Chapter 157: Alchemy Dao (Please vote for the monthly ticket at the beginning of the month)

Start of Autumn.

A batch of herbs in front of Wuyou Cave had matured. The white film on Third Sister's eyes was slowly dissipating, and Green Chi's throat aperture was gradually improving, already able to make some simple syllables.

Unknowingly, Cheng Xinzhan had gained sufficient insights into the Qi Refining Realm, and now he was putting more energy into the study of the Zhou Tian aperture points.

The Second Realm had two directions of focus: supernatural powers and gang-sha. Cheng Xinzhan planned to focus on supernatural powers first, then seek gang-sha.

Because his Five Mansions and Jianggong were opened perfectly, the lifespan he obtained was much higher than others. His heart, kidney, liver, and spleen opening the mansion obtained thirty years of lifespan, which was the full lifespan. If it were someone else, twenty years of lifespan would be considered high. Opening the Jianggong obtained sixty years of lifespan, which was also the full lifespan. Generally speaking, forty or fifty years would be considered high.

So even if the true sha rushing into the aperture consumed thirty years of his lifespan, overall, the lifespan he obtained still exceeded his peers.

Moreover, he broke through the First Realm fast enough, and his own bone lifespan was high, and his lifespan was sufficient, so he didn't need to specifically focus on which direction of supernatural powers and gang-sha, but could cultivate both in order.

After cultivating his body and nature for more than a year, he felt the time was ripe to practice the Dan method. And it was about to be autumn. Autumn color is gold, which is the main killing. His appointment as White Tiger Envoy should be coming down soon.

He was going to be busy again.

————

Danxia Mountain.

Danxia Mountain is a volcano.

Of course, there would be no volcanoes on the Yu Zhang land.

This volcano was moved from the Southern Wilderness by Grandmaster Ge Hong after he opened the mountain and established the sect on Sanqing Mountain for the sake of alchemy, and it went deep underground, connecting the mountain root with the earth fire. Only then was a living volcano planted on the Yu Zhang land.

The earth fire of the Alchemy Cave of the Weaponry Institute of Bai Hu Mountain was also drawn from here.

The crater was well-shaped, leading all the way to the bottom of the ground. This passage was called the Fire Well.

Outside the Fire Well, there were two ring-shaped wells. The inner circle was called the Smoke Well, and the outer circle was called the Dan Well.

On the side wall of the inner ring of the Dan Well, many square holes were chiseled inward, each the size of a small house. Each hole had a hole above and below. The hole below was connected to the fire path, and the other end led to the Fire Well. The hole above was connected to the smoke path, and the other end led to the Smoke Well.

Each of these holes was an alchemy room, a place for Danxia Mountain disciples to refine alchemy and cultivate.

Danxia Mountain alchemists moved up and down the Dan Well, like ants and bees in the mountain.

The vigorous earth fire gushed out through the Fire Well, and the flames mixed with the alchemy smoke steaming out from the smoke path, turning into red clouds, hovering on the mountain top. This was the origin of the name Danxia Mountain.

The further down this Dan Well went, the higher the temperature, the more vigorous the earth fire, and the higher the realm of the alchemist refining alchemy inside.

On weekdays, Mountain Master Ren Wushi was refining alchemy and cultivating at the bottom. Today, because Cheng Xinzhan was coming, he was waiting outside the crater.

And as soon as Cheng Xinzhan arrived at Danxia Mountain and saw Mountain Master Ren waiting for him, he hurriedly stepped forward to salute,

"Sorry to keep you waiting, Mountain Master."

Mountain Master Ren smiled and shook his head, "Not long, not long."

Cheng Xinzhan bowed and didn't get up, and said again,

"Mountain Master is busy, but willing to take time to guide me in the Alchemy Dao. I should have asked for advice wholeheartedly, but I dragged it out for a full year. I really neglected the Mountain Master's kindness. I beg the Mountain Master to forgive me."

Cheng Xinzhan was sincere, and he really felt ashamed.

Unexpectedly, Ren Wushi laughed up to the sky,

"Xinzhan, Xinzhan, did you drag it out intentionally? I don't think so. What I see is that you cultivated your body and nature for a year to practice the Alchemy Dao, accumulated and settled for a year, became familiar with medicinal materials for a year, and understood medicinal properties for a year. Aren't these all preparations for practicing the Alchemy Dao? Plus, you practiced the Refining Dao in the Weaponry Institute for a year before, and you are familiar with the nature of metal and stone. Aren't these all for alchemy? Hahahaha!"

Cheng Xinzhan was ashamed. Perhaps there was such an effect, but his original intention was not like this.

"Xinzhan, I intend to be your teacher personally and teach you the Alchemy Dao. Are you willing?"

Ren Wushi looked at Cheng Xinzhan and said with a smile.

Cheng Xinzhan was naturally willing. The Mountain Master of Danxia Mountain, this title was enough to explain everything. Listen to his Dao name, Wushi! With such a person willing to be his teacher, what else could he be dissatisfied with?

"Disciple Xinzhan, pays respects to teacher!"

"Good, good, good!"

Ren Wushi laughed and took Cheng Xinzhan down the Dan Well.

Inside the Dan Well, heat waves steamed, and fluorescent stones of various colors were embedded on the well wall, emitting a soft light.

The two went down, and Ren Wushi asked Cheng Xinzhan all the way if he could bear it and not to force himself.

But in the end, Cheng Xinzhan's tolerance for earth fire far exceeded Ren Wushi's expectations. The two stopped after walking for a full two hundred zhang from the well mouth.

This was almost the limit that could be reached below the Golden Core.

This was mainly because Cheng Xinzhan opened his Heart Mansion after eating Qi, and had been deeply cultivating fire methods for a long time. In addition, when the true sha rushed into the aperture, he was washed by the purple fire rotten peach sha, so his tolerance for earth fire was naturally high.

Ren Wushi's satisfaction with Cheng Xinzhan naturally grew stronger. He took him into a hole with a "No One" sign hanging on it, and flipped the sign to the other side.

There was an alchemy furnace in the alchemy room. This was a standard alchemy furnace of Danxia Mountain. If you had a better one, you could use your own.

There were cushions beside the alchemy furnace, and the two sat down.

"There is the Outer Alchemy Dao in the world, and then there is the Inner Alchemy Dao. So on weekdays, when we discuss the Alchemy Dao, we refer to the Outer Alchemy Dao. When we talk about the Inner Alchemy Dao, we must bring that 'Inner' word. This is the status of the Alchemy Dao."

Ren Wushi said so.

"Alchemy and medicine are often mentioned together, but alchemy is alchemy, and medicine is medicine. Medicine Dao is also called Qihuang Law, which has similarities with the Alchemy Dao, but they must never be confused."

This was the second sentence Ren Wushi said.

"The so-called Alchemy Dao is just cooking and refining metal and stone to seek longevity. The so-called Medicine Dao is just boiling grass and wood to get rid of diseases."

"In the Alchemy Dao, the main material is metal and stone, seeking the immortal and indestructible metal nature, supplemented by grass and wood to harmonize. In the Medicine Dao, the main material is grass and wood, seeking the wood nature to resolve darkness and disease, supplemented by metal and stone to harmonize."

"So some people look like they are refining alchemy, and what comes out is also round, but the main material used is grass and wood, so in the final analysis, what is refined is medicine, not alchemy."

Cheng Xinzhan suddenly remembered that when he first went down the mountain, he had refined alchemy for the neighbors in Xiangzhang Town. That was an alchemy recipe he bought from a street stall in the Dongtian Dao. It turned out that he was cheated at that time. It was called an alchemy recipe, but it was actually medicine, not alchemy at all.

"The purpose and focus of these two are different, but they also have commonalities. Both must use fire to extract metal nature or wood nature, and both must pay attention to the fire and the civil and martial arts. The monarch, minister, assistant, and envoy must also be allocated between metal and stone and grass and wood, and the timing and weight of throwing into the furnace also have great emphasis."

"So some alchemy pills can also cure diseases, and some medicinal stones can also preserve health."

"Telling you this is to tell you that the Medicine Dao you learned in the past has commonalities with the Alchemy Dao, but the metal nature and wood nature also have a world of difference. You need to remember this."

Ren Wushi explained it very clearly, and Cheng Xinzhan remembered it and arched his hands and said yes.

"The Alchemy Dao pays attention to a metal nature, and the essence lies in the allocation of yin and yang, which is also associated with the inner elixir, and also has the same effect. It just happens that you are in the Second Realm. The next big thing is to conclude the Golden Core. When refining alchemy, you can consider it together with your own cultivation..."

On the first day of meeting, Ren Wushi talked to Cheng Xinzhan for a long time, but from beginning to end, he didn't lift the alchemy furnace or light the stove fire. Instead, he gave many high-level explanations on the origin of outer alchemy and its connection with other Daoist techniques, which benefited Cheng Xinzhan a lot.

By the second day, before the sky was bright, Cheng Xinzhan came over and went directly to the alchemy room from yesterday to wait.

Cheng Xinzhan hadn't been here long before Ren Wushi came. Seeing that Xinzhan was already there, he nodded with satisfaction.

"Today we will open a furnace and let you practice."

Cheng Xinzhan said good, feeling a bit excited.

"Just use this furnace. You are just a beginner, and you don't need to pick an alchemy furnace for five years. There is an array in the fire path under the furnace. You stick your jade card into that groove, and it will activate the array in the fire path and draw the earth fire over."

"The earth fire will deduct the points in your card according to the time. Your points should be enough, right?"

Ren Wushi pointed to a groove on the wall and said. In the mountain, the sect's own resources are deducted through points, such as the earth fire of Danxia Mountain, the star dew of Yaoguang Mountain, the jade lotus root of Baicao Mountain, and the clouds collected by the Cloud Forbidden Array, etc.

If outsiders want to borrow or buy these things, they have to spend a lot of gold and silver, which is considered a benefit given by the sect to the disciples.

And the points in the jade card can be bought with gold and silver, and can be chosen as gold and silver or points when rewarding for merit or breaking through the realm.

Cheng Xinzhan nodded upon hearing this. He had made contributions several times, and the points inside were so many that he hadn't counted them carefully.

Especially for finding the ginseng fruit pits for the sect, the price simply couldn't be estimated. How much gold and silver could buy a ginseng fruit pit? So besides letting the Weaponry Institute refine five magic swords, Sect Master Ji waved his hand and transferred a massive amount of points to Cheng Xinzhan's jade card.

He walked over and stuck his waist card on it.

"Whoosh!"

A sound of wind whistling and fire surging sounded, and the earth fire of red color suddenly ignited under the alchemy furnace.

The temperature inside the entire alchemy room suddenly rose.

"Come, sit down."

!

The two sat down beside the alchemy furnace.

"Warm the furnace first, make the fire smaller and more dispersed."

Ren Wushi looked at the overly young Daoist and said.

Cheng Xinzhan nodded. The teacher was testing his ability to control fire.

He pinched a formula, and the magic power fell onto the stove fire through his fingertips.

To make the fire small, add some water element to the magic power. To make the fire dispersed, bring some urgent wind.

As his fingers pointed, the red color of the flame faded a bit, but the flame spread out like a lotus flower, wrapping the entire furnace. And there were many air holes on the lid of the purple copper alchemy furnace, looking like lotus seeds, making the alchemy furnace look like a lotus pod at this moment, which was very beautiful.

Ren Wushi nodded. Sure enough, fame is not in vain.

He stretched out his hand and turned his palm, and a flame emerged from his palm. The flame changed according to his heart in his hand. While demonstrating, he said,

"Taking advantage of the time to warm the furnace, let me tell you about the techniques. Alchemy fire techniques are divided into calcining, refining, roasting, melting, extracting, flying, and subduing. Martial fire burning urgently is calcining, civil fire roasting slowly is refining, point burning is roasting, chemical burning is melting, urgent fire removing moisture is extracting, large fire turning into gas is flying, changing nature without melting is subduing. These techniques are connected in sequence, which can produce infinite changes. But all changes remain the same, and the techniques must match the metal nature of the metal and stone thrown in."

"In the Alchemy Dao, fire is divided into Bing-Ding, Heaven-Earth, and Civil-Martial, which are Yin-Yang, Clear-Turbid, and Large-Small. In addition, fire temperature is also extremely important. Different metal and stone materials, under different fire temperatures, either melt or fly. A difference of a hair's breadth leads to a thousand miles of error."

Cheng Xinzhan listened carefully. Thinking carefully, the rhythm of the flame technique and the breathing and spitting rhythm seemed to be somewhat similar, and they should be interchangeable. He would think about it carefully after going back.

"Let me tell you about the common metal and stone main materials in the Alchemy Dao. Cinnabar, lead, mercury, gold, and silver are called the Five Monarchs of the Alchemy Dao. Cinnabar is yang, Five Elements in fire; lead is yin, Five Elements in earth; mercury is yang, Five Elements in wood; gold is yang, Five Elements in metal; silver is yin, Five Elements in water."

"In addition, the main auxiliary materials have seventy-two kinds, such as sulfur, realgar, orpiment, niter, alum, jade, quartz, gypsum, mica, green salt, mirabilite, charcoal, grass ash, shell powder, etc., which are called the Seventy-Two Ministers."

"Each of these Five Monarchs and Seventy-Two Ministers has subdivisions. Taking the common green salt as an example, according to the region, it can be divided into Longnan salt, Shuxi salt, Jibei salt, Ludong salt. According to dryness and wetness, it is also divided into dry salt and water salt. Water salt is divided into river salt and sea salt. Each metal nature is different. If combined with different fire refining techniques, each metal nature will undergo different changes. If combined with other metal materials, the metal nature will change again."

"Hehe, besides these Five Monarchs and Seventy-Two Ministers, I don't know how many other metal and stone materials there are. As for the other grass, wood, and water liquid ingredients, they are countless. The combination of monarch, minister, and assistant can be said to exhaust the changes."

Even Cheng Xinzhan felt a bit difficult listening to this at this moment. It is worthy of being the Alchemy Dao. With so many changes, it is indeed much more complicated than the Refining Dao.

Ren Wushi looked at Cheng Xinzhan's cautious and difficult appearance, and couldn't help but laugh secretly. Geniuses, there are geniuses everywhere, but the Alchemy Dao is the touchstone of geniuses. Those who are outstanding in the Alchemy Dao are the real geniuses.

This kid learns one technique and succeeds in one technique in thunder, sword, talisman, spell, and refining. I am afraid it is easy to be arrogant. This remark just now can be regarded as a head-on blow, so that this kid will not despise the Alchemy Dao.

However, Ren Wushi didn't know that Cheng Xinzhan took "humility and caution" as his motto, always reminding himself, and treated the Alchemy Dao with a heart of walking on thin ice, so how could he despise it.

"Today I will lead you to the door, and we will refine the simplest recipe, which is the 'Eight Treasure Muscle-Generating Pill', which can whiten skin, clear the mouth, and fragrant saliva."

Ren Wushi said, flicking his sleeves, and a pile of bottles and jars floated in front of Cheng Xinzhan, each with a label.

"During the time you learn alchemy from me, you naturally don't need to provide the metal materials. However, you will eventually have to refine alchemy yourself later, so you should pay more attention and collect more metal materials, various auxiliary materials, and containers that can preserve medicinal properties on weekdays."

Cheng Xinzhan said yes.

At this time, the purple alchemy furnace slowly began to shine and turn red.

"Okay, the furnace is warm. Next, I will say and you do."

Cheng Xinzhan nodded, indicating that he was ready.

"One qian of cold mercury, start Ding fire, urgent and small, up to four hundred Zhu, fly it."

Ren Wushi said.

Cheng Xinzhan pinched the magic formula, carefully took one qian of blue mercury liquid from the bottle labeled "Erosion Stone Cold Mercury" with a camera method, and threw it into the furnace. Subsequently, he immediately operated the Six-Ding Divine Fire to merge into the earth fire, and suppressed the stove fire, making the flame flower urgent and small.

The fire temperature in the furnace reached four hundred Zhu, and the "Erosion Stone Cold Mercury" immediately flew and turned into a wisp of black smoke.

"The fire temperature is too high, four hundred and twenty Zhu, the metal nature of cold mercury has changed, it has become scorched mercury, do it again."

Cheng Xinzhan didn't make a sound, nodded, and took mercury again.

"Too slow, cold mercury condensed again, do it again."

"Too slow, half flying and half condensing, the dosage is wrong, do it again."

"..."

"Good, it's okay. Now take one liang each of purple niter and lake alum, still Ding fire, fire force turns martial, up to six hundred Zhu, melt them together."

"Wrong, both are not fully melted, why did you collect the fire?"

"Wrong..."

"Good, take three qian of floating stone, three qian of moon stone, two qian of cinnabar..."

"Two red-headed centipedes..."

"Five qian of glutinous rice flour..."

"One qian of musk..."

Ren Wushi said rapidly, Cheng Xinzhan's hand formulas danced into afterimages, the magic power in his body moved frequently and changed, galloping in the meridians without stopping, consuming rapidly. He felt that he was not so strenuous even when he was fighting with others to perform spells.

Throughout the day, Cheng Xinzhan tried sixteen times and consumed a lot of materials. It was not until the sun went down that he opened a furnace of alchemy.

He was a bit exhausted, but still got up to apologize to Ren Wushi repeatedly, and promised again and again that he would be more focused tomorrow.

Ren Wushi smiled and patted Cheng Xinzhan on the shoulder, telling him not to worry about it. If you don't waste metal materials, and if you succeed every time, what is it called Alchemy Dao.

He watched Cheng Xinzhan open the furnace and take out five round white pills the size of soybeans, carefully observing the color, and smelling the alchemy fragrance. Then, in Cheng Xinzhan's quite terrified eyes, he picked up one and took it.

He closed his eyes and tasted it. After ten breaths, he smiled and said to the uneasy Cheng Xinzhan,

"Don't worry, it's a good pill."

Subsequently, he took out an alchemy bottle and collected the remaining four pills, handed them to Cheng Xinzhan, and said,

"This is your first furnace of good pills, keep it well."

Only then did Cheng Xinzhan turn from surprise to joy. After collecting the alchemy bottle, he thanked his teacher and left.

And Ren Wushi stood in the alchemy room for a long time without moving after Cheng Xinzhan left. After a while, he let out a long sigh and said softly,

"Learning the Dharma for one day, alchemy becomes superior. Heh, is it possible that the old Daoist can see the newly baked corpse-dissection pill in his lifetime?"

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 158 =====