After a restless night of study, Xiao Chen raised his slightly sore head and sighed. The intricacies of formations were vast and profound, far from something one could master overnight. Thankfully, his goal was not overly ambitious. He had chosen two simple formations:
Mirage Array: A low-energy formation that generates a thin white mist to obscure visibility.
Warning Array: A non-offensive formation that alerts him to intruders.
Spending three hours on repeated attempts—seven or eight failures in total—he finally succeeded in setting up the two formations at the valley's entrance. Once the formations were powered by two spirit stones, a faint mist began to rise, and satisfaction flickered across Xiao Chen's face.
Returning to his stone hut, he left most of his belongings behind to maintain the illusion of habitation. Then, he entered the hidden herb garden within the mountain.
Placing a copy of Introduction to Alchemy beside him, Xiao Chen reviewed its contents carefully, ensuring he hadn't missed any details. He decided to begin his alchemical journey with Spirit Gathering Pills—a simple, low-tier, Grade-1 pill ideal for cultivators in the Qi Refining stage.
With a muttered "Ignite!", he formed a hand seal, channeling a trickle of spiritual energy into the pill furnace. A wave of heat rose from within.
Following the instructions meticulously, he added the ingredients in the prescribed order and timing. Before long, a faint medicinal fragrance wafted out. Excitement surged in Xiao Chen's chest, but a muffled bang abruptly shattered his hopes.
Opening the furnace revealed a heap of blackened powder. Xiao Chen sighed—his first attempt at alchemy had failed.
Undeterred, he cleaned out the residue and tried again.
This time, he added Green Leaf Grass, waited for it to liquefy, and then followed with Withered Branch Flower, finally adding Stone Nandina Flower. Xiao Chen exercised even greater caution. As the medicinal aroma intensified, the pill neared completion.
Suddenly, Xiao Chen's expression darkened. Another muffled bang echoed from within the furnace.
Failure again.
Attempts three, four, five… all the way to eleven—each ended in failure. Sitting on the ground, Xiao Chen felt a wave of despair.
Perhaps he was truly untalented in alchemy.
With one final set of ingredients remaining, Xiao Chen hesitated. For a moment, he considered abandoning the effort but ultimately tossed the materials into the furnace. Mechanically channeling a trace of spiritual energy, he sat down and closed his eyes to meditate.
His Qi Refining Level-1 cultivation had already consumed much of his spiritual energy in these repeated attempts. As he activated the Grass and Wood Vitality Sutra, the rich spiritual energy of the garden surged into his body.
"This golden seal..." Xiao Chen's thoughts drifted to the mysterious artifact embedded within his soul. Its material, function, and origin were enigmas to him. Still, its ability to merge with his soul suggested it was extraordinary.
On impulse, Xiao Chen directed his spiritual sense toward the seal. Unlike more cautious cultivators, he lacked the experience to fear potential backlash.
To his surprise, his spiritual sense slipped into the golden seal effortlessly.
The world around him seemed to expand fivefold. He could sense everything within a fifty-meter radius—every rustle of grass, every ripple of energy. Even tiny motes of light, faint yet distinct, floated in the air.
"Are these… spiritual energies?"
Excitement coursed through Xiao Chen as he realized the seal had amplified his spiritual sense—a miraculous ability unheard of among cultivators.
When his heightened senses swept across the pill furnace, Xiao Chen froze.
Inside the furnace, he could clearly observe the melding of medicinal ingredients at an elemental level—their essences.
Alchemy, he realized, involved blending the unique properties of various ingredients to produce elixirs. Yet even the most skilled alchemists could only approximate the process. They lacked the ability to directly perceive the interaction of medicinal energies.
But now, Xiao Chen had that ability. With the seal's aid, he could perfectly replicate any pill as long as he knew its medicinal structure.
Suddenly, a muffled bang came from the furnace—another failure. Yet Xiao Chen's heart brimmed with excitement.
Taking out a completed Spirit Gathering Pill from his stash, he studied it with his enhanced senses. In moments, he understood the precise arrangement of its medicinal energies.
Clearing out the furnace once again, Xiao Chen reignited it and tossed in all the ingredients at once. He no longer needed to follow the standard order—he could directly manipulate the medicinal essences.
Under his guidance, the ingredients dissolved into liquid form, their energies merging harmoniously. Xiao Chen remained vigilant, ensuring the balance mirrored that of the completed pill he had studied.
As the aroma peaked, Xiao Chen opened his eyes and shouted, "Form!"
Opening the furnace, he was greeted by over a dozen perfectly round pills, exuding a pure, potent fragrance.
Success!
The joy was overwhelming. Holding the pills in his hands, Xiao Chen confirmed they were identical to the one he had analyzed.
The realization was staggering. With the seal's assistance, Xiao Chen had not only overcome alchemy's steep learning curve but also gained the ability to refine pills with unprecedented precision. Combined with his hidden herb garden, his potential as an alchemist was limitless.
"With time, I could even reach the Golden Core stage… or beyond." Xiao Chen trembled with anticipation.
After calming down, he studied his Spirit Gathering Pills again, noting slight imperfections in their energy composition.
"Could these flaws be inherent to the recipe? If corrected, could the pill's quality improve?"
Intrigued, Xiao Chen embarked on a new experiment. Using his insights, he attempted to adjust the flawed energies while refining another batch.
However, the process was mentally taxing. Halfway through, his spiritual sense faltered, and the batch failed.
Still, he wasn't discouraged. Resting overnight, Xiao Chen returned to the furnace the next day. This time, he stopped before overexerting himself. The result? A dozen mid-grade Spirit Gathering Pills—far superior to the standard low-grade variety.
Days turned into weeks.
Xiao Chen continued refining pills, using his unparalleled insight to perfect their composition. When his energy and spiritual sense were depleted, he meditated to recover. By consuming his own pills, his cultivation advanced at an astonishing pace.
In just a few weeks, he had reached the pinnacle of Qi Refining Level-1 and stood on the brink of a breakthrough.
With each passing day, Xiao Chen's confidence grew. His mastery of alchemy, combined with the resources of his secret garden, had set him on a path of exponential growth.
His future shone with endless possibilities.