[Task Three: The key to growth is repeated practice.]

「Requirements: Create 1,000 elixirs. (Currently completed: 20).」

「Reward: 3 points of natural affinity, unlock influencing factor: elixir proficiency.」

「Note: This task is the final stage of the novice quest. Upon completion, the system will acknowledge your achievement and you will enter the alchemist advancement stage.」

「Wishing you a smooth task.」

The elixir crafting interface didn’t change much; it simply reflected an increase in natural affinity from Task Two, raising the bonus to 3%. While the impact of this natural affinity seemed small right now, if it kept increasing like this over time, the effect would surely become quite formidable later on.

This task wasn’t too difficult; in fact, it was simpler than the first two. Lin Qinghen felt it suited him perfectly—he just needed to focus and get to work. He could grow his own Round Wheat, and now that he had some money, he could buy low-grade medicinal materials and ripening agents to get this task done. Completing it was merely a matter of time—probably around twenty days.

He didn’t have to be busy for the entire twenty days; he just needed to grow enough Round Wheat and prepare a sufficient amount of medicinal materials. Once he adjusted the quantity to meet the task requirements in the system, it could automatically create the elixirs in the background. After successful production, Lin Qinghen could freely choose how many to take out. Moreover, as long as he didn’t take them out, the system could store the elixirs without burdening him at all.

However, he needed to stay close to this field for the next few days to grow enough Round Wheat for 1,000 bottles of Homeostasis Powder. Plus, if everything went well with his Master, these 1,000 bottles could be sold as his first batch of goods, which would be a great start.

Lin Qinghen had everything all figured out clearly. Seeing that he was okay, Yu Yinyin felt relieved and began to attend to her own matters. When Lin Qinghen noticed she had shut herself in her room and instructed everyone not to disturb her, he understood she was trying to break the effects of the spiritual tool that had been covering her for twenty years. She needed some time to do that without causing a stir in the Lin family.

As for Lin Qinghen, after tidying up a bit, he planned to head out again today. This time, he wasn’t going out to sell goods; he was going out to buy supplies. To complete the third task, he needed a large quantity of medicinal materials and ripening agents. Since Yu Yinyin was the garden master and not a farmer, she didn’t have a lot of stock—just some symbolic reserves. For more, he would have to go to the warehouse.

Now that Lin Qinghen had money, thanks to Yu Yinyin, he could go out and buy what he needed. There was no need to lug around big bags; both the medicinal materials and ripening agents came in concentrated versions. He just needed to apply a bit of technique to dilute them with some spirit power and water once he brought them back.

Previously, Lin Qinghen hadn’t considered this option because using his Yellow Level Two Star spirit power for the dilution work was quite taxing, and concentrated versions came in large bottles at high prices—around tens of thousands of Spirit Coins. Back then, he didn’t have that kind of money. Now, though, it was very applicable.

Lin Qinghen found that his Round Wheat was quite worry-free, and he could still buy the lowest-grade ripening agents. On average, concentrated versions were cheaper, costing only about 70 Spirit Coins per plant.

He hesitated a bit over the medicinal materials. While he could make four-star elixirs using low-grade materials, it would have some impact on the quality. If he used mid-grade materials, the effects would be better, but the price would double, making concentrated versions cost around 160 Spirit Coins each.

For the sake of quality, he ultimately decided to go with better materials. After all, these were the first goods he would be selling, and quality mattered—he couldn’t skimp on this. His cost per bottle turned into 240 Spirit Coins, and for 1,000 bottles, that amounted to about 240,000 Spirit Coins. Thankfully, the money Yu Yinyin provided was sufficient.

With investment and starting capital, it was clear his situation was quite different from the previous day’s poverty.

Today, there were no trash trucks going out, but due to the Lin family hosting a banquet, there was a bit of hustle and bustle in the garden, with plenty of cars coming and going. Lin Qinghen had good relationships with many of the farmers and was always able to find someone to help him out.

As he left the Lin family, Lin Qinghen was cautious and took some measures to hide his intentions. His purchasing route today was completely opposite to yesterday’s. He didn’t know it, but just as he headed out, two people were rushing toward the spot where he had set up his stall yesterday, only to find it empty.

“Why isn’t he here?”

The speaker was the little girl who had been looking for her dog yesterday. Beside her was a middle-aged man. They both scanned the area but couldn’t find the person they were looking for.

The middle-aged man looked quite serious as he turned to the girl and asked, “Yuan Rong, think carefully. What did that person look like?”

The little girl, named Yuan Rongrong, had already been asked this many times since she returned last night.

Now, Yuan Rongrong frowned, trying hard to recall what had happened the night before. This was her first time coming to Tong Tian Mansion. Yesterday, she had snuck out to play with her pet Spirit Beast, which was only a couple of months old—very lively and mischievous. It had run off unexpectedly.

After searching for a while, she finally spotted it on this street. The lighting was quite dim at the time, and she hadn’t really paid attention to what the vendor looked like. If he hadn’t been holding dried meat that attracted her little beast, she wouldn’t have even spoken to him.

The vendor seemed a bit dazed, and Yuan Rongrong was in a hurry to go back, so she didn’t bother spending much time with him. She bought the dried meat and casually grabbed a bottle of Homeostasis Powder from the stall.

There was no guarantee with the elixirs sold by these small vendors; many of them had issues. Besides, Yuan Rongrong was an alchemist herself, so she wouldn’t think highly of such products. 

It wouldn’t look good to throw it away in front of him, so she didn’t even bother putting it in her storage ring and just stuffed it in her outer pocket.

Originally, she planned to walk a little farther away before tossing it, but after her little beast finished the dried meat, it started getting restless again, and she completely forgot about it.

It was quite a coincidence how things played out. After returning home, she casually tossed her outer garment onto the rack in her room and got busy with her own stuff. That bottle of medicine fell out of her pocket, hit the floor, the cap came off, and several pills rolled all over the place.

Then, her father, Yuan Jiang, saw it.

Yuan Jiang was no ordinary person; he was a red-clad elder in the Fu Xin Hall and a well-known alchemist on the continent—Heaven Level Seven Star, one of the top three in charge of the Fu Xin Hall where alchemists belonged.

Yuan Rongrong had great talent in alchemy and had long since stopped needing to make Homeostasis Powder. The emergency medicinal items she carried around were also not of ordinary quality.

Seeing the scattered pills, Yuan Jiang was just puzzled about why his daughter would have such things. When he picked one up and took a look, his expression changed drastically.

Last night, Yuan Rongrong was bewildered when her serious father called her out into the yard, interrogating her about the Homeostasis Powder.

“What Homeostasis Powder?” She couldn’t recall at all, “Isn’t there a whole bunch of low-grade elixirs at home?”

“In your room!”

Her father’s tone seemed to change a bit. “Those Homeostasis Powders! The four-star ones, the Homeostasis Powders!”

Any alchemist seeing this would find it hard to believe. No matter how skilled an alchemist became, they all started with Homeostasis Powder. When foundational medicines underwent such a change, those in the know would be most unsettled.

Once he discovered the situation, he immediately took Yuan Rongrong with him to search for the vendor. But by that time, Lin Qinghen had already packed up and left.

They asked around the other vendors, but the results weren’t optimistic. The stalls nearby all claimed they hadn’t seen this person; he was new. Everyone was busy with their own stalls, and the newcomer was quite quiet, crouching in an unwanted spot. At first glance, nobody even noticed him, let alone remember any distinguishing features. No one knew where he came from.

Yuan Rongrong truly couldn’t recall anything either.

“He was a guy, about a head taller than me, built… quite ordinary, all wrapped up tightly, wearing that kind of mask. The sky was dark, so I really couldn’t tell what he looked like,” that was all she could remember, “I didn’t talk to him much, and it was noisy outside, so I don’t clearly remember his tone, but he said he would come back today when I left yesterday.”

That statement was a glimmer of hope.

They didn’t know that Lin Qinghen, who was caught off guard by his Master’s surprise yesterday, had immediately canceled his stall plan.

He quickly bought the concentrated medicinal materials and ripening agents he needed and returned to the Lin family to get back to serious farming before noon.

The two from the Fu Xin Hall hadn’t left; they found a spot on the first floor of the inn to wait. Besides waiting, they also sent out many people along the way to search.

Upstairs, Yin Jiuxiao heard their conversation.

“Whoever that person is, you must bring him back to the Fu Xin Hall!”

When Yin Jiuxiao first heard this, he frowned, feeling quite displeased. He had discovered things a bit late yesterday, and the little crow was already nowhere to be found.

Today, he had intended to wait for the person to come so he could keep him under his control and pry into the source of the four-star Homeostasis Powder, which was no ordinary item and would be very useful in the future.

He hadn’t expected that the Fu Xin Hall’s little girl would also have good luck and soon found it without tossing it away. If the Fu Xin Hall was involved, he probably wouldn’t be able to seize the person now.

But he also hadn’t anticipated that after waiting all day, the chattering little crow, who was eager to make some money, didn’t show up today.

Like the Fu Xin Hall, he hadn’t seen what the person looked like.

However, Yin Jiuxiao had a slight advantage over them; he remembered the person’s voice. 

As long as they spoke, he would recognize them. But in this vast sea of people, how could he find them?