The hundred arts of cultivation were many and varied, but at their core were the eight great arts, as they were commonly known. They were the most widespread and provided the most direct help to cultivators in their cultivation.
Alchemy, artifact refining, talisman making, formations, beast taming, Spirit Plants, puppetry, and spirit cuisine.
After considering his own circumstances, Chen Shuangbai chose talisman making and alchemy for the time being.
Pills and talismans were the two cultivation resources that cultivators used up most in daily life.
The former was a powerful aid to cultivation, while the latter was indispensable for self-defense and protection.
After all, what cultivator would leave home without a few bottles of pills and a few dozen talismans?
When Fu Qianlan heard that Chen Shuangbai had chosen talisman making and alchemy, she pondered briefly and weighed her words. "Alchemy requires a fire Spirit Root, but our Jade Spring Sect has its own unique water-method alchemy technique, so whether you have a fire Spirit Root isn't actually all that important."
"Talisman making requires a fairly high level of spiritual perception. In other words, you need a certain natural aptitude for sensing the circulation of primordial Qi..."
"There are senior brothers and sisters in the Dragon Stream Pavilion who follow these two paths, but... I suggest you first attend the lessons given by the instructors for these two arts at the Scripture Transmission Hall, then consider which one to choose."
Chen Shuangbai thought that made a great deal of sense, so after the gathering ended, he headed to Cultivated Water Peak, where the Scripture Transmission Hall was located.
The Scripture Transmission Hall was the sect's hall for preaching and teaching its disciples.
Chen Shuangbai now attended the lectures given by the inner sect instructor Lingxiu every month, but the sect also offered specialized classes on Cultivated Water Peak.
Chen Shuangbai used the Wind Control Technique, flying for a while and stopping for a while. It took him quite some time to reach Cultivated Water Peak.
Just as he arrived, he saw a spirit boat fly in beside him. Several disciples stepped off it, looking completely at ease. Chen Shuangbai couldn't help growing more interested in flying Law Artifacts and higher realms.
He really needed to earn more Merit Points and cultivate more to raise his cultivation.
After that brief reflection, Chen Shuangbai entered the peak.
He first went to True Water Cave, where the alchemy class was held.
Among the Jing Kingdom's five great sects, the Jade Spring Sect's alchemy was nearly on par with that of another great sect, the Spirit-Seeking Sect.
Both had their own alchemy techniques that had been passed down without interruption, and the specialty pills they produced were all priceless and unobtainable on the market, so there was considerable rivalry between them.
Alchemy generally relied on a fire Spirit Root, but one of the Jade Spring Sect's capable predecessors had made some improvements to the inherited alchemy techniques, developing them into the present-day Jade Spring Alchemy Technique, the water-method alchemy technique Fu Qianlan had mentioned earlier.
The alchemy instructor was named Yi Chongyue and came from Heavenly Spring Peak, one of the inner sect's six peaks. Chen Shuangbai had already met a disciple from that peak: Senior Sister A Heng of the Jade Dew Hall.
The Jade Dew Hall was also the main base of Heavenly Spring Peak's disciples.
Instructor Yi had a graceful bearing and was quite handsome. Dressed in a moon-white scholar's robe, he looked less like an Alchemist than a teacher from the mortal world.
A disciple beside him struck a jade chime three times, and the first alchemy lesson officially began.
He began with the basics and worked toward the deeper principles, giving a lively and engaging explanation of alchemy's fundamental principles. Then he briefly introduced the Jade Spring Alchemy Technique...
"Our Jade Spring water-method alchemy uses water as a medium and overcomes hardness with softness. It merges spirit into water and refines essence from the formless."
Yi Chongyue's voice was gentle and his pace unhurried, yet his words carried a power that naturally inspired conviction.
As he spoke, he turned his right hand over, and a clear ball of water containing Spiritual Qi appeared in his palm. He then flicked a finger, drawing spirit herbs and flowers from beside him into the water ball with his Law Power.
The spirit flowers and herbs slowly spun around inside the water ball. After roughly a dozen revolutions, they dissolved and vanished, while the spirit water changed from clear to an emerald green that gave off a faint, refreshing fragrance.
He added, "Pills refined with our Jade Spring Alchemy Technique are purer and gentler in nature, contain little pill poison, and are more easily absorbed by cultivators. They are especially suitable for cultivators who practice water- or wood-attribute Cultivation Methods, and they are highly beneficial for stabilizing one's foundation."
"But this does not depart entirely from the fundamental principles of conventional alchemy. For example, we still need a Pill Furnace to assist us."
With a rattling sound,
the space deliberately left empty in the middle of the group suddenly opened up, and a Pill Furnace so large that several people would have to join hands to encircle it rose from within.
Yi Chongyue sent out a stream of Law Power, and a brilliant golden true fire rose within the Pill Furnace. The temperature in the cave shot up at once.
He sent the ball of emerald spirit water into the furnace and added quite a few auxiliary ingredients. His hands formed Method Formulas in rapid succession, driving the pill fire higher until the contents gradually formed into twelve emerald pills.
The twelve emerald pills happened to match the twelve disciples attending the lesson that day, and they flew to each of them in turn.
"Can anyone guess what kind of pill this is?" Yi Chongyue did not let them take the pills, instead asking a question first.
The twelve disciples immediately examined them closely and offered several answers in succession, but all of them were wrong.
Chen Shuangbai studied the pill before him carefully.
He had never properly encountered this kind of pill before, but he had a vague impression of it-
While he was doing a task at the Jade Dew Hall, Huang Shanglan had seemed quite fond of him and had mentioned pill classifications in conversation, whether intentionally or otherwise.
On top of that, his current cultivation of the Moonlight Spirit-Nourishing Instruction had given Chen Shuangbai spiritual perception far beyond that of his fellow disciples.
He thought for a moment, then activated his Spirit-Appraising Pupil and examined it carefully. "Instructor, this seems to be a Clear Water Heart-Clearing Pill."
"Oh?"
Yi Chongyue turned his gaze to Chen Shuangbai, a trace of surprise and approval flashing in his eyes. "You're quite knowledgeable. You don't look familiar to me. Is this your first time attending my class?"
Chen Shuangbai rose and gave a disciple's salute. "Instructor, this disciple is Chen Shuangbai. I joined the sect a little over a year ago."
"Oh, a newly admitted disciple."
Yi Chongyue nodded lightly, then flicked a finger. Another Clear Water Heart-Clearing Pill appeared from his hand and landed in front of Chen Shuangbai.
"That's correct. This is your reward."
The other disciples had long heard that Instructor Yi liked to reward his students. The Clear Water Heart-Clearing Pill he had just given each of them was their reward, but now Chen Shuangbai had two.
For a moment, quite a few gazes turned toward him.
Chen Shuangbai paid them no mind and continued listening attentively to Yi Chongyue's lesson.
"This is a first-tier, middle-grade pill. It is refined with the Jade Spring Alchemy Technique, using several water- and wood-attribute spirit herbs as its main ingredients. It washes away distracting thoughts, calms the mind, focuses the spirit, and assists the circulation of water- and wood-attribute Cultivation Methods. It is especially useful for helping with breakthroughs between minor realms..."
Generally speaking, pills refined with the Jade Spring Alchemy Technique contained relatively little pill poison and were gentler in nature, but they were slightly less potent and could not match the powerful effects of pills refined with fire-method alchemy.
The pills hovering before the disciples all dropped into their palms.
"All right, the pills have been given out. Now, back to the subject."
"If you want to learn alchemy, you must start with the most basic skill: identifying spirit medicines. Take this Jade Spring Introduction to Spirit Medicine and study it carefully. In one month, I'll test your ability to identify the first fifty spirit medicines in it and your understanding of their medicinal properties."
"Huh?"
"What do you mean, 'huh'?!"