First Time Refining Medicine

Inside the alchemy room, violet flames soared in Fire Elder's hands like spirits of fire, their glow illuminating the entire room.

Fire Elder calmly watched the violet flames rapidly rise within the medicine cauldron, continuously taking medicinal ingredients from his Storage Ring and tossing them inside. Devoured by the flames, each herb turned into powder or liquid essence, remaining within the cauldron.

Xiao Yun stared fixedly at the flames inside the cauldron. Although they burned fiercely, he could sense that his teacher had suppressed their temperature to an extremely low level. Thus, while the flames appeared incomparably violent, they would not harm the medicinal essence and instead continuously refined and purified it.

Normally, an alchemist could not be disturbed while refining medicine, or the cauldron would explode and the pill would be ruined. However, Fire Elder was a Five-Tier Alchemy Grandmaster, and the pill he was refining was a first-tier pill suitable for a novice like Xiao Yun to observe. Thus, Fire Elder appeared extremely relaxed and even explained every step of the process clearly to Xiao Yun.

Very soon, all the medicinal essences within the cauldron fused together, forming a pill with a pitted, uneven surface.

Under the searing flames, liquid continuously filled the large and small pits on its surface. After being repaired, a round, red pill gradually took shape within the medicine cauldron.

The moment the pill formed, Fire Elder retrieved it with Dou Qi, stuffed it into a jade bottle, and tossed it to Xiao Yun.

"This is a first-tier pill, the Qi Recovery Pill. It can restore a small amount of Dou Qi. Did you clearly see the technique I used to refine it just now?"

"I did, Teacher."

"Very good. Come familiarize yourself with the medicine cauldron first. Place your hand over the fire vent, then circulate the Dou Qi within your body and channel it inside." Fire Elder gave up his position and sat down nearby.

Following Fire Elder's instructions, Xiao Yun placed his hand on the medicine cauldron and circulated Dou Qi into his palm. A fiery red glow appeared on his palm, then was drawn into the cauldron and transformed into crimson flames.

Seeing flames shoot from his palm, Xiao Yun was startled and nearly jerked his hand back on instinct. Only after realizing that his palm did not feel scorching hot did he finally relax.

Watching the flames churn within the cauldron, Fire Elder nodded in satisfaction. "Now use your Soul Power to sense that trace of Wood Qi within your body and draw it into the flames."

Hearing this, Xiao Yun closed his eyes, calmed himself, and used his Soul Power to search for that trace of Wood Qi. More than ten minutes later, he finally found it within his body.

An extremely faint stream of green energy appeared on Xiao Yun's palm, which he slowly infused into the medicine cauldron. The moment the green stream entered the cauldron, it immediately entwined with the flames.

The flames that had been continuously surging also calmed down. Though they no longer appeared as violent as before, Xiao Yun knew that with the effect of that trace of Wood Qi, the flames had become more stable and enduring than before.

"He found the Wood Qi in such a short time? It seems my disciple's Soul Power is incredibly strong."

Fire Elder opened his mouth in surprise. Back when he had refined medicine for the first time, it had taken him a full hour to find that trace of Wood Qi. Even then, his teacher had praised him as an alchemy genius.

It seemed this disciple of his not only possessed exceptional cultivation talent, but also talent for alchemy that was one in ten thousand. Such a peerless genius had actually become his disciple.

Fire Elder was inwardly delighted, but his expression quickly calmed as he said sternly, "Since you've found it, follow the steps I just demonstrated and do it once yourself."

Xiao Yun nodded. He had the ingredients needed to refine a Qi Recovery Pill in his Storage Ring. With a flick of his left hand, an emerald-green herb shaped like a trumpet appeared in his hand. After controlling the flames, Xiao Yun carefully placed the herb into the medicine cauldron.

Whoosh!

The instant the herb entered the medicine cauldron, the flames rapidly curled around it. Before Xiao Yun even had time to react, the originally emerald-green herb became a puddle of dark brown liquid, which was expelled through the cauldron's special mechanism.

Looking at that puddle of liquid, Xiao Yun felt a little distressed. Although it was only an ingredient for a first-tier pill, it still cost quite a few gold coins. Yet he had burned it to ruin in an instant.

"Continue. Don't worry about the loss of ingredients," Fire Elder said flatly.

Xiao Yun said nothing. His expression became even more focused as he watched the flames within the medicine cauldron, taking out more ingredients from his Storage Ring and placing them inside.

After burning through more than a dozen herbs like this, Xiao Yun finally grasped the temperature of flames that the emerald-green herb could withstand and used his Soul Power to suppress the flame's temperature.

A moment later, under the searing flames, the outer skin of the emerald-green herb continuously peeled away until it finally turned into powdery medicinal essence.

Watching Fire Elder refine medicine earlier had not felt like much, but only after attempting it himself did Xiao Yun understand that becoming an alchemist was not so easy.

Wiping the sweat from his forehead, Xiao Yun continued taking out other medicinal ingredients from his Storage Ring and tossing them into the medicine cauldron...

Who knew how long had passed? By the time Xiao Yun sensed that the Dou Qi within his body was nearly depleted, and dozens of puddles of black liquid had accumulated beside the cauldron, he finally extracted all the medicinal essences.

Under the flames, all the medicinal essences fused together and eventually formed a pitted pill. Xiao Yun hurriedly pulled his hand back and used what little Dou Qi he had left to retrieve the pill and hand it to Fire Elder.

"Hahaha, how did refining a pill feel?" Fire Elder smiled as he accepted the pill, carefully examined it before his eyes, and sniffed it.

"Mm, not bad. Although this pill has a pitted appearance and barely any pill fragrance, it still counts as a finished pill. The Qi Recovery Pill is a mid-grade first-tier pill. For your first attempt to produce something like this, it is no easy feat."

Pale-faced and panting heavily, Xiao Yun gave a bitter smile and shook his head. He had originally thought alchemists were all elegant and unrestrained, able to summon flames with a wave of their hands and refine pills that drove the world into a frenzy.

They looked so carefree and relaxed. But now that he had refined a pill himself, he understood just how mentally taxing it was. It was even more exhausting than digging coal or mining ore.

"All right, you only refined one first-tier pill, yet you're already exhausted to this extent.

Don't think that refining a first-tier pill makes you a First-Tier Alchemist. The quality and success rate of your pills are still far too low. You don't count as a true alchemist at all."

With a wave of Fire Elder's hand, a pile of medicinal ingredients and dozens of jade bottles appeared on the ground, while the ruined medicinal dregs from Xiao Yun's earlier attempts vanished.

"If you're out of Dou Qi, eat Qi Recovery Pills. If you're tired, meditate and cultivate. Continue refining this batch of ingredients. Don't come looking for me until you've finished them all."

"Please, Teacher, can't I refine a little fewer ingredients?"

"No! You must refine every last one! If you dare deliberately ruin them, don't blame this old man for making you suffer!"

Fire Elder left after setting down the ingredients, leaving only Xiao Yun standing alone in the spacious alchemy room with a miserable expression.

After taking Fire Elder as his teacher, Xiao Yun's alchemy career indeed underwent tremendous changes. The good news was that Fire Elder was extremely wealthy, so Xiao Yun no longer had to worry about resources for refining medicine.

The bad news was that Fire Elder was a little too wealthy.

After that, Xiao Yun's life became regular. Every day followed the same three points: attending classes at the Teaching Department in the morning, being dragged off by Fire Elder to refine medicine in the afternoon, and cultivating Dou Qi at night instead of sleeping.

Xiao Yun constantly felt a sense of crisis, one that came from his memories. In the future, Hun Tiandi, the Xiao Clan's mortal enemy, had plotted for a thousand years. Things could not possibly be guaranteed to unfold according to the original timeline.

Hun Tiandi and Nihility Devouring Flame, two Nine-Star Dou Sheng, could not possibly just remain in the Hun Clan doing nothing.

Moreover, when the former broke through to become a Dou Di, he might refine every living being on the Dou Qi Continent to aid his cultivation. Xiao Yun could not place all his hopes on Xiao Yan.

On the Dou Qi Continent, the strong devoured the weak, and strength was the only hard truth. If he did not want to be refined in the future, the only path was to become stronger!

From then on, Xiao Yun attended classes and refined medicine during the day, then cultivated Dou Qi at night. Whenever he had questions about cultivation or alchemy, he sought answers from Fire Elder. After all, as a Dou Wang expert and a Fifth-Tier Alchemist, Fire Elder found it effortless to guide a novice like Xiao Yun through his difficulties.

Time passed like a galloping white colt, slipping away quietly amid Xiao Yun's disciplined life.

Half a year later, inside an alchemy room of the Alchemy Department at Jia Nan Academy's Outer Academy.

Xiao Yun sat before a red medicine cauldron, his hands constantly moving as they formed all manner of complicated seals. As his fingers danced, the deep blue flames within the cauldron surged up and down, continuously refining the medicinal ingredients inside.

He skillfully picked up an herb from the side and tossed it into the medicine cauldron. Under the searing flames, it quickly shed its outer skin and became medicinal essence.

After half a year of Fire Elder's strict training and an endless supply of medicinal ingredients, Xiao Yun was no longer the novice who had struggled even to refine herbs.

"Condense!" As Xiao Yun watched all the herbs within the medicine cauldron turn into essence, his gaze sharpened. He focused his mind on the cauldron, his hand seals changing continuously as he used Soul Power to control the flames and envelop all the medicinal essences into a sphere.

At the same time, his Soul Power entered the sphere, sensing the reactions caused by the fusion of the different medicinal essences, then adjusting the flames to encourage them to merge together.

Before long, the outline of a pill appeared inside the medicine cauldron. As the pill took shape, the energy within the cauldron became restless, continuously repairing its pitted surface and making it smooth and round.

Extraction, shaping, pill formation! These three steps encompassed the entire process of refining medicine, and Xiao Yun had now reached the final step. If even the slightest mistake occurred, the pill would become a useless pill, and all his efforts would be wasted.

However, Xiao Yun had refined first-tier pills countless times over the past half year and was already thoroughly familiar with the process. He merely used his Soul Power to control the flames as they began to rotate, and the repairs to the pill's surface swiftly accelerated. Soon, it became a fiery red pill that emitted a fragrant aroma.

"My pill success rate is now around eighty percent. Even with high-grade first-tier pills, I have a sixty percent chance of success. It's time to take the alchemist examination and become a true alchemist." Xiao Yun raised his hand to catch the flying pill, then sealed it inside a jade bottle with a backhand motion.