First Alchemy Attempt Fails

Meanwhile, outside the great hall, the news swept through the entire Azure Cloud Sect like a gale.

In a mere hour, everyone knew that Su Yun had broken through to the second level of Qi Refining just seven days after entering the sect.

It was madness!

Absolute madness!

Outer sect disciples, inner sect disciples, handymen, and deacons—the entire sect was in an uproar.

"Second level in seven days? Did I hear that right?"

"The Heavenly Spirit Root is truly terrifying; this speed crushes all other geniuses!"

"At this rate, he will definitely be a Nascent Soul True Lord in the future!"

"Not just Nascent Soul! With talent like this, even Spirit Transformation is within reach!"

Upon hearing the news, the four Golden Core elders sat in the hall, their faces dark as they beat their chests and stamped their feet in frustration.

Endless regret!

Their guts were green with envy.

Back at the Disciple Recruitment Ceremony, they had fought with all their might to claim Su Yun, only for the Sect Master to intercept him halfway.

"Damn it! If only I had been more forceful back then!"

"Second level in seven days! I've never seen such a thing in all my years!"

"If this child were under my tutelage, my lineage would surely rise!"

"The Sect Master picked up a massive bargain! A massive bargain indeed!"

The four of them clutched their chests, stifled by their own fury.

From this moment on, Su Yun was officially famous throughout the Azure Cloud Sect.

A monstrous prodigy.

The future first-in-line.

Every halo of glory now rested upon him.

Cloud Abode.

The courtyard was quiet and still.

Beside a bluestone table, Su Yun sat casually on a cold stone stool.

He rested his chin in his left hand, his right leg shaking lazily.

His gaze fell upon the storage bag before him, his eyes flickering with uncertainty.

He had just received one hundred mid-grade spirit stones from his master.

In the eyes of others, this was a massive amount of resources, enough to make any inner sect disciple green with envy.

A single mid-grade spirit stone was enough for an ordinary Qi Refining cultivator to practice steadily for several days.

One hundred of them, if used sparingly, could carry one all the way to the ninth level of Qi Refining.

But Su Yun knew better.

These spirit stones were not much at all.

They were barely enough to whet his appetite.

When others cultivated, they slowly digested a low-grade spirit stone over several days.

He was different.

With the Thousandfold Amplification and the zero-loss conversion of the Heavenly Spirit Root, he could drain a mid-grade spirit stone of all its spiritual energy in just a few minutes.

The speed was absurdly fast.

One hundred mid-grade spirit stones.

At his terrifying rate of consumption, he would be completely tapped out in ten days to half a month at most, with not a single stone left.

Su Yun clicked his tongue softly.

A headache.

His master had just given him a large sum of spirit stones, and he had turned around and spent them all.

In the short term, he felt too embarrassed to shamelessly ask for more.

If he did it too often, it would inevitably arouse suspicion.

Besides, constantly reaching out for resources was not a long-term solution.

His cultivation base was skyrocketing now; the higher his realm climbed, the more terrifying his spirit stone consumption would become.

He had to find a way to make money himself.

To earn spirit stones.

To be self-sufficient.

Su Yun tapped his fingers lightly against the stone table, his mind racing.

In the world of cultivation, which industry was the most profitable?

There was no need to think twice.

Artifact refining and alchemy.

The two most lucrative trades.

Magic artifacts suffered wear and tear, while pills were a necessity for everyone.

Especially pills.

Cultivators needed pills for cultivation, body tempering, healing, and breaking through bottlenecks.

The consumption was massive, and the repeat purchase rate was extremely high.

There was never a worry about them not selling.

Throughout the cultivation world, the status of an alchemist was incredibly high.

Even a single batch of low-grade pills could be exchanged for a large pile of spirit stones.

Every alchemist was filthy rich.

Even a low-level alchemist possessed more wealth than an ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivator.

"Alchemy it is."

Su Yun slapped his thigh, settling on the idea.

For others, alchemy required talent for alchemy fire, control over spiritual power, and years of practice.

It was difficult for others, but not for him.

With the blessing of thousand-fold comprehension.

Plus, his Heavenly Spirit Root meant his spiritual power was already far beyond that of an ordinary person.

While it took others half a year to get started with alchemy, he estimated he could master it in a day or two.

In his eyes, alchemy was nothing more than controlling fire, adding herbs, purification, and condensing pills.

The process was rigid, and the steps were simple.

It was no different from stir-frying vegetables.

As long as the heat was managed correctly, it was basically impossible to fail.

"Simple and easy, anyone with hands can do it."

A confident smile curled the corners of Su Yun's mouth.

He decided to act immediately.

Early the next morning.

Su Yun strolled leisurely off Cloud Abode Peak, heading straight for the sect's Alchemy Pavilion.

The Alchemy Pavilion was situated in the southwest corner of the sect.

The entire building was constructed from crimson rock, and the surrounding area was perpetually filled with a warm, medicinal fragrance.

This was the place where the Azure Cloud Sect conducted alchemy, stored herbs, and trained alchemy disciples.

Ordinary inner sect disciples who wanted to enter to refine pills had to register in advance and pay spirit stones to rent an alchemy room.

Upon entering the Alchemy Pavilion, Su Yun first went to the library section and casually picked up a copy of the General Outline of Alchemy Basics.

The thin jade slip recorded techniques for refining low-level pills, herb combinations, and fire control skills.

Returning to Cloud Abode, Su Yun sat cross-legged and touched his fingertip to the jade slip.

A massive amount of alchemy knowledge flooded into his mind.

Identifying herbs, refining with gentle heat, removing impurities, purifying, condensing the pill, and sealing it.

Step by step, line by line, clear and straightforward.

A thousand-fold comprehension triggered in an instant.

Obscure and difficult details of fire control, temperature nuances, and the principles of herbal incompatibility.

Knowledge points that others needed to ponder dozens of times, he grasped thoroughly with a single glance.

Basic theories that others took days to understand.

He learned, mastered, and perfected them in just one day.

By evening.

Su Yun closed the jade slip, his gaze calm, with only one thought in his mind.

That's it?

Alchemy was far too simple.

The books wrote about it in such flowery terms, claiming fire control was hard, pill condensation was hard, and herbs were difficult to refine.

In his view, it was pure exaggeration.

It was nothing more than controlling the flame temperature and managing the refining time.

It was exactly the same as cooking at home, seasoning and controlling the heat.

There was no technical difficulty whatsoever.

"It seems the talent of ordinary people in the cultivation world is truly concerning."

Su Yun muttered to himself.

He became increasingly convinced that his alchemy would be a success on the first try.

No dragging his feet.

That night.

Su Yun spent money to rent the lowest-tier independent alchemy room.

The alchemy room was sealed and soundproof, housing a primitive brass pill furnace inside.

The furnace body was covered in simple runes, with a fire control vent at the bottom.

Rows of basic herbs were arranged in the corner.

Wild ginseng, Red Spirit Flower, Iron Root Grass, Blood Coagulation Leaf... these were all basic materials for refining Body Tempering Pills and Blood Qi Pills.

They were cheap and the sect had a massive inventory.

Su Yun intended to start by refining the two simplest types of pills.

Body Tempering Pill, for tempering the physical body, a must-refine for beginners.

Blood Qi Pill, for replenishing blood energy and stabilizing the dantian, with extremely high sales.

The processes for both pills were simple and the medicinal materials were inexpensive, making them perfect for a novice to practice with.

Su Yun washed his hands clean, his expression serious.

Following the steps in the alchemy book, he operated in an orderly manner.

Step one, ignite the fire.

With a slight movement of spiritual energy at his fingertips, a wisp of pale golden spiritual fire ignited out of thin air.

The metal-attribute spiritual fire was fierce and high-temperature, its purity far exceeding ordinary alchemy fire.

Step two, warm the furnace.

The spiritual fire slowly baked the bottom of the furnace, and the temperature of the pill furnace rose steadily.

Step three, add the medicinal materials.

Iron Root Grass and Blood Coagulation Leaf were added one after another.

Spiritual energy wrapped around the herbs, slowly melting them down.

Step four, purify, remove dregs, and condense into liquid.

For every step, Su Yun strictly followed the alchemy book, without the slightest error.

His movements were standard, and the process was smooth.

He even felt that he could produce a pill directly on his first attempt at alchemy.

After all, he had mastered the theory, and his comprehension was monstrous.

How could he possibly fail?

Half an incense stick of time passed.

Heat waves rolled within the furnace.

Just as Su Yun thought he was about to condense the pill.

A muffled thud echoed from inside the alchemy furnace.

Billowing black smoke surged out from the furnace mouth, and a pungent, scorched stench instantly filled the entire alchemy room.

Su Yun: "???"

He wore a bewildered expression, staring blankly at the smoking furnace.

He reached out and lifted the furnace lid.

There was no trace of medicinal liquid or pills left inside.

Only a pile of pitch-black residue remained, charred and cracked, looking just like burnt charcoal.

It was completely ruined.

Everything had been reduced to ash.

Su Yun blinked.

He was stunned.

He lowered his head and repeatedly retraced his steps.

The ignition was correct.

The furnace warming was correct.

The order of adding the medicinal herbs was correct.

His control of spiritual power had been precise to the extreme.

What happened?

How did it end up burnt to a crisp?

Su Yun stared at the pile of black ash, falling into silence.

His initial confidence was now quietly crumbling.

"...Alchemy, it seems, is not quite the same as cooking."

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