Chapter 25: First Alchemy
The Saintess of Xuanyin Sect...
Li Yu could vaguely guess that the witch's identity was not simple, but he did not expect that she was so complicated.
Not only does she have an extremely high status in the Demon Sect, her strength is also not to be underestimated. At the age of nineteen, with the cultivation level of the Golden Core Stage, her talent is in no way inferior to that of the talented girl in our sect.
Li Yu didn't know whether he should be happy or sad.
If he really wants to be an undercover agent of the evil sect, this is certainly a good thing.
Unfortunately, Li Yu only wanted to achieve immortality and had no intention of being an undercover agent, let alone getting involved in the dispute between good and evil.
After a long time, Li Yu let out a long sigh of relief.
No matter what, he has entered Kunlun. Even the witch probably didn't expect that Li Yu could really come here.
At this moment, Li Yu hoped very much that the witch had forgotten him.
It was purely accidental that she rescued Li Yu at that time. She arranged for him to enter Baiyun Temple and did not seem to have any high hopes for him. Otherwise, she would not have been so laissez-faire with Li Yu, not only ignoring his cultivation, but also not even giving him a magic conch.
That kind of big shot has so many things to do every day, he shouldn't worry about a small person in the Qi Induction Period for so long.
Moreover, this was obviously her first time to arrange an undercover agent. Apart from saving Li Yu's life, she did not catch any substantial evidence against Li Yu, nor did she do anything to him. Except herself, no one knew that she was the one who arranged Li Yu into Baiyun Temple.
There was no reason for her to shout to the world that Kunlun Sect had a young Qi Refining Stage disciple who was her undercover agent planted in Kunlun.
After figuring this out, Li Yu felt much more relaxed.
He yawned and looked up at the sky. The sky was clear blue and he could vaguely see a flickering light at the highest point in the sky.
According to the time they arrived, it should be late at night, but there is no sign of darkness here. Li Yu is not surprised by this, because the deacon disciple has already told him that Kunlun Sect is located in an independent cave world, where there is only day and no night.
Immortal cultivators with high levels of cultivation do not need to sleep. Li Yu has not reached that stage yet. He closed the courtyard door and walked towards the bedroom.
This time, he left in such a hurry that he didn't have time to say goodbye to the little tiger. Li Yu missed the feeling of holding it in his arms and rubbing it. Next time he returns to Baiyun Temple, he wonders if he can bring it back with him...
With beautiful expectations for the future, Li Yu quickly fell asleep.
At this time, a little white tiger was lying on a boulder by a stream thousands of miles away, looking in a certain direction. The expectation in its eyes gradually turned into disappointment. After a low growl, it jumped off the boulder and disappeared into the mountain, looking back every step of the way...
…
Li Yu was awakened by the ringing of bells.
After opening his eyes, he simply washed his face with water ball magic, then pushed open the gate and walked out.
People from other courtyards around also hurried out. A deacon disciple stood in front and shouted loudly: "All new disciples who entered yesterday, gather in the hall in front..."
Wu Tong happened to walk out from the yard next door. Li Yu greeted him, and the two of them went to the place the deacon disciple mentioned.
Everyone came to a spacious hall, where Li Yu saw two familiar figures.
Sitting on a chair in the middle of the hall was the old man who had established his foundation that Li Yu had met in Baiyun Temple. Liu Dong, who used to be a disciple of Baiyun Temple together with Li Yu, stood behind the old man with his hands hanging down, looking very respectful.
The deacon disciple walked in front of the crowd and introduced the old man, saying, "This is Elder Han, the deacon elder in charge of your group of new disciples."
Upon hearing this, all the disciples immediately stood up straight and said respectfully, "Greetings, Elder Han."
The old man nodded slightly and said, "Let's introduce the sect rules to them first."
When new disciples join the sect, learning the rules is the first priority. Kunlun is a prestigious and upright sect, and disciples are not allowed to do evil. This is the first thing that Kunlun disciples must abide by. After that, disciples within the sect are not allowed to fight with each other. If they violate this rule, they will be punished at the least, or expelled from Kunlun at the worst...
After the deacon disciple introduced the sect rules, he talked about things that Li Yu was concerned about.
Danding Peak is for training alchemists for the sect. These new disciples know nothing about alchemy and need to start from scratch. In the beginning, they only need to observe and learn. After a month, they will have to make alchemy by themselves.
The pills they refined at this time were only for mortals to take, such as hemostatic pills, detoxifying pills, anthelmintic pills, etc.
The materials for these pills are some very common herbs. They are not particularly precious and are just right for new disciples to practice with. There is no regret even if they are wasted.
Once these disciples become familiar with the alchemy process and can make those inferior pills with ease, they can try to make some Qi Refining pills, the most common of which is the Qi Restoring Pill.
When a Qi Refining Stage disciple has used up all his mana, he only needs to take a Qi Replenishing Pill to replenish his mana immediately and continue to fight...
If Chen Ming had the recovery pill at that time, it would not be so easy for the female ghost to possess him.
There are also fasting pills. Once you take one, you won't need to eat for several days. Disciples in the Qi Refining stage are not allowed to fast, and the sect does not provide meals, so the consumption of fasting pills in the sect is very high. It is all thanks to the large amount of fasting pills made by the alchemists that the low-level disciples do not starve to death.
However, to be able to refine first-grade pills, one must at least be a first-grade alchemist. Generally speaking, it takes at least twenty years to go from an alchemy apprentice to a first-grade alchemist. This is not something that alchemy apprentices like Li Yu should consider .
There is no distinction between day and night in Kunlun Cave Heaven. In the blink of an eye, Li Yu has been here for a month.
Li Yu watched the deacon disciple's alchemy process for a whole month and knew every step by heart.
Li Yu had a very fulfilling life this month.
Not only did he have to learn alchemy, but he also had to make sure he didn't fall behind in his cultivation. He had to rest when he was tired and conserve his energy. He had almost no free time. He was so tired that he felt stupid. He was so tired that he even regretted that he should not have chosen the path of alchemy in the first place...
But even though he was tired, there were things that made him happy.
Just yesterday, Li Yu finally opened up the third acupoint of the Fire Spirit Vein without any external help. In other words, he can open up one acupoint in about four months.
This kind of talent cannot be compared with those geniuses in the sect, but it is also pretty good. As long as the luck is not too bad, there is still a great hope of forming a pill in this life.
Danding Peak, a small courtyard belonging to Li Yu alone, and an underground quiet room.
Every courtyard here has a basement with an area of about 30 to 40 square meters. The walls of the room are inlaid with some glowing stones, illuminating the entire room like daylight.
The furnishings in the room were simple. There were several large stone platforms. On one of the stone platforms, some jade bowls and bottles were neatly placed. On another stone platform opposite, there was an alchemy furnace.
The alchemy furnace has three legs and two ears. It is a little over one foot high and less than one foot wide. There are some simple patterns engraved on it.
This is Li Yu’s alchemy room.
After a month of observation, he officially became an apprentice of alchemy. Today was his first day to practice alchemy.
It is not that you can have no worries once you enter Danding Peak. These new disciples need to master the method of refining at least one low-level elixir within one month, otherwise they will have to leave here and be assigned other tasks by the sect.
Low-level pills like hemostatic pills and detoxifying pills are made of common medicinal materials and do not require any technical difficulty. Even mortals can make them successfully. As an immortal cultivator, if you cannot even make such simple pills in a month, you might as well change your career as soon as possible.
Compared to other peaks, Danding Peak has unlimited prospects. Of course, no one wants to leave. All the disciples are gearing up to prepare for the first furnace opening.
The first kind of medicine Li Yu chose was a hemostatic pill. No matter whether it was internal or external bleeding, just taking one pill would stop the bleeding immediately.
This kind of elixir is in great demand in the secular world and is also very useful for cultivators in the Qi Refining Stage. It is very popular among disciples who often leave the sect to carry out missions.
The hemostatic pill requires a total of thirteen ingredients, twelve of which are common in the world, such as Panax notoginseng, Callicarpa ovata, and Ayurvedic medicine. The last one is a magical herb from the world of immortals called Blood Clotting Vine, which is also the main ingredient of this pill.
Li Yu first placed the fresh blood-clotting vine in a medicine pot, crushed it with a pestle, then squeezed out the black medicinal juice and placed it in a jade bowl aside for later use.
I don’t know if it’s because the incense burner on his chest looks down on low-level spiritual herbs. Li Yu discovered half a month ago that even if he touched ordinary medicinal herbs and low-level spiritual herbs directly, the incense burner would not move.
The other twelve kinds of medicinal herbs also needed to be freshly picked. Li Yu took another medicine jar, crushed them together to extract the juice, and placed it in another jade bowl. At this point, the preparations for refining the hemostatic pill were ready.
This most basic type of elixir has the fewest steps and is the simplest, making it the first choice for most disciples.
After preparing the elixir, the next step is to put it into the elixir furnace for refining.
This step is not difficult. It is just the lowest-level elixir. If there is no elixir furnace, you can use an iron pot instead, or burn firewood. However, the success rate of the elixir is very low. Immortal cultivators use special elixir furnaces to refine elixirs with the fire of mana, which makes the elixir successful faster and with a higher success rate.
Li Yu poured all the elixir into the main cavity of the alchemy furnace, closed the lid, used his magic power to condense a ball of flame, and began to refine the elixir.
He had observed this process countless times, but this was his first time practicing it.
Li Yu stared at the dancing flames under the alchemy furnace, and his expression suddenly became confused.
After a while, Li Yu woke up from his trance and quickly put away the flame. He thought to himself, "It's over. I was distracted while refining the elixir. All my work was in vain..."
Alchemy requires full concentration. Even the slightest distraction will cause the flame to fluctuate, which may lead to errors. At the very least, the refining will fail, and at worst, the furnace will explode. There are many alchemists who have been injured or killed by furnace explosions.
Li Yu himself didn't know why he was distracted just now. He hurriedly opened the alchemy furnace, but when he looked into the furnace cavity, he was stunned.
Ten dark red pills lay there quietly. After the furnace was opened, the whole room was filled with a faint medicinal fragrance.
Is this——refined?
As soon as he thought about it, a pill smaller than his little finger slowly floated up and landed in his hand. Li Yu looked at the pill. It was round all over, without any flaws on the surface. It was dark red in color, which was the color a hemostatic pill should have.
There are five shallow lines on the pill, which looks very beautiful.
It was definitely elixir patterns. Senior Brother Zhao, who taught them how to make elixirs, said that elixir patterns would appear on successfully made elixirs. If there were no elixir patterns, it meant that the elixir was a waste.
It's nothing more than his pill with a few more lines on it. The hemostatic pill refined by Senior Brother Zhao only has one or two lines on it, while he has five.
