Chapter 1888: Becoming a Disciple

Alchemist Zi Cheng was extremely satisfied with Ling Han’s current expression. This was exactly what he wanted to see.

Only if Ling Han was interested could he impart his skills. Otherwise, it would be a case of forcing a stubborn bull to drink.

“Do you want to know why?” Alchemist Zi Cheng asked with a smile.

“Yes!” Ling Han replied with a nod.

Alchemist Zi Cheng nodded, and said, “This is called Spirit Refinement, and it’s a process of intertwining the Source Power of Heaven and Earth of the Celestial pill with the great dao. Doing so will elevate the quality of the alchemical pill. Moreover, Spirit Refinement can be carried out more than once. With each successful Spirit Refinement, one can elevate the quality of a Celestial pill to a new level. Successfully completing one Spirit Refinement is termed as First Refinement. There also exists Second Refinement, Third Refinement, Fourth Refinement, and so on.”

He paused for a moment before saying, “According to my knowledge, one can complete Spirit Refinement a total of nine times.

“However, each subsequent Spirit Refinement will increase in difficulty. Moreover, if one fails… the alchemical pill will also be destroyed.

“The ability of an alchemist isn’t merely decided by their star rank. It also depends on how many Spirit Refinements they can perform. Only those who can complete five or more Spirit Refinements have the right to be called a grandmaster.”

Ling Han was extremely curious, and he asked, “Senior, how many Spirit Refinements can you perform?”

Alchemist Zi Cheng paused for a moment before answering, “The difficulty of Spirit Refinement varies according to the level of different alchemical pills. Moreover, it’s not the case that Spirit Refinement will be easier on a One-Star alchemical pill than a Four-Star alchemical pill. For example, I refined your Dao Regulating Pill a total of seven times. If it were a Three-Star Alchemist, reaching the Third Refinement or Fourth Refinement would already be their extreme.

“My extreme is the Seventh Refinement!”

Seventh Refinement. In other words, he could elevate the quality of an alchemical pill seven times. After seven refinements, even an initially low-level alchemical pill would end up being far superior to a pinnacle-level alchemical pill. At that time, how would these pills be ranked?

“Do you… want to learn this?” Alchemist Zi Cheng asked with a smile. He wore an expression of eager antic.i.p.ation as he looked at Ling Han.

Producing an outstanding disciple, or perhaps even a disciple who surpa.s.sed him, would fill him with a sense of grand achievement.

“I do!” Ling Han immediately answered with a nod.

A haughty expression appeared on Alchemist Zi Cheng’s face, and he asked, “But what right do you have to become my disciple? Why are you worthy of my guidance?”

‘This…’

Ling Han wracked his brain for a good reason. There was definitely no need to mention his cultivation talent. After all, this was an alchemist he was talking to, so he definitely wouldn’t give a toss about his cultivation talent. In terms of alchemy ability, however, Alchemist Zi Cheng was already near the peak stage. That being the case, would he need to care about Ling Han’s alchemy talent?

Ling Han scratched his head. Perhaps he should say that he was confident in becoming a Five-Star Alchemist, at which time he would bring great reputation to Alchemist Zi Cheng?

To produce a Five-Star Alchemist would naturally bring great honor and glory to the master as well.

However, just like no one could guarantee that they would become a Celestial King, no one could guarantee that they would become a Five-Star Alchemist, either.

“Let me rephrase my question,” Alchemist Zi Cheng said. He naturally wouldn’t reject Ling Han as a disciple. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have spoken so much nonsense with him.

In fact, he was simply asking these questions to challenge Ling Han a little. Ling Han was young, after all, so he naturally shouldn’t become too arrogant and conceited.

“Why do you want to learn alchemy?”

‘Why do I want to learn alchemy?’

Ling Han pondered over this question, and he realized that he had quite a lot of aspirations.

After refining an alchemical pill, he could use it himself, he could give it to those close to him, he could use it to make friends, he could sell it, or he could exchange it for some peculiar item. After all, some items weren’t for sale, and they could only be obtained through a fair exchange of items.

Ling Han mulled over this question for a long time, and his mind also wandered to Alchemist Zi Cheng’s past history. In the end, he replied, “To earn money!”

He hadn’t said this just to please Alchemist Zi Cheng. He indeed needed a great number of Star Stones so that he could obtain more G.o.dly metal to raise his Divine Demon Sword to the Celestial level.

This was a huge burden on him, and it was also his biggest motivation to earn more money.

Alchemist Zi Cheng was ecstatic upon hearing this. He clapped his hands and laughed heartily as he said, “Very well! Very well!

“Pei! To h.e.l.l with those lofty aspirations, and to h.e.l.l with rejuvenating alchemy! Pei! Back then, I had only picked up alchemy because I was suffering from poverty. I had no option but to find a way to feed myself. Who would’ve thought that I was actually so suited for alchemy?

“I’m willing to take you as my disciple!”

Ling Han couldn’t help but grimace. This grandmaster was truly a little… what should he say? Crude? However, his crudeness was down to earth, and it resonated with Ling Han.

Alchemist Zi Cheng waved his hand, and said, “Brat, aren’t you going to hurry up and acknowledge me as your master?”

Even though Ling Han was confident that he could become a Five-Star Alchemist in the future, this would definitely be an extremely difficult path that was filled with obstacles. Alchemy was similar to cultivation in that both became increasingly difficult as one progressed in level.

No, it was even more difficult than cultivation!

After all, how many cultivators existed in the Celestial Realm? However, how many alchemists were there?

At the very least, there were Celestial Kings in the Eastern Celestial Realm. Moreover, there were even eighth heaven Celestial Kings. However, were there any Five-Star Alchemists? There had already been tens of billions of years without a Five-Star Alchemist.

As such, a Four-Star Alchemist was more than skilled enough to become his master!

Most importantly, Alchemist Zi Cheng suited Ling Han’s tastes. Indeed, they both appreciated each other’s personalities.

Ling Han kneeled down, and said, “Disciple Ling Han pays respects to his master.” He performed a deep bow toward his new master.

Alchemist Zi Cheng dragged a chair over and accepted Ling Han’s three kneels and nine kowtows. With this small ceremony finished, he happily helped Ling Han up, saying, “My good disciple, you’re my fourth disciple, but also my only current disciple.”

A look of reminiscence appeared on his face, and he said, “Your three senior brothers are already Four-Star Alchemists now. Although they’re still not as skilled as your master, their level already isn’t far off.

“However, all of them have already left.”

Ling Han was slightly surprised, and he asked, “Why?”

Perhaps they were ungrateful wretches? He felt slightly angry upon thinking of this. This was one of the things that he detested the most.

Alchemist Zi Cheng shook his head, and said, “If they continued to follow me, they would only be able to reach the same height as me. Their limit would be four stars. If they want to become Five-Star Alchemists, however… they must leave my shadow and discover their own paths.”

By the looks of it, this was something that both master and disciples had silently agreed on. His three previous disciples had all set up their own forces, and they were all attempting to create their own system of alchemy so that they could become a Five-Star Alchemist.

“If you can’t overcome the ordinary process, you’ll also be kicked out in the future!” Alchemist Zi Cheng said in a solemn voice.

Ling Han pondered for a moment before saying, “This disciple will definitely try his best so that Master doesn’t need to kick me out.”

Alchemist Zi Cheng laughed heartily upon hearing this. He held high hopes for Ling Han, and it was because of this that he had specially taken Ling Han as his disciple. Otherwise, it had already been tens of billions of years since he had taken his last disciple.

However, could Ling Han overcome the barrier of four stars and become a Five-Star Alchemist?

Alchemist Zi Cheng didn’t dare to make any categorical claims. He could only say that Ling Han had a sliver of a chance.

“I’ll now hand you your first mission. That is, I want you to become a Holy Son,” he said with a serious expression. “I can only propose this, but whether or not the two other Four-Star Alchemists agree is completely up to your performance.

“I also require you to master the First Refinement within a year.”

One year. This was an extremely strict demand. Even with a Time Cultivation Chamber that could accelerate time by 100-fold, this was still only 100 years.

It was almost impossible to master the First Refinement within this timeframe.

However, if Ling Han wanted to become a Five-Star Alchemist, he had to overcome all forms of difficulties and impossibilities!