BB | Chapter 7

Brother Is So Cool!

With the cauldron in hand, the next step was alchemy.

According to Li Yaochen, fasting pills were among the simplest pills to make, and even someone like him, who wasn’t all that knowledgeable about herbs, had a very high success rate.

The materials they had on hand were enough to make twenty to thirty fasting pills. If they ate sparingly, it would basically be enough to last until both of them successfully reached the Body Tempering stage.

Li Yaochen patted the cauldron. “That’s enough. Come on, let’s find a place to set it up. By a river would be best.”

Qin Chun asked, “Why by a river?”

Shen Canglan answered first, “So it’ll be easy to put out fires.”

Li Yaochen gave Shen Canglan an approving look, one that said, My brother is so smart.

Qin Chun: “.”

Well, that did make sense.

While Li Yaochen was setting up the cauldron, Shen Canglan went nearby to gather some dry firewood.

He did have a few senior brothers and sisters who could refine pills, and he had once considered learning by stealth, but those people were rather cold-hearted, claiming it was a secret and never making their lessons open to outsiders.

The storybook did mention alchemy, though. It said that alchemists were all incredibly formidable, and that every time a furnace of pills was finished, strange heavenly and earthly phenomena would appear—most spectacular indeed.

By the time he and Qin Chun each returned to the riverbank with an armful of firewood, Li Yaochen was already kneading the herbs into little balls.

Strangely enough, though the herbs were all different in shape and color, after being kneaded together a few times, they truly fused into round, plump pills.

After washing his hands and rolling up his sleeves, Shen Canglan said, “I’ll help.”

Qin Chun said, “Me too.”

Shen Canglan had never been very good at handiwork. He even had a dark history of once trying to cook and nearly burning the entire kitchen to charcoal.

Afraid of doing something wrong and wasting precious herbs, he checked every step with Li Yaochen.

“Like this, brother?”

“Yes, brother.”

“Was that step right, brother?”

“Right on, brother.”

“How about this, brother?”

“Brother, you’re amazing!”

“Thanks for the guidance, brother.”

“Don’t mention it, brother.”

As their conversation grew more lively, the two of them even remembered to pat each other on the shoulder, letting out hearty laughter.

[Wow.]

The System’s voice sounded very weak: [Host, just ferment me into wine. Drink me, and you two brothers can use me to swear brotherhood.]

Li Yaochen: “.”

Li Yaochen mustered all his strength to comfort it in words: “Don’t be sad.”

The System: [……]

That only made it sadder.

Once the pills were rolled, it was time to put them in the furnace.

Li Yaochen formed a hand seal with one hand. Light flashed twice at his fingertips, and in the next second, a flame actually leapt high from the tip of his finger.

Shen Canglan: 0o0……

Brother, this is way too cool! Brother wants to learn that move!!

But after his brother tossed the flame onto the dry firewood, he got busy, both hands pressed against the cauldron as he frowned, apparently controlling the heat inside.

Qin Chun asked, “Doesn’t that burn?”

Shen Canglan didn’t take Qin Chun’s doubt to heart.

In his view, if Li Yaochen could already look that cool, then whether it burned or not wasn’t really all that important anymore.

After telling Qin Chun what he thought, Qin Chun turned around and looked at him.

Shen Canglan felt a bit creeped out under that gaze. “…Hmm?”

Qin Chun asked, “Canglan, when you look at Daoist Li, do you ever feel anything special in your heart?”

Shen Canglan: “…”

Something special?

Shen Canglan said honestly, “Sometimes I feel especially hungry.”

Strictly speaking, it wasn’t hunger so much as craving. These past few days, he and Li Yaochen hadn’t eaten a single grain of rice. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner had all been fasting pills. He missed meat buns, he missed stuffed pies, and even the hellishly awful shredded ginger and shredded fish-root stir-fry made by the shishu in the Ailü Sect cafeteria crossed his mind.

When he was starving badly, he would think about the disgusting taste of fasting pills. Once he thought of fasting pills, he would think of Li Yaochen, and then of the stuffed pies Li Yaochen had bought, and in the end he would get especially hungry.

Qin Chun, however, seemed very satisfied with his answer. He nodded and muttered to himself, “Mm-hm, appetite is also a desire.”

Shen Canglan didn’t catch that. “What?”

Qin Chun said, “Nothing.”

Shen Canglan gave a quiet sound and watched intently as Li Yaochen refined the pills.

When Li Yaochen raised his hand, he praised, “What magnificent momentum.”

When Li Yaochen circled the cauldron, he praised, “What nimble movement.”

When Li Yaochen wiped his sweat, he praised, “What fiery passion.”

Li Yaochen’s movements paused.

With an expression that seemed torn between laughter and restraint, he said, “Am I listening to some hero tale in a teahouse?”

Shen Canglan said brightly, “Aren’t I just trying not to let you get tired, brother? Giving you a little encouragement.”

Li Yaochen waved a hand from afar at him.

Though Li Yaochen no longer needed his encouragement, Shen Canglan still didn’t look away.

It was always good to learn more. After all, he might not necessarily be able to avoid using these alchemy techniques someday.

There was also the fact that although Shen Canglan admired Li Yaochen and felt he was very impressive, deep down there was a faint fighting spirit burning within him.

After these past few days of cultivation, he was only one step away from Foundation Establishment and could break through at any moment.

Li Yaochen was only at the mid Body Tempering stage.

Though a cultivator’s realm could feel like mountains apart, Shen Canglan kept feeling that if Li Yaochen could do it, he wanted to be able to do it too.

Just like that fire-starting technique from before—it looked extremely imposing, and he was very tempted.

Shen Canglan frowned slightly, concentrating as he recalled Li Yaochen’s movements from before.

The hand… the hand seemed to be shaped like this.

He hadn’t chanted an incantation, but before the technique was activated, light had flashed twice between Li Yaochen’s fingers. Shen Canglan guessed that he must have condensed true qi at his fingertips and urged it outward from within his body.

As the ancients said: practice is the only criterion for testing truth.

Shen Canglan extended his hand and urged the spiritual energy in his body, slowly letting it flow out from his fingertips.

But no fire appeared.

Right, if spiritual energy ignited every time it leaked out, how many people in this world would have burned themselves to death?

Then what was the reason?

The hand gesture? That shouldn’t be wrong either.

After thinking for a moment, Shen Canglan suddenly had an inspiration.

Oh!

The stove and the fuel were already prepared.

What he was missing was a fire starter!

Where did a fire starter come from?

From the rootless fire drifting through the air.

Shen Canglan closed his eyes, and sure enough, he sensed tiny red sparks flickering in the darkness.

He used spiritual energy to hook one over to his fingertip—

With a soft pop, a weak little flame burst from Shen Canglan’s fingertip.

Shen Canglan: “…!!”

He widened his eyes slightly, staring at his fingertip.

He didn’t even dare to speak too loudly. To Qin Chun beside him, he said, “Qin Chun, Qin Chun!”

Qin Chun said, “What is it, Canglan? Hey, your hand is…”

“This is the fire I made!” Shen Canglan said. “Help me take an image!”

Qin Chun blinked and took out his waist token.

Shen Canglan wanted the image to make him look imposing and towering.

“Got it,” Qin Chun said. “Tilt your head a little more, lower it slightly—yes, yes, lift your waist a bit. That way your butt looks perked up.”

Shen Canglan: “.”

He hurriedly dropped his waist back down.

He didn’t even dare imagine what the image would look like.

But Shen Canglan had also grasped a new way to play.

He changed which finger was releasing spiritual energy, and flames lit up one after another from different fingertips.

Then he let spiritual energy surge from the top of his head, and a warm fire started burning over his crown.

He called out to Qin Chun, “Qin Chun, Qin Chun! Do I look cool!”

Qin Chun said, “Ah!!!”

Shen Canglan: “…”

“Don’t be scared, I’m fine.” Shen Canglan burned calmly. “This is my new—”

Qin Chun said, “Ah!!!! It’s on fire!!!! Ah!!!”

–

Qin Chun’s voice was heard by Li Yaochen, who was not far away.

Li Yaochen fetched water from the river and ran over.

Shen Canglan was extinguished.

After a flurry of hurried confusion, Shen Canglan sat on a stone wrapped in a coat while Qin Chun wrung the water from his hair. “You’re already seventeen. At seventeen, other people have already dated several times, but look at you! You’re just setting your own hair on fire and scaring people for fun! Do you know that when I turned around and saw those flames burning so high on your hair just now, my heart nearly stopped from fright?”

Shen Canglan listened obediently to the scolding.

Li Yaochen was sitting on a stone diagonally opposite him, putting the fasting pills he had refined into a gourd.

He lowered his head slightly, his bangs covering his brows and eyes, so Shen Canglan couldn’t make out his expression, but his shoulders were shaking badly.

Shen Canglan said helplessly, “…Brother, if you want to laugh, then laugh.”

Li Yaochen covered his face at once. Through his fingers, Shen Canglan heard his happy laughter.

Shen Canglan sighed.

He had been a bit reckless today, and the grand, imposing name of Shen Canglan the Great Immortal still hadn’t become famous throughout the world, only to be shrouded in a veil of gloom.

Fortunately, the only people present were family. His reputation could still be saved.

He asked Qin Chun, “Did you take an image of that last part for me?”

Qin Chun said, “I did.”

Shen Canglan said, “Then you absolutely mustn’t keep it, and don’t let anyone else see it.”

Qin Chun said helplessly, “I know.”

But Li Yaochen said, “Let me see it.”

Despite Shen Canglan’s very loud objections, Qin Chun still let Li Yaochen look at the image.

Li Yaochen looked very carefully.

[Tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk tsk tsk!]

The System perked up at once: [He’s not even blinking, looking so carefully. How is it, host? Don’t you think your brother is very cute, your heart pounding nonstop?]

Li Yaochen asked back, “If the heart didn’t beat, would that be any better?”

Then he called to Shen Canglan, “Brother,伸 your hand out for a moment.”

Though Shen Canglan didn’t understand, he did as told.

Li Yaochen took his hand in reverse.

The System and Qin Chun both let out a trembling gasp of air.

Li Yaochen’s dry, warm fingers held Shen Canglan’s, shaping them for him. “The hand seal for the fire-starting spell is like this.”

The System and Qin Chun both let out a disappointed sigh at the same time.

Shen Canglan nodded happily. “I learned it!”

After Shen Canglan’s hair had dried, Qin Chun stood up and flexed his wrists. “All right, everything’s taken care of. I’m planning to head back to Ailü Sect first.”

During these days at the mountain foot, Shen Canglan often thought of his friends. Even the senior brothers who always clung together and nibbled each other’s lips seemed very cute in his memories.

He was somewhat reluctant. “Why not stay a few more days?”

Qin Chun patted his head. “Ah, you’re all already this poor, I’m not going to stay and make things harder for you.”

Then he said, “Besides, I have a new idea now. I want to hurry back up the mountain and make some preparations.”

Since Qin Chun had said so, Shen Canglan couldn’t keep him any longer. Reluctantly, he nodded and bade him farewell.

Qin Chun looked at him, then at Li Yaochen. After his gaze wandered back and forth between the two of them several times, he smiled with a rather meaningful expression and said, “Don’t worry, I’ll be sure to keep in touch with you more.”