Chapter 33: Preparing to Refine the Spiritual Roots

Cao Xuan once again brought up the system panel, checked the recipe for the Purification Pill, and confirmed that the prepared medicinal herbs were correct. After pondering the refining steps, he judged that with his sixth-layer Qi Refinement cultivation, he should barely be able to complete the process, so he began heating the furnace.

The Alchemy Room No. 11 under the Xuan designation had just been reserved by the senior alchemist who used it before him. According to the unwritten rules, it was common practice for disciples learning alchemy to take advantage of the residual heat after alchemists left, both to familiarize themselves with the process and to practice.

An hour, two at most, would be enough for Cao Xuan to refine the Purification Pill. However, unlike other pills he was already adept at making, which allowed him to shorten the time, the process for the Purification Pill was far more complex. Rather than waiting until night to randomly find a vacant alchemy room—risking interruption—it was safer to use one that had been properly registered.

He had experienced this sort of trouble before: once, after finding an empty room and just beginning the refining of Spirit-Gathering Orchid, someone who had reserved the room barged in and interrupted him. The alchemist barely glanced at him before saying dismissively, “I need this room. Go find another empty one to practice.” To them, it was unthinkable that Cao Xuan could succeed in alchemy; although it was an unspoken rule that disciples could use empty rooms, it was only as long as it didn’t interfere with alchemists. So even if he was upset, even if it meant wasting a furnace of herbs and five spirit stones to activate the cauldron, he wasn’t in the right and could only leave.

Fortunately, such unpleasant incidents were rare, but they strengthened his resolve to reach the seventh layer of Qi Refinement as soon as possible and become an official alchemist. As his senior Yang Fan had said, an alchemist at the fourth layer was a prodigy, but at the seventh layer, one was merely considered talented. There weren’t many in the Azure Cloud Sect, but at least they weren’t freakish outliers.

He wasn’t the sort of protagonist who could sweep through everything unchallenged, nor was he the type to hide away and mutter about patience and forbearance. Still, unnecessary trouble should be avoided when possible.

Whether it was waiting for the senior alchemist to finish before refining his pill or waiting to reach the seventh layer before officially applying for alchemist status, it all reflected Cao Xuan’s way of navigating the world.

With practiced hands, he stoked a fierce fire in the cauldron, first tossing in the prepared Cleansing Grass to extract a blue-green medicinal liquid, then adding Spirit Source Ganoderma, Spirit Rabbit Heartblood, and thirteen other herbs, fusing them together.

Cao Xuan’s eyes were fixed on the cauldron; even though the flames scorched his vision, making his eyes sting, he dared not blink for fear of making a single mistake.

The Purification Pill was normally a medicine only Foundation Establishment cultivators could refine; the required focus was far beyond what someone in the Qi Refinement stage could manage.

Only thanks to Cao Xuan’s mastery of the “True Understanding of Alchemy” could he calculate every step in advance, minimizing the depletion of his spiritual power and consciousness. Even so, his scalp tingled and his spirit felt utterly drained.

“Ding—”

When the last ingredient was done, he quickly turned the flame to its lowest setting, then took a top-grade Qi Recovery Pill and a Focus Pill from his storage pouch and swallowed them. Both were exceptional pills, even used to break through to Foundation Establishment, but for now, he used them just to recover his spiritual energy and focus.

Then he repeated the process: Cleansing Grass, Spirit Source Ganoderma, Spirit Rabbit Heartblood, and the other fifteen herbs, fusing them all once more. Indeed, the Purification Pill required the same fifteen ingredients refined twice, then merged together at the end.

Seconds and minutes ticked by, sweat pouring down Cao Xuan’s brow, but he had no mind to wipe it away. Refining the second batch meant he had to keep the first batch from evaporating or cooling while controlling the fire—multitasking at a level only Foundation Establishment alchemists could manage. Cao Xuan was already doing his best to compress the time and lower the difficulty.

...

“Buzz—”

“Fuse!” he shouted.

The two droplets of medicinal liquid merged instantly, and stars flashed before Cao Xuan’s eyes while his whole body shook.

“Open!”

The lid flew off, and a sphere of medicinal liquid floated in the air.

“Divide!”

The liquid began to cool. With the last trace of spiritual energy he could muster, Cao Xuan split the liquid into pills.

“Ding—ding—ding—”

The sound of pearls falling onto a jade plate echoed as ten Purification Pills dropped onto the tray he had prepared.

Looking at their appearance, Cao Xuan’s expression soured. “As expected, forcing the process is still too much.”

Even with his sixth-level Qi Refinement, his body and mind already far surpassed mortals, but the gap between stages—especially between Qi Refinement and Foundation Establishment—was like a chasm. He had felt himself increasingly strained partway through the process.

“Fortunately, the pills still formed, but they’re slightly clouded—barely considered low-grade Purification Pills.”

He staggered to his feet, steadied himself, and hurried toward his own dwelling with the pills in hand. As soon as he left, the alchemy room was instantly reserved by another alchemist. Seeing this, Cao Xuan couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief at his foresight.

Normally, when disciples borrowed an alchemy room to experiment, the jade tag on the door wouldn’t be lit, meaning the room could be reserved at any time and they’d just have to rely on luck. But the Purification Pill required such focus that any interruption would doom the entire batch.

“To get ten Purification Pills is already lucky,” he thought. “Refining them at the Qi Refinement stage is just too much.”

He gave a bitter laugh, recalling how the prize wheel could have given him a treasure to directly transform his spiritual root, but instead he had to settle for this meager guarantee—he ground his teeth in frustration.

“Damn those lottery mechanics, damn this unlucky fate.”

...

Back at his dwelling, Cao Xuan first restored himself to peak condition, then poured out a Purification Pill.

“Let’s see what this low-grade pill can do.”

He swallowed it in one gulp. His mind reeled.

“This cool sensation—is it possible?”

He felt as if his spiritual root had been washed by a stream of water, his whole body relaxing. But then he was stunned. “Wait, was that it? Just a splash? It’s called Purification, but that’s all it does?”

Cao Xuan’s lips twitched as he stared at the remaining nine pills in the porcelain bottle, utterly speechless.

“If my spiritual root improves even slightly after these nine, I’ll admit defeat.”

His expression darkened. “How many of these low-grade pills would I have to refine to get my spiritual root from four-fold to five-fold?”

“No, I’ll collapse if I try again. System, start refreshing the medicine draws!”

Originally, he hadn’t intended to use these incredible pills as gifts. But now, honestly, with results like this, who could know what effects they had without swallowing hundreds? By contrast, one dose of Qi-Gathering or Focus Powder would show immediate effects.

As for the Purification Pill, calling it a sugar pill would be believable.

So Cao Xuan took out his communication talisman. “Should I ask Lin Miaoxuan or Chen Qianru to help me test these?”

Glancing at his messages, he saw that Lin Miaoxuan, spurred by his earlier words, had stopped being a recluse and gone out on missions.

So he messaged Chen Qianru, asking her to meet him in the Spirit Herb Valley.

“Junior Sister Chen, I’ve made some breakthroughs recently and successfully refined a batch of pills. Come and help test the effects!”

Chen Qianru, upon seeing the message, felt her heart tremble!