With the fire-drawing array at Miracle Hand Pavilion finally complete, the Doctors entered one by one. At first, they were a bit puzzled—the place looked almost exactly the same as before.
But as soon as they sat down in front of their cauldrons, the little furnaces in front of each of them spontaneously ignited, flames leaping up on their own. The fire was fiercer and easier to control than ever.
Before, their success rate for refining Golden Marrow Pills was only around forty to fifty percent. Now, working in Miracle Hand Pavilion, their odds shot up to eighty or ninety percent. The improvement stunned them—and their respect for Evan Lin grew even deeper.
Evan Lin stayed at Miracle Hand Pavilion for a full month.
During that month, Summer Mu kept calling—his voice sounded more and more tired each time.
Word was, in River City, the Zuo family had become unstoppable thanks to Master Mo Yang holding down the fort. Zuo He and Zuo Shan were like tigers, seizing one business project after another, and Mo Yang's reputation drew tycoons and officials from neighboring provinces straight to their doorstep.
The Zuo family’s rise hit the Summer family hardest. Their industries were the biggest in River City, with the widest reach, and now the Zuo clan kept challenging them in every major project. The Summer family’s foundation wasn’t shaken, but their face took a serious hit.
Besides that, Evan Lin got a surprise call from Queenie Tong in Oceanport City. Ever since he helped her sister Serena Tong, the two had moved there. Queenie sounded upbeat, thanking Evan again for saving Serena and inviting him to visit Oceanport for a trip. Evan politely declined—he had bigger things to handle right now.
Right now, Evan’s top priority was getting Medicine King Valley and Miracle Hand Sect fully onboard with his new system. Warren Wu was already setting up herb procurement points all over the place.
During his month at Miracle Hand Sect, Evan Lin personally taught Warren Wu, Alex Fu, and Celine Lin all the crucial basics of pill-refining.
During this time, Alex Fu and Celine Lin’s talent for pill-refining started to shine, while Warren Wu finally had his 'iron tree blooming' moment—he managed to successfully refine a Small Nourishing Spirit Pill for the first time, and he was absolutely thrilled.
Evan Lin also used Miracle Hand Sect’s stockpile of herbs to refine a batch of 120 Foundation-Cultivating Pills. These pills were stronger than the Small Nourishing Spirit Pill, but not as intense as the full Nourishing Spirit Pill—just right for their purpose.
Evan planned for these pills to be taken by Joy Zheng.
“I’m heading back to Capitalview City and probably won’t return here for a long time. You guys should keep honing your pill-refining skills. If someone really stands out, there’ll be a reward waiting when I come back,” Evan Lin announced.
Outside Miracle Hand Pavilion, all the Doctors stood in neat rows before Evan Lin, listening to his instructions.
Their eyes were full of genuine respect and admiration as they looked at Evan Lin.
“Young Lord, how about I go with you? As long as I can stay by your side, I promise I won’t get in your way!” Warren Wu said, rubbing his hands and grinning at Evan Lin.
As soon as Warren Wu said that, the other Doctors all started itching to follow too.
Just a casual pointer from Evan Lin was worth more than all their endless trial and error. If they could tag along with him, their pill-refining skills would skyrocket.
Evan Lin shook his head. "Your job is way heavier. You’re not just supposed to refine pills—you also need to integrate all the resources from Medicine King Valley and Miracle Hand Sect, and take charge of herb procurement. That’s the top priority."
Evan Lin glanced at Warren Wu.
A pill-refiner needs to be trained step by step, but when it comes to herbs, there’s absolutely no room for sloppiness.
Medicine King Valley and Miracle Hand Sect have built up a huge fortune over the years, but if they spend it all on rare herbs, they’ll run out fast. Once the Doctors master the basics of pill-refining, their herb consumption will skyrocket.
All of it is money, all of it is medicine.
Only by using medicine to raise medicine, and using medical practice to support medicine, can the whole system keep running.
Once everything matures, Evan Lin can draw the pills and rare herbs he needs, using their spiritual qi to speed up his own cultivation.
Of the fifty Nourishing Spirit Pills Evan refined earlier, only forty were left now—and even so, his internal spiritual qi had barely increased.
The road of cultivation is long. You’ve got to plan way ahead.
After Evan finished speaking, Warren Wu personally arranged a car to drive him back to Capitalview City.
It was a bumpy ride.
When Evan Lin arrived in Capitalview City, it was already eight at night.
It was late autumn, almost winter. Most people on the street were bundled up in layers.
Evan Lin, carrying his backpack, wore just a thin T-shirt. Walking down the street, he definitely stood out.
When he got home, he pushed open the door and happened to see Irene Xu coming out of the kitchen with a pot of bone broth soup.
Irene’s face lit up when she saw Evan Lin. She called him over to sit and eat. At the table, Stella Huang was rubbing her eyes, looking worn out.
"Where have you been playing lately? Next time you go out, take me with you!" Irene Xu begged, eyes shining with anticipation.
"I wasn’t out playing—I had some things to take care of," Evan Lin replied, sipping his soup and shaking his head.
Irene sighed, a little disappointed. "Oh, right—here, this is for you."
She took out a brand-new Nike autumn-winter tracksuit and handed it to Evan Lin.
"Irene brought this back for you on her last flight to the US. It’s a new release—barely half a month on the market," Stella Huang chimed in.
"Oh, come on, it wasn’t really a special purchase—I just happened to see it and thought it’d look good on you," Irene Xu stammered, kicking Stella Huang’s leg under the table. Stella rolled her eyes.
"Thanks," Evan Lin said.
Evan Lin didn’t bother being polite—he really only had summer clothes here. Even if he wasn’t afraid of the cold, walking around in something so thin would look way too weird.
After dinner, Evan Lin went back to his room, took out a Nourishing Spirit Pill, swallowed it, and sat down to cultivate. He ran the Grand Dao Foundation Art, guiding threads of spiritual qi through his Eight Extraordinary Meridians.
By now, a small pool of spiritual qi had already formed in Evan’s dantian.
Early the next morning, Evan Lin opened his eyes and let out a breath of turbid qi.
He’d just opened the door when he saw Sam “Second Brother” Su waiting outside, his face full of worry.