Chapter 323: Alchemy

This is First-Tier Spiritual Material, water grass.

This is... almost a Second-Tier red coral?

This...

Yan Buji walked over from the market, telling the Dragon Pattern Furnace one by one what kind and quality of spiritual material he had seen at his stall.

Before coming, Yan Buji had bought a basic spiritual material book nearby and flipped through it for a while.

Dragon Pattern Furnace said satisfied: 'Not bad, eight out of ten times are correct.'

That low?

It's about right; you identify spiritual materials quickly, but you still need to study their effects and medicinal properties more. However, I suggest you start researching from the most basic First-Tier medicinal formula, as alchemy cannot be mastered in a day or two—one could say a good alchemist must endure countless failures.

Alright, then what am I now?

You have an alchemical furnace, don't you? Then start.

Huh?

Yan Buji didn't stay long on Heart-Moon Island before heading to the Turbulent Sea to find an uninhabited small island; cultivators usually don't linger on such spiritually barren islands that often have demonic beasts.

This suited Yan Buji's needs perfectly; after carving out a cave dwelling here and clearing nearby sea demonic beasts, he returned to the cave to begin alchemy.

Fellow cultivator, remember that alchemy also observes the ruler-minister-assistant-adjuvant principle—primary, secondary, and auxiliary ingredients—this is basic knowledge of alchemy technique. Of course, some skilled alchemists don't need such trouble; they can condense the pill using only the primary ingredient's potency.

Yan Buji controlled the ground-origin fire, with difficulty scorching the spiritual material inside the alchemical furnace: 'Senior, what realm must that kind of alchemist be in?'

At least at the Nascent Soul stage, according to human classification, it should be—? said the Dragon Pattern Furnace.

Sixth-Tier Alchemist?!

Boom!

Yan Buji's mind trembled for a moment, and the alchemical furnace exploded.

See, your mind is unsettled, right?

Yan Buji, speechless: 'Again.'

Alchemy most forbids an unsettled mind; judging by your technique, you should also be able to craft Accumulation Devices, right? But crafting Accumulation Devices differs from alchemy: spiritual material is refined into accumulation inside the body by your mana and spiritual fire, allowing constant perception of its changes. However, refining spiritual material for spiritual pills occurs outside the body, relying solely on control of spiritual fire. Your mana control is fine enough, but your control of spiritual fire is still insufficient. This isn't like adding water when there's too much flour or adding flour when there's too much water; it must be achieved in one go!

Yan Buji pondered, then suddenly recalled the method he had witnessed in the Azure Mountain Sect, and immediately began re-refining.

The Dragon Pattern Furnace observed that Yan Buji's mana control was indeed genuine; otherwise he could not have cultivated the Heaven Gate Law.

But the method he is now using is one the Dragon Pattern Furnace has never seen.

Only saw Yan Buji's fingertips flowing with flame, injecting it beneath the alchemical furnace, releasing his spiritual sense to finely adjust.

This scene is just like.....

Refining into accumulation?

He is not only refining spiritual material, but also refining the alchemical furnace?

Huh?

When Yan Buji found the right opportunity and felt the spiritual material inside the alchemical furnace turn into a mass of liquid, he joyfully said: 'Success!'

What method is this? the Dragon Pattern Furnace asked strangely.

It's an external Accumulation Device crafting method I learned before; I didn't expect it to work quite well for alchemy.

It's quite unique, but this way the alchemical furnace ends up absorbing the power of the spiritual material you crafted; are you sure this will work?

I think, anyway we're using First-Tier spiritual material to craft pills; at this stage don't worry about the investment, first accumulate experience.

Dragon Pattern Furnace: '.....'

That alchemical furnace in your hand will eventually not withstand it.

However, Yan Buji found a clever workaround; although it differs from what the Dragon Pattern Furnace taught, it's basically the same.

The only issue is that the amount of liquid medicine produced is too little to form a pill, so we need to increase the input.

After repeating this, the spiritual material Yan Buji spent to craft a First-Tier pill would be enough to refine three furnaces of spiritual pills.

Seeing this, the Dragon Pattern Furnace didn't say much more; although it was interested in Yan Buji's external Accumulation Device method, for alchemy such a resource-consuming crafting means is not advisable.

However, since he's willing to do so, let him be.

The most crucial pill-condensing step is where the biggest difference lies between crafting Accumulation Devices and refining spiritual pills at this stage; the merging of the liquids will have many unexpected situations—try it yourself first. said the Dragon Pattern Furnace.

Okay.

Yan Buji calmed his mind, sensing via spiritual sense that the liquid medicine inside the alchemical furnace had formed; these masses of liquid exuded pure medicinal power. Most spiritual materials, after refinement, revert to their purest form, which is similar to refining into accumulation, except that refining into accumulation requires invading with one's own essence, energy, and spirit.

But for refining spiritual pills, this cannot be done; one can only merge them, preserving the medicinal power. Any contamination by the cultivator's essence, energy, and spirit will certainly cause pill condensation to fail.

Yan Buji's spiritual sense strength is sufficient, so he doesn't fear consumption, but he also hopes to succeed in one go.

The reason alchemists can make a living wherever they go is that spiritual pills can be used by all cultivators; Yan Buji also wants to become an alchemist.

When the liquids touch each other, Yan Buji can distinguish the primary ingredient's liquid; following the Dragon Pattern Furnace's advice, he simply blends the other liquids in batches into it.

At first, the few lumps of liquid contacting each other posed no problem, but as the crucial blending increased, the primary liquid began to tremble violently, as if about to explode.

Seeing this, Yan Buji immediately adjusted the speed, simmering with a low fire....

Boom!

'If you don't cut it off, you'll surely suffer chaos,' knowing the primary liquid can't hold much longer, why not swiftly inject all the liquids at once to accelerate condensation? the Dragon Pattern Furnace laughed, watching the exploding alchemical furnace.

Yan Buji's face was blackened by the explosion, helplessly saying: 'Again!'

Crafting the liquid, begin merging!

Once again arriving at the liquid merging stage, Yan Buji cautiously attempted.

This time, upon seeing signs of violent fluctuation in the primary liquid, Yan Buji hurriedly poured all the liquids into it.

Boom!

Haha, haste makes waste, excess is as bad as deficiency. Since you saw the liquid about to explode, why pour it all in?

So you're making me say all the good and bad, huh?

"Well, otherwise, alchemy is just like that. Teaching you is useless; even if I tell you what reaction to make when the elixir solidifies, if you don't experiment and judge for yourself, you can't fully master it," the dragon‑pattern furnace said happily.

Damn, the furnace is really black!

Yan Buji gritted his teeth: "Again!"

Alchemy is harder than Yan Buji imagined, and he can accept that; to think that merely having a bit of talent in refining Accumulation Devices would let one alchemize would be a disservice to those Alchemists who study and train day and night.

For this reason, Yan Buji is not easily knocked down by failure; he summarizes experience, avoids mistakes, and can always see success.