The Beginning of Alchemy

On the Xiao Family Back Mountain, a cyan figure darted back and forth along the rugged mountain paths like a phantom, occasionally stopping somewhere for a moment.

"Purple Leaf Orchid Grass, Bone Cleansing Flower... I never expected there to be so many medicinal herbs on the Xiao Family Back Mountain that no one had picked. It must be because they are too young, which is why they were left behind. But that is no problem for me. I am not afraid of low age; I am only afraid of having no seeds." Xiao Se gazed at the several herbs before him and murmured softly.

After Xiao Yu left for Canaan Academy, Xiao Se once again immersed himself in cultivation.

During the day, he practiced battle techniques and movement skills outside the stone chamber in the mountain cave. At night, he returned to the stone chamber to temper his Dou Qi, while placing the Palm Heaven Bottle beneath the chamber's ventilation opening to absorb moonlight and condense green liquid.

Every day, he lived a simple routine between two points.

While practicing the Ethereal Smoke Step, Xiao Se carefully dug up every herb he spotted along the way and transplanted them into a small valley he had discovered.

Clouds and mist shrouded the valley overhead. Looking down from the mountain, one could not see the valley floor at all. The only path into the small valley lay on a cliffside passage barely wide enough for one person. Beneath the cliff was a bottomless abyss, perilous beyond compare. Xiao Se had concealed it with branches and loose stones, so he did not need to worry about anyone discovering it.

After gathering all the herbs in this area, Xiao Se arrived at the small valley.

Looking at the thriving herb garden that nearly filled the entire valley, a satisfied smile appeared on Xiao Se's face.

He had prepared all of this in order to learn alchemy.

It had taken him more than half a month to gather so many herbs, then use the green liquid condensed within the Palm Heaven Bottle to stimulate them from seedlings into herbs several decades, even over a hundred years old.

It was not that Xiao Se had not considered buying them directly from the Imitation Market, but his purse was empty. The Gold Coins he had left still needed to be saved for purchasing a first-tier magic core and refining Second-Rank Pills, so he could only rely on himself.

This also happened to be a good opportunity to test the Palm Heaven Bottle's effects.

After skillfully harvesting and sorting all the mature medicinal herbs, Xiao Se returned to the stone chamber in the cave. Unable to wait any longer, he took off the Ring hanging from his neck and injected a thread of Dou Qi into it. Dark blue light surged forth, and a dark-red medicine cauldron about half a meter tall appeared out of thin air within the stone chamber.

The cauldron had two openings, with fire vents inside. There was a special opening at the top of its lid for adding medicinal ingredients during alchemy.

This was one of the few items left in Pill Emperor Podocarpus's Ring. A two-opening cauldron had nothing particularly remarkable about it, but it had been the first gift his teacher, Gu Lao, gave him when he became his disciple. Thus, Podocarpus had preserved it to this day. Even after his death, he had never given this medicine cauldron away.

It happened to solve Xiao Se's urgent need.

"Now I can begin trying alchemy. But to be safe, I should first try converting the Dou Qi in my body into flames."

The current Xiao Se only possessed Podocarpus's memories as an alchemist. He had never actually practiced before.

It was like guarding a massive treasure vault that had been locked shut. He himself was the key, and strength, talent, and alchemy experience were all indispensable.

Only then could he fully excavate this mountain of treasure.

Having made up his mind, Xiao Se followed Pill Emperor Podocarpus's memories. He raised his right hand and lightly touched the fire vent on one side of the medicine cauldron. The pale yellow Dou Qi within his body surged out through his right arm and entered the cauldron.

The next instant, a muffled puff rang out. The pale yellow Dou Qi entered the cauldron through the fire vent and swiftly transformed into a pale yellow flame that churned and burned without end.

"It was actually this easy to convert it into flames? It seems my talent is fairly good."

Having successfully produced flames, a trace of joy appeared on Xiao Se's calm little face. This was a very good beginning. Next, he needed to sense that trace of wood attribute hidden within his body.

He slowly closed his eyes and steadied his mind. Powerful Soul Power spread out, repeatedly sweeping through his body in search of that faint wood attribute.

One minute, two minutes... five minutes passed, yet Xiao Se still had not found the wood energy within his body.

But he showed no impatience. Though he had no Dou Qi testing orb to verify it, since the System's personal panel had shown that his Dou Qi attribute was fire with a trace of wood mixed in, then he would definitely find it. It was simply more difficult to locate wood energy for the first time.

Finally, at the eighth minute, Xiao Se found that faint trace of wood energy within his body.

"I finally found it. Next, I need to inject the wood energy into the medicine cauldron and neutralize the violent factor in the flames."

Slowly exhaling, Xiao Se extended the ring finger of his left hand and lightly touched the fire vent on the other side of the medicine cauldron. A wisp of pale green airflow emerged from his fingertip and slowly entered the cauldron.

The next instant, the pale yellow flames that had been churning within the medicine cauldron abruptly calmed, becoming incomparably gentle and completely devoid of their former violent aura.

"Success." Xiao Se's eyes visibly brightened.

First-Rank Pill: Hemostatic Powder.

Required ingredients: Hemostatic Grass, Qi Nourishing Fruit, Poppy Flower.

Recalling Pill Emperor Podocarpus's self-created prescription, Xiao Se extended his Soul Power into the medicine cauldron and struggled to control the gentle flames inside.

A dim glint flashed from the Ring on his hand, and a pale red stalk of Hemostatic Grass appeared out of thin air in his palm. With a flick of his finger, he accurately tossed it into the special opening atop the medicine cauldron meant for adding ingredients.

On his first attempt, before Xiao Se had time to control the flames, a burnt smell rose from the Hemostatic Grass. In the blink of an eye, it turned to charcoal and was expelled from a special opening beneath the medicine cauldron.

"The temperature was a little too high..."

The second attempt was slightly better, but the Hemostatic Grass did not last long before being burned into charcoal again and expelled from the cauldron.

"No, it is still too high."

The third attempt...

Ten minutes passed.

After using up a full ten stalks of Hemostatic Grass, Xiao Se finally found the temperature the herb could withstand.

When the eleventh stalk of Hemostatic Grass was thrown into the medicine cauldron, the juice contained in its leaves was roasted into a small pinch of pale white powder. The extraction of Hemostatic Grass essence was complete.

Xiao Se let out a heavy sigh, a bitter smile curling across his lips. With his cultivation technique being only Yellow Rank Low Level, nearly one-third of the Dou Qi in his body had already been consumed.

Pill Emperor Podocarpus's alchemy memories were memories after all. It had seemed simple in theory, but doing it was fraught with countless difficulties. Podocarpus had possessed Dou Huang Peak cultivation, Soul Power reaching the level of a sixth-rank alchemist, and incomparably rich alchemy experience.

Xiao Se, on the other hand, merely possessed the alchemy memories of a sixth-rank alchemist. His Soul Power and cultivation could not keep up, and he had never personally practiced before. His experience was practically nonexistent.

"Forget it. I should keep working. Compared to others who have to grovel and beg someone to teach them alchemy, I am already very fortunate. And there are also the auxiliary pills needed to devour beast fire... Sigh... Take it slowly..." Xiao Se murmured as he began extracting the remaining two ingredients.