Alchemy at Rosy Cloud Pavilion

Qin Huaian walked down the street. There were clearly far more people in Cloudfield Market than before.

As he entered the inner city, he saw a huge notice posted on the city gate: in one month, the sect would begin its centralized disciple recruitment, which would last for an entire month.

Many independent cultivators had probably come to Cloudfield Market to prepare for the sect's recruitment. There were also more stalls lining both sides of the inner city's roads, and business was thriving at every one of them.

Qin Huaian entered Rosy Cloud Pavilion. Customers streamed in and out, and the place was bustling. There were even two more clerks than before.

Shopkeeper Xue was also busily receiving customers. Qin Huaian did not disturb him and prepared to wait nearby for a while. At that moment, little Xue Lingyun came running over.

"Brother Qin, you haven't come to see Lingyun in so long!" Lingyun said, tugging at Qin Huaian's sleeve and wrinkling her little nose.

Qin Huaian crouched down and scraped her nose. "Little Lingyun has grown taller again. Have you been cultivating properly lately? You're already at the first level of Qi Refining. That's amazing!"

"I'm not little anymore! I'm already ten years old. Grandpa makes me cultivate every day—it's so annoying!"

"Brother Qin, tell Lingyun a story for a while."

"Sure. Big Brother will tell Lingyun a nice story." Qin Huaian was very familiar with Rosy Cloud Pavilion. He led the little girl to sit down nearby, planning to wait until Shopkeeper Xue was a little less busy before speaking with him.

"Long ago, on an island in the sea, there was a country called Dale Kingdom, where two lovely and beautiful little princesses lived..."

Little Lingyun listened as if spellbound, at times knitting her brows in indignation, at others clutching her stomach with laughter.

Half an hour later, Qin Huaian had finished the story, but the little girl was still immersed in it.

"Brother Qin, Lingyun is so jealous that Elsa has such a wonderful younger sister."

"That Hans is so awful."

"Is Olaf a demon pet? Lingyun really wants a demon pet like Olaf too."

"Brother Qin, did Elsa and the others live on an island in the Boundless Sea?"

Lingyun was chattering away when Shopkeeper Xue came over. "Lingyun, it's time to cultivate. Stop pestering your Brother Qin."

The little girl made a face at her grandfather, then ran toward the rear courtyard.

Qin Huaian rose and cupped his fists. "Shopkeeper Xue, do you have a moment? I would like to ask you a few questions."

When Shopkeeper Xue had first seen Qin Huaian, he had already been immensely shocked. In just two months, Qin Huaian had actually cultivated to the sixth level of Qi Refining. This rate of progress was no less impressive than that of the sect's geniuses.

"Young Friend Qin, come with me." Shopkeeper Xue led Qin Huaian into a private room.

"Shopkeeper Xue, please take a look at this." Qin Huaian took out a Qi Recovery Pill he had refined himself and handed it to Shopkeeper Xue.

Shopkeeper Xue pinched the pill and examined it carefully, then gave it a light sniff. His heart stirred, but he was still not entirely certain as he asked, "Young Friend Qin, this Qi Recovery Pill..."

"I just refined it."

"Is that true?!" Shopkeeper Xue stepped forward and stared at Qin Huaian. In truth, he was not suspicious that Qin Huaian was lying, because Qin Huaian had no reason to deceive him. He was simply too shocked, and the words had escaped him before he could stop them.

Shopkeeper Xue was also a First-Rank Alchemist. He understood just how much effort it took to become one, and more importantly, how many spirit herbs and how much time it required.

Yet Qin Huaian had refined a first-rank Qi Recovery Pill in merely two months. This was no longer something effort alone could achieve. It required extraordinary talent in alchemy!

"Yes, Shopkeeper Xue. I happened to obtain the method for refining Qi Recovery Pills in the Million Mountains, so I wanted to see whether I could refine one successfully."

"Of the ten batches of spirit herbs I bought last time, I ruined nine. I only succeeded with the last batch," Qin Huaian replied.

"Good! Good! If you can reliably refine Qi Recovery Pills, then entering the Rosy Cloud Sect will certainly not be a problem."

"Could Young Friend Qin refine another batch for me to see?"

"Of course."

"Please wait a moment, Young Friend." Shopkeeper Xue left the room and quickly returned with one batch of spirit herbs for refining Qi Recovery Pills.

Qin Huaian did not waste words. He sat cross-legged on the floor and took out a pill furnace from his storage bag.

When Shopkeeper Xue saw that Qin Huaian already had a storage bag, then saw that the pill furnace he took out was merely an ordinary mid-grade Dharma Artifact, he guessed that Qin Huaian must have encountered some fortunate opportunity in the Million Mountains. But seeing the pill furnace's average quality, the opportunity probably had not been all that great.

Shopkeeper Xue did not ask further questions. What cultivator did not have their own opportunities and secrets? Qin Huaian's rapid advancement in cultivation was likely related to this opportunity as well.

Qin Huaian had already begun placing the spirit herbs into the pill furnace one by one according to the proper steps. Controlling the intensity of the spirit fire he fed in, he slowly transformed each herb into medicinal liquid.

Shopkeeper Xue carefully observed Qin Huaian's refining techniques and discovered that Qin Huaian's control over the heat and his grasp of the timing for adding ingredients were both exceedingly precise.

Alchemy was not something one could accomplish simply by explaining the steps, heat control, and precautions, then following them in order to refine pills.

An alchemist also needed control throughout the process. The age and medicinal properties of every spirit herb differed, and each person controlled the intensity of spirit fire differently. During refinement, one had to constantly adjust the heat according to the differing herbs and determine the timing for adding the next ingredient based on the situation.

Alchemy meant seeking balance amid constant change. Only by making no mistakes at every step could one ultimately refine a pill.

Simple pills could be mastered through prolonged, extensive repetition. But more complex pills could not be learned through effort alone; they required exceptional talent.

For Qin Huaian to refine Qi Recovery Pills so quickly, his talent for alchemy was surely anything but ordinary.

While Shopkeeper Xue was lost in thought, Qin Huaian's refinement process was already nearing its end. This was also the stage most prone to failure.

Under the control of his spiritual power, the medicinal liquids slowly fused together. Then, with a light motion from Qin Huaian, ten round, lustrous pills landed in his hand.

"Shopkeeper Xue, please inspect them." Qin Huaian handed the pills to Shopkeeper Xue.

Shopkeeper Xue did not inspect the pills closely again. From Qin Huaian's refining process, he already knew that Qin Huaian had truly learned to refine Qi Recovery Pills.

Being able to refine Qi Recovery Pills already made one a first-rank alchemist. A First-Rank Alchemist this young was exceedingly rare in Cloudfield Market.

"Young Friend Qin, your alchemy skills are more than sufficient to join the Rosy Cloud Sect's outer sect."

"Has Young Friend Qin ever tested your spiritual root aptitude?"

"I have not. My cultivation progressed very slowly in the past, so my spiritual root aptitude is probably not very high."

"Recently, I gained a slightly deeper understanding of my cultivation technique, and with the aid of pills, my cultivation speed increased."

Shopkeeper Xue sighed softly. "If your spiritual root aptitude is not high, it will be difficult to enter the sect's inner sect."

"Most second-rank and higher pills require divine sense to assist in their refinement, and divine sense can only be developed upon reaching the Foundation Establishment Realm."

"Therefore, during sect recruitment, only cultivators with relatively high spiritual root aptitude and hope of reaching Foundation Establishment are directly accepted as inner sect disciples."

"Limited by my aptitude, I have been stuck at the ninth level of Qi Refining for many years. All these years, I have only been able to refine first-rank pills."

"Shopkeeper Xue, can taking pills break through the Foundation Establishment barrier?" Feeling that his aptitude was most likely not high, Qin Huaian cupped his fists and asked.