Although Useless

After agreeing to Wang Yanran's request, Ye Chuan followed Luo Xi back to the classroom and immediately took out his phone to start refining pills.

In the animated display on his phone, the alchemy furnace clattered and shook, the flames inside burning fiercely. If Ye Chuan hadn’t known the furnace had a 100% success rate, he might have thought it was about to explode from the violent shaking.

After some adjustments, he managed to refine a simplified version of the Marrow-Cleansing Pills by reducing some of the required materials and tweaking the formula slightly.

[Item: Marrow-Cleansing Pill (Beauty Edition)

Effect: Expels impurities, improves complexion, and slightly enhances affinity with spiritual energy.

Alchemist: Ye Chuan]

The low-grade version of the Marrow-Cleansing Pills was complete.

Well, since it only slightly increased spiritual energy affinity, it could indeed be called a Beauty Pill. And it did improve cultivation speed—he wasn’t lying about that. Though it probably couldn’t compare to the ones he and Luo Xi had taken.

"Easy peasy, another forty million in the bag. The materials for this low-grade version only cost a few thousand," Ye Chuan mused, feeling rather proud of his alchemy skills. Though he wasn’t a true alchemist, he had a knack for adjusting material ratios.

Thanks to the Qingyun Sect’s herb garden, he could freely experiment with refining techniques. Even minor changes in ingredient proportions affected the final product.

Still, he had to control the supply to ensure each pill could be sold at a premium.

Ye Chuan had materials for other pills as well. Aside from keeping some for himself, refining the rest into sellable pills would bring in an astronomical sum.

The only downside was that the few pill recipes he knew were low-tier—effective only a few times before losing potency. He needed more advanced formulas.

"Pill recipes… I need more pill recipes," Ye Chuan muttered, already envisioning the fortune he could make with a wider variety.

He had to stir things up in the Qingyun Sect!

A glance at his bank account showed only a little over a million left.

"Wait, I’ve earned so much recently, so why does it feel like I’m not saving anything?" He suddenly wondered if he’d been overspending. But then again, skipping those power-boosting treasures didn’t seem wise.

After all, Bai Qianshuang had already jumped two cultivation realms.

Seemed worth it. Soon, his home wouldn’t just have a Golden Core-level "nuke," but a Nascent Soul-level one.

Who knew? Maybe even an Empress-level "nuke" wasn’t out of the question.

"Chuan, can you pick up my clothes for me this afternoon? The custom-made ones," Luo Xi suddenly spoke up, clasping her hands together.

Since her classes ended later than his, she was worried the shop might close if she went too late, so she wanted Ye Chuan to grab them first.

"Sure," Ye Chuan agreed without hesitation—it was on his way anyway.

"Thanks!" she beamed.

By afternoon, the sky was tinged with a soft orange hue.

As Ye Chuan headed to the parking lot, he suddenly felt someone’s gaze on him.

Pausing mid-step, he turned around—

Behind him stood a little girl clutching a rabbit plushie. She couldn’t have been older than ten, her pale complexion and slightly dazed eyes giving off a frail, sickly impression.

Whose kid is this?

Ye Chuan: "…"

The little girl: "…"

"Who are you?" Ye Chuan asked.

The girl tilted her head. "Who are you?"

"Why were you staring at me?"

She blinked in confusion. "Why were you staring at me?"

Seeing her parrot his words, Ye Chuan raised one hand—and she mirrored the action.

Amused, he took a sudden step back, then spun around and performed a mock "Iron Mountain Charge" stance.

The girl: "…"

Her body stiffened, arms twitching as if struggling to mimic the move. In the end, she just hugged her plushie tighter.

"Can’t do it, huh? Kid, being a copycat won’t get you far in life. Are you a teacher’s child?" Since they were still on school grounds, Ye Chuan didn’t overthink it. He patted her head and walked off, leaving the girl standing there, watching him silently.

A short while later, a middle-aged woman rushed over in a panic. "Miss Qingqing, you can’t just run off like that!"

The girl, still sounding dazed, replied, "Qingqing came to find someone… Didn’t run off."

"Find who?"

"Don’t know," she shook her head. "He left."

"Don’t know…? Ahem—Miss Qingqing, let’s go back, okay?" The woman sighed, clearly used to the girl’s antics.

"Mm." Qingqing nodded but kept glancing in the direction Ye Chuan had gone as she was led away.

---

Arriving at the parking lot, Ye Chuan spotted Wang Yanran.

"Ye Chuan, it’s pretty hot today, isn’t it?" she remarked, fanning herself with a hand.

"Hm? Yeah."

"Do you have AC in your living room?"

Ah…

Now he got it. She was hinting at wanting to stay longer in his place—because of the Spirit Gathering Array.

"Yeah, you can hang out for a bit," he replied without calling her out. He’d already said she was welcome before.

Wang Yanran smiled.

Back in the urban village, Ye Chuan stopped by the tailor’s shop to pick up the clothes. But this time, he noticed something different about Xiao Bai, the stray cat the elderly seamstress had taken in.

Aside from looking chubbier, the most obvious change was that its head was completely bald—as if deliberately shaved.

"Here to pick up the clothes," Ye Chuan said. The old woman recognized him and handed over a bag containing the finished garments.

"By the way, why is Xiao Bai bald now?" he asked.

"Yesterday, I was burning some joss paper in the brazier, and it jumped in," the seamstress explained helplessly. "Its fur got singed, so I had to shave it off."

Ye Chuan picked up the cat, barely holding back a laugh as he snapped a photo and sent it to Luo Xi.

Her reply came quickly—

Luo Xi: Oh no! What happened to Xiao Bai’s fur?!

Ye Chuan: The owner was burning joss paper, and it jumped into the fire.

Luo Xi: Is it hurt?

Ye Chuan: Just the fur got burned. Maybe we should wash it with soap.

Luo Xi: Does soap help fur grow back?

Ye Chuan: Nah, but it’ll make its head slippery. Useless, but fun.

Luo Xi: "…"