Yun Xiange had just emerged from her secluded cultivation when she heard about Wen Jingshu's glorious deeds.
Hearing that Wen Jingshu had actually disguised herself as an outer disciple to recruit disciples in the mortal realm, and had not only snatched a promising seed from the Beast Taming Sect but also turned around and killed them, a myriad of thoughts surged in her heart.
In the original novel, the female protagonist had never been to the mortal realm. Why did she go this time?
And that disciple with the derived water spiritual root—there was absolutely no mention of such a character when she read the book.
The book only recorded that the disciples sent to recruit in the mortal realm this time met with misfortune, but it never mentioned that the Beast Taming Sect was behind it.
She only knew that the Beast Taming Sect would cause major trouble later on, but since the main storyline was still focused on Wen Jingshu, the original work glossed over other events.
“Will Wen Jingshu be participating in this Sect Tournament?”
The chore disciple serving her replied, “Senior Sister Wen has entered secluded cultivation, so she won't be participating.”
“Then, has she gone to the Sword Tomb to find her lifebound sword?”
“No, she has not.”
The female protagonist isn't even looking for her lifebound sword anymore? Yun Xiange felt a bit bewildered.
Could it be that she had flapped her butterfly wings and completely altered the course of this book?
She had originally thought that if Wen Jingshu participated in this Sect Tournament, she would definitely have a proper sparring match with her.
She wanted to prove that she was no worse than the chosen female protagonist!
Yet, after visualizing her battle with Wen Jingshu a hundred times, she was told that Wen Jingshu had no intention of competing at all?
Xie Lanshan, unaware of her friend's thoughts, complained, “Your junior sister is really something. Instead of enjoying her status as a personal disciple, she just had to disguise herself as an outer disciple. I heard she went to the mortal realm because she was mistaken for an outer disciple and got dragged into a temporary team.”
“For a personal disciple to actually take on an outer disciple's mission... she's really bringing shame to us personal disciples.”
Xie Lanshan didn't believe Wen Jingshu was so capable that she could slay ten Foundation Establishment cultivators. It had to be an exaggeration.
Yun Xiange forced a smile, offering no further explanation.
She knew Wen Jingshu's backing and trump cards. If it were any other Qi Refining cultivator trying to fight above their level to kill Foundation Establishment cultivators, she might not believe it, but since it was Wen Jingshu, she did.
The two chatted for a few more moments before Yun Xiange went to see Beili.
“I heard from the chore disciple serving you that you are studying the Dao of Alchemy?”
If a lightning spiritual root was the least likely to practice alchemy, then a metal spiritual root, renowned for its sharpness and toughness, ranked a close second.
Hearing Beili's question, Yun Xiange answered candidly, “Replying to Master, your disciple is conducting experiments.”
“Experiments?”
Yun Xiange nodded and continued, “I've studied the principles of alchemy and found that refining pills is ultimately nothing more than extracting the essence from various spiritual plants and then blending them according to specific proportions.”
“I tried extracting the essence of those spiritual plants beforehand, then adjusted and tested them one by one according to the proportions, calculating the blending time and suitable temperature for the pills. Finally, with the aid of cauldron hand seals, the pill refinement succeeds.”
“I believe that as long as we master the temperature and timing of each step, the threshold for alchemy will be lowered, and mass production of pills will be just around the corner!”
Yun Xiange's theories poured out one after another, leaving Beili thoroughly stunned.
He was a sword cultivator who minorly practiced artifact refining; as for alchemy... due to his spiritual root, he had never even tried it.
Hearing his disciple speak with such apparent logic, Beili fell into a rare moment of silence before saying, “The Pill Peak Master, Kong Zhengping, owes me a favor. If you are interested in alchemy, take this token and meet with him in private.”
“If your theory proves feasible, it will be a tremendous contribution to the sect.”
Yun Xiange's eyes lit up upon hearing Beili's words.
She was just worrying about having no helper, and her master had given her such a wonderful surprise!
No wonder so many people fought tooth and nail to have a high-level cultivator as their master. With a reliable master backing them, a disciple could succeed in anything!
Kong Zhengping was also an Eighth-Grade Alchemist. If she could study under him, wouldn't that prove she was even more outstanding than Wen Jingshu?
Ever since transmigrating into the book, Yun Xiange had dreamed of trampling Wen Jingshu underfoot. Now that the opportunity was here, she took the token and said, “Thank you, Master! I will head to Pill Peak right away!”
Beili had no idea what his third disciple was thinking. Seeing her rushed manner, he teased, “What a restless temperament...”
Yun Xiange's timing was perfect. Kong Zhengping had been busy recruiting and teaching disciples recently, so he had not entered secluded cultivation to refine pills.
She excitedly displayed her results. Looking at the bottles and jars she set out, Kong Zhengping couldn't help but find it novel.
He first picked up a small jade bottle nearby, opening it to find that it contained the purified extract of Jade Spirit Celestial Lingzhi.
“Peak Master Kong, my idea is that we can purify the medicinal extracts ahead of time during our leisure. That way, we can bypass the purification step during the actual pill refinement, which will greatly reduce an alchemist's spiritual energy consumption and the time required.”
“According to my calculations, refining a Rejuvenation Pill requires a total of twenty-three spiritual plants. If we extract these medicinal solutions beforehand, the time needed to refine a batch of Rejuvenation Pills can be cut in half.”
“I've tried refining some pills myself and found that the optimal time for melting the main herb is sixty seconds, and the best temperature is three hundred and fifty degrees. After that, the auxiliary herbs are added one by one, with the optimal temperature for each being two hundred and fifty degrees.”
“As long as a cultivator can control this timing, combined with simple alchemy hand seals, the threshold for refining Rejuvenation Pills will become extremely low!”
Listening to her novel theory, Kong Zhengping furrowed his brows in deep thought.
Seeing his disbelief, Yun Xiange quickly said, “Peak Master Kong, I can demonstrate it on the spot.”
“I have a metal spiritual root. If even I can successfully refine a Rejuvenation Pill, then cultivators of other attributes will definitely succeed as well!”
Ultimately, Kong Zhengping gave her the opportunity: “You may refine a batch for me to see.”
Yun Xiange, not daring to delay, sorted through the pile of bottles and jars, lined up the medicine bottles in order, and began refining.
Unlike alchemists who elegantly and casually threw spiritual plants into the cauldron before performing hand seals, Yun Xiange held the purified extracts bottle by bottle, pouring a little into the cauldron right on cue, then switching to another bottle to pour some more.
Yun Xiange's cauldron hadn't even been restored to its original size; she was refining with it while it was only the size of a palm.
Watching her somewhat flustered movements, Kong Zhengping's brow furrowed even deeper.
Was this really refining pills, or was she just brewing medicine?
It wasn't until a slightly scorched medicinal aroma wafted from the small cauldron that Kong Zhengping took two steps forward to observe the situation inside more closely.
Yun Xiange stopped, wiped the sweat from her forehead, opened the cauldron, and retrieved five pills.
Four low-grade, one mid-grade.
The quantity was small, and the quality was not high. By an alchemist's standards, Yun Xiange's refining technique was indeed mediocre.
However, the beauty of her method lay in its accessibility to anyone.
Just as Yun Xiange had said, if even someone with a metal spiritual root like her could succeed, then the success rate for cultivators with other spiritual roots would only be higher.
“Explain it to me in detail. This time, I will do it myself.”
Hearing Kong Zhengping's words, the smile on Yun Xiange's face widened.
She had combined Blue Star's chemical experiment methods with alchemy, and she hadn't expected to actually succeed by a stroke of luck.
Something even the original female protagonist couldn't do, she had accomplished it!
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