Chapter Forty-One: Refining the Elixir

As Liu Pan’s spiritual power continued to sweep across the space, one book after another was swiftly stored in his mind. An hour or so later, he withdrew his spiritual force. Rubbing his somewhat swollen temples, Liu Pan was nevertheless delighted. In the span of an hour, he had “read” through every book on the two shelves.

It must be said, the speed at which he read using spiritual force was several times faster than his usual reading pace. Having finished these books, Liu Pan gained a wealth of useful information. He also understood why Elder Lin, a cultivator without spiritual force, could refine pills and become an alchemist.

In fact, Li Liao also lacked spiritual force, but he cultivated the path of formations and became a formation master.

Alchemists and formation masters are two highly specialized professions in the cultivation world. Only cultivators with spiritual force can advance far in these fields, and only they can reach the pinnacle of pill-making and formation arts.

However, cultivators with spiritual force are exceedingly rare—one in ten thousand would not be an exaggeration—and not all of them pursue alchemy or formation arts. Thus, truly formidable alchemists and formation masters are a rarity.

Because such accomplished alchemists and formation masters are so scarce, their status in the cultivation world is extremely high. There are endless numbers seeking their services for pill refinement or formation placement, making their lives perpetually “busy.”

In truth, not just the powerful alchemists and formation masters, even ordinary ones hold much higher status than regular cultivators. After all, cultivators with spiritual force are rare, and those who pursue alchemy or formations are rarer still.

Due to their elevated status, alchemists and formation masters with spiritual force are seldom found in backward cities or low-level sects. Their identity and prestige prevent them from deigning to visit such places.

Yet, even without spiritual force, backward cities and small sects still need to develop, so there arose alchemists and formation masters who lacked spiritual force.

For these without spiritual force, pill refinement and formation placement are not the same as for those gifted with it. Simply put, cultivators with spiritual force refine pills or formations with a mere thought, whereas those without must perform every action manually.

For example, in pill refinement, those with spiritual force only need to place the medicinal ingredients in the pill cauldron, then directly manipulate decomposition, purification, fusion, and pill collection with their spiritual force. Those without must complete everything by hand—the difference is vast.

Even the manuals for pill refinement and formation placement by those without spiritual force are adapted from the recipes and diagrams designed for those with it. The books detail how spiritual force is utilized, then analyze how to accomplish the same tasks manually.

Thus, even the simplest pill recipe or formation, once adapted for manual use, becomes a book in itself. One can imagine how difficult it is for cultivators without spiritual force to become alchemists or formation masters.

Ordinary pill recipes and formations, once adapted, each become a book. More complex ones are simply impossible. In fact, no complex recipes have been successfully adapted in the cultivation world, because even if they were, alchemists without spiritual force could never master them. Manual limitations are simply too great.

Having perused the bookshelves, Liu Pan found several books adapted from pill recipes. Though none contained high-grade pills, he still discovered a few that would be useful to him.

Burst Essence Pill: upon ingestion, a cultivator can forcibly enhance their cultivation for a limited time. Those below the Martial Master realm can increase their level by five to seven minor stages, while the effects are weaker above Martial Master. For cultivators of exceptional strength, it merely sharpens their aura, with little other benefit.

However, the Burst Essence Pill, while capable of forcibly enhancing cultivation, carries severe side effects. The lower the cultivation level, the greater the consequences. Brief weakness is a minor issue; damaged meridians or memory loss are major ones, and in severe cases, it may even cost a cultivator their life.

Despite its terrifying side effects, the Burst Essence Pill was the most useful and highest-grade pill Liu Pan found among all the manuals—a mid-grade Human Essence Pill.

He considered the Burst Essence Pill most useful because it provided an emergency backup for himself. His cultivation was currently too weak; if he faced danger, it could very well save his life.

Aside from the Burst Essence Pill, Liu Pan also discovered the Gathering Essence Pill, Bone Tempering Pill, and even the Barrier Breaking Pill awarded in entry competitions. However, he judged these pills less useful for himself.

He glanced at the racks laden with copious medicinal ingredients. Liu Pan understood these were low-grade herbs, many not even qualifying as spiritual medicines; otherwise, they would never be so casually piled here, filling dozens of shelves.

With a thought, Liu Pan extended his spiritual force and soon realized that the innermost shelves did not simply hold herbs, but rather jade boxes. A sweep with his spiritual force confirmed they contained low-level spiritual medicines, including those needed for refining Burst Essence Pills and Barrier Breaking Pills.

Upon discovering these spiritual medicines, Liu Pan’s spirits lifted. He deliberated, but did not immediately reach for them; instead, he turned his gaze toward the ordinary herbs on the other shelves.

Liu Pan had sought Elder Lin to learn pill refinement specifically to acquire useful pills. He could not ask Elder Lin directly, so he needed to refine them himself.

Elder Lin had left him alone in the rear hall, which conveniently allowed Liu Pan to practice with these herbs.

Selecting some herbs from the shelf, Liu Pan wasted no time and prepared to refine pills.

There were two pill cauldrons—one deep in color, showing signs of age, and the other quite new, likely recently put to use. Liu Pan quickly deduced: the older cauldron belonged to Elder Lin, while the newer one must be his senior apprentice, Zhou Qin’s.

After some thought, Liu Pan chose not to use Elder Lin’s cauldron, but instead approached the newer one.

He cleaned the cauldron briefly, then followed the instructions from the manual, placing the herbs inside and covering it.

He ignited pale purple wood beneath the cauldron, sitting cross-legged to channel his spiritual power into the cauldron and observe the changes in the herbs.

In truth, adapting pill recipes into manuals is cumbersome, but reverse engineering the recipe from the manual is quite straightforward.

Compared with divine sense, spiritual force has one major distinction: it possesses a “substance,” allowing direct manipulation and movement of objects. This is the fundamental difference between alchemists with spiritual force and ordinary ones.

As the purple wood burned fiercely, the cauldron’s interior rapidly grew hot. Under high temperature, the herbs changed quickly, and Liu Pan, using the recipe he reconstructed from the manual, directly manipulated the decomposition, purification, and fusion of the ingredients with his spiritual power.

After about half an hour, Liu Pan’s spirits surged. Without delay, he opened the cauldron and retrieved the pills.

Six white pills emerged. Liu Pan held them to his nose and sniffed; detecting no unusual odor, he concluded his first batch was a success.

After a brief hesitation, Liu Pan flicked his finger, creating a half-inch wound on his arm. Without delay, he crushed a snow-white pill and sprinkled it onto the wound.

The white pill was called the Hemostatic Pill—a common mundane-grade pill, one of the few external-use medicines. As its name implies, it stops bleeding.

As the powder fell, Liu Pan felt a soothing chill at the wound. Within a few breaths, the bleeding ceased, and the wound began to scab.

Experiencing such a “miraculous medicine” for the first time, Liu Pan was astonished. He thought, if such pills existed on Earth, they would be a tremendous boon to medical patients.

After witnessing the Hemostatic Pill’s efficacy, Liu Pan grew curious about other pills in his mind. He selected more herbs, and over the next two hours, successively refined Cleansing Toxin Pills, Revitalizing Pills, and Blood Activating Pills—several mundane-grade medicines. However, for various reasons, he could not test each one.

Liu Pan’s pill refining skills improved with each attempt. At first, due to unfamiliarity, each batch yielded only six pills, but as he grew more skilled, the last two batches produced twelve pills each, which excited him. If not for the hunger gnawing at his stomach after two hours, he would have continued refining.

Exiting the rear hall, Liu Pan saluted Elder Lin and hurried out of the medicine hall, heading straight for Great Leaf Peak. He needed a meal, after which he planned to return and continue his efforts—he was determined to refine the Burst Essence Pill today.

As for the mundane pills he had already refined, Liu Pan did not carry them with him but placed them openly beside the cauldron in the rear hall. He did so not because he thought them useless, but because he wished Elder Lin to notice them, paving the way for him to request the spiritual herbs from the jade boxes for pill refinement later that day.

Watching Liu Pan leave the hall, Elder Lin paid little heed. With a thought, his divine sense swept casually toward the rear hall. In that instant, his body shuddered violently, and he leapt to his feet, heading straight for the rear hall.