Alchemist Su's Technique

"Such paltry strength, and you dared call yourselves Marauder Cultivators?"

Qin Ming returned to his house in the Shantytown.

He opened the Storage Bags he had gained and looked through them.

The two Spirit Feather Sect cultivators' Storage Bags contained over five hundred Spirit Stones, two Low-grade Magic Tools, one mid-grade Magic Tool, several low-grade talismans, and two mid-grade talismans.

One Mid-Grade Golden Halberd Talisman and one Mid-Grade Fire Cloud Talisman.

Neither of them had gotten the chance to use them before they kicked the bucket.

The sole mid-grade Magic Tool was the pitch-black round shield defensive Magic Tool that Qin Ming had sent flying with a single hoe strike.

A crack had split open the round shield Magic Tool. It could probably still be used after some repairs.

Aside from that.

There were also five bottles of pills. Other than two bottles of Qi Nourishment Pills, the remaining three were antidotes and the like.

The cultivation techniques and spell manuals the two had practiced were also inside.

Qin Ming had no use for them either.

The Spirit Stones in the other three men's Storage Bags added up to more than six hundred in total.

The rest consisted of three Low-grade Magic Tools and some low-grade talismans.

In this haul alone, he had gained over a thousand Spirit Stones.

"So killing and robbing really does bring a golden belt," Qin Ming remarked.

He put all the valuable items from the five men into his own Storage Bag.

As for everything else, he burned it all with a Fireball Spell.

After finishing that.

Qin Ming began to ponder how those five people had ended up together.

From what the Bearded Man had said, Daoist Ruan must have sought them out afterward.

Coveting his Beast Fang Rice, he had wanted to join forces with them to plot against Qin Ming.

Then there was this.

Among the Spirit Feather Sect cultivators, there were actually people with close ties to Marauder Cultivators. The more he thought about it, the more terrifying it became.

There were likely others hidden even deeper within.

Still, so long as they did not come looking for trouble with him, it had nothing to do with him.

Right now, all he wanted was to work hard at farming.

If Qin Ming had not broken through to the fifth level of body refinement, someone else would likely have been counting through his Storage Bag today.

The outcome would have been completely different.

Two days later.

The atmosphere in the Shantytown grew tense once more.

Two members of the Spirit Feather Sect patrol had died at once, causing quite a commotion.

This was an outright provocation against the sect!

The Spirit Feather Sect began enforcing martial law and conducting searches around Qingyang Market.

"These Marauder Cultivators are truly too arrogant!"

"Last time, they killed Fellow Daoist Long and dumped his corpse in the river channel as a warning."

"This time, they actually directly ambushed and killed people from the Spirit Feather Sect."

"They're utterly audacious. Absolutely brazen!"

"Exactly! It's terrifying!"

Listening to the nearby residents discussing it in the alley, Qin Ming's mouth could not help twitching.

He shouldered his Spirit Hoe and went out to work.

After tilling his own five mu of Spirit Fields, he also tilled Alchemist Su's three mu.

Afterward.

Qin Ming gathered the swarm of Four-Winged Frost Bees from the tree and put them all into the Spirit Beast Pouch.

That swarm of bees.

If he planted Spirit Herbs in the future, they would be of great use.

The Bee Control Art was very simple to use. After trying it once, he had basically grasped the knack.

Just as he finished his work, he received a message from Alchemist Su.

Alchemist Su informed Qin Ming that he was about to begin refining pills.

He told Qin Ming to come over.

The moment he heard the news, Qin Ming's spirits jolted.

"Finally, he's going to start refining pills!"

Qin Ming hurried to Alchemist Su's courtyard.

Upon entering the house.

Alchemist Su was already making preparations.

"This time, I'll be refining a First-Grade Upper Pill, the Marrow Cleansing Pill."

Although Qin Ming had already guessed what kind of pill Alchemist Su was likely going to refine.

He still could not help being moved at that moment.

Could it be that Alchemist Su is going to break through to become an upper-grade alchemist today?

Then I'll be the only witness.

"Come with me. I'll show you something good."

"Hehehe!"

With a smile on his face, Alchemist Su mysteriously gestured for him to follow.

That smile immediately raised goosebumps all over Qin Ming.

Qin Ming followed Alchemist Su.

He followed him to a room at the very back.

Alchemist Su opened the door.

A wave of heat instantly rushed at them!

Qin Ming looked inside, and the sight before him left him dumbstruck.

In the room, which was over two zhang wide, stood a purple pill furnace.

Beside it were all manner of worktables and vessels for extracting medicinal embryos, compounding ingredients, and more.

What shocked him even more was—

The purple pill furnace was actually connected to earthfire below!

Though the sparrow was small, it possessed all five organs.

This was actually a complete Alchemy Room.

Seeing Qin Ming's astonished expression, Alchemist Su looked exceedingly pleased with himself. "Well?"

"Who would have thought there was a vein of earthfire hidden beneath this Shantytown?"

"I only discovered it by chance while passing through."

"This fire vein should be a hidden branch of Qingyang Market's earthfire vein."

"I built this entire alchemy room above the vein, allowing me to draw upon the earthfire to refine pills."

"And, by a remarkable coincidence, this is the only spot in the entire Shantytown where the earthfire can be fully drawn out."

Qin Ming was speechless for a long while.

You could do that?

Earthfire veins were generally resources controlled by sects.

Alchemist Su had practically gotten one for free with this move.

No wonder a dignified Mid-Grade Alchemist like him had lingered in the Shantytown for several years.

"However, this method of using earthfire for alchemy is only suitable for refining low-grade pills."

"To refine second-grade pills and above, one needs the cultivator's own true fire or high-grade spirit fire."

Hearing Alchemist Su's words, Qin Ming clicked his tongue inwardly.

First-grade pills were already considered low-grade pills to him?

He could not even refine the basic pills required of an alchemy apprentice.

Comparing himself to someone else's alchemy setup.

Then looking at Qin Ming himself, with his pile of junk.

The difference was more than a hundred thousand miles.

It would be a miracle if he succeeded in refining anything.

Mm... I need to find a way to mooch off Alchemist Su's Alchemy Room, Qin Ming thought to himself.

"All right, I'm starting."

"Watch from the side. Just don't disturb me."

"The study of alchemy is extremely complicated."

"Throughout the entire process, not the slightest distraction is allowed. It must be completed in one continuous breath."

"Even the smallest fluctuation or minute operational error will affect the finished pills, greatly increasing the chance of producing ruined pills."

Alchemist Su spoke with a rather solemn expression.

Qin Ming nodded and quietly stood to one side.

Alchemist Su opened the fire valve.

Boom!

Scorching earthfire instantly surged up from beneath the ground, and the temperature inside the Alchemy Room abruptly soared.

Then.

Alchemist Su took out various Spirit Herbs and spiritual materials, beginning to extract medicinal embryos with practiced ease.

Qin Ming held his breath and widened his eyes.

He carefully observed every detail of Alchemist Su's movements.

Gradually.

He realized that the other man's movements for extracting medicinal embryos were clearly an exceptionally brilliant refining technique.

Very quickly.

Alchemist Su's hands moved like drifting clouds and flowing water, smooth as silk.

In the blink of an eye.

He had extracted all the medicinal embryos.

Whether in quality or precision, the medicinal embryos Alchemist Su extracted far surpassed Qin Ming's own.

And he made it seem utterly natural and effortless.

Alchemist Su cleared all the useless medicinal residue from the vessels.

Next came compounding the ingredients.

Compounding ingredients in alchemy was not simply mixing medicinal materials together.

It required accurately measuring out the Spirit Herbs, with no room for even the slightest error.

These two steps were the most time-consuming.

With a casual grab from Alchemist Su, the quantity was always just right, incomparably precise.

When Qin Ming had reached this step before, it had taken him most of a day.

Yet less than a quarter of an hour had passed by the time Alchemist Su finished all this.

That was the gap between them.

The next step was the main event.

Alchemist Su swiftly formed hand seals, then merely flicked the flames lightly.

The once scorching, violent earthfire instantly stopped wavering.

It immediately became as docile as could be.

The red flames began heating the pill furnace evenly.

Qin Ming stared eagerly at Alchemist Su's astonishing Fire Control Art.

His heart itched with unbearable longing.