Chapter 309

Wang Yu looked at this alchemy room, identical to Fan Tian's, then took out a large number of boxes filled with various spiritual herbs from his storage pouch and placed them skillfully on the nearby shelves.

He then opened two of the boxes, inside which lay precisely the two newly acquired herbs: "two-hundred-year yellow essence" and "three-hundred-year fire-cloud jujube."

Wang Yu stared at the two herbs, recalling their detailed properties and effects as recorded in relevant formulas, then raised a finger and lightly scraped their surfaces with his nail, twisting slightly—immediately, two thin slivers of flesh peeled off each herb.

Wang Yu picked up one sliver, placed it on his tongue, and gently held it, sensing a faint sweetness, then narrowed his eyes and savored it slowly.

After a moment, a cool sensation drifted into his abdomen…

Not long after, Wang Yu formed a hand seal and conjured a small cluster of clear water, rinsed his mouth, then placed the other herb between his lips.

This time, the taste turned bitter, sour, and numbing, while a wave of heat surged through him, causing his eyes to flicker slightly brighter.

…

"Pah!" Wang Yu spat out the herb slivers, re-stored the two herbs, and turned his gaze toward the alchemy furnace at the room's center, his expression thoughtful.

When he first became Fan Tian's temporary alchemy apprentice, he had intended to use Overclock's assistance to effortlessly refine pills.

But he discovered that while Overclock's synchronization mode granted him extraordinary insight, allowed perfect emotional control, and enabled him to perfectly replicate every motion Fan Tian demonstrated during alchemy—even down to the slightest detail—

Fan Tian and he were still two different people; though their external movements appeared identical, Overclock could not replicate or simulate the precise amount of spiritual power channeled internally, resulting in fundamentally different outcomes—the proverbial "a hair's breadth off, a thousand miles apart!"

Moreover, no two spiritual herbs used in alchemy were ever identical.

Herbs of different ages had vastly different properties.

Even herbs of the same age varied considerably in their properties.

Even Fan Tian himself often made subtle adjustments to his alchemy motions depending on the herb's properties, leaving Wang Yu unable to grasp the finer details.

Wang Yu had naturally asked Fan Tian about this.

According to this second-rank alchemist, alchemy was entirely a matter of experience—only by refining countless pills could a beginner gradually develop their own techniques and accumulate sufficient alchemical experience.

As for how many attempts it took to successfully produce a pill, that depended entirely on one's innate talent.

The vast Four Symbols Sect had produced only three first-rank alchemists and two second-rank alchemists, revealing just how difficult and resource-intensive the alchemical path was.

Fan Yin, under Fan Tian's direct tutelage, had studied alchemy for over a decade and still could not produce even the simplest entry-rank pill, yet had consumed so many herbs that even Fan Tian struggled to bear the cost, and had nearly given up on his nephew.

As for Fan Tian's rise to second-rank alchemist, it was because after reaching Foundation Establishment and becoming a first-rank alchemist, he signed an eternal binding contract with the sect, allowing him to refine countless pills without limit—until he forcibly elevated his alchemy to the second-rank level.

According to Fan Tian, the other second-rank alchemist in the Four Symbols Sect had a nearly identical history.

When Wang Yu heard this answer, his heart sank.

He had easily become a forging master by using Overclock to precisely inscribe spiritual runes.

But alchemy required accumulated experience through repeated refining—Overclock could not help much here.

After nearly two years of study without making any progress, having spent thirty to forty thousand spirit stones on alchemical herbs, nearly exhausting his entire fortune, he had reluctantly prepared to abandon it—when a tremendous change occurred.

During one attempt to refine the simplest entry-rank fasting pill, whether by sheer luck or a sudden flash of insight, he somehow managed to produce a single low-quality fasting pill.

That single, insignificant pill triggered a meteoric leap in his alchemical knowledge; within merely half a year, he could effortlessly refine other entry-rank pills, astonishing Fan Tian, who immediately took him as a disciple.

After more than a decade of accumulation, he now confidently believed his alchemical experience surpassed Fan Tian's—his only weakness being his lack of Foundation Establishment-level spiritual power and cultivation, preventing him from refining second-rank pills.

Thinking of this, Wang Yu's lips curled slightly, and he silently murmured, "Log in interface."

The next instant, a flash of white light swept over him, and he appeared in the Taiyuan Login Interface lobby.

The once-silver-white hall had grown somewhat larger.

Clearly, Helena's earlier deduction was correct: this login interface was intimately tied to the strength of one's spiritual energy.

Each time he broke through a minor Qi Condensation stage over the past decade, his spiritual energy's upper limit had increased slightly—though nowhere near the growth of the first three levels of Star Mind Force, the increase was still substantial.

After all, each minor stage breakthrough in Qi Condensation built upon the foundation of his existing spiritual energy.

Remember, after cultivating three levels of Star Mind Force, his spiritual energy had already exceeded that of his peers by eight to nine times; adding another ten to twenty percent per stage breakthrough meant his current spiritual sense was terrifyingly potent.

Wang Yu, standing in the silver hall, made no movement—only shifted his body slightly.

The next instant, a powerful spiritual pressure erupted from him!

The astonishing spiritual energy surged relentlessly upward!

In an instant, it broke past the supposed limit of Qi Condensation Level Twelve, entering a new minor stage—and then broke through another level.

One level!

Two levels!

Three levels!

When Wang Yu's aura rose to just slightly below that of a newly Foundation-Established cultivator, the spiritual pressure finally stabilized.

"Heh, Qi Condensation Great Completion!"

Wang Yu raised his hands, glanced at them, and a faint, mocking smile appeared on his face.

He then reached out with one hand, and as tiny crystal lights flickered, they coalesced into a translucent, thumb-sized pill.

The pill resembled jelly—semi-transparent, marked with three faint silver medicinal patterns, emitting a faint, enticing fragrance that made one instinctively want to swallow it immediately—it was a top-grade pill.

Spirit Calming Pill!

Wang Yu stared at the pill in his hand, then unhesitatingly tossed it into his mouth, chewed it like a soybean, and swallowed it—his expression utterly nonchalant.

Only then did he stride straight toward the black metal chair at the center of the hall.

The moment he sat down, a red light pillar enveloped him, and a virtual keyboard materialized before him, while the massive screen ahead blazed to life.