Chapter 42

After careful and meticulous thought, Wei Changfeng decided to use his most proficient and skilled ability as the breakthrough point to seek Eastern Cai Bai as his master.

He was determined to refine a pill that would move the other party!

Of course, this was not an easy task.

Currently, Wei Changfeng's Tai Xu Nine Heavens True Yang Heart Sutra had just recovered to the first level, barely able to condense pill fire, allowing him to refine third-grade pills, but he was not yet capable of refining higher grades.

Could a third-grade pill move a先天级 (Xiantian-level) strong individual?

The answer was definitely no!

Although third-grade pills were relatively precious, they could be purchased in Jingyun City with money.

However, as a grandmaster of alchemy from a thousand years ago, despite his cultivation being only a fraction of what it once was, his unparalleled experience remained intact.

The palm-sized cauldron he had recently acquired was brand new, gleaming under the candlelight with the intricate engravings on its surface seeming to float, showcasing its excellent craftsmanship.

This type of small cauldron carried by alchemists was not common, as it could only refine one pill at a time and required the use of pill fire, with a very low success rate.

If the alchemy technique was not at a masterful level, if control over one's pill fire was not effortless, and if there was a lack of sufficient confidence and perseverance, the palm-sized cauldron would only serve as a decorative trinket.

Therefore, most alchemists, even those who had condensed pill fire, did not dare to easily attempt refining pills with a palm-sized cauldron. Only those who had reached the level of a grand alchemist would buy one to carry with them to temper their pill fire.

Wei Changfeng held the small cauldron with both hands, slowly rubbing it.

This process was called "tempering the cauldron." He gathered pill fire in his palms but did not release it, repeatedly rubbing the new cauldron to heat it while infusing it with his own pill fire aura.

Only after the "tempering the cauldron" process could a brand new palm-sized cauldron avoid mysterious failures during pill refinement, allowing the alchemist to familiarize themselves with this most important alchemy tool.

Tempering the cauldron was a highly technical process, requiring thousands of practice sessions to master the correct technique, which was why many alchemists did not use or could not use a palm-sized cauldron.

Through the process of tempering the cauldron, Wei Changfeng's divine will became incredibly focused, expelling all distracting thoughts from his mind, entering the optimal state for pill refinement.

It took him a full hour to complete the final step of tempering the cauldron.

Without a moment's rest, he held the palm-sized cauldron in his left hand, lifted the lid with his right hand, and placed the first ingredient inside.

The Golden Armor Shell!

The Golden Armor Shell of the Golden Thread Beetle was an extremely rare and precious spiritual material. The one Wei Changfeng had was an unexpected gain when he obtained the Golden Armor, originally intended for refining higher-grade pills.

Now, due to the current situation, he had to use it prematurely.

The Golden Armor Shell contained abundant heavenly and earthly spiritual energy, with an extremely hard texture that could not be cut by knives or split by axes, and ordinary earth fire could not smelt it.

However, when Wei Changfeng placed it in the palm-sized cauldron and activated the pill fire, the Golden Armor Shell quickly softened and melted into a golden liquid.

Wei Changfeng then placed the other ingredients into the palm-sized cauldron, refining them one by one.

Earth fire and pill fire were known as the dual fires of alchemy, both crucial for alchemists. In the early stages, alchemists generally relied on earth fire to refine pills, but powerful alchemists must master a powerful pill fire technique.

Wei Changfeng's pill fire originated from the Tai Xu Nine Heavens True Yang Heart Sutra. Although he was only at the first level, the pill fire he condensed was pure and yang, capable of refining myriad spiritual materials.

With the enhancement of the Tai Xu Pill Fire, the originally bronze-colored palm-sized cauldron emitted a prominent red glow, with a scorching aura spreading silently in all directions, and the herbs inside were rapidly refined and fused.

After completing the third step, "placing the materials," Wei Changfeng closed the lid and held the palm-sized cauldron with both hands.

His left hand continuously activated the pill fire, while his right hand used pill strength to control and refine the medicinal liquid, removing various impurities from the spiritual materials.

Due to his current limited strength, he could not sustain the pill fire for a long time, so the refining process was quite fast and critical.

Any slight mistake would ruin all previous efforts and sacrifices!

At this moment, Wei Changfeng's powerful side in alchemy was fully revealed.

His will was as firm as a rock, and his fire control and strength application were flawless. Even though this was his first time refining with pill fire in this life, he was as proficient as if he had practiced thousands of times.

In just half a moment, a round pill began to take shape.

Since the palm-sized cauldron could only refine one pill at a time, the step of dividing the pill was skipped, but the refining requirements were higher.

After the pill took shape, Wei Changfeng continued to refine it with pill fire, further removing impurities.

The final quality of the pill depended on how well he could refine it.

Pill fire was condensed from pill strength, not an inexhaustible resource. At this point, Wei Changfeng felt the pill strength in his middle dantian gradually depleting.

He took a deep breath and forcefully activated the last thread of pill fire, injecting it into the palm-sized cauldron, and then quickly slapped the cauldron with his right hand.

Peng!

With a dull thud, the small lid of the cauldron was pushed up by the pill strength.

A jade-white pill, carrying a hint of red flame, followed and soared into the air.

The pill was successfully refined, and the cauldron was opened!

Wei Changfeng, quick as a flash, grabbed the jade box he had prepared and caught the falling pill!

Pa!

The lid fell back onto the cauldron, fitting perfectly without any misalignment.

It was perfect!

Wei Changfeng let out a satisfied breath, feeling a sense of exhaustion all over his body.

To say he had no pressure would be a lie. The success of this pill was crucial for his ability to seek Eastern Cai Bai as his sword master. If it failed, he would not be able to re-refine it.

The Golden Armor Shell was the only one of its kind, and there was no place to buy another, even if he had the money.

But his strong will overcame the pressure, and he successfully refined the pill!

Putting the palm-sized cauldron aside, Wei Changfeng began to admire the pill he had just refined.

The pill was the size of a longan, perfectly round and spotlessly white, with a lustrous surface emitting a faint glow, the characteristic "pill luster" of a mid-grade pill!

Upon closer inspection, one could see uniform horizontal lines on the surface of the pill.

Pill patterns!

A high-grade pill!

Pills were divided into four grades: low-grade, mid-grade, high-grade, and supreme-grade. Possessing pill patterns was the most distinctive feature of a high-grade pill, and it was very rare.

Wei Changfeng suddenly realized he had overachieved.

He originally thought refining a mid-grade pill would be good enough, and a low-grade pill would be acceptable, but unexpectedly, his luck was so good that he directly refined a high-grade pill.

This was too eye-catching!

Wei Changfeng pondered for a moment, then sucked in his breath with a hiss.

Sss~

The Golden Armor, hidden in his collar, immediately flew out and landed on his hand, emitting a low, soft chirp.

Wei Changfeng placed the Golden Armor in the jade box and gently stroked its back three times with his index finger.

Sensing the pill's spiritual energy, the Golden Armor, which had become agitated, immediately calmed down and lay still.

After confirming there were no issues, Wei Changfeng closed the box lid.

The pill was successfully refined, and its quality exceeded his expectations. However, whether his plan would succeed, Wei Changfeng was not entirely sure; it would depend on his luck the next day.

To refine this pill, he had basically exhausted all his resources, even the pill strength in his middle dantian was depleted, leaving only a small, flickering flame.

He would have to work hard that night to replenish the depleted pill strength; otherwise, without the replenishment of pill strength, the pill fire would collapse, and recondensing it would take a considerable amount of time.

At this point, a conflicting issue emerged.

The alchemy heart method cultivated the middle dantian, while the martial heart method cultivated the lower dantian. Both could not be cultivated simultaneously, and one had to make a temporary sacrifice.

This was why dual cultivation of alchemy and martial arts was extremely difficult, as a person's time and energy were limited, and both alchemy and martial arts were vast and profound, requiring a lifetime to reach the peak.

Clever people at this stage would know how to choose and abandon, avoiding failure on both fronts.

But Wei Changfeng chose to be an outlier.

He would never give up alchemy, as refining pills was still his foundation.

He would not underestimate martial arts either, as practicing martial arts carried his greatest dream!

As for how to resolve this conflict, Wei Changfeng had found a solution in his previous life.

That night, he would learn a new skill, a true secret technique—Dividing the Spirit and Transforming the Mind!

Dividing the Spirit and Transforming the Mind was a very special secret technique, unrelated to martial arts or alchemy, but targeting the upper dantian!

The human body has three dantians: the upper dantian between the eyebrows, the middle dantian in the center of the chest at the Zhongtan point, and the lower dantian three inches below the navel.

Martial cultivators cultivate the lower dantian, accumulating true qi to reach all meridians, while alchemists cultivate the middle dantian, deriving pill strength to condense pill fire.

Those who cultivate the upper dantian cultivate the divine will and spirit, the divine consciousness and soul!

In the ancient continent, besides martial and alchemy paths, there was also the Confucian path. Great scholars proficient in upper dantian cultivation could refine their divine will to the point of being invulnerable to all evils and fearless of all wickedness. Although they were physically weak, they could destroy an enemy's consciousness with their aura alone!

Dividing the Spirit and Transforming the Mind was one of the supreme techniques of the Confucian path.

Those who mastered the technique of Dividing the Spirit and Transforming the Mind could multitask, think about different problems simultaneously, and naturally cultivate different heart methods at the same time!

In his previous life, after obtaining the true text of Dividing the Spirit and Transforming the Mind, Wei Changfeng regarded it as a treasure, although its practical use was not great, he still studied it seriously and mastered many of its techniques.

The only requirement for practicing Dividing the Spirit and Transforming the Mind was that one's will must be sufficiently strong!