96: Alchemy

"My Aptitude is limited, and after many years of hard work, I only managed to advance to the Medium Grade of the Profound Level recently."

"Whenever I see the clan's younger generation training and fighting, only to have to rely on ordinary Medicinal Pills to slowly recover, or encountering some tricky hidden injuries and strange poisons that leave them helpless, my heart... it truly feels ashamed!"

He looked at Di Qingge, his cloudy eyes shining with hope. "Niece Qingge, you possess both the Myriad Medicine Saint Body and the Myriad Fire Sacred Body. You are a natural-born holy vessel for the Dao of Alchemy! Your appearance is the opportunity for our Di Clan's Dao of Alchemy to rise!"

Di Qingge listened quietly, her gaze sweeping over the somewhat shabby medicine cabinets and Pill Furnaces. She felt no contempt in her heart; instead, a heavy sense of responsibility welled up.

Uncle An's distress and self-reproach made her clearly realize the Family's shortcomings in the Dao of Alchemy, and it also made her even more determined in her choice. She was doing this not just for interest, but for the Family that protected her and her brother.

"Uncle An, there's no need to belittle yourself. If not for your years of perseverance, the Family would likely have no Foundation in the Dao of Alchemy at all."

Di Qingge's voice was soft but firm. "A ten-thousand-foot building starts from the ground. I am willing to work with you, Uncle An, to build this Foundation of the Dao of Alchemy for the Family."

"Good! Good!" Di An rubbed his hands excitedly, the misery on his face replaced by excitement. "Then... then where shall we begin? Identifying medicinal properties? Essentials of fire control? Or..."

Di Qingge smiled slightly. With a thought, the Sacred Fire Elixir Sutra—which was made of a material neither metal nor jade, felt warm to the touch, and had a cover flowing with crimson-gold flame patterns—appeared in her hand.

The moment the sutra appeared, the temperature in the entire Di Ling Pavilion seemed to rise slightly. The clear Qi of vegetation permeating the air seemed to be drawn by something, becoming more active.

"Uncle An, I think... perhaps we can start with this Sacred Fire Elixir Sutra." Di Qingge handed the sutra to Di An.

Di An's gaze was instantly and firmly fixed on that peculiar sutra. He reached out with trembling hands, holding it like a rare treasure, and took it carefully. The moment his fingertips touched the pages, a vast, ancient, and pure intent of the Dao of Alchemy, mixed with a majestic aura of the Law of Fire, surged into his Sea of Consciousness like a gentle tide.

"Hiss—!" Di An took a sharp breath, his body shaking violently. His face instantly flushed red, and fine beads of sweat broke out on his forehead.

He felt as if he were in a boundless world of the Dao of Alchemy and fire. Countless profound runes, exquisite fire control techniques, and complex Pill Formula diagrams streaked through his mind like meteors. The speed and the sheer volume of information far exceeded everything he had learned in his life! He could only desperately concentrate, trying to capture even the simplest, most peripheral sliver of the Profound Truth.

After only a few breaths, Di An felt his Divine Soul power draining away like a flood. Dizzied, he was forced to cut off the sensory connection with the sutra. He gasped for air, his eyes filled with unprecedented shock and awe.

"Saint... Saint-Grade! This is definitely a Saint-Grade Elixir Sutra!" Di An's voice trembled with disbelief, his hands shaking as he held the book. "This... this is too profound! The fire control methods inside—drawing fire into the pill, transforming the pill into fire, nurturing spiritual resonance with fire... they are simply unheard of! The medicinal ingredients required for those Pill Formulas... they are often Saint Medicines tens of thousands of years old, or even treasures containing Law fragments... and that method of using rhythm to harmonize conflicting medicinal properties and guide the pill's completion..."

He shook his head with a wry smile, his face full of bitterness and helplessness. "Niece Qingge, I... I am ashamed! The principles of the Dao of Alchemy contained in this sutra are like a vast galaxy, and I... I find it difficult even to look up at a single star within it. To have me teach you? This... this is truly... there's no way to teach!"

He understood why Di Qingge wanted to "consult" him. It wasn't that she needed to learn the basic things he had mastered, but rather that she possessed the key to a supreme treasury yet didn't know how to open it systematically or how to transform the knowledge within into actual ability.

She needed a guide to help her organize the threads, lay the most solid Foundation, and avoid getting lost in the vast sea of Alchemy.

And this guide, facing this treasury, also felt so small.

Di Qingge saw Di An's reaction and understood. She took back the Sacred Fire Elixir Sutra he handed her and said softly, "Uncle An, I know the sutra is profound. But what I seek is not for you to directly explain the Saintly Dao within it, but rather for you to teach me the most fundamental principles of Alchemy."

"For example, the Laws of how medicinal properties generate and overcome each other, the subtle control of changes in fire intensity, the timing for condensing and collecting pills... these basics of basics are not recorded in detail in any Elixir Sutra, yet they are the keys that determine success or failure. I have the Physique and the flames, but without these Foundations, it would be like a castle in the air; even the best Elixir Sutra would be like reading a heavenly script."

Upon hearing this, Di An's cloudy eyes suddenly lit up! It was like seeing a bright lamp in the fog. Right! Alchemy basics! These were the fundamentals that every Alchemist must master, regardless of rank!

He had been immersed in this path for decades. He might be far inferior in high-end Pill Formulas and fire control secret techniques, but in the most basic and tedious tasks of processing medicinal herbs, grasping fire intensity, and harmonizing medicinal properties, he had incredibly solid experience and had learned profound lessons! This experience was precisely what Di Qingge, with her top-tier talent and Legacy, lacked most!

"Foundation! Yes! The Foundation is most important!" Di An slapped his thigh excitedly, the dejection on his face swept away and replaced by the focus and passion of a teacher. "Niece Qingge, you're right! I was too caught up in appearances and was intimidated by this Saint-Grade Elixir Sutra! Come, come, let's start right now!"

He walked quickly to the medicine cabinet, opened several drawers, and carefully took out several fresh medicinal herbs still carrying the fragrance of soil, as well as some dried ones that had undergone preliminary processing.

His movements became steady and confident, his sharp eyes scanning every root, stem, leaf, and flower of each herb.

"Look at this Blood-Coagulating Grass. Depending on the year, there are subtle differences in the depth of the vein colors on the leaves, which directly affects its efficacy in stopping bleeding and dispersing stasis. When harvesting, you must keep three inches of the root to lock in most of its medicinal properties; otherwise, at least thirty percent of the efficacy will be lost..." Di An picked up a stalk of green grass with dark red patterns on the leaf edges and began to explain volubly, breaking down every detail.

"Then look at this Qi-Recovering Flower. The color of the stamen is key to judging the purity of the Origin Qi it contains. Pale yellow is High Grade, deep yellow is next, and if it has a hint of gray, then most of the medicinal property is lost and it must never be used! During processing, it must be slowly roasted over a gentle fire. If the fire is slightly too intense, the petals will char, and that sliver of gentle wood-elemental Qi will turn into scorched heat, which will instead injure the Meridians if consumed..."

Di Qingge focused her mind, and the talent of her Myriad Medicine Saint Body quietly activated. Her perception became incredibly sharp, and the ordinary medicinal herbs before her eyes seemed to come to life.

She could "see" the strands of cool energy flowing through the leaf veins of the Blood-Coagulating Grass and "smell" that most pure Origin Origin carrying the clear fragrance of vegetation deep within the stamen of the Qi-Recovering Flower.

Every detail Di An explained was like a key, precisely unlocking some dormant instinct within her. That knowledge of medicinal properties was no longer just dry words but transformed into a clear, almost instinctive "feeling" imprinted in her perception.

She listened with immense focus, occasionally asking a few key questions that often went straight to the core, frequently giving Di An new insights as he answered.