Taking a few Red Energy Pills from the wok, Sally quickly put them in her mouth. The little pills melted instantly, transforming themselves into a stream of vital energy, which swiftly circulated inside her body.

She closed her eyes, feeling it flow through her every meridian and channel in her body. All of a sudden, she felt refreshed and reinvigorated.

Then she slowly opened her eyes and said to Tolly gently,

“You can also take one and check if the pills I’ve made are good or not.”

Tolly nodded his head, quickly picking up one of the pills in the wok with his hand. When it came into his mouth, it also melted in his mouth right away.

Tolly felt it was sweet. Soon, he also felt both of his nostrils were filled with a wisp of vital energy. it did go inside his body, but it didn’t circulate. Tolly could feel a sort of unknown power accumulate in his body, but it didn’t last long before it disappeared.

“You need to keep working hard on your training so that the energy contained in the Red Energy Pill can be fully absorbed by your body. I’ve noticed that only 50% of the energy has escaped from your nostrils.” Sally explained, her beautiful eyes fixing themselves on his nose.

“No wonder I felt a wisp of vital energy in my nostrils.” Tolly said, “I promise, Sally, I’ll do my utmost to cultivate, but can you teach me to make such pills?”

“Of course. You’ve already witnessed the whole process of refining them. It’s not that difficult actually, but the hardest part lies at the moment when I pointed my finger at the wok.”

“Really? But I don’t think it’s difficult. I can point my finger at it exactly as you did just now.” Tolly said innocently.

After having said that, Tolly naughtily began to point his finger at the pot on the stove. However, Sally laughed behind her hands.

“The point is not in the action of using your finger, but in being able to transfer your vital energy inside your body to your fingertips and inject a little of it into the pot through your fingertips. It acts as an ingredient added to enhance the efficacy of the pills. The success of the pills you’ve refined depends on the quality of your vital energy. The higher level an alchemist is at, the higher the success rate of his pill refining will be and the better his pills will be.”

“Oh, I got it.” Tolly said, having his head down. It seemed like he had to concentrate on improving his cultivation level first.

He had been here in this world of Goldearth for a while, but where was his system? He wondered.

“Don’t be discouraged, Tolly. I believe in you. As long as you keep working hard, you’ll break through to a higher level sooner or later. Of course, you need to work harder these days, since the upcoming test will be held in just two weeks.”

“I know, Sally. I’ll move heaven and earth to pass it, though I am not sure of myself yet.”

“That’s fine. Man proposes, and God disposes.” Sally reassured, “From now on, stay home and keep cultivating. Don’t go anywhere, you know it has not been quite safe here, especially at night. I have to go back to the school now for my intensive training.”

“Okay, but when will you be back?” Tolly asked with great concern.

“I don’t know. Perhaps two or three days later.” Sally answered, “You know, with just two weeks to go before your next initial test, your chances of surviving the test are slim, let alone passing it, so I hope I can win some cultivation resources and bring them back to you.”

“Thank you, Sally, you are always being so kind to me. It’s simply you that don’t take me as a waste of space.” Tolly blinked and forced a smile.

“Don’t be silly! You’ve always been useful. I can see your potential. You won’t let me down, I know that!” Sally said encouragingly, “All right then, I’ve got to go! You know, top students have to fight with each other for more experience. I’ll see you around.”

“No problem. Keep up the good work, Sally! Remember, break a leg!” Tolly blinked with a wicked smile. He lapsed into being a smart mouth as he had been back on Earth.

“I will!” Sally chuckled.

After that, he began to turn around and decided to take his leave. However, as he walked to the door, he suddenly realized he had forgotten something important. He turned around and went back to Tolly again.

From the pocket of his old corduroy trousers, he pulled out some round things with beautiful feathers on them.

“By the way, take these with you, Tolly!” She offered with sincerity.

“Feathers? You decide to give me a pair of wings, right? Then I can fly in the vast blue sky. I want my life in full bloom! I accept no mediocre life…”

Though confused about the feathers, they reminded him of the popular song he had often sung in his previous life.

“You think too much, Tolly! But I’ve got your point. You don’t want to be ordinary anyway. Everyone in this world wants to be different, but you know, Tolly, some men are born extraordinary; some men achieve extraordinariness; some men had had extraordinariness thrust upon them. However, as for you, there’s no other choice but to work hard!”

Having a big smile on her smooth face, Sally added,

“Luckily, I can see your resolve now. I figure you don’t even mind being the last thorny rose of summer blooming alone. All your evil deadly competitors must be faded and gone. You, like all of us, also want to become the strongest alchemist!!”

She tried to decipher the philosophy in Tolly’s words, but apparently, she was totally wrong, as she would never know what Tolly had just said was merely lyrics of a song.

“'Hmmm…ah…Yes, that's exactly what I thought!” Tolly agreed with an embarrassed smile, looking flushed and glassy-eyed.

“Oh, well, let’s get back to feathers!” Sally said, aware that she digressed a little bit, “You can use them to buy some things you need! These are feather coins. Please keep them in a safe place. Now I have to go!”

Then Sally hurried out without even saying goodbye, leaving Tolly alone in his shabby house.

 The Fanta dollar was considered to be the official currency of Fanta Mountain and its surrounding territories. People used them as a base currency and there were a lot of things that could be used to exchange for Fanta dollars.

The feather coins Tolly had now, though all low-grade, were actually one of them. These days, a low-grade feather coin could usually be exchanged for ten Fanta dollars. But what could ten Fanta dollars be used for? Probably only for two pounds of wild goose meat.

Tolly was poor, poorer than himself in his previous life. At the moment, he almost had no money at all. Tolly felt he had a much stronger motivation to get himself out of destitution in this world. He decided to do so with his dogged determination and perspiration.

After Sally had gone, Tolly finally shifted his gear by walking towards the door. He closed it at once. Then he walked around his little house, trying to find the right place to hide these valuable feather coins. Within such a small and muggy space, it would be a great difficult task. He went hither and thither, and eventually lifted up his untidy mattress and hid the coins under it.

Afterward, he looked around and felt a void in his heart, as if he did not know what he could do next.

“Why not cultivate now?” he thought.

As soon as the idea crept into my mind, he quickly sat down on his bed, cross-legged and with both hands pressed together to form the Sundial Incantation Gesture, one of the most common hand-seals in Taoism. To cultivate was supposed to be an exciting and funny thing to do, but there seemed to be some uneasiness in his mind.

He then closed his eyes and took a deep breath, attempting to rid his mind of all distractions. Gradually, by concentrating on every breath he took, he was able to relax his whole body and mind completely.

Just as he began to fall into a perfect meditation, a sudden thud came into his ears from outside the house. He couldn’t continue his cultivation, so without any thinking, he hurriedly got up to see what was happening outside.

When he opened the door, he found several men already standing in his small courtyard. Among them was a muscular man with a deep scar on his face.

“Why are you guys intruding into my place?” Tolly asked angrily.

“You place? Hah-ha, you’re quite funny, boy. This is my TURF. It’s time to pay for your protection money. I think you know who we are.”

“Sorry, I don’t who you are at all!” Tolly said with a confused look, his hands before his chest extended wider than before.

However, he could figure out who they might be.

“All right, but you will know soon, very soon!” The man fumed, letting out a cold harrumph and walking over to him.

“W-w-wait, buddy!” Tolly grinned, raising one of his hands to signal him to top, “You must be somebody here. I guess all you want is money.”

The man did stop.

“Good, now you’re talking, boy!” the man sneered, his scar on the face creasing into a deep trench.

“But I have no money!” Tolly added.

“Are you kidding me?” the scar-faced man said furiously, “You’re not giving face to our Golden Dragon Gang, aren’t you? It seems you won’t shed tears unless you see your coffin!”

With that, the scar-faced muscular man approached him quickly.