Learning Alchemy

Chapter 9: Learning Alchemy

Shi Yue counted carefully; there were no less than a hundred types of spirit herbs in the entire courtyard, with the total number reaching several thousand strains.

Most of these spirit herbs were around seventy or eighty years old, with only a little over a hundred strains being over a hundred years old. By Shi Yue's estimate, if all the spirit herbs in this ten-acre spirit field were sold, they would be worth at least tens of thousands of spirit stones.

"If only all these spirit herbs were mine," Shi Yue murmured to himself as he gazed at the vast expanse of herbs, his face full of envy.

He shook his head and walked toward the underground chamber.

Back in the underground chamber, Shi Yue approached the wood shelf. On the shelf were many texts, including jade slips, paper books, bamboo slips, and more.

"Methods for Cultivating Purple Luo Grass," "Spirit Plant Manual," "What a Spirit Planter Must Know," "Essentials for Increasing Spirit Plant Yield"...

A row of texts related to planting was arranged on the shelves.

"Guidelines for Planting Red Cloud Flowers": Red Cloud Flowers resemble clouds in shape, are deep red in color, and mature once every twenty years. Red Cloud Flowers over ten years old are the best material for making talisman paper. They need to be planted in places rich in fire spiritual energy, with a distance of at least one chi between two strains. Water them once a month, and change to once every half month when they are about to mature. Do not water too much, or they will easily wither.

"Methods for Cultivating Condensing Smoke Grass": Condensing Smoke Grass is entirely white, matures once every five years, and has low requirements for its growing environment. It is an auxiliary ingredient for refining many types of pills. The distance between two strains of Condensing Smoke Grass must be greater than one cun. Water them once every three months, with an appropriate amount of water.

"Essentials for Increasing Spirit Plant Yield": When planting, ensure the spirit herb seeds are buried in the soil. Do not bury them too deep or too shallow. The distance between two strains of spirit herbs must strictly follow the requirements of the planted herb. Water on time, with the right amount—neither too much nor too little. Fertilize and remove pests regularly. When spirit fruit trees bloom and bear fruit, remember to pollinate them. Be careful when picking spirit herbs and spirit fruits, and do not damage them. Also...

Shi Yue flipped through the texts on the shelf one by one. These texts introduced various spirit plants in extraordinary detail, not only listing their growing environments and effects but also offering relevant suggestions for planting methods.

After listening to Uncle-Master Yange's lecture, Shi Yue had formed a rough plan for his future—using the mysterious space's ability to nurture spiritual energy, he would plant spirit herbs and spirit grains.

After reading the texts on the wood shelf, Shi Yue's thoughts became more active.

The value of a spirit herb was basically fixed, but if the herb was processed into something else, the price could double or even multiply several times.

For example, ten-year-old Red Cloud Flowers cost twenty spirit stones per jin. If made into blank talisman paper, one dozen blank talisman papers cost one spirit stone. Twenty-year-old Green Silk Fruit cost thirty spirit stones per jin. If brewed into Green Silk Wine, one jin of wine could sell for fifty spirit stones. Thirty-year-old Yellow Luo Wood cost ten spirit stones per jin on the market, but when burned into spirit charcoal, it cost thirty spirit stones per jin.

The mysterious space's time flowed ten times faster than the outside world. By this calculation, spirit rice seeds that matured once a year would ripen in just over a month if planted in the mysterious space.

Selling large quantities of spirit rice and spirit herbs all at once would not only arouse suspicion but also easily expose the secret of the blue pearl.

After much thought, Shi Yue decided to learn alchemy. If he became an alchemist, he could refine the spirit herbs and spirit grain he grew into pills for sale. The profits would be substantial, and it would also conceal the secret of the blue pearl.

However, since the spirit rice and spirit herbs in the mysterious space had not yet matured, there was no rush to learn alchemy. He could first study planting to prepare for future spirit herb cultivation.

During the day, Shi Yue read planting books in the underground chamber, and at night, he meditated and cultivated.

He watered the Water Moon Flowers every two days, each time for at least half an hour. In addition, he entered the mysterious space every day to check on the spirit rice and spirit herbs, afraid they might fall ill.

Under Shi Yue's careful care, the spirit rice and spirit herbs in the mysterious space grew quickly, changing day by day.

Shi Yue patiently waited for them to mature.

During this time, he made another trip to the Deacon Hall, bought some spirit rice seeds, planted them in his own courtyard, and watered them on time.

Time passed without notice in the world of cultivation. In the blink of an eye, a month had gone by.

Compared to a month ago, Shi Yue's spiritual power had thickened considerably, but what pleased him most was that the spirit rice planted in the mysterious space had matured.

Perhaps because the environment in the mysterious space was better than the outside world, the spirit rice planted there had plump grains and vibrant colors.

Shi Yue took out a pair of scissors, cut down each grain of rice, and stored them in his storage bag.

After more than an hour, when he cut down the last grain of rice, a smile appeared on his face.

He checked the growth of the Blazing Sun Grass and Condensing Smoke Grass, watered them, and then withdrew.

Leaving the courtyard, Shi Yue flew toward the Scripture Repository on his artifact.

A quarter of an hour later, he landed in front of a thirty-zhang-tall giant pagoda.

Cultivators were constantly entering and leaving the pagoda, making it look quite lively.

Walking into the stone pagoda, he was greeted by a spacious hall about an acre in size. At the entrance was a section of bluestone counter, where a gaunt, gray-robed elder sat behind it, responsible for copying texts and jade slips.

Behind the gray-robed elder was a bluestone staircase leading to the second floor, which only Foundation Establishment cultivators could enter.

In the center of the hall were seven tall shelves, each hanging a signboard labeled Talisman, Artifact, Pill, Formation, Planting, Miscellaneous Studies, and Techniques, corresponding to the texts on the shelves.

As soon as Shi Yue entered, he headed straight for the shelf marked with the Pill sign.

There were many texts on the shelf, mostly pill formulas for various pills, with some being alchemists' alchemy insights.

A little less than half an hour later, Shi Yue's eyes lit up. He had found his target—the Bigu Pill formula.

Qi Refining Stage cultivators could not yet abstain from food. Taking one Bigu Pill meant they wouldn't need to eat for three days. Great Void Sect had over a thousand Qi Refining Stage disciples, requiring a large quantity of Bigu Pills.

The Bigu Pill was a low-grade pill, the first type many alchemists refined when learning alchemy, and it was also Shi Yue's first choice.

According to the jade slip, the Bigu Pill was made from three materials: spirit rice, Blood Qi Fruit, and Purple Luo Apricot. All three materials matured once a year.

Shi Yue had over a hundred jin of spirit rice on hand but lacked Blood Qi Fruit and Purple Luo Apricot.

"Uncle-Master Qian, I'd like to copy this jade slip," Shi Yue said, placing the jade slip containing the Bigu Pill refining method on the counter and addressing the gray-robed elder behind it.

"Same rule as always: ten spirit stones to copy a book," the gray-robed elder said flatly.

Shi Yue nodded, took out ten low-grade spirit stones from his storage bag, and placed them on the counter.

The gray-robed elder put away the spirit stones and handed the copied jade slip to Shi Yue.

Shi Yue took the jade slip, walked out, and flew toward the Deacon Hall on his artifact.

As soon as he reached the third floor, Shi Yue quickly walked to a counter and asked, "How much for one-year-old Blood Qi Fruit and Purple Luo Apricot?"

"Blood Qi Fruit is three Spirit Stones a catty, Purple Luo Apricot is five Spirit Stones a catty. How much would you like, Junior Brother?" asked the deacon disciple behind the counter with a smile.

"I'll take five catties of Blood Qi Fruit and three catties of Purple Luo Apricot," Shi Yue said after a moment's thought.

The deacon disciple nodded, weighed out five catties of Blood Qi Fruit and three catties of Purple Luo Apricot for Shi Yue.

After paying the Spirit Stones, Shi Yue hurriedly left the Deacon Hall and flew away on his artifact.

In the time it takes to brew a cup of tea, he arrived near a bare, Scarlet Red mountain peak.

The peak was five to six hundred zhang tall, an active volcano. Thick smoke, molten lava, and flames spewed from its crater. The air was thick with the pungent smell of sulfur, and the Fire-attributed spiritual energy was extremely dense.

This mountain was called Danxia Mountain, the only volcano within the Great Void Sect, and a place where sect disciples refined pills and cultivated qi.

Shi Yue had not yet reached Foundation Establishment, so he could only rely on the volcano's earth fire to refine pills.