Following the lecture, Yu Jinqi's head felt like it had been stuffed like a pepper and was fit to burst. Alchemist Huang Yeyan had simplified her lecture in many places but she clearly intended to speak to an audience that had at least passed an Alchemy Novice exam. Some matters were simply too complex to grasp or assumed that the listener had fundamental understandings that he lacked.
Still, what he had managed to learn in the past several hours substantially improved his understanding of elemental energies in alchemical recipes. In the coming months, if he could slowly process the information he'd heard today, he was certain that it would unlock many new opportunities in the future.
"So, Jinqi, do you feel that it was beneficial to come to today's lecture?" Yu Tao asked. Gently, he reached out to pull the young alchemist out of the throng of people leaving the lecture hall before the young man could bump into someone while lost in thought.
"I, I almost wish that I could go back to the sect right now to attempt a concoction," he said honestly. "I know that I won't be able to obtain anything from the auction, but even without using any of those altered ingredients, I think some things I was stumbling on are clearer now."
"It's good that you feel that way," his uncle said with a warm laugh, placing a firm hand on his nephew's back. "But, right now, you have your end of our bargain to keep. You still need to compete in the contest for Initiates today," his uncle reminded him.
"You should have enough time to write down your thoughts before you go to the contest, I'll make sure you're not disturbed while you do," he added, gesturing to a small garden with several stone benches.
In slightly more time than it would take a single stick of incense to burn, Yu Jinqi managed to organize and write out most of his thoughts. Out of everything that Alchemist Huang had lectured on, the two things that captured his attention the most were the notions of Energy Substitution and Energy Supplementation.
In the case of Energy Substitution, events like the Lunar Eclipse diminished one kind of energy from a resource and added a different one. The most common occurrence during the eclipse was the subtraction of Yin and the addition of Yang.
According to the lecture, this would allow concoctions that leaned to one attribute or another to lean in a different direction. In the most extreme cases, concoctions that might only be suitable for women could become suitable for men because of the removal of Yin and the addition of Lunar Yang.
Most importantly, for Yu Jinqi at least, was the realization that this kind of substitution could be performed even without using a modified ingredient as long as he could balance the formula around the substitute ingredient! He knew that as an Initiate and even if he became a Novice, rare ingredients were out of his reach unless he harvested them himself, but that didn't mean he couldn't experiment elsewhere.
In truth, the difficulty of purchasing rare ingredients brought his mind back to the idea of venturing out with Zhang Buyan and the others in his social circle outside the sect. Ingredients like the ones Alchemist Huang described were just too rare. Even if he had deep pockets and plenty of spirit crystals, you couldn't buy things that weren't for sale. If he ventured out, how many different ingredients could he obtain on a single trip?
As soon as the thought struck him, however, he quickly banished it from his mind. Not only did Wu Ling's mention at the banquet of the injuries he sustained on the expedition provide a potent reminder of why so few alchemists ventured forth, but he only had a few moments to finish writing out his thoughts before he would need to focus on the competition ahead. Right now, he didn't have time for flights of fancy about adventures in the wilderness.
Returning to thoughts of the lecture, the second topic that held great significance to him was Energy Supplementation. The general result of bathing in the light of the Lunar Eclipse was that some energies of the eclipse could be absorbed by an otherwise common ingredient, granting it additional properties.
Lunar Yang was a common addition but the moon in eclipse was often called a Blood Moon and brought with it a rich bloody aura that instantly brought to mind Xiong Dahuo's sect and their blood-based cultivation methods.
Because of the addition of energy, these ingredients weren't suitable for modifying existing recipes but instead opened up a whole new world of experimenting to create new formulas! Already, several ideas had captured his attention but he could only bemoan the fact that he wouldn't be able to obtain anything to experiment with until he advanced his cultivation. Right now, if he tried, he was more likely to waste valuable ingredients than to create something new.
"Uncle Tao," Yu Jinqi said as they walked toward the competition area. "Why don't we have lectures like this at the sect? I feel like I learned so much this morning and in such a small little academy…"
"We do have lectures like these in the sect," Yu Tao said, wrapping an arm around his nephew's narrow shoulders. "It's just that you're not allowed to attend them until you become a proper Novice and pass your Novice Exams."
"Jinqi, I think this is your opportunity," his uncle said, giving his shoulder an encouraging squeeze. "You've been stuck at the door for more than a year now, you can already concoct simple elixirs even if your yield is low… you need a push. Once you make it through this bottleneck, a world will open up to you," he reassured the young man.
"Now," Yu Tao said when they arrived at the competition. "I told you before, you're competing today to represent the Yu family. You don't need to feel the pressure of the sect on you, but I hope you'll show everyone that our noses are good for more than just tracking. Do your best today," he finished with a reassuring squeeze.