Chapter 2: Eerie Vision

"Good wine!"

Chen Lin exclaimed in admiration.

Zhao Zhengyuan smiled smugly, "That goes without saying. This is my family's ancestral trade; my ability to survive in this city relies entirely on this craft."

"Indeed, Brother Zhao's brewing skills are truly beyond reproach."

Chen Lin nodded, then looked at the other man and asked, "By the way, didn't you mention a while back that you were planning to refine pills? How is that going?"

Zhao Zhengyuan’s face fell.

His smug expression vanished in an instant.

"Sigh, don't even mention it."

Zhao Zhengyuan let out a mournful sigh and shook his head repeatedly.

But immediately, he lifted his chin high, squinted his eyes, and sneered, "A mere minor art like alchemy could never stump me. I, Zhao Zhengyuan, come from a family of alchemists!"

The corner of Chen Lin's mouth twitched involuntarily. He returned the gesture with a squinted, mocking sneer of his own, "Yes, yes, yes. With Brother Zhao's perseverance and talent, you will succeed sooner or later."

Zhao Zhengyuan gave a bitter laugh and returned to normal, saying, "I'll take your word for it. It’s a pity my inheritance is incomplete; otherwise, there might truly be a sliver of a chance."

Chen Lin grinned and said nothing more.

Interacting with the people here was truly an ordeal.

Because they seemed completely unaware of these abnormalities themselves.

The two began to drink in silence.

"Right, Brother Zhao, everyone says alchemy is difficult. Is it really that hard?"

Seeing that the bottle was more than half empty and the meat and porridge were nearly finished, Chen Lin finally began to ask for the information he wanted.

Although the other man's temperament would shift at any moment, he couldn't leave, so he had to blend in. Besides, when they weren't having an 'episode,' everyone was perfectly normal.

Resources here were extremely scarce, and as for pills to increase cultivation, he couldn't afford them with his status.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have resorted to the whimsical idea of using spirit rice porridge to break through his bottleneck.

He didn't want to stay in this eerie place for a moment longer than necessary; he was single-mindedly focused on reaching the middle stage of Qi Refining so he could escape.

Without reaching the middle stage of Qi Refining, he couldn't cultivate spells, and with monsters running rampant outside the city, leaving rashly would only lead to a faster death.

Therefore, he planned to refine his own pills.

With his "ten-time guaranteed success" ability, as long as he had the tools, materials, and a pill formula, he was certain he could refine them.

Zhao Zhengyuan was also slightly tipsy. He exhaled a breath of alcohol and said, "What do you think? If it weren't difficult, would even the lowest-grade Qi Replenishment Pills be so expensive?"

"That's true. I heard that even among those Foundation Establishment families, each one only has a single alchemist. If you could succeed, Brother Zhao, you could immediately go to the inner city to enjoy a life of luxury. Don't forget your little brother when that happens!"

Chen Lin filled the other man's cup.

Then, as if casually, he said, "Brother Zhao, since you've already started trying to refine pills, you must have mastered a pill formula. What kind of pill is it? Could you tell me about it?"

Zhao Zhengyuan paused, gave a normal, cold sneer, and glanced at Chen Lin, "Why? Do you want to refine pills too?"

Before Chen Lin could speak, he continued, "Alchemy isn't that easy. I advise you to stick to studying the way of talismans."

Having his intentions seen through, Chen Lin didn't mind.

There were plenty of people who wanted to learn alchemy; it was perfectly normal for him to want to learn as well.

However, since it was out in the open, he decided to get straight to the point.

"That's right, I do want to learn alchemy. My aptitude is too poor, and my cultivation has been stuck at the second level of Qi Refining for so many years. Without the aid of pills, I'm afraid I'll never break through. But you know as well as I do that the pills in the city are controlled by the big families; it's impossible for low-level rogue cultivators like us to buy them. That's why I came up with the idea of refining them myself. No matter what, I won't have any regrets if I at least try."

Chen Lin's words made Zhao Zhengyuan sigh with empathy.

He felt the same way.

Rogue cultivators, especially low-level ones, had it too hard.

He hesitated for a moment, then shook his head, "I do have one pill formula. If you want it, I can sell it to you, but I must state beforehand that this formula is flawed. Don't say I cheated you."

"What kind of flaw?"

Chen Lin immediately pressed.

Zhao Zhengyuan rummaged through his robes for a while and pulled out a yellowed scroll. He pressed it down under his hand and said, "Pill formulas are inheritances from ancient cultivators, but as the cultivation world has changed, some ancient spirit herbs have gone extinct. Modern formulas are all modified by alchemists who have searched for substitute herbs after many attempts, which is why formulas are so rare."

As he spoke, he unfolded the scroll, revealing dense rows of tiny, fly-like characters.

He traced the handwriting for a moment and sighed, "The formula I obtained was also modified, but it must have been a long time ago. One of the spirit herbs in it is now a scarce item, and the value of the herb itself far exceeds the value of the pill."

Gently stroking the formula, Zhao Zhengyuan continued, "Out of necessity, I replaced it with a cheap spirit herb based on its medicinal properties, but whether the pill can actually be refined remains an unknown."

"You replaced it yourself?"

Chen Lin tapped the table with his finger, his face full of skepticism.

"Heh."

Zhao Zhengyuan's temperament shifted. He squinted and sneered, "Fellow Daoist Chen, don't look down on me just because I've never successfully refined a pill. I come from a family of alchemists; I have a deep understanding of pharmacology and medicinal effects. Improving a pill formula is a piece of cake!"

"Is that so? Then let me see what you replaced it with."

Chen Lin ignored the man's pathological boasting and reached for the formula.

But he was blocked by the other man.

Zhao Zhengyuan rolled the formula back up and said, "Want it? Three hundred spirit stones!"

"Too expensive."

Chen Lin pulled his hand back and slurped some porridge.

"This is a pill formula! And a formula for a pill that increases cultivation! Is three hundred spirit stones really expensive? If you went through normal channels, you couldn't buy it for any amount of spirit stones!"

Zhao Zhengyuan’s eyes widened, and he said indignantly.

Chen Lin shook his head, "You're talking about a normal formula. Yours is basically a waste paper; who would buy it? How about this: since I'm only taking it for research, I'll give you twenty spirit stones. Consider it buying a hobby."

"Twenty spirit stones? Are you joking? What kind of pill formula can you buy for that price? Do you think it's your Strength Talisman?"

Zhao Zhengyuan shouted angrily.

Chen Lin stopped talking and just drank his porridge in silence.

If the other man didn't want to sell, he would have left long ago. Since he hadn't, it meant he was desperate to sell.

Chen Lin wasn't sure if his talent would work on such a flawed formula, so he didn't want to invest too much.

Most importantly, he was also poor. He would feel a sting in his heart if he spent the savings he had scraped together over so many years.

Sure enough, after fuming for a while, Zhao Zhengyuan relented.

"Add a bit more. Fifty spirit stones at the lowest, and you must swear not to pass it on."

Chen Lin could accept this price. He nodded and said, "Fine, but I'll have to trouble Brother Zhao to explain the basics and precautions of alchemy to me."

An incense stick's time later.

Zhao Zhengyuan left, looking depressed, as if he had been taken for a fool.

Chen Lin held the formula and examined it carefully.

He had been immersed in it for who knows how long when he heard a low sound from the bronze bell placed in the corner of the room. His expression changed. He immediately stood up, went to the window, opened a crack, and looked outside with a somber face.

It was now the middle of the night.

Except for the sound of snowflakes dancing in the cold wind, the city was silent.

Suddenly.

A red beam of light appeared from a courtyard not far away.

It shot straight into the sky!

Immediately after, a second, a third, a tenth.

In the blink of an eye, countless tiny beams of light appeared above the entire city.

They were dense, yet orderly, shooting into the pitch-black sky, with no end in sight.

Such a spectacular sight even dispersed the blizzard, yet not a single cultivator in the city came out to investigate.

It remained deathly quiet.

This lasted for nearly a quarter of an hour before the red lines slowly faded and disappeared.

The wind picked up again, and the snow fell.

Chen Lin stood there for a while before closing the window and walking back to the table.

Ever since he transmigrated, this scene had been a constant.

Every midnight, this would happen.

At all other times, everything was as usual.

After a month of investigation, he discovered that each of these thin red lines was actually connected to a person, though he didn't know what they were for.

Furthermore, the people connected by the lines seemed to have no sensation of it at all. He had tried to ask several people indirectly, but they all looked at him as if he were talking nonsense.

Even in the original owner's memories, there was no record of this situation.

Therefore, he suspected that the people here, including the original owner, simply could not see this eerie sight, just as they could not perceive that they were always squinting and sneering.

His lack of knowledge left him unable to speculate on the cause, and with his current cultivation, he had no ability to investigate.

All he could do was hurry to raise his cultivation to the middle stage of Qi Refining, gain some ability to survive in the wild, and then escape.