After checking through all of the scrolls Xiao Rong had completed, Su Yang nodded to himself, "Although she still thinks like a child, her knowledge on the human language would not lose to an average human adult."
Su Yang was pleased by the results of her progress in just a few days time. At least she won't have trouble speaking to anyone that is not him for now.
As for her state of mind that still resembles a child, there's nothing he can do besides allow her to grow naturally. However, since Xiao Rong is also a Phantom Cat and a beast in general, her growth in that aspect should be overwhelmingly quick.
But because she's spent her entire life isolated in the desolate Immortal Treasury that lacked everything required for a living being to grow, her state of mind was frozen without any chance to grow.
This is also one reason why Su Yang encourages Xiao Rong to go 'play'. He's only trying to allow her to grow in the wild, where all beast normally grows.
"Good, you are more than proficient enough in the human language to stop studying it. As a reward, you can go play outside for the next few days," he said to her.
However, Xiao Rong did not react as Su Yang expected. Usually, she would jump in joy and leave to play without wasting even a second. Now, however, she only stood there staring at him with a frown, seemingly unhappy about the situation.
"What's wrong?" he asked her.
"I don't want to play outside," she looked at him with dissatisfaction. "I want to study more and get rewarded even more!"
After all, if there's nothing else for her to learn, her reward would also disappear!
"..."
Su Yang smiled with a bitter face. She obviously studied only for the reward and nothing else.
"I will give you something to study later. As for now, just go and have fun," he said after a moment.
"Yes…" Although she accepted the outcome, she was clearly reluctant to accept that fact that there won't be any more rewards for some time.
"Take this Appearance Reforming Pill before you leave," Su Yang handed her a pill. "And don't forget to put your clothes back on."
Xiao Rong tossed the pill in her mouth and dressed herself with a dejected expression.
Once Xiao Rong left the room to play, Su Yang returned to the Cauldron Room, where Zhu Mengyi was so focused on the cauldron that she didn't even notice him leave.
After another hour of waiting, the cauldron began trembling, almost like there was an earthquake.
Su Yang was not bothered by the sudden movement, not even worried that it might explode, and continued to sit there and watch.
A few more moments later, Zhu Mengyi snapped her eyes open and slapped the cauldron, sending the lip flying to the side of the room.
Grey smoke immediately emitting from the cauldron.
Zhu Mengyi watched the grey smoke coming out of the cauldron with a wide smile brimming with a sense of achievement, her entire body drenched in sweat.
"I did it! I have successfully created the Earth Advancement Pill!" she said, sounding exhausted.
Su Yang did not say anything and approached the cauldron, reaching his hand inside to grab the pill.
Once he lifted the Earth Advancement Pill out of the cauldron, Zhu Mengyi could see a small pill with many dark spots scattered around the pill.
"..."
Although the Earth Advancement Pill came out as low quality, the smile on Zhu Mengyi's face remained. All that mattered to her was that the pill has been completed without destroying the cauldron.
However, the smile on Zhu Mengyi's face instantly came off after Su Yang opened his mouth to speak, "What is this rubbish? You can't consider something like this a pill! Do it again!"
Zhu Mengyi's jaw dropped to the floor upon hearing his harsh words, and the sense of achievement in her heart instantly disappeared.
Su Yang continued, "With your current understanding for the Controlling Heaven and Earth technique, you should be able to concoct at least a medium-quality pill of this grade!"
Zhu Mengyi, after hearing such words, forgot about being tired and ignored the disappointment in her heart and started on the second Earth Advancement Pill.
"I can tell that you rushed the outcome of the pill towards the end, hence this garbage pill! Take your time and do it right this time!"
Indeed, Zhu Mengyi had been too arrogant after seeing how smooth it went in the beginning, rushing the pill.
"I am sorry, I will do it right this time…" she said with a sigh, regretting the fact that she had rushed it and lost the chance to impress him, even getting a scolding from him.
Sometime later, Zhu Mengyi finished the preparations and began concocting the pill once again.
This time, however, she took her time and did not rush anything.
A few hours later, the cauldron before Zhe Mengyi began trembling again.
Zhu Mengyi quickly removed the cover from the cauldron and waited for the smoke to come out.
This time, the smoke was near black, meaning that she'd managed to purify more impurities than the previous pill.
Once the pill was taken out of the cauldron, Zhu Mengyi's smile returned to her face.
"A medium quality pill!" she looked at the pill as though it was her baby.
Although it took two hours longer than the previous attempt, she managed to turn the low-quality pill into a medium quality pill!
Su Yang nodded and said, "You will continue to concoct the same pill for the next two days until there's not even a speck of impurities in the pill! If you cannot accomplish this by then, you can forget about coming back!"
Zhu Mengyi looked at him with a scared look and said, "You want me to concoct a flawless-quality pill in two days?! That's unreasonable!"
"You think it's impossible?" Su Yang coldly snorted, "Then you might as well leave now and don't come back."
"..."
Zhu Mengyi bit her lip and said with a resolved face, looking like she had accepted his challenge. "I have run out of ingredients will be right back with even more!"
Su Yang smiled and said, "That's more like it."