Mang Shusheng's Ink Painting Practice

Chapter 170 External Alchemy Learning
This is a dry well in the countryside. There is no water in it anymore and no one comes here usually.

Of course, the well was still dry and there was nothing unusual about it. However, there was a gap on one side of the dry well where a brick was missing, and there was a bit of lively firelight coming through.

That’s right, this is Zhao Yifu and his team’s new camp.

Ever since the master and disciple began to study the 'Boundless Universe Art', the location of their camp has become more and more magical.

You can build a camp by digging up a well brick, and the square space is divided into four bedrooms and a living room.

They were waiting here for their fellow disciples to join them, and were also preparing for the next communication.

Zhao Yifu was preparing to exchange ideas on alchemy, so he had been studying alchemy with Huigu these days.

The foundation of his alchemy came from Hong Shu's medical skills, and when he discussed it with Hui Gu, they happened to have many similarities.

"It's just that this external alchemy method requires a lot of practice to verify. Unfortunately, I don't have that many spiritual medicines to refine the elixir for you to verify it for the time being."

Huigu said with some regret.

After hearing this, Zhao Yifu scratched his head. He felt like he had forgotten something.

At this moment, Yiyi suddenly crawled into his sleeve, rummaged around for a while, and suddenly came out again with a magical herb in her mouth.

Zhao Yifu stared at the spiritual herb in bewilderment for a moment, then slapped his head and poured out a pile of spiritual materials from his sleeves, saying, "I almost forgot, when the Xieyue Sect of Prison Mountain was destroyed, their spiritual material reserves were all with me."

Seeing this, Hui Gu said happily, "Okay, let's start refining the elixir."

"Okay, take out your alchemy furnace."

Zhao Yifu said awkwardly, "But I don't have an alchemy furnace."

Hui Gu asked in disbelief, "Without the alchemy furnace, where did you get those Qi-boosting pills and Dragon Bone Pills?"

Zhao Yifu said: "They are all brewed in clay pots... Because the elder who taught me the way of alchemy was a doctor, I always use clay pots to make medicine."

Huigu was incredulous. She said, "First, make me a pill."

Zhao Yifu searched for some elixirs, and then re-refined the Qi-boosting Pills and Dragon Bone Pills that he was most familiar with.

He even succeeded in refining it at the same time!
After selecting the spiritual materials, he crushed and rubbed them together with his nimble hands, and then used his own true energy to fuse the medicinal properties in advance.

This is a trick he figured out after refining the pill many times. It can speed up the formation of the pill and improve the quality of the finished pill.

Huigu, on the other hand, was lost in thought as she looked at his deft hands...

An hour later, the Dragon Bone Pills and Yiqi Pills were ready.

The Qi-boosting pills were in the form of irregular granules, while the Dragon Bone Pills were a thick, sticky ointment. Zhao Yifu took out the ointment, not caring about the heat, and quickly rubbed it into pills.

"Uncle Hui, that's good."

Hui Gu was lost in thought. She asked, "Where did you learn how to process medicinal herbs?"

Zhao Yifu:?

He squeezed his hands and said, "I figured this out on my own. Is there a problem?"

Hui Gu said, "Your Cuizhen Dragon Bone Pills and Chaoyuan Yiqi Pills are already top-notch products. However, I think if you can get a better alchemy furnace, they will definitely be able to reach a higher level."

As she spoke, she reached into a brocade bag at her waist and took out a small tripod the size of a palm.

That brocade bag should also be a magical treasure that can store secrets. This is not surprising after Zhao Yifu learned the "Infinite Universe Art".

What caught his eye was the small tripod. As soon as it appeared, it exuded a rich medicinal aroma, which smelled very pleasant.

Hui Gu said, "Don't smell it. There's poison in it. If you smell it too much, it will contaminate your own energy."

After hearing this, Zhao Yifu quickly felt himself and found that some trace amounts of impurities had indeed entered his lungs with his breathing.

But fortunately, Shouren changed his mind and everything was fine.

Not to mention that he also has the Pure Yang Fire to refine these impurities...

But he didn't say much, as saying more would make his junior master uncle upset.

He just looked at the small tripod and said, "Uncle Hui, this tripod seems a little small, right?"

Hui Gu shook her head and said with a hint of pride, "This is the inherited weapon of my True Dao. It looks like it can be held in one hand, but it actually contains a world of secrets."

Zhao Yifu understood immediately: "It's amazing! It's not difficult to extend the space, but to make this space able to withstand the burning of the alchemy fire without collapsing, it also requires the use of the alchemy furnace to refine the medicine... This alchemy furnace is definitely a great treasure."

Hui Gu was extremely surprised when she heard this and thought that Zhao Yi Fu was a connoisseur of valuables.

She added, "That's right, this cauldron is called the Shaoyang True Fire Cauldron. Not only does it contain the universe, but it can also be injected with true qi to generate Shaoyang True Fire for refining medicine."

"Also, while refining the medicine, it can also help integrate the medicinal properties and increase the chances of successful pill formation."

"Previously, when you refined the Cuizhen Dragon Bone Pill and the Chaoyuan Yiqi Pill, you used the methods of doctors to process medicinal materials and your own thinking. Now, I will teach you how to truly refine the pill."

Upon hearing this, Zhao Yifu immediately said humbly, "Uncle Hui, please teach me."

Hui Gu said, "Just listen to me first. Put the first spiritual ingredient into the cauldron according to the order of the elixir recipe."

Zhao Yifu did as he was told.

Hui Gu said, "Okay, you can inject your true energy to ignite the true fire."

Zhao Yifu did so again.

He did not make any mistakes the first time and followed the steps given by his junior uncle step by step.

He discovered a characteristic, that is, the function of the Shaoyang True Fire is actually to adjust the medicinal properties and spirituality of the spiritual materials, which is actually not much different from the "pretreatment" he had done before.

The order of distributing the medicines is because different herbs have different speeds of "spiritualization" in the true fire.

Therefore, some base materials need to be put in first, as they are slow to 'spiritualize.' Precious medicinal herbs should be put in later, as most of these herbs are already very spiritual, so putting them in will basically be enough.

However, the order of applying the medicine also needs to take into account the balance of yin and yang and the five elements. This is the key that Zhao Yifu discovered in the process of doing it honestly this time.

Balance and stability are the most important keys to alchemy.

Then, Zhao Yifu used his spiritual power to observe the entire process of harmonizing the medicinal properties, so as to understand how the whole process took place.

The most crucial thing is how this 'Shaoyang True Fire Cauldron' assists in making pills. This opened Zhao Yifu's eyes and allowed him to see the 'real technology'.

The space inside the cauldron actually began to shrink continuously when the pill was formed, and then pressed the medicinal liquid in the cauldron with just the right force to complete the final fusion of the medicinal properties, so that they could be mixed into one and achieve the purpose of forming a pill.

Zhao Yifu took out the Cuizhen Dragon Bone Pill and felt its medicinal properties, which were similar to those he had made himself.

But the speed was much faster, because he was simmering it with ordinary fire, while this one was directly refining it with true fire...

Thinking of this, Zhao Yifu immediately poured out the medicinal residue in the cauldron and started working again.

Hui Gu praised: "If you practice more, you will gradually understand the principles of alchemy. Then you won't be shy when you go to Difei Mountain to communicate with others." However, she wanted to say a few more words, but suddenly she stopped talking and couldn't continue.

Because the second time Zhao Yifu refined the Chaoyuan Yiqi Pills, he did not follow her steps, but used his own steps, which was to rub the spiritual materials together with his hands first.

Under the infusion of true qi, the spiritual essences of these spiritual materials have begun to initially merge.

He then threw them all into the Shaoyang True Fire Cauldron for refining. The True Qi ignited the Shaoyang True Fire, and the spiritual materials in the cauldron quickly melted, and soon solidified as the juice continued to collect...

Zhao Yifu saw this opportunity and did not use the alchemy furnace's space compression ability, but instead used his own true energy to perform precise compression...

Before long, a pot of round and plump Chaoyuan Yiqi Pills was refined.

Even at the moment when the lid of the tripod was opened, it seemed as if brilliant colors flew out of the tripod.

Zhao Yifu looked at the pills with excitement and said, "Sure enough, using a pill furnace to refine pills can produce better quality pills."

Huigu's eyes were dull and her whole body was numb.

She didn't expect that Zhao Yi Fu had come up with a new trick during his second alchemy session.

She saw Zhao Yifu trying again, especially when she saw him spit out the legendary Pure Yang True Fire that could only be mastered by understanding the essence of the Pure Yang Seeking Dao Sutra...

Hui Gu suddenly said, "Nephew, I'll lend you this cauldron to try your hand at alchemy. I have some matters to discuss with Senior Brother Liang."

Zhao Yifu was completely immersed in his own world. Without even looking up, he said, "Okay, Master Hui, please do as you please."

Huigu curled the corners of her mouth, then came to Liang Zhongzhi as if running away.

Liang Zhongzhi laughed at her expression and said, "Junior sister, you faced a powerful enemy alone and had to protect four children, yet you were calm and fearless. Why are you showing fear now?"

Hui Gu turned her head to look at Zhao Yifu and asked, "Brother Liang, are you proficient in alchemy?"

Liang Zhongzhi immediately understood what was going on and sighed heavily, "I did learn a little bit before in order to teach this child, but then I realized I wasn't cut out for it, so I didn't delve deeper."

"I guess he surprised Junior Sister?"

Hui Gu said, "Has he always been like this?"

Liang Zhongzhi smacked his forehead and said, "It wasn't like this before. When he was little, he just studied calligraphy and painting with me honestly. Even then, I thought he was just an ordinary boy with a little talent for Qi training."

Hui Gu asked hesitantly: "Then..."

Liang Zhongzhi didn't wait for her to finish before he spoke: "Everything has changed since he finally opened up the Small Circulation."

"And the deeper his Qi training progressed, the more things started to spiral out of control... Before I could react, he had already become a genius in every sense of the word."

"My brother, when I wake up in the middle of the night, what I fear most is the embarrassing sight of him asking me questions and leaving me dumbfounded..."

Upon hearing this, Hui Gu also smiled bitterly and said, "Other people who learn the Dao of Alchemy always make various mistakes at first, even if the steps are exactly the same, they will still make mistakes. But he started to find a way of refining the elixir that suits him the second time."

"He seems to be born with the ability to understand the spiritual properties of those spiritual materials."

Liang Zhongzhi said, "It's not that mysterious. He's just good at thinking and summarizing. He always likes to understand the roots of a technique first. Therefore, he can always do things that shock the world in the eyes of the world based on the roots."

"If you look at the essence, you'll find he's only made some changes that are completely feasible in theory."

Hui Gu said, "I would like to hear the details."

She clearly wanted to know more.

Liang Zhongzhi hesitated for a moment, then gave an example: "Take the 'Ice Lotus Magic' that I previously studied with him. This 'Ice Lotus Magic' is actually an evolution of another leg technique we practiced."

"That leg technique is called 'Frost Steps to Heaven'. It can transform the Qi from Yang to Yin when it moves from the Yang meridians to the Yin meridians, thereby generating Yin-cold Qi."

"While 'Frost Steps on the Sky' itself utilizes cold Yin Qi in a very crude way, our 'Ice Lotus Magic' is a refined training based on this."

"This wonderful method originated from 'Frosty Footsteps on the Sky', but it is completely different."

Hui Gu curiously asked, "Then what is so magical about this 'Ice Lotus Magic'?"

Liang Zhongzhi was stunned by the question. He hesitated for a moment, then said, "To others, the 'Ice Lotus Magic' is probably just a flashy technique, difficult to practice and of little practical use. But for us, master and disciple, it's a testament to our Yin-Han power."

Huigu seemed to understand what he said, but not quite.

She seemed to be well-read and knowledgeable as if she knew everything, but in fact, all she knew was what her master told her before his death. After all, she was just a young cultivator who had not yet formed a pill, and she had no one to guide her in many aspects of cultivation.

Liang Zhongzhi understood what was going on when he saw her situation. He simply shouted, "Jun Xin, come here!"

Zhao Yi Fu hurriedly came over holding the alchemy cauldron while refining the elixir.

When Huigu saw that he could still walk with the cauldron while refining the elixir, her eyelids twitched again.

"Master, what's the matter?"

Liang Zhongzhi said, "Master is going to test you to see how well you have mastered the Pure Yang Scripture of Seeking the Tao."

Zhao Yifu didn't care and said, "Okay, Master, please ask."

Liang Zhongzhi started talking about the "Chun Yang Seeking the Tao Sutra" so casually and without any reservation. In fact, he was not testing it, but more like discussing it with Zhao Yifu... They were just sitting and talking about Taoism.

He raised a question, and the two of them answered it together, explaining each and every problem of cultivation clearly.

They did not avoid anyone during this process, because what they were discussing at this time were all about personal cultivation insights and had nothing to do with the sect's inheritance.

But these are actually the most basic things. Those who are interested can just listen to these insights and perhaps figure out some ways to practice.

At the same time, this is also Liang Zhongzhi's help to Huigu.

In this world of cultivation, Yang Shen is the pinnacle, and the master and disciple who are climbing to the pinnacle are actually considered superior in the world of cultivation.

Their discussion here is an opportunity for all the living beings around who hear this debate.

However, the one who gained the most was Huigu. She also practiced the "Pure Yang Seeking the Tao Sutra", so she gained greater inspiration from it.

Looking at the master and disciple in discussion, Huigu realized that they were actually analyzing the essence of the Golden Elixir Avenue to her!
She was deeply touched, her eyes slightly reddened, and thinking of the master who raised her, she finally couldn't help sobbing.

Zhao Yifu and Liang Zhongzhi stopped.

They were a little overwhelmed.

Hui Gu touched her face and looked up and said, "I'm sorry, I lost my composure and made you and my nephew laugh."

Liang Zhongzhi smiled but said nothing.

Zhao Yifu said, "Uncle Master, actually, forming a pill is very simple. No, wait until I break this one into pieces before I demonstrate it to you again..."

This was a bit too much. Huigu suddenly turned her head to look at me, and there was a "click" sound in her neck.

That expression was as if he had seen a ghost.

Suddenly she understood why Zhao Yifu had the nickname "Ghost-Seeing": this ghost thing is so worrying!
(End of this chapter)