Cultivation: Beginning with the Heart Reflecting Heaven and Earth

In front of Xu Kuzhou, Lu Qian began to demonstrate the process he had repeated countless times: processing the spiritual herbs, starting the fire, controlling the fire with incantations, and finally collecting the pill. He deliberately controlled his pill refining speed, and it took him almost a quarter of an hour to finish, but Xu Kuzhou still didn't have time to react.

"Is that all?"

Looking at the Qi and Blood Pill in the alchemy furnace, Xu Kuzhou fell into deep thought. He originally planned to teach Lu Qian how to refine the Qi and Blood Pill in a quarter of an hour within a few months, so as not to let down Chu Liu's favor. However, Lu Qian had already done it in just ten days, which was not within his expectations!

What should I do? Should I continue teaching?

To be honest, learning alchemy requires a lot of resources. If it were just the materials for Qi and Blood Pills, Xu Kuzhou wouldn't care, but if it were higher-grade pills, he would feel the pain if he lost too much.

There are also medicinal formulas. Although it's okay for some common medicinal formulas to be circulated, it seems a bit of a waste to give them away for no reason.

"Forget it, he's not completely clueless now. I might as well let him assist me; otherwise, I'm always feeling uneasy!"

After a moment's thought, Xu Kuzhou made up his mind. He cleared his throat and continued, "You've done alright, but from now on you need to observe, think, and do more. You'll stay by my side and serve as a disciple for a while to hone your skills. Are you willing?"

He had already decided that if Lu Qian was unwilling, he would simply find a reason to expel him, which would be easy to explain to Chu Liu anyway.

Upon hearing Xu Kuzhou's words, Lu Qian immediately agreed, "I'm willing! I haven't had the chance to repay my senior brother's kindness in passing on his skills, and I must thank him for giving me this opportunity!"

As long as the world exists, Lu Qian can completely replicate the materials and even the earth fire once he sees how Xu Kuzhou refines pills. How could he possibly refuse?

"Alright, here is the method for refining the Yellow Sprout Pill. You can observe it for now. In two days, I will begin refining the pills, and you will accompany me. This is a task assigned by the sect, so you must not be careless!"

Xu Kuzhou tossed a jade slip to Lu Qian and turned to leave, as if something was chasing after him.

"So even disciples of the Dao lineage have to complete tasks?"

After thinking about it for a moment, Lu Qian felt that this was not surprising. "After all, the treatment is so good. If I do nothing, it seems difficult to win people's respect. It is only right to complete the sect's mission."

The sects honor alchemists so that they can refine pills. If alchemists didn't refine pills, would they still have their current status?

Even a Qi Refining Alchemist like Xu Kuzhou still needs to refine pills; otherwise, why would the sect provide resources for nothing?

That's obviously impossible.

"Let me take a look at the recipe for Huangya Dan. Maybe I can refine it myself in the future and won't need to buy it anymore."

Lu Qian didn't continue thinking about it. He pressed the jade slip to his head. "The main ingredients are Yellow Cloud Fungus, Clear Spirit Grass, and Mystic Water..."

"The yellow cloud fungus needs to be crushed, but its spiritual essence must not be damaged. The core of the Qingling grass should be extracted for medicinal use, and the Xuan water is used to moderate the medicinal properties. It is indeed a combination of principal, assistant, and adjuvant herbs. However, some auxiliary materials need to be added..."

After just a quick glance, Lu Qian knew that Huangya Dan was much more difficult to refine than Qi Xue Dan, and it was not something he could handle for the time being.

"Qi and Blood Pills aren't even considered spiritual pills, and Yellow Sprout Pills are the lowest grade of spiritual pills, yet they're still so difficult to refine. No wonder alchemists are so sought after, but so few people try their hand at it!"

If it weren't for the ability to try and fail infinitely in the inner world, Lu Qian would never have chosen alchemy. But since he has this advantage, he must make use of it, otherwise wouldn't it be a waste?

He took out a Huangya Dan (a traditional Chinese medicine), put it in his mouth, and began to meditate and cultivate.

"Cultivating on a spiritual vein is great; one day here is equivalent to two days there. If this continues, I should reach the third level of Qi Refining in another half month."

In the world of cultivation, time flies, and two days passed in the blink of an eye. Lu Qian followed Xu Kuzhou to his alchemy studio, where a wave of heat almost hit them in the face.

"This place is connected to the earth fire after all. Your cultivation level is too low. If you can't hold on, go outside for a while. Don't push yourself too hard."

Xu Kuzhou casually remarked, then began processing the medicinal herbs in front of Lu Qian. He quickly stopped and gestured for Lu Qian to take over.

Processing medicinal herbs was nothing special; Lu Qian picked it up quickly and made no mistakes.

At this moment, Xu Kuzhou stopped paying attention to Lu Qian and began to turn on the switch of the earth fire. Some gaps appeared in the disc below, and blazing flames shot out from them, causing the temperature in the alchemy room to rise significantly.

Then came the alchemy process. Xu Kuzhou added various medicinal herbs, appearing confident and skilled. He didn't pour all of a particular herb in at once, but rather poured in a portion first, then added other herbs as needed. The alchemy furnace began to release a strong medicinal fragrance.

"This batch of Ganoderma lucidum has too many impurities, but fortunately the Qingling Grass is still relatively fresh, and as long as the Xuan Shui is stable, there aren't too many requirements..."

Xu Kuzhou would occasionally mention some key points about refining Huangya Dan, but he would only say a few words when he was in the mood; most of the time, he was focused on refining the pills.

Lu Qian also noticed that Xu Kuzhou's alchemy techniques were different from his own, but it was obvious that he couldn't learn them just by looking at them. Some of the complex qi circulation routes and key formulas were almost impossible to guess.

About three hours later, Xu Kuzhou slapped the alchemy furnace hard and then chanted the incantation to collect the pills. At this moment, Lu Qian handed over several jade bottles, and one by one, the Yellow Sprout Pills fell into them, about forty in total.

"I've gotten skilled at it, and Yellow Sprout Pills are just a basic pill, so I can refine four normal batches at once. You absolutely mustn't try to imitate me!"

Xu Kuzhou sighed wearily, put the two bottles of Huangya Pills into a special storage bag, kept one bottle for himself, and handed the remaining bottle to Lu Qian. "There are always some losses in alchemy. For example, the sect gave me a loss quota of about half this time. You can keep the rest yourself."

Having received most of a bottle of Yellow Sprout Pills for free, Lu Qian naturally thanked them quickly, saying, "Thank you for taking care of me, Senior Brother!"

"After you go back, think carefully about the details."

Xu Kuzhou looked too tired to speak. "Today is just an appetizer. Considering it's your first time participating in alchemy, we'll be opening several batches in a row later, so it won't be so easy for you."

Lu Qian quickly acknowledged that he had heard, but Xu Kuzhou was already exhausted after refining only one batch of pills. How could he have opened several batches in a row?

He soon found out the answer. Xu Kuzhou took out a jade bottle, put a pill in his mouth, and quickly became energetic again.

That's perfectly normal. That's how it should be. What alchemist doesn't take medicine?

After returning, Lu Qian also took two Yellow Sprout Pills in succession. He had no choice before, but now that he had pills, he could circulate his cultivation technique five times in one session, so two Yellow Sprout Pills were just right.

"Now that's the demeanor of a master alchemist!"

He felt that by taking two Huangya Dan pills every day, he could reach the third level of Qi Refining even faster.