Chapter 23: Alchemist Su's Technique

"With just this much strength, you dare call yourself a Tribulation Cultivator?"

Qin Ming returned to his shack in the shantytown.

He opened the storage bags he had acquired and began rummaging through them.

In the storage bags of the two Spirit Feather Sect cultivators, there were over five hundred spirit stones, two low-grade magical artifacts, one mid-grade magical artifact, several low-grade talismans, and two mid-grade talismans.

One mid-grade Golden Spear Talisman and one mid-grade Fire Cloud Talisman.

Neither of them had time to use them before they died.

The sole mid-grade magical artifact was the jet-black round shield defensive artifact that Qin Ming had sent flying with a single shovel strike.

A crack had appeared on the surface of the round shield artifact; with some repair, it should still be usable.

Besides these items.

There were also five bottles of pills; apart from two bottles of Qi-Nourishing Pills, the other three bottles contained detoxification pills and the like.

The cultivation techniques and spell books practiced by the two were also inside.

Qin Ming had no use for them either.

As for the spirit stones in the storage bags of the other three people, they totaled over six hundred spirit stones.

The remainder consisted of three low-grade magical artifacts and some low-grade talismans.

In this haul, the spirit stones alone amounted to over a thousand.

"Indeed, murder and arson lead to a golden belt!" Qin Ming sighed with emotion.

He collected all the valuable items from the five people into his own storage bag.

As for the other items, a single Fireball Technique burned them all to ash.

After doing this.

Qin Ming finally began to ponder how these five people had ended up together.

Judging from the words of the bearded burly man, Fellow Daoist Ruan must have sought them out later.

Greedy for his Beast Tooth Rice, they wanted to join forces to scheme against him.

Additionally.

Among the Spirit Feather Sect cultivators, there was actually close contact with Tribulation Cultivators; this was somewhat terrifying upon deeper reflection.

There were likely others hidden even deeper within.

However, as long as they did not provoke him, it was none of his business.

For now, he only wished to devote himself to farming.

Had Qin Ming not broken through to the fifth layer of Body Refinement, today it would likely have been others inventorying his storage bag.

The outcome would have been completely different.

Two days later.

The atmosphere in the shantytown began to grow tense once again.

The sudden death of two members of the Spirit Feather Sect patrol team caused quite a stir.

This was an open provocation against the sect! Spirit Feather Sect began imposing martial law and conducting searches near the market.

"This Tribulation Cultivator is truly too arrogant!"

"Last time, they killed Fellow Daoist Long and dumped the corpse in the river channel as a warning."

"This time, they actually directly attacked and killed people from Spirit Feather Sect."

"Too audacious, simply."

"Indeed, it's too terrifying!"

Listening to the discussions of the nearby residents in the alley, Qin Ming couldn't help but twitch the corner of his mouth.

He hoisted his spiritual hoe onto his shoulder and went out to work.

After tilling his own five mu of spiritual fields, he also tilled the three mu belonging to Alchemist Su.

Subsequently.

Qin Ming collected the entire swarm of Yin Yi Shuangfeng from the large tree into his spirit beast bag.

This swarm of bees.

Would be of great use to him in the future if he planted spiritual herbs.

The Bee Taming Art was very simple to use; he had only employed it once and had basically mastered the trick.

Just as he finished his work, he received a message from Alchemist Su.

Informing Qin Ming that he was about to start a furnace to refine pills.

Asking Qin Ming to come over to his place.

Upon hearing this news, Qin Ming's heart trembled.

"Finally going to start refining pills!"

Qin Ming hurriedly headed to Alchemist Su's courtyard.

Upon entering the room.

Alchemist Su was already making preparations.

"This time, I intend to refine a first-grade high-grade pill: the Marrow-Cleansing Pill."

Even though Qin Ming had already guessed what kind of pill Alchemist Su was likely going to refine.

At this moment, he could not help but be moved.

'Could it be that Alchemist Su intends to break through to high-grade Alchemist today?'

'Then I would be the sole witness.'

"Come with me; I'll show you something good."

"Heh heh heh!"

Master Su Dan wore a smile on his face, gesturing mysteriously for him to follow.

That smile immediately gave Qin Ming goosebumps.

Qin Ming followed Master Su Dan.

He followed him to a room at the very innermost part.

Master Su Dan opened the door; instantly, a wave of heat rushed toward his face!

Qin Ming peered inside, and the scene within left him dumbfounded.

In a room about two zhang wide stood a purple cauldron.

Beside it were various workstations, with every conceivable vessel for extracting medicinal embryos and compounding medicines.

What astonished him even more was—

That purple cauldron was actually connected to underground fire!

Though small, it possessed all the vital organs.

This place was actually a complete alchemy room.

Seeing Qin Ming's astonished expression, Master Su Dan revealed a look of great pride and said, "How is it?"

"Who could have imagined that a vein of earth-fire was hidden beneath this shantytown?"

"I only discovered it by chance while passing through."

"This fire vein must be a concealed branch of the earth-fire vein of Qingyang Market."

"I built this entire alchemy room atop the earth vein so I could channel the underground fire for alchemy."

"Moreover, quite coincidentally, within the whole shantytown, only this spot can fully channel out the underground fire."

Qin Ming remained speechless for a long time.

There's even such an operation?

Underground fire veins are generally resources controlled by sects.

Master Su Dan's maneuver could be described as getting something for nothing.

No wonder he, a mid-grade alchemist of such standing, would linger in this shantytown for several years.

"However, this method of alchemy using underground fire is only suitable for refining low-grade pills."

"For refining second-tier pills and above, one must use a cultivator's own true fire or high-grade spiritual fire."

Hearing Master Su Dan's words, Qin Ming clicked his tongue inwardly.

Did first-tier pills count only as low-grade pills to him? He himself couldn't even refine the basic pills of an alchemy apprentice.

Compare that to this person's alchemy setup.

Then look at Qin Ming himself—a pile of junk.

The difference was more than a hundred thousand eight thousand li.

It would be strange if he could succeed in refining anything.

'Hmm~ I must find a way to mooch off Master Su Dan's alchemy room,' Qin Ming thought secretly.

"Alright, I'm beginning."

"Just watch from the side; don't disturb me."

"The art of alchemy is an extremely complex discipline."

"Throughout the entire process, not a shred of distraction can be tolerated; it must be accomplished in one continuous breath."

"Even the slightest fluctuation or a minute error in manipulation will affect the pill formation, and the probability of refining waste pills will be very high."

Master Su Dan said with a rather solemn expression.

Qin Ming nodded and quietly stepped aside.

Master Su Dan opened the fire valve.

Boom! Blazing flames instantly erupted from underground, and the temperature in the alchemy room soared abruptly.

Immediately after.

Master Su Dan took out various spiritual herbs and materials and began extracting medicinal embryos with practiced ease.

Qin Ming held his breath, eyes wide open.

He carefully observed every detail of Master Su Dan's movements.

Gradually.

He realized that the other's movements for extracting medicinal embryos were clearly a set of extremely superb refining techniques.

Very quickly.

Master Su Dan's hand movements flowed like drifting clouds and running water, utterly smooth.

In an instant.

He had finished refining all the medicinal embryos.

The medicinal embryos refined by Master Su Dan far surpassed his own in both quality and precision.

Moreover, appearing quite natural and casual, Master Su Dan cleared away all the useless medicinal dregs from the vessels.

Next came the compounding of medicines.

This compounding in alchemy was not simply mixing medicinal ingredients together.

Rather, it required accurately measuring the spiritual medicines, tolerating not the slightest error.

These two steps were the most time-consuming.

Master Su casually grabbed a handful, its weight just right, perfectly precise.

When Qin Ming had previously reached this step, it required spending more than half a day.

Yet after Master Su finished all this, less than a quarter of an hour had passed. This was the gap.

The next step was the main event.

Master Su rapidly formed hand seals, then merely gave the flames a gentle flick.

The originally scorching, violent earth fire instantly stopped trembling.

It immediately became exceedingly docile.

The red flames began to heat the pill furnace evenly.

Qin Ming watched eagerly, fixated on Master Su's move, that stunning Fire Control Art.

His heart itched with unbearable longing. (End of Chapter)