Juxuan Pavilion, private box on the seventh floor.
Shopkeeper Liao knocked on the door, "Report to the Pavilion Master, there’s an important matter to convey!"
A voice, extremely cold, came from inside the room.
"Enter!"
Only then did Shopkeeper Liao cautiously push open the door and enter the room.
"Reporting to the Pavilion Master."
"Fellow Daoist Qin just came to the shop to purchase spiritual materials."
"He’s preparing to breakthrough as a Middle-Grade Alchemist."
Gu Qingzhao, who was holding a scripture and tasting tea, abruptly straightened up after hearing this, her brows furrowed as she looked at Shopkeeper Liao and said: "What?!"
Shopkeeper Liao hastily bowed and recounted the entire situation without missing any details.
"You’ve handled this very well, it merits a great reward."
"Once Cloud Marsh Immortal City is established, there will be a place for you in the pavilion."
"Continue to build a good relationship with Fellow Daoist Qin. If he visits the shop again, report directly to me." Gu Qingzhao’s eyes flickered, seemingly contemplating something.
...
Qin Ming left Juxuan Pavilion.
The time it takes to drink a cup of tea.
He easily made his way to Su Yuqing’s residence.
"Brother Su, this is Spirit Bamboo Wine, the taste is quite good. I brought a jar for you to try." Qin Ming retrieved the spirit wine from his storage pouch and handed it to Su Yuqing.
Su Yuqing’s face lit up with joy as he received the Spirit Bamboo Wine, and upon opening the seal, a rich, extreme fragrance of spirit wine filled the whole room.
"Great wine! Brother Qin, you really have a lot of good stuff! I’ll gladly accept it then."
In his life, he has two major interests: alchemy, and this spirit wine and spirit tea.
Su Yuqing couldn’t wait to take out two wine cups and was about to taste it.
Seeing this, Qin Ming raised his hand to stop him and said, "Brother Su, I’m here today to borrow the alchemy room for pill refinement, I’ve already had my share, so I’ll refrain from more."
"Alright then, you go ahead, and I’ll thoroughly enjoy this Spirit Bamboo Wine." Su Yuqing nodded, then picked up the cup and was about to head to the courtyard when he suddenly remembered something and casually asked, "What pill are you planning to refine?"
"Spirit Gathering Pill." Qin Ming answered without hesitation.
"Oh—" Su Yuqing first responded, then suddenly realized, his tone heightened, "What did you say?!"
"Spirit Gathering Pill? Are you sure?"
"This pill is one of the most difficult to refine among all Middle-Grade Spirit Pills."
Qin Ming confidently replied, "I’m sure, it’s this Spirit Pill."
He had chosen the Spirit Gathering Pill for a reason, as it’s currently the most effective pill for advancing his mana cultivation.
This time, just preparing the ten portions of spiritual materials needed to refine the Spirit Gathering Pill cost him several hundred Spirit Stones.
"Well... okay, Brother Qin always likes to face high-level challenges." Su Yuqing wasn’t surprised, and then went off to savor the wine.
Next.
Qin Ming entered the alchemy room, discarding distractions, fully focused on the pill refining process.
The Spirit Gathering Pill’s formula and refining process were recorded in great detail in Su Yuqing’s notes.
He had rehearsed it countless times in his mind, and it was deeply imprinted there.
After Qin Ming enhanced his divine soul once more,
extracting the medicine embryo and configuring the spirit medicine, these two steps were extremely smooth.
He opened the fire valve at the bottom of the pill furnace.
Boom!
The scorching earth fire suddenly erupted.
Qin Ming began to control the flames, heating the pill furnace evenly.
When the timing seemed just right,
he gestured with a raise of his hand, and one of the allocated spirit medicines flew into the pill furnace.
The next step was the most crucial one.
With powerful divine soul control, Qin Ming cautiously manipulated the earth fire while fusing the spirit medicines in the pill furnace.
A long time passed.
Poof!
A puff of acrid black smoke emerged from the pill furnace.
It was clear that the first attempt at refining had failed.
Such an outcome was expected by Qin Ming, as the difficulty of refining Middle-Grade Spirit Pills is unlike that of Low-Grade Spirit Pills.
Expecting success in one try was nothing short of a fool’s dream.
Expressionless, Qin Ming began to clean the medicinal dregs from the pill furnace, summarizing the experience in preparation for the next attempt.
Time passed.
In the alchemy room, the sounds of failed attempts continued to echo.
After failing seven consecutive times,
finally, Qin Ming’s expression started to show strain.
"Where exactly did things go wrong?"
"Everything was done according to the steps, with hardly any deviation." He couldn’t figure it out and found himself stuck.
Without understanding the critical issue, no matter how many attempts he made, the result would be the same: failure.
Outside the alchemy room.
"How is it going?" Su Yuqing saw Qin Ming’s disheveled appearance and entered with a playful smile.
He casually picked up a wasted pill Qin Ming had made, gently squeezed it, and then carefully inspected the black-grey medicinal residue.
After a while.
Su Yuqing’s brow furrowed slightly, displaying a thoughtful expression. After pondering for a long moment, he finally asked:
"How long have you been attempting to refine this Spirit Gathering Pill?"
Qin Ming was a bit puzzled, as Su Yuqing usually didn’t bother him when he was refining pills, yet today he proactively entered and asked questions.
The sudden shift reinvigorated him, and he promptly replied honestly: "I just started refining today, and I’ve attempted it seven times in total."
Su Yuqing: "..."
"Only seven attempts and you’re at this level?"
"Are you pulling my leg?"
Su Yuqing pounded the medicinal residue in his hand, letting the black-grey outer layer fall away, revealing a green almond-sized semi-finished pill inside.
"You’re already about one-third successful."
Qin Ming shrugged at the wasted pill, saying, "Well... it might just be a stroke of luck."
Then he rummaged through the remaining medicinal dregs and found that only the pill in Su Yuqing’s hand was a semi-finished product.
Seeing this,
Su Yuqing’s face showed a conflicted expression. After a long hesitation, he heavily sighed and said:
"So be it, Brother Qin, in truth, among all the Spirit Plant Masters I’ve seen, you have the highest talent for alchemy."
Qin Ming: "?!"
He couldn’t help but think to himself, if it wasn’t for the entry greatly enhancing his divine soul, there would be no talk of talent. He would likely still be struggling with Basic Detoxification Pills.
"Your steps and process in refining the Spirit Gathering Pill are not actually problematic."
"You’re just missing one thing," Su Yuqing said slowly.
Qin Ming’s heart leapt with joy, as it seemed he was about to receive the answer that had eluded him.
He curiously asked, "What’s missing?"
"I’ll just demonstrate it once, watch closely," Su Yuqing replied, heading towards the table.
The atmosphere around him shifted completely.
Then he started refining the Spirit Gathering Pill.
Under his exquisite technique, the spiritual materials swiftly decomposed, his actions fluid and seamless, managing every step with perfect ease.
In just half the time it takes to drink a cup of tea,
Chirp!
A clear ringing signaled the formation of pills in the alchemy furnace.
Twelve deep blue High-Grade Spirit Gathering Pills were freshly produced.
With a wave of his hand, Su Yuqing collected the pills into his palm.
Qin Ming had been thoroughly amazed, realizing his own clumsy technique couldn’t compare.
"It seems... there’s a difference in alchemy technique." Qin Ming hesitated and voiced his thoughts.
Qin Ming clearly saw that during the final step of fusing the spirit medicines, the quality of the resulting pills should have been that of ordinary Spirit Gathering Pills.
However, he employed a peculiar spell; the liquid ready to form pills temporarily separated and then re-fused, achieving perfection upon restructuring.
Only then did he complete the process, producing the High-Grade Spirit Gathering Pills.
Su Yuqing smiled slightly, nodding, "Indeed, this ’Yin Yang Separation and Reunion Spirit Control Technique’ is my unique alchemy method. It’s a set of insights I’ve accumulated over my years of studying alchemy and I’m constantly refining and improving it."
"The fusion technique within it, I dare say, apart from myself, even Tier Two or higher alchemists wouldn’t comprehend it."
"Though you’ve observed it long enough beside me, you’ve merely grasped the surface, not the essence."
Qin Ming suddenly realized, "So that’s how it is."
"I can teach you this ’Yin Yang Separation and Reunion Spirit Control Technique,’ but you must swear never to share it," Su Yuqing suddenly said with a very serious expression to Qin Ming.
Upon hearing this, Qin Ming froze!
In his extreme delight, mixed feelings of astonishment arose, as he wondered why Su Yuqing would so easily impart such an important method to him.
’Could it be that...’