Chapter 9: Exercises

After returning to his small courtyard, Li Zhirui couldn't wait to take out the pill formula for the Jade Spirit Pill. He was determined to fully grasp the formula in a short amount of time and then try his hand at refining it.

For the next few days, Li Zhirui kept himself locked in his courtyard, not stepping out of his gate, spending his time either studying the formula or practicing his techniques.

Ten days later, feeling that he had thoroughly mastered the formula and had a clear idea of the refining process, Li Zhirui prepared to begin.

He first went to the storage room to borrow a pill furnace, washed it clean with clear water, and removed the "fire energy" within to prevent any conflict between water and fire during the refining process.

He then poured one-tenth of the spirit water from his gourd into the furnace, took out the several spirit herbs required for the Jade Spirit Pill, and, following the instructions in the formula, used his mana to perform the initial extraction of the herbs to remove impurities.

This step was the foundation of water-based alchemy. Unlike fire-based refining, water-based refining required the cultivator to perform the extraction externally rather than relying on the heat of spirit flames.

Soon, five clusters of spirit herb essence were floating in front of Li Zhirui. He placed them into the spirit water one by one in the specified order and then closed the furnace lid.

Li Zhirui projected his divine sense into the furnace, observing the changes in the essence while performing hand seals to urge the five clusters to fuse together.

These hand seals were what constituted the "alchemy techniques." Li Zhirui had only learned four basic techniques—Combining, Fusing, Dividing, and Condensing—from the family’s *Basics of Alchemy*.

Advanced alchemy techniques, beyond these four basics, included methods for further extraction, amplifying medicinal effects, and reducing pill toxins.

This was the reason why, even with the same formula, there could be a vast difference in medicinal efficacy and pill toxicity between finished products!

When the five clusters of essence had completely merged into one, Li Zhirui changed his hand seals. It was as if an invisible hand were stirring the essence, blending the different medicinal properties.

This process determined the quality of the Jade Spirit Pill.

Time passed bit by bit. When the essence began to show a hint of jade color, it meant the fusion was nearly complete.

Li Zhirui felt a surge of joy, but before he could take further action, the essence suddenly dissipated!

Li Zhirui’s expression froze. Although he hadn't expected to succeed on his first attempt, he still felt frustrated by the failure.

After calming his emotions, Li Zhirui stood up and activated the recording stone he had set up earlier to see where he had gone wrong.

After watching it a few times, he finally discovered the error: he had been a beat too slow when performing the Dividing Technique, which led to the failure.

"Hoo—" Li Zhirui let out a long breath and used an empty gourd to collect the mixture from the furnace.

Although this mixture was a failed product, it didn't mean it was trash.

This was another difference between water-based and fire-based refining. If water-based alchemy failed, the essence would simply merge with the spirit water, whereas fire-based failure would result in a pile of ash.

Although these mixtures hadn't undergone further extraction and contained some toxins, they still held spirit energy. While harmful to cultivators, they could be fed to spirit beasts with strong constitutions or used to water spirit herbs.

As someone who possessed a space, Li Zhirui naturally wouldn't feed this to Daqing, but it was excellent for watering the spirit herbs within his space.

...

Washing the furnace, adding spirit water, removing impurities, synthesizing essence, blending medicinal properties—Li Zhirui performed all the preceding steps very well.

The moment he saw the jade color appear, he changed his hand seals and instantly executed the Dividing Technique. The essence, originally the size of an infant's fist, split into ten portions. But before Li Zhirui could proceed, the essence dissipated again.

Having tried it himself, Li Zhirui realized that the difficulty of alchemy was far greater than he had imagined. After failing once more, his mindset became very calm.

"Didn't people in my past life always say that failure is the mother of success?" Li Zhirui comforted himself, then began checking the recording stone again to find his mistake.

He soon found the issue: a slight error in his hand seals had caused the divided pill essence to lack sufficient cohesion.

This time, Li Zhirui did not continue refining. Instead, he recorded every mistake and problem he had encountered, intending to find an opportunity to ask the family’s alchemist.

At the same time, he took out the *Basics of Alchemy* and the formula again, carefully comparing them to ensure he hadn't misremembered or forgotten anything before starting again.

But unfortunately, until the jade moon rose that night, Li Zhirui had not succeeded in refining the Jade Spirit Pill. The closest he came to success was thwarted because he had refined too many times, and his lack of mana caused the final Condensing Technique to be performed poorly.

"The fiftieth failed attempt. Reason for failure: insufficient mana." Li Zhirui noted down the cause of the final failure, but a smile couldn't help but appear on his face.

Because this failure wasn't due to his techniques or timing, but simply a lack of mana! If he had had enough mana at the end, he likely would have succeeded!

"It seems I have some talent for alchemy after all." Otherwise, he wouldn't have been so close to success after only fifty attempts.

However...

Li Zhirui looked at the spirit herbs he had accumulated over so many years; more than half were gone in just a single day. He felt both pained and helpless.

The space had appeared on the day Li Zhirui broke through to the first level of Qi Refining, ten years ago.

The spirit herbs he grew were mostly the most common, first-tier herbs that matured in a year or two, so he had accumulated quite a few.

Li Zhirui grew all the herbs needed for the Jade Spirit Pill in his space, but one of them had been acquired too late, so he didn't have much stock.

He had enough materials for about seventy or eighty attempts, but after a day of squandering, only twenty-some remained.

As for why Li Zhirui didn't sell the spirit herbs? It was because the market in Bailang County was too small, and the shops that bought herbs were either run by the family or the Beast Taming Sect, offering prices lower than the last. He really didn't want to sell them for a pittance.

...

Dragging his exhausted body, Li Zhirui uncharacteristically skipped his cultivation and collapsed onto his bed, falling into a dream shortly after.

Early the next morning, Li Zhirui climbed out of bed, full of energy. He spent half an hour feeding Daqing and sprinkling spirit liquid on the spirit fields before hurriedly exiting the space and sitting cross-legged in front of the furnace.

"Hoo—"

With a long exhale, Li Zhirui’s state of mind became extremely calm. He poured in the spirit water, retrieved the five spirit herbs, extracted them one by one, fused the essence, divided the pills, and finally executed the Condensing Technique!

A medicinal fragrance, unlike anything Li Zhirui had ever smelled, wafted from the furnace. He couldn't wait to open it, and there, floating in the clear spirit water, were five perfectly round, jade-colored spirit pills!

"Success!" Li Zhirui’s bright eyes were filled with joy, and the smile on his face was incredibly radiant.

A single furnace of pills could produce at most ten, and for Li Zhirui to get five on his first success was a very good result.

Li Zhirui took out a prepared jade bottle and used his mana to lift the Jade Spirit Pills out, carefully placing them into the bottle as if they were supreme treasures.

Perhaps because he now had the experience of success, in the time that followed, Li Zhirui only failed five or six more times.

After consuming all the spirit herbs, Li Zhirui’s face was slightly pale, and a trace of exhaustion appeared around his eyes, but his spirit was extremely full.

"A single Jade Spirit Pill sells for three spirit stones in the market. Even if a bottle of ten is sold for a discount of two spirit stones, with my current yield, not only will I not lose money, but I’ll start making a profit!" Li Zhirui muttered to himself in excitement.