Chapter 186 - 181: Making Alchemy Insight Permanent
Li Yuan had been in Yunyang Market for nearly a month and was now familiar with most of the shops and stalls.
He knew which shops sold cheap Spirit Grass, which ones had good-quality beast hides, and which alley sold bamboo slips inscribed with Magic.
One morning, Li Yuan went to the Loose Cultivator district to restock on Spiritual Ink.
On his way back from buying the Spiritual Ink, he passed an inconspicuous corner on the east side of the stall area.
A Loose Cultivator in his sixties was squatting on the ground. In front of him, a few items were scattered across a piece of coarse, grease-stained cloth.
Two unlabeled bottles of medicinal pills, a pair of rusty iron tongs, a few ore fragments, and a thin, rolled-up booklet made of beast hide.
The beast-hide booklet was half-rolled, revealing several lines of densely packed, tiny script on the exposed portion.
Li Yuan squatted down for a closer look.
Three words were written on the booklet’s cover: Qi Transformation Pill.
A line of smaller text below read: A Tier One Low Grade support pill. After consumption, it can temporarily harmonize conflicts between different Spiritual Power Attributes within the body.
"How much for this?"
The old Loose Cultivator glanced at Li Yuan, his eyes cloudy.
"Thirty Spirit Stones."
"Twenty-five."
The old Loose Cultivator clicked his tongue and tilted his head, thinking for a moment.
"Twenty-eight."
Li Yuan counted out twenty-eight Spirit Stones, placed them on the cloth, and tucked the Qi Transformation Pill recipe into his storage bag.
Back in his courtyard, he shut the door.
Li Yuan first read the pill recipe carefully from beginning to end twice, committing every step to memory.
The five Spirit Grasses required for the Qi Transformation Pill were: Cyan Spirit Grass, Red Fire Leaf, Cold Water Vine, Yellow Earth Root, and Wind Spirit Flower.
The first three were common ingredients, available anywhere in the market. Yellow Earth Root was a little rarer but not hard to find. Wind Spirit Flower was pricier, costing about five Spirit Stones per stalk.
The total cost for one batch of the five Spirit Grasses was about fifteen Spirit Stones.
Li Yuan went out and bought some ingredients from both the Loose Cultivator district and the herb shops on the main street, gathering enough for three batches.
With his preparations complete, he began the refining process.
Li Yuan set up the Pill Furnace, activated his Fire Control Skill, and added the ingredients to the furnace one by one.
An hour later, Li Yuan slowly withdrew his Spiritual Power, and the temperature inside the furnace gradually decreased.
He lifted the furnace lid.
Three pills rested at the bottom of the furnace.
They were a size smaller than Qi Replenishing Pills, pale cyan-gray in color. Their surface wasn’t bright, but the sheen was uniform.
A sniff revealed a medicinal fragrance that was cool yet faintly warm. The two opposing scents merged seamlessly, without being jarring.
Three pills from a single set of ingredients.
’My luck is really good, especially since my Alchemy skill is only at the introductory level.’
Li Yuan placed a Qi Transformation Pill in his palm.
The moment his finger touched the pill’s surface, the panel appeared.
[Detected Equippable Item: Qi Transformation Pill (Complete)]
[Equipment Trait Preview: Attribute Harmony (White) — During cultivation, conversion between Spiritual Power Attributes becomes smoother. Conflict between different Spiritual Power Attributes is reduced by 30%.]
[Permanence Condition Preview: Attain introductory level in one Cultivation Technique for each of the five elements (0/5).]
[Current equipment slots are full (5/5). Replace currently equipped item?]
’A white trait. Attribute Harmony.’
’Smoother conversion between Spiritual Power Attributes, and conflict reduced by thirty percent.’
’This effect would be a direct help to my practice of the Hundred Veins Returning to Origin Skill.’
’The Hundred Veins Returning to Origin Skill is a technique for harmonizing different Spiritual Power Attributes to begin with. The trait’s effect aligns perfectly with it; stacking them would produce an even more significant result.’
’It’ll be good for making Talismans, too. Drawing Talismans of different attributes requires frequent switching of Spiritual Power Attributes. A smoother conversion means less loss and greater speed when switching.’
’But Cultivation Techniques for the five elements are hard to find. Right now, I only have the Red Fire Skill.’
「In the days that followed」 Li Yuan increased the time he spent on Alchemy, in addition to making Talismans.
He continued refining Qi Replenishing Pills and also began mass-producing Qi Transformation Pills. He alternated between the two, refining at least three to four batches every day.
He was already highly proficient at refining Qi Replenishing Pills, with a stable success rate of over fifty percent.
The Qi Transformation Pill was more difficult. His initial success rate was only around forty percent, but with practice, his control over the heat and the timing of the medicinal power fusion grew more precise.
He didn’t neglect his Talisman making, either. He still spent most of his days drawing Talismans, simply allocating a portion of his evening cultivation time to Alchemy.
He used some of the pills he produced himself and sold the rest at the market. Qi Replenishing Pills sold well in the Loose Cultivator district, but Qi Transformation Pills sold even better. This kind of pill, which could harmonize conflicting Spiritual Power Attributes, was very popular among Loose Cultivators, especially those who practiced Cultivation Techniques of two or more attributes.
Spirit Stones were flowing in, and his proficiency in Alchemy was steadily increasing.
「Another half a month passed.」
That evening, Li Yuan finished refining his last batch of Qi Transformation Pills for the day and lifted the furnace lid.
Four pills lay neatly at the bottom of the furnace, their color uniform and of excellent quality. Four sets of ingredients had yielded four pills—a one hundred percent success rate.
The panel flickered.
[Tier One Alchemy — Proficient (0/400)]
’Proficient.’
The most noticeable change in going from introductory to proficient was the precision with which he could perceive the medicinal power inside the furnace.
At the introductory level, he could only vaguely sense the convergence and flow of medicinal power. Now, he could clearly perceive the precise position, concentration, and state of movement of each ingredient’s power within the furnace.
His control over the heat had also evolved from simply following the recipe to adjusting based on the state of the medicinal power. He could now alter the heat according to the actual situation instead of rigidly following the recipe’s steps.
The panel immediately displayed a second message.
[Permanence Condition for Alchemy Insight (Green) has been met.]
[Make permanent?]
’My Alchemy skill improved by two minor realms—the first was from uninitiated to introductory, and the second was from introductory to proficient.’
’Yes.’
[Permanence Successful]
[Alchemy Insight (Green) has become a permanent trait.]
[Equipment Consumed]
The change was more pronounced than he had anticipated.
All the insights he had about Alchemy merged into the depths of his consciousness, becoming a part of him.
More importantly, his Divine Soul had changed.
The effect of Alchemy Insight was to enhance the strength of his Divine Soul based on his Alchemy proficiency, up to a maximum of thirty percent.
Now that his Alchemy had reached the proficient level, the increase in his Divine Soul’s strength was a notch higher than it had been at the introductory level.
Combined with the soul-light tempering from the Soul Mirror and the soul-condensing effect of the Soul-Refining Divine Talisman, the three stacked Divine Soul enhancements raised the clarity and range of his perception to a new level.
The sky outside had grown completely dark. The light from the Spirit Lamps beyond the courtyard walls seeped through the cracks, dyeing the stone floor a pale yellow.
Li Yuan sat on his bed, crossed his legs, and began to circulate his energy.
Spiritual Qi surged into his body. The Pure Spiritual Power expelled impurities as the condensed Spiritual Power sank into his Dantian.
His Cultivation advanced, one cycle at a time.