Under normal circumstances, the round wheat would take over ten days to mature, but there’s actually a shortcut.

Yu Yinyin had some spirit herbs used to accelerate plant growth. These herbs were essentially concentrated liquid spirit power, mixed with some functional spirit elements that promote growth. He had occasionally used it during his research, and there were no side effects—just a way to speed things up. This meant he could quickly finish that sudden [Task One].

Lin Qinghen felt that time flew by, and in reality, he had already been up all night. As he burst through the door, he found Yu Yinyin just waking up, and he dashed off to the storage room.

After a while, Yu Yinyin saw him clutching a bottle, ready to head out again, running towards the fields. She recognized the bottle immediately; it was meant for low-level spirit growth liquid, which wasn’t particularly precious, so he could use it freely.

Seeing the focused look in his eyes, it was clear he didn’t have a clue about what he was planting this time. When he got absorbed in something, he forgot to eat and sleep—she figured he probably hadn’t slept at all last night.

He learned quickly and was incredibly focused; in some ways, he was truly the embodiment of the saying “blue comes from indigo.” In recent years, Yu Yinyin hadn’t been able to teach him much, only answering questions when needed.

As for the two acres of land belonging to Lin Qinghen, she rarely checked on it. After all, it was just round wheat—something a kid was fiddling with for fun. To put it bluntly, it was just a low-star spirit plant, with little value. No matter how well it was cultivated, it wouldn’t amount to much.

But this time, Lin Qinghen seemed anxious as he was about to rush out when suddenly, he turned back as if he had remembered something.

“Master,” he asked Yu Yinyin, his voice slightly hoarse from a night without sleep, “do you have any base materials for medicine? The most basic ones would be fine.”

Base materials were the common foundational components used by alchemists when refining low-level yellow-grade elixirs. It was a viscous substance made from crushed spirit crystals that were then simply processed. Its main purpose was to serve as a spiritual energy foundation for low-level elixirs, helping to condense the medicinal properties of the ingredients to maximize their effectiveness.

These were only used when crafting yellow-grade elixirs. For alchemists dealing with mysterious-grade concoctions or above, three or more different original materials were usually required, which already contained enough spirit energy, so they didn’t need a base as an aid.

Although this was something only alchemists used, Yu Yinyin was somewhat puzzled as to why Lin Qinghen would ask about it. But this kid always had a few strange ideas.

She replied, “On the rightmost shelf, in the middle of the third row. Go grab it yourself.”

The planting garden supplied the Lin family’s pharmacy, so having some base materials on hand was quite normal. Yu Yinyin didn’t mind parting with something as ordinary as low-level base materials.

Lin Qinghen thanked her and ran off to fetch it. He hurriedly took the two bottles and dashed out again, leaving her wondering if he had heard anything she had said.

Watching him scurry around like an excited little piglet, Yu Yinyin couldn’t help but chuckle.

In her experience, it was rare to see someone so focused and serious despite their lack of talent, but Lin Qinghen was one of those exceptions. This child could be silly at times, but when he was in the zone, it was as if a spark of life was coming from him.

Lin Qinghen didn’t care about anything else. When he was excited, he wasn’t tired, hungry, or sleepy. He quickly reached the edge of his fields and transferred those thirteen stalks of round wheat from the nursery into the ground, pouring the growth accelerator all over them.

While waiting for them to mature rapidly, he stared at the base materials in his hand, lost in thought. After a moment, he moved his fingers and touched the little grass on his wrist, bringing up the system screen.

He stared at the system reward that read [Hemostasis Powder Recipe] and began to ponder.

Previously, when he had seen it, he thought he was dreaming and hadn’t given it much thought. He merely felt that being able to recite the formula for the hemostasis powder backwards wasn’t a significant reward.

But this was really tied to him; it wasn’t a dream. This task reward seemed more complicated than he initially thought.

Lin Qinghen had long harbored a bold guess, which was why he had prepared the base materials he didn’t even plan on using.

Meanwhile, the mutated round wheat grew visibly faster and matured right before Lin Qinghen’s eyes.

As he harvested, he juggled the system screen, placing the fruits he collected into a bamboo basket. The yield from his batch of round wheat was quite high, and the thirteen mutated round wheat plants filled an entire basket. He could also see the task interface changing.

When he collected from the tenth stalk, a large, golden check mark appeared on the task interface, and at the bottom, a rectangular box with the words [Task Completed] popped up, resembling the interface for submitting tasks in the online games he had played.

Lin Qinghen instinctively clicked it, and a warm current surged through him. Before he could ponder whether it was the effect of the 1 point of [Natural Affinity], his system interface changed.

A glowing arrow appeared at the bottom of the screen, with words above it—[Crafting Table Unlocked].

Then, two entries appeared at the bottom of the screen: one for the task interface and the other for the crafting table. The arrow shook slightly, as if to ensure he noticed it. The beginner’s guide text was simple and clear—[Click here to go to the crafting table].

Lin Qinghen took a deep breath. His fingers trembled slightly, but he resolutely pressed the button.

After he clicked, the crafting table interface transformed into a completely different appearance.

To Lin Qinghen, it felt like he had really tied himself to some sort of gaming system, because it resembled one so much.

The crafting table interface was divided into many small grids, but most of them were grey and black, each marked with a lock.

Only a small section at the top was lit up, with the words [Hemostasis Powder] written in it and a small potion bottle illustrated beside it, along with a few black pills that looked just like the hemostasis powder.

This [Hemostasis Powder] block could also be clicked on, bringing up an interface resembling a round potion cauldron, with several lines of text above it.

「Crafting Recipe: 1 portion of Mutated Red Round Wheat (20/1), 1 portion of Low-Level Base Material (1/1)」

「Output Product: 1 batch of Hemostasis Powder (yielding 20-25 pills, quality influenced by original materials, etc.)」

「Crafting Speed: 30 minutes for one batch」

「Extra Bonus: Influenced by Natural Affinity, the quality of the output pills increases by 1%, with an additional extremely weak positive effect.」

Lin Qinghen read it over several times, feeling excitement bubbling up inside him.

It seemed the alchemist system was aptly named; he could really refine medicine!

The 20 portions of wheat calculated by the system caught Lin Qinghen off guard, but he quickly realized his red round wheat had been improved, boosting its yield by about 50%. According to the normal alchemist’s usage, it did indeed equate to around 20 portions.

Looking closely at the system’s output amount and crafting time, the current system level was not particularly high, and its efficiency was lacking. It could only produce hemostasis powder at this stage.

Overall, it was about the standard of an ordinary yellow-grade three-star alchemist. The so-called 1% increase from Natural Affinity was practically negligible. The additional effects sounded impressive, but given the phrase “extremely weak,” it was clear it wouldn’t dramatically alter the elixirs.

After all, this was just the beginning. What could be made depended on the final product.

He noticed a lit section in the center of the cauldron, and tapping it would start the crafting process.

He could also control the number of elixirs produced on the crafting interface, but since Lin Qinghen hadn’t prepared many base materials, he only had one portion.

After all, the first batch would take half an hour to make, so he clicked to start, watching a small pot gradually rise in the top right corner, steam billowing from it, with a countdown beneath.

At the same time, the base materials in his hand were instantly depleted, and the bamboo basket containing his harvested round wheat became lighter.

It was surprisingly automated.

While the elixirs were being crafted, he noticed each small entry had an underline beneath it.

Lin Qinghen clicked on them one by one, but the system didn’t provide any extra prompts. It simply informed him that the recipe, output, speed, and bonuses could all be influenced by various factors and could be improved, but it didn’t reveal how to do it.

This system would likely grow a lot in the future, much like a real alchemist, progressing step by step rather than instantaneously.

[Please, host, strive to explore, grow quickly, and become an excellent alchemist as soon as possibl].

The system’s little pop-up window said this to him.

Lin Qinghen’s eyes lit up: “Okay!”

This beginning had already given him a huge surprise.

After more than a decade, although this opportunity came late, it was better late than never.

His luck in crossing over hadn’t been great; he had been ridiculed as useless and ugly both openly and secretly. Although Lin Qinghen could dodge the direct insults, the underlying bullying never ceased.

With his abilities, if he stepped out of the Lin family without any means of self-protection, he could only pin his hopes on his professional skills, quietly researching low-star spirit plants, hoping for a path to survival in the future.

But even if he had increased the mutation rate of round wheat to 8%, he still couldn’t dare to speak about it openly or sell his products recklessly.

Living in the Lin family made him cautious, fearing one wrong step could lead to disaster. Mainly, Lin Qinghen truly had no means to protect himself.

Even if he had managed to research the round wheat mutation rate, he didn’t even have a true place of his own. If someone discovered it and obtained the seeds, he could lose everything.

This place didn’t have such patent protection, and the Lin family wasn’t going to become his backing. If that happened, he would lose his value, or merely serve others.

Lin Qinghen was always searching for a way to make his efforts pay off. He never thought about slapping anyone in the face or making a comeback; he just wanted to quickly gain some capability to stand on his own.

Now, at last, he had that.

Elixirs produced by an alchemist were highly sought after, enough to become a strong foundation for himself.

Lin Qinghen reveled in his happiness for a while, but unfortunately, Yu Yinyin couldn’t see this. He didn’t know how to explain it to his master either.

Furthermore, the abilities brought by the system weren’t high. He had no intention of revealing the system’s existence to anyone.

He just wanted to seize the time to improve quickly.

[Task One] was completed, and the system should have refreshed with new tasks by now.

No one would stop him from progressing!