My First Experience with Alchemy

Chen Lu finally understood where Chu Liutang's malice towards him came from.

He worked hard for twenty years, and was subservient for twenty years, before he could refine elixirs on his own.

Now, however, a strange young man has arrived and can immediately begin refining pills.

Doesn't this mean that all twenty years of his career have been wasted?

Chen Lu sighed inwardly. There was still a long way to go, and he would have to have a frank talk with Chu Liutang when he had time.

"Master, why don't you just teach me alchemy directly?"

Chen Lu dared not say anything more, for fear that he would regret it.

"Sigh, you little rascal," Master Li Dan said, shaking his head helplessly.

If he really agrees to start learning from scratch, I won't agree.

With so many things to do right now, I don't have the energy to teach him from scratch.

Isn't this kid supposed to be highly perceptive? Let's see how long it takes him to refine a Qi-refining pill without any poison.

When he succeeds, he'll definitely give those old buddies a good dressing down.

"During your stay with me, you will only need to learn how to refine elixirs."

During the fifteen days you are back, in addition to your normal cultivation, I will arrange some other tasks for you, and I will test you every time you come.

I'm confident in the level of difficulty; it won't affect your cultivation.

"Yes, Master."

"These elixirs are used to refine a type of pill that is most widely sold and cheapest on the market—the Bigu Pill."

These medicinal materials are very inexpensive, so it doesn't matter if they are ruined during processing.

During this time, I've been using these elixirs to practice controlling the heat and timing.

All the medicinal materials were mixed together, some good and some bad, and some were even counterfeited using sophisticated methods.

Moreover, there are many other spiritual herbs besides those used to refine fasting pills.

Master Li did this on purpose to test his ability to identify medicinal herbs.

In the future, when buying medicinal herbs, I will be able to avoid many pitfalls and successfully purchase the herbs I need.

After quickly reciting the formula for the Bigu Pill, he said no more and left Chen Lu to find it on his own.

Chen Lu composed himself, recalling what he had seen in the study earlier. He squatted down, carefully examining and selecting the items.

After selecting the necessary herbs, Master Li Dan then spoke, pointing out which herbs were fake and which were not old enough.

Then the herbs were thrown back, and he was asked to search for them again, repeating this process until Chen Lu had selected the correct herbs completely.

Much knowledge often relies on oral transmission and personal instruction; what is taught in books is often too general, or has become somewhat outdated with the times.

The methods for identifying counterfeit medicine in the book are from three hundred years ago.

However, during this period, those counterfeit drug dealers will also recognize the flaws, and some people will gradually update and improve them, making them more and more perfect.

Furthermore, the soil fertility has declined because a certain medicinal herb has been grown in the production area for too many years.

Even if it has reached a certain age, its medicinal efficacy is not as good as it was when the formula was first created.

Therefore, every few decades, the Medicine King Sect spontaneously and free of charge publishes the changes in spiritual herbs to the cultivation world, allowing alchemists to make their own choices.

Although Master Li was somewhat disappointed with the Medicine King Sect for not having anyone to refine pills.

But it is highly commendable in other aspects.

Of course, when that content reaches the territory of the Xuanqing Sect, it will be intercepted by the Xuanqing Sect.

Carefully review and study it, and revise certain parts.

Then they are distributed to various immortal cities and markets, and after being rated from multiple perspectives such as contribution, tax payment, and reputation, a portion of the content is distributed according to the level.

This is a way of indirectly encouraging alchemists to pay more taxes and contribute more to the Immortal City, so that you won't fall behind other alchemists.

By letting alchemists compete among themselves, eliminating the weak from within, and without the interference of outsiders, the best results can be achieved.

"Alright, let's start the fire now."

Master Li stood aside, not intending to demonstrate. He would wait until the student made a mistake before pointing out the error and asking him to continue and redo it.

Otherwise, he would lose the most precious thing a cultivator possesses—self-enlightenment.

Things learned from others' demonstrations are quickly forgotten; only what one learns through self-realization will be remembered for a lifetime.

Chen Lu picked up the spirit charcoal and carefully felt around for it.

Master Li encouraged him from the side, "Go ahead and do it boldly. Even if the alchemy furnace explodes, it's okay. You won't have to pay for it."

Moreover, there is a defensive array under your buttocks that will only break when attacked with full force by a Foundation Establishment cultivator.

The crafting techniques that Qi Refining cultivators can produce cannot reach that level.

Relieved, Chen Lu pinched his fingertips together, and the intense metal-elemental spiritual energy rubbed against each other, sparking sparks that landed on the spirit charcoal.

boom!

The spirit charcoal ignited instantly, bursting forth with extremely high temperatures.

Chen Lu was startled and his whole body trembled. Fortunately, the flames were blocked by the defensive array, otherwise he would have had his hair burned off by now.

Li Danshi's voice rang out from the side:

"The charcoal used for alchemy is the same as that used for crafting weapons, but the way they are used is exactly the opposite."

They don't care about durability; they only care about maintaining extremely high temperatures.

It doesn't matter if the firepower is higher or lower, just replenish the spirit charcoal frequently and don't let the transition gap be too long.

We need to use fire control techniques to lower the temperature as much as possible, making it more durable and stable.

Unless you have absolute confidence, never add or remove spirit charcoal midway, otherwise even a slight change in the heat will burn the spirit medicine and destroy its medicinal properties.

Spirit charcoal is worthless, but a batch of spirit herbs is very valuable.

Master Li Dan spoke eloquently from the side, explaining the appropriate temperature, time, and timing for refining the Bigu Pill.

After finishing his explanation, Chen Lu nodded slightly: "Yes, Master."

Then he used the fire control technique he had learned in his spare time.

With one hand, he manipulates the spirit charcoal into the furnace, and with the other, he controls the heat to bring it to an optimal temperature.

This process is extremely exhausting.

Either the process was over-manipulated, causing the charcoal to extinguish, or the stacking method was incorrect, resulting in uneven heat distribution.

As a beginner, he would not be able to spot these problems immediately, and Master Li would not speak up to stop him, but would let him make mistakes.

After burning several medicinal herbs, Master Li would not point out the problem, but would let him figure it out himself.

Once you figure it out, experiment again. If it works, proceed to the next step.

If it's not right, then point out the problem, but don't tell him how to solve it; let him figure it out himself.

To learn alchemy quickly, one must bear the consequences.

When the eldest senior brother Li Ming and the second senior brother Chu Liutang were studying, Master Li Dan would give them careful instruction.

Every step, and every problem that arises, will be explained in detail.

To achieve in a few days what they took months to accomplish requires tremendous perseverance.

In private, Li Danshi is kind and friendly, loves to joke, and is open and honest with everyone.

But when it comes to alchemy, he becomes extremely cold, taciturn, meticulous, and frighteningly serious.

Perhaps it was precisely because of this that the Chu family chose him to teach their children.

Otherwise, the Chu family would definitely have other alchemists with higher cultivation levels than Master Li, but they would not allow those people to teach their younger generation.

This is a truly good mentor; I've never met one like him before.

In the future, as my strength increases, I will enter the increasingly complex world of cultivation, where it will be difficult to find a master like me.