First Steps in Alchemy (Seeking Recommendations, Seeking Follow-ups)

After returning, Xu Haoyu meditated for half an hour and fully recovered his Dou Qi. His stamina greatly improved, his spirits were high, and the wound on his hand had healed seven or eight parts out of ten. There was also a tingling, numb sensation—it was his Meridians, muscles, and Tendons and Bones growing back and becoming ever stronger.

After lunch, Xu Haoyu did not continue practicing Dou Skills. After informing Xu Tianlong, he returned to his room and began reading.

He first released his Soul Strength, stirring up a whirlwind in midair. Then he took out the Soul Testing Beads Li Fufeng had given him from his Storage Ring. After thinking for a moment, he tossed them into the whirlwind one after another.

Based on his own limits, and without affecting his reading, he placed a total of three Soul Testing Beads into the whirlwind.

With furrowed brows and clenched teeth, Xu Haoyu seemed to be holding up an object weighing thousands of jin, using it to temper his Soul Strength while splitting his attention to read.

He was reading the Compendium of Herbs. Only after opening it did he realize how detailed its records of medicinal herbs were. It not only included illustrations, but also labeled every part of the plants in those illustrations—the roots, stems, leaves, fruits...

How to identify a medicinal herb, its medicinal properties, how to determine its age, how to distinguish its quality, methods of gathering it, means of preserving it, the proper heat for refining it... Li Fufeng had even written notes in the blank spaces. The various precautions were exceedingly clear and easy to understand.

Having a textbook truly was wonderful. This was no less than being taught hand in hand. With his extraordinary soul perception, photographic memory, and ability to draw inferences from one example to another, Xu Haoyu constantly absorbed knowledge about medicinal herbs from the book.

Whenever he encountered something he did not understand, he silently noted it down, intending to ask Li Fufeng about it during his next visit. He even made quite a few notes for this purpose.

Before he knew it, the sky had already turned dark. It was not until his grandfather came to call him for dinner that Xu Haoyu suddenly snapped back to his senses, feeling that time had passed incredibly quickly.

At dinner, Xu Haoyu rapidly shoveled food into his mouth. A growing boy could eat his father poor, and he was at precisely the age when he was growing, so his appetite was enormous.

Xu Tianlong watched Xu Haoyu wolf down his food with a kind, benevolent smile. Then he suddenly said, "Haoyu, after a day of spreading around, news of your advancement to Dou Zhe has now reached the entire family. Not only has it confirmed your title as the Xu Family's number one genius, some people have even started calling you the number one genius of the Tianxin Empire."

Xu Haoyu raised his head at those words. He swallowed the food in his mouth and picked up a handkerchief to wipe his lips.

If he had truly been only nine years old, he would probably have been so proud that his nose would be in the air. But he was not merely nine years old, and he deeply understood just how hollow the title of number one genius was.

It would only make countless people set him as their target, wanting to trample him beneath their feet and become famous in one stroke.

Xu Haoyu's little face remained utterly calm. He grinned and said, "Grandfather, I don't like that title. I hope that when people mention me in the future, they'll call me the strongest, not the greatest genius. I've only just broken through to Dou Zhe. I'll soon break through to Dou Shi, Da Dou Shi, and Dou Ling."

Xu Tianlong burst into laughter. Looking at Xu Haoyu, he felt increasingly delighted and said, "Good! That's the spirit, my good grandson. Eat up. Let those people outside spread whatever they want, but if they affect you, your grandfather won't let them off."

Xu Haoyu nodded. His temperament kept him from being tempted by the title of number one genius. He lowered his head and continued eating, quickly filling his stomach before saying, "Grandfather, I'm going to cultivate now."

Upon returning to his room once more, Xu Haoyu sat cross-legged on the soft couch, calmed his mind, and began circulating his cultivation method. The Earth Rank Low Level Guiyi True Art absorbed and refined energy at an extremely fast rate.

Xu Haoyu looked inward at his dantian. Watching his seven-colored vortex slowly expand at a visible pace, he felt a burst of joy.

Others cultivated Dou Qi of a single attribute, while he cultivated seven kinds of attribute Dou Qi. Now that all seven types of Dou Qi were progressing side by side, he could clearly sense himself growing stronger.

Immersed in cultivation, Xu Haoyu did not stop circulating his cultivation method until his mind was abnormally exhausted. He opened his eyes and exhaled a mouthful of stale air.

After sensing his condition slightly, he said in delight, "At this rate, my next breakthrough isn't too far away."

It was already late at night. After washing up, Xu Haoyu went to bed and soon fell into a deep sleep.

Living such a regular life—training Dou Skills in the morning, reading and studying in the afternoon, and cultivating Dou Qi at night—a month quickly passed.

Li Fufeng's residence!

Xu Haoyu, who had broken through to become a Three-Star Dou Zhe ten days earlier, was now undergoing Li Fufeng's test.

Whenever Li Fufeng asked a question, Xu Haoyu answered swiftly. Whether it was the appearance, medicinal properties, harvesting, preservation, or refining precautions of medicinal herbs, his answers were flawless.

As the two asked and answered questions, Li Fufeng grew increasingly satisfied. The smile on his face deepened as well. Once the final question had been answered, Li Fufeng clapped his hands and laughed heartily.

"Good, good, good! Little Haoyu, your grasp of basic medicinal herbs has already reached an extremely high level. Your memory and learning ability truly astonish me."

Xu Haoyu smiled faintly and modestly replied before Li Fufeng, "It's all because Teacher recorded the medicinal herbs in such detail in the book that I was able to master them so quickly. I can tell that those handwritten notes were all Teacher's painstaking efforts."

The appreciation in Li Fufeng's eyes became even more apparent. He sighed with emotion before saying, "Excellent, Little Haoyu. With your current proficiency in basic medicinal herbs, I can safely teach you Basic Alchemy."

At this point, Li Fufeng suddenly turned serious. His smile vanished as he said in a solemn, meticulous tone, "There are three key points to refining pills..."

As he spoke, Li Fufeng held up three fingers and continued, "Medicinal herbs, alchemical flame, and soul perception. Little Haoyu, your soul perception is extraordinary, and your Fire and Wood Dual Attributes Dou Qi can also form an alchemical flame. The only thing you originally lacked was mastery of medicinal herbs, but now that has been made up for as well. You can begin learning alchemy."

"Before that, I'll teach you two more aspects of knowledge. To refine pills, you must first have a Pill Recipe. Like the ranks of alchemists, Pill Recipes are also divided from first to ninth grade. To an alchemist, a Pill Recipe is like a cultivation method or Dou Skill. The value of a top-tier Pill Recipe is no less than that of a Heaven Rank Cultivation Method and Dou Skills. Now you understand how precious Pill Recipes are, don't you?"

"Second, you need an alchemy cauldron. A good alchemy cauldron can improve an alchemist's control over the heat. And the higher the grade of a pill, the greater the energy it contains. An ordinary alchemy cauldron cannot suppress it. Only an exceptional alchemy cauldron can prevent a Cauldron Explosion and keep precious medicinal herbs from being ruined in an instant."

"Haha, saying it like this is too abstract. Little Haoyu, come with me to the Alchemy Room. Today, I'll let you experience it firsthand."

Xu Haoyu's spirits lifted, and he immediately replied, "Yes!"