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A sand-like substance, white and shimmering like jade, floated in the air before being completely collected into the shallow basket.
Looking at the basket of Qi Refinement Powder, with all its impurities thoroughly removed and its pure white appearance, Kong Yue nodded repeatedly, his face filled with joy and gratification.
“Yes, not bad, not bad at all.” Kong Yue glanced at the Qi Refinement Powder, then at Sui An. “The Sect Master always says you have a playful nature and find it hard to settle down and cultivate. I, however, don’t think so. You, ah, you’re a good seedling for alchemy.”
Fan Tianyou stood at the doorway, his eyes darkening slightly.
He saw Kong Yue looking at Sui An with a kind and benevolent expression, that look of fondness and protection making him feel a little uncomfortable. In his few days of seclusion, besides solidifying his spiritual roots, he hadn’t found a better way to break through. He had wanted to come and ask Kong Yue, only to see such a scene.
“Thank you for your praise, Elder Kong.”
Tan Yun wasn’t wrong. The old Sui An was indeed playful and fickle. Especially when listening to Huaiyang talk about the beauty of the outside world, her heart was set on leaving the sect to see it, leaving no room for any thoughts of cultivation.
The thought of Tan Yun brought back the bone-chilling cold of the water prison. Now, reborn, Sui An’s feelings towards Tan Yun were complicated. On one hand, she was her benefactor and master, who had cared for her like a mother, yet had also imprisoned her within the sect. On the other hand, it was also Tan Yun who had single-handedly pushed her into the abyss.
She didn’t know whether she should hate her or be grateful.
“Don’t be modest. To date, besides your Shizun who can separate the impurities of this Qi Refinement Powder within a day, you are the fastest. Even I, in my youth, took eight days,” Kong Yue said, thinking back to when he first joined the sect, shaking his head with a sigh. “In the blink of an eye, several hundred years have passed. The years of cultivation are truly merciless, gone in a mere snap of the fingers.”
Listening to Kong Yue’s words, Sui An felt that she had been dwelling too much on the cold of that water prison, while ignoring the fleeting years. It wasn’t worth the loss.
Since she had been reborn, she might as well live freely. If Tan Yun still wanted to imprison her in the sect, then she would just become strong enough that Tan Yun couldn’t restrain her.
Sui An smiled. “Elder Kong, when can I start learning alchemy?”
Kong Yue stroked his chin. “You can start with the simple things. However… the Huai family will be delivering the Jade Flame Fruits soon. I’m afraid I won’t have time to teach you.”
Sui An had the system. She only needed a small alchemy cauldron to learn by herself from books. “It’s alright, I…”
“Shizun, why not let me teach Junior Sister?” Fan Tianyou strode in through the door, a smile on his face. “It’s just simple pills. I know how to make all of these.”
Sui An turned her head, slightly surprised. “Has Senior Brother finished his seclusion?”
Fan Tianyou nodded, sighing softly. “I had to end it. I still need a catalyst to break through to the Foundation Establishment stage. Breaking through is not something that can be rushed. I might as well teach Junior Sister what I’ve learned about alchemy. Perhaps I’ll gain some new insights myself.”
Sui An saw his dejected look and felt it wouldn’t be right to refuse him at this moment. “Then I’ll have to trouble you, Senior Brother.”
Kong Yue’s gaze shifted back and forth between the two. One was mature and steady, humble and polite; the other was a budding beauty, clever and mischievous. They looked quite compatible.
Cultivators fought against the heavens for their destiny, so the higher a cultivator’s cultivation, the harder it was to have children. This was because the offspring of high-level cultivators would also have better aptitude, and a cultivator’s child would begin to absorb innate spiritual energy from the womb, being born with a cultivation level of some degree.
Therefore, some cultivation families would require their children to marry before the age of fifty or before the Golden Core stage, or even arrange child betrothals, marrying them off at the age of sixteen to continue the family line.
Sui An was already sixteen, having reached a marriageable age. As Kong Yue thought about this, he couldn’t help but reveal a foolish grin.
“Come to think of it, it’s been a long time since our sect has had a happy event,” he said to himself.
Sui An was filled with confusion. She didn’t remember any happy events in the sect before her rebirth. “Does Elder Kong mean… our sect has a happy event to celebrate?”
Kong Yue quickly shook his head. “No, no, I was just moved by the scene and feeling sentimental. Since Tianyou has decided to teach you, I can rest assured. I still have to go check on the medicinal herbs. You two can use this cauldron to practice alchemy. Work together, don’t fight over it, understand?”
“Yes.”
Sui An saw Kong Yue leave with a joyful face and assumed he was happy because she was a quick learner, so she didn’t take it to heart.
“Senior Brother, where should I start?”
Fan Tianyou took out a collection of pill recipes, flipped through the pages, and opened it for her to see. “Junior Sister, why don’t we refine this Foundation Establishment Pill?”
Sui An glanced at the required materials, the refining method, and the precautions, and frowned. “Senior Brother, this is a Yellow-rank pill. Aren’t we going to start with the simplest Human-rank ones?”
“It’s all practice. The methods of alchemy are more or less the same. You and I are on the verge of a breakthrough, and the Inner Sect Grand Competition is in two and a half months. If we don’t break through, we won’t even have the qualification to participate,” Fan Tianyou said slowly.
“But…” To aim too high is truly inappropriate.
[Host, lighting up the Foundation Establishment Pill requires one skill book. If the Host refines it now, you will not gain any proficiency. Without proficiency, you cannot raise the grade of the Foundation Establishment Pill. The System recommends the Host practice the novice-level Human-rank pills.]
Even without the system’s reminder, Sui An would not have agreed to refine this Foundation Establishment Pill. With her current ability, any pill she refined would surely have impurities, and the effect of the pill would be greatly diminished. Her spiritual roots were not pure enough to begin with; she really couldn’t afford to take any more random pills.
“Junior Sister, would I, your Senior Brother, harm you?” Fan Tianyou narrowed his eyes, took a step forward, and lowered his voice, trying to persuade her.
Sui An shook her head, scrutinizing his strange behavior. “Senior Brother, for my first time refining a pill, I’d still like to start with Human-rank, to avoid wasting the medicinal herbs. If you want to refine the Foundation Establishment Pill, I can just watch and learn from the side.”
Seeing the determination in her eyes, Fan Tianyou’s expression suddenly changed to a smile. “In that case, I’ll give it a try. Junior Sister can just watch carefully from the side.”
Sui An nodded. “Alright.”
Fan Tianyou walked over to the shelves, prepared the required herbs, and arranged them in order before sitting down on the prayer mat.
He circulated his qi and formed a hand seal.
In truth, Sui An just wanted to see how he formed the pill. Although she had read the book Kong Yue gave her for several nights, it couldn’t compare to seeing it with her own eyes and learning it herself.
Fan Tianyou couldn’t heat the cauldron with a single lift of his hand like Kong Yue, nor could he make the herbs fly into the cauldron with a point of his finger. He needed to control the fire with both hands and needed Sui An to assist him, telling her which herb to put in and when.
No wonder Kong Yue had just said they needed to work together and not fight over it.
The closer it got to the end, the faster Fan Tianyou’s hand seals became. The flames were sometimes fierce, sometimes gentle, and the various formations on the cauldron spun.
Sui An kept her eyes fixed on him.
Fan Tianyou sneered inwardly. How could pill formation be learned just by watching? It requires a knack learned from the experience of many failures. One needs to refine the medicinal properties into qi, condense the qi into a single point, and form it into a pill.
He quickly formed another hand seal.
His hands moved so fast they seemed to have barely moved at all, showing how clearly he remembered these gestures and how proficient he was.
Whether a cultivator was refining pills or casting large-scale spells, they needed to rely on hand seals to control the spiritual energy in their bodies and deepen their control over it. The more talented one was, the fewer hand seals were needed. Often, a world-destroying spell could be cast in the blink of an eye.
The hand seal was complete.
Fan Tianyou pointed both fingers at the cauldron.
Spiritual energy continuously flowed in. The veins on his neck bulged as he focused all his effort on controlling his spiritual energy. Perhaps because he was too anxious, his face was covered in sweat, which dripped down in streams, soaking his hair and clothes. It seemed as if the cauldron was forcefully sucking in his spiritual energy, causing him extreme pain.
Sui An didn’t want to disturb him and had no time to observe his condition, because at this moment, the system was playing back Fan Tianyou’s pill formation process in slow motion for her. She marveled at the system’s power; it was something she could have never imagined.
Fan Tianyou glanced at her. Seeing her indifferent expression, as if she were disdainful of his alchemy method, he felt a surge of anger. He immediately sent a wild burst of spiritual energy!
A gas emerged from the cauldron. The mystic gate1 opened.
He had unexpectedly succeeded in forming a pill!
Fan Tianyou was ecstatic. He completely forgot about Sui An, stood up, and went to the mystic gate to look. A faint red pill lay quietly inside. The pill was not very round and had some black spots on it, clearly with a fair amount of impurities, but Fan Tianyou was already very satisfied.
He held it carefully.
Sui An glanced at it. “Human-rank, low-grade. Too many impurities. Not very good. Senior Brother absolutely must not consume it.”
When refining a Foundation Establishment Pill, if it was done poorly, it would result in a Human-rank or a waste pill. Even if it was refined well, it could only reach Yellow-rank, high-grade at best. Because the pill’s inherent quality could only reach the Yellow-rank, the Foundation Establishment Pill was classified as a Yellow-rank pill.
Fan Tianyou didn’t answer. He put it away, performed a light breeze spell, and slowly blew away the sweat from his body.
After tidying himself up, he smiled. “Don’t worry, Junior Sister. How could I not know these simple principles?”
“Alright then, I’ll give it a try too.”
“Okay.” He stepped aside to make way. “I will assist you with the herbs, Junior Sister.”
“Thank you for your trouble, Senior Brother.”
Sui An decided to refine the Spirit Nurturing Pill. Its effect was countless times stronger than the Spirit Bait Pill, and all the required medicinal herbs were available.
Sui An prepared herself.
She was both nervous and excited, because this was the first time she knew what she wanted to do, what she had to do. Having a goal, even the anxiety of the past few days was cast aside.
She took a deep breath.
She put her palms together and formed a few hand seals.
A flame ignited in one hand and was sent into the cauldron.
Seeing this, Fan Tianyou’s face was filled with disbelief. Why was it that after practicing alchemy for so long, he still had to rely on both hands to control the fire? He clearly had both Fire and Wood spiritual roots, and they were even Earth-rank. Why would he lose to a newcomer in hand seals and alchemy? He couldn’t understand it, he really couldn’t.
Sui An could control the fire with one hand because she used to be a sword cultivator and had once been a Golden Core cultivator. Achieving this was not difficult for her; it was even second nature, a daily habit. Thus, she had forgotten to hide her abilities a little.
Sui An’s hand seals were not as complex as Fan Tianyou’s. The plan provided by the system was much simpler and easier to control.
The cauldron began to heat up. Sui An sent another stream of spiritual energy. “I’ll trouble you, Senior Brother, to add the medicine in order.”
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Glossary
Foundation Establishment Pill (筑基丹, Zhùjī Dān): A crucial pill that helps a cultivator break through from the Qi Refinement stage to the Foundation Establishment stage.
Spirit Nurturing Pill (饲灵丹, Sìlíng Dān): A type of pill for feeding spirit beasts, superior to the Spirit Bait Pill.
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Reika’s Notes:
- I like the pill alchemy chapters!
- This text was translated by RudeGirl and given to BC Novels for publication.
- I helped with the footnotes, formatting, grammar, etc., the usual stuff that is needed to post this on the website.
- Please let me know if there are any errors. Thanks for reading!
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- 玄关 – In this context, xuanguan refers to the opening or port on the alchemy cauldron from which the finished pill is dispensed. In Daoism and traditional Chinese thought, xuanguan can also refer to a metaphysical “mysterious pass” or “profound gate” within the body, a key point for spiritual cultivation.