Chapter 46 | The Divine Ability Practitioner

Lu Ming was startled, then recalled what had happened at the Half-Pill Shop some time ago. However, his ability to identify the pills hidden inside those clay spheres back then had relied entirely on the Fire Lotus imprint. It actually had very little to do with him.

So he shook his head. “I don't know.”

Naturally, he could not reveal even a single trace of the Fire Lotus imprint.

“It's only normal that you don't know. After all, sensing and identifying pill energy is something only high-grade alchemists can do. However, some exceptionally talented individuals can possess this ability even before they have ever come into contact with the Dao of Alchemy. Such a talent is highly suited for learning the Dao of Alchemy,” Zhou Xuan said.

“Oh...”

Lu Ming half-understood. He knew of alchemists; their status was exceptionally high. In the entire Qingyuan Ward, the number of ranked alchemists could be counted on one hand, and every single one of them was an honored guest of the major factions. However, Thunderfire Hall had no way of making contact with them. The cost of learning that trade was simply too high; how could a place like Thunderfire Hall afford to nurture one?

“Do you want to test if you have this talent?” Zhou Xuan asked with a smile.

Lu Ming blinked and asked, “Testing doesn't cost money, does it?”

Beside them, Zhou Fuling let out a soft chuckle, and Zhou Xuan also shook his head with a smile. At the same time, he said to the former, “Go and bring the pill energy tray.”

Knowing that Zhou Xuan wanted to test Lu Ming, Zhou Fuling's eyes rolled as she turned and entered the room. She emerged with a triangular tray containing dozens of golden pills.

When Zhou Xuan saw the golden pills in the triangular tray, he was slightly startled. “I told you to bring an easier one.”

These golden pills were specially made. The actual medicinal pills were wrapped deep inside, making it difficult to detect their scent or energy. It was somewhat similar to the methods used by the Half-Pill Shop, but the difficulty was much higher.

Zhou Fuling said with a beaming smile, “He's a genius, after all. If we don't increase the difficulty, how can we test his depth?”

Zhou Xuan rolled his eyes at the girl but said nothing. He placed the pill energy tray before Lu Ming and spoke in a casual tone.

“Give it a try. See if you can sense the pill energy and pick out the golden pills that actually contain medicine inside.”

Looking at the golden pills in the tray before him, Lu Ming felt a bit apprehensive.

He did not know if the Fire Lotus imprint would work, but since things had already come to this, he could only steel himself and give it a shot.

With the mindset of just giving it a try, under the watchful eyes of Zhou Xuan and Zhou Fuling, Lu Ming reached out and picked up the golden pills one by one. He put on a contemplative look, but in reality, he was constantly sensing the activity of the Fire Lotus imprint on his Divine Ability Bone.

For several golden pills in a row, the Fire Lotus imprint showed absolutely no reaction.

This made Lu Ming feel a bit guilty. Could it be that the masking effect of these golden pills was too strong, leaving even the Fire Lotus imprint helpless?

It seemed he wouldn't be able to keep up this act of having alchemical talent.

Just as Lu Ming somewhat awkwardly picked up the next golden pill, a slight movement finally came from his Divine Ability Bone. The Fire Lotus imprint lit up with a fiery glow, a scene identical to what had happened back at the Half-Pill Shop.

Lu Ming breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed it was still useful!

Thus, his confidence surged. He set that golden pill aside and proceeded to hold and sense all the remaining golden pills one by one. In the end, he picked out three more golden pills from among them. Along with the first one, there were exactly four.

“You've picked them out?” Zhou Fuling leaned in curiously and took the four golden pills. She then activated her own alchemical divine ability, attempting to sense the pill energy. However, after messing around with them for a long time, she could only vaguely sense a faint fluctuation of pill energy from one of the pills.

As for the other three, she truly couldn't sense anything at all.

Feeling a bit embarrassed, Zhou Fuling said, “Did you just randomly choose four?”

Beside them, Zhou Xuan could not help but laugh. “That is because your own skills are lacking. Each of the four pills he selected indeed contains pill energy.”

Refusing to believe it, Zhou Fuling crushed the outer shell of a golden pill with her fingers. Sure enough, she saw a perfectly intact medicinal pill hidden inside. She immediately felt a bit deflated and muttered, “I suppose you do have a bit of alchemical talent.”

“It was just luck,” Lu Ming said. He was quite thick-skinned, yet acted very humble.

Although this was not his own ability, the Fire Lotus imprint was on his Divine Ability Bone. In a sense, they were one and the same. Therefore, if he insisted on calling it his alchemical talent, it was technically true.

Zhou Xuan smiled and asked Lu Ming, “Are you interested in the Dao of Alchemy?”

Lu Ming said honestly, “I can't afford to learn it.”

The Dao of Alchemy was a bottomless pit. It was highly likely that one would invest a massive amount of resources and still struggle to grasp the basics. Or even if they did enter the path, they might be stuck as a low-grade alchemist forever, unable to gain any meaningful returns. It would even consume their energy and affect the progression of their own divine ability realms.

Therefore, although alchemists were highly sought after, without the guidance of a famous master and massive investment, it was practically impossible to enter this field.

“I can teach you. I am an Alchemy Master. When it comes to attainment in the Dao of Alchemy, there shouldn't be any alchemist in Qingyuan Ward who is better than me,” Zhou Xuan said.

Lu Ming looked at Zhou Xuan in shock. Only an alchemist capable of refining high-grade pills could be called an Alchemy Master. And these so-called high-grade pills were actually the pills required for the cultivation of Divine Ability Masters.

Pills of this grade were extremely expensive, often costing tens of thousands or even more heavenly gold sand for a single pill. The entry fees their Thunderfire Hall had collected this time might not even be enough to buy half a high-grade pill.

Yet, what Lu Ming had never expected was that Zhou Xuan before him was actually a rare Alchemy Master!

With such attainment in the Dao of Alchemy, he indeed had the right to claim that no alchemist in Qingyuan Ward was stronger than him.

Precisely because of how valuable an Alchemy Master was, Lu Ming was even more suspicious and bewildered. Why was Zhou Xuan being so good to him?

After all, following the normal path, if one wanted to beg an Alchemy Master to teach them the art of alchemy, the apprenticeship fee would likely be astronomical. On top of that, they would have to owe a massive personal favor. To put it bluntly, a Grade 3 Divine Ability Hall like theirs wasn't even qualified to owe such a favor.

Yet now, Ward Master Zhou Xuan was taking the initiative to teach him alchemy. This was even rarer than pie falling from the sky.

Was it really just because he could sense pill energy and had shown some decent alchemical talent? But that shouldn't be enough. A figure like Zhou Xuan was highly experienced and knowledgeable. Perhaps Lu Ming indeed had good potential for alchemy, but he was completely unrelated to Zhou Xuan, so there was no reason for the man to help him.

Then what was the reason?

Lu Ming suddenly looked at Zhou Fuling beside him. The girl had a graceful figure and exceptional beauty, causing a bold guess to pop up in his mind.

Could it be... Is Zhou Xuan trying to recruit me as a matrilocal husband?!

A look of difficulty appeared in Lu Ming's eyes. That wouldn't do, right? He was the only grandson of the Lu family, and the family relied on him to carry on the lineage. If he went and became a matrilocal husband, Lu Jin would probably break all of his legs.

He sighed inwardly. If Zhou Xuan had this intention, then he would probably have to reject it, no matter how much it pained him.

He was a fine young man; there was no way he would live off a woman just to learn alchemy!

Besides, Lu Ming's interest in alchemy wasn't actually that great. He knew that his so-called talent for sensing pill energy came from the Fire Lotus imprint, so he wanted to try and see if getting in touch with the Dao of Alchemy would allow him to explore more of the Fire Lotus imprint's wondrous uses.

Feeling Lu Ming's gaze on her suddenly turn strange, Zhou Fuling was also completely bewildered.

“Then... do I need to prepare an apprenticeship gift?” Lu Ming asked hesitantly.

Zhou Xuan waved his hand and said, “It is merely some guidance. It has not reached the point of formal apprenticeship, nor is there any need for it. However, I do indeed have a request. If you can fulfill it, I will guide you in the Dao of Alchemy.”