The first thing she taught him was about the cauldron. How to recognize the defective cauldron or if it was good for alchemy or not.
After that she proceeded to teach him a basic healing elixir. The heating process of the cauldron, the order of adding herbs, the process of extracting the medicinal essence, and then the combining process. Qin Meng also realized that Qian Jie was Elixir Master. Not a Pill Master.
Her movements were clean and practiced. Her dark eyes focused on the cauldron and her soul power poured inside as she extracted the medicinal essence. The soul power. One of the most important aspects of alchemy—because alchemists needed soul power to extract the medicinal essence, control the fire, and combine the essence together. Only then the elixir would come into existence.
Without strong soul power, it was impossible to extract the essences, nor was it possible to combine them without it.
Fifteen minutes later, Qian Jie held a vial filled with green liquid. She'd successfully brewed the healing elixir. "Do you remember the process?" she asked, as she wiped the sweat off her temples.
He nodded.
"Alright, now you refine it. Don't worry, it doesn't matter if you fail. No one can become an alchemist in a single day. It is a process of failing and improving continuously."
Qin Meng sucked a deep breath and eyed the cauldron. Qian Jie had already prepared the herbs for the elixir. He sat in front of the cauldron and fire appeared in his left hand. The first step was to heat the cauldron. Because of his weak cultivation, it took about thrice the time than it took Qian Jie.
Then he threw a herb into the cauldron, and then another and another and another—but soon the burning acrid smell burst out of the cauldron.
Qian Jie shook her head and said, "Only high-level alchemists could use their soul power to control the fire directly. For that, one needs a strong soul power that we don't have. It's hard to control the heat, so most of the time we cover the medicines with our soul power. We can control the heat with this and prevent the herbs from mixing with one another prematurely."
Qin Meng nodded and began the process from the start. He failed again. He again tried and again failed. He wanted to continue, but Qian Jie stopped him. "Don't push yourself too hard, or you will harm your soul. Rest for a day."
Qin Meng took a deep breath and then wiped the sweat off his temples.
***
Cultivation. Alchemy. Qin House. Academy. This was his schedule.
Just like that, a month passed.
In the past month, Qin Meng had successfully reached the 4th Motif Stage. However, he soon realized that he could not increase his cultivation anymore. He needed to evolve his Martial Spirit first.
He continued to practice the alchemy, and when he successfully refined the healing elixir—for him it became easier to brew other grade 1 elixirs. Even the Brew of Enhancement, a grade 1 enhancement elixir, was not too hard for him to refine. With it, a cultivator could evolve a grade 1 Martial Spirit into a grade 2. Though Qin Meng dared not to use it on himself, as his Brew of Enhancement contained about fifty percent impurities.
He wanted to evolve his Martial Spirit, but he didn't want to take a chance by drinking fifty percent impurities together with an elixir. Furthermore, it wasn't possible to evolve the Martial Spirit with just a single vial of elixir. One needed a large quantity.
Suddenly, his eyes flashed, and he turned towards Qian Jie. "It's not possible to evolve Martial Spirit continuously because elixirs and pills contain impurities, right?"
"Yes," replied Qian Jie.
"Then what would happen if the elixirs and pills were hundred percent pure, with no impurities? Does that mean we can evolve our Martial Spirits without a limit?"
"Theoretically, yes," she said, but then shook her head. "However, practically it is impossible. Only high-level alchemists could refine grade one or two elixirs without impurities and even they would have to flounder and fumble to accomplish it.
"But what would they achieve by doing that? If they brew higher grades, their elixirs would still incorporate impurities. It'd be just a waste of time. No one wants to waste their time and energy on such a meaningless thing."
Qin Meng's eyes dimmed. He thought that he'd found the crux of the matter. But it looks he was just being delusional.
He left the Alchemy Department.
Qin Meng sauntered towards the cafeteria as he'd yet to have lunch. Suddenly, he found a beautiful figure strolling towards him with a dazzling smile on her face. "What are you doing here?" Just looking at her charming face improved his mood. For a moment, he forgot about the cultivation, Martial Spirit, and elixir. She looked too dazzling.
"We haven't met each other for a whole month," replied Leng Yueyan. "Don't push yourself too hard."
"I'm already behind everyone else," Qin Meng said in a grave tone. "If I don't work twice or even thrice as arduously as them, I wouldn't stand a chance against them."
Leng Yueyan rolled her eyes at him, spotting a serious look on his face. "Let's go. We'll have lunch together."
The duo reached the cafeteria and ordered a few dishes. Although Qin Meng tried his best to hide his worries, Leng Yueyan still captured them hidden within his eyes. No one knew him better than her, after all.
"You know what?" she said casually, trying to help him somehow. "Sometimes we already have a solution to our problems. It's just that we haven't discovered it yet. We just need to wait for the right time and opportunity and everything will be fine."
Qin Meng, who was eating his lunch absently, lifted his gaze, and an excited glint flashed inside them.
"What?" asked Leng Yueyan as she wiped the food off the corner of her red lip with a napkin.
"I love you," Qin Meng said, and then he clasped her hand and kissed it. "You are really my lucky star." And then started to laugh uproariously.
Leng Yueyan was stunned, and then flushed red, unable to understand what had just happened. The cafeteria turned silent. She felt gazes from all around her. However, when she eyed Qin Meng grinning from ear to ear, her lips curled into an arc. Not caring about her surroundings. He was the only one mattered to her.
"Oh, cousin, you are here." Suddenly, an unpleasant voice chimed in Qin Meng's ear, and his mood, which had improved just now, soured again.