It turned out that Ye Xuan’s ambitions did not lie with the Niu Family at all.
Instead, his sights were set on the Ning Family’s Main Town, which was now Wuzong Main Town. This was the reason why Ye Xuan hadn’t made a move against the Niu Family. The Niu Family was too small for him to even consider; he wanted to skip the intermediate steps and head straight for the main town.
Could it be that his last visit to the Ning Family was truly to destroy them? And the Zhang Family had merely beaten him to it? But because Ye Xuan didn’t know the Zhang Family’s true strength, he had bided his time and chosen to return.
"Niu Tong, you’re not completely stupid. So, when paying tribute, don’t try to play any tricks. When I say half, I mean half. Do you understand?"
"I understand... I understand! I’ll have someone deliver it tomorrow."
"That’s more like it. By the way, prepare more Mortal-grade and Yellow-grade Spirit Medicine for me. Don’t just bring Healing Spirit Medicine; give me some auxiliary medicinal ingredients as well."
"My Lord, what do you need auxiliary ingredients for?"
Ye Xuan said sternly, "Aren’t you asking too many questions?"
Niu Tong immediately shut his mouth, bowed, and retreated.
After Niu Tong left, Ye Xuan found a Pill Furnace and moved it into the underground training room. He didn’t have much Spirit Medicine on him, but it was enough for practice.
At this moment, he took out eight stalks of medicinal ingredients. These ingredients were for refining rank-one Spirit Revitalizing Pills. A rank-one Spirit Revitalizing Pill could help a Cultivator in the Mortal Spirit Realm restore their Spiritual Qi. This was the most suitable material for practice. If he accidentally ruined them, he wouldn’t feel too bad about it.
Alchemy required going through several fixed steps.
The first step: Melting. Flames at a specific temperature would melt the medicinal ingredients. Different ingredients required different temperatures. The first step was relatively the simplest.
After all the ingredients were melted into liquid, came the second step: Purifying impurities. This step greatly tested a person’s mental focus. Every drop of medicinal liquid contained quite a few impurities. The flame’s temperature had to be perfectly precise; otherwise, not only would the impurities be burned away, but the medicinal properties would be destroyed as well.
After purifying the impurities, the third step was: Fusion. Driven by the fire, all the medicinal liquids were fused together. The fusion of the liquids required tremendous willpower because every drop of liquid required a different temperature when fusing. For some complex elixirs, the Alchemy Master might even need to achieve localized temperature control.
After fusion came roasting. Roasting ensured the medicinal effects blended evenly with one another, paving the way for the final step: Nascent Soul Formation.
Nascent Soul Formation was the process of condensing the liquid into a solid elixir. Although every Pill Master possessed a Pill Condensation Technique, this process was easy to describe but the hardest to execute. During the process of Nascent Soul Formation, even the slightest mistake would cause all previous efforts to fall short of success.
At this moment, after taking out the ingredients, Ye Xuan didn’t immediately place them into the Pill Furnace. He first unleashed his Fire Attribute Spiritual Qi to preheat the Pill Furnace. Once the temperature inside the Pill Furnace stabilized at a certain level, he added the first stalk of Spirit Medicine.
Melting. Purifying impurities.
The flames coiled and surged within like dragons. Then, the second stalk, the third stalk...
When all the Spirit Medicine was completely purified of impurities, he began the fusion. After fusing the medicinal liquids, Ye Xuan held his breath and focused his mind, roasting them at a high temperature for a period of time.
An unknown amount of time later, Ye Xuan’s body bloomed with golden light as he executed the Pill Condensation Technique.
"Condense!"
With a low shout, a muffled BANG echoed, and the furnace lid was blown off. Wisps of black smoke drifted out of the Pill Furnace.
THUD THUD THUD.
At the same time, eight elixirs rolled out from the exit port. Although these eight elixirs were irregularly shaped and not at all round, Ye Xuan smiled. It was his first time performing Alchemy. Though their appearance was poor, he had at least successfully achieved Nascent Soul Formation on his very first attempt. This proved he indeed had a talent for Alchemy.
Next, it was just a matter of practice makes perfect!
Ye Xuan tossed these Spirit Revitalizing Pills to the side. Although they had taken shape, they didn’t even meet the standards of a low-grade quality. Naturally, they couldn’t catch his eye. Elixirs containing this many impurities would cause great harm to the human body. As the saying went, all medicines had a trace of toxicity.
For the time that followed, Ye Xuan continued to practice. His goal was to refine a rank-one high-grade Spirit Revitalizing Pill.
The higher the grade of the elixir, the lower its toxicity to the human body. Especially top-grade elixirs—even if consumed in massive quantities, the harm to the human body would be incredibly minimal. Unfortunately, few Pill Masters in the world could guarantee they would absolutely refine a top-grade elixir. Most elixirs were only of mid-grade or low-grade quality, while high-grade elixirs were quite rare.
Time flowed on. The next day, Niu Tong personally delivered the tribute.
There were a full ten carriages hauling the tribute. Such a vast amount of tribute left even Ye Xuan somewhat surprised. Half of their resources was actually this much? But thinking about it carefully, it made sense. The Niu Family governed over a dozen towns. Coupled with so many years of accumulation, ten carriages were entirely reasonable.
Ye Xuan took all the medicinal ingredients he needed and had his grandpa inventory the rest before placing them into the storehouse. Afterward, he returned to the training room to continue his Alchemy.
Time flowed on. On the morning of the seventh day, waves of clear fragrance wafted from the underground training room.
This scent was the fragrance of elixirs.
"Now’s the time!"
A sharp glint flashed through Ye Xuan’s eyes. His hands formed a Sealing Technique as he rapidly executed the Pill Condensation Technique.
"Condense!"
BANG. A muffled sound echoed.
Fifteen elixirs rolled out from the Pill Furnace. These elixirs were not only plump and perfectly round with an even luster, but a lingering, clear fragrance also wafted around them.
Ye Xuan picked up the elixirs and examined them. Fifteen rank-one Spirit Revitalizing Pills: ten were of high-grade quality, and the remaining five were of top-grade quality.
In just seven days, Ye Xuan had not only mastered Alchemy, but he had also elevated the quality of his elixirs to high-grade, and even top-grade! This talent would make every Alchemy Master in the world blush with shame.
The most terrifying aspect, however, was Ye Xuan’s yield. From a single portion of ingredients, he had actually managed to refine fifteen finished elixirs! This was simply inconceivable, far too exaggerated.
An ordinary Alchemy Master could only refine three to five finished elixirs from a single portion of ingredients. A genius Alchemy Master could refine around eight. Even so, not every furnace of elixirs had a hundred percent chance of success; there was always the possibility of failure. Yet Ye Xuan could refine fifteen.
What did this prove?
It proved that his entire Alchemy process was completely flawless. He hadn’t wasted a single shred of medicinal properties. This required a person to possess formidable mental strength.
This was the benefit of Ye Xuan having his Sea of Consciousness opened early. The Sea of Consciousness was the ocean of a person’s spirit. As long as the Sea of Consciousness remained undestroyed, the spirit would not die. Ye Xuan’s spirit might not have been overwhelmingly powerful, but it was incredibly stable.
"Not bad. Let’s start refining Mortal Spirit Pills."
Ye Xuan took out the medicinal ingredients for refining Mortal Spirit Pills, slowly placing them into the Pill Furnace one stalk at a time.
Melting, purifying impurities, fusion, roasting, and Nascent Soul Formation.
Although it was his first time refining a Mortal Spirit Pill, Ye Xuan seemed capable of drawing inferences from his past success and adapting seamlessly. The Pill Book recorded in detail how much temperature and what kind of heat control were needed to melt the Spirit Medicine. He only needed to execute it meticulously and avoid any deviations.
BANG.
Soon, Ye Xuan achieved Nascent Soul Formation. Sixteen elixirs rolled out from the furnace opening. Ten of high-grade quality, one of top-grade quality, and the remaining five of mid-grade quality.
"To think there are mid-grade ones..." Ye Xuan frowned, visibly quite dissatisfied.