Yu Xian reacted quickly.

He hurriedly stepped back two paces, dodging the splash of tea, and without getting upset, he continued to smile and said, "Four hundred and sixteen pieces."

The middle-aged man, while patting the tea stains on his chest, coughed and set down the teacup.

With a face full of disbelief, he looked at Yu Xian and said, "Four hundred and sixteen pieces? Where did you, kid, get so many Scorching Sun Essence Stones?"

Yu Xian's smile froze for a moment, then slowly faded as he looked at the middle-aged man calmly and said, "What, does the senior need to inquire about the source when accepting materials?"

"Oh? Quite cautious, aren't you?"

The middle-aged man returned to normal. Four hundred Scorching Sun Essence Stones weren't too few, but not too many either.

He was just initially surprised that this young man had so many Scorching Sun Essence Stones, far exceeding his expectations, which shocked him for a moment.

Now that he had regained his composure, the middle-aged man chuckled and looked at Yu Xian, saying, "I'm curious to know, would you tell me?"

"No."

"Then that's settled, isn't it?"

The middle-aged man shrugged and said, "Just asking out of curiosity, look how scared you are. Even if you robbed the steward of the Hundred Mines Workshop, it has nothing to do with me."

Yu Xian's expression relaxed, and he smiled, saying, "I was overthinking it."

"Four hundred and sixteen pieces, that's quite a lot. The Scorching Sun Mining Area's output for three to four months is about that much. You're impressive, kid."

The middle-aged man nodded and casually tossed a storage pouch over, saying, "Put them in here."

Without hesitation, Yu Xian took the storage pouch and loaded all four hundred and sixteen Scorching Sun Essence Stones into it, then pushed it towards the man, saying, "Please check, senior."

The middle-aged man took a glance, nodded, and smiled, saying, "It really is four hundred and sixteen pieces, each one top-grade. Not bad, not bad. Let me calculate how many Spirit Stones that is."

Four hundred and sixteen Scorching Sun Essence Stones, each exchanged for fourteen Low-Grade Spirit Stones, totaling five thousand eight hundred and twenty-four Spirit Stones.

Yu Xian had already done the math.

The middle-aged man frowned and calculated mentally for a while before shaking his head and saying, "Five thousand eight hundred... forget it, I'll give you six thousand, to make it a round number."

Yu Xian's eyebrow twitched; this middle-aged man was quite generous.

Rounding up to five thousand nine hundred would have sufficed, but he went straight to six thousand.

The middle-aged man flipped his hand, transferred the Scorching Sun Essence Stones, placed the Spirit Stones in, and tossed the storage pouch back to Yu Xian, saying, "Count them, don't say I cheated a kid."

Yu Xian took the storage pouch and looked inside. It was dazzlingly bright, with fifty-five Mid-Grade Spirit Stones neatly lying there!

Yu Xian's heart skipped a beat, but he quickly calmed down.

He transferred the Mid-Grade Spirit Stones into his own storage pouch, then handed the pouch back with both hands, respectfully saying, "Thank you, senior!"

"Mm."

The middle-aged man nodded, sat back down, and looked at Yu Xian, saying, "I won't ask about the origin of the ores. Can you tell me your name?"

"Junior, Yu Xian."

"Yu Xian."

The middle-aged man nodded, "Nice name, I'll remember you."

Yu Xian replied with neither arrogance nor humility, "It's an honor for junior to be remembered by senior. Well, I'll take my leave."

"Go ahead."

The middle-aged man waved his hand and closed his eyes for a nap.

Yu Xian turned decisively and left quickly.

This novel is available on "p𝑎wread.com".

"Yu Xian... whose errand boy is this kid? Or did he gather all those Scorching Sun Essence Stones himself? Interesting, and at such a young age, he's already at the mid-Qi Condensation stage. Quite rare, a talent indeed. I wonder if he'll shine brightly in the future..."

After Yu Xian left, the middle-aged man remained with his eyes closed, only a faint murmur of curiosity lingering in the air...

Outside the Grand Hall of the Weapon Forging Workshop, Yu Xian felt the sky was exceptionally clear.

Struck it rich!

This was true wealth.

Fifty-five Mid-Grade Spirit Stones; in the entire Outer Sect, aside from the Master and those stewards, few would have such wealth.

In high spirits, Yu Xian headed towards the Alchemy Workshop.

Elixirs still needed to be purchased, but Yu Xian had already made up his mind.

He wanted to learn the art of alchemy himself.

Otherwise, relying solely on purchases would be a huge loss; how much hard work would it take to exchange for a single elixir?

The price was more than ten times the cost of raw materials!

Those who knew alchemy made more money than those who owned a Jade Pendant and mined for resources!

The Alchemy Workshop wasn't crowded; most people came and went in a hurry.

Yu Xian stepped into the Grand Hall, not heading to the automatic trading counters like before to buy elixirs, but instead approached the staff in charge inside.

"Hmm? Junior Brother, is there an elixir you couldn't find?"

An Alchemy Workshop disciple saw Yu Xian approaching and immediately showed a puzzled expression.

"Not exactly."

Yu Xian shook his head and looked at the disciple, saying, "I wanted to ask Senior Brother if you have any alchemy formulas for sale? I want to learn alchemy."

"Huh?"

The man was taken aback, staring at Yu Xian for a moment before exclaiming, "Junior Brother, you mean to buy alchemy formulas, buy your own herbs and materials, and then make the elixirs yourself?"

"Yes."

Yu Xian nodded.

"Pfft... Hahaha..."

The man suddenly burst into laughter, looking at Yu Xian as if he were a fool, unable to hold back his amusement, "Junior Brother, do you know what you're saying? Alright, stop joking around here."

Yu Xian frowned, looking at the man seriously, "Why, does Senior Brother think I'm joking?"

The man's smile gradually faded, shaking his head, "I don't have time to chat with you. If you want to buy elixirs, buy them; if not, leave."

He now only saw the young boy in front of him as a fool.

Alchemy? Is it something you can do with just a formula and raw materials?

Without anyone to teach you, no place to learn, not even an alchemy furnace, what are you going to use to make elixirs?

Utterly laughable.

Seeing the man getting a bit annoyed, Yu Xian figured he must be missing something, making himself a laughingstock.

So, he rolled his eyes and bowed, saying, "Please don't blame me, Senior Brother. I genuinely want to learn alchemy. Could you enlighten me on why I can't?"

"Ah, you're really persistent."

Yu Xian's attitude softened the man a bit; there was nothing wrong with a young person eager to learn.

So the man shook his head and said, "Alchemy isn't something you can do with just a formula. First, you have to learn the techniques, which takes at least two years. Then you can watch seniors make elixirs and assist them, which takes another two years. By the fifth year, you can try making elixirs yourself, and who knows how many times you'll fail in between. That's all Spirit Stones!"

The man wore a pained expression, "Like me, not to mention learning for six years, now to make a Minor Spirit Pill, I've spent all the Spirit Stones I've saved over the years. Out of five furnaces, maybe one will succeed, barely breaking even. You see how hard alchemy is!"

"I see."

Yu Xian nodded, showing understanding, but still full of longing, "Does Senior Brother have any manuals on alchemy techniques for sale? Or do you know where I can buy them?"

"Ah, you're really persistent, aren't you? Didn't I explain it clearly enough?"

The man was somewhat speechless seeing Yu Xian's persistence.

"Hey, just sell him a copy of the 'Myriad Elixirs Record' and the 'Grand Alchemy Compendium.' These newcomers won't turn back until they hit a wall. He'll figure it out himself eventually, so why bother explaining?"

Another Alchemy Workshop disciple nearby showed impatience.

"Fine, I won't persuade him anymore."

The man nodded, then raised his hand to take out two booklets, saying, "These are the basic manuals from the Alchemy Workshop, similar to your Hundred Mines Workshop's Hundred Mines Record. Give me ten Spirit Stones, and they're yours."

Two basic manuals for ten Spirit Stones, probably overpriced.

But Yu Xian didn't mind, casually taking out ten Low-Grade Spirit Stones to exchange for the booklets, nodding and smiling, "Thank you, Senior Brother, for enlightening me."

With that, he turned and left.

"Oh, by the way, if you ever learn something and want to try alchemy, you can rent the Alchemy Rooms at the Alchemy Workshop!"

The man called out to Yu Xian's retreating figure.

"Alright! Thank you, Senior Brother!"

Yu Xian raised his hand and disappeared around the corner.

"What a fool, just wasting time."

"Let him figure it out himself. He'll regret wasting so much time later."

"You're really harsh, haha..."

The group resumed their conversation, laughter echoing.

Clearly, Yu Xian's actions were a joke in their eyes.

Meanwhile, Yu Xian purchased several bottles of Earth Spirit Pills, Spirit-Focusing Pills, Spirit-Gathering Pills, and a Primordial Spirit Pill worth two thousand Spirit Stones from the Alchemy Workshop before returning to the Mining Area.

Upon reaching the Mining Area, Yu Xian didn't stop and headed straight for the newly opened mining mountain.

The mine cave in the new mountain was now his residence.

Cultivation, mining, reading the basic alchemy manuals, and learning techniques—before he knew it, more than ten days had passed.

In these ten days, Yu Xian didn't mine much, about two hundred and seventy to eighty pieces.

Most of his time was spent reading the basic alchemy manuals, learning techniques, and cultivating.

He remained at the mid-Qi Condensation stage, but the deep pool grew deeper, and his Qi Sea expanded to one zhang, two chi, and five cun.

Yu Xian hadn't consumed the Primordial Spirit Pill yet; he planned to use it at the optimal moment to break through to the late Qi Condensation stage.

Taking it now would only deepen his cultivation without breaking through, and it would also lead to drug resistance, reducing its effectiveness in the future.

On this day, inside the cave, Yu Xian had piles of various weeds, branches, stones, and other items in front of him.

At this moment, these items were "materials" for alchemy in Yu Xian's eyes!