I am in Yellow Maple Valley, and I have a demonic beast clone!

Chapter Forty-Seven: Alchemy! Little Gold Advances!

With the foundation established and the cultivation method finalized, the complete inheritance of the Azure Origin Sword Technique is now within my grasp.

Zhou Ding sat cross-legged beside the Spirit Eye Spring, feeling the ever-flowing azure true essence within his body, his gaze calm and serene.

Next, one should focus on improving one's cultivation level.

But besides cultivation, it's time to learn something else.

In the original work, those cultivators who achieved high levels of cultivation would more or less master one or two of the various arts of immortal cultivation.

Alchemy, weapon crafting, talisman making, formation techniques, beast taming...

Han Li has a wide range of interests, including alchemy, talisman making, formation, and weapon crafting. It is through these skills that he has been able to turn danger into safety time and time again and accumulate a foundation far beyond that of his peers.

In the past, Zhou Ding had not yet established his foundation and his lifespan was limited, so he dared not be distracted.

Now that the foundation has been successfully established and lifespan has increased to over two hundred years, it is time to explore some of the mysteries.

"Alchemy...formation..."

Zhou Ding pondered for a moment, then made a decision.

Alchemy was the first choice.

Relying on Xiao Jin's ability to hear the earth, he can easily obtain a large amount of cultivation resources.

Elixirs, medicinal materials, and spiritual stones are all readily available.

These resources are sufficient to support the consumption of alchemy.

Moreover, he has many ancient pill formulas in his possession. He can't possibly go to Han Li every time he needs pills, can he?

As for the formation...

This path requires the most talent and is also the most mentally taxing.

However, Zhou Ding's spiritual sense was powerful, far surpassing that of others of the same level, which greatly helped him learn formations.

Moreover, array masters hold an extremely high status in the cultivation world. An array master would be welcomed by any power, making it a safe and secure backup plan.

"Refine the pills first, then set up the formation."

Zhou Ding made a decision.

The next day, he left the cave and headed straight for the market town of Huangfeng Valley.

……

Wanbaolou remains as magnificent as ever, attracting a constant stream of guests.

Zhou Ding's purpose in coming here was not to purchase finished pills, but to purchase spiritual herbs—a large quantity of low-grade spiritual herbs.

He was a beginner, and naturally needed a lot of practice materials to get started with alchemy.

He didn't disturb the manager of Wanbaolou, but instead found a middle-aged manager in the hall who looked honest and didn't talk much, and directly recited a long list of spiritual herbs.

Upon hearing this, the manager was taken aback at first, then a look of surprise flashed in his eyes.

This customer is a big spender!

"Fellow Daoist, please wait a moment. This batch of spiritual herbs is quite large and needs to be retrieved from the warehouse," the steward said respectfully.

Zhou Ding nodded, not in a hurry, found a seat in the hall, and closed his eyes to rest.

About an incense stick later, the steward returned, followed by two servants carrying a wooden box about half a person's height.

"Fellow Daoist, all the spiritual herbs you requested are here. Thirty-six herbs that are a hundred years old, eighty-four herbs that are fifty years old, and two hundred herbs that are less than thirty years old, totaling spirit stones..."

The manager announced a number.

Zhou Ding paid with spirit stones directly.

These medicinal herbs will be all the materials he needs to practice with over the next year.

……

Back in his cave, Zhou Ding began his "first experience" in alchemy.

He had never studied alchemy.

Everything starts from scratch.

He first took out the book "Explanation of Ziyang Dan" from his storage bag.

Zhou Ding spent three days reading the book from beginning to end three times, memorizing it thoroughly.

Then, he took out the Crimson Flame Furnace, a magical artifact he had obtained from the cave of a Foundation Establishment cultivator.

This censer is about two feet tall, with three legs and two handles. It is entirely red and has flame patterns carved on its body.

When activated by magic, a raging fire will ignite inside the furnace. The temperature is controllable, making it a rather excellent alchemy tool.

Zhou Ding took a deep breath and took out the first batch of spiritual herbs.

Three 50-year-old "Qingling Grass", two 30-year-old "Fire Ginseng Fruit", and some auxiliary ingredients.

This is the recipe for "Qingxin Dan," a common elixir used in the early stages of Qi cultivation.

The first step is to warm up the furnace.

Zhou Ding poured his magical power into the alchemy furnace, and the true fire inside slowly ignited.

He carefully controlled the heat, allowing the furnace temperature to rise evenly until the furnace body turned slightly red.

The second step is to administer the medication.

First, put the kiwano (Japanese ginseng fruit) into the oven in the correct order.

This is the most difficult main ingredient to refine, requiring long-term high-temperature simmering.

Zhou Ding stared into the furnace, his divine sense closely sensing the changes in the medicinal herbs.

Fifteen minutes later, the kiwano began to melt, turning into a dark red, viscous liquid.

The third step is to add the auxiliary ingredients.

He quickly added the various ingredients one by one, and the timing, heat, and order of each ingredient had to be extremely precise.

When the auxiliary ingredients are put into the furnace, they mix with the ginseng juice and undergo a violent reaction.

Inside the furnace, a shimmering light appeared, and the aroma of medicine began to fill the air.

The fourth step is to add the Qingling Grass.

This is the most crucial step.

Qingling herbs are mild in nature, but extremely intolerant of high temperatures; they will burn if handled carelessly.

Zhou Ding put three Qingling grasses into the furnace and quickly reduced the heat.

The Qingling grass softened and melted rapidly in the high temperature, merging with the viscous liquid.

The fifth step is to condense the elixir.

Zhou Ding was completely focused, his hands moving in quick succession of hand seals, and the true fire inside the furnace began to slowly shrink and condense under his control.

The mixture of liquids was enveloped by flames, slowly rotating and gradually solidifying into round pills.

Fifteen minutes later.

"clang!"

The alchemy furnace emitted a soft sound, and the lid automatically popped open.

Zhou Ding eagerly peeked out—

At the bottom of the furnace lay four cyan pills.

but……

Two of them were dull in color and had pitted surfaces, clearly indicating that they were waste pills.

Only two were present, with bright colors and a fragrant aroma, barely qualifying as successful pills.

Zhou Ding sighed.

This is the level of a beginner.

Undeterred, he cleaned up the discarded pills, added more medicinal herbs, and began his second attempt.

……

Time flows like water, passing by silently.

The aroma of elixirs filled the alchemy room day after day.

Zhou Ding's life became extremely regular: every morning, he would meditate and cultivate for two hours; then he would immerse himself in the alchemy room until late at night; when he was tired, he would sit quietly by the Spirit Eye Spring for a while, feeling the coolness of the spring water and the pure spiritual energy; then he would continue to refine pills.

Failure, learn from it, adjust, and try again.

Repeatedly.

Three months later, he was finally able to consistently refine pills for the early stages of Qi Refining, with a success rate of 50%.

Six months later, he began to try pills for the mid-stage of Qi Refining.

This time, there were more failures, but also greater gains.

One year later—

Inside the alchemy room, the aroma of elixirs was so strong it was almost impossible to dissipate.

Zhou Ding sat cross-legged in front of the alchemy furnace, his expression focused, his hands moving in various hand seals.

Inside the furnace, a fierce fire blazed, and golden pills slowly rotated in the flames, gradually taking shape.

"clang!"

The furnace lid popped open, and five golden pills flew out of the furnace, landing steadily in the jade bottle that Zhou Ding had prepared beforehand.

Golden Elixir.

The pills used by late-stage Qi Refining cultivators to improve their cultivation are complex in formula and extremely difficult to refine.

A year ago, he couldn't even refine pills for the early stages of Qi Refining.

A year later, he was able to consistently refine Golden Spirit Pills for the late stage of Qi Refining.

Zhou Ding looked at the five brightly colored, fragrant pills in his hand and a satisfied smile appeared on his face.

"We can try refining Foundation Establishment stage pills now."

He muttered to himself, his eyes gleaming with anticipation.

However, just as he was preparing to put away the alchemy furnace and begin the next stage of his experiment—

A powerful tremor suddenly surged from the depths of my soul!

That's a connection with Xiao Jin!

Zhou Ding's expression changed, and he flashed into the quiet room.

Beside the Spirit Eye Spring, Little Gold was lying there, its aura extremely turbulent!

Its massive, tiger-like body was trembling violently.

The light in his golden vertical pupils flickered, revealing an indescribable pain.

A series of low, suppressed roars came from his throat.

"Roar...roar..."

The roar was like that of a wounded wild beast, or like someone enduring unimaginable torment.

Zhou Ding's heart tightened.

This is... a breakthrough is about to happen!

He already knew that Xiao Jin was only one opportunity away from becoming a level two demon beast.

Over the past year, it has been immersed in the Spirit Eye Spring day and night, absorbing pure spiritual energy and digesting the residual medicinal power of the spiritual herbs it had consumed in the forbidden area. Its foundation has become extremely profound.

Now, that opportunity has finally arrived!