Learning Alchemy

A month passed in the blink of an eye. Xia Mo successfully broke through to become an Eight-Star Dou Master, while Xiao Yi Xian reached the sixth stage of Dou Qi. Xiao Yan was still the same as ever, but Xia Mo had never comforted him. If he was unhappy, one good meal would fix it.

Yesterday, Xia Mo finally finished learning the basics of alchemy. Tomorrow, I can make a trip to the Mittel Auction House. To learn alchemy, I still need to get my hands dirty.

Early that morning, Xia Mo entered the Mittel Auction House dressed in a black robe. The Mittel Auction House belonged to the Mite'er Family, one of the Jia Ma Empire's top powers, with wealth rivaling that of a nation.

"Welcome. Are you here to sell or buy?"

The moment Xia Mo entered, an attendant came forward to greet him. Her manners were impeccable, and she did not slight him for his short stature. After all, some people were simply born that way.

"Mm, both selling and buying. I have quite a few things, so it would be best if you introduced me to whoever is in charge," Xia Mo said in a deliberately gruff voice.

"This way, please." The attendant led him into a VIP room before turning to fetch the person in charge.

After quite a while, the door to the VIP room opened. "Sorry to keep you waiting. Uh, young sir?" A voluptuous beauty stared at Xia Mo in surprise.

"Young sir?" Xia Mo forced his voice deeper, pretending not to be a child—and making it clear that he was a little annoyed.

"Hmm?!" Ya Fei looked at Xia Mo innocently.

"..."

"Fine." Xia Mo sighed helplessly and stopped forcing his voice. This woman was far too shrewd. He simply pushed back the hood of his black robe.

"What should I call you, young sir?" Ya Fei asked with a smile.

"Mm, my name is... Xiao Huohuo," Xia Mo said after a moment of thought.

"You're lying. It's not good to deceive people, little brother." Ya Fei walked over with a grin. Looking at his delicate little face, she reached out as if to ruffle his hair.

The moment Xia Mo saw her raise her hand, he took a step back. What a social butterfly. "My name really is Xiao Huohuo. Let's talk business."

Hearing that, Ya Fei smiled at Xia Mo. "Then what business would little brother like to do with us?"

"Mm, I want to sell some things and buy some things. Are the items appraised here? And are the things I want listed on this?" Xia Mo took out a sheet of paper and handed it to Ya Fei.

"Everything I want is on the list. There's quite a lot of it. Do you have any in stock?" Xia Mo wondered whether a medicinal cauldron, being so valuable, could even be found in Wutan City.

"Medicinal herbs are no problem. They're only low-grade herbs. However, there are currently no third-tier medicinal cauldrons in Wutan City. I'll need to have one transferred from the family, which will take around three days."

"Then I'll come back in three days. For now, help me appraise what I'm selling. Please step back; there's quite a lot." Xia Mo spoke to Ya Fei.

Ya Fei and her assistant stepped back a few paces. With a clatter, a huge pile of treasures appeared before them. Xia Mo intended to dispose of all of it.

Ya Fei looked in astonishment at Xia Mo and the treasures before her. "Little brother, you really are full of surprises. You've brought such a large deal to our auction house today. I wonder how we should thank you?"

"Just appraise how much these are worth. I'm selling all of them to you." Xia Mo remained unmoved.

Seeing that she could not get closer to him, Ya Fei turned and began inspecting the items with her assistant. After who knew how long, Xia Mo, seated in his chair, was nearly asleep when he heard Ya Fei say, "Little brother, would you like to sell these items directly to our auction house, or put them up for auction?"

"Sell them directly to you. Deduct the cost of the things I need. How much will be left?" Xia Mo asked.

"These items are worth roughly One Million Gold Coins. The medicinal cauldron costs four hundred thousand gold coins, while the medicinal herbs are worth ten thousand gold coins. That leaves you with five hundred and ninety thousand."

"Mm, then give me the money. I still have things to do," Xia Mo said to Ya Fei.

Ya Fei did not mind Xia Mo's coldness. She assumed that was simply his aloof personality. She took out a Crystal Card from her person, stamped with the Mite'er Family crest. "Little brother, this is our Mite'er Family's VIP card. As long as you hold this card and auction items through our auction house, the commission rate will be lowered from five percent to two percent."

"Then thank you. If I have business in the future, I'll give your auction house priority," Xia Mo said, accepting the card. What was that saying again? Never turn down a bargain...

Ya Fei smiled at his words. Wasn't giving out benefits meant to bring even greater benefits in return? Profit had always worked that way.

"Then I'll be leaving first. I'll come collect my things in three days."

Ya Fei had her assistant escort Xia Mo out of the auction house. "Just who are you?"

Three days later, Xia Mo went to the auction house to collect what he had bought, then returned to the Xiao Clan's small courtyard. Xiao Yi Xian was reading the Alchemist's Handbook. When Xia Mo had first given it to her, she had been so excited that she nearly jumped up and down. Though she could not refine medicine herself, there was no denying her talent with herbs. To her, anything belonging to an alchemist was simply a priceless treasure.

"One hundred Blood Condensing Grass plants, over a hundred Bone Growing Flowers, and one hundred white fruits." This was a healing medicinal powder Xia Mo had found in the handbook. It was highly effective at stopping bleeding and healing wounds.

Blood Condensing Grass accelerated blood coagulation, Bone Growing Flowers aided the growth of flesh and blood to help wounds heal, while white fruits balanced the medicinal properties and fused the two herbs into medicinal powder.

Alchemists held an exalted status on the Dou Qi Continent, but the requirements to become one were exceptionally harsh.

First, one's soul needed to possess an innate fire attribute along with a trace of wood attribute, which served to catalyze and balance the refining process. One also needed powerful soul perception to control the heat properly. After all, alchemy was dangerous—at best, the ingredients would turn to ash; at worst, the pill would be ruined and the alchemist would die.

After telling Xiao Yi Xian not to let anyone disturb him, he returned to his room, shut the door, locked it, and took out some Blood Condensing Grass and the medicinal cauldron. Xia Mo slowly closed his eyes, familiarizing himself with the recipe, quantities, and heat control in his mind. When he opened his eyes, he pressed his palm near the cauldron's fire inlet. Dragon Phoenix Flame swiftly coursed through his meridians and surged into the cauldron.

With a bang, flames ignited within the cauldron. Xia Mo watched quietly. According to the handbook, the first step was to warm the cauldron. As its temperature gradually rose, his soul perception emerged from his body and entered the cauldron, taking control of the Dragon Phoenix Flame. Since it was his own flame, it became extraordinarily docile under Xia Mo's control.

"Sense the wood attribute within your body and inject it into the cauldron." Xia Mo swept his body with his soul perception and quickly found it. After all, he had sensed it before. He directly sent it into the cauldron.

As the wood attribute entered the cauldron, the flames became gentler. Xia Mo picked up a stalk of Blood Condensing Grass and tossed it in. Before he could even react, the herb turned directly to ash.

"The temperature is too high."

Again and again, until the tenth stalk, Xia Mo was drenched in cold sweat. His soul perception tightly suppressed the flames' temperature, and at last, he roasted the essence of the Blood Condensing Grass into white medicinal powder.

Xia Mo looked at the white powder. Its purity was quite good. For his first extraction to reach this level, it was probably thanks to the flame.

After that, Xia Mo continued practicing. Only after extracting ten portions from each of the three ingredients did he finally let out a breath. Alchemy truly was not easy.

Xia Mo sat cross-legged and cultivated to recover his Dou Qi, intending to finish the product in one go. After heating one portion of Blood Condensing Grass powder in the cauldron, he swiftly added the Bone Growing Flower powder. Then, when he added the white fruit essence, he failed to control the heat properly, and a portion of ingredients instantly turned to ash.

With the experience of his first attempt, Xia Mo carefully controlled the flames. More than ten minutes passed before the white fruit essence finally balanced the medicinal properties of the Blood Condensing Grass and Bone Growing Flower, slowly forming medicinal powder.

Xia Mo carefully collected the medicinal powder in a jade bottle, opened the door, and ran over to Xiao Yi Xian to show her. "Look, look! I refined medicine!"

"Is this the medicine refined by an alchemist? As expected, it can't compare to anything prepared by a physician. So Xia Mo is an alchemist now too? That's amazing." Xiao Yi Xian looked even happier than Xia Mo.

"Uh, not yet. Only after I refine a pill can I be considered a true alchemist." Hearing Xiao Yi Xian's words, Xia Mo, who had been a little excited, fell silent.

"Keep it up, Xia Mo. You can definitely do it." Xiao Yi Xian encouraged him.

Over the next few days, Xia Mo refined medicine like mad. Even Xiao Yan, Xiao Xun'er, and Old Yao, who was watching from the shadows, learned of it. The two people and one soul were all stunned. Xia Mo was actually trying to teach himself to become an alchemist? What kind of monster was this? He looked only eight years old. Neither of them told anyone else, since Xia Mo had always kept a low profile. However, both of them began cultivating even more diligently.

A week later, Xia Mo successfully refined a pill-shaped medicine. Although the pill had some flaws, it meant that Xia Mo had become a First-grade Alchemist.