Xiao Luoyu: It's All Thanks to My Guidance

"Alright, I'll take the hit. Consider this legacy a rare treasure," Fang Heng said.

The masked man visibly relaxed when he heard Fang Heng agree.

He had fulfilled the Eighth Prince's command.

After completing the transaction, Fang Heng left the City of Life and Death and returned to the Imperial Estate in Dingling County.

He inspected the estate, and seeing that everything was arranged in perfect order, Fang Heng nodded in satisfaction.

This was all thanks to his skill in delegating and his effective leadership.

He went to his cultivation chamber and took out the Poison Art Legacy to study it.

The Poison Art Legacy the masked man had produced was incomplete; it didn't even have a name. It was clearly only a portion of a certain poison art.

Fortunately, the cultivation method for the Heretical Poison Pill was quite comprehensive, enough for Fang Heng to cultivate.

The so-called Heretical Poison Pill was a method that used an external pill to simulate a Golden Core.

The key lay in the refining of the external pill.

According to the records in the Poison Art Legacy, the external pill used the physical body as a furnace, yin and yang as the work, blood essence as charcoal, and plants as the pill.

Simply put, it involved refining the Heretical Poison Pill within one's own body, using alchemy techniques.

The cultivator who created the Heretical Poison Pill was himself a grandmaster alchemist.

He had established this legacy of the Heretical Golden Core based on alchemy.

After reading through it, Fang Heng's brows furrowed tightly.

This method of the Heretical Poison Pill was quite insane.

Alchemy was a dangerous endeavor.

For example, his second senior sister often experienced furnace explosions.

To use one's physical body as an alchemy furnace and refine the Heretical Poison Pill using alchemy methods…

It could only be described as insane.

If an alchemy furnace exploded, one could simply replace it.

But if one's physical body exploded, it wouldn't be so easy to replace.

Besides using the physical body as a cauldron, the refining technique itself was also extremely sophisticated.

It required the use of two types of flames, one yin and one yang, for refining.

Just simultaneously controlling both yin and yang flames was no simple feat of fire control.

At the very least, one needed to be at the level of an alchemy master to control both yin and yang flames simultaneously.

Fortunately, Fang Heng had an alternative.

The Fire Barbarian was skilled at fire control.

And it was his ghost servant, connected to him by mind.

Working together, the two of them could barely achieve this.

After much thought, Fang Heng left his cultivation chamber and went to the alchemy workshop to visit his second senior sister.

"Greetings, Second Senior Sister!"

"Little Junior Brother, what brings you here today?"

"Are things at the Ministry of Agriculture all wrapped up?"

A hint of mild surprise flashed in Xiao Luoyu's bright eyes.

Fang Heng was speechless.

Within the entire Ministry of Agriculture, no one was more relaxed than Xiao Luoyu.

She had said she was going out to clear her head, yet as soon as she arrived at the Ministry of Agriculture, she started refining pills day and night again.

No wonder Xiao Luoyu had earned the nickname "Pill Maniac" at the Evergreen Temple.

"Second Senior Sister, your junior brother is here to seek guidance on alchemy," Fang Heng said, cupping his hands.

When Xiao Luoyu heard Fang Heng's intention, her eyes lit up, and a faint smile played on her lips.

Farming, she didn't understand.

But alchemy, she understood all too well.

"Junior Brother, you want to learn alchemy? That's simple, your senior sister will teach you…"

Xiao Luoyu was quite enthusiastic, patiently and skillfully teaching Fang Heng alchemy.

Alchemy was one of the four绝 of the Evergreen Temple.

Looking across the entire Great Qian cultivation world, it was considered a top-tier legacy, second only to the Ten Great Dao Courts.

The foundation of the Evergreen Pill Scripture came from the Azure Emperor's legacy.

After generations of improvements and refinements by successive patriarchs, it had already developed into its own unique lineage.

The Evergreen Pill Scripture excels at herbal combinations, often using common herbs to achieve remarkable medicinal effects.

After Xiao Luoyu lectured tirelessly for an hour, she began the practical demonstration.

"Did you understand, Junior Brother?"

"Junior Sister, I'll show you right now."

With that, Xiao Luoyu lit a fire, lifted the lid of the pill furnace, and placed the medicinal ingredients inside.

"First this, then this, and finally this…"

"Did you understand, Junior Brother?"

Xiao Luoyu looked at Fang Heng with an expectant gaze.

Fang Heng felt completely bewildered.

This, that—what exactly was this or that?

Fang Heng finally understood why Xiao Luoyu, despite being a Pill Maniac and ranking among the top three in alchemy at Evergreen Temple, never bothered to instruct other disciples in alchemy.

A giant in practice, a dwarf in teaching.

If not for his Flash of Inspiration Fate Attribute, Fang Heng wouldn't have understood what Xiao Luoyu meant by "this" or "that."

"I understood most of it."

"Senior Sister, let me borrow your alchemy furnace."

With that, under Xiao Luoyu's expectant gaze, Fang Heng sat down in front of the pill furnace.

Fang Heng didn't aim too high for his first attempt at alchemy. He chose to refine the most common pill: the Qi Nurturing Pill.

The Qi Nurturing Pill was a dime a dozen.

Though common, that didn't mean it was easy to refine.

Heavenly Immortal Herb, one qian.

Azure Mist Grass, two qian.

Jade Spirit Ganoderma, one qian.

Fang Heng measured the herbs, then with a flick of his right hand, tossed the Heavenly Immortal Herb into the pill furnace.

He lit the fire, opened the furnace, and began refining the herbal essence.

A stream of Pill Fire shot out from his palm, burning brightly at the bottom of the pill furnace.

Pill Fire was the most common flame used in alchemy.

Even a Daoist School cultivator in the first realm could conjure it.

As for its power and refining effectiveness, they were mediocre.

If one could obtain Spirit Fire, it would greatly increase the success rate of alchemy.

However, Spirit Fire was hard to find.

Ordinary cultivators might never see Spirit Fire in their entire lives.

Only those with great fortune, through serendipitous encounters, might obtain a wisp of Spirit Fire.

Both Pill Fire and Spirit Fire had their limitations in alchemy.

Earth Fire, whose power lay between Pill Fire and Spirit Fire, was not as difficult to find as Spirit Fire.

Unfortunately, Earth Fire was too violent and difficult to control, making it incredibly hard to use for alchemy.

This was why Xiao Luoyu was obsessed with improving Earth Fire alchemy methods, so that Earth Fire could be used in alchemy.

If successful, this would be a monumental, revolutionary feat.

Fang Heng also favored the Earth Fire alchemy project, but it was still early days, and there had been no good news from the artificers at Evergreen Temple.

Sizzle sizzle—

The sound of impurities burning echoed in the pill furnace.

The Pill Fire blazed fiercely, seemingly distorting the air it scorched.

As the flame danced, the Heavenly Immortal Herb quickly refined into a ball of greenish-blue liquid.

All impurities were completely removed.

Only the purest essence remained.

Next, Fang Heng added the Azure Mist Grass to the pill furnace.

He restarted the process of refining its essence.

This cycle repeated.

After about a quarter of an hour, five blobs of medicinal liquid floated within the pill furnace.

The medicinal ingredients for the Qi Nurturing Pill had all been refined.

Next came the most crucial step.

"Pill Congealing!"

Under the control of his spiritual sense, the medicinal liquids fused into one.

Faintly, the rudimentary form of a spherical pill shimmered in and out of view within the Pill Fire.

Fang Heng focused intensely on congealing the pill.

His spiritual sense swept through the alchemy furnace, monitoring the fusion of the medicinal properties.

He adjusted the intensity of the Pill Fire based on how the medicinal properties were merging.

Before long, a faint herbal fragrance wafted out from the alchemy furnace.

The herbal fragrance grew increasingly potent.

Finally, it seemed as if it would burst forth from the furnace.

Xiao Luoyu, standing nearby, had witnessed Fang Heng's entire alchemy process.

A satisfied and joyful smile spread across her flawless, delicate face.

Indeed, Master was wrong.

It's clearly the Evergreen Temple disciples who are foolish; they just can't understand what I teach.

My junior brother, though, understands perfectly. He succeeded on his very first attempt at alchemy.

This is all thanks to my guidance.