"Refine another furnace of Blood Qi Pills."
Zeng Defang instructed a servant to bring over a batch of Blood Qi Pill ingredients and handed them to Chen Fei.
Chen Fei did not refuse. He cleaned the pill furnace, prepared the ingredients simply, and then tossed them into the furnace. Compared to his earlier clumsiness, Chen Fei's movements were now somewhat more practiced.
At the same time, Chen Fei corrected one or two of the alchemical errors he had deliberately displayed earlier. It was precisely these one or two corrections that made Zeng Defang's eyes brighten as he observed.
As time passed, a faint medicinal fragrance drifted from the pill furnace. A quarter of an hour went by quickly, and Chen Fei opened the furnace lid and took out the Blood Qi Pills inside.
Compared to the first batch of Blood Qi Pills, the pills this time appeared rounder and smoother, and the unblended ingredients within had also decreased.
In the eyes of a layman, perhaps there was no difference between these Blood Qi Pills and the previous ones, but in Zeng Defang's eyes, the difference between the two was enormous.
Zeng Defang looked at the Blood Qi Pill in his hand, then looked up at Chen Fei, his admiration no longer concealable.
People are always willing to believe what they see with their own eyes, and Chen Fei had refined two furnaces of Blood Qi Pills right before Zeng Defang's eyes, showing clear improvement.
This proved beyond doubt that Chen Fei's alchemy talent was truly rare. At the very least, in all his years at Qingzheng Medical Hall, Zeng Defang could count on one hand those whose talent could compare with Chen Fei's.
Of course, one could not yet say Chen Fei was an alchemy prodigy—after all, the Blood Qi Pill was only a simple one. But Chen Fei was already worth Qingzheng Medical Hall's investment, worth giving a chance despite the risk of failure.
If Chen Fei could go on to successfully refine other pills the way he had with the Blood Qi Pill, then Qingzheng Medical Hall would have truly found a treasure.
"You've done very well. I never expected that just two days after seeing the pill formula, you would actually manage to refine the Blood Qi Pill successfully."
A warm smile spread across Zeng Defang's face as he said, "But don't get arrogant. These two Blood Qi Pills still have many flaws. You need to keep practicing before you can refine them properly."
"Thank you for your affirmation, Elder Zeng." Chen Fei rose and cupped his hands in salute.
"Staying on as a courtyard guard would waste your talent. I will explain things to Steward Cui. From now on, you will refine pills here with me. First, master the Blood Qi Pill thoroughly, then move on to refining other pills."
"Many thanks for your promotion, Elder Zeng!"
A smile inevitably appeared on Chen Fei's face. His goal had finally been achieved—now his silver had a source.
An hour later, Chen Fei refined another furnace of Blood Qi Pills in front of Cui Sanjie, leaving him overjoyed beyond expectation.
Although it was Zeng Defang who had made the request, the fact that a courtyard guard—and one who had previously been nothing more than a servant—could actually refine pills was genuinely hard for Cui Sanjie to believe.
But seeing was believing. However unbelievable it was, he had to admit that Chen Fei had a talent for alchemy, and an outstanding one at that. Given this, Cui Sanjie naturally had no reason to refuse Zeng Defang's original proposal.
The news of Chen Fei becoming an alchemist spread throughout the entire medical hall in less than half a day, dropping everyone's jaws.
An alchemist—that was a craft that demanded extraordinary talent.
With martial arts cultivation, perhaps one in ten people might achieve some success, but with alchemy, perhaps not even one in a hundred would emerge.
Thus, within Qingzheng Medical Hall, the status of an alchemist was far beyond what a courtyard guard could compare to.
Consequently, Chen Fei's standing in the medical hall rose once again. From servant to alchemist, he had achieved a double leap in just a few days, drawing no small amount of envy and jealousy.
Moreover, word had it that Chen Fei's alchemy talent was exceptionally outstanding, having impressed even Zeng Defang and Cui Sanjie. Just thinking about it made it clear: in only two days, just from reading the pill formula, he had managed to figure things out on his own and successfully refine a pill.
If that wasn't outstanding talent, what was?
Previously, many people had been waiting to laugh at Chen Fei's expense, making his story their after-dinner gossip. Now they dared not speak of him that way anymore, afraid the words might reach Chen Fei's ears.
Chen Fei might not hold any real power yet, but who knew how far he might grow in the future? To offend someone like that for a moment's satisfaction of the tongue was far too costly.
And not only did they need to avoid offending him now—they needed to think about how to curry favor with him. What if Chen Fei really did rise to great heights someday?
"Damn it all! How does that country bumpkin have such luck?!"
At a drinking table, Pu Liao slammed his cup heavily onto the tabletop with a muffled thud.
"I heard Elder Zeng values him highly."
One guard whispered, not daring to casually gossip about Chen Fei alongside Pu Liao like before.
"Hmph!"
Pu Liao snorted coldly. Glancing around at the others and seeing that none of them would echo his words, he simply stood up and left. Better not to drink at all—the more he drank, the more suffocated he felt.
The other guards exchanged glances, not knowing what to say. An alchemist's status in the medical hall was indeed a rank above theirs as courtyard guards.
Pu Liao could afford to disregard Chen Fei to some extent, relying on his seniority and his Muscle-Tempering Realm cultivation, but they were in no position to do the same.
The next day, Chen Fei no longer stood guard in the front hall. Instead, he was in the alchemy chamber, earnestly refining pills while Zeng Defang stood at his side, personally pointing out the mistakes Chen Fei made during the process.
Chen Fei was a little surprised—he hadn't expected Zeng Defang to value him so highly. It was probably the talent he had displayed that had stunned the old man.
Though he might have overdone it slightly, the result was fortunately satisfying. Chen Fei wasn't about to brush off Zeng Defang's goodwill. He listened earnestly to Zeng Defang's explanations, and in each subsequent refinement, corrected one or two of those mistakes.
Seeing how effective his teaching was, Zeng Defang grew more and more excited, his face glowing with pride.
That was simply what it meant to be a teacher—encountering a genius-like disciple who understood at a single hint, without needing to be told twice. That feeling carried a tremendous sense of accomplishment.
Zeng Defang had not experienced this feeling for far too many years. Watching Chen Fei's pill refinements improve time after time actually brought him more joy and pride than refining a high-difficulty pill himself.
"Excellent. In this Blood Qi Pill, all the ingredients have been fully blended. Though the blending is still not quite right, compared to before, you've made great progress."
Zeng Defang looked at the pill in his hand, his face full of smiles, and the satisfaction in his eyes as he looked at Chen Fei grew ever deeper. In his heart, Zeng Defang had already come to regard Chen Fei as half a disciple.
"It's all thanks to your excellent teaching, Elder Zeng."
Chen Fei offered the flattery at just the right moment, delighting Zeng Defang so much that his smile grew even more radiant.
A promising student, truly a promising student!
Chen Fei smiled. That remark just now, though mere flattery, was also true—Zeng Defang's skill was genuinely high. The fact that the panel showed the Blood Qi Pill's progress had risen by more than ten points was proof enough.