Your alchemy furnace looks so familiar...

Chapter 173 Your alchemy furnace looks so familiar...

Meanwhile, Zhu Huan'e, who had also gotten up early, was sitting in front of the mirror doing her makeup. She called over her personal maid and asked, "Xiao Yu, has Xiao Fang gotten up yet?"

"Yes, Young Master Fang got up early this morning and went downstairs. I heard from others that he went to the back room and was working with the old man who collects spiritual herbs."

"This kid~" Zhu Huan'e knew immediately that he was going to learn how to identify medicinal herbs, and she was very pleased. She then said, "Go and call him up here, and give him an extra portion of the breakfast that was brought to my room."

"Okay, sure," the maid Xiaoyu ran downstairs and called Fang Shi up.

"Master—" Fang Shi stood outside the door, feeling embarrassed to go in because of the stench of blood on his body.

Zhu Huan'e stepped forward and patted his hair, saying with concern, "Look at you, you're so messy so early in the morning. As an alchemist, even when handling spiritual herbs, you can't let any part of your body other than your hands get too much medicinal energy on it, otherwise it will disrupt the balance of the elixir, and it might explode when you're condensing the pill."

"Huh?" Fang Shi knew how dangerous it was to forge iron in the Li Huo Hall before, but he never expected that the much quieter craft of alchemy would also be related to explosions.

"Alright, alright, I'll have Xiaoyu take you to wash up. I've left your clothes in your room. Come to my room for breakfast after you've changed."

"Oh————" Fang Shi didn't think much of it and followed Xiao Yu away. But he only realized halfway there that his master hadn't told him to go to the alchemy room to eat, but to go to the boudoir to eat.

"Hehe, you're only just realizing it now?" Xiaoyu covered her mouth, having already been chuckling for a while. Seeing Fang Shi's expression turn sour, she comforted him, "Young Master Fang, there's no need to be nervous. The landlady's house is quite spacious. She usually eats in the house, and inviting you to join her is just a habit."

"Is that so—" But Fang Shi felt the déjà vu of falling into a wolf's den growing stronger and stronger. He had just peeked outside the door and saw that his master's room was quite big. He was afraid that halfway through breakfast, his master would suddenly tell him that he had something fun to show him.

So, should he watch or not? Hmm—Anyway, Master is at least better looking than Brother Jie, so his lewd behavior is somewhat acceptable.

The question is, isn't Master really afraid of gossip flying everywhere?

After washing his hands and face and changing his clothes, Fang Shi arrived at Zhu Huan'e's room as agreed. He found two plates already set on the coffee table in front of him. He sat opposite her and subtly mentioned his concern.

Zhu Huan'e laughed and said, "So, are you afraid I'll take advantage of you, or that you'll take advantage of me?"

"I just feel that Master has upheld his reputation for many years, and there is no need to let all his previous efforts be wasted because of taking care of me."

"It's alright, it's alright." Zhu Huan'e shook her head, causing the curves of her breasts to sway as well. Her charming and composed demeanor was mixed with a touch of carefree spirit. "Since taking you as my disciple yesterday, I have suddenly felt my mind is clear and I have no worries about anything."

"Why is that?" Fang Shi asked, puzzled.

Zhu Huan'e said, "In the past, I tried my best to avoid those trivial gossips because I didn't want others to disturb my cultivation of alchemy. However, I was still stuck in a bottleneck for many years. Although I had improved my skills, I was stuck and unable to break through, which made me very irritable. Every night before going to bed, I would think a lot and worry. However, last night I put all of that aside and thought about how to pass on my skills to you. Unexpectedly, I relaxed and actually figured out a problem I encountered when I was refining pills a few years ago."

It's no wonder Zhu Huan'e was so pleased, because she knew that even though Fang Shi didn't have a special physique, his becoming her disciple had broken through her bottleneck.

"Only now do I understand why my spiritual practice has stagnated all these years. It's because I haven't thought about things from other perspectives enough. Teaching disciples is not only about teaching them, but also about reminding me of my own spiritual practice."

Ah~ After explaining the profound principles, Zhu Huan'e felt even better.

"So let the rumors go. At worst, Xiao Fang, you can be my shield."

"No, no—Master, you can't do this! Shouldn't you explain things clearly to the people outside? How can you give up on yourself like this?"

"Fine, go ahead and say it. I don't care. At worst, I'll just be labeled as an old cow eating young grass."

Zhu Huan'e was just that kind of person; she was single-mindedly devoted to alchemy. She could live a secluded life in her boudoir for the sake of alchemy, but she would also be happy to slack off when she made a breakthrough in alchemy.

Since things had come to this point, what could Fang Shi do but accept his fate and silently eat his breakfast?

Fortunately, after experiencing Zhu Huan'e's carefree side, the awkwardness between the two lessened considerably—but this also reminded Fang Shi of Zhu Huan'e's casual remark about an old cow eating young grass, so he casually asked, "By the way, Master, how old are you this year?"

"Sigh, it's not small anymore, it has—" Zhu Huan'e was fooled by the casual tone and was about to speak subconsciously, but stopped abruptly when Fang Shi's ears perked up.

Her previous beaming expression vanished instantly, her beautiful face fell, and she said coldly, "What are you asking about? Let's eat."

"oh----"

Fang Shi thought that women in this world of cultivation wouldn't care about their age, but it turned out that's how it is.

After dinner, Zhu Huan'e didn't assign Fang Shi any tasks, only telling him to read those books more and familiarize himself with them.

But Fang Shi said, "Master, I really did finish reading all these books last night."

"Nonsense, Xiaoyu said last night that you turned off the lights in your room early. Do you think you can see in the dark?"

"But I really finished watching it—" Fang Shi said with his hands tied behind his back and one toe touching the ground, looking aggrieved.

Here comes the charming trick that only a young junior can use! It was already very effective against Master Qu Yang, let alone this beautiful Master Zhu Huan'e.

"Alright," Zhu Huan'e tried her best to resist, but in the end she was defeated by the starry-eyed attack. "You can stay in my alchemy room. Remember not to move around or disturb me."

"Okay, Master."

Being able to witness firsthand the entire process of a high-level alchemist refining pills would be extremely beneficial for learning.

The two then went to the alchemy room, where Fang Shi discovered that many boxes had been set up, containing the spiritual herbs needed for refining elixirs that day.

The alchemy furnace, about the size of a head, was located on a square stone platform in the center of the alchemy room. A futon was placed on the ground in front of it, and Zhu Huan'e was sitting there.

Fang Shi thought he could only watch quietly from the sidelines, but to his surprise, his master said, "Since you're here, I'll tell you about it too."

She took out several doses of elixirs from the box—these elixirs had already undergone preliminary processing, becoming dried herbs that were very thin and brittle.

"All spiritual herbs need to be purified and have their moisture removed before they can be used for alchemy; otherwise, they won't last long and won't be suitable for making pills."

Zhu Huan'e had changed into a short-sleeved light gauze dress, her fair and slender arms exposed. She pinched the dried medicinal herbs with her fingertips, put them into the mortar and pestle and crushed them into powder. Then she opened the lid of the alchemy furnace and poured the powder into it.

"There's even water in here—"

Fang Shi was quite surprised by this, but even more surprised was that the scene before him gave him a sudden flash of inspiration, reminding him of something. And as the fragrance of medicinal herbs wafted from the furnace, this sense of déjà vu grew stronger and stronger.

Quiz (No Prize): There's a fire underneath, soup inside, and meat added. What is this? (6699)