2022-11-20 01:14:46"Master! Master!" the four senior disciples quickly moved to Elder Wei Xuan's side. Knowing how important alchemy was for the elder, it was natural for them to know that Chen Tu's answer hurt his heart.
It was fine for Chen Tu to learn the Alchemic Refinement Flame by accident. It was also fine for him to stumble across the technique by luck.
But to say that his motivation comes from trying to cook a sweet potato...
Had the department of alchemy degraded to the point their proud refinement technique was only worthy of roasting a sweet potato?
"You two! Apologize to the teacher!" the oldest of the four scolded Chen Tu and Qin Lei and had the two kneel before Elder Wei Xuan. Although they had no ill intention to have fun by roasting a sweet potato, the thought of doing that is what pained the elder's heart.
On top of that, they failed? How could you be unsuccessful in roasting that humble, low-birth sweet potato? Doesn't that mean the tuber is more fire retardant than the precious Spiritual Herbs?
"Sorry, teacher... We know our fault now..." Chen Tu and Qin Lei quickly apologize to the elder.
"Hoo... You two... The next time you try to do something shameful like this... Don't tell others that I am your teacher..." said Elder Wei Xuan. "Furthermore, I disallow you two to defile the holy techniques of Alchemy," he added.
...
...
Ten minutes later, everyone is now inside the elder's alchemy workshop. Since the ingredient for today's refinement is finally delivered, there's no point for them to stay outside any longer.
"Child, sit obediently here and observe how I refine the pills. The first pill I will refine is what we call [Spirit Desertification Pill]," the elder said. From the name itself, there's a special reason for this pill to be in demand.
"As for Xiao Lei, you should help your fellow senior brothers and sisters to get used to the ingredient placement, fire control, etc." the elder added.
"Yes, teacher!" Chen Tu and Qin Lei nodded. The latter immediately followed the others to prepare the ingredients, leaving Chen Tu with Elder Wei Xuan.
"Do you know what the Spirit Desertification Pill is used for?" the elder asked.
"Disciple has no idea." Chen Tu replied honestly, without intending to hide from the truth. After all, he was taught by Chen Gou to face everything honestly, especially towards their master, teacher, and elders.
It seemed that Elder Wei Xuan fit the three descriptions rather perfectly. Furthermore, Chen Tu was also taught by his grandfather that,
One shall always have a heart of caution towards others but maintain honesty with someone akin to a parent.
On a side note, that doesn't mean Chen Tu would have to share his secret about the Sun and Moon Condensation Art.
The attitude of Chen Tu shows got the elder's attention. His sincerity in answering made the elder feel more generous in sharing his knowledge.
"Alright. In that case, listen properly as I'm only going to explain this once..." said the elder. Perhaps, even the elder didn't notice how considerate he had become when explaining things to Chen Tu.
Thanks to the elder, Chen Tu was told in detail about the Spirit Desertification Pill.
The main ingredient to concoct this pill is a herb known as "Spiritual Disvolving Grass." This ingredient wasn't hard to find, but there are hardly people planting them, thanks to its terrible growth requirement.
Because the plant growth would affect the Spiritual Energy in the surrounding, this peculiarity made the Spiritual Herb and unpopular plant among the Herb Cultivators. Luckily, people are still growing them, as the plant is also an effective medicine after processing.
The rest of the supplementary ingredients are interchangeable. Hence, there's nothing particular about what was used in the concoction. Although the end product, Spirit Desertification Pill, was evaluated as a cultivation pill of the lowest tier, they could still fetch the price of ten Spiritual Coins per pellet.
As for the pill's effect, it was used by cultivators to temper their bodies by constantly exhausting the Spiritual Energy within them. Frequently using this pill in training would help expand the amount of Spiritual Energy a cultivator's body could handle.
This was precisely the pill Chen Tu was searching for to strengthen his cultivation and Spiritual Energy storage.
"Alright. The explanation is now over. As for how much you grasp, that will depend on your own talent." the elder said before making his way to the pill cauldron.
The cauldron was positioned in the middle of the room. Above it was a flexible roofing that could be opened or closed on order.
"Light the cauldron!" said the elder as he pulled a chain above him to remove the lid. His other hand delivered a hint of Spiritual Energy to help the pot get into the desired heat faster.
A few minutes later, the main ingredient, Spiritual Dissolving Grass, is placed inside the cauldron carefully. The wooden charcoal for cooking the ingredient was also removed to let the heat subsidize gradually.
The rest of the secondary ingredients were added during this short period. Thanks to the meticulous approach of adding the herbs based on their heat tolerance, the elder extracted the medicinal essences beautifully.
"Resume the flame on the cauldron! Lower the lid and get the bottle on standby!" a series of instructions followed, which the disciples efficiently accomplished. They're indeed the talents chosen by the elder out of ten thousand disciples.
Right before everyone, the elder begins refining the crucial part of this pill. From heating the cauldron to extracting the medicinal essence, and cooking, they're now entering the most important part of the process, pill forming.
It decides whether the pill was a success or a failure.
Elder Wei Xuan injected his Spiritual Energy into the cauldron to start the pill-forming process. Through the circulation of Spiritual Energy, it helps to form the pill and splits them into pellets.
According to the Spirit Desertification Pill's recipe, a cauldron of ingredients can refine between two to four pellets. But even to the most experienced Bronze-Titled Alchemist, four is almost impossible.
Very soon, medicinal herbs' fragrance followed and escaped out of the cauldron.
"The pill-refining is a success!" all the disciples said, except for Chen Tu. He appeared to notice something unusual when the elder was about to finalize the process.
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The question piqued the elder's interest after Xia Xuan-Xuan opened her mouth. Apparently, even the elder couldn't help but feel curious about Chen Tu's answer. But at the same time, he can't ask this question openly. After all, he was an elder. Someone who stood at least a few levels above them in alchemy and cultivation. Wouldn't it hurt his pride slightly to ask a junior about something he should know better? Luckily, there's a Xia Xuan-Xuan in the group. While her talent is neither good nor bad, she has this social commonsense that could make everything work. Hence, she was the elder's icebreaker, always the first to hear and know everything. Chen Tu didn't respond to Xia Xuan-Xuan's question instantly. Still, everyone here could see that Chen Tu's gaze was currently pointed at the pill mold. This reaction from Chen Tu can be partially translated to "look at the result yourself!" He stayed silent and observed the mold until it was completely cooled. Then, instead of inspecti
