Chapter 61 Alchemy
Chapter 61 Alchemy
Chen Yuan came to the empty house, sat cross-legged, took out "Zhang Family Alchemy Essentials" and read it carefully.
The art of alchemy tests a cultivator's ability to control his spiritual consciousness. Every alchemist has to go through dozens or hundreds of failures and waste a large amount of spiritual herbs before he can master the art of alchemy.
According to the "Essentials of Zhang Family Alchemy", more than a hundred years ago, Zhang Yu, the most talented alchemist in the Zhang family, had to waste thirty furnaces of spiritual herbs before he was able to refine his first pill.
After refining fifty furnaces of spiritual herbs, the success rate of refining pills stabilized at 30%. One furnace of spiritual herbs can produce three pills.
After refining hundreds of furnaces of spiritual herbs, his pill success rate finally stabilized at 40%, making him the alchemist with the highest pill success rate in the Zhang family.
The success rate of other alchemists in the Zhang family is between 20% and 30%, which is also the success rate of alchemists in most immortal cultivation families.
The alchemy tradition of the six major sects is better, with a success rate of 30 to 40 percent.
Chen Yuan didn't dare to hope for too much. He would be satisfied if he could achieve a 20% to 30% success rate in making pills.
He was not like those alchemists with a tradition who had to assist their master early on, observe the alchemy process, and accumulate experience in advance.
The only thing he could rely on was his spiritual awareness which surpassed that of ordinary cultivators.
This is also the reason why Chen Yuan dared to spend almost all of his fortune to buy spiritual herbs.
He had no experience to begin with, and if he had no advantage in spiritual awareness, he would not dare to try it easily even if he had the alchemy inheritance in his hands.
There were many precedents in the world of cultivating immortals, so Cao You told him stories of several independent cultivators who invested all their fortunes in learning alchemy, weapon refining, and talisman making, but ended up having no talent and lost everything.
……
Chen Yuan carefully read the recipe of the Soul Gathering Pill several times, which he had already memorized by heart. The slight nervousness in his heart slowly dissipated.
Chen Yuan put down the jade slip in his hand, closed his eyes and adjusted his breathing for a moment, then suddenly opened his eyes, raised his hand and waved, three piles of spiritual herbs, several jade bottles and an alchemy furnace appeared out of thin air in front of him.
He made a hand gesture, and the alchemy furnace slowly rose up and hung in the air. Then he put his right hand together like a sword finger, pointed it down a little, and shouted softly:
"disease!"
A light red magic power shot out from the fingertips, and a ball of fire ignited out of thin air under the alchemy furnace.
Chen Yuan waved his right hand, and the furnace cover opened a small hole, and two silver leaf grasses flew into the alchemy furnace.
The furnace cover fell again, the flames suddenly rose, and the alchemy furnace slowly rotated surrounded by the flames.
Chen Yuan closed his eyes and carefully controlled the flame with his spiritual sense. The silverleaf grass in the furnace bent up little by little, and black powder fell off.
Six hours later, the two silver leaf grasses in the alchemy furnace finally turned into a ball of silver spiritual liquid, flashing a faint light, without any impurities.
Chen Yuan breathed a sigh of relief, made a hand gesture, lifted the furnace lid, and pure silver powder flew out and landed in the jade bottle.
Silverleaf grass is the easiest to purify among the three spiritual herbs. Chen Yuan was fully focused and carefully controlled the flame without making any mistakes.
Concentrating for such a long time made him feel a little tired.
But he couldn't rest yet. After thirty years of purifying the spiritual herbs, he had to refine the elixir within three days, otherwise the efficacy would be lost.
Chen Yuan waved his right hand, and two white orchid fruits flew into the furnace.
He closed his eyes again, controlled the flame, and slowly burned the alchemy furnace.
It is more difficult to purify white orchid fruit than silverleaf grass, and it really tests the alchemist's control over the temperature.
Chen Yuan was even more careful than before, not daring to be careless at all, for fear that he would accidentally burn the white orchid fruit in the furnace to ashes.
Three hours later, the two white orchid fruits had turned into a ball of colorful liquid. The next step was to remove the impurities and leave behind the spiritual liquid with pure medicinal properties.
The spell in Chen Yuan's hand changed, and the temperature of the flame increased little by little.
Suddenly, the flames swelled up violently. The colorful spiritual liquid in the furnace could not withstand the sudden temperature change. It all evaporated and turned into a ball of spiritual energy, which disappeared into smoke.
Chen Yuan shook his head in annoyance. He was extremely careful, but still made a mistake and ruined the spiritual liquid.
There was no way. This was his first time making elixirs and he had no experience. Even if he knew what he should do, he would still make mistakes.
He did not dare to waste time. With a wave of his right hand, two white orchid fruits flew into the alchemy furnace again, starting the second purification.
This time it went much more smoothly. After five hours, the spiritual liquid in the furnace gradually turned pure white, but there were still some stubborn gray impurities that could only be removed slowly.
Suddenly, the flames surrounding the alchemy furnace trembled slightly a few times, and the gray impurities in the spiritual liquid exploded, staining the entire spiritual liquid into gray and black.
Chen Yuan sighed, and with his magic power, the flames suddenly surged, transforming the waste liquid into spiritual energy.
He waved his right hand, the furnace lid lifted, and two more white orchid fruits flew into the alchemy furnace, starting the second purification.
……
Two days later, after two more failures, Chen Yuan finally purified a ball of pure white white orchid fruit spirit liquid.
But because he delayed too long, the silverleaf grass spirit liquid had lost its medicinal effect.
His magic power had been exhausted and he could not continue. His first attempt at refining the elixir ended in failure.
This ball of white orchid fruit spirit fluid could only be wasted, and he returned to the practice room to meditate and practice to restore his magic power. Six hours later, Chen Yuan's magic power was fully restored, and the sky darkened.
He stood up and walked into the courtyard, took out the jade pendant, and drew the starlight into his body.
The stars in the sky sparkled together, forming a beam of starlight that fell on Chen Yuan's head.
Chen Yuan looked at such a magnificent scene, but there was no ripple in his heart.
On the way to Qingyang Town, he tried starlight infusion in front of Cao You, but Cao You didn't react at all.
This is a scene that only he can see. The stars in the sky are shining for him, and no one else can see them.
Twenty breaths later, the starlight faded, and the magic power in Chen Yuan's body also dissipated.
He returned to the house and continued to meditate and practice to restore his magic power.
Although inducing starlight to infuse the body will prolong the time of learning alchemy, the strengthening of spiritual consciousness is also of great help to alchemy.
In the process of purifying silverleaf grass and white orchid fruit, Chen Yuan was able to avoid the mistakes that many novices easily make by relying on his exquisite control of flames.
If his spiritual sense was not strong enough, he would never be able to purify the spiritual liquid of the white orchid fruit for the fourth time.
After his magic power was fully restored, Chen Yuan returned to the alchemy room and continued to make pills.
This time, start by purifying the goldenrod.
He has already mastered the method of purifying silverleaf grass and white orchid fruit. If he purifies these two herbs first and fails when it comes to goldenrod, it would be a waste of spirit stones.
However, the purification of goldenrod is more difficult than that of silverleaf grass and white orchid fruit. In just five hours, Chen Yuan failed three times.
Just as Chen Run was about to start the fourth purification, Cao You's voice came from outside the courtyard:
"Brother Chen, are you in your residence? I came to visit you specially."
Chen Yuan put away the alchemy furnace and spiritual herbs, came to the courtyard, took out the jade pass, and opened the door.
Cao You was standing outside the door, and behind him were two monks, a man and a woman.
Cao You bowed and said:
"Sorry to bother you, Brother Chen."
Chen Yuan responded:
"No problem, please come in, fellow Taoists."
He raised his hand to signal the three monks to follow him to the main hall, where they sat down as host and guest.
Chen Yuan apologized:
"Chen's cave is simple and crude, without even a cup of spiritual tea. I hope the three Taoist friends will forgive me for my negligence."
The male cultivator laughed and said in a rough voice:
"That's fine! We cultivators practice Qigong and fasting, and don't care about those empty formalities. I heard that Brother Chen saved Brother Cao's life, so I came here to thank you!"
As he spoke, he bowed deeply to Chen Yuan with a sincere expression.
Chen Yuan returned the greeting and said:
"I dare not, this fellow Taoist is..."
Cao You said:
"This is Brother Fan Yigang, and that one is Fellow Daoist Ren Manren. We are close friends for life and death. He just returned from hunting monsters in the Huanyue Mountains yesterday and came to visit Brother Chen."
Fan Yigang is a tall man, over forty years old, with a full beard and a face full of flesh. He has a strong spiritual aura and has the cultivation level of the sixth level of Qi Refining.
At this time, the female cultivator also bowed to Chen Yuan and said:
"The three of us hunt monsters together, and our friendship is deep. Brother Chen has done Brother Cao a favor, which means he has done me a favor. I owe you a favor."
She was wearing a blue gown, was in her twenties, had the cultivation level of the fifth level of Qi Refining, had a slim figure and beautiful appearance, and there was a hint of scrutiny in her eyes as she looked at Chen Yuan.
Chen Yuan returned her greeting and said:
"Fellow Daoist Ren, your words are too serious. It is difficult for independent cultivators to survive, so we should help each other. Fellow Daoist Cao has also helped me a lot. How can I consider myself a benefactor?"
"What a great way to help each other!"
Fan Yigang laughed and said:
"Fellow Daoist Chen, you are not as good as me. How about you go into the mountains with us to hunt monsters and live and die together?"
Chen Yuan frowned when he heard this:
"This……"
Ren Man glanced at Fan Yigang and said:
"Brother Fan served in the army before he embarked on the path to immortality. He has a quick temper, but he is a righteous and generous person with no ill intentions. I hope Brother Chen will forgive him."
Fan Yigang also reacted and said with a wry smile:
"I have been with a bunch of rough guys for more than ten years, and I am used to speaking quickly. Don't be surprised, Mr. Chen."
Chen Yuan's expression eased slightly:
"It doesn't matter."
Cao You said seriously:
"Brother Fan is outspoken, but he also told us the purpose of our visit. What have you been thinking about these days, Brother Chen? If you want to go into the mountains to hunt monsters, why not join forces with the three of us? The Huanyue Mountains are extremely dangerous, and it is very risky for lone travelers. It is much safer for us to gather together and keep each other warm."
(End of this chapter)