Learning Alchemy

"Fire Control Technique?"

Wei Yang picked it up and read it with great interest.

Alchemists dealt with flames year-round, so they naturally had extensive expertise in fire control.

Strictly speaking, Fire Control Techniques could also be considered a type of Dou Technique.

They could be used both for refining pills and fighting enemies.

Of course, alchemists mainly learned profound Fire Control Techniques for pill refinement.

A good Fire Control Technique allowed an alchemist to control flames more skillfully during the refining process, reducing consumption, making pill refinement easier, and increasing the chances of successfully forming a pill.

As for using it in battle? Of course they would.

But as noble alchemists, they generally rarely took the initiative to fight and kill others. It was beneath their status.

Usually, they simply called in reinforcements.

It was only a few pills. What was the big deal?

Wei Yang held this Fire Control Technique and felt something stir within him after only giving it a cursory read.

This showed that the Fire Control Technique was quite good.

After all, it had come from Pill King Gu He.

Wei Yang's horizons had been broadened. He had never imagined that there could be so many tricks and such profound knowledge involved in playing with fire.

He could not help recalling the Fire Control Technique displayed by the Two-Headed Fire Spirit Snake in the Magma World. He had been thoroughly taught a lesson on the spot.

For Wei Yang, who aspired to become an alchemist, that was rather humiliating.

He had actually been utterly outclassed in fire control by a beast of the same realm.

He figured he would remember this for a long time.

Wei Yang smacked his lips and put away the Fire Control Technique to study slowly in the future.

Next came some relatively unimportant miscellaneous items.

Oh, there were also three half-human-height medicine cauldrons. Wei Yang examined them, but he did not know much about such things.

Their quality was probably quite good. Since Gute had stored them in his Storage Ring, they could not have been too poor.

At the very least, they would certainly be enough for the two of them to practice with in the early stages.

He tossed the dark-red medicine cauldron that looked relatively small and exquisite to Xian'er, then put away the other two himself.

As for the gold coins, jewelry, and similar items, worth roughly a hundred thousand or so, Wei Yang handed all of them to Xian'er to handle.

He then picked up a Gold Coin Card. The number displayed on it was two hundred thousand.

Not bad. Wei Yang happily put it away.

Alchemists truly were wealthy, especially Pill King Gu He's elder brother.

Speaking of Pill King Gu He, that man had it rather tragic.

As the Jia Ma Empire's foremost alchemist, he was renowned throughout the empire. He was also a Dou Wang, a Sixth Grade Alchemist, and handsome to boot. He could truly be called a favored son of heaven.

Unfortunately, he had encountered Xiao Yan, the child of fortune.

He simped for Yun Yun but got nowhere.

Instead, Xiao Yan snatched her away. That alone would have been one thing, but in the end, Xiao Yan did not even take her. Wasn't that infuriating?

Most tragically, Gu He eventually joined the Flame Alliance and, in name, actually became Xiao Yan's subordinate.

That was downright melodramatic.

After sighing over it for a moment, Wei Yang continued sorting through the items.

What remained were miscellaneous items such as metal ores, empty jade bottles, jade boxes, and the like.

Wei Yang swept them with his Soul Power and found nothing worth paying attention to, so he casually put them away.

For the next half month, Wei Yang and Xian'er stayed home, studying numerous books and notes as they diligently learned the knowledge of pill refinement.

Only half a month later did Wei Yang leave the house and head to the Xiao Family Market, where he found their manager and purchased a large batch of first-tier medicinal herbs.

Next, they studied while putting what they learned into practice.

Given Wei Yang's strength and Soul Power, refining Grade 1 Pills was naturally no difficult task.

Aside from failing a few times at the start due to unfamiliarity, everything went smoothly afterward.

However, Wei Yang did not rush to refine Tier 2 Pills. Instead, he continued refining and studying Grade 1 Pills, familiarizing himself with the medicinal properties of various herbs, their proper combinations, and the principles behind their mutual incompatibility.

This was a process of building foundations, so naturally, he could not be careless.

Only with solid foundations could one climb higher.

In any case, he was wealthy enough to have a large supply of cheap medicinal herbs for practice.

Things also went quite smoothly for Xian'er.

She failed a few times at first, then progressed through refining several semi-finished medicinal powders before successfully forming pills.

After all, one was a Dou Ling with powerful Soul Power, while the other was a nine-star Da Dou Shi. Their strength was there for all to see.

They had good medicine cauldrons and Fourth Grade Peak Beast Flames to assist them.

Moreover, they had originally been physicians and were not completely ignorant of medicinal theory. Since they already had a foundation, they naturally did not need to start learning from scratch.

As long as they understood the Pill Formula and medicinal principles, refining Grade 1 Pills was something they could do with ease.

Another month passed.

Wei Yang had basically learned all there was to learn about Grade 1 Pills.

He had carefully studied every Grade 1 Pill Formula he possessed, understood their medicinal principles, and personally refined each one no fewer than ten times. He felt that his foundation was already very solid.

The same was true for Xian'er.

Thus, they began preparing to refine Tier 2 Pills.

In the main hall.

"Tier 2 Pills should not be difficult for us to refine. But second-tier medicinal herbs and Magic Cores are relatively hard to gather in large quantities in Wu Tan City. I'm afraid it will be impossible to collect enough in a short time." Wei Yang looked at the large pile of jade bottles casually placed on the table before him.

These were all Grade 1 Pills that he and Xian'er had refined during this period. There were more than a hundred of them, all common Grade 1 Pills found on the market.

Then again, there was nothing particularly special about Grade 1 Pills.

Basically, pills below the Fourth Grade were relatively common, aside from those with special purposes.

The rest were nothing more than pills for restoring Dou Qi, healing injuries, detoxifying poison, aiding cultivation, and so on.

"Don't we have a partnership with the Xiao Family Market? We previously bought a large quantity of cheap medicinal herbs from them. This time, we can ask them again to help us purchase large quantities of second-tier medicinal herbs and Magic Cores," Xian'er said.

Some Tier 2 and Tier 3 Pills required first- or second-tier Magic Cores.

"Second- and third-tier medicinal herbs and Magic Cores are already considered fairly high-grade goods in Wu Tan City. Small quantities would be fine, but if we need large quantities, the Xiao family probably cannot supply enough to meet our needs in a short time." Wei Yang shook his head.

"What about the Mitel Auction House?" Xian'er asked. "Could we have them supply us as well? With the Mitel Auction House's capabilities, they should be able to meet our needs in large quantities."

Her mind was entirely focused on learning alchemy, and suddenly having to stop made her feel rather uncomfortable.

"That is also an option. If the Xiao family and the Mitel Auction House supply us together, they should be able to meet our needs."

Wei Yang nodded. "After all, we probably will not remain at the Tier 2 stage for long. It is merely a transition for learning and gaining experience."

"I estimate Tier 3 Pills will be your current limit, since your Soul Power is not particularly outstanding," Wei Yang said.

Xian'er nodded.

At present, Tier 3 Pills would indeed be a bottleneck for her, limited by her Soul Power. Even after breaking through to the Dou Ling realm, she might still be unable to quickly reach the peak of Tier 3 in the short term.

Moreover, because she possessed fire poison, she had to divide her attention while refining pills to control and separate the fire poison, which also consumed part of her mental focus.

This meant that when refining pills, she had to expend more concentration and effort than ordinary alchemists.

This was the price!

At least for now, this problem could not be resolved in the short term. Perhaps it would remain so in the future.

Yet she had never complained. Instead, she was content.

"As for me, I should be able to rapidly reach the Fourth Grade in a short time. That should not be a problem," Wei Yang analyzed.

Of course, this Fourth Grade only referred to ordinary Fourth Grade pills.

As for Fourth Grade Peak pills comparable to Fifth Grade Pills, such as the Three-Pattern Azure Spirit Pill and the Purple Heart Barrier Breaking Pill—

He definitely could not successfully refine them in a short time.

The weather is getting colder, brothers. Remember to add more clothes and cover yourselves properly with blankets when you sleep at night~

For some reason, I'm feeling a little excited. Guangdong finally cooled down today!

Quick, bring me my long-sleeved shirt~

I was still writing shirtless two days ago.