Chapter 169: Chapter 169: Getting into the Swing of Things

Gazing at the clusters of Essence of Spiritual Medicine floating within the Pill Furnace, Elder Yan nodded in satisfaction. "Not bad," he said. "Although the purity isn’t very high, reaching this stage on your first attempt is already very good."

’It seems starting to learn alchemy later in life isn’t without its advantages,’ he thought. ’At least I’m picking up the fundamentals quickly.’

"The next, and most crucial, step in alchemy is Solidifying the Pill! Different Spiritual Essences are highly repulsive to one another. You need to find the most delicate point of balance to condense them into an elixir. This requires immense Spiritual Thought and precise control over the flame! Give it a try!" Elder Yan instructed Shen Haoran.

Upon hearing this, Shen Haoran immersed his Heart Spirit into the Daoist Alchemy Furnace. He separated a red and a green cluster of Essence of Spiritual Medicine and manipulated the Fire Spirit Black Obsidian, making them slowly approach one another.

"FIZZ..." The instant the two clusters of Essence of Spiritual Medicine touched, a wisp of green smoke rose. With a soft sizzle, they turned into a black residue that flowed out of the Pill Furnace’s waste vent.

"Uh..." Shen Haoran stared, dumbfounded. ’I haven’t even done anything yet. How did it fail?’

"The temperatures of the two clusters of Essence of Spiritual Medicine were different. You must ensure they are at the same temperature and that their activity levels are consistent. Fusing them will be much easier that way," Elder Yan explained.

Shen Haoran nodded and took out two more clusters of Essence of Spiritual Medicine. This time, he constantly adjusted their temperatures, doing his best to keep them at the same level while simultaneously trying to bring them into contact, searching for their point of balance.

’Now!’ At that moment, Shen Haoran’s Spiritual Thought seemed to resonate with the two clusters. Sensing the frequency they emitted, he abruptly squeezed them together. Slowly, the red and green clusters of Essence of Spiritual Medicine began to merge, eventually becoming a single orange cluster!

After his success, Shen Haoran continued to manipulate the remaining clusters of Essence of Spiritual Medicine. Following the same method, he fused them into a grayish-brown mass.

"Good. The final step: nurture it into a finished pill!" Elder Yan continued.

At his command, Shen Haoran’s Spiritual Thought moved. The Fire Spirit Black Obsidian transformed into a Black Flame Giant Dragon and swallowed the mottled essence in one gulp! The temperature inside the Pill Furnace then skyrocketed, and a faint black mist began to seep from the cluster of essence. These were impurities formed from the fusion of the various Spirit Medicines.

As the impurities were stripped away, the once mottled Essence of Spiritual Medicine started to become crystalline, its state slowly shifting from liquid to solid!

After some time, the Essence of Spiritual Medicine within the Pill Furnace had been completely refined by Shen Haoran. A pale blue Spirit Pill was now whirling steadily above it.

"I did it!" Shen Haoran exclaimed joyfully, looking at the perfectly round elixir.

With a beckoning wave of his hand, Elder Yan made the Water Cloud Pill fly out. Looking at the elixir, he chuckled. "Not bad. The quality has even reached the Middle Level. Much better than my first attempt at alchemy!"

With that, Elder Yan placed the Water Cloud Pill into a Jade Bottle and tossed it to Shen Haoran. Shen Haoran hurriedly caught it and opened it with great care. ’This is the first elixir I’ve ever made! No matter the quality, it’s incredibly meaningful!’

"With the current strength of your Spiritual Thought, you’ll be able to successfully refine First Grade Elixirs with just a little more practice. Also, since you want to provide a large amount of resources for the Yao Sect, you’ll need to mass-produce elixirs. I have a pill recipe here that would be a good choice." After he finished speaking, Elder Yan retrieved a Pill Recipe from his Storage Ring and handed it to Shen Haoran.

’A Second Grade Elixir, the Cyan Nether Pill!’ Shen Haoran’s face lit up with delight as he read the description on the Pill Recipe.

Although the Cyan Nether Pill was a Second Grade Elixir, its effects were excellent. Taking it could accelerate the circulation of Spiritual Power within the body, thereby increasing one’s cultivation speed. While it couldn’t provide a terrifying, several-fold boost, its main advantage was that it could be taken repeatedly, unlike other elixirs that caused the body to develop a resistance after a single dose.

Furthermore, the Cyan Nether Pill didn’t require many types of Spirit Medicine, and most were easy to gather, making it perfect for mass production. ’Elder Yan has truly given me a magnificent gift!’

’But the Cyan Nether Pill is a Second Grade Elixir. It looks like I need to hurry up and improve my alchemy skills!’

With this in mind, Shen Haoran once again immersed himself in alchemy.

However, two days later, Shen Haoran ran into an extremely awkward problem: he had no more Spirit Medicine in stock. He had been so engrossed in alchemy for the past two days, neglecting food and sleep, that he had used up all the Spirit Medicine he had gathered in the Red Flame Mountain Range.

Fortunately, Shui Ruolan was there, and she quickly solved the problem.

"The demand for elixirs among the sect disciples is enormous. You can put out the word that you’ll refine elixirs for them, as long as they provide their own Spirit Medicine! And of course, since you’re refining elixirs for them, you should charge a fee. This payment could be in the form of Heavenly and Earthly Treasures, Spirit Medicines, Spiritual Artifacts, other elixirs, or Gold Coins. That way, you not only solve your lack of Spirit Medicine but also raise funds for the Yao Sect. You’ll kill two birds with one stone!"

One had to admit, women seemed to have a natural talent for business. Shui Ruolan’s idea made Shen Haoran’s eyes light up. He immediately had Long Zhen spread the news. To convince the sect’s disciples, Shen Haoran even gave away all the elixirs he had refined over the past two days for free!

Using the free elixirs as an incentive worked quite well. Many disciples came to Shen Haoran to have him perform alchemy for them. Every elixir he refined was of the Top Grade, with a quality even higher than those from the sect’s Alchemy Elder. Slowly, word of this spread throughout the entire sect, and countless disciples came seeking elixirs. The once silent and desolate Red Flame Peak became the most bustling peak in the Five Elements Sect!

Shen Haoran grinned from ear to ear as he looked at the endless stream of Spirit Medicine. For every elixir he was commissioned to make, Elder Yan would refine one, while all the rest of the materials became Shen Haoran’s to practice with!

’One has to admit, being an alchemist is an incredibly expensive profession.’ Shen Haoran had no idea how much Spirit Medicine he’d wasted just to advance from a First Grade Alchemist to a Second Grade one. But thankfully, he could now refine the Cyan Nether Pill with ease.

After he was promoted to Second Grade Alchemist, Shui Ruolan used the resources provided by the disciples seeking elixirs to trade for a large quantity of Spirit Medicine—all materials needed to refine the Cyan Nether Pill.

Meanwhile, thanks to the efforts of Long Zhen and Su Xing, the Yao Sect’s disciples swelled from six to a hundred. Su Xing had personally selected all one hundred of them. Although their strength on the surface was somewhat pitiful—the strongest was only a Tier One Spirit General—their moral character was impeccable, and their talent was not lacking. With the support of Shen Haoran’s elixirs, they would surely become the backbone of the Yao Sect very soon!

During this time, Long Mo and Zi Mo also received elixirs refined by Shen Haoran. Both of them made further breakthroughs in their strength, which helped to solidify the Yao Sect’s power even more.

Everything was heading in the right direction...