First Time Refining Medicine!

Li Changsheng spent a little silver in the Black Market to hire someone to make inquiries, and soon found a place that sold Demon Blood.

There was almost no fake Demon Blood, because it was easy to tell.

Black Market, Old Ghost's Shop.

Li Changsheng arrived here. The place was pitch-black, and the moment he entered, he smelled an extremely unpleasant stench. These strange odors all came from materials taken from demons.

"Boss, I want to buy Demon Blood!"

Li Changsheng said in a low voice.

At that moment, a short old man walked out from behind a dim counter and said, "What level of Demon Blood do you want?"

"Demon Blood from a Level 1 Minor Demon!" Li Changsheng said.

Demons were divided into realms such as Minor Demons and Great Demons. Minor Demons were further divided into Level 1, Level 2, Level 3, Level 4, and Level 5, corresponding to martial artists' realms such as the Skin Grinding Realm.

Level 1 Minor Demons were also the most common kind of demon. Their realm was equivalent to that of Skin Grinding Realm martial artists, but in strength, vitality, speed, and recovery ability, they far surpassed humans. Under normal circumstances, a demon of the same realm could beat several human martial artists black and blue.

Therefore, hunting demons was extremely difficult.

"One portion of Level 1 Minor Demon Blood costs ten taels of silver!" the boss quoted.

This price was not expensive. One portion of Demon Blood, together with some medicinal ingredients, could be refined into Secret Medicine and even divided into ten portions. If the refined Secret Medicine was of high quality, its price would be even higher.

So long as one refined Secret Medicine, it would be a huge profit!

"I'll take ten portions!" Li Changsheng said.

Very soon, the boss brought out ten portions of Demon Blood, each in a small wooden bottle.

Li Changsheng opened the ten portions of Demon Blood one by one. Aside from the fishy stench, he could sense a strange demonic power within. One glance was enough to tell that it was Demon Blood.

After confirming that it was Demon Blood, he put away the ten portions, paid one hundred taels of silver, and turned to leave.

After leaving the Black Market, Li Changsheng carefully watched behind him, afraid that someone might be following him. But he had overthought it. He had not taken out much silver in the Black Market in total, not enough for anyone to covet.

Afterward.

He went to the various shops in the outer city, buying several medicinal ingredients from each one. Only after spending quite some time did he finally gather all the ingredients he needed.

"I need to buy a larger courtyard. My previous home is too small. If I refine medicine at home, it'll be too easy to expose myself."

He planned to buy a separate courtyard in the area between Azure Steel Martial Hall and the blacksmith shop. Houses in the outer city were not expensive; a small separate courtyard cost only around two hundred taels of silver. He had accumulated quite a bit of silver from forging weapons, and had not spent it all yet. Buying a small separate courtyard would not be a problem.

Very soon, he took a liking to a small separate courtyard that was up for sale. It was fully furnished, and the owner was asking for two hundred and twenty taels of silver.

He did not hesitate, buying it outright. He then followed the other party to the yamen to handle the transfer procedures, successfully purchasing the small separate courtyard.

After that, he spent several more days converting one room into a medicine refining room and buying a new medicine furnace.

Once all the preparations were complete, he began studying medicine refining.

He first studied Cangyuanzi's Medicine Refining Records day and night. Though he had not truly started refining medicine yet, the experience of the Medicine Refining Dao Fruit continued to increase.

More than ten days later, he began his first true attempt at refining medicine.

Medicine refining appeared simple. One only needed to prepare the medicinal ingredients in the proper proportions, add them in a specific order, simmer them with flame, then use a medicine refining secret art to stir the ingredients and complete a certain special transformation.

However, if an error occurred in any step, the entire furnace of ingredients would be ruined.

There was also an important step: removing the Demonic Nature from the Demon Blood. If it was not thoroughly removed, it would affect the quality of the Secret Medicine.

This medicine refining manual recorded an ordinary medicine refining secret art—the Azure Origin Alchemy Technique. The Azure Origin Alchemy Technique not only recorded the methods of refining medicine, but also the means of removing Demonic Nature.

Without talent for medicine refining, mastering the Azure Origin Alchemy Technique would be almost impossible.

But Li Changsheng, who had grasped the Medicine Refining Dao Fruit, found that the Azure Origin Alchemy Technique was not difficult. He first tried cultivating the Azure Origin Alchemy Technique and, sure enough, mastered it with ease. He then began using Demon Blood to practice it.

Every portion of Demon Blood contained powerful Demonic Nature. Using the Azure Origin Alchemy Technique to empower one's spiritual power and erase the Demonic Nature within also required considerable spiritual power. Otherwise, one could easily suffer a mental assault from the Demonic Nature, damaging one's mind.

During the process of battling Demonic Nature, an Alchemist's spiritual power would gradually improve. Every Alchemist who grew to maturity possessed formidable spiritual power.

Li Changsheng had just used the method recorded in the Azure Origin Alchemy Technique to empower his spirit and attempt to erase the Demonic Nature from the Demon Blood when, in his perception, that Demonic Nature transformed into a Demon Wolf and charged at his mind.

Using the techniques of the Azure Origin Alchemy Technique to empower his spirit, Li Changsheng withstood the Demon Wolf's repeated attacks. This also gradually depleted the Demonic Nature within the Demon Blood.

Before long, Li Changsheng had consumed quite a bit of spiritual power and immediately moved away from the Demon Blood.

Once he had recovered, he continued erasing the Demonic Nature within the Demon Blood.

Several days later, he successfully erased the superficial Demonic Nature from one portion of Demon Blood. Deeper Demonic Nature still lurked within it, and it would need to be completely erased during the medicine refining process through the power of flames and the alchemy technique. Otherwise, the Secret Medicine would fail to meet standards and become a flawed product.

At this point, Li Changsheng still did not intend to refine medicine. He continued erasing the Demonic Nature from the other portions of Demon Blood, which would also improve the Azure Origin Alchemy Technique.

Very soon, his Azure Origin Alchemy Technique broke through to the Minor Accomplishment Realm, and his spiritual power strengthened considerably as well. This counted as an unexpected gain.

Five days later, the Azure Origin Alchemy Technique broke through to the Great Accomplishment Realm, and the Medicine Refining Dao Fruit also advanced to Level 1. A vast amount of medicine refining knowledge suddenly emerged.

With this medicine refining knowledge, his success rate in refining medicine would rise considerably.

"I can refine the White Spirit Secret Medicine now!"

The White Spirit Secret Medicine Li Changsheng intended to refine was one of the three Secret Medicine formulas. Its Skin Grinding effect should be somewhat better than the Azure Origin Secret Medicine's, but it had no restorative effect, so its value should be slightly lower than that of the Azure Origin Secret Medicine.

But as an introduction to medicine refining, the White Spirit Secret Medicine was quite good.

Immediately, he began his first true medicine refinement.

Following the proper order, he added the ingredients in their measured proportions. Throughout the process, he controlled the heat, and there was no problem with his command of the Azure Origin Alchemy Technique's techniques.

His spiritual power controlled the power of his qi and blood, pouring into the medicine furnace through the Azure Origin Alchemy Technique. It seemed to transform into an invisible giant hand, stirring the medicinal ingredients within and gradually fusing their medicinal properties.

After some time passed, he added the final Demon Blood, using it as the catalyst to let the ingredients complete their transformation. But this process was far too prone to failure. He had to suppress the Demonic Nature deep within the Demon Blood at once, then grind it away bit by bit.

Boom!!!!

The medicine furnace shook as Demonic Nature erupted. But Li Changsheng's Azure Origin Alchemy Technique had reached the Great Accomplishment Realm, allowing him to easily suppress it. Then, through the power of flames and the Azure Origin Alchemy Technique, he completely wore away that Demonic Nature. Still, he had not erased it one hundred percent. Some traces of Demonic Nature had blended into the ingredients, but the proportion was very low and would not greatly affect martial artists.

Very soon, the ingredients within completed their transformation and became Secret Medicine.

After a while, Li Changsheng extinguished the flames. Once it had cooled, he opened the medicine furnace.

"It's qualified White Spirit Secret Medicine, but only of low-grade quality!"

Li Changsheng said.

The quality of Secret Medicine was divided into unqualified and qualified. Qualified Secret Medicine was further divided into low-grade, medium-grade, high-grade, and flawless Secret Medicine.

So-called flawless Secret Medicine had not a single flaw to be found!