to him.
His first disciple, Qin Yuan's achievement in Alchemy Dao, confirmed this point.
Early on, he had surpassed him.
Chen Sheng had painstakingly divided eight thousand threads of fire over more than eighty years.
While Qin Yuan, in his early thirties, had progressed to ten thousand threads, reaching the peak.
...
Chen Sheng deeply felt his lack of talent, hoping to cultivate successors, to carry on the alchemy skills far and wide.
Unexpectedly, his family's younger generations, their talent and comprehension couldn't match his, nor were they as diligent.
Over these years.
Chen Sheng invested his heart and soul into nurturing the younger generation at home.
Practically teaching them hand-in-hand, feeding them like little chicks, more laboriously than he did with his first disciple, yet with scant achievements!
Now, the family had grown, becoming almost a small Cultivation Clan, with over thirty cultivators, most positioned in the Market.
Family members without Spiritual Roots numbered in the hundreds, gathered in a town not far from the Market.
Among the younger generation, the most accomplished was just now Tang Wenhe, he was now forty-two, a Qi Cultivation Eighth Layer Cultivator, and a Middle Grade Alchemist.
There was still a distance to becoming a High Grade Alchemist.
Chen Sheng sighed lightly:
"My father-in-law, before his death, witnessed Yuan'Er's peak Fire Control Skill, no wonder he was so happy."
...
Evening, inner hall.
Before the altar made from pear wood.
Chen Sheng stood still, his face filled with remembrance, his gaze fixed on the tablet on the altar—his beloved wife Huang Wangyou.
Beside it lay a delicate phoenix hairpin.
This was their token of affection.
Chen Sheng remembered past scenes in his heart, recalling the bits and pieces between them.
After a while, he took a deep breath, then took out three sticks of incense from the incense box.
Lighted them!
Inserted the incense into the incense burner, the three sticks stood in a row.
Letting the azure smoke swirl upward, coiling together, as if forming that lively and playful face before the tablet.
Chen Sheng sighed lightly in his heart:
"Wangyou, you left too soon."
That year, Chen Sheng's youngest son, Yijing, went out and encountered a Tribulation Cultivator, meeting an untimely death.
The following year, his wife Huang Wangyou passed away due to overwhelming grief, at the age of 81.
She never could harden her heart like Chen Sheng.
The youngest son, Tang Yijing, died before her eyes.
The eldest daughter, Tang Xichen, was hunted down, having been missing for decades now.
Another disciple she had raised since childhood, 'Qin Yuan', also left and never returned, with no word for decades.
One after another, they preceded her, she couldn't bear it and followed suit, leaving Chen Sheng alone.
...
In the blink of an eye.
Ten years had passed.
This year, Chen Sheng was also ninety-three years old.
He had long maintained his practice of the Body Refining Technique sent by his daughter.
Persistently nourishing qi and blood.
Now reaching the Third Realm of Body Refining, comparable to the late-stage Qi Refining.
Still spirited and vigorous despite his years.
Chen Sheng silently thought to himself:
"A few more years, until the Pill Workshop produces another High Grade Alchemist."
"Then I can also take my leave."
...
Two more years passed.
In the Alchemy Room.
Looking at the High Grade Elixir 'Beneficial Technique Pill' in his hand, Chen Sheng finally showed a smile, patting Tang Wenhe's shoulder with satisfaction:
"The Pill Workshop will be in your hands in the future."
"Grandfather should retire now."
Time flowed gently.
Chen Sheng gradually handed his affairs over to Tang Wenhe.
The following year.
He even hosted a 'Pill Evaluation Conference'.
Inviting many friends and relatives.
To witness the Pill Workshop producing another High Grade Alchemist.
At the conference.
Chen Sheng formally announced.
Tang Wenhe was to be the next Master of the Pill Workshop.
Taking the opportunity.
He introduced Tang Wenhe to everyone one by one.
Passing on the vast network of contacts he'd built over decades.
From then on.
Chen Sheng lived a leisurely, carefree life in the backyard.
Seemingly content in his retirement years.
For two years, the Pill Workshop operated smoothly.
Chen Sheng was completely relieved.
By then.
He had reached a hundred years of age.
On a sunny afternoon.
Chen Sheng changed his appearance, quietly leaving the 'Thousand Machines Market'.
Having hidden away for nearly a century, Chen Sheng stepped out of the Market for the first time, previously when avenging his younger son, he placed a high bounty on the Tribulation Cultivator, never stepping outside himself.