Pill Cauldron

Long Ying looked Gu Fan up and down, then smiled gently, her smile as radiant as a blooming flower, and said softly, "Greetings, Junior Brother. Is it perhaps that Junior Brother Gu wishes to exchange for pills today?"

"Junior sister, you've misunderstood. Junior brother Gu doesn't want to exchange for pills; he wants to learn about the Dao of Alchemy," Meng Wei interjected.

Long Ying slightly opened her beautiful eyes, glanced at Meng Wei, and laughed, "This is really strange. The people you brought are not hunting demonic beasts, but instead want to learn alchemy."

"Ever since I took up my post at Danxia Pavilion, I've seen you and Senior Brother Chen every few days. Oh, now I should call you Uncle Chen. After hunting demonic beasts, you come here to exchange them for pills, either injury pills or pills to break through realms. You've changed your ways now."

"Speaking of which, what about the pearl I asked you to find last time?" Long Ying asked.

Meng Wei coughed awkwardly and replied, "We had already found the Clam King, but I didn't expect that beast to be so cunning. Despite the shell being mostly broken, it withstood one of my palm strikes and escaped by exhaling mist. Junior Sister, you might as well wait for me for a few more days."

Upon hearing this, Long Ying gave a light snort, her delicate brows furrowing slightly: "I've prepared all the other spiritual materials, but I'm just waiting for the pearl as the main ingredient!"

Meng Wei quickly changed the subject, smiling apologetically, "Junior Sister, why don't you first tell Junior Brother Gu how to cultivate the Dao of Alchemy? I will definitely send you that pearl another day."

Long Ying's expression softened slightly, and she took out a jade slip from a pouch-like storage bag and handed it to Gu Fan.

"Since you are interested in alchemy, junior brother, you may take this jade slip as a gift."

"Thank you, Senior Sister." Gu Fan thanked her and took the jade slip. After a brief look, he saw that it contained dense information, all of which were methods for identifying herbs, as well as pharmacology and processing techniques.

Seeing that Gu Fan had already examined the jade slip, Long Ying explained:

"If you want to learn the art of alchemy, you must first thoroughly understand the knowledge in this jade slip. Then you can go to the pharmacy to do odd jobs. You can earn merit points and learn how to process spiritual medicines. This process will take three years."

"Every month, senior disciples from the inner sect will teach you the art of fire control and alchemy. Only after you have mastered fire control can you begin to refine medicine. This step takes talented disciples five years."

"As for refining spiritual herbs, techniques such as condensing and collecting pills can only be learned through practice. Without talent, one may never learn them in a lifetime. You've come at the right time today. I'm about to start refining a batch of Qi Gathering Pills, and you can observe me do so."

"That's great!" Meng Wei clapped his hands.

Gu Fan quickly bowed and thanked him. Ordinary people would not allow anyone to watch while they were refining pills, for fear of being disturbed.

Long Ying waved her hand and smiled: "It's nothing. Disciples like Junior Brother Gu, who practice fire magic, are perfect for alchemy."

"How did you know I practice fire magic, Senior Sister?" Gu Fan asked curiously.

Long Ying pointed at Gu Fan's red Daoist robe: "It's not hard to guess that you male cultivators, those who practice fire magic, like to wear red robes and those who practice water magic like to wear black robes."

Gu Fan nodded and smiled, "So, Senior Sister also cultivates fire magic?"

"I have a wood-type spiritual root," Long Ying shook her head in denial.

"Then how come..." Gu Fan hadn't even finished speaking when he realized that Long Ying, as a female Daoist, naturally pursued aesthetics.

Seeing Gu Fan's expression, Long Ying knew he understood. She turned slightly to show off her red rhombus-patterned gauze dress and asked with a smile, "What do you two think of my new robe?"

Meng Wei chuckled twice: "That's certainly good. Judging from its spiritual light, it can at least block two of my palm strikes."

Upon hearing such unromantic words, Long Ying rolled her eyes at Meng Wei and turned away, ignoring him.

"Delicate yet not gaudy, truly beautiful." Gu Fan quickly exclaimed, though it was unclear whether he was praising the robe or the person.

Long Ying finally smiled, glared at Meng Wei again, and then turned around and waved her hand, saying, "Come with me."

After saying that, Long Ying took the lead and walked towards a pill-making room.

Gu Fan and Meng Wei followed behind Long Ying. Meng Wei nudged Gu Fan lightly with his elbow and asked curiously, "Where did you learn those words?"

Gu Fan was slightly taken aback, thinking to himself: Senior Brother, your problem probably isn't with the words.

But he couldn't say it outright, so he could only give a perfunctory reply: "Senior brother, you might as well read some popular stories when you have time."

Meng Wei nodded, his eyes darting around, perhaps wondering when he would go down the mountain to find storybooks.

The alchemy room was located behind the Danxia Pavilion, and the three of them arrived at the entrance after walking only a few steps.

Long Ying took out a white jade ring and pressed it against the door of the alchemy room, which then opened inwards.

The alchemy room was empty except for a few stone dragon head sculptures arranged in a circle.

Long Ying took out a small silver cauldron from her storage bag, magnified it, and placed it in the center of the stone carving.

Next, several jade boxes flew out of the storage bag, opened automatically after landing, and all of them contained pre-processed spiritual herbs.

Long Ying cast a spell at one of the stone sculptures, and all the stone sculptures immediately spewed out scorching flames.

A stream of earth flame was channeled from the foot of Dan Ding Peak, whose alchemy effect surpassed that of a Foundation Establishment cultivator's true fire, and could also save alchemists a lot of mana.

Since practicing Qi cultivation, Gu Fan has developed a greater affinity for flames, and even when the heat hits him, he does not feel uncomfortable.

As the silver cauldron glowed from the heat of the earth, Long Ying pointed, and a spiritual herb from the jade box flew into the cauldron, melting into a white solution in no time.

Next, Long Ying added the other medicinal herbs into the cauldron one by one until they were all mixed together.

After the spiritual herbs were fused, Long Ying's expression immediately became solemn. Her delicate eyebrows furrowed slightly as she focused intently on the spiritual liquid in the cauldron. She cast another spell, and the flames spewing from the stone sculpture surged even higher.

Long Ying carefully controlled the flames, transforming them into countless threads that enveloped the spiritual liquid in the cauldron, refining and compressing it.

Meng Wei leaned against the corner of the wall, but his eyes were not on the spiritual medicine in the cauldron. Instead, he admired Long Ying's even more beautiful face under the firelight.

In a secluded corner where no one could see him, Gu Fan stared intently at the small cauldron and Long Ying's alchemy techniques.

Only when the spiritual liquid in the cauldron shrank to the size of an infant's fist did Long Ying divide it into several portions and condense them into round pills.

Finally, Long Ying manipulated the flames to envelop all the pills, sealing them like a seal, and extinguished the flames after a moment of gentle nurturing.

The cauldron lid opened automatically, releasing a rich aroma of medicinal pills. Long Ying waved her hand, and nine white pills flew out of the cauldron.

Upon closer inspection, Gu Fan noticed that each pill had a golden pattern on it.

"Junior Sister's alchemy skills have truly broadened our horizons. A Qi Gathering Pill with a single pill pattern is already a top-grade pill." Meng Wei praised her as soon as the alchemy was finished.

"Thank you for your hard work, Senior Sister," Gu Fan said, concealing the bitterness in his heart.

Having witnessed the alchemy process, Gu Fan felt slightly disappointed.

According to his observation, Long Ying only used one spell throughout the entire alchemy process: the art of fire control.

The remaining techniques of fusing spiritual herbs, condensing pills, and collecting pills test one's control and judgment of timing, rather than relying on any kind of magic.

This means that the Myriad Manifestations Eye is greatly less effective for learning alchemy!

Based on Gu Fan's memories from his previous life, alchemy is more like an empirical science than something as precise as physics or mathematics. No wonder high-level alchemists are hard to find.

Without a massive amount of spiritual herbs, it's impossible to cultivate high-level alchemists!

Long Ying wiped the sweat from her forehead, put the pill into a white jade bottle, and revealed a bright smile.

Even she couldn't possibly refine a elixir with pill patterns every time, so she was naturally in a great mood at the moment.

"Well, junior brother, do you know what alchemy is now?" Long Ying asked Gu Fan.

Gu Fan nodded slightly.