Jia Ma Imperial Capital (Please Read On and Vote Monthly)

Alchemy and alchemists were among the defining professions of the Dou Qi Continent.

They could refine all manner of pills that enhanced one's strength. Every alchemist was someone whom all factions strove to recruit, enjoying an exceedingly exalted status.

In contrast, Artifact Forgers and Formation Masters were few and far between on the Dou Qi Continent, and neither had developed into a systematic professional path.

There were not many renowned weapons on the Dou Qi Continent. There were powerful formations, but they were scarce as well.

Therefore, every city in the Jia Ma Empire with an Alchemist Guild was a first-rate major city.

Although Wutan City, where Xiao Yan resided, could also be considered a major city, it was merely among the lowest-ranked ones. It had no Alchemist Guild, and few alchemists lived there.

In order to take a high-grade alchemist as his master, Gu Yi immediately rode a Crimson Blood Steed toward Jia Ma Holy City, the imperial capital of the Jia Ma Empire.

The imperial capital was the heart of the Jia Ma Empire, where experts gathered like clouds.

The imperial capital's Alchemist Guild also brought together the Jia Ma Empire's greatest number of most formidable alchemists.

There were even quite a few fifth- and sixth-grade alchemists among them.

They were Gu Yi's target.

If he was not going to seek out a fifth- or sixth-grade alchemist as his master, Gu Yi might as well directly take an alchemist from the Cloud Sea Sect as his teacher.

As one of Snow Moon Kingdom's top powers, the Cloud Sea Sect had nurtured quite a few alchemists within its ranks.

Though their alchemy was not particularly advanced when viewed across the entire Nine Heavens Continent, with even the strongest only able to refine spirit-grade pills suitable for the Spirit Martial Realm—

—on the Dou Qi Continent, they would at least be third- or fourth-grade alchemists.

They were more than qualified to serve as Gu Yi's early-stage teachers on the Alchemy Path.

As a genius, he could also receive the sect's full support in the Cloud Sea Sect, making it easier for him to become an alchemist.

The reason Gu Yi had chosen to travel far rather than seek nearby help and take a master on the Dou Qi Continent was that the higher an alchemist's grade, the better their ability to teach disciples would generally be.

By studying under them and learning through constant exposure, Gu Yi's alchemy could improve more quickly as well.

Furthermore, these high-grade alchemists possessed a great many pill formulas that could be passed down, sparing Gu Yi the trouble of painstakingly gathering and purchasing them himself.

Of course, Gu Yi could also take alchemists from both worlds as his masters and gather the essence of both worlds' alchemy within himself.

After all, they could not cross worlds, so neither would know of the other master's existence.

With the inheritances of alchemists from these two worlds, drawing upon and verifying them against one another, Gu Yi could grow even faster.

With Enlightenment at his disposal, he was not worried that having too much knowledge to learn would slow his cultivation.

In less than two days, Gu Yi traveled from the eastern provinces of the Jia Ma Empire to Jia Ma Holy City.

Ahead of him, the outline of a city even more magnificent than Broken Blade City gradually emerged. Large numbers of carriages and flying magical beast mounts entered and departed by road and through the air, making the place exceptionally bustling.

Following the crowd into Jia Ma Holy City, Gu Yi headed straight for the Alchemist Guild headquarters.

Everyone in the imperial capital knew the location of the Alchemist Guild headquarters. Gu Yi casually asked around and quickly learned its exact whereabouts.

After walking through several long streets, Gu Yi saw a grand and imposing building standing before him, faint clouds of pill-scented mist lingering around it.

Gu Yi observed the Alchemist Guild for a long time and discovered that one had to be at least an Alchemist Apprentice or possess a letter of introduction from an alchemist mentor to enter.

But he had come specifically to find an alchemist to take as his master, so how could he possibly have a letter of introduction...

"Looks like I'll have to become an Alchemist Apprentice first..."

After pondering for a long while, Gu Yi decided to first buy a large number of books on medicinal properties and pharmacology in the imperial capital and study them on his own.

To become an alchemist, one first had to familiarize oneself with the pharmacology and medicinal properties of all kinds of herbs.

Otherwise, if one did not understand an herb's pharmacology and medicinal properties, one would only be completely lost when refining pills, with no idea where to begin.

If one forcibly used herbs to refine pills, the success rate would be frighteningly low.

This was also an unavoidable path for Alchemist Apprentices.

Books on pharmacology and medicinal properties were not like ranked pill formulas and were not particularly expensive. They could easily be bought near the Alchemist Guild.

Besides alchemists, the Dou Qi Continent also had physicians who treated people in their daily lives. Their understanding of the medicinal properties and pharmacology of various herbs was no worse than that of some low-grade alchemists.

They simply could not become alchemists because their souls did not possess dual fire and wood attributes, their soul perception was insufficient, or for other such reasons.

In addition to books from the Dou Qi Continent, Gu Yi also returned to the Cloud Sea Sect and collected some related books within the sect.

For the time that followed, Gu Yi stayed in an inn in the Jia Ma Imperial Capital, studying the contents of these herbology and medical texts so diligently that he forgot to eat and sleep.

In this life, Gu Yi had originally been born into a family of herb gatherers. His family possessed some basic books on medicinal herbs, and from the age of three, he had gathered herbs outside to support himself.

Thus, he had possessed a certain degree of understanding of pharmacology from a young age.

Furthermore, Gu Yi's comprehension and intelligence had been improved many times and had long reached an extremely high level. Having a photographic memory was merely a basic ability for him.

Even without using Enlightenment, Gu Yi memorized the contents of more than a hundred different herbology and medical texts in just a few days, thoroughly breaking them down and comprehending them.

Although the various herbs of the Nine Heavens Continent and the Douluo Continent differed from those of the Dou Qi Continent, and the contents recorded in their medical and herbology texts varied greatly, some herbs possessed similar medicinal properties and could serve as substitutes in pill and medicine formulas.

By comparing and verifying them against one another, Gu Yi's attainments in pharmacology steadily improved. Before long, he was no worse than an ordinary First-Grade Alchemist.

With sufficient theory, the next step was naturally practice.

For this, Gu Yi had specifically asked his grandmaster, Elder Bei, for three Yellow-tier Low-grade Pill Recipes—the lowest grade available.

—Elder Bei happened to be one of the Cloud Sea Sect's alchemists.

As one of the sect's guardians, Elder Bei had lived far too long. His potential in martial cultivation had essentially reached its limit, and his strength had not improved in decades.

Thus, Elder Bei had begun studying alchemy and, after spending a long time on it, became an alchemist.

However, his alchemy was not particularly advanced. He had only reached the Yellow-tier High-grade and could refine low-grade pills needed by Qi Martial Realm warriors, such as the Return to Origin Pill, Essence Cultivation Pill, and Beauty Retaining Pill.

As for the spirit pills required by Spirit Martial Realm warriors, even though he was a Profound Martial Realm expert, he was incapable of refining them.

When Elder Bei learned that Gu Yi wanted to study alchemy and become an alchemist, he was somewhat surprised and advised Gu Yi to devote all his energy to martial cultivation.

Alchemy might be useful, but it was ultimately only a side path.

The greatest taboo on the martial path was being distracted. Once one's energy was divided, nothing could be done well.

Elder Bei did not want Gu Yi, a martial arts genius, to waste his talent in martial cultivation by devoting part of his energy to alchemy.

But Gu Yi proved with facts that his talent for alchemy was no weaker than his talent for martial arts.