Immortality and cultivation begin with alchemy and accounting.

At the summit of Baiyu Mountain lies Bai Qingbai's cave dwelling.

This place is quite secluded, and usually only high-ranking members of the family or cultivators summoned by Bai Qingbai come here.

This is Baek Hyun-kyung's first time here.

Outside the cave dwelling atop the mountain, there was a sacred osmanthus tree, as well as a pavilion and terrace, used for receiving guests.

Standing outside the cave, Bai Qingbai raised his hand and cast a spell to remove the cave's restrictions, then led the three of them into the cave.

The cave dwelling was very spacious, divided into different rooms. The central room resembled a reception room, where some books and tea sets were placed.

"Please sit down. You are all outstanding young members of the Bai family's second branch."

As they grow older and accumulate sufficient alchemy skills, they will most likely become a first-tier high-grade alchemist. If they have further opportunities, becoming a second-tier alchemist is also possible.

Bai Qingbai said with a smile.

The Bai family's second branch has many alchemists, but only a handful are of the highest rank.

As for the second tier, there's only one person in total, Bai Qingbai!

Bai Qingbai, however, belongs to the "Qing" generation.

As for the Jing generation, the highest level they reached was a first-grade alchemist.

The difficulty of breaking through to become a second-tier alchemist is unimaginable!

Besides the cultivator's aptitude, the materials used to refine elixirs are also crucial.

For the Bai family, second-tier spiritual herbs are already extremely precious, and it is impossible to supply them in large quantities to the family's alchemists for their extravagance.

The training of a high-level alchemist is often influenced by the strength of the faction itself.

As he spoke, Bai Qingbai waved his hand to summon a tea set, took out a small porcelain jar, and carefully brewed some spiritual tea.

Judging from their actions, this spiritual tea seems to be extremely precious.

"This is a cup of misty flower tea sent by a disciple of the Flowing Cloud Sect. Please try it!"

Bai Qingbai poured a cup for everyone.

Although everyone was a bit reserved, no one was being polite.

Spirit tea is a rare spiritual item, not to mention that it originated from the Flowing Cloud Sect.

Bai Xuanjing immediately picked up a glass and carefully took a sip.

The moment the spiritual tea touched my lips, my stomach was filled with its refreshing fragrance.

Immediately afterwards, the fragrance seemed to transform into a "qi" that rushed straight to Bai Xuanjing's head.

Then, a sense of clarity emerged in Bai Xuanjing's mind.

The steps of alchemy from the past appeared one by one, like a movie playing.

Some new insights emerged in Bai Xuanjing's mind.

Bai Xuanjing closed his eyes and began to contemplate.

The same applies to the other two, Bai Xuanjin and Bai Xuanluo.

Seeing the three's reaction, Bai Qingbai smiled without saying a word, clearly having expected it.

After about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, Bai Xuanjing finally opened his eyes.

"This spiritual tea..."

Bai Xuanjing looked surprised, but hesitated to speak.

Seeing this, Bai Qingbai smiled and said, "Qinwu Flower Tea can help cultivators improve their understanding of the various arts of cultivation by clearing their spiritual consciousness."

Then he sighed, "Unfortunately, it only works best the first time you drink it; its auxiliary effects weaken afterward."

Upon hearing this, Bai Xuanjing was secretly alarmed.

Such a wondrous thing still exists in this world.

Bai Xuanjin and Bai Xuanluo also opened their eyes one after another, and they heard Bai Qingbai's words.

"Let's go to the alchemy room." Bai Qingbai stood up.

Upon arriving at a tightly closed stone chamber, Bai Qingbai raised his hand and cast a spell, after which the stone chamber opened.

It has a similar design to the Fire Chamber of Baiyu Mountain, but the central formation is quite different from that of the Fire Chamber.

Moreover, a spirit wood was placed at the core of the formation.

The spirit wood was entirely black, yet it shimmered with spiritual light.

"This is a locust tree."

Bai Qingbai began to explain.

"You are trained in the Alchemy Hall and are considered orthodox alchemists. You should all know that the spiritual fire of heaven and earth can be roughly divided into three types: fire from wood, fire from stone, and fire from the air."

"And the earth fire you use to release is actually considered fire from stone."

"There are many types of fire in stones. Some spirit mines come with their own spirit fire. After a cultivator refines this kind of fire in a stone, it can be taken away and transferred."

"There is another type, which is the so-called earth fire. It relies more on the convergence of the forces of heaven and earth in the terrain. Ordinary cultivators cannot move them, so they need to refine pills in flying places."

"As for fire within wood, it's relatively simple. Most of it is formed by various spiritual woods undergoing mutations or encountering unusual celestial phenomena such as heavenly lightning... unexpectedly brewing out."

"Our Bai family possesses a second-tier source of wood-fire, namely the Huaiyin Wood-fire. This fire is, after all, only second-tier, and it is not easy for cultivators at the Qi Refining Realm to refine it."

If handled improperly, it could even backfire.

However, this fire originated from a two-thousand-year-old locust tree. Our ancestors used some ingenious methods to help their descendants control this fire by leveraging the locust tree.

Bai Qingbai recounted the story in detail.

Clearly, he regarded the three disciples in front of him as the future leaders of the Bai family's second branch in alchemy, hence his detailed explanation.

However, he did not elaborate on how to control the fire within the locust tree wood, or any further details, which clearly involved family secrets.

"For the next seven days, come to me at 7:00 AM every day. I will let you go back at 8:00 PM."

"The daily teachings include the refining of the Azure Water Elixir and my explanations."

"I will cover all the expenses incurred by you in refining the Azure Water Pill during these seven days."

Bai Qingbai then continued.

As soon as he finished speaking, everyone perked up.

It should be noted that even within the Bai family, the price of a single Azure Water Pill is nearly sixteen or seventeen contribution points.

Not to mention the consumption of ground fire.

This contribution value might not be much to Bai Qingbai, but it's a considerable expense for Bai Xuanjing and the others!

"Today is the first day. I have prepared two sets of materials for each of you. You will refine a batch of Azure Water Pills first, and I will watch from the side."

After Bai Qingbai finished speaking, he waved his hand and took out colorful brocade boxes and bottles from his storage bag.

These are all medicinal materials used to refine the Azure Water Pill.

Without saying a word, Bai Xuanjing and the other two sat down on the ground and then each took out their alchemy furnaces and placed them in front of them.

Seeing this, Bai Qingbai nodded to himself.

He was very satisfied with the three of them.

It wasn't just because of the three's alchemy skills, but also because they had all given their all when sharing their alchemy experiences at the alchemy meeting earlier.

He didn't spout nonsense out of fear of being surpassed by others.

As for whether or not it involves concealment...

As long as one doesn't deliberately mislead their fellow clansmen, even if they hold back some information, Bai Qingbai doesn't care.

He valued his disciples' character more than their talent.

As for the so-called disciple's character, Bai Qingbai's evaluation standard is: "You don't have to help people, but you can't intentionally cheat or even harm them."

After all, for a family to thrive and endure, it doesn't need every disciple to be selfless and dedicated, but at least these disciples need to fulfill their responsibilities and not hold each other back.

Thinking of this, Bai Qingbai recalled seeing people fishing for crabs in the open sea when he was young.

The bamboo cages used to hold crabs have no lids, but as soon as a crab climbs to the edge of the cage, other crabs will pull on its legs.

The end result was that not a single crab could get out.

"If a family's members are all like crabs in a bamboo cage, they deserve to perish."

This was Bai Qingbai's realization back then, and it shaped his current principles of conduct and Daoist heart.