Alchemy Is Simple

First were the White Quality items, such as Yellow Tier combat techniques and cultivation methods. There were countless of them.

However, their grades were too low, and Mu Chen had no interest in them. Combat techniques below the Profound Tier lacked much power, and he had no intention of wasting time cultivating them.

Most First-Grade and Second-Grade pills were medicinal pastes and salves used for healing. Finished pills were rare, and their effects held little value for the current Mu Chen. However, their listed prices were extremely cheap. Anything worth less than 1 point could be exchanged for with gold coins.

Mu Chen selectively exchanged for some Second-Grade healing salves and medicines in case of emergencies.

Although he looked down on White Quality items somewhat, there were still many useful things among them, such as alchemy ingredients and low-grade Magic Cores of various attributes.

Mu Chen quickly browsed through them and finally found what he wanted among the Blue Quality items.

"Third-Grade Alchemy Cauldron!" Blue Quality, worth 100 points.

Effect: Can refine pills up to the Fourth Grade. It has three fire ports and a simple spirit-gathering effect, increasing the success rate of pill refinement by half a tenth.

There were three Blue Quality alchemy cauldrons in the shop. Their prices and effects were roughly similar. Mu Chen glanced at his remaining 450 points and decisively bought a Third-Grade Alchemy Cauldron.

Inside the cave, Mu Chen looked at the alchemy cauldron before him, which was nearly half the size of a water vat. Its square walls were carved with exquisite patterns, and its color resembled platinum. When he tapped it with his finger, it gave off a crisp dinging sound.

"It looks pretty good. Three fire ports—it shouldn't be too bad. I wonder how long this cauldron can endure the burning of the Xuan Huang Flame?"

Mu Chen's concern was not unfounded. The temperature of Heavenly Flames was such that ordinary materials could not withstand their scorching heat for long. In the story, Xiao Yan had suffered a cauldron explosion during the Alchemist Convention and nearly failed completely.

"Forget it. I'll look for a better alchemy cauldron later. This one will do for now.

"It's cheap anyway!"

If a cheap item broke, he could simply replace it with a new one. Simple and brutal. It was only 100 points—refining a few pills would earn back its value easily.

"First Tier Magic Cores are needed even for most Second-Grade and Third-Grade pills. For example, the commonly used Third-Grade Qi-Replenishing Pill only requires a First Tier Magic Core. Bought. A Second Tier Magic Core costs 20 points each. A little expensive, but I'll buy them anyway."

Magic Cores were indispensable materials for alchemy. Even if he did not use them himself, he could toss them into an auction house. Valuable goods would not lose him money.

"Third-Grade Weapon, Fire-Quenched Sword." Blue Quality, worth 100 points, with no special effects.

Looking at his remaining 120 points, Mu Chen pondered for a moment before buying the Fire-Quenched Sword.

Weapons could likewise provide considerable strength and increase one's killing power. They were still rather important in close combat during the early stages.

Looking at his remaining 20 points, Mu Chen's mouth twitched.

Whenever he saw something with good value for money, he could not stop himself from buying it! It always felt as if he had not spent much, yet in just a minute, he had spent points worth around 400,000 gold coins. It truly illustrated how money flowed away like water.

After storing away the alchemy cauldron, Mu Chen took out the flying combat technique he had obtained during his trip to the cave: "Eagle Wings," also known as "Purple Cloud Wings."

Flight was the hidden dream of every person, as well as a goal countless people tirelessly pursued and struggled toward.

For that, who knew how many people had buried themselves in bitter cultivation, all to become a Dou Wang, spread their wings through the blue skies, and look down upon mountains and rivers.

Once the scroll was spread open, a pair of pitch-black eagle wings streaked with purple cloud patterns appeared before Mu Chen's eyes.

The black eagle wings looked like nothing more than an image painted onto the scroll, yet they emanated faint, heart-palpitating auras. If one listened closely, one could even hear the cries of a bird of prey ringing out. The wings seemed as vivid as living creatures, making one's scalp tingle.

At the lower right corner of the scroll was a line of tiny writing, as small as mosquito tracks.

"This combat technique is called Eagle Wings, also known as Purple Cloud Wings.

"Several friends and I spent three years successfully capturing a Blackflame Purple Cloud Eagle. Using a secret technique, we took its wings and sealed its soul before finally creating this flying combat technique for others to cultivate.

"This combat technique was drawn before my death using all the Dou Qi of my life. It can only be cultivated by one person. If the cultivator lacks sufficient will and cannot withstand the impact of the Blackflame Purple Cloud Eagle's beast soul, remember not to forcefully cultivate it."

"The beast soul of a Blackflame Purple Cloud Eagle?" Mu Chen pressed his hand against the pair of black eagle wings. His palm actually felt the texture of real feathers, and he could vaguely sense lingering soul power within them.

However, that lingering soul lacked the violent aura unique to beasts. Mu Chen understood that this was the system's power. Anything placed in the inventory had already been marked as Mu Chen's and was treated as exclusively his. Mu Chen also possessed absolute control over them.

The incomplete beast soul within the Purple Cloud Wings had therefore been purified, clearing away the spiritual remnants in the beast soul. Only pure soul power remained within it now.

With a thought from Mu Chen, the pair of Purple Cloud Wings flowed into his body along his fingers. Mu Chen unceremoniously absorbed the pure soul power within them, improving his own soul power by quite a bit.

Unfortunately, due to the passage of time, there was not much of this soul power left.

Within his meridians, two streams of black light continuously darted about before finally gathering at the meridians along Mu Chen's spine. A flash of light appeared, and Mu Chen groaned in pain. Two strange meridians emerged from his back, eventually imprinting a pair of palm-sized black eagle wing tattoos there.

Mu Chen was greatly surprised. With a thought, the black eagle wing tattoos shimmered with radiant light, and a pair of wings nearly a foot long grew from his back. Purple cloud patterns flowed across the wings, while Dou Qi coiled around them, adding yellow and green brilliance. They were extremely gorgeous.

"So this is Purple Cloud Wings. It really is miraculous. I don't feel the slightest rejection from them. They feel like a part of my body."

Mu Chen could not help trying them out. The Purple Cloud Wings flapped lightly, generating a fairly strong gust of wind. As the gust arose, Mu Chen's body also lifted off the ground.

Mu Chen rubbed his forehead, which was covered in dust. He had only focused on testing Purple Cloud Wings' flying ability and forgotten that he was still inside a cave. Naturally, he had crashed into the ceiling.

Outside, the sky had already darkened. The moon hung over the branches, and it was deep into the night.

The night was quiet. Occasional beast roars sounded out, while unknown insects chirped throughout the surrounding grass and trees. The moonlight was dim, and one could see less than a hundred meters into the distance. Tree shadows swayed, the night breeze was slightly cool, and leaves rustled softly in the wind.

Mu Chen returned to the cave helplessly. Moonlight Stones had already been embedded into the surrounding rock walls, and their radiance kept the cave from being dark.

"Time to begin refining pills."

The platinum alchemy cauldron landed heavily on the ground. Mu Chen rubbed his palms together, crossed his legs, and sat beside it. He pressed one hand against a fire port, slowly pouring his fire-and-wood dual-attribute Dou Qi into it. The formation converted it into an orange-yellow flame.

The first step of alchemy was to warm the cauldron. Once it had been warmed sufficiently, he could begin extracting the essences of the medicinal ingredients.

"Blood-Stasis-Dispelling Salve," a First-Grade Pill. It required one Blood-Activating Grass, two pieces of Redwood Vine, and one wood-attribute First Tier Magic Core.

Effect: Activates the blood and dispels stasis, accelerating the recovery of external injuries.

Mu Chen had exchanged for three sets of ingredients for this Blood-Stasis-Dispelling Salve. Its refinement difficulty was about the same as common medicinal salves like Blood-Coagulating Powder.

Mu Chen first placed the Blood-Activating Grass into the cauldron, then carefully controlled the flame's temperature. He enveloped the herb and began scorching it to extract its essence and remove its impurities.

Unexpectedly, the entire process of extracting the essence went extremely smoothly. Mu Chen felt as though he had performed this process of refining medicinal ingredients hundreds or thousands of times before.

Three minutes later, Mu Chen took out a jade bottle and filled it with the refined Blood-Stasis-Dispelling Salve.

"Refining pills seems pretty simple."