Learning Alchemy

Ning Ri said modestly, "Elder Kong, you think too highly of 'me.' My talent may not necessarily work in alchemy."

The "me" in his words was not himself, but the panel.

He was being modest on the panel's behalf.

As for whether the panel was satisfied, he did not care.

After Ning Ri finished speaking, Kong She fell silent for a while before saying, "All right, Grandmaster Ning. Then let us first see whether your talent can be put to use in alchemy. If not, we can discuss it later."

After Kong She spoke, Ning Ri felt the atmosphere cool slightly. Elder Kong really is much more serious than the other elders.

Then, Ning Ri began looking through the Technique Jade Slips Kong She had brought out—

Alchemy was somewhat similar to artifact refining.

The basic process at the start was all about lighting the fire, melting materials, and inscribing runes.

The difference was that artifact refining used the fire of a Blacksmith Furnace, while alchemy used the fire of an Alchemy Furnace or Alchemy Cauldron.

Since the former was basically for forging magical artifacts, the flames did not need vitality, nor was there much need to care about strong Fire Toxin remaining within the artifact. On the contrary, some fire-element artifacts rather welcomed the savagery of Artifact Fire remaining inside them, increasing the power of fire-element techniques.

But alchemical fire was different. This stuff was meant to be eaten, so alchemists naturally had to take special care in controlling the flames, ensuring that the Fire Toxin within them did not remain in the pills. At the same time, the flames could not be too savage. Burning a pill was a minor matter; killing someone who ate it would be the real disaster.

The same applied to melting materials. Artifact refining melted mineral materials, while alchemy melted medicinal herbs.

The former could achieve miracles through brute force—stir-fry it with raging flames and refine it in an instant.

The latter would not do. Simmering, boiling, and braising all required meticulous work to yield fine results. Of course, there were also those who sought speed, but at most they could burn it fiercely, and even then they had to take care not to cook all the liquid away.

When it came to inscribing runes, pills were actually easier to handle, because melted medicinal herbs were easier to mark with runes than molten iron and the like.

Moreover, Alchemy Furnaces nowadays all had functions that assisted with rune inscription.

They gathered Heaven and Earth Spiritual Energy into a light source within the furnace. By controlling the Alchemy Furnace, the alchemist could shine that light source onto the Elixir Liquid and inscribe runes upon it. The residue from the refined medicinal herbs could also form a shielding layer, allowing the runes to settle more effectively...

When Ning Ri saw this, he was completely dumbfounded—

Damn, isn't this a photolithography machine... no, a Photolithography Furnace?

Doing things this way could save an alchemist's strength on the one hand, and eliminate the need to open the lid when inscribing runes on the other.

Traditional alchemists had to open the furnace to inscribe runes, which let the spiritual energy leak away. Unless one had formidable cultivation and Spiritual Sense tempered to an extraordinary degree, one could not inscribe runes without opening the lid. But that was immensely difficult...

Yet now, modern alchemists all used this kind of auxiliary Alchemy Furnace.

This was the benefit brought by automation.

It was incredibly convenient!

But Ning Ri found another angle and began to sigh inwardly—

In this age of automated, intelligent cultivation, no wonder those people loved watching him perform Manual Sword Techniques.

What were they really watching when they watched sword techniques?

They were clearly watching the tears of an era!

A group of Remnants of Ancient Methods, swept forward by the tides of the age and unable to help themselves, saw that there was still someone like him in this era, insisting on achieving dreams with his own two hands...

Naturally, their eyes would brim with hot tears.

Because...

This was their attachment to and remembrance of the fading afterglow of the Era of Ancient Methods!

Ning Ri steeled his resolve—

From now on, he absolutely had to charge a fee whenever he practiced swordsmanship outside.

Even antiques had to rise in price!

Besides, the swordsmanship he practiced was not swordsmanship. It was emotional value.

Emotional value was priceless!

Next, Ning Ri continued examining the jade slip...

After the first three stages, artifact refining and alchemy diverged.

After completing rune inscription, alchemy moved on to Pill Condensation, followed by Pill Separation.

If one's pill-separation technique was good, the yield from a furnace would be quite high, and the profit margin would rise as well.

But if one's pill-separation technique was poor and a batch only yielded a pitiful two or three pills, the loss would be severe.

Therefore, when alchemists traveled the martial world and quoted prices, they based them on their relatively average Pill Separation level throughout their careers. That way, clients could accept the price as well.

And if they happened to separate more pills than expected, the alchemists could openly keep them for themselves, or ask the client whether they wanted to buy a few more...

Beyond those stages, alchemy also involved maintenance, cleaning, and storage. Storage was further divided into storing medicinal herbs, pills, and pill furnaces. Things with different properties required different environments—oily, dry, cold, and so on.

In addition, some pills were especially hard to chew, hard enough to injure someone. If Ning Ri got his hands on a Golden Core-stage pill right now and tried to bite into it, he might not even be able to break through its defenses. Some pills were bouncy and chewy, while others were more or less like crispy popping pearls...

Ning Ri carefully studied these jade slips.

Since there were no Bandits and a Maiden, and Elder Kong was not urging him on, he did not need to hurriedly skim through everything at a glance. He could read slowly, while also having time to fire off comments in his mind.

As he read more and more, new skills began appearing on Ning Ri's panel—

10. [Kong · Ignition Method Required for Qi Refining Alchemists]: 0

11. [Kong · Material Melting Method Required for Qi Refining Alchemists]: 0

12. [Kong · Rune Inscription Method Required for Qi Refining Alchemists]: 0

13. [Cauldron Light Blazing]: 0

14...

Ning Ri felt that the difference between Elder Kong and Elder Mo could be seen from their skill names alone.

Elder Mo looked stern and honest, but was actually scheming and secretly flamboyant. He was also very confident and liked showing off, so he took his names seriously.

Elder Kong, on the other hand, seemed earnest and honest, and the names he chose were plain and unadorned.

Moreover, Ning Ri could tell that Elder Kong seemed rather dismissive of using external objects for alchemy. Therefore, his rune-inscription method did not include techniques for controlling an Alchemy Furnace's light source to inscribe runes.

In other words, Elder Kong was also an old artist who still clung to traditional methods in this age of cultivation automation.

But Elder Kong knew that his disciple needed the Cauldron Control Method, so he had somehow obtained a copy of [Cauldron Light Blazing]...

Meanwhile.

Across from Wonderful Pill Workshop stood a tea house.

At the entrance of the tea house was an enormous stone stele, bearing the words [Azure Tea House].

This stone stele was not Li Cheng pretending to be one. It was a real, genuine stone stele.

At this moment, two people sat at the entrance seats of Azure Tea House opposite Wonderful Pill Workshop. They sat facing one another, but both their gazes were fixed on Wonderful Pill Workshop.

Each of them held a cup of iced tea.

There was also a large bowl on the table between them, filled with ice cubes and tea leaves. The ice was slowly melting, extracting the tea broth.

These two were Zhou Hai and Xun Zang.

They had already been sitting here when Yan Han ran out of Wonderful Pill Workshop to invite Ning Ri.

Thus, they had naturally seen Ning Ri enter Wonderful Pill Workshop.

At this moment, Xun Zang held his iced tea, eyes smiling in crescents as he said approvingly, "I knew Grandmaster Ning was no ordinary man!"

"From the moment I saw from the Little Stele that he had incomplete spiritual roots, I realized that he could not possibly be mediocre. That was why I promptly chose to keep him."

"Sure enough, in only a short time, he has already become the Grandmaster of the Heaven Defying Sect."

After taking a sip of tea, Zhou Hai said, "This was all my credit. Fortunately, I had him seek out Chen Xingfeng, allowing him to uncover his own Heaven-Defying Path."

Xun Zang smiled faintly. "All right, I will tell the Sect Master that. As for whether the Sect Master believes me, I do not know."

Hearing this, Zhou Hai did not take the bait and merely revealed the same faint smile as Xun Zang.

The two were like recruitment officers already fighting to claim the credit.

At that moment, Xun Zang stared at Wonderful Pill Workshop and suddenly thought of something. "By the way, do you think Grandmaster Ning has alchemical talent as powerful as his artifact-refining talent?"

"Of course he does." Zhou Hai nodded confidently. "First, his talent is clearly not limited to artifact refining. He is equally talented in other techniques, such as the Spirit Absorption Technique..."

"I have never seen any Qi Refining cultivator cultivate my Spirit Absorption Technique the way he does."

There was something Zhou Hai did not say—

Ning Ri practiced it even better than him, the creator. What the hell was he supposed to do?!

Xun Zang nodded slightly. "Indeed."

Zhou Hai continued, "Second, Grandmaster Ning has a great affinity with the Grandmaster Token. The fact that he can gain insight from it proves that his Heaven-Defying Path is truly remarkable. Under such circumstances, learning alchemy is only a matter of time."

Hearing this, Xun Zang could not help sighing. "Looking at it this way, the time Grandmaster Ning needs to learn alchemical techniques will probably be about the same as the time you would need to fly to Golden Osmanthus Garden right now."

Zhou Hai said calmly, "Not that slow."

Xun Zang: "?"