Situ Jinglei felt a deafening roar in his head, and the entire world seemed to lose its sound.
Damn it! A junior alchemist at twelve years old! Is there any room for others to live?
More importantly, this girl's combat power was also incredibly heaven-defying; she was a true cultivator of both alchemy and martial arts!
Oh, heavens, is your favoritism not at all biased?
Seeing his father sitting there blankly with a vacant stare, Situ Yunfeng felt much better.
Grass! This terrifying matter would finally be shared by someone else with this young master.
Ye Lingyuan looked at Zi Linling, his eyes shining brightly, as if with pride and as if showing off.
Zi Linling continued to smile slyly. She had initially thought becoming an alchemist was a matter of course.
However, seeing Situ Jinglei's reaction, she realized that this "matter of course" was quite terrifying.
She shook her head helplessly and gently called out, "Uncle?"
Situ Jinglei acted as if he hadn't heard.
Zi Linling felt a bit embarrassed. It seemed she had genuinely startled Situ Jinglei.
She touched her nose and slightly raised her voice, calling out again, "Hey, Uncle, snap out of it!"
"Ah!"
Situ Jinglei cried out loudly, gasping for breath.
Just now, he had almost suffocated to death from fright.
"That… Zi girl, are you really a junior alchemist?"
Zi Linling shook her head sheepishly and said, "I'm not a junior alchemist."
Situ Jinglei was stunned, then burst into laughter.
"Zi girl, you're truly mischievous, you scared your uncle to death! A junior alchemist at twelve years old is enough to scare people to death! You can't make such jokes casually in the future, understand?"
As soon as he said this, both Zi Linling and Situ Yunfeng wore strange expressions.
Ye Lingyuan's mouth twitched as he looked at Situ Jinglei with pity.
Seeing this reaction, Situ Jinglei immediately had a bad feeling.
He stared at Zi Linling in disbelief, "You… you can't be?"
Zi Linling nodded and said cautiously, "I'm not a junior alchemist, I am… a senior alchemist!"
"What did you say!"
Situ Jinglei and Situ Yunfeng jumped up simultaneously. Even the steadfast Ye Lingyuan excitedly crushed the wine cup in his hand.
Zi Linling looked at the three men who were like wolves and tigers, and innocently touched her nose, saying, "I am a senior alchemist! I can refine Yuan Gathering Pills!"
Body Tempering Pills and Qi Guiding Pills were junior elixirs, Spirit Gathering Pills were intermediate elixirs, and Yuan Gathering Pills were senior elixirs.
Before Zi Linling left, she had spent three days and three nights refining pills in the Goddess Palace.
The time flow in the Goddess Palace had already reached ten times that of the outside world, meaning she had refined pills for a full month.
Of these pills, thirty percent were left for Liu Yue of the Flowing Cloud Sect. After all, building a militarized team of spiritual cultivators was not only very expensive but also consumed a lot of elixirs.
By the way, the Flowing Cloud Sect had now been renamed the Flame Sect. "Flame" referred to the Flame Kingdom, the country Zi Linling had lived in during her previous life.
Thirty percent were left for the Zi family, to be kept by Zi Jitian for cultivating Zi family disciples.
The Zi family now fully recognized Zi Linling as their matriarch and had completely become her own people.
Zi Linling naturally wouldn't be stingy with her own people.
Thirty percent were left for the Underworld King's Mansion, to be kept by Mu Qingyan, to enhance the strength of the Phoenix Swirl Army.
Since the Phoenix Swirl Army was Ye Lingyuan's private property, it was also Zi Linling's private property, so enhancing the strength of the Phoenix Swirl Army was imperative.
Half of the remaining portion was left with the Water Moon Trading Company, for them to sell to the Black Water Hall and the Holy Sect at the appropriate time.
She wasn't worried about the Water Moon Trading Company pocketing them, because the true owner of the Water Moon Trading Company was Ye Lingyuan's money bag – Qian Shaojie!
She believed that with Fatty Qian's abilities, he could quickly gather the wealth of the Black Water Hall and the Holy Sect into his own hands.
And the final half was naturally given to the King Mercenary Group. She wouldn't neglect her own forces.
The reason she only gave the King Mercenary Group half was because the King Mercenary Group would accompany her… on the expedition.
How could she go on an expedition without elixirs?
And that month of non-stop alchemy rapidly improved Zi Linling's alchemy level, directly breaking through to become a senior alchemist.
"Senior alchemist? You've already become a senior alchemist?"
Situ Jinglei was furious.
It had taken him nearly fifty years to break through to become a senior alchemist, and he had spent countless resources to force his way there.
But Zi Linling!
Twelve years!
No!
It should be said that in just half a year, she had gone from a complete nobody to a senior alchemist. This was a pace that terrified people to death!
Situ Yunfeng directly jumped up and down, "Zi Linling, I despise you!"
Then, he paced back and forth in the flower hall, muttering incessantly:
"No life! No life! Senior alchemist, refining Marrow Cleansing Pills! Zi Linling, you're going against the heavens!"
"Refining Marrow Cleansing Pills? You can even refine Marrow Cleansing Pills?"
Situ Jinglei seized the key point in Situ Yunfeng's words and rushed furiously towards Zi Linling.
His expression was as if he wished he could take a knife and dissect Zi Linling for research.
"No life! Truly no life! No life…"
And so, in the spacious flower hall, an old man and a young man leaped around like madmen, darting back and forth.
Zi Linling was dumbfounded. She had overdone it this time, stimulating two madmen simultaneously.
She looked at Ye Lingyuan for help, her innocent large eyes filled with worry.
Ye Lingyuan affectionately took her hand and comforted her, "It's okay, it's okay! They ate too much. Give them some time to digest!"
When it came to the art of telling blatant lies, Ye Lingyuan was second to none!
After the time it took to brew a cup of tea, the Situ father and son finally quieted down.
Situ Jinglei cleared his throat, straightened himself, and said, "Zi girl, you said you would pretend to be a pig to eat a tiger, how would you pretend? How would you eat?"
The speed of his transformation made even four-wheel-drive vehicles feel inferior.
Zi Linling stared at him for a long time and said, "Uncle, are you alright?"
Situ Jinglei puffed out his chest and said earnestly, "I'm fine! Nothing's wrong with me! It's just a senior alchemist!"
Although he said it casually, the gritting of his teeth in the last sentence clearly revealed his emotions.
Situ Yunfeng also sat down, picked up the wine pot, and took a long drink, saying, "...Zi girl, don't worry! The old man has a strong capacity for acceptance!"
Situ Jinglei: "..."
Ye Lingyuan smiled without speaking.
Zi Linling's gaze swept over the father and son, and she said, "Alright then! Let's continue!"
The three listened attentively.
Zi Linling spoke eloquently, outlining her plan.
After listening, the three exchanged glances, then burst into laughter and clapped their hands, saying in unison, "Excellent idea! A brilliant scheme! Well played, pretending to be a pig to eat a tiger!"