Alchemy

Alchemy

Xiao Ling followed Elder Huo and entered the Alchemy Room before long.

The moment he stepped inside, Xiao Ling felt a wave of heat wash over his entire body, as though he had entered a drying room from his previous life. Fortunately, he was now a Dou Zhe. After circulating his Dou Qi slightly, most of the stifling heat faded away. Moreover, the Fire Attribute became more active here. If he cultivated in this place, he should progress faster than usual.

Looking toward the center of the room, Xiao Ling saw a medicinal cauldron nearly half a meter tall.

The cauldron was entirely brown, with a few red patterns running across it. Two ferocious wolf heads were carved beneath it, their gaping mouths forming three interconnected fire channels. The channels twisted and stretched inward, narrowing in diameter the deeper they went, as though they concealed some mystery. At the top of the cauldron, a giant snake coiled into a dark-red lid. There was also a special opening on the lid, specifically for inserting medicinal ingredients. The cauldron's surface was decorated with exquisite magical beast engravings, so lifelike they seemed almost alive.

"The Alchemy Room is where the Alchemy Department specially concocts pills. The cauldrons provided here are the same as the one I gave you—all of them are three-mouthed cauldrons."

Elder Huo walked over to the cauldron and waved his hand. A pile of medicinal ingredients appeared beside it. "Watch carefully. I'll only demonstrate this once."

This was Xiao Ling's first time truly witnessing an Alchemist concoct pills. A dark-black flame entered the cauldron, and one herb after another was devoured by the flames, leaving behind medicinal essences in either powder or paste form. In the end, the essences of the various ingredients merged into a Pill Prototype with a pitted surface. As the flames tempered it, the pill within the cauldron gradually became round and smooth. It turned cyan, and a faint medicinal fragrance spread from the cauldron.

Normally, an Alchemist needed a quiet environment to concoct pills, free from any disturbance. However, because this was merely a First-grade Pill, it was effortless for Elder Huo, so he explained every step in detail. The pill was quickly completed. Elder Huo circulated his Dou Qi and drew the pill into his hand, then placed it in a jade bottle and tossed it to Xiao Ling.

With a slight activation of the Absorption Palm, the jade bottle landed steadily in his hand. Before Xiao Ling could store it in his belt, Elder Huo said, "This is a First-grade Pill, the Flame Condensing Pill. It can slightly improve the cultivation of Fire Attribute Dou Qi. There's a pill formula in your Storage Ring. You can use this pill to get more practice. I've demonstrated it once already. Now you'll refine one yourself." With that, he stepped aside and gave up his position.

Taking a deep breath, Xiao Ling first emptied his mind and cleared away all distracting thoughts.

He placed his hand above one of the cauldron's fire channels and poured Beast Fire into it.

Puff!

With a muffled sound, blue-pink Beast Fire appeared inside the cauldron, continuously churning and burning.

Xiao Ling closed his eyes and began sensing the Wood Attribute Dou Qi within his body. Ever since absorbing the Hundred Thousand Year Blue Silver Emperor Torso Bone, his affinity with the Wood Attribute had greatly increased. It took him only a minute to lock onto that stream of green Dou Qi.

Xiao Ling extended one finger and lightly tapped another fire channel. A thumb-thick stream of green energy slowly flowed inside.

The moment the green energy entered the cauldron, the blue-pink Beast Fire within seemed to undergo a chemical reaction and abruptly calmed down. At this moment, even without controlling the Beast Fire, Xiao Ling could sense that the violent factors within it had been neutralized by the power of wood. Furthermore, because wood fed fire, the flames were clearly more enduring and easier to control than before.

After recalling the ingredients required for the Flame Condensing Pill and Elder Huo's refining technique in his mind,

His Soul Perception entered the cauldron and began controlling the Beast Fire. Thanks to his excellent Soul Perception and the neutralizing effect of his Wood Attribute Dou Qi, Xiao Ling manipulated the Beast Fire with ease.

He placed the required ingredients into the cauldron one step at a time, refined and purified them, fused the essences of the various ingredients together to form a Pill Prototype, then continued tempering it with flames.

Following Elder Huo's steps, Xiao Ling carefully completed every requirement.

After seven failures, he finally refined the first pill of his life on his eighth attempt. Though its surface was pitted and uneven, it still brought a broad smile to Xiao Ling's face.

Taking out a specially made jade bottle, he activated the Absorption Palm and drew the pill into it before storing it in his belt. Xiao Ling had long intended to preserve this first pill he had refined properly.

Elder Huo, standing nearby, was quite satisfied and revealed a smile like that of an old father.

The facts proved that Xiao Ling not only possessed extraordinary cultivation talent, but his talent in alchemy was no less remarkable.

Elder Huo said from the side, "Although the pill's appearance is poor and its surface is uneven, being able to go from nothing to something in such a short time is already extremely rare. I have to admit, you're much better than I was back then."

Hearing this, Xiao Ling felt a mischievous urge and asked, "Then how long did it take you, Elder, to refine your first pill?"

Elder Huo's smile gradually vanished, and his face darkened slightly as he rolled his eyes.

He had thought this was an honest child, but who would have expected him to be so sly? This old man had actually misjudged someone for once.

Clearing his throat, Elder Huo changed the subject. "Although you've refined a First-grade Pill, that doesn't mean you've become a true First-grade Alchemist yet. There was a bit of luck involved in that refining process."

"To become a true Ranked Alchemist, you must also ensure the quality of your pills and your pill formation rate. Remember to practice diligently in the future. You must not slack off!"

Elder Huo still hoped Xiao Ling would remain grounded and not become complacent over a small achievement. Xiao Ling could be considered half his disciple, after all, and he naturally hoped that Xiao Ling would go farther and farther on the path of alchemy.

Over so many years at Jia Nan Academy, he had seen far too many geniuses. Although no monster like Xiao Ling had ever appeared, there were countless geniuses only a level below him.

He had seen many people become arrogant and overconfident, refuse advice, waste their cultivation talent, and ultimately fail to live up to their former potential after growing up.

"Understood. I'll practice diligently from now on."

Xiao Ling hurriedly agreed to Elder Huo's earnest warning. He understood the implication as well: he could not become smug over minor achievements. Besides, he knew that in the Central Plains, there was Cao Ying, the Cao Family Demoness, who could already refine pills at the age of seven. Xiao Ling truly did not think his talent in alchemy was necessarily greater than that of Cao Ying, Dan Chen, and the like.

Seeing that Xiao Ling had truly taken his teachings to heart, Elder Huo nodded in satisfaction. Stroking his beard, he waved his right hand, and a large pile of medicinal ingredients appeared beside the cauldron.

"These are medicinal ingredients prepared for your practice. If you run out in the future, go to the storeroom and give them my name. They'll provide you with more ingredients."

Seeing this, Xiao Ling hurriedly bowed and said, "Thank you, Elder."

Elder Huo smiled and stroked his beard. Leaving behind only the words, "Continue practicing diligently from now on!" he departed from the Alchemy Room.