Chapter 7: Alchemy

The gourd-shaped furnaceA pill furnace was commonly used to refine pills that could have special functions was held up by four legs made out of red copper. There were three bright-red “fire crystals” underneath the furnace.

The “chirping” fire crystals released crimson flames, like thin snakes dancing under the refining furnace.

Yu Yuan held a herb leaf in his hand while fully focussed on the furnace.

A light smoke curled up from the opening at the top. A spicy and pungent smell, unique to the “Blood Activation Grass”, came out from the furnace.

Suddenly, Yu Yuan’s nose moved slightly.

He suddenly smelled an extremely subtle smell of burnt grass.

Releasing his middle and ring finger, he dropped an “Ice-blue Grass” into the refining furnace like a blue lightning.

Fizz!

Inside the furnace, a silk-like string of ice quickly neutralized and covered up the Blood Activation Grass. It controlled the grass’s properties!

Yu Yuan’s eyes gleamed brightly.

The nearby fire crystals’ crimson flames lit up his face which made it look even more serious.

Details were the key to success.

Every step had to be extremely precise: the selection of herbs, the temperature of the fire, the timing of the finishing. Even the tiniest mistakes could make a giant difference in the pills.

A good pill or a waste pill, the fate depended on just a second of hesitation.

Huff!

He slowly breathed out, lowered his shoulders, and narrowed his eyes.

While in this intense state of concentration, his body gradually relaxed.

After a few seconds, he exhaled another long breath. Then, he quickly dropped a piece of “Silver Moonflower” and several drops of “Psychic Elixir” into the furnace.

Bang!

The three fire crystals burned fiercely under the furnace.

In no time, Yu Yuan’s face was covered in sweat. They clustered into large droplets and rushed down his neck.

He didn’t move, and his desperate eyes were still fixed on the furnace.

The flames rose from the Fire Crystals flared like brush pens writing on the bottom of the furnace. The inscriptions on the furnace were slowly illuminated!

Sizzle!

Suddenly, dark red, dark blue, and silver while smokes came out from the top of the furnace, intertwined in a special state.

They looked like three spiritual snakes, pythons, and dragons clustered into large chunks. Each piece was given a unique medical property.

At this point, Yu Yuan’s clothes were soaked in sweat, and his body seemed about to collapse.

“After that, it all depends on luck. I hope that the first attempt at refining medicine in this life can be a success.”

He stepped back away from the furnace, staring at the fire crystals’ surface turned from red to black.

Finally, the fire from the crystals extinguished, and the lid was closed.

He sat still, wiped the sweat on his head with his sleeves, and waited for the pills to finish.

Refine medicine required a refining furnace and a fire source.

The furnace, fire source, medicinal materials, and alchemists’ abilities were all factors that directly affect the quality of the pill, which was also divided into different classes.

The fire source could be a spirit stone with fire properties, spirits of fire from the alchemist, the flame from underground, or the Heavenly Fire.

In his past life, Yu Yuan did not have the qualifications to cultivate, so he first relied on fire type spirit stones and fire crystals.

After he got guidance and permission from his master, he was able to use the Divine Medicine Sect’s underground fire source to refine medicine.

And his brother Zhong Chichen was able to use fire spells from his cultivation method from a young age.

In this respect, due to his natural disadvantages, he was not as good as his brother Zhong Chichen.

It was a pity that he couldn’t cultivate and use his fire source. It was a permanent regret from the past life.

After reincarnation, he entered the path of cultivation with Nine Bright Heavenly Cycles, hoping that this time the regret will be gone.

The pills, just like the classes of alchemists and refiners, consist of the Common Class, Spiritual Class, Earthly Class, Heavenly Class, and Godly Class.

The five classes, Common Pill, Spiritual Pill, Earthly Pill, Heavenly Pill, and Godly Pill were all divided into nine more grades.

Generally, alchemists who used the spiritual flames they produced could only produce Common or Spiritual Class pills.

Earthly Class, Heavenly Class, and Godly Class Spiritual Pills need the aid of perfectly matched crystals, underground fire source, or Heavenly Fires.

There were only a few types of herbs that the Yu Clan owned and these were all of the lower grades. So, Yu Yuan could only refine the lower class “Meridian Extension Pill”.

Meridian Extension Pill was a Third Grade Common Pill. The only purpose of the pill was to help the cultivators in the Meridian Establishment Realm to speed up the opening process of the meridians.

Meridian Extension Pill was not rare in the Land of Sky or Extinction. Most talented apprentices in the powerful sect would receive these from their masters to speed up their cultivation process.

Of course, this was still limited to the most core apprentices or the ones with powerful clan backgrounds, and the ordinary ones rarely could get their hands on one.

As for the Land of Qianxuan, one the most wealthy or royal families or families could provide the young cultivators with a Meridian Extension Pill.

After all, the Meridian Extension Pill was a low-grade Common Pill. It was only scarce because most alchemists would only accept high salary positions, which made it impossible for most families in the Land of Qianxuan to acquire them.

Alchemists in the Land of Sky and Land of Extinction were viewed as a symbol of nobility. Most large sects and families would regard them as the most honorable guests.

Naturally, any alchemists from the Land of Qianxuan who were able to produce anything better than a grade two Spiritual Pill would be invited to the other two Lands by powerful sects.

The man struggled upwards and water flowed downwards. Those who were invited were more than glad to accept.

Over time, rarely any alchemists still lived in the Land of Qianxuan, the only ones left were in the royal families or families like the Su Clan.

“If these Meridian Extension Pills are successful, it may change the status of the Yu Clan.” Yu Yuan muttered to himself, “In the Land of Qianxuan, alchemists are even more scarce than cultivators! If another alchemist appeared along with the medicinal background of our clan, the Su Clan might even be slightly frightened.

“Hold up!”

Yu Yuan alertly raised his head. His eyes glowed in the strange light.

The place he was in was specially arranged by his Grandpa Yu Can. It was a secret chamber three meters below the ground surface

This was also where Yu Can cultivate when he was young. The chamber was soundproof to avoid any distractions from the outside world.

Even in the three-meter deep chamber, Yu Yuan felt a significant gush of warm current that swept through the ground above.

Although his Meridian Extension Pills hadn’t finished yet, the fire crystals had long been extinguished. Logically, there shouldn’t be any extra heat waves in the chamber.

“It must be a cultivator in Nuance Realm with fire properties. The heatwaves must be from his soul as it moves closer.”

He thought about it for a while and realized that while he activated the fire crystals, the flames interacted with the arrays inscribed in the furnace. This was able to cause great heat energy to enter the furnace which was probably detected by some cultivator in the Dark Moon City.

The cultivator who practiced the Spirit of Fire must be alerted by the movement in the city. His soul came by to check on the commotion.

After entering the Profound Realm, the Upper Core would open up and one’s spirit could gain independence.

Cultivators in this realm were able to observe their surroundings and gain insight into the environment. They could sense the smallest details in their blood, flesh, organs, and souls.

However, if the spirit left the body to sense the outside world, those details could not be found.

To explore the outside world with the spirit was like a blind man and an elephant. It could only sense the temperature and rough shape of objects.

Profound Realm cultivators might not even be able to distinguish between the living and nonliving.

The spirit of a Yin God Realm cultivator could release the Yin God out from the body, and the clarity would just be like another pair of eyes.

Moreover, the Yin God would not leave any trace of existence.

Unlike the one that came which was instantly sensed by Yu Yuan in his chamber.

A second later, the heat was gone.

Yu Yan, however, with his past experience, already guessed most of what was going on.

“It is not the elder from the Cold Shadows Sect. This cultivator’s spirit is totally different from them!”

“In the Land of Sky or Extinction, Profound Realm cultivators could only be considered mediocre. In the Land of Qianxuan, and especially in Dark Moon City, it can be considered the top!”

“The method of Fire Flame Spirit and reaches the Profound Realm. Who can it be?”

Yu Yuan’s face darkened.

After his Souls of Earth and Heaven returned, his maid was the only source of reliable information so far. There might still be a lot more secrets hidden beyond his knowledge.

An Ziqing couldn’t sense a Profound Realm cultivator anyways.

“My grandpa, the head of the clan, should know the one that secretly visited!”

Puff!

A stream of heat popped open the furnace’s lid.

Yu Yuan put his thoughts aside and returned to the refining furnace.

At the very bottom lied eight thumb tip sized pills. They were dark red and perfectly spherical, filling the room with a familiar fragrance of medicine.

Yu Yuan picked the pills one by one and through looking at the shape, color, and size, he concluded that of the eight Meridian Extension Pills five could be consumed directly.

The other three didn’t have the insufficient quality of the pill so they were half-done.

“Hey! Not bad. First try, five successes, three half-done, and none wasted.” Yu Yuan smiled, “It seems that my talent is carried through too!

“The three semi-finished pills can also be made into poison pills.”

Staring at the three semi-finished pills in his left palm, Yu Yuan smiled in a cold manner, “Time to give that Yin Jue an unforgettable punishment!”