Ye Qin frowned, feeling a familiar sense of helplessness as he recalled the spiritual energy fluctuations that always accompanied the transition from elixir fluid to solidifying the core during pill refinement. “Forget about that for now; just keep refining!
If I make enough of them, I’ll eventually master it.” Ye Qin dismissed the thought, steadily controlling the furnace fire while continuing his cultivation. He remained within the alchemy chamber without stepping out.
Controlling the flames beneath the cauldron, he savored every sliver of realization that arose during the refinement process. Day after day passed.
The fist-sized mass of purplish-gold elixir fluid in the crucible gradually coalesced into a spherical pill. However, the fluid within was still spinning rapidly and refused to completely solidify into a core.
As the process reached its critical juncture, Ye Qin’s vigilance intensified. Ye Qin took a large gulp of spiritual wine, focused his mind, and poured all his effort into the task.
“Haste!” Ye Qin gave a sharp cry, striking out with his mana and shooting it into the furnace fire. The previously steady flames instantly surged high, engulfing the entire cauldron.
The tips of the flames even shifted color to a vibrant blue. Even the cauldron itself began to tremble slightly.
Driven by Ye Qin’s alchemy hand seals, the explosive, intense aura within the furnace acted like an invisible giant hand, squeezing tightly around the purplish-gold elixir fluid. “Hiss, hiss!” The purplish-gold fluid let out faint hissing sounds, and its volume began to shrink once more.
Ye Qin’s heart leaped into his throat. Even with his cultivation level, under the scorching heat of the alchemy chamber and the immense mental pressure, beads of sweat the size of beans rolled down his face.
“Not good!” Just as Ye Qin was about to force the fluid to solidify, his expression abruptly changed. The anomaly he dreaded had reappeared.
The elixir fluid in the furnace was rapidly condensing, yet the spiritual energy began to wildly oscillate. Simultaneously, the formerly stable purplish-gold fluid shook and trembled again, threatening to shatter into countless streams of hot energy at any second.
Ye Qin maintained absolute concentration, controlling the alchemy seals, and suddenly his mind became utterly serene. At that moment, he felt as if time had stopped.
His mind was perfectly clear, and all he perceived through his divine sense was that churning purplish-gold fluid. Every fluctuation of spiritual energy, every change in medicinal properties, manifested in his heart with absolute clarity.
This strange sensation appeared in a flash and vanished without a trace the next instant. But now, a sharp gleam flashed in Ye Qin’s eyes, and he acted immediately.
With a sharp shout, he executed the alchemy seals, directing them toward the near-rupturing elixir at the center of the cauldron, controlling the impact and turbulence of the fluid’s thermal currents. Meanwhile, the furnace fire outside the cauldron remained intensely blazing.
“Pop.” A clear, crisp sound emanated from the cauldron. The turbulent fluid inside the crucible finally solidified completely.
With a faint muffled thud, a round, purplish-gold spiritual pill the size of a dragon’s eye floated within the cauldron, emitting an exotic fragrance that permeated the chamber. A “Core Formation Nurturing Pill” had finally been refined.
Typically, alchemists strive to refine one pill at a time. Once their technique is highly proficient, they can refine ten or even more in a single batch to save time.
Ye Qin, however, insisted on refining only one of these tenth-tier pills per attempt. Seeing the spiritual pill formed, Ye Qin was overjoyed.
No matter what, after spending years dedicated to studying the art of alchemy, he had finally created a tenth-tier, Nascent Soul level spiritual elixir. Even if this success was achieved by only one percent of accidental probability, it was worth celebrating.
This Core Formation Nurturing Pill could greatly assist in forming a Nascent Soul, increasing the success rate by nearly twenty percent. Its value was comparable to half a Nascent Soul Pill itself.
During the process of forming a Nascent Soul, this item was undeniably indispensable. Ye Qin retracted the furnace fire.
Once the cauldron cooled, he waved his hand, removing the restrictions surrounding it, and quickly lifted the lid. Simultaneously, he retrieved a small white jade vial and, activating an alchemy seal, collected the Core Formation Nurturing Pill.
After safely storing the jade vial, he prepared to clean the cauldron to continue refining the next batch. “Hmm?” As Ye Qin’s divine sense swept over the crucible, he couldn't help but utter a soft exclamation.
Inside the cauldron, there was a soybean-sized spot of radiance moving sluggishly and obscurely within the vessel. Concealed by the dense, foggy purple medicinal vapor, he hadn't noticed it before, which caused him a moment of startled confusion.
“How could refining a spiritual elixir yield an extra, strange object!” Ye Qin’s divine sense pierced through the medicinal fog, locking onto the soybean-sized ball of light, observing it closely. This light mass possessed remarkable spirituality; it instinctively evaded Ye Qin’s divine sense.
Whenever his sense swept over it, the object would dart away. However, the crucible was too small.
No matter where it tried to hide in the corners, it could not escape Ye Qin’s divine perception. Ye Qin’s physical actions paused, but there was no visible movement in the cauldron.
His divine sense shot like lightning into the fragrance-filled vessel. Suddenly, Ye Qin’s body trembled slightly as he looked at it with disbelief.
“This is… a Pill Spirit?” “Some classic alchemy texts mention that only when refining eleventh-tier spiritual elixirs or higher is there a minuscule chance of a Pill Spirit spontaneously forming. This is an embodiment of the pill’s spiritual energy, born within the crucible.” “But these Pill Spirits are extremely rare, and there is no way to intentionally forge one; they only appear through sheer luck.
However, once one becomes an Alchemy Grandmaster, Pill Spirits are guaranteed to emerge during their refining process. Every Alchemy Grandmaster will refine several in their lifetime—some only once, others over a dozen times.” “Pill Spirits are highly peculiar and categorized into hundreds of types.
Some Blood Soul Pill Spirits can greatly enhance a cultivator’s physique, resulting in flesh as tough as a demonic beast’s after consumption. Some Toxin-Repelling Pill Spirits offer complete immunity to poisons; consuming them renders a cultivator impervious to all venoms.
Others can significantly boost a cultivator’s spell manipulation—one who only mastered low-tier techniques could instantly comprehend high-tier spells. And these are just the spirits recorded in the classic texts; there are undoubtedly countless other miraculous ones yet to be discovered.” “Furthermore, every type of Pill Spirit possesses varying degrees of strength.
A Toxin-Repelling Spirit might only ward off a hundred poisons, while another could repel a thousand or even ten thousand.” “Pill Spirits are not the elixir itself. These objects are never sold in markets or merchant guilds, and most cultivators have never even heard of them.
This is because once one is refined, the Alchemy Grandmaster immediately consumes it themselves and never reveals it publicly, only recording its existence in their private texts. Most Alchemy Grandmasters are comparatively weaker in direct combat, so consuming a Pill Spirit yields unexpected benefits.” Recalling this information, Ye Qin’s face betrayed an unconcealable ecstasy.
“Given my current skill level, managing to refine this Core Formation Nurturing Pill was already an immense difficulty. How could such an exceedingly rare Pill Spirit appear simultaneously?
Have I, without realizing it, broken through to the realm of Alchemy Grandmaster?!” Amidst his rapture, Ye Qin watched as the Pill Spirit suddenly zipped—whoosh—out from above the crucible and darted wildly within the alchemy chamber, desperately searching for a crack to escape through. “Trying to flee?
Where do you think you can go?” Ye Qin sneered coldly. His ten fingers flickered rapidly, summoning hundreds, even thousands, of threads of mana that wove together into a massive, several-zhang-wide net of spiritual power, enveloping the soybean-sized Pill Spirit.
This spirit was merely acting on a primal instinct for survival; its power was extremely weak. Once caught in the net, it could no longer struggle free.
Finally captured in Ye Qin’s hand, it stopped moving and huddled defensively. Ye Qin sat down on the meditation cushion, holding the captured Pill Spirit, looking curiously at the mysterious ball of light before him.
The classic texts only mentioned these entities but did not provide detailed descriptions of each specific type of Pill Spirit. He couldn't tell what effect this particular spirit, which he had invested years of effort, countless failures, and immense heart’s blood into refining, would bestow upon him.
After a moment of contemplation, Ye Qin swallowed it whole and immediately circulated his internal energy to dissolve it within his core. The Pill Spirit was pure spiritual energy, dissolving easily.
A peculiar sensation erupted within him, like a sudden flood that could no longer be restrained, bursting forth violently! This surge of spiritual energy seemed to elevate directly into his mind.
Lesser Divine Ability—Alchemy Art! Yes, countless insights concerning the alchemy art—the unity of heart and pill, the furnace fire, the elixir fluid, the solidification—surged into his consciousness far more intensely and overwhelmingly than when he had successfully refined the tenth-tier elixir moments before.
From the day he first began refining alchemy to the present moment of becoming an Alchemy Grandmaster, every minute detail of his actions replayed at lightning speed. All the doubts and ambiguities in his mind were suddenly resolved.
Decades of alchemy experience were suddenly and rapidly enhanced. Ye Qin sat cross-legged on the cushion, his expression blank, his mind empty save for the surrounding essence of the alchemy art; no extraneous thoughts remained.
As Ye Qin settled into meditation, the medicine racks, pill shelves, and crucibles within the alchemy chamber—all the spiritual materials and elixirs—released torrents of medicinal power and spiritual energy, imbued with incredibly unique properties, saturating the entire chamber. Blocked by the chamber’s restrictions, when this potent flow of medicinal and spiritual energy reached its peak, it funneled into Ye Qin’s body like a vortex.
Thin, black, viscous matter was expelled from his skin. One day, two days… Half a month flashed by.
Ye Qin awoke from his prolonged meditation. His eyes moved, then snapped open, revealing a calm, substantial, and strange light that was warm yet sharp, vanishing instantly as his gaze returned to placidity.
He immediately sensed the wondrous transformation in his entire being and constitution. His body now exuded a medicinal fragrance, a faint, almost imperceptible aroma that was exceptionally refreshing.
Even if other cultivators were miles away, simply smelling that scent would likely inform them that he was an alchemist, and one whose skill was not low. Most Alchemy Grandmasters carried some degree of medicinal scent, but few possessed one that emanated naturally from their body like his.
“This is… the Alchemy Art Pill Spirit?” Ye Qin’s expression shifted, moving from fleeting elation to a wry smile. The full title for an Alchemy Grandmaster was Lesser Divine Ability Alchemy Grandmaster, with the next level being Greater Divine Ability Alchemy Grandmaster.
Normally, a cultivator who had just become an Alchemy Grandmaster had about a one-in-ten chance of successfully refining a tenth-tier spiritual elixir. That is, one successful pill out of every ten batches.
Only through long periods of refinement and accumulated experience would the success rate gradually increase. However, the Pill Spirit he consumed had miraculously boosted his alchemy skill by a massive leap, saving him decades of necessary practical experience.
With his current mastery, his success rate for refining tenth-tier spiritual elixirs should now be around forty to fifty percent. He even had a one or two percent chance of attempting and succeeding at eleventh-tier spiritual elixirs.
Ye Qin didn't know whether to be happy or discouraged. He had neither acquired a Toxin-Repelling Pill Spirit, nor a Blood Soul Pill Spirit, nor any other particularly exceptional spirit.
“But perhaps this is for the best; at least it saved me a considerable amount of time needed to improve my skill. The Nascent Soul Pill and the Spirit Root Potential Pill are both twelfth-tier elixirs.
My current alchemy skill is now significantly closer to refining those potent elixirs!” 1 book 1 day 1 recommendation vote! Double monthly votes start at 0:00 on April 28th and continue until May 7th!
The internet connection tonight was terrible; it took me ten minutes just to log in. April 30th is my birthday—Baili had planned to go out for a celebratory dinner, but decided against it; it would take too much time away from writing.
I will spend my birthday with all you readers instead.