Learning Alchemy

Xiao Yan suddenly felt that his strength was still improving far too slowly, and an intense sense of urgency lingered in his heart.

The aura around Feng Wu was released and withdrawn in an instant. He cupped his fists toward Yao Chen in salute. "I ask that Senior teach me the art of alchemy. I have long since made my preparations."

With a wave of his hand, Feng Wu produced a gray-black, two-foot alchemy cauldron and twenty or thirty kinds of medicinal ingredients that could be bought on the market, placing them directly on the ground in Xiao Yan's courtyard.

Feng Wu had prepared all of this in advance. He knew perfectly well what an Alchemist needed.

The cauldron had cost tens of thousands, and along with the medicinal ingredients worth several tens of thousands of Gold Coins, Feng Wu was now practically left empty-handed.

The Mittel Auction House also had a Beast Flame he had reserved, which was supposedly arriving soon. He was counting on learning alchemy from Yao Chen to make a fortune!

"Looks like you did your homework thoroughly. You left me no room to refuse!" Yao Chen stroked his beard and smiled faintly as he looked at the fully prepared items on the ground.

"I would not dare. I simply prefer to be thorough. If I prepare everything properly, would that not also save you time?

As for refusing? I presume you would not refuse. A promise from a powerhouse is worth a thousand pieces of gold!"

Feng Wu said, subtly placing Yao Chen on a pedestal while also using his words to pressure him and leave him no way out.

"Haha, good! You leave no loose ends in your work. Truly, the younger generation is to be feared! Still, I appreciate your attitude toward doing things." Yao Chen pointed at Feng Wu and Xiao Yan. "Put these things away. We will not learn alchemy here; there are too many eyes and ears. Little Yanzi, take him to that cave in the back mountain.

"I will teach Feng Wu alchemy, and you can watch carefully from the side as well. Once you become a Dou Zhe, your master will teach you too!"

Yao Chen spoke. He did not want to expose himself in public, and he also comforted Xiao Yan, who had been somewhat neglected.

Half an hour later, Feng Wu followed Xiao Yan to a secluded cave in the back mountain behind the Xiao Clan. The cave entrance was not large, but the space inside was broader than a room. He had not expected such a place to exist.

"Take out the cauldron and light the fire!" Yao Chen ordered Feng Wu.

Feng Wu did as instructed and took out the two-foot cauldron. The gray-black cauldron, more than half a meter tall, landed in the center of the cave.

Without pausing in the slightest, Feng Wu pressed his palm against the fire port at the base of the cauldron and poured in Dou Qi!

These were all steps recorded in the original work. Ever since getting the cauldron back, Feng Wu had experimented with them many times himself, so he was already thoroughly familiar with them.

A muffled whoom sounded from within the cauldron!

Feng Wu's Fire Attribute Dou Qi surged from his palm and, after passing through the conversion Magic Array inside the cauldron, formed clusters of vigorous, rolling flames within it!

The fire had been successfully lit!

"Next, extract—" Before Yao Chen could finish, Feng Wu had already taken the initiative to proceed to the next step.

Feng Wu narrowed his eyes slightly and sensed carefully. A trace of Wood Attribute life aura silently appeared inside the cauldron.

A thread of extremely fine green Dou Qi entered the cauldron. Once the green Wood Attribute Dou Qi entered, it seemed to trigger a chemical reaction.

The originally violent flames inside the cauldron suddenly quieted down!

Even the flames that Feng Wu had not yet fully brought under control became somewhat tamer, their violent nature gradually neutralized by the Wood Attribute.

Furthermore, according to the principle of the Five Elements, wood gave birth to fire. The flames inside the cauldron became more enduring and easier for Feng Wu to control.

"He succeeded so easily?" A trace of surprise appeared in Yao Chen's eyes.

He had deliberately told Feng Wu to light the fire without explaining anything first in order to test the preparations he had made.

But he had not expected Feng Wu not only to complete it, but to exceed expectations and finish the next step as well!

What extraordinary talent!

Yao Chen praised inwardly. As for whether Feng Wu had spent a great deal of time practicing?

That did not matter. Being able to do what others could not was talent—genius!

Hard work was also a kind of gift.

"Good, very good!" Yao Chen did not stint on his praise. Then, he raised a hand and tapped Feng Wu between the brows. Through the connection of Soul Power, a stream of information entered Feng Wu's mind.

"This is a healing medicine formula I devised myself. Consider yourself lucky. Try refining it on your own. I will remind you how to control the heat and temperature, as well as how to extract the essence of the medicinal ingredients."

Feng Wu briefly sensed the pill information in his mind and nodded slightly.

Rank 1 Pill: Blood Coagulation Powder. The most ordinary Rank 1 Pill, only slightly better than Blood Replenishing Powder.

Required ingredients: one Blood Coagulation Grass, one Vitality Fruit, two Poppy Flowers...

Refining precautions, techniques, steps...

Requirements for upgrading...

After Feng Wu's system translated the formula again, it was far clearer than the original description. Feng Wu felt that with the system, he could figure it out himself and learn without needing a teacher at all!

But he soon learned that pill refining was not easy.

Even though Feng Wu had been extremely careful in controlling the flames in the cauldron, the moment he tossed the first Blood Coagulation Grass inside, it was instantly swallowed by a sudden surge of flame. It was burned into a pile of black powder and expelled from the cauldron by its special mechanisms.

"Hah—!" Feng Wu let out a long breath and summed up the experience.

"Continue!" After a while, Yao Chen ordered, "Do not overthink it. Alchemists grow through thousands upon thousands of failed attempts. Keep refining!"

Feng Wu placed another Blood Coagulation Grass into the cauldron. The instant the herb entered, he fiercely suppressed the temperature in the area where it landed!

"When herbs enter the cauldron, they are like firewood. They cause the flames nearby to heat up and flare higher. They need to be suppressed and controlled to maintain balance," Feng Wu muttered inwardly as he did his utmost to control that section of flame.

"It worked!" Just as Feng Wu had expected, he suppressed the eruption of flames this time. The Blood Coagulation Grass was not swallowed again and stood steadily amid the flames.

However, because Feng Wu was focusing all his effort on controlling the flames at the center, his control over the other areas weakened.

Thus, before Feng Wu could add a second medicinal ingredient, a moment of instability and imbalance caused another lump of black medicinal dregs to spew from the mouth of the cauldron.

"This is no easy job!" Feng Wu wiped away his sweat. This time, without waiting for Yao Chen to urge him, he immediately opened the cauldron and tossed in another Blood Coagulation Grass.

Feng Wu summarized as he experimented. Only after ruining another seven or eight Blood Coagulation Grasses did he finally gain some confidence.

"This time, it should work!" As Feng Wu placed another Blood Coagulation Grass inside, he and Yao Chen thought the same thing at once!

Sure enough!

The herb entered, the fire weakened, and it was slowly warmed over a low flame—scorched, but not burned!

Using his Soul Power, Feng Wu controlled the flames with precision pushed to the absolute limit of what he could manage!

The Blood Coagulation Grass tumbled amid the flames, slowly withering as its grayish-white outer layer peeled away.

Yet its essence did not evaporate. Instead, Feng Wu gathered it together and eventually refined it into grayish-white powder. This was the most concentrated medicinal power within the Blood Coagulation Grass!

It worked!

It had finally worked!