"t’s fine, it’s fine. The scroll can restore the materials, right?” Rong Yu muttered, comforting himself. A smile tugged at the corners of his lips as he thought of the mysterious scroll’s incredible ability.

With this treasure, he believed he could refine pills again without fear of failure. But his optimism was short-lived.

When he unfolded the mysterious scroll once more, it remained unresponsive. No matter how he tried, the scroll showed no reaction.

Rong Yu froze, staring blankly at the empty surface.

After a long pause, he clenched his fists and reluctantly considered two possibilities.

First, the scroll might require a “cooling period” before it could be used again. It could be a few hours—or, worse, several days.

Second, the pills likely needed to meet a certain threshold—perhaps close to forming fully as waste pills—for the scroll to restore them to spiritual materials.

Both possibilities posed problems. A lengthy cooldown period would be disastrous, given the mere month he had to prove himself. And if he couldn’t create even a proper waste pill, the scroll’s utility would be rendered meaningless.

By morning, despite anxiously waiting all night, the scroll remained dormant.

Rong Yu’s heart sank, but he refused to wallow in despair. He needed spirit stones to buy more spiritual ingredients for the Qi-Boosting Pills. Only by refining waste pills could he test the scroll again.

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He calculated the costs. Each set of ingredients for Qi-Boosting Pills required ten spirit stones. To have a decent chance of success, he needed at least five sets—fifty spirit stones in total.

For a low-level cultivator like him, fifty spirit stones were an astronomical amount. And currently, he didn’t have even one.

Rong Yu began sifting through his predecessor’s memories, searching for ways to acquire the spirit stones he desperately needed.

His father, Rong Zhiyuan, had three brothers and one sister. Their lineage, once among the family’s most respected, had a storied past. Over 300 years ago, a foundation-building cultivator emerged from their branch, elevating their status to the Ning family’s direct line.

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According to family rules, branches with foundation-building cultivators were granted direct lineage status, enjoying superior resources and influence. But this status wasn’t permanent. If a branch failed to produce another foundation-building cultivator within three generations, their status reverted to that of a side branch.

By the time of Rong Yu’s father’s generation, their branch had long lost its direct lineage status. To regain it, they needed either a new foundation-building cultivator or to place in the top two at the family’s decennial succession competition.

The odds were grim. Among the 400 cultivators in the Ning family, there were only eight direct branches, while dozens of collateral branches vied for limited opportunities.

Yet, Rong Yu’s lineage had once been a beacon of hope. His father, Rong Zhiyuan, possessed a middle-grade spiritual root and reached the late stage of Qi Refinement by his twenties. His uncle, Rong Hongye, was even more extraordinary, possessing dual spiritual roots and achieving the late Qi Refinement stage at the unprecedented age of fifteen. Their branch was poised for a resurgence.

But fate was cruel.

First, Rong Hongye disappeared seven years ago on a mysterious trip, leaving no trace.

Then, Rong Zhiyuan suffered a shocking defeat in the family competition, dashing their branch’s hopes of reclaiming direct lineage status.

Rong Yu’s own fall from grace followed, as the family discovered his lightning spiritual root was incomplete.

Finally, three years ago, Rong Zhiyuan and Rong Yu’s mother were ambushed and killed during the war with the Qian family.

In just a few short years, their once-proud lineage had crumbled. Now, Rong Yu, burdened by a defective spiritual root, was reduced to the humiliating role of a potential dual cultivation cauldron.

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Rong Yu shook his head, brushing aside these bitter memories. Dwelling on the past wouldn’t help him now.

Instead, he focused on a crucial detail from his predecessor’s memories: his father’s hidden inheritance.

During his lifetime, Rong Zhiyuan had reached the peak of Qi Refinement and held considerable power within the family. He had amassed wealth, including the ownership of a shop in the family’s internal market on Jinchang Island.

Though the shop was small and located in a remote corner of the market, the rapid growth of the Ning family had transformed Jinchang Island into a bustling hub. The value of shops there had skyrocketed.

This inheritance, now in Rong Yu’s hands, could be his salvation. If he sold the shop, he could raise enough spirit stones to purchase the ingredients he needed to practice alchemy.

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Rong Yu’s eyes gleamed with newfound determination.

“If I can sell the shop and use the spirit stones wisely, I might still have a chance to become the family’s alchemist,” he murmured.

This glimmer of hope reinvigorated him. No matter how bleak his situation seemed, he was determined to rise above it and forge his own path.