Immortality: Starting with the Fruit of Taiyin

"Yes."

"This disciple thanks Uncle-Master for the reminder."

Being overly polite is never a bad thing. After accepting the talisman, Wang Xuan bowed again and then went to find it in the direction the old man pointed out.

The Hundred Arts Pavilion is sparsely populated. The Linzhang branch has nearly a thousand outer disciples, but fewer than a hundred are apprentices who have entered the Hundred Arts, and there are only a dozen or so formal first-level alchemists and talisman masters.

In fact, becoming a truly recognized craftsman by the sect before the age of thirty is also a way to advance from the outer sect to the inner sect.

However, unlike the ridiculous ranking system among independent cultivators, a first-grade low-level alchemist in the eyes of a sect is not simply someone who has successfully refined a single pill.

According to the unified regulations of major chambers of commerce, sects, and families in the cultivation world, taking alchemists as an example, they must be able to refine at least three kinds of first-grade low-quality pills, with a success rate of more than two-thirds; five kinds of first-grade low-quality pills, with a success rate of more than half, and covering at least three of the following: increasing cultivation, restoring mana, refining the body and nourishing the spirit, and detoxifying and removing miasma.

As for those who claim to be alchemists of a certain level simply because they can only refine one type of pill, they are only regarded as a joke for their own amusement.

Wang Xuan could understand this. Those who could only refine one type of pill could only be called pill slaves, not pill masters.

……

Click—

With the talisman drawn, Wang Xuan entered the temporary alchemy room.

As soon as you enter, a fragrant aroma of medicinal herbs, mixed with a hint of heat, wafts into your nostrils.

His gaze swept across the room, finally landing on the cauldron in the center of the alchemy chamber that was connected to the earth fire.

The bronze-colored cauldron is engraved with intricate spiritual patterns and is made entirely of a rare metal that can subtly enhance the sharpness of spiritual senses.

Undoubtedly, this is a low-grade magic artifact-level alchemy furnace, and its value is undoubtedly at the top among magic artifacts of the same level, second only to large magic artifacts such as spirit boats.

Even disregarding the entire setup of the Earth Fire Chamber and the medicinal herbs used for the trial, this cauldron alone is worth at least several hundred spirit stones, comparable to ten ordinary low-grade magic artifacts.

Even if you don't buy but only rent, you can still feed a rogue cultivator for three years.

"This is just an apprentice. It is said that a formal alchemist is equipped with an independent alchemy room and the alchemy cauldron will be replaced with a mid-grade one. As long as the tasks assigned regularly are completed, they can use it indefinitely until they die and are then returned to the sect."

"Including spiritual veins, earth fire, and formations, several thousand spirit stones can be spent in a matter of minutes. Even a rogue cultivator at the Foundation Establishment stage would feel the pinch."

Sitting cross-legged on the futon in front of the alchemy furnace, Wang Xuan sighed as he picked up the "Introduction to Alchemy" book from the side.

This document contains three widely circulated first-grade low-level pill recipes in the cultivation world, standard extraction methods for thousands of common medicinal herbs, and some basic alchemy tips... After browsing through them, Wang Xuan felt his eyes were opened.

Inside the alchemy room, the sect had prepared as many as thirty portions of medicinal herbs; as long as one success was achieved, the test would be passed.

With that in mind, Wang Xuan decided to try his best on his own first.

"Let's try it out with one dose of the medicine first."

"With my intelligence, I should be quite talented... right?"

With a surge of magical power, the alchemy furnace began to hum.

The raging fire surged forth, but faced with Wang Xuan's pure and yin magic power, the yang energy of the fire showed no sign of conflict.

As a mid-grade spiritual root as assessed by the sect, Wang Xuan's five elemental spiritual roots, from strongest to weakest, are: Water 24, Wood 21, Metal 18, Earth 15, and Fire 12.

Two are of medium quality and three are of poor quality, so the overall rating is B-grade.

The strongest element, water, and the weakest element, fire, are mutually reinforcing and restraining, which is a normal phenomenon in the birth of spiritual roots.

Logically speaking, such innate spiritual roots are not well-suited for controlling earth fire.

However, in the face of the [Taiyin Jade Book], the innate repulsion between water and fire seems to simply not exist.

Act as you please, live as you please.

At this moment, Wang Xuan was unaware that he had already gained a significant advantage over others simply in the aspect of the integration between his magical power and the earth fire.

If he were to take the time to carefully study alchemy, he would actually have a 30-40% chance of successfully refining a low-grade medicinal liquid and passing the assessment.

However, Wang Xuan could not predict the future, and even if he did, he would not gamble on the odds.

He casually fiddled with the fire in the furnace before channeling his magic to throw the corresponding medicinal herbs into it.

The flames roared, and my spiritual sense probed into the furnace to carefully perceive the changes in the medicinal properties.

In a short while, a fine layer of sweat appeared on Wang Xuan's forehead.

Clearly, once alchemy truly begins, even producing only low-grade medicinal liquids is not so easy.

The civil and military officials changed, the ruler, ministers, assistants and envoys... His consciousness was immersed in the alchemy furnace. After a while, a muffled sound came from it.

puff--

"So it really failed?"

His complexion wasn't very good, but Wang Xuan still calmed down and summarized his experience for a while.

It's normal to fail on the first try; it's only when you succeed that there's a problem.

Moreover, he knew very well that a true beginner's understanding of alchemy would never be so hasty.

Logically speaking, the disciples who participate should at least memorize the alchemy manual and then simulate it in their minds several times before starting the furnace.

If he hadn't planned ahead, Wang Xuan wouldn't have dared to act so recklessly.

……

puff--

……

*Pfft... Bang!*

……

In just one afternoon and one evening, Wang Xuan not only studied the contents of "Introduction to Alchemy" but also wasted sixteen portions of medicinal herbs.

According to his estimate, with this cost-insensitive approach, he would need at least sixty or seventy medicinal herbs to possibly refine one dose of the medicinal liquid.

The true art of alchemy for the super-rich.

Unless you're incredibly wealthy, you'll go bankrupt sooner or later.

boom--!

"hiss……"

The seventeenth failure brought a cloud of ashes to my face.

Wang Xuan hurriedly used his magic to block the spray, but he was still sprayed with ash all over his body.

He shook off the corner of his clothes, not caring about such a trivial matter.

Looking at the hourglass that was constantly running out of sand in the alchemy room, Wang Xuan let out a long breath.

That's about it. After failing more than ten times in a row and using up half the time, he now has a general understanding of his alchemy aptitude.

He is neither completely incapable of alchemy nor a genius in the art of alchemy.

If he works hard, he can probably reach the lower limit of the sect's requirements, which would make him a moderately successful person among ordinary people, but he is destined not to achieve anything great.

As expected, relying solely on superficial talent, my abilities are nothing special... Only hidden aptitude can pave the way to immortality!

"It's okay, it's just a small setback."

"Come on, let me see your limits!"

"Dream Fruit, add it to me...extract it from me!"

hum-

With a thought, Wang Xuan appeared to be sitting cross-legged in meditation in the alchemy room, causing the old man monitoring the area through a magic array to shake his head and remain silent.

His mind had already silently returned to his sea of ​​consciousness, touching that incomplete moon.

Vast and mysterious, formless and intangible, indescribable, like the earth and the sky.

At this moment, the magical power source in Wang Xuan's dantian, which had been more than halfway through, suddenly decreased by a significant amount, and his three months of arduous cultivation evaporated into thin air.

Within his sea of ​​consciousness, concepts related to "elixir" from the "Introduction to Alchemy" were instantly extracted, awaiting the next step.

However, time slowly passed, one breath, two breaths, three breaths...

He closed his eyes and calmed his mind, making no further moves. Wang Xuan simply focused his mind on comprehending the illusory concept of 'existence' that, though incomprehensible, could be perceived through the aid of the Dao Fruit.

It is incomprehensible and indescribable, yet it leaves its mark like the wind and the traces of geese.

Until the source of the energy was completely exhausted and could no longer be maintained in this state, the extracted concepts returned to their original paths, and Wang Xuan opened his eyes with a lingering sense of satisfaction.

In just a few breaths, his understanding of the "Introduction to Daoist Alchemy" had been completely transformed.

Of the four abilities of the Taiyin Fruit, he doesn't need the [fusion] one yet. At Wang Xuan's current level, he's far from being able to simplify complexity or unify his foundation.

[Sublimation] goes without saying; it is the core ability of the Dao Fruit, and also the ability that consumes the most source energy.

So here's the question: besides that, could the existence of Dao Fruit really only produce some strange or useless objects and spiritual materials, and are the seemingly basic abilities of [extraction] and [granting] really that simple?

Wang Xuan didn't think so. He always believed that ability is never ranked, only the person using it is.

Ever since the [Taiyin Jade Book] was created in his hands last time, and Wang Xuan skipped the process of comprehension and directly entered the realm of enlightenment, he found the true use of [Extraction].

It is not the basis for other abilities, but rather it is mysterious and profound in itself.

"Ah—this is the fruit of the Tao."

"Whether it's a piece of text, an ability, or anything else, when it's extracted by Dao Guo in the form of a 'concept,' it actually means that its most essential element has been revealed to me without reservation."

"It's just that mortals can't understand it, and low-level cultivators can't accept it. I view 'concepts' as if they were the moon in the water or flowers in the mist."

"Fortunately, the power of the Dao Fruit is mysterious and unpredictable. Even if I cannot understand it, as long as the 'concept' exists in my sea of ​​consciousness, I can get something from it, even if it is just information that it unconsciously emits."

"Just like the [Taiyin Jade Scroll] before, without this ability, a cultivation method that might involve the Nascent Soul stage would be impossible for me to even begin to understand after a year of comprehension, let alone cultivate directly... But in the face of the Dao Fruit, nothing is a problem."

"One try to get started, ten tries to become proficient, a hundred tries to achieve a minor level of mastery... it might not even take that many tries, but I don't have any test samples yet."

"No matter what, as long as you gain enough insight, even a pig can become Zhu Bajie (Pigsy), a chicken can become the Pleiades Star Lord, and an ordinary alchemy apprentice can become a fifth-tier alchemy saint, renowned throughout the eight wastelands!"

Taking a deep breath, he knew that the alchemy room for the introductory test couldn't be unsupervised.

Wang Xuan's expression remained unchanged, his eyes filled with the same confidence as in the previous seventeen times.

With a surge of magical power, earth fire rose, and the eighteenth refining process began.

Unlike before, this time Wang Xuan knew in his heart that he had truly "entered the door" of this basic alchemy book.

……

"yawn……"

In front of the Hundred Arts Pavilion, the Foundation Establishment Elder lay on a recliner.

With lifespan running out and vital energy depleted, this natural phenomenon brings a fatigue that even the body's magical power cannot alleviate.

The old man shook his head slightly as his gaze swept over the array of light screen beside him.

"Heh...another young man who doesn't know his own limitations."

"Everyone says alchemists are good, but even though my Nanhua Sect is a major sect for Core Formation, with more than ten Core Formation and Pseudo-Core Formation Ancestors, how many alchemists does the sect actually have?"

"Especially him, not only is he not good enough, but he is also unrealistic and doesn't even have the right attitude."

"Xiao Chen, you must remember to learn from this and never be like him."

As he casually commented, a phantom light screen appeared beside the old man.

A red line divides the two sides, depicting Wang Xuan and another outer disciple testing their talents in various arts.

Wang Xuan chose the elixir, while the other person chose the talisman.

Under the influence of the formation and the old man's late-stage Foundation Establishment spiritual sense, it was clear whether the two were beginners with no foundation or well-prepared madmen.

Fortunately, neither of them intended to challenge the rules of the Nanhua Sect, so the old man did nothing unnecessary.

Even though he thought Wang Xuan's actions were a waste of medicinal herbs, he still did not stop him halfway.

After all, it's just a few spirit stones, not some priceless rare treasure.

He simply brought over his great-great-great-granddaughter and used everything in the alchemy room as a negative example.

"Chen'er, look. It's not scary to not have talent; there are too many people in this world without talent."

"A person who has neither talent nor the right attitude will not go far."

"I am already old. Even if I obtain a second-tier longevity pill in the future, I won't last another sixty years. But you are still young."

"One day, you will surpass me... as long as you are careful and avoid the long thorns on and off the path to immortality."

The old man's voice carried hope, and behind him, a girl who was only eight or nine years old but had already entered the path of cultivation nodded obediently.

Looking at the screen that was still playing content, a hint of doubt flashed in Dan Chen's bright eyes.

"I will remember the teachings of my ancestor."

"only……"

"Just what?"

But this senior brother... it seems he succeeded...

Biting her lip slightly, Dan Chen looked at her great-great-great-grandfather without saying a word, but simply pointed to the light screen behind the old man.

"Um?"

With a slight frown, the old man had a bad feeling.

However, upon turning around, there was no one inside the light screen.

His spiritual sense subconsciously swept across the entire Hundred Arts Pavilion, and he immediately discovered Wang Xuan's whereabouts.

Unbeknownst to him, the other person had already left the alchemy room and was walking towards him.

His storage pouch at his waist was bulging, seemingly filled with the remaining test herbs, while he held a jade bottle in his hand.

As for what's inside... it's pretty self-explanatory.

Tread...  

"Disciple Wang Xuan greets Martial Uncle."

Wang Xuan bowed respectfully, completely unaware that Dan Chen was being deliberately hidden to the side by the old man, and naturally even less likely to notice the other man's curious eyes.

He simply handed over the medicine to show that his mission was complete.

"I have not failed in my mission. The medicinal liquid I have prepared is ready, and I have come to report back... Hmm, I wonder why you are looking at me like that, Uncle?"

"..."

Without saying a word, the old man sat up halfway from the recliner and gently stroked his beard.

Although he knew that under his spell, Wang Xuan could only see him and would not know about their previous conversation, he still couldn't help feeling a little embarrassed at this moment.

But this matter cannot be blamed on this disciple... The old man's heart sank when he caught a glimpse of Dan Chen's curious eyes.

No, we can't follow that example.

What good is success if you fail? The path to immortality is long and steady, and the key is to be down-to-earth.

I need to think of a way to get rid of him as soon as possible.