Chapter 48: First Alchemy

Early the next morning, Li Xuan got up early, led his horse and grazed on some grass nearby.

The Douluo Continent is vast and sparsely populated, most land remains uncultivated, so many weeds grow here; letting the horse graze for a while fills its stomach, saving Li Xuan from having to cut grass to feed it.

After the horse, Li Xuan also reached breakfast time, took out a loaf of bread and took a bite.

After eating, Li Xuan returned to the carriage, used a small green vial to cultivate a Void Pearl and placed it into his belt.

For the coming period, Li Xuan has no great demand for Heavenly Material Earth Treasure, so he decides to devote himself to cultivating Kongming Grass to expand his storage space.

The belt designed by Li Yu has thirty‑six segments that can hold 108 Void Pearls, but Li Xuan currently wears twenty‑four segments, so it can hold 72 Void Pearls.

That amounts to 216 cubic meters of storage, and when the 108 Void Pearls are complete, it can also generate ten Kongming Crystals; each Kongming Crystal holds one hundred cubic meters, so ten provide a thousand cubic meters of storage.

In that case, the storage is more than enough for Li Xuan, and next time he enters the city he can purchase more supplies.

"Enough of that, it's time to set off." Li Xuan smiled indifferently, then harnessed the carriage, raised the whip, and drove onward toward Tian Dou City.

As the setting sun fell, Li Xuan stopped in a valley.

After a day's travel, Li Xuan was thoroughly exhausted.

"If only I'd bought a slave! Then I wouldn't have to drive myself." Li Xuan jumped off the carriage and said, clearly annoyed.

After stopping the carriage, Li Xuan led the horse to graze on weeds in the valley.

When the horse was full, Li Xuan also took out two hot dishes to accompany a bowl of rice and ate them deliciously.

After eating and drinking his fill, Li Xuan lay in the carriage and closed his eyes to rest.

Although Li Xuan was a bit tired today, he was not sleepy.

"I'm in good shape today; shall I try to Alchemy the Alchemy Pill?" Li Xuan said on a sudden whim.

Without hesitation, Li Xuan leapt from the carriage and took out a heap of grinding and crushing tools from the Void Pearl.

Finally he retrieved the ingredients needed to Alchemy the Alchemy Pill.

Alchemy is not a simple matter; it is not just opening a furnace, tossing the ingredients in, and keeping it burning, which only suits top Alchemists.

Li Xuan has just entered the path, so that crude method is completely unsuitable for him.

Alchemy requires a thorough understanding of the properties of the ingredients and precise control of their effects, so that the properties of the Alchemy Pill can mutually promote each other and achieve a markedly effective result.

Otherwise, a waste Pill easily results, which offers no benefit to cultivation and may even be highly toxic.

This time Li Xuan is preparing to Alchemy the Yunling Pill, because among the three Pills it has the lowest difficulty.

Li Xuan also wants to know whether he has the talent to become an Alchemist.

By examining the properties, Li Xuan determined the dosage and ground all the ingredients into powder.

Since this is Li Xuan's first time Alchemy the Alchemy Pill, he prepared five batches of ingredients, enough for five mistakes.

After completing these, Li Xuan finally took out the most crucial item for the Alchemy process.

A Copper Cauldron! Hmm…

Of course, Li Xuan had no other option; the Douluo Continent lacks soul masters who Alchemy Alchemy Pill, so a qualified alchemy crucible cannot be found, and Li Xuan has no time to wait for a blacksmith to forge one.

After careful consideration, Li Xuan purchased a particularly heavy Copper Cauldron.

It is a pure‑copper soup pot, round in shape, about the size of a pumpkin, with walls three to four centimeters thick.

Li Xuan placed the Copper Cauldron on the ground, arranged the ingredients around it, and sat cross‑legged on the ground, holding his breath and focusing to adjust his state.

After a while, Li Xuan felt his state was well adjusted, so he extended his hand to begin channeling soul power.

As the Azure Soul Seal on Li Xuan's back of the hand turned red, an azure lotus illusion appeared on his hand, though one petal of the illusion had already turned golden‑red.

"Go!"

With a light shout from Li Xuan, the next second the azure lotus drifted slowly into the Copper Cauldron.

"Now!"

Li Xuan shouted again, and a burst of Burning Heart Divine Flame instantly rose from the core of the azure lotus, filling the Copper Cauldron and scorching it to a searing heat.

However, as the master of the Burning Heart Divine Flame, Li Xuan is naturally immune to its scorching temperature, so getting close poses no serious problem.

Sensing the flame's temperature had stabilized, Li Xuan poured a portion of powdered ingredients into the Copper Cauldron.

But the next second, an anomaly erupted.

"Pop!"

Li Xuan failed to control the flame's temperature; when he poured the ingredients, his movement caused a brief flare‑up that burned a portion of the powder to ash, rendering that batch unusable.

"Damn! I only relaxed for a breath, and the flame's temperature spiked so much!" Li Xuan stared at the Copper Cauldron in shock, his face full of disbelief.

Nevertheless, Li Xuan is not one to give up easily; after pondering the cause of the mistake, he regained control of the flame and took up a second batch of ingredients.

Holding his breath and focusing, Li Xuan carefully poured the powdered ingredients into the Copper Cauldron while regulating the flame's temperature.

Having learned from the previous experience, Li Xuan strengthened his flame control, so no sudden temperature rise occurred.

Li Xuan controlled the flame to scorch the powdered ingredients in the Copper Cauldron, quickly burning away impurities and leaving a trace of blue powder.

"The primary ingredient is done, and it went smoothly," Li Xuan said, nodding at the blue powder in the Copper Cauldron; this is the refined essence of the Yunling Pill after impurity removal.

Sensing the timing was right, Li Xuan tossed the second and third herbs into it.

As Li Xuan controlled the flame and removed impurities, the two herbs were reduced to white and red essences.

Next the fourth, the fifth…

They were added to the Copper Cauldron in order.

After extracting all the essences, Li Xuan pressed his palms together, and the soul power within his body surged wildly into the Copper Cauldron, causing the Burning Heart Divine Flame's temperature to surge sharply.

Under the intense heat, the powders slowly melted.

Li Xuan then used the flame's power to press the ingredients together, fusing them through the high temperature.

After a dozen minutes, a fine layer of sweat beads appeared on Li Xuan's forehead.

Li Xuan ignored the sweat, pushed his hands forward again, and the flame heated up once more.

The essences extracted from various herbs have fully merged together, but at this moment Li Xuan still does not relax at all.

The final step of extracting the pill is the most crucial; Li Xuan closes his eyes, simultaneously controlling the flame temperature and using soul power to comb through the properties of the Alchemy Pill, enhancing its effect.

Half an hour later, Li Xuan feels that the various properties within the Alchemy Pill have almost fully merged.

"Extract!" Li Xuan thrust his hand and forcefully struck the Copper Cauldron.

In the next second, two black Alchemy Pills flew out of the Copper Cauldron; Li Xuan, quick‑eyed and swift‑handed, caught them, took out a pre‑prepared porcelain bottle, and placed the pills into it.

Dear readers, it's Friday now, and there are less than twenty hours left until rest; keep it up and get some rest early.

My speed is indeed not great, but I will keep trying.

Good night (End of chapter).