Great Progress in Alchemy

Winter had come to the Cloud Marsh Great Wilderness once more.

Gray, misty clouds shrouded the mountains, while the cold wind howled bitterly.

Heavy snow drifted through Qingyang Market, yet it still could not dampen the fervor of the rogue cultivators.

The streets were packed with people, bustling beyond compare.

Several months ago, the Spirit Feather Sect and Goldcloud Valley had begun issuing missions one after another.

As long as one completed the missions issued by the sects according to the requirements, one could receive the generous rewards they had promised.

There were missions to support the frontline War Camp and fight the barbarian cultivators to the death.

There were missions to travel to Five Peaks Mountain and build Cloudmarsh City.

There were also missions to encircle and hunt all kinds of demon beasts, gathering various Spirit Herbs and spirit materials.

They had even issued a series of high-reward bounties targeting Marauder Cultivators. In short, the rewards were exceedingly generous.

Among these missions, the most tempting reward was undoubtedly the legendary "Foundation Establishment Pill."

Naturally, the difficulty of completing such missions was also easy to imagine.

For ordinary rogue cultivators to take part in such missions was no different from seeking death.

Yet that still could not stop rogue cultivators from rushing forward to accept them, like moths flying into a flame.

Under this wave of mission recruitment, all sorts of cultivator groups began springing up one after another around Qingyang Market.

They began forming teams and venturing out together.

Qin Ming was utterly uninterested in these missions.

He remained as steady as an old dog, cultivating alone inside his room.

He quietly looked at the Faint Soul Force X10 affix in his Sea of Consciousness.

Today, he decided to strengthen his divine soul.

With a thought from Qin Ming, a white affix leaf vanished.

In an instant.

An unbearable swelling pain suddenly struck his mind, as though something were violently tearing apart his Sea of Consciousness.

Buzz~

When he came back to himself, his head was already drenched in sweat.

"I didn't expect strengthening the divine soul to hurt this much." Qin Ming gritted his teeth, his face pale.

However, he could clearly sense that his divine soul had indeed become much stronger.

"Nine more!"

Qin Ming steeled himself and continued using the Faint Soul Force affixes.

Three days later.

After using all ten Faint Soul Force affixes, Qin Ming's divine soul power had more than doubled from before.

His current Divine Soul Strength was likely two or three times that of cultivators at the same level.

"I'll go try alchemy at Su Yuqing's place again."

Feeling his strengthened divine soul, Qin Ming felt as though his confidence had returned to his side.

In Su Yuqing's house in the Shantytown.

"Brother Qin, I advise you to give up. Your talent really isn't suited for learning alchemy."

"Why put yourself through this?"

Seeing Qin Ming's stubborn determination to keep going until he hit the wall, Su Yuqing tried to persuade him kindly.

Qin Ming responded with a faint smile. "I want to try one last time."

"Fine, do as you please. Sigh."

Seeing that he could not persuade him, Su Yuqing simply let him do as he wished.

He sat down, brewed another pot of spirit tea, and began sipping it.

Qin Ming entered the Alchemy Room.

He placed all the prepared Spirit Herbs and spirit materials on the table.

Then he began refining the medicinal bases.

This time, he was going to refine a first-tier low-grade pill—the Spirit Replenishing Pill.

Qin Ming discovered that after his divine soul had strengthened, the alchemy process went astonishingly smoothly.

He could clearly feel the vast difference from before in the two steps of refining the medicinal bases and mixing the ingredients.

It was nearly completed in one smooth flow.

Qin Ming opened the fire valve.

Boom!

Blazing earthfire surged up from below.

Following the fire-control technique in the Fire Control Manual, Qin Ming began heating the pill furnace evenly.

When the timing and heat were right, he raised his hand and waved.

The prepared medicinal bases inside the vessels flew into the pill furnace at his will.

Qin Ming concentrated, controlling the heat as he began fusing the medicinal bases.

Time passed bit by bit.

Outside.

As Su Yuqing drank his tea, he occasionally glanced toward the Alchemy Room.

He did not care whether Qin Ming could refine a low-grade pill. He was only worried that if the other man lost control during alchemy, what would happen if he blew up his house?

"Sigh... what a greenhorn. Why won't he listen?"

"Why is his obsession so deep?"

"I already told him. It's impossible."

After shaking his head and sighing for a while, Su Yuqing raised his cup and took a sip of tea.

Chirp!

At that moment, a clear cry came from within the Alchemy Room!

Pfft!

The tea in Su Yuqing's mouth instantly sprayed out.

His face took on an expression as though he had seen a ghost. "No way? He succeeded on his first try?"

He hurriedly got up and ran into the Alchemy Room to look.

A fragrant pill aroma wafted through the room.

Inside the pill furnace, five green pills had already formed.

With a beckoning gesture from Qin Ming, the five Spirit Replenishing Pills landed in his hand.

"Th-this... this... you made them?"

Su Yuqing could scarcely believe it.

One had to know that given his own aptitude, Back then, his progress in learning to refine low-grade pills had not been much better than Qin Ming's current progress.

"Hehe, I was just lucky!" Qin Ming's face was filled with delight, while his heart surged with excitement!

He had finally succeeded!

This meant that he had officially become a first-tier low-grade alchemist.

Hearing this, Su Yuqing wore an enlightened expression. "That makes sense. You've only studied for such a short time. You probably just happened to get lucky."

Qin Ming placed the five Spirit Replenishing Pills into a Jade Bottle and put them away.

"Brother Su, I'd also like to try refining a batch of Qi Gathering Pills."

Su Yuqing frowned upon hearing this. He felt that Qin Ming was aiming too high.

"Brother Qin, think this through. Qi Gathering Pills are pills used by Qi Refining Mid Stage cultivators to increase their cultivation. Their difficulty cannot be compared with Spirit Replenishing Pills."

"Don't rush things."

Yet Qin Ming still insisted, "I still want to try."

"Do as you please. It's not my Spirit Stones you're wasting anyway."

With that, Su Yuqing went back to sipping tea.

Qin Ming cleaned out the pill furnace and prepared to begin refining Qi Gathering Pills.

The pill formula for Qi Gathering Pills, along with the refining steps, had already been deeply imprinted in his mind.

Every step proceeded in an orderly fashion.

Su Yuqing held a teacup in his hand, but all his attention was fixed on the Alchemy Room.

Pfft~

A muffled sound came from the Alchemy Room, followed by a burnt smell that rushed into his nose.

"Sigh... just as I said. How could anyone be lucky every single time? Brother Qin just won't believe it."

"One batch of low-grade Spirit Replenishing Pills, and it's given him confidence."

Su Yuqing shook his head as he spoke.

Inside the Alchemy Room.

Qin Ming propped up his chin and stared at the pill furnace. There was not much disappointment on his face.

He carefully recalled the entire process of refining the pill just now, every detail surfacing in his mind one by one.

Qin Ming narrowed his eyes, and a glimmer flashed through them.

It seemed he had figured something out.

He immediately began another batch.

An hour passed.

Pfft~

Another muffled sound came from the Alchemy Room.

Su Yuqing stuffed a piece of pastry into his mouth and shook his head helplessly.

"Failed again." Qin Ming frowned and raised his hand, drawing several useless pills from the furnace into his palm to inspect them.

In an instant, the corners of his lips curved upward.

Taking a closer look, Qin Ming saw that the pills in his hand had already formed more than halfway.

"Just a little bit more."

Qin Ming began his third attempt at refining Qi Gathering Pills.

He personally experienced it.

With the increase in his divine soul power, his ability to precisely control the amount of medicinal bases, mix ingredients, and control the fire had improved enormously.

Now, when refining medicinal bases and mixing ingredients, he was basically accurate every time, without the slightest error.

Time passed bit by bit.

Su Yuqing was growing bored and was about to get up to cook.

Chirp!

An incomparably crisp cry rang out from his Alchemy Room.

Su Yuqing felt as though he had been struck by lightning. His body froze in place, and the foot he had just lifted could no longer move.