42: Alchemy

The main hall was a place similar to a classroom. In the very center was a high platform, surrounded by many prayer mats arranged from the inside out.

By now, many people were already seated on the prayer mats. Hong Yu followed their lead and sat down, then turned his gaze toward the high platform.

An old man with a long beard and long hair sat on the platform. His hair and beard were completely white, yet his complexion was ruddy and his skin smooth. Clearly, his cultivation was profound, and he possessed techniques to maintain his youthful appearance. At this moment, he was resting with his eyes closed.

People continued to enter the hall one after another. Before long, all the prayer mats were occupied. After a melodious bell chimed from somewhere, the hall, which had been filled with whispers, suddenly fell silent.

The old man on the stage opened his eyes, and his aged yet sonorous voice rang out through the hall: "Since everyone is seated, let us begin. A few days ago, I taught you the method for refining skin tempering pills. Today, I will perform the refinement here on the spot, allowing you to observe the process from start to finish. As for how much you can learn, that will depend on your own talent and Comprehension Ability. During the Alchemy process, no one is allowed to move around or speak. After the refinement is complete, there will be time for questions for the duration of an incense stick."

With that, he tossed a palm-sized Pill Furnace into the air. The furnace rapidly expanded, soon becoming a three-legged bronze furnace about a meter tall. The furnace was deep black all over and covered in carvings of plants and trees.

With the appearance of the Pill Furnace, a strange medicinal fragrance began to permeate the entire hall. Clearly, this furnace had been used to refine countless Medicinal Pills.

The old man formed a hand seal with his left hand while chanting under his breath. Simultaneously, he slapped the Pill Furnace with his right hand. The lid of the furnace opened automatically and floated above it, while flames spontaneously ignited at the base. The flames were blue on the outside and crimson on the inside; one look was enough to tell they were different from ordinary fire.

"This fire is a Rank Six Pill Fire I obtained by chance in my youth," the old man explained. "For an Alchemist, the presence and quality of a pill fire is one of the benchmarks for judging their level of skill. You all are just beginning to glimpse the Dao of Alchemy. For your own refining, you can rent a pill room on Pill Mountain, which naturally has earth fire available for use."

The old man then took out many types of medicinal herbs from his Storage Pouch, explaining their names and properties as he did so.

As the herbs were tossed into the Pill Furnace one by one, the old man's operations began to grow more complex.

Hong Yu had already wanted to learn Alchemy, so he naturally memorized everything with rapt attention, given this Opportunity.

However, he soon became a bit overwhelmed. The old man's explanations, combined with the complex steps, actually made him feel a bit drowsy, reminding him of his school days.

He hadn't expected that even after becoming a Cultivator, he would still get sleepy during class!

Hong Yu grew more and more confused. Just as he felt he might lack the talent for Alchemy and planned to give up and check out other mountains, a "ding" sounded in his mind from the System: "External instruction in Alchemy detected. Recording in progress."

The System's notification cleared Hong Yu's drowsiness, and a surge of joy filled his heart. He hadn't expected that the System could record Alchemy in addition to Cultivation Techniques. Although this moronic System had screwed him over many times, it was surprisingly helpful today!

As time passed, the old man's refinement drew to a close. He was currently explaining the final techniques for finishing the refinement and forming the pills.

The old man slapped his large hand against the side of the Pill Furnace, and the lid flew up once more. Accompanied by a thick medicinal fragrance, a batch of round, full skin tempering pills fell into the porcelain bottle the old man had prepared.

The System's recording also reached its end.

"Ding. Alchemy recording complete. Please name it, Host."

Hong Yu said, "Alchemy: skin tempering pill."

"Naming successful."

At this moment, the crowd was engaged in a heated discussion, throwing out various questions about Alchemy. Hong Yu's mind, naturally, was not on this. He quickly walked out of the hall, not noticing that his eccentric behavior had caught the old man's attention on the stage.

After glancing at Hong Yu, the old man's eyes flickered slightly, but he said nothing more and continued to answer the other Disciples' questions.

After leaving the hall, Hong Yu headed straight for the other mountains with a clear goal.

Since the System could record Alchemy, then Artifact Refining, Talisman Making, Puppets... Thinking of this, he didn't dare delay and hurriedly ran through the other mountains. However, to his slight disappointment, the other mountains were not holding classes, and there were no Jade Slips or books available for him to learn these crafts, causing his freeloading plan to fail.

Fortunately, with Alchemy as a foundation, Hong Yu naturally focused his efforts on it.

Returning to Pill Mountain once more, Hong Yu quickly familiarized himself with the environment before entering a Medicine Shop.

He listed all the herbs the old man had mentioned from memory to the shopkeeper, who deftly packed two sets of ingredients.

"That will be forty Low-Grade Spirit Stones."

Hearing the price, Hong Yu felt a bit of a sting. After some haggling, he finally managed to grind the price down to thirty-five Spirit Stones.

Once the transaction was complete, Hong Yu carried the two light packages of herbs, hoping that the System would be effective this time. Otherwise, a tenth of his wealth would have gone down the drain.

Seeing that Hong Yu was about to leave, the kind-hearted shopkeeper spoke up to remind him: "Junior Brother, it looks like this is your first time buying herbs. Take a word of advice from your Senior Brother: buy some cheap and useful herbs to practice with first. Get familiar with techniques like extracting medicinal properties and controlling the pill fire. You should know there are no shortcuts in the way of Alchemy. No matter how gifted you are, it's impossible to succeed without trying a hundred or so batches. Looking at your greenhorn appearance, these two batches of yours will likely be a pointlessly waste of Spirit Stones."

"Thank you for the advice, Senior Brother, but I'd like to try."

Seeing Hong Yu's persistence, the shopkeeper didn't bother to persuade him further. Some people only realize how right others are after hitting a wall.

Anyway, it wasn't his Spirit Stones the kid was wasting. Besides, if he wasted the herbs, wouldn't he have to come back here to buy more? Why not make some money?

Watching Hong Yu walk away, the shopkeeper smiled and said to his subordinate nearby, "This kid doesn't look like a rich person. He probably got stimulated by watching Junior Martial Uncle Zhou's Alchemy today and wanted to give it a try."

The subordinate also smiled and flattered him, "Indeed. Even though Junior Martial Uncle Zhou makes Alchemy look so easy and relaxed, the path of Alchemy is never that simple. That kid is just daydreaming. You're still the kind-hearted one, Shopkeeper; if it were me, I wouldn't have even bothered to advise him."

"Kind-hearted?" The shopkeeper gave a profound smile. He wasn't being kind; as soon as he heard the herbs Hong Yu wanted to buy, he knew what the other party was up to.

After all, over the years, he had seen many Disciples like Hong Yu who thought they could do it themselves after listening to a few lectures.

He had also encountered those who failed at Alchemy and vented all their anger on the herbs provided by his shop. Therefore, after observing their expressions, he would always say a few words of concern to the customers to avoid them coming back to cause trouble later.

Even so, among these arrogant Disciples, the shopkeeper felt that Hong Yu was quite the standout.

Buying only two sets of herbs and expecting to succeed?

How was that any different from a pipe dream?

"I hope this fool can persist a bit longer on the path of Alchemy."

The shopkeeper sighed with emotion. Naturally, he hoped for as many of these 'more money than brains' customers as possible. As the next customer entered the shop, he quickly put the matter out of his mind.