A Thousand Insights from One Look, First Steps in Alchemy

Beneath a hidden cliff, a narrow crack split the shrub-covered mountainside, barely wide enough for one person to squeeze through sideways.

Xiao Yan pushed aside the hanging vines and slipped in sideways.

The cave was not large, only about two zhang square. Its ceiling was low, with even the highest point barely taller than a person.

The cave walls were grayish-white limestone, their uneven surfaces marked by long-term water erosion, like an abstract painting.

The ground was relatively level and covered with a layer of fine gravel that rustled beneath his feet.

Some dead branches and fallen leaves had piled up in the corner, blown in through the entrance and long since dried out.

Xiao Yan took six Moonlight Stones from his Storage Ring and embedded them into grooves in the cave walls.

Milky white light seeped from within the stones, soft and not dazzling, illuminating every corner of the cave with perfect clarity.

The light cast shadows of varying depths across the uneven walls, giving the cramped space an eerie sense of depth.

He took out a meditation cushion from his Storage Ring and placed it farther inside. Then he stepped back a few paces and looked around.

The cave was small, but more than spacious enough for him alone to refine medicine.

The entrance was narrow, making it difficult for air currents to rush in. No matter how fiercely the wind blew or rain fell outside, only a faint hum could be heard within—this was the quietest place in the entire back mountain.

Xiao Yan sat down on the ground and took the items from his Storage Ring out one by one.

The Flame Spirit Cauldron stood before him, its dark red body gleaming with a warm, gentle sheen beneath the Moonlight Stones.

Two ferocious snake heads faced him directly, their gaping mouths dark and hollow like two mouths waiting to be fed.

The ice-silver holes on the cauldron lid were fine and evenly spaced. The transparent mirror surface forged from Ice Essence was smooth as glass, reflecting half his face.

Next came the medicinal ingredients.

Blood-Coagulating Herb, Vitality Fruit, and poppy flowers—three ingredients were taken from the Storage Ring one by one and arranged on the flat rock beside the Flame Spirit Cauldron.

The Blood-Coagulating Herb had thick leaves and clear veins. Traces of dew still remained on their surfaces, giving them an emerald sheen under the Moonlight Stones.

The Vitality Fruit had a yellowish-green skin with fine, even patterns. Up close, it gave off a faint fresh fragrance.

The poppy petals had already dried in the wind, but their colors remained vivid. Their deep red petals layered over one another, thick and full.

He arranged the three ingredients separately: Blood-Coagulating Herb on the left, Vitality Fruit on the right, and poppy petals in the middle.

This was a habit he had learned from Yao Lao—medicinal ingredients had to be arranged neatly, so he would not panic when it was time to use them.

Refining medicine was like marching to war. Supplies and provisions had to be kept in perfect order; a slight deviation could lead to a vast error.

Yao Lao floated out of the Bone Flame Ring and hovered two meters in front of Xiao Yan.

His gaze swept over the neatly arranged medicinal ingredients before Xiao Yan. Soul Power spread out like ripples, gently brushing over each herb.

After a moment, he nodded slightly, a satisfied expression appearing on his face.

"Not bad. The Blood-Coagulating Herb is dew-moistened with thick leaves, the Vitality Fruit has fine patterns and a deep fragrance, and the poppy petals are thick, juicy, and rich. They are good materials for refining Blood-Coagulating Powder."

He paused, shifting his gaze from the ingredients to Xiao Yan's face.

"Next, I'll demonstrate the process of refining Blood-Coagulating Powder once. After you finish watching, do it once yourself. I'll teach you anything you don't understand."

"Yes."

Xiao Yan nodded, his gaze fixed intently on Yao Lao.

He had already practiced refining Blood-Coagulating Powder over a hundred times in the Martial Dao Space. From the initial lump of paste to stable finished products later on, he had every step memorized by heart. Still, there was no harm in learning and watching more.

The projections in the Martial Dao Space were generated by the system, while Yao Lao was a living person. There were always differences between the two in the finer details.

Yao Lao did not begin immediately. He looked at Xiao Yan and started explaining.

"The first step in refining medicine is converting Dou Qi into flame."

He raised his right hand, palm facing upward. A wisp of pale white Dou Qi seeped from his palm, trembled faintly in the air, then transformed into a ball of flame with a soft puff.

The flame was pale yellow with whitish edges. It burned quietly in Yao Lao's palm, neither flickering nor swaying, as steady as a lit oil lamp.

"The quality of Dou Qi flame depends on two factors. First is the purity of your Dou Qi, and second is your ability to control it. The former comes through cultivation, the latter through practice. There are no shortcuts."

As he spoke, Yao Lao sent the flame into the fire channel beneath the Flame Spirit Cauldron.

The flame entered through the snake mouths, spread along the winding channels, and unfurled within the cauldron's belly, evenly licking every inch of its base.

"Next, inject the wood-attributed energy within your body into the pill cauldron."

Yao Lao pressed his left hand against the cauldron. A stream of pale green energy seeped from his palm into its walls. "Wood attribute energy possesses the qualities of growth and gentleness. It can neutralize the violent factors within the flame. Wood generates fire. When wood attribute energy is added to the flame, both its endurance and controllability will improve greatly."

Xiao Yan nodded.

Yao Lao began refining the first ingredient—the Blood-Coagulating Herb.

He fed the herb into the cauldron through the ingredient slot in the lid, controlling the flame's temperature so that it wrapped around the entire herb like a thin veil.

The fire lightly licked at the herb's surface. The moisture in the leaves evaporated bit by bit, and the leaves curled, shrank, turned brittle, and finally crumbled into wisps of fine powder.

The whole process was slow—so slow that Xiao Yan could clearly see the instant every vein in the leaves was severed by fire. So slow that he could watch the powder peel from the leaves, float in the flames, and finally settle on the cauldron's bottom in every minute detail.

Yao Lao deliberately slowed down, breaking every step down with perfect clarity, like a teacher writing on a blackboard, stroke by stroke, never joining them together.

When a layer of pure white powder covered the bottom of the cauldron, Yao Lao waved his hand. The lid lifted open a crack, and the white powder was supported by a gentle stream of Dou Qi, drifting out of the cauldron and into a jade box he had prepared beforehand.

The Blood-Coagulating Herb had been refined.

Next came the Vitality Fruit.

Yao Lao sent a Vitality Fruit into the cauldron. The flame temperature was slightly higher than when refining the Blood-Coagulating Herb.

Under the intense heat, the Vitality Fruit's skin quickly shriveled and cracked, exposing the deep purple flesh within.

The flesh was scorched by the fire, releasing tiny black granules. The particles rolled around the bottom of the cauldron, bumping into one another with faint rustling sounds.

Yao Lao placed the black granules into another jade box and explained, "The particles refined from the Vitality Fruit can disperse blood stasis and promote circulation.

Those experienced mercenaries in the wilderness often crush Vitality Fruit into pulp and apply it to wounds when they have no healing medicine. The effect may not compare to medicinal pills, but it is still better than doing nothing."

Last came the poppy.

After the poppy petals were sent into the cauldron, the flame temperature dropped to its lowest point.

Unlike the first two ingredients, the petals did not crumble or char. Instead, they slowly melted in the flames, turning into a pale red liquid.

The liquid slowly flowed across the cauldron's bottom, its surface glistening with an oily sheen like melted syrup.

Yao Lao collected the pale red liquid in a small jade bottle. "Poppy liquid. It numbs the nerves and can be used for pain relief."

Three medicinal ingredients, three different temperatures, and three different refining methods.

Yao Lao made it look effortless, as natural as eating and drinking, but Xiao Yan knew how many years of accumulated instinct lay behind it.

"The refining is complete. The next step is condensation."

Yao Lao's voice pulled Xiao Yan back from his thoughts.

He waved his hand. Soul Power became like an invisible hand, lifting the medicinal essences from the three containers at once and sending them into the pill cauldron.

The instant the white powder, black granules, and pale red liquid met within the cauldron, they reacted violently. The powder dissolved, the granules melted, and the liquid changed color. Under the flames' scorching heat, the three distinct substances began to intermingle, seep into one another, and fuse.

Yao Lao pressed his hand against the cauldron, his Soul Power seeping inside like spilled mercury as he sensed every change within.

Under his control, the flame temperature rose and fell from time to time, every adjustment perfectly timed.

Five or six minutes later, the mixture inside the cauldron became a large lump of dark red paste.

The paste had an even texture and a deep crimson color. Its surface gleamed with an oily luster, while a rich medicinal fragrance drifted from the cauldron and filled the entire cave.

The Blood-Coagulating Powder was complete.

Yao Lao waved his hand, sending the cauldron lid flying aside. With a gesture of his right hand, the lump of dark red paste leaped from the cauldron and floated in midair.

It slowly rotated in the air like a miniature red planet, its surface smooth as a mirror without the slightest bump or indentation.

Yao Lao glanced at the lump of paste and sliced downward through the air with his hand.

Following his movement, the lump was silently divided into more than a hundred small portions of paste.

Every portion was of equal size and similar shape, with neat cuts as though they had been measured with a ruler and sliced with a blade.

He took Xiao Yan's Storage Ring from him and flicked his finger.

More than a hundred small jade bottles flew out of the Storage Ring, neatly filling the narrow cave floor.

The jade bottles formed five rows, with thirty in each row. Their spacing was equal, their mouths faced upward, like an army awaiting inspection.

Yao Lao casually waved his hand, and the portions of paste floating in the air fell precisely into every jade bottle as if they had received an order, without a single drop spilling outside.

The entire process flowed as smoothly as moving clouds and running water. From placing the ingredients into the cauldron to bottling the finished product, it took no more than the time needed to burn an incense stick.

"Little Yan, did you understand?" Yao Lao waved his hand, and a bottle of Blood-Coagulating Powder flew up from the ground and landed steadily before Xiao Yan. "Or should I demonstrate it once more?"

Xiao Yan took the jade bottle, pulled out the stopper, and brought it close to smell.

The medicinal fragrance was rich but not pungent. It smelled similar to the Blood-Coagulating Powder he had refined in the Martial Dao Space, but was fuller and more lingering.

He tilted the bottle, and the dark red paste slowly flowed out, drawing a thin strand from the mouth of the bottle. The strand hung in the air for several seconds before breaking, leaving a clean, crisp break without any trailing residue.

He poured the paste back into the bottle, replaced the stopper, and studied it carefully for several minutes.

Then he raised his head and placed the jade bottle on the ground.

"No need, Teacher. I understand."

Yao Lao was slightly stunned.

He had learned it after watching only once?

He remembered when he had first learned to refine medicine.

Back then, his teacher had refined a medicinal pill roughly on the same level as Blood-Coagulating Powder. He had watched several times with his eyes wide open. Every time, he felt that he understood. Every time, he thought, It's that simple. But when it was his turn to try, some ingredients carbonized, some burned black, and he failed miserably.

For more than an hour, he failed over a dozen times. His teacher had taught him hand in hand more than ten times before he barely grasped the essentials.

Even then, his teacher had called him an alchemy genius seen once in a hundred years.

And now Xiao Yan had watched once and said, "I understand"?

Yao Lao did not question him or doubt him. He merely said three words calmly.

"Good. Your turn."

Whether he was a mule or a horse, he would know once he was put through his paces.

Saying "I understand" a hundred times was not as useful as trying it once.

If Xiao Yan had truly learned it, Yao Lao would be able to tell. If not, he would be able to tell that too. It would not be too late to teach him then.

Xiao Yan did not decline. He stood up, walked to the Flame Spirit Cauldron, and sat down cross-legged.

He raised his right hand, palm facing upward. A wisp of pale yellow Dou Qi seeped from his palm, trembled faintly in the air, then transformed into a ball of flame with a soft puff.

The flame was pale yellow with white edges. Neither too large nor too small, neither too fierce nor too weak, it remained as steady as a carefully adjusted oil lamp.

This step was exactly the same as Yao Lao's demonstration.

Yao Lao's gaze flickered slightly.

Xiao Yan pressed his left hand against the cauldron. Pale green energy seeped from his palm into the cauldron walls. He closed his eyes and concentrated for a moment, sensing the fusion of the Dou Qi flame and wood-attributed energy within the cauldron before releasing his hand.

With a wave of his right hand, the Dou Qi flame in his palm drifted along the direction of his fingers and into the fire channel beneath the cauldron.

The flame wound down the curved channel and spread through the cauldron's belly, meeting the wood-attributed energy that had been injected earlier. The two fused into one within the cauldron.

The violent factors in the flame were neutralized by the power of wood. The flames, which had originally flickered slightly, became gentle and stable, evenly licking every inch of the cauldron's base.

A trace of surprise appeared in Yao Lao's eyes.

This step was called "guiding fire into the cauldron." It sounded simple, but it was not easy to perform.

The key was timing. How long after injecting the wood-attributed energy should the fire be guided into the cauldron? How long after that should the two be fused? At what point of fusion should the medicinal ingredients be added? Every timing point required precise control. Too early, and the fire would be unstable. Too late, and the wood energy would dissipate.

Xiao Yan had done it perfectly.

What surprised Yao Lao even more was how quickly Xiao Yan had found the power of wood within his body.

When Yao Lao had first refined medicine, merely locating the wood energy within his own body had taken him nearly half an hour.

Beginners had vague, chaotic perceptions of their own energy. They could not tell what was Dou Qi and what was wood energy, much less know how to separate them from within their bodies.

Yet Xiao Yan had needed only an instant.

In that instant, Yao Lao sensed Xiao Yan's Soul Power envelop his body like a great net, then rapidly contract and precisely lock onto the location of the wood energy. Guiding, separating, and injecting it were completed in one smooth motion without a single unnecessary step.

This showed that Xiao Yan's soul perception was extraordinarily powerful, and that his control over himself had reached a remarkably precise level.

Yao Lao nodded inwardly. The strength of one's Soul Power largely determined an Alchemist's upper limit.

Xiao Yan's innate qualifications were far better than he had expected.

Xiao Yan did not notice the change in Yao Lao's expression. All his attention was focused on the cauldron.

With a wave of his right hand, the Blood-Coagulating Herb, Vitality Fruit, and poppy were lifted simultaneously by Dou Qi and sent into the pill cauldron through the ingredient slot.

The three ingredients formed a line in the air, less than a fist's distance apart, and fell into the cauldron one after another.