Yunmeng Immortal Clan

The Dao of Alchemy is one of the most obscure and difficult to understand among the myriad arts of cultivating immortality, hence the poem that says:

"The elixir of gold is made from pure lead and pure mercury; the subtle nuances of the fire are not easily discerned. If worldly substances are used, one will toil in vain until old age."

The world's elixirs are divided into four grades: green, blue, purple, and gold. This is to say that the quality of the elixirs produced is determined by their quality.

The vast majority of pills refined by alchemists are of the cyan grade. It is considered lucky to refine a blue grade pill. As for purple grade pills, they are highly sought after, and gold grade pills are rare treasures.

In addition to the four qualities, pills also have pill patterns. First-tier pills have one pill pattern, second-tier pills have two pill patterns, and so on.

The more patterns there are in the cinnabar, the lower the chance of producing a high-quality product.

After confirming repeatedly, Song Chuanyuan discovered that two of the three pills refined by Song Daoxuan had reached the Qing grade, while the other was a non-grade pill, which was a waste pill.

At this moment, he had only one thought in his mind: this boy's talent in alchemy was even greater than his own.

However, he didn't want to praise the boy too much, fearing that the boy would become too arrogant.

Song Chuanyuan coughed once.

"You've managed to refine two out of three pills, which shows you have good talent. However, compared to me, you're still far behind. If you want to make further progress in alchemy, you still have a long way to go!"

"Take these two pills. Although Qingling Powder isn't considered a cultivation-enhancing pill in the cultivation world, it can ward off and neutralize poisons. I hope you can improve your alchemy skills soon and bring glory to the family..."

Song Daoxuan deeply felt the hopes of a family elder for a younger generation. He accepted two Qingling pills, bowed deeply to the person, and then left the place.

Song Daoxuan's first successful alchemy made Song Chuanyuan extremely excited. Song Chuanyuan knew that his lifespan was coming to an end, and his greatest pride was his alchemy skills. He had thought that no one in his family could inherit his mantle.

But now, Song Daoxuan, with his Qi Refining Level 5 cultivation, has refined two Qingling Powders. This talent gives Song Chuanyuan more hope.

So in the days that followed, Song Chuanyuan reduced the amount of first-order Qi Refining pills he made for the family and devoted more time to teaching Song Daoxuan how to improve his alchemy skills.

Formation, alchemy, talisman making, and weapon crafting are the four most crucial arts among the myriad arts of cultivation, all of which require considerable talent.

While receiving meticulous instruction in alchemy from his elder Song Chuanyuan, Song Daoxuan also used some of the Purple Dew he had accumulated over the years to cultivate some first-tier main ingredients.

The main ingredient is the most expensive to refine first-grade pills, while the auxiliary ingredients and medicinal guides are almost inexpensive.

Inside the cave, Song Daoxuan borrowed a first-grade alchemy furnace from Song Chuanyuan to refine a batch of pills called the Rejuvenation Pill.

The Rejuvenation Pill, a first-tier elixir, primarily functions as a basic healing agent, rapidly healing skin and flesh wounds and restoring a small amount of spiritual energy. It is an essential elixir for Qi Refining stage cultivators.

The main ingredient is the Blood-Coagulating Grass, which takes decades to grow. In a mortal dynasty, these decades are enough for a person's entire life. It is unlikely that any aristocratic family or sect would waste their energy cultivating this grass.

The alchemy furnace hummed repeatedly, but after each failure, Song Daoxuan added blood-coagulating grass and other auxiliary medicinal materials and catalysts to the furnace without any hesitation.

If other cultivators saw this scene, they would probably be astonished, because when they fail at alchemy multiple times, they will pause for a while, take a long time to recover, and then cautiously continue to refine pills.

Song Daoxuan, on the other hand, seemed to throw the main ingredients into the alchemy furnace as if they were free, without a trace of heartache.

With the Qi-Gathering Gourd in hand, one can condense a drop of Purple Dew that accelerates the growth of spiritual plants and herbs in three months, thus harvesting the main material for alchemy. Three months is nothing to mention for cultivators with long lifespans.

With his mind completely focused, Song Daoxuan reached near-peak performance in alchemy.

Alchemy is a highly technical craft, with hundreds of details. It is a slow and meticulous process. Even for alchemists with high skill levels, encountering major events that affect their mood can significantly impact the success rate of their alchemy.

Under the influence of this single-minded state of mind, Song Daoxuan consumed almost nine Blood-Coagulating Grasses, and the aroma of pills wafted from the alchemy furnace once again.

Three qing-grade pills emerged from the lid of the alchemy furnace, their fragrance filling the air; the pills were complete.

A single Qing-grade Rejuvenation Pill is naturally not as valuable as a 51-pill Gathering Breath Pill, but it still sells very well in the cultivation world for 10 low-grade spirit stones per pill.

The price of a single Blood Clotting Grass, along with the other medicinal herbs, is approximately three low-grade spirit stones.

After deducting costs, Song Daoxuan still managed to earn three low-grade spirit stones. Thinking of this, Song Daoxuan felt a surge of inexplicable joy.

However, the success rate of one pill being produced from nine batches was still too low in Song Daoxuan's eyes. If one pill was produced from ten batches, the production of this pill would be considered a break-even operation, and if one pill was produced from eleven batches, it would be considered a loss.

Thinking of this, Song Daoxuan intensified his study of the details of alchemy, and finally, a year later, he made some progress in alchemy.

As long as it's a first-tier pill, he can make one pill from five batches. However, the success rate of making one pill from five batches is only possible for some pills that Song Daoxuan frequently refines.

"I can now guarantee a yield of one out of five batches of Qingling Powder, Huichun Pill, Bailu Pill, and Guyuan Powder. I've become quite adept at refining first-tier pills. Even top-tier first-tier alchemists wouldn't dare boast that they can produce pills with every batch. I should now consider myself a qualified first-tier alchemist..."

Song Daoxuan's lips curled up, and a hint of joy appeared on his fair and jade-like face.

"However, my great-uncle only possessed these four pill formulas. Apart from the White Dew Pill, which can help low-level Qi Refining cultivators improve their cultivation, the rest are all functional pills. As for the Gathering Breath Pill, which can greatly enhance cultivation, its formula is almost impossible to find in the cultivation world..."

"I've roughly calculated that I currently have eighteen first-tier pills. If I could sell all of these pills in the market and exchange them for Qi Gathering Pills to improve my cultivation level, reaching the ninth level of Qi Refining shouldn't be a problem."

However, there is still a major bottleneck between the ninth level of Qi Refining and the tenth level of Great Perfection. In addition to using pills, it also takes time to break through. From the first to the ninth level, one can take pills like the Gathering Breath Pill to break through the bottleneck, but breaking through to the tenth level is probably not so simple.

Thinking of this, Song Daoxuan prepared to go to the largest market town in Yunmeng Marsh, Yunmeng Market Town.

Qinglian Island has an extremely large jurisdiction, spanning thousands of miles. Song Daoxuan borrowed a spirit beast from his family, the Cloud Steed, before leaving the island.

Although the Cloud Steed cannot match the speed of a Foundation Establishment cultivator flying on a sword, it is still much faster than a Qi Refining cultivator walking.

Riding on the Cloud Steed, their escape speed was extremely fast; otherwise, if they had followed the escape speed of a Qi Refining stage cultivator, it would have taken them forever to reach Yunmeng Market.

A day has passed.

Finally, we arrived at Yunmeng Market.

Yunmeng Market is the largest market in Yunmeng Prefecture, which is home to three major figures in the cultivation world.

The first is the Zhuxi Sect, one of the six major immortal cultivation sects in the Great Li Dynasty; the second is the four major demonic sects that permeate the entire Great Li Dynasty; and the third is this Yunmeng Market.

Yunmeng Market is a neutral player in Yunmeng Prefecture, operating between the righteous and demonic paths. It only enjoys collecting various rare items from the cultivation world and placing them at auctions to earn massive amounts of spirit stones. It is said that the backer of Yunmeng Market may even be a Nascent Soul level ancestor.

But rumors are just rumors. Even the higher-ups of both the righteous and demonic paths have to give some face to the owners behind this market when they come to it. Over time, Yunmeng Market has become the third most untouchable entity in Yunmeng Prefecture.

As for Foundation Establishment cultivation families like the Song family of Qinglian Island, they only rely on the remote corner of the Zhuxi Sect for survival. Every year, they have to hand over a certain amount of spiritual plants and herbs to the superior sect, Zhuxi Sect, in order to obtain the protection of the major sect.

In the eyes of the Zhuxi Sect, the Song Clan of Qinglian Island was like a pawn among many that could be discarded at any time.

Before us lies Yunmengze, the largest body of water in the Great Li Kingdom. A grand manor has been built on the vast expanse of water, with pavilions and towers lining the shore and bridges connecting them. People can walk on the water, and boats can sail on the water. The manor incorporates the lake view into the manor, and the manor incorporates the lake view into the manor.

The Yunmeng Market was bustling with noise. Song Daoxuan, dressed in a black Daoist robe that concealed his face, was hidden in the vast sea of ​​people. As soon as he approached the market, he sensed countless figures with extremely powerful divine senses emerging.

According to Song Daoxuan's common sense, although he couldn't discern the specific cultivation level of these cultivators, they were at least more powerful than him. Song Daoxuan quietly avoided these cultivators. It was instinctive. In the cultivation world, high-level cultivators regarded low-level cultivators as ants. Being targeted by these high-level cultivators was not a pleasant thing.

Song Daoxuan's main goal was to sell pills and exchange spirit stones for the Gathering Breath Pill.

This time, he wanted to sell more pills, which were more closely related to the secret of the Qi Gathering Immortal Gourd. He did not want to expose this secret. Normally, he would have asked a highly skilled elder from his family to accompany him before he would feel at ease.

He rarely came to the market before, not because he didn't want to, but because he didn't have many spirit stones and could only stay within the cultivation family.

But now that he's richer, he wants to buy more things. Song Daoxuan walked along the outer edge of the market, where the outermost area was lined with stalls selling all sorts of items from the cultivation world, of varying quality.

The inner part of the market is mostly filled with standardized shops, where almost nothing is counterfeit. The items sold include elixirs, magical artifacts, talismans, and formations, all of which are readily available.

Song Daoxuan didn't rush to sell the pills. Instead, he strolled around the market, showing great interest in all the items in the cultivation world, much like a country bumpkin who had just come from the village to the city.