Meanwhile.
Outside the main hall, the news swept across the entire Azure Cloud Sect like a gale.
In just half an hour.
Everyone knew that Su Yun had broken through to the second Qi Refining layer just seven days after joining the sect.
Madness!
Utter madness!
Outer disciples, inner disciples, servants, stewards.
The whole sect was in an uproar.
"Second layer in seven days? Did I hear that right?"
"Heavenly Spirit Roots really are terrifying. That speed crushes every other genius!"
"At this rate, he'll definitely become a Nascent Soul True Lord!"
"Not just Nascent Soul! With talent like that, Spirit Transformation is no problem!"
The four Golden Core elders heard the news.
One by one, they sat inside the hall with dark expressions, pounding their chests and stamping their feet.
Endless regret!
They were sick with regret.
Back at the Disciple Recruitment Ceremony, they had fought with all their might to recruit Su Yun.
But the sect master had intercepted him halfway.
"Damn it! I should've been more forceful back then!"
"Second layer in seven days! I've never seen anything like it in my entire life!"
"If that child had been under my tutelage, my lineage would surely have risen to prominence!"
"The sect master hit the jackpot! What a jackpot!"
The four of them clutched their chests, so furious that they could barely breathe.
From that moment on.
Su Yun's name resounded throughout the Azure Cloud Sect.
A monstrous prodigy.
The foremost talent of the future.
Every honor was his.
Cloud Abode.
The courtyard was still, without a breath of wind.
Beside the blue-stone table.
Su Yun sat casually on a cold stone stool.
His left hand propped up his chin, while his right leg dangled and shook lazily.
His gaze rested on the storage pouch in front of him, his expression thoughtful.
He had just received a hundred mid-grade spirit stones from his master.
In the eyes of outsiders, this was a huge fortune—enough to make inner disciples turn green with envy.
A single mid-grade spirit stone could keep an ordinary Qi Refining cultivator training steadily for several days.
A hundred of them, used sparingly, would be enough to get someone, with some struggle, all the way to the ninth Qi Refining layer.
But Su Yun knew perfectly well.
This many spirit stones really wasn't much.
It might not even be enough to whet his appetite.
Other people cultivated by slowly absorbing one low-grade spirit stone over several days.
He was different.
With Thousandfold Amplification and the zero-loss conversion of his Heavenly Spirit Root.
He could drain every bit of spiritual energy from a mid-grade spirit stone in just a few minutes.
The speed was absurd.
A hundred mid-grade spirit stones.
At his terrifying rate of consumption.
They would be gone in ten days to half a month at most—not a single one left.
Su Yun clicked his tongue softly.
What a headache.
His master had just given him a fortune in spirit stones, and he'd use them all up in no time.
He couldn't very well turn around and shamelessly ask for more again so soon.
If he did it too often, people would inevitably grow suspicious.
Besides, constantly holding out his hand for resources was no long-term solution.
His cultivation had skyrocketed. 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 support himself.
Su Yun tapped the stone table lightly with his fingers, his mind racing.
In the cultivation world, what business made the most money?
No need to think about it.
Artifact forging and alchemy.
Two hugely profitable trades.
Magic artifacts wore down with use, and everyone needed pills.
Especially pills.
Cultivators needed pills to train, pills to temper their bodies, pills to heal their injuries, and pills to break through.
The demand was high, and customers came back again and again.
There was never any worry about finding buyers.
Throughout the cultivation world, alchemists held an extremely high status.
Even a single batch of low-grade pills could be exchanged for a heap of spirit stones.
Every alchemist was rolling in wealth.
Even the lowest-ranking alchemist had more assets than an ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivator.
"I'll go with alchemy."
Su Yun slapped his thigh and settled on the idea.
Other people needed talent for controlling alchemical fire, mastery over their spiritual sense, and years of practice.
It was hard for them, but not for him.
He had Thousandfold Comprehension.
On top of that, his Heavenly Spirit Root gave him spiritual sense far beyond that of ordinary people.
It took others half a year to get started with alchemy; he figured he could master it in a day or two.
In his eyes, alchemy was nothing more than controlling the fire, adding the ingredients, refining them, and forming the pill.
A rigid process, simple steps.
It was no different from cooking.
As long as he got the heat right, he wouldn't mess it up.
"Piece of cake. Anyone can do it."
A confident smile tugged at Su Yun's lips.
No sooner said than done.
Early the next morning.
Su Yun leisurely left Cloud Abode Peak and headed straight for the sect's Alchemy Pavilion.
The Alchemy Pavilion stood in the sect's southwestern corner.
The entire building was constructed from crimson rock, and the warm scent of medicinal herbs lingered around it year-round.
This was where the Azure Cloud Sect made pills, stored medicinal herbs, and trained its alchemy disciples.
Ordinary inner disciples had to register in advance and pay spirit stones to rent an alchemy room.
After entering the Alchemy Pavilion, Su Yun went straight to the library and casually picked out the most basic book, General Outline of Alchemy Basics.
The thin jade slip recorded the techniques for refining low-grade pills, the combinations of medicinal herbs, and the methods for controlling fire.
Back at Cloud Abode.
Su Yun sat cross-legged and touched the jade slip with his fingertip.
A vast sea of alchemical knowledge flooded his mind.
Identifying herbs, extracting their essence over a gentle flame, removing impurities, forming pills and sealing them.
Every step, clear and straightforward.
Thousandfold Comprehension activated instantly.
The obscure details of fire control, subtle differences in temperature, and the principles behind conflicting herbs.
Knowledge that others needed to ponder dozens of times, he understood completely at a single glance.
Basic theories that took other people several days to grasp.
He needed only one day to learn them, understand them, and master them.
By evening.
Su Yun closed the jade slip, his expression calm. Only one thought crossed his mind.
That's it?
Alchemy was way too easy.
The book made it sound so complicated, going on about how difficult it was to control the fire, form pills, and refine medicinal herbs.
In his eyes, it was all nothing but exaggeration.
All he had to do was control the flame's temperature and keep track of the refining time.
It was exactly like seasoning food and controlling the heat while cooking at home.
There was no skill to it at all.
"Looks like ordinary people in the cultivation world really are short on talent."
Su Yun grumbled inwardly.
He was becoming more and more certain that he would master alchemy on his very first try.
Without any fumbling around.
That night.
Su Yun paid to rent the lowest-grade private alchemy room.
The room was enclosed and soundproof, with a simple, ancient bronze pill furnace inside.
Simple runes covered the furnace's body, and there was an opening at the bottom for controlling the fire.
Rows of basic medicinal herbs lined the corner.
Wild ginseng, Red Spirit Flower, Iron Root Grass, Blood Coagulation Leaf... These were all basic ingredients for Body Tempering Pills and Blood Qi Pills.
They were cheap, and the sect had plenty in stock.
Su Yun planned to start with the two simplest kinds of pills.
Body Tempering Pills tempered the body and were a must for any beginner.
Blood Qi Pills replenished blood and qi, stabilized the dantian, and sold extremely well.
Both pills had simple refining processes and cheap ingredients, making them perfect for a beginner to practice with.
Su Yun washed his hands and focused.
He followed the steps in the alchemy manual, working steadily and methodically.
The first step: kindle the fire.
A faint golden flame sprang into existence at the tip of his finger as his spiritual energy stirred.
The golden flame of the metal element burned fiercely, and its purity far surpassed that of ordinary alchemical fire.
The second step: warm the furnace.
The spiritual flame slowly heated the base of the furnace, and its temperature rose steadily.
The third step: add the herbs.
He put in the Iron Root Grass and Blood Coagulation Leaf one after another.
Spiritual energy enveloped the herbs and melted them down slowly.
The fourth step: refine the essence, remove the dregs, and condense the liquid.
Su Yun followed the alchemy manual to the letter at every step, without making the slightest mistake.
His movements were precise, the process smooth.
He even thought he could successfully form pills on his very first attempt.
After all, he had already mastered the theory, and his comprehension was monstrous.
How could he possibly fail?
Half an incense stick's time passed.
Waves of heat churned inside the furnace.
Just as Su Yun thought the pills were about to form.
A muffled boom sounded inside the pill furnace.
Billowing black smoke poured from its mouth, and the acrid stench of something burnt filled the entire alchemy room in an instant.
Su Yun: "???"
He stood there, dumbfounded, staring blankly at the smoking furnace.
He reached out and lifted the lid.
There was no sign of medicinal liquid or pills inside.
All that remained was a furnace full of blackened dregs, charred and cracked like burned-through charcoal.
It was a total loss.
Everything had turned to ash.
Su Yun blinked.
He was stunned.
He lowered his head and went over the steps again and again.
The kindling was right.
The furnace had been heated properly.
He'd added the ingredients in the right order.
His control over spiritual energy had been precise to the extreme.
What was going on?
How had it all ended up burnt to a crisp?
Su Yun stared at the furnace full of ashes and fell silent.
His confidence cracked, ever so slightly.
"...Alchemy really isn't quite the same as cooking."
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