Braised Dragon with Soy Sauce

Chapter 268 Alchemy

Mo Yuming ignored Master Yu's remarks, not paying much attention to them. After all, in this treacherous world, there was nothing wrong with following a lineage; they were all just trying to survive and obtain more resources. No one would share their most precious possessions without reservation. Even Master Yu, who spoke so righteously, would never easily share his unique skills with others.

Having a good teacher is undoubtedly the best way to become a master, but even among disciples taught by the same master, some never achieve anything, while others can surpass their master. This is the result of talent plus hard work.

A different mentor can only affect your starting point and help you avoid detours. Ultimately, regardless of what you cultivate or learn, talent is the most important factor, and only with hard work can you stand out and become unique.

Unable to obtain further information about the Heavenly Profound Pill from Alchemist Yu, Mo Yuming changed the subject, inquiring about the medicinal effects and market value of precious, top-tier spiritual herbs, as well as the conditions for joining the Alchemist Association.

Having received a great deal of benefit from Mo Yuming in the last transaction, Master Yu naturally answered Mo Yuming's questions carefully. He even mentioned that if Mo Yuming wanted to join the Alchemist Association, he could arrange for him to join without any examination.

Given the restrictions imposed by the Alchemist Association, Mo Yuming needed to join to gain more knowledge about pill formulas and alchemy techniques. Therefore, Mo Yuming felt that joining the Alchemist Association was not a bad idea. After all, he would inevitably have many interactions with the Alchemist Association in the future. However, Mo Yuming did not want to use his connections with other alchemists to gain entry. He felt that entering the association based on his own abilities was the best choice.

Due to its own reasons, the requirements for joining the Alchemist Association are lower than those for joining the Weapon Refiner Association. Members only need to know basic pharmacology and be able to independently sort herbs and extract medicinal liquids.

These basic skills had been taught to Mo Yuming by the old man Mo Wen back in the Valley of Heartbreak. However, Mo Wen had never refined pills himself, always using fresh medicinal liquids to prepare medicines for his patients. Freshly prepared medicines were highly effective and avoided the risk of erysipelas, but their drawback was that they were difficult to preserve and would spoil over time, making them unsuitable for urgent use. This was because each prescription required several, even a dozen, medicinal herbs, which were difficult to gather quickly. However, these problems didn't exist in the Valley of Heartbreak. Firstly, Mo Wen had a medicinal garden in the backyard of his house, where he cultivated various commonly used medicinal herbs. Moreover, even if something wasn't in the garden, it was abundant throughout the valley and could be found quickly.

As for whether Mo Wen knew alchemy, Mo Wen didn't tell Mo Yuming, and Mo Yuming didn't ask. Just like Zhangjiabao in the weapon world, their weapon-refining methods were different from those of the Weapon Refiners Association, and they weren't members of the Weapon Refiners Association. Mo Wen's Medicine King Valley also had different philosophies from the Alchemists Association; Medicine King Valley was an independent alchemy force outside the Alchemists Association.

Within the Alchemist Association, pharmacists who can independently extract medicinal herbal extracts are recognized by the association and listed as first-level alchemists.

To advance further, one must participate in upgrade assessments. Those who can refine basic pills are Level 2 alchemists; those who can refine intermediate-level Human Profound Pills are Level 3 alchemists; and those who can refine primary-level Earth Profound Pills are Level 4 alchemists. Similar to weapon refiners, Level 4 to Level 6 alchemists are generally called Masters. To advance to Grandmaster level (Level 7 or above), one must be able to refine one type of pseudo-Heaven Profound Pill. Those who can refine three types of pseudo-Heaven Profound Pills are Level 8 Grandmasters. As for Level 9 Top-Tier Grandmaster alchemists, they must be able to refine more than ten types of pseudo-Heaven Profound Pills. Above Top-Tier Grandmasters is the Medicine Saint, but to this day, no Medicine Saint has appeared on the Tianxuan Continent, because the standard for a Medicine Saint is refining more than one type of Heaven Profound Pill.

Accompanied by the alchemist, Mo Yuming quickly passed the qualification examination for junior alchemist at the association and became a junior alchemist. The alchemist association issued Mo Yuming a bronze plaque to prove his identity.

Mo Yuming then purchased some basic alchemy equipment from the association: a mortar and pestle, sorting utensils, and a mid-level alchemy furnace. He also bought some alchemy recipes and techniques. These recipes were all common, basic formulas, and any association member could purchase and learn them. As for the medicinal herbs, Mo Yuming didn't care for the herbs in the Alchemist Association; even for his first attempt at alchemy, he could use better herbs. Some of the herbs in the herb garden planted by Mo Wen in the Valley of Heartbreak had been growing for many years, and those grown in that special environment were better than century-old herbs from the outside world.

After leaving the Alchemist Association, Mo Yuming returned to his underground cultivation room. Since the war had just ended, the situation was still very unstable. Although Jingzhou hadn't experienced the fighting, many hidden dangers remained, so it was necessary to have experts stationed there to stabilize the situation. Most of the forces available had been deployed to Liangzhou, Xin County, and the border of Qi County. Although the Great Xia Empire had over twenty Heavenly Rank experts, the Long Kingdom was currently embroiled in conflict, requiring the presence of seven Heavenly Rank experts at its border posts, each hundreds of miles apart. Even with more, it wouldn't be enough. Currently, everyone except Lei, Dian, and Leopard, who were participating in weapon forging at the arsenal, had been reassigned. Depending on the threat level, two to three people were assigned to each of the seven passes. Even Feng and Yu, who were originally stationed at Wushuang Fortress, had been transferred to the Liangzhou pass, leaving only He to guard Wushuang Fortress.

As for the two passes of Qixian and Xinxian, which were most likely to be the site of war, four Heavenly Rank experts were dispatched to each pass as a precaution. After all, Wu Yi had suffered such a great loss that it was impossible for him to calmly accept defeat. Just like Wu Ji, he repeatedly resorted to underhanded tactics to try and regain face. Even if Wu Yi dared not send troops out to fight again, he would find other ways to deal with the Great Xia Empire.

Jingzhou is the place Wu Yi is most unwilling to lose, so naturally he will try every means to sabotage it. After weighing the options, only Ji Xianlin, the strongest Heavenly Rank cultivator, is the most deterrent force in Jingzhou. With the addition of Mo Yuming, a quasi-Heavenly Rank cultivator, they are basically not afraid of anyone causing trouble.

With nowhere to go during his time stationed there, Mo Yuming decided to settle down and study alchemy.

Before mastering the basic methods of alchemy, Mo Yuming did not want to use the divine artifact 'Medicine King Cauldron' to test his skills. Although it would not cause any damage to the cauldron, Mo Yuming felt that it would be disrespectful to a treasure that possessed a spirit.

So Mo Yuming bought a decent-quality medicine cauldron to try it out. This cauldron was similar in shape to the Medicine King Cauldron, only smaller. Mo Yuming specifically chose this type of cauldron to match the Medicine King Cauldron.

After reviewing the alchemist association's basic pill-refining methods, Mo Yuming had a general understanding. Since Mo Wen had taught him many methods for processing herbs, Mo Yuming was already quite familiar with the initial processing of herbs, and some of his techniques were even better than those of the alchemist association. After all, Medicine King Valley, which could be compared to the alchemist association, was no joke.

Mo Yuming attempted to refine a detoxifying pill called the "Detoxifying Pill." This pill only required four medicinal herbs, making it simple to refine. The herbs were also quite common. The main ingredient was the extremely common Blue Silver Grass, which had a strong effect in inhibiting toxins. Combined with herbs that had the functions of clearing and differentiating toxins, the pill was refined through processes such as proportioning, extraction, concentration, and smelting. The process was simple and required low skill. Mo Yuming observed the alchemists in the association's experience in refining this low-level detoxifying pill. He found that they were very skilled in the refining process, and their techniques were largely similar. The quality depended mainly on the control of the heat during the final solidification. However, even with unique techniques, it was impossible to remove the toxins that inexplicably appeared in the pill after it was formed. At least a hundred alchemists had shared their insights on the formula, and Mo Yuming even saw comments from alchemist Yu. But everyone's comments were largely the same, mainly focusing on how to stabilize the heat during the final concentration and solidification.

Whoever has the best stability will be able to refine the highest quality antidote pills.

The herbs are sorted and placed in sorting containers according to the required quantity for each portion. The only mineral adjuvant, montmorillonite, is ground into a fine powder using a mortar and pestle for later use.

After completing the preparations, Mo Yuming took out the medicine cauldron and began refining pills. The cauldron was a three-legged, two-eared type, with short, thick legs engraved with runes. Mo Yuming studied them and realized that these runes were fire-igniting patterns, used for starting fires. The bottom of the cauldron was also engraved with fire-gathering runes. Once activated, it could continuously gather fire elemental energy into the cauldron to burn, and then control the size of the flames by using spiritual power to control the temperature of the refining process.

Mo Yuming channeled spiritual energy into the medicine cauldron, activated the fire-igniting talisman, and lit the spiritual fire. He then controlled the size of the fire according to the intricacies of the technique. After a period of practice, flame control was no longer a problem.

He then extracted a portion of Blue Silver Grass, channeling his Wood-elemental profound energy into the herb to extract all its juices. A glistening liquid floated before Mo Yuming's eyes; he was already quite proficient at this technique. Next, he extracted the juices of a second herb and mixed them into the Blue Silver Grass liquid. Following the technique, he first placed these two herb juices into the alchemy furnace to refine them. The liquid rapidly thickened under the heat of the flames. When it was reduced by half, he added the juice of a third herb and mixed it in. Mo Yuming kept the flame at its lowest setting, allowing the liquids to slowly dissolve and evaporate. After most of the water had evaporated, he added the diatomite powder and smelted it.

Mo Yuming carefully controlled the heat. The moment the medicinal liquid was fully refined, Mo Yuming quickly injected a stream of spiritual energy to envelop the medicinal herb, separating the ointment from the separated dregs. Then, he dispersed the flames around the ointment, injected wood element spiritual energy to nourish it, and used the remaining heat in the cauldron to help the ointment solidify into a pill.

This is the most crucial step in alchemy. The residue in the medicinal liquid has been separated and eliminated, and the pure medicinal components are slowly taking shape under the heat of the flames. At this stage, the medicinal components become extremely unstable, and the heat must be controlled perfectly, otherwise all the previous efforts will be wasted. Fortunately, Mo Yuming's mental strength is exceptionally strong, allowing him to control the heat and the formation of the medicinal liquid with ease.

The medicinal liquid solidified and coalesced into pills. Mo Yuming immediately withdrew the fire and wrapped the newly formed pills in wood-attribute spiritual energy before moving them out of the cauldron. Three round 'Detoxification Pills' were successfully refined.

Mo Yuming succeeded in refining pills on his first try, thanks to the pharmacological knowledge taught by Mo Wen and his powerful soul force. This was much easier than refining weapons. However, the quality of the pill was somewhat disappointing, only reaching the lower grade of the Human Profound level, the kind that practically no one would dare buy. Mo Yuming looked at the pill in his hand, carefully recalling every detail of the pill-making process, but couldn't find any problem. He had followed the steps in the prescription exactly. After much thought, he felt that he was only a little unfamiliar with adjusting the fire intensity.

Since most alchemists are practitioners of wood-based profound arts, the fire in their alchemy furnaces is obtained by using the fire-inducing and fire-gathering runes engraved in the cauldrons. Unlike weapon refiners, who are all fire-based practitioners and can directly control the fire with their own spiritual power, alchemists have more precise control over spiritual fire.

Wood generates fire, so alchemists must be extremely careful in controlling the wood elemental energy during alchemy. Otherwise, improper control will cause fluctuations in the spiritual fire, amplifying defects and directly affecting the quality of the elixir.

After some thought, Mo Yuming decided to use his own fire elemental power to refine the pills, abandoning the method of using the cauldron runes to control the fire. This would be simpler for him. He had previously used two elemental powers simultaneously to enhance his combat strength when his cultivation was low in the valley, and he had also used wood elemental power to assist fire elemental power during weapon forging. Using two elemental powers simultaneously was not difficult for Mo Yuming; in fact, it was easier to control than using the cauldron runes to gather spiritual fire.

Mo Yuming placed his hand directly on the medicine cauldron to test it and found no resistance. After tidying up and cleaning it, he began refining the second batch of pills.

Similarly, for the 'Detoxification Pill', clean and prepare the four medicinal herbs, and place them in a vessel next to the cauldron.

This time, Mo Yuming directly channeled his fire elemental power into the cauldron, causing it to form a hollow fireball within the furnace. The fireball's temperature, size, and shape could be adjusted at will, making it much simpler and more convenient than using fire-igniting runes.

Then, Mo Yuming used his right hand to release a stream of wood-attribute spiritual energy, causing the Blue Silver Grass to float in mid-air. Under the control of the wood-attribute spiritual energy, the Blue Silver Grass quickly separated into a clump of medicinal liquid, with the remaining residue automatically falling outside. Then, following the steps of refining, he added auxiliary ingredients and sent it into the spirit fire ball for refining. The medicinal liquid was refined very evenly within the spherical flame, with a much stronger effect and faster speed than before. Soon, the medicinal liquid began to solidify, rapidly taking shape under the nourishment of the wood-attribute spiritual energy, while the fire-attribute spiritual energy surrounding it was not disturbed in the slightest. After all, both were spiritual energies generated within his own body, and their coordination was perfectly harmonious.

The pills were quickly completed, and the fire was extinguished. Six round and plump 'Detoxification Pills' appeared before Mo Yuming's eyes.

Mo Yuming examined the six pills carefully and discovered that their quality was approaching that of a high-grade Earth Profound level pill. According to the Alchemist Association's ranking system, Mo Yuming had already reached the sixth-level Alchemy Master level. Just because he changed the way he used his spiritual fire, the quality of the pills changed so drastically. Even Mo Yuming himself hadn't expected that using his own spiritual fire would be so effective!

Is it possible that practitioners of fire-attribute mystical arts are the best choice for alchemists?