Chapter Six: Refining the Elixir

  No rest on New Year's Day, still updating with increased quantity but no increase in price... can I get a collection?

  **

  In the blink of an eye, an hour passed, and apart from introducing these fragmented knowledge, Fuling focused on teaching various techniques and skills for alchemy.

  Finally, Fuling said lightly: "Among you, the shortest learning of alchemy has been a year now, and you must be quite familiar with how to refine Dan. However, refining Dan by hand is completely different from hearing various techniques in your ears! Today, I will give each of you ten sets of Peiyuan Dan materials, come and try to refine Peiyuan Dan. The one who performs the best will have a heavy reward!"

  Below, at this moment, everything was harmonious and joyful. Only Fuling Elder would give all of them such a chance to refine the elixir.

  Of course, every time they refine the elixir, there is also a test in disguise. So while everyone's heart is delighted, there are also several points of tension. Moreover, since Fuling said that there would be heavy rewards, then whoever refines the most and best elixirs will definitely receive particularly rich rewards.

  Nor does it know what will be...

  Even if it's hopeless, deep down there is still admiration and expectation.

  But Zhi Ming's face was flushed with excitement. In his opinion, among these outer sect disciples, the strongest in alchemy, aside from himself, who else could it be? He had already won.

  Without mentioning how excited these outer sect disciples were, let's just say that Fuling immediately ordered the crowd to be led one by one into the inner temple's earth fire room.

  They were only in the Qi Refining stage, and could only use the earth fire to refine the elixir. The temperature of the earth fire was extremely high, requiring a special formation to hold it back, so it was naturally impossible for it to be in such a large hall.

  Such an opportunity is hard to come by, and Ling Xiao cherished it very much.

  Together with Fengyi, they followed the leading Shixiong to the corridor behind the main hall and entered the underground fire room. This was only his second time here, as soon as he stepped in, he felt a deep heat rising from the ground, spreading up from his feet, the entire soles of his feet were scorching hot; the air entering his nostrils was even more fiery, like being burned.

  As I looked up, all I saw was a vast space underground, with several blue three-legged cauldrons floating about one foot off the ground. The bottom of each cauldron had been burned to a fiery red color.

  Directly below the furnace, a complex pattern of lines is drawn with an unknown material. Following the lines, it seems as if a wave of flames suddenly bursts out, scorching eyes that feel like a sharp pain.

  Ling Xiao hastily withdrew his gaze, knowing that his current cultivation was still too low and he couldn't directly look at this formation.

  Looking at Fengyi beside him, her pretty face was slightly flushed from the heat of the earth fire, adding a few shades of redness to her already beautiful complexion. Ling Xiao's heart skipped a beat inexplicably.

  However, he always treated Fengyi as if she were his own sister. The thought that had flashed through his mind was just a fleeting moment, and instead, he thought to himself that Fengyi had grown up too, and was now a big girl.

  They gradually went deeper and parted ways with Fengyi, each finding their own place to sit cross-legged in front of the furnace. Since alchemy requires concentration of all one's spirit, there was a wide distance between each furnace to avoid disturbing each other. --- Ling Xiao didn't know that this was already a very rough setup; formal alchemy rooms were not independent from each other.

  He glanced around and saw a thin outer disciple sitting next to him, his eyes darting back and forth with a sly expression. Ling Xiao recognized him as Pang Shan, who had entered the sect at the same time as himself. Even now, he was only at the first level of Qi Refining, and his talent could only be considered mediocre.

  He glanced around cautiously, then secretly stuffed the distributed materials into his sleeve, hiding more than half of them. Pang was surprised and asked: "Brother Peng, what are you doing?"

  Pang Shan was startled, but upon seeing it was Ling Xiao, he finally relaxed. He had a good relationship with Ling Xiao, and after glancing around to make sure no one was watching, he leaned in close with a sly expression and whispered: "Ling younger brother, I'm telling you this, but don't go spreading it around! Hide these materials away and sell them on the down-low, it's an easy way to make some decent money!"

  Ling Xiao was startled, "Then how did you refine the elixir?"

  Pang Shan chuckled and said, "Refine the elixir? That's not something a low-ranking cultivator like me can do. I don't have that kind of talent."

  Ling Xiao was both shocked and amused, and couldn't help but ask another question, "Even so, how many times can such opportunities arise in a year? What can be earned from this?"

  Pang Shan gave him a glance, revealing an "you don't know" expression, and chuckled softly: "This can only be considered as extra income! The main thing is that there are elixirs obtained by exchanging contribution points every month."

  Is that a pill exchanged with contribution points? That's something used for their cultivation!

  Ling Xiao was taken aback for a moment, then suddenly understood. He had already given up on cultivating immortality! As outer sect disciples, they would complete some tasks assigned by the sect every month, such as picking herbs, and in return receive contribution points. With these points, they could exchange for some elixirs and other items from within the sect that were essential for their cultivation. The value of these elixirs far surpassed that of the herbs.

  Selling these elixirs would indeed bring in a substantial income. Perhaps it's not much among cultivators, but what about back in the secular world?

  The little spiritual stone they earned was enough to make them worry-free for life.

  It seems like a feasible path, but without the aid of elixirs, relying solely on themselves, how long will it take for them to break through? I'm afraid they may never have the chance to succeed in building their foundation again in this lifetime!

  Ling Xiao felt a little regretful, but also understood that even if he could get dan medicine to assist him every month, how many people could successfully build their foundation? Outer door disciples could only get limited resources after all; and not everyone had enough innate talent.

  It's better to take advantage of these opportunities, accumulate a fortune, and then leave the Qi Yun Sect to return to secular life and enjoy a peaceful life, rather than struggling hard all one's life without achieving success.

  Ling Xiao was somewhat silent, everyone has their own aspirations, and naturally cannot be forced.

  He had always been determined, and Pang Shan's words could not shake his determination to cultivate immortality. However, he couldn't help but feel a little sigh in his heart, indeed, snakes have their own paths, mice have their own roads, and they are not the same.

  A myriad of thoughts were jumbled together for a moment, until the appearance of Elder Fowling, when he finally came back to his senses.

  Fuling Elder briefly mentioned a few key points and then ordered everyone to start refining their elixirs.

  Ling Xiao closed his eyes, focused his mind, and slowly inhaled and exhaled, expelling all distracting thoughts. Before refining the elixir, one must adjust both body and mind to their optimal state; otherwise, even a slight distraction during the refinement process would almost certainly mean failure!

  And each failure in alchemy means a waste of precious materials.

  He rarely had the opportunity to refine his elixir, so he was even more cautious.

  After taking a deep breath, Ling Xiao opened his eyes and, without hesitation, followed the example of others, continuously casting several spells with his hands. The array on the ground was instantly activated, and the complex patterns lit up one by one. A crimson flame suddenly burst out from the ground and shot onto the bottom of the furnace.

  First of all, it was Wen Lu. Although he didn't have to worry about failing and wasting materials, Ling Xiao still didn't dare to be the slightest bit negligent.

  His alchemy techniques were all learned bit by bit in such lectures, and although he had practiced diligently in private, he couldn't say he was familiar with them, so he was even more cautious.

  Several successive spells were cast, and the flames spewing out of the underground spell array, instantly split into four strands under his true energy guidance, swirling upwards like a spinning fire dragon, burning at the bottom of the furnace; Moreover, from time to time, there would be wisps of flame that would burst out from one side of the furnace, bringing up waves of scorching heat.

  Refining the elixir requires precise control over the flame and the medicine, so it naturally demands a very high level of mental focus. Ling Xiao's shallow cultivation is already at its limit with this degree of flame manipulation. If he were to be given an even better refining room, he might not even be able to control the flames.

  The divine thought responded, the fire in the furnace had reached its full potential. Only then did he separate his hands and take out all the materials for the Pei Yuan Dan, large and small: Hunyuan jade stone, Tongling branch, Peiyuan grass... one by one placing them in front of him.

  The effect of Pei Yuan Dan is to assist cultivators in their cultivation, and it is the most basic type of dan medicine. However, there are three main medicines and more than ten auxiliary medicines. Just this one item can be seen as the difficulty of alchemy.

  Next is the purification of medicinal herbs.

  This is an extremely difficult link in the eyes of others, but for Ling Xiao, it is not difficult at all.

  However, he didn't immediately use the mysterious flame to refine the spiritual medicine. At this time, under the watchful eyes of everyone, if he easily refined the spiritual medicine, wouldn't that arouse even more suspicion?

  He was imitating the appearance of others, and first sent the Tongling branch into the air outlet of the furnace. The Tongling branch is a withered branch in the shape of a tree branch, curved like a dragon, dry and wrinkled; if not for the abundant spiritual energy, it would almost make people mistake it for an ordinary withered branch.

  With the manual in hand, carefully hold the spiritual branch, control the temperature of the earthly fire, and use the usual method to refine that spiritual branch bit by bit.

  A spark is drawn, hot air surges, and the spiritual branch under his true energy protection, condenses, refines, and purifies bit by bit.

  "Hiss——"

  But before long, the furnace suddenly transmitted a hissing sound, and the flames suddenly jumped up high. The temperature in the furnace was temporarily out of control, and instantly that spiritual branch was burned to black ash by the earth fire.

  Ling Xiao beckoned and took out a withered spiritual branch, unable to help but let out a faint sigh.

  The four main steps of alchemy are warming the furnace, refining, condensing the elixir and taking the elixir. Among them, refining and condensing the elixir are extremely easy to fail. With little practice, he will be unfamiliar with it, and even fail in refining, which is not surprising.

  Set aside the refined spiritual branch and continue to purify the remaining materials.

  Time passed bit by bit. From time to time, there were dull thuds and sighs of regret from the other disciples. Refining elixirs was indeed difficult, and these outer sect disciples rarely had such practical refining opportunities, so many people failed repeatedly.

  A whole hour has passed.

  Ling Xiao let out a long sigh, stopped what he was doing, and looked at the result of his alchemy, unable to help but smile wryly.

  He refined a total of nine materials, with only one successful purification of Tongling Branch, two successful purifications of Peiyuan Grass and two successful purifications of Hunyuan Jade Stone; the remaining auxiliary materials were each two or three types...

  Whether it's Lingzhi, Peiyuan grass or Hunyuan jade stone, they are all essential materials for refining Peiyuan Dan. In other words, out of nine portions of materials, he can only count one portion as successfully refined! And judging from the purity of this powder, I'm afraid it doesn't even reach 60%, which is far inferior to the powder he refined using that mysterious flame.

  Most of his fellow disciples also had two or three successful purifications; those who were more skilled could even purify four or five.

  Ling Xiao glanced around calmly, making sure no one was paying attention, before taking the last remaining material. This final piece, he intended to use the mysterious flame to purify, and with this success rate, it shouldn't attract anyone's notice, right?

  First, throw the materials into the furnace, then slowly move your right hand closer to the furnace, silently circulating true energy, wrapping around that pale blue flame, spewing out from the palm of your hand, directly sending it into the furnace.

  He was extra careful and no one paid special attention to him, so what he did didn't leave any trace.

  The process went very smoothly.

  Tongling branch, Hunyuan jade stone, Peiyuan grass... all the main and auxiliary medicines of Peiyuan Dan were easily utilized by him to be burned into pure powder with mysterious flames - a pure powder for refining elixirs.

  Moreover, each powder maintains a fairly high purity. Of course, he can also see that these powders, whether in color or fragrance, are somewhat inferior to the powder extracted from that nine芝grass. I suppose the purity is slightly lower. However, the root of that nine芝grass had been entwined with that strange flame, so it's not surprising...

  The material purification is complete, next is the condensation of Dan.

  This was only his second time refining the elixir, and the memory of the last time he refined it wasn't particularly pleasant. Just as Ling Xiao calmed down and was about to start reciting the incantation for the crucial fusion stage, a faint voice suddenly sounded in front of him:

  "Is this the powder you just refined?"