Chapter 2058 — Right Panhu's Plan, Part Two

"That... I am not really sure." The yellow-haired young man shook his head. "It was only a guess on my part."

"Still, it is a line worth following!" Right Zhentian nodded. "Panhu, in a moment bring two pill cauldrons—one first-grade and one second-grade. Offer the first-grade cauldron to Wei Zhao first, and if he refuses, then bring out the second-grade one! Remember, if you can get by without using the second-grade, do so!"

Though the hidden Right family was a house of alchemists, it was not as though cauldrons were piled up with no place to put them. First-grade cauldrons were one thing—there were plenty in stock—but second-grade cauldrons numbered only a few. After all, a pill cauldron could only be forged by a high-rank alchemist!

Many of the second-grade cauldrons in the family came from the Xuandan Sect!

As for third-grade cauldrons, even high-rank alchemists could not forge them; only an artificer could. But in this world, artificers were pitifully few—to say nothing of the hidden families, it was unclear whether even the ancient sects and ancient clans had any such beings at all...

The only place certain to possess an artificer might well be that one place!

Of course, none of this was the hidden Right family's concern. The family did own third-grade cauldrons, but they must never be traded away. The whole vast hidden Right family possessed no more than two third-grade cauldrons in total!

"Yes, Uncle. The moment I get to school tomorrow, I will go and have a talk with Wei Zhao!" Right Panhu nodded.

"By the way, how is your cultivation coming along?" Right Zhentian no longer harbored any other designs concerning Right Panhu; from the way the Right family patriarch had arranged matters, Right Panhu was clearly being groomed for an elder's seat in the next generation.

Right Panhu had real talent for alchemy—that was why the patriarch had sent him to Donghai Engineering University to study under White Collar.

Of course, so long as Right Panhu did not contend with Right Zhentian's son, Right Panlong, for the position of young heir, Right Zhentian had nothing to worry about. An elder's voice in family affairs was indeed weighty, but in the end it still had to bow to the head of the family.

So Right Zhentian had begun to take an interest in Right Panhu's cultivation as well; Right Panhu's growth would be a great boon to the Right family's future.

"Uncle, you know as well as I do that I have a gift for alchemy, but when it comes to cultivation, I simply cannot endure much hardship!" Even if Right Zhentian had not raised the subject, Right Panhu had been planning to find a chance to air his grievances soon. He had meant to say no more than the business about Wei Zhao today, but since his uncle had brought it up, he certainly would not let the opportunity slip. "My strength is simply too poor—only the peak of the late Yellow Rank... Perhaps it is because my grade is too low that White Collar looks down on me and has not taught me more alchemy..."

"That does make sense. Wei Zhao is already Earth Rank—at the very least late Earth Rank, most likely at the peak of late Earth Rank. It is only natural that White Collar favors him!" Right Zhentian nodded. "How about this: I will write you a chit. Take it to the pill storehouse and draw ten Spirit-Gathering Pills and two Spirit-Gathering Elixirs for your cultivation in the days ahead!"

"Yes, Uncle!" Right Panhu was overjoyed at Right Zhentian's words. With these two medicines, his strength would advance by leaps and bounds!

The Spirit-Gathering Pill was a Yellow Rank, first-grade pill. In truth its effects were much like those of the Qi Gathering Pill, only far weaker. The Spirit-Gathering Pill was meant only for cultivators below the Mystic Rank, to rapidly raise their strength—but once one reached the Mystic Rank, it was of no use at all!

Of course, the Spirit-Gathering Pill was less effective than the Qi Gathering Pill, but it also lacked that pill's drawbacks! The energy contained in a Spirit-Gathering Pill was neither pure nor domineering; those who took it could continue to absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth in their cultivation!

For that reason the Spirit-Gathering Pill was immensely popular among the hidden families. Though many hidden families had Yellow Rank, first-grade alchemists of their own, their success rate in forming pills was not high, so the Right family still had a large market—and made no small profit—selling Spirit-Gathering Pills!

The Spirit-Gathering Elixir, by contrast, was a tier higher among cultivation medicines. It was meant for cultivators above the Mystic Rank and below the Earth Rank, and could swiftly raise the strength of a Mystic Rank expert—though for an Earth Rank expert its effects were slight.

Yet the cost of a Spirit-Gathering Elixir was hundreds, even a thousand times that of a Spirit-Gathering Pill! After all, only a Yellow Rank, second-grade alchemist could refine one, and even then success was not guaranteed. Counting the alchemist's expenditure of true qi and the rate of spoiled batches, the Spirit-Gathering Elixir was worth its weight in cities!

This was also why the sons and daughters of the hidden families could so casually cultivate to the peak of the late Yellow Rank or the early Mystic Rank! The Spirit-Gathering Pill was not especially precious, and to break from the peak of the late Yellow Rank into the early Mystic Rank, one need only take ten of them at once.

Even so, this privilege was of course confined to the hidden families. The mundane families had no such treatment; even if they wished to buy Spirit-Gathering Pills, they had no channel through which to purchase them! The only mundane family with ties to the hidden Yu family was the very mundane Yu family itself—and the hidden Yu family did not make its living from alchemy. The Spirit-Gathering Pills refined by its first-grade alchemists were not even enough for its own children; how could it spare any for the mundane Yu family? To be given a few now and then as a reward was already generous.

Right Zhentian had given Right Panhu ten Spirit-Gathering Pills at once, but only two Spirit-Gathering Elixirs—which only went to show that the pills were cheap and the elixirs precious!

Still, the Spirit-Gathering Elixir's effects were fierce indeed. Even two of them could easily lift a cultivator from the early Mystic Rank to the mid Mystic Rank! One elixir to raise one grade—no problem at all!

This was why Right Panhu was beside himself with joy! The Spirit-Gathering Elixir was a rare treasure, and even the Right family did not have many; other hidden families could not buy them even if they wished—they were only brought out for high-priced auction at auction houses. That Right Panhu should receive two of them was proof enough that Right Zhentian had begun to value him, and was grooming him as a family elder.

Chit in hand, Right Panhu first went to the pill storehouse to collect the medicines, then to the armory to collect the first-grade and second-grade cauldrons. That done, he returned to his room to cultivate!

With the spirit medicines in his grasp, Right Panhu could hardly wait to raise himself from the peak of the late Yellow Rank to the early Mystic Rank!

Early Monday morning, Right Panhu arrived at school bright and early, his fighting spirit high—for he was now an early Mystic Rank expert. Ten Spirit-Gathering Pills had gone down, and they had easily carried him past the barrier to become an early Mystic Rank expert!

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