The Realm of a First-Tier Low-Grade Alchemist

That night at the Lin residence, Xu Yan had only skimmed the Complete Guide to the Pill Dao and Lin Dao's alchemy notes. Now that he was beginning to learn pill refinement, he needed to study them carefully.

Having developed Divine Sense, he read extremely quickly. In just half an hour, he committed both alchemical legacies entirely to memory.

He closed his eyes and carefully absorbed what he had learned. Only after confirming that he had everything right did he put the two alchemical legacies back into his Storage Bag.

"According to Lin Dao's alchemy notes, one must understand the properties of spirit plants before refining pills. But the ordinary medicinal herbs I'm using for practice are all recorded in his notes, so I already know their properties."

Murmuring to himself, Xu Yan turned and left the alchemy chamber, heading toward the three herb storerooms.

Before long, he returned with a great heap of medicinal herbs that occupied roughly a third of the alchemy chamber.

"Next come heat control, refining techniques, conditioning the Pill Furnace, and effective pill formulas."

Fortunately, both alchemical legacies contained records of all these things.

"The Complete Guide to the Pill Dao records three fire-control techniques."

"There are twelve pill-forming techniques in total."

"Three thousand five hundred and forty-one ordinary medicinal formulas, eleven first-tier pill formulas, and just one second-tier formula. Formulas for third-tier pills and above aren't even mentioned."

Xu Yan sat cross-legged and slowly sorted through this knowledge of alchemy. So much had poured into his mind within half an hour that his head felt as though it might burst. Fortunately, that sensation gradually faded as he organized what he had learned.

Once he had put this alchemical knowledge in order, Xu Yan decided to try his hand at it.

He lightly patted his Storage Bag and took out the crimson Pill Furnace.

This was the first-tier low-grade Magic Artifact Pill Furnace Lin Dao had left behind. The furnace's exterior bore scorch marks from the flames, and some medicinal residue remained inside.

However, its quality limited it to producing first-tier low-grade pills, barely meeting Xu Yan's requirements.

Pill refinement required flames. Fortunately, he cultivated the Redfire Burning Art, and his current cultivation at the peak of the Third Layer of Qi Refining was sufficient.

Spirit herbs were his greatest headache. As a rogue cultivator, he had few of them. His Storage Bag currently held only a handful of First-Tier Spirit Herbs, just enough to refine one batch of low-grade Qi Gathering Pills. His only other lead on spirit herbs was Golden Light Daoist's herb garden.

However, he had visited that garden half a year ago. Although there were some spirit herbs inside, they were all seedlings. Without a supply of spiritual power, they would likely take decades to become useful if left to grow on their own.

"I can only try ordinary medicinal herbs first."

Xu Yan sighed softly, then turned and selected three herbs from the heap.

This time, he intended to refine a type of Detoxification Pill.

It was a medicinal pill commonly used by ordinary people, capable of purging a hundred poisons. Its refining technique and the number of herbs required were similar to those of the first-tier low-grade Qi Gathering Pill.

Lin Dao had specifically pointed this out in his cultivation notes. He had spent over ten years selecting this formula to pass down to the younger generation of his Lineage. Now Xu Yan reaped the benefits, saving himself considerable effort.

After preparing the three herbs according to the steps in the alchemy notes, he beckoned with one hand and brought the crimson Pill Furnace over.

The next step was to condition the furnace. Following the technique recorded in the Complete Guide to the Pill Dao, Xu Yan slowly activated the Redfire Burning Art and guided two streams of flame toward the Pill Furnace.

Under the control of his Divine Sense, the two flames took the shapes of a dragon and a tiger, roaring upward to envelop the entire crimson Pill Furnace.

This was the most basic furnace-conditioning technique recorded in the Complete Guide to the Pill Dao, called the Dragon-Tiger Pill-Forming Method.

As the two flames continued to roam across the furnace, faint rays of light shone from within. Xu Yan's eyes brightened slightly at the sight, and he knew the furnace had finished conditioning. He then used a special technique to place the three prepared herbs inside.

Finally, Xu Yan closed the lid and began the final nurturing process.

Xu Yan sat cross-legged with the Pill Furnace suspended before him, spinning rapidly as the two flames tumbled around it. In the blink of an eye, the time it took to drink a cup of tea had passed.

These Detoxification Pills were relatively easy to form and did not require much time. With the most basic Dragon-Tiger Pill-Forming Method, the time it took to drink a cup of tea was enough.

Seeing that it was time, Xu Yan's heart tightened slightly. He directed a pill-retrieval spell at the Pill Furnace and steadily drew it back from where it spun in midair.

According to Lin Dao's records, these three herbs should yield six Detoxification Pills. When Xu Yan retrieved the furnace, he sensed only three pills inside. Still, this was his first attempt at pill refinement, so a smaller yield was understandable.

Filled with excitement, Xu Yan gently opened the lid.

With a soft pop, the three medicinal pills crumbled into a heap of fragments inside the furnace.

A strong burnt smell then spread through the cave abode.

"It failed."

Xu Yan sighed softly. After cleaning the fragments out of the furnace, he took out another three herbs.

He continued refining in this fashion for a full two months before finally succeeding in producing a batch of Detoxification Pills. Even then, his success rate remained low.

For every ten batches he refined, only one or two succeeded. This success rate was far too low to meet his requirements for refining first-tier pills.

Faced with this, he steeled himself and continued refining.

Pill refinement consumed a great deal of Divine Sense, and he rested quietly for a while after every attempt. Two consecutive months of refining had strengthened his Divine Sense considerably, while his success rate continued to improve.

Another three months passed, and Xu Yan had used up nearly all the herbs in the three storerooms. By now, he could successfully refine three kinds of ordinary medicinal pills, achieving a one hundred percent success rate with every batch.

"Lin Dao said in his cultivation notes that if I could achieve a one hundred percent success rate with all three kinds of ordinary medicinal pills, I should be at the level of a First-Tier Low-Grade Alchemist. I can try refining those first-tier low-grade Qi Gathering Pills now. Only by successfully producing them can I pass the Rogue Cultivator Alliance's certification and become a First-Tier Low-Grade Alchemist."

With that thought, Xu Yan took the three Spirit Herbs needed to refine Qi Gathering Pills from his Storage Bag.

Qi Gathering Pills were pills taken by Qi Refining cultivators. The spiritual power they contained could increase cultivation speed and improve the chances of breaking through minor bottlenecks. They were among the most basic and widely circulated pills in the Cultivation World.

He soon finished preparing the three Spirit Herbs, then began refining them step by step according to the alchemical legacy.

Refining Qi Gathering Pills took longer than refining ordinary medicinal pills. Only after two hours did Xu Yan slowly draw the Pill Furnace back.

Filled with excitement, he gently opened the crimson Pill Furnace.

Inside lay three pills the size of longan fruits, two green and one black.

"It worked!"

At the sight, delighted surprise appeared on Xu Yan's face. Although one pill was ruined, the other two were normal pills.

He swept his Divine Sense over the two green pills and found little difference between them and the Qi Gathering Pills in his Storage Bag.

After carefully putting the two pills away, he picked up the ruined pill. With a thought, a devouring force emerged from the Green Pearl in his Sea of Consciousness. Wisps of pill toxins were stripped from the ruined pill, and the originally pitch-black pill turned pale green, shrinking a size.

Xu Yan examined it with his Divine Sense. After its pill toxins had been devoured, the ruined pill contained only half the spiritual power of a normal pill.

Even so, it fully met his requirements.

"It's time to leave this place and head to the Rogue Cultivator Alliance."

Murmuring to himself, Xu Yan rose to his feet and headed out of the cave.