"Nine strands? My Fire Spirit Root aptitude has increased by one strand?"
Lin Changheng was startled first, then overjoyed.
As everyone knew, a person's Spirit Root was decreed by heaven and determined at birth.
This also confirmed the eternal, unchanging law of this cultivation world—
Without a Spirit Root, one truly could not cultivate immortality! And a Spirit Root could never be altered!
Yet clearly, the existence of the [Origin Cauldron] had shattered that law.
Lin Changheng could continuously improve his Spirit Root, rising from an inferior Spirit Root to a Lower-Grade Spirit Root, a Mid-grade Spirit Root, a Superior Spirit Root...
Perhaps even an Earth Spiritual Root! A Heavenly Spirit Root was not impossible either!
With the dual blessings of increased comprehension and improved Spirit Root then, just thinking about it made Lin Changheng feel that the future was bright.
"This increase of one strand in my Spirit Root should be related to refining in the Treasure Seed. Could it be that every First-Layer Treasure Seed I refine in can increase my Spirit Root by one strand?"
Lin Changheng quickly pinpointed the only change and drew a reasonable inference from it.
Moreover, this conjecture would not be hard to verify. Once the Treasure Seed reached the second layer, truth or falsehood would immediately become clear.
"I wonder how much longer the Treasure Seed's Spirit Snatch will take. Could it be another thirty years?"
Even at the Qi Refining Ninth Layer, one only had a lifespan of one hundred and thirty years.
How many thirty years could a human life possibly have?
Lin Changheng could not simply wait around.
With no instruction manual, he needed to explore step by step and uncover the Origin Cauldron's uses and effects.
"Huu... haa..."
After taking several deep breaths, Lin Changheng pressed all his hopes and joy into the depths of his heart, and calm returned to his face.
"My most urgent task now is to break through and become a ranked alchemist."
He crawled beneath the bed and took out his alchemy notes from a hidden compartment deliberately dusted over. They recorded the alchemy knowledge he had accumulated over the past ten years.
By the light of the Everbright Lamp, Lin Changheng began to study and ponder.
As the saying went, learning without thought led to confusion; thought without learning led to peril.
Lin Changheng had done an excellent job of combining study and thought.
He was also astonished by the complexity and difficulty of alchemy in this cultivation world.
Unlike the descriptions in novels from his previous life, the process alone included lighting the fire, heating the furnace, adding ingredients, Refining Wash, liquefying, combining medicines, concealed refining, congealing the pill, retrieving the pill, and a whole series of other steps.
Every step had to be performed at a specific moment. One also had to assess the precise condition of the medicinal ingredients in the furnace before casting the appropriate pill seals.
Thus, tending the furnace and managing the fire were also Lin Changheng's primary duties as an alchemy apprentice.
To refine a first-rank lower-grade medicinal pill, each step required twenty to forty pill seals, for a total of around three hundred!
Furthermore, one had to master the timing and sequence while dealing with special circumstances that might suddenly arise. It could be called a "systems engineering project" in the narrow sense.
Half an hour later.
Lin Changheng rubbed his sore, swollen eyes. Though exhausted, he felt greatly relieved.
With the First-Level Origin Treasure Seed's [Heavenly Gift of Enlightenment: Omniscience], many difficulties that had hindered his success in alchemy—problems he could never understand no matter how hard he thought before—had now been unraveled one by one.
"If I were to refine it again, at the very least, I wouldn't blow up the furnace while combining the medicines."
His gaze could not help drifting to the old cloth bundle on the table, which he had carried back tucked under his arm.
He reached over and opened it, revealing two lumps of charred failed pills.
They could not even be called failed pills, since they had no pill form at all—merely pasty clumps.
He pinched them in his hand and sniffed them. Aside from the pungent burnt stench of scorched medicinal ingredients, there was also a faint trace of blood.
It was the essence blood of a low-rank demonic beast called a Fire Crow.
Though it possessed a mixed bloodline, it could be used to refine several lower-grade fire-element pills, such as the Crimson Flame Pill and Scorching Breath Pellet.
At that thought, Lin Changheng suddenly froze.
At that moment, the [Origin Cauldron], which stood quietly within his sea of consciousness, trembled faintly. Green radiance rose from its mouth.
"Could it be..."
A thought suddenly surfaced in Lin Changheng's mind, one he could no longer suppress.
He immediately tried to use his consciousness to connect the [Origin Cauldron] with the two failed pills in his palm.
"Buzz!"
Lin Changheng only felt green light flash through his mind, and something in his hand seemed to be stripped away at once.
When he lowered his head again, the failed pills appeared unchanged. But when he brought them to his nose, the smell of blood had vanished without a trace.
And at that moment.
At the mouth of the cauldron in his sea of consciousness, the phantom of a crimson Treasure Seed slowly took shape.
"So that's how it is!"
Lin Changheng was overjoyed and lightly touched it with his consciousness.
[Fire Crow Treasure Seed · Spirit Snatching Transformation in Progress]
[Spirit Snatch: 1/100]
[Effect: Mixed-blood demonic beast bloodline, inherently fire-aligned; possesses the innate talents Fire Control, Breath Attack, and Beak Strike. Upon completion of Spirit Snatch, one may be selected for refining in.]
Lin Changheng's eyes immediately lit up.
"Demonic beast essence blood really works! Although it's only a lowest-rank, early first-rank demonic beast and extremely common in the Wilderness, it can still condense into a Treasure Seed!"
"Moreover, Fire Crows possess three innate talents: Fire Control, Breath Attack, and Beak Strike! For me, Beak Strike can naturally be ruled out. Compared with breathing out flame, Fire Control is currently the most suitable for me! After all, alchemy is the art of controlling fire!"
"With Fire Control in hand, I'll have greater confidence in becoming a ranked alchemist within a year. Not only can I resolve this crisis, I can also earn spirit stones. Then I can use the spirit stones to nourish my cultivation and collect greater quantities and more varieties of demonic beast essence blood..."
This was a closed loop.
A unique great path that could steadily support his ascent to immortality!
Lin Changheng's eyes shone brightly.
"Next, I need to gather as much demonic beast essence blood as possible."
"Right, spirit stones!"
He immediately searched according to his memories and finally found two crystalline pale-red spirit stones in the room and on his person.
This was all the savings he had accumulated over ten years.
Not long ago, he had paid the annual rent of ten spirit stones for the Ding-grade cave dwelling where he now lived.
Adding the cost of medicinal ingredients for his alchemy attempts, the resources needed for daily cultivation, and the fixed expenses over the years for replenishing essence blood...
His only income had been the apprentice stipend issued by the Xu Family.
The fact that he still had two left could even be called careful thrift!
"Relying solely on buying Fire Crow essence blood probably won't be enough. I'll have to think of another way..."
Lin Changheng's gaze swept around the crude room before finally settling on the two blackened lumps atop the table. His eyes flickered as a plan formed.
"Creak!"
He rose and pushed open the window again. The clouds had scattered and the rain had stopped beneath the night sky.
As the night wind blew in, Lin Changheng suddenly realized that the heavy stone pressing on his chest—
At some unknown time, had become moonlight filling his grasp.
Early the next morning, Lin Changheng hurried out and headed for the Xu Family Alchemy Shop.
It had rained the previous night. The blue stone pavement of the market had been soaked through, glimmering dimly like a bronze mirror polished by the years.
Water dripped from the eaves, shattering the morning mist.
On both sides, early-rising rogue cultivators squatted beside the street, guarding their damp stalls. Even their cries of solicitation were three parts more languid than usual.
They were all neighbors and fairly familiar with one another, so quite a few immediately called out to Lin Changheng, asking him to take a look at their wares.
"Next time, next time!"
Lin Changheng glanced at the motley assortment spread across the stalls—talismans and talisman paper, spirit rice and spirit tea, books and jade slips—and hurriedly waved them off before slipping away in a flash.
It was not that he did not want those things. His purse was simply too meager, and his remaining spirit stones had to be spent on the blade's edge.
Cultivators were quite swift on their feet as well. Before long, he entered a two-story shop.
"Brother Lin."
"Brother Lin, you're here so early today."
Several younger members of the Xu Family were doing odd jobs in the shop, and they immediately greeted Lin Changheng with smiles.
"Yes, and you're all early too."
Lin Changheng replied with a smile as well.
There was none of the classic scene where a ten-year apprentice was looked down upon, provoked, and humiliated.
On one hand, it was because the Xu Family's household conduct was quite upright.
On the other hand, Lin Changheng had a skill at least. He could serve as an apprentice, while their aptitudes were lacking, leaving them only able to handle miscellaneous tasks such as cleaning the counters, selling pills, purchasing goods, and running errands. What they felt toward Lin Changheng was more envy than anything else.
He lifted the curtain and had only just entered the rear courtyard where pills were refined—
When an aged voice rang out teasingly,
"Changheng, did you blow up another furnace last night?"
Before you continue