Immortality and cultivation begin with alchemy and accounting.

After Bai Qingbai finished speaking, Bai Xuanjing immediately understood.

He glanced at the dark locust wood spirit pearl in his hand, his eyes gleaming.

A first-tier, mid-grade spiritual fire that can exist for a year!

This item is of extraordinary value, probably even surpassing the value of a mid-grade first-tier magic weapon.

After all, besides being useful to alchemists, the Heavenly Spirit Fire can also be used as a means of fighting enemies.

This is especially true for cultivators who practice fire-attribute spells; it's like adding wings to a tiger.

Thinking of this, Bai Xuanjing quickly bowed and said, "Thank you, Grandpa Qingbai, for bestowing this treasure!"

Bai Qingbai waved his hand and said, "I promised to help you obtain the No. 8 Fire Vein back then, but I couldn't achieve that. So, let's take this Huaiyin Wood Spirit Pearl as compensation."

Bai Xuanjing nodded, a slight thought stirring in his heart.

"It's been a while since you finished refining the Azure Water Pill. During this time, have you encountered any difficulties in refining the pill?" Bai Qingbai asked immediately.

Bai Xuanjing didn't hesitate and quickly raised her doubts about alchemy during this period.

Besides the Azure Water Pill, there are also questions arising from the refining of other first-tier low-grade pills like the Demon Feeding Pill.

After about an hour of conversation, the topic finally came to an end.

Bai Xuanjing said with lingering interest, "Grandpa Qingbai taught me a lot today, I'm afraid I'll have to go back and organize it properly."

Bai Qingbai nodded with an appreciative look: "What I teach is still what I teach. If you want to turn it into your own skill, you still have to practice diligently."

After a brief chat about other matters, Bai Xuanjing took his leave.

After Bai Xuanjing's figure disappeared.

The restrictions on the cave dwelling atop the mountain flickered, and a stream of light descended.

Immediately afterwards, a burly old man with his upper body bare came to the opposite side of Bai Qingbai.

It was the cultivator who controlled the formation in the Earth Fire Chamber.

"What does Brother Jin Kang think of my cousin?"

Bai Qingbai changed the tea set and looked at the old man.

The two seemed to be old friends as they talked, but there was a hint of respect in Bai Qingbai's eyes when he looked at the old man.

The old man named Jin Kang smiled faintly, took a sip of tea, and said without any politeness, "This boy is polite and has a decent temperament. I don't dislike him."

As for aptitude... in my opinion, the aptitudes of the other alchemists in your Bai family are just mediocre.

As for this young friend Bai Xuanjing, he's only passable.

In my opinion, it doesn't even qualify.

Upon hearing this, Bai Qingbai rolled his eyes: "You old man, you have quite the high standards. I wonder what it would take to be considered qualified?"

Jin Kang wore a thoughtful expression, as if he was really thinking.

"With the massive resources your Bai family invests in training alchemists."

"At the very least, they should be a top-grade first-level alchemist with a 50% success rate in pill production before the age of thirty, right?"

The aptitude of an alchemist is difficult to assess, unlike the aptitude of a cultivator, which can be initially judged by spiritual roots.

One can only glean a glimpse of it through the alchemy skills.

The level of alchemy skill is also related to resource input.

With more resources invested, one's alchemy skills will naturally improve faster, given the same aptitude.

Therefore, to determine a true alchemist's aptitude, one must simultaneously observe their age, skill level, and the resources consumed in their training.

Upon hearing Jin Kang's words, Bai Qingbai immediately puffed out his beard and glared, somewhat displeased.

He said somewhat sarcastically, "I only broke through to the ranks of first-grade high-level alchemists when I was thirty-four years old, which is already considered genius in the Bai family."

Now he's at least a second-tier alchemist.

I didn't expect I wouldn't even meet your standards, Brother Jin!

Jin Kang smiled and shook his head, saying with some pride, "If you were a rogue cultivator, you probably wouldn't have the chance to become a second-tier alchemist in this lifetime."

Even among second-tier alchemists, there are differences!

However, as soon as he said it, he realized that his words seemed to belittle Bai Qingbai, and he subconsciously glanced at Bai Qingbai.

Fortunately, the two had known each other for many years and understood each other's personalities very well.

Bai Qingbai knew that Jin Kang was just being rude and didn't really mean to belittle him, so he didn't take it to heart.

He was still somewhat unwilling to give up: "This child is only twenty-five or twenty-six years old; who knows, he might really become a top-tier first-level alchemist before he turns thirty!"

Jin Kang's eyes flickered, and he waved his hand and laughed, "If it's really possible to go from the entry level of the first-grade middle-grade pill to the first-grade high-grade pill within five years..."

Moreover, with a 50% success rate in pill formation, he could certainly be considered a genius!

"If that's the case, I will never break my promise and will certainly teach you everything I know."

Upon hearing this, Bai Qingbai's face lit up with joy.

Although the Bai family has a tradition of producing second-tier pills, it is too rudimentary, and many of their second-tier pills actually still rely on the Liuyun Sect.

The cultivator in front of him, named Jin Kang, came from the Wind Rift Sea. Although he was not particularly handsome, Bai Qingbai knew that he possessed a complete set of second-tier pill inheritance!

It contains several key second-tier pills that can significantly enhance the strength of a family.

The reason I helped Jin Kang conceal his identity and let him hide in the Bai family as a guest retainer from another family was...

Besides their friendship of fifty or sixty years, there was another important reason.

That is Bai Qingbai's hope that Jin Kang can leave the legacy to the Bai family!

If it really comes to fruition, it will be a tremendous opportunity for the Bai family and for the third branch of the family.

However, Jin Kang comes from a famous alchemy family, and even in his current impoverished state, he still has extremely high requirements for the aptitude of his disciples when accepting them.

Ordinary people are not worthy of his attention.

The Wind-Cracked Sea has a harsh environment with fierce winds that roam and rage. Whenever a celestial phenomenon occurs, cultivators need to frequently change their residences to avoid the fierce winds, making it difficult for them to gather in groups.

Therefore, although the spiritual energy is more abundant and can support high-level cultivators, it cannot support a large power like the Flowing Cloud Sect.

In that sea area, the most common people are independent cultivators.

Jin Kang was originally a rogue alchemist.

Even if a rogue alchemist is wealthier than an ordinary cultivator, he still cannot compare to a family alchemist with the backing of a powerful clan.

They wouldn't have had a lot of resources to squander during their early cultivation.

This is why cultivators there place more emphasis on aptitude.

Through generations, the Fengliehai cultivators have placed an almost obsessive importance on talent.

If he can't find a suitable disciple, Jin Kang would rather have his lineage die out than settle for a less suitable one!

Even Bai Qingbai couldn't change Jin Kang's attitude.

"Let's not talk about this anymore. The feather flower you helped find last time was a great help."

Now that my spiritual fire can be released externally, let it recover a bit more until it's strong enough to support alchemy... then I'll refine some interesting pills for you.

Jin Kang smiled and changed the subject.

He raised his palm, and a cluster of blue flames flickered and changed in his palm.

The flame's aura was solid, clearly indicating it was at the second tier.

However, unlike the fire in the locust tree, this flame is not a spiritual fire of heaven and earth, but more like the true fire of foundation building that only foundation building cultivators can condense in their bodies!

Upon seeing the flame in Jin Kang's palm, Bai Qingbai's eyes flashed with envy.

As they pondered the word "alchemy" in Jin Kang's words, their envy transformed into fervent anticipation.

……