Refining Qi: Fire Qi, One of the Samadhi True Fires

At the Xiao Clan's Back Mountain.

The Old Lord stroked his beard. Seeing Xiao Yan grin as he asked to learn how to refine Pills, he shook his head helplessly.

"Since you've mastered the first revolution of the Eight-Nine Arcane Arts, I can teach you alchemy. Tell me, what would you like to learn? Pills to break through, Pills to strengthen the body, or perhaps... Pills to temper the spirit? I haven't studied this world's Pill Formulas, but based on how Dou Qi circulates here, I can come up with a few easily enough."

"Actually... none of those, Master. I want to learn how to make Spring Return Powder. Something like this First-Rank Pill. Could you improve it for me?"

Smiling, Xiao Yan took a Jade Bottle from his pocket and carefully poured out several Pills, his face full of anticipation. "This one."

He also took some medicinal herbs he had bought at the market from his Storage Ring and piled them on the ground.

The Old Lord fell silent.

His eye twitched. "You called me out here for this?!"

"Exactly!"

"Ha..."

"Very well, then. Watch closely..." The Old Lord looked weary, but with a light sweep of the horsetail whisk in his hand, a scarlet Eight Trigrams Furnace landed with a thunderous crash. He picked up two common herbs growing nearby—Purple Leaf Orchid and Heart-Clearing Grass—and tossed them in.

A strange fire surged into the Eight Trigrams Furnace and blazed fiercely. No flame showed outside it, but golden light flowed within.

"Samadhi True Fire?"

Xiao Yan's pupils contracted.

He swallowed. He had to beg his master for that Samadhi True Fire later. Compared with it, the Heavenly Flames on the Heavenly Flame Ranking probably could not even come close!

The Old Lord glanced at Xiao Yan, who was fidgeting with impatience, and stroked his beard with a smile.

Then he raised his whisk, and the herbs flew into the Eight Trigrams Furnace.

In an instant, Pill after Pill took shape and dropped onto the grass.

Xiao Yan stared, eyes wide.

"Did you learn it?" the Old Lord asked with a smile.

"About half of it..." Xiao Yan said, a little embarrassed.

"Ha. What you lack is a flame and a furnace. With simple herbs like these, you need only follow my instructions, judge the timing and heat, and wait for the pills to form," the Old Lord said.

Without waiting for Xiao Yan to speak, he lightly touched the center of his forehead. A strand of the Samadhi True Fire swirling around the Old Lord seemed to peel away and flow into Xiao Yan's body.

"Samadhi True Fire corresponds to the primordial spirit, primordial Qi, and primordial essence. The first revolution of the Eight-Nine Arcane Arts you've cultivated refines form into Qi. In other words, you've begun to possess Qi within your body. I've drawn the Qi Fire from the Samadhi True Fire. It will be enough for your needs..."

"When you cultivate the Eight-Nine Arcane Arts to a higher level, I'll give you the other two fires. Once the Samadhi True Fire is complete, it truly will have the power to burn the heavens and boil the earth."

"Thank you, Master!" Xiao Yan said.

"This Sub-Cauldron emerged when my Eight Trigrams Furnace was first created. Make do with it for now."

With that, the Old Lord took out a pitch-black Furnace and dropped it on the ground. His figure slowly faded away.

"Whew... They're all treasures."

Delighted with his haul, Xiao Yan sat cross-legged on the ground and felt the Qi circulating within him. It seemed remarkably similar to the Dou Qi of this world, as though they shared the same source.

Fire Qi swirled around him like a fire snake. It obeyed him as readily as his own arm, coiling around his sleeve.

"Go!"

Xiao Yan gave a low shout.

The fire snake surged toward the black Furnace. The Furnace was engraved with the eight trigrams—Qian, Kan, Gen, Zhen, Xun, Li, Kun, and Dui—but he had no intention of using them. He had not cultivated the Eight-Nine Arcane Arts far enough to learn how. Besides, he had no need of them to make a superior version of Spring Return Powder.

Hum...

As the cauldron slowly trembled, Xiao Yan hesitantly put in two Purple Leaf Orchids. Imitating the Old Lord, he urged the flame to refine them into pale purple liquid. Then he refined the Heart-Clearing Grass and began to combine the two.

Pop!

A muffled sound came from inside the cauldron, like an engine abruptly stalling.

"Hmm..."

Xiao Yan examined the black Pill Pellet in his hand, his eye twitching. It probably was not safe to eat. He shook his head and set his face with determination. "Again!"

Two hours later.

At the Back Mountain.

Xiao Yan wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and let out a long breath.

He looked at the pure white Pill Pellet in his palm. It was still far inferior to the Pill Pellets the Old Lord had made, but at least...

"I did it!"

Joy shone in Xiao Yan's eyes.

"I wonder what grade of alchemist that makes me."

He opened his palm, and a fire snake sprang from it and coiled around his arm. Refining the pill had made him more familiar with the flame and given him a few new insights.

The fire Qi within the Samadhi True Fire was Dou Qi.

Drawing Dou Qi from his own body and turning it into fire should, in theory, be an alchemist's basic skill. But many low-level alchemists lacked sufficient Dou Qi, so most of them—including Xiao Yan in the original story—started by borrowing a flame.

To create fire by transforming the Dou Qi within one's body required cultivation above Dou Wang at the very least. Simply producing a flame did not count; the Qi itself had to be transformed into fire.

The requirements for becoming an alchemist on this continent were demanding. First, one needed Fire Attribute Dou Qi. Second, one needed a talent for spiritual power.

Those requirements happened to correspond to stages of the Eight-Nine Arcane Arts.

The first and second revolutions refined form into Qi.

The third and fourth revolutions refined Qi into spirit.

As for the fifth through eighth revolutions, which refined spirit and united it with the Dao, Xiao Yan did not understand what they entailed. But he suspected they involved a realm at least beyond Dou Sheng.

"So I'm at least a One-Rank Alchemist now?" Joy flashed in Xiao Yan's eyes.

Xiao Yan held the improved version in one hand and the Spring Return Powder he had bought at the Jia Lie Family's market in the other, comparing them.

Their appearance and the medicinal fragrance they gave off were enough to reveal the difference.

True, the improved Spring Return Powder he had made could not compare to the Old Lord's. But against Liu Xi's Spring Return Powder, it won with ease.

"This is enough!"

"I'll call it Blood-Replenishing Powder."

Xiao Yan could not be bothered to think up a fancier name. He lowered his head and kept refining.

The wisp of fire Qi grew hotter and stronger without him noticing. As he refined pills, he was also cultivating his Qi.

The next day.

Xiao Yan yawned. He had not slept all night and was a little drowsy, but excitement still gleamed in his eyes.

"Two hundred Blood-Replenishing Powder pills, counting Master's."

The later batches had gone faster and faster. By the end, he had even started imitating his master, throwing in ten portions at once. His spiritual power was slightly lacking, but his innate control over fire Qi made up for it.

Xiao Yan gradually discovered what made controlling fire Qi so remarkable.

No wonder ordinary alchemists needed much stronger Dou Qi to wield it. The benefits it brought were astonishing. It was his own Qi, so it was easy to use, and the heat responded to his every whim.

Borrowing a flame meant relying on someone else's fire, not Qi Fire born from one's own essence. The difference between the two was like night and day.