I forge immortality with spiritual treasures.

Chapter 18 Another Day Without a Break

The Taoist temple's alchemy workshop stands alone on a green mountain, backed by several precipitous peaks.

Herb fields are everywhere, stretching across the mountains, interspersed with pavilions and halls, with wisps of smoke rising from them...

Many Taoist priests also hurried by.

Some came to work here, some to study alchemy, some to borrow the alchemy room to start their furnaces, and some to go to the alchemy shops in the market to seek or buy elixirs...

The place was bustling with people coming and going; it was arguably the most popular spot in the Taoist temple.

After leaving the pass, Ying Chan headed towards the alchemy workshop.

It wasn't for any other reason than that the Five Essence Pills left by Li Xuanying were almost gone, and he needed to go to the Five Qi Furnace.

Fortunately, Ying Chan had already cultivated his magical powers, so he no longer needed to rely on Li Xuanying to obtain the Five Essence Pills.

As he entered through the main gate, he saw a giant alchemy furnace standing in the front courtyard. It was three zhang tall, and the top of the furnace was level with the ridge beast of the alchemy hall behind it. Although it did not look as magical as he had imagined, it had a unique sense of weight and solidity.

This is the Five Qi Furnace.

Li Xuanying had roughly explained to Ying Chan the method for obtaining the Five Essence Elixir—

The magical power is transferred into the furnace body, rotating according to the engraved runes on it, and then you can wait quietly.

He followed the instructions and took out the porcelain bottle. A wisp of colorful smoke floated out from the hole in the furnace, rolled to the bottom of the bottle, and a dozen or so pills took shape.

Ying Chan was quite surprised to learn that the Five Essence Pills were obtained in this way.

I wonder what the principle behind absorbing the five elements and refining them into elixir is? If one understands this principle, is it possible to do it without the Five Elements Furnace?

Upon realizing this, Ying Chan couldn't help but chuckle.

Taoist cultivators, if they cultivate to the point of mastering the Profound Light and achieving the convergence of the inner and outer worlds, will be able to live on wind and dew, and consume qi for sustenance.

Why bother studying this method?
He shook his head, put the pill away, and then walked past the Five Qi Furnace towards the alchemy hall behind it.

Danzhai is a place in the market that sells elixirs, charging both Taoist merit and money. Although Yingchan has neither, since we're already here, we might as well broaden our horizons.

The alchemy workshops and alchemy shops of the Taoist temples are not primarily for business purposes.

When Ying Chan entered, no one rushed to greet him, but when he asked the Taoist priest for advice, the priest patiently explained things to him.

Ying Chan then realized that there were so many intricacies involved in making elixirs.

The elixirs that people usually imagine are nothing more than healing illnesses and injuries, increasing cultivation, prolonging life and adding blessings...

But in reality, it's much more than that.

For example, in the Danzhai, there is the Feilian Pill. Even if one does not know any wind magic, after taking this pill, one can summon wind and control qi. Before the pill's power is exhausted, one can use it at will.

Similarly, there are the Fire-Suppressing Pill, which allows one to control fire, and the Ascension Pill, which allows one to fly...

Both are elixirs that can help people cast spells, but as elixirs, they are different from talismans. They can not only be used to deal with enemies, but also to comprehend spells and benefit cultivation.

In addition, there are pills that can increase one's strength by nine oxen and two tigers, pills that enable one to multitask, pills that cause illusions to regenerate after consumption, and pills that help temper the mind and spirit...

Of course, there will also be plenty of elixirs that directly benefit cultivation.

There's the Xuan Shen Dan, which can replenish vital energy, and the Bai Yang Dan, which can help circulate qi throughout the body...

There are even pills that can directly increase magical power like an "initiation," but after taking such a pill, one must constantly transfer and condense it in order to fully integrate it into one's own power and prevent the profound skills from becoming mixed up.

A wide variety of things, encompassing everything.

"Well, junior brother, have you found any pills that you like?"

Ying Chan certainly had some pills that caught his eye, and quite a lot of them, but unfortunately he was short of money and could only apologize.

The Taoist priest in charge of the matter was not surprised to see this. He had long since realized that Ying Chan did not know much about elixirs and was probably not there to buy them.

But he was not impatient. Instead, he smiled slightly and said, "It's alright. If you have any questions, you can still ask me."

As he spoke, he took a green gourd from the wall, poured out one of the pills, and handed it to Ying Chan: "Just now, I saw that you lingered on this pill for a long time, so I thought you liked it very much. I'll give you one."

"This?" Ying Chan asked in surprise, "How can one accept undeserved rewards?"

"What merit or fortune?" the Taoist priest laughed. "This Flying Elixir is one that I refined. Seeing that you like it, I am also pleased, so I gave you one."

"If you don't accept it, I'll be unhappy."

Seeing this, Ying Chan had no choice but to accept it, saying, "In that case, I am ashamed to accept it."

The Taoist waved his hand and said no more. When Ying Chan wanted to ask his name, he simply said it was unnecessary.

Ying Chan then asked how to take the Flying Elixir. The Taoist immediately became serious and said, "There are no special dos or don'ts for taking this elixir, but you must remember that after taking it, you must never try to fly by riding the wind..."

Ying Chan nodded thoughtfully.

Afterwards, the two had a pleasant conversation, and the Taoist eventually revealed his name as Li Zhuo.

He was originally a disciple of the Daoist academy, but his talent in cultivation was not as great as his talent in alchemy. He was unable to open the meridians of heaven and earth within ten years, so he had to become an assistant Daoist and work in the alchemy workshop.

Ying Chan felt quite sorry for him.

However, Li Zhuo said that after several years of honing his skills, he had broken through the Xuan Guang realm, and if he could make progress in alchemy in the future, he might be able to join the sect.

Although it is impossible to obtain the true teachings in this way, one can still cultivate within the sect and learn more profound alchemical arts.

To say nothing of distant examples, many academy instructors and alchemists in the alchemy workshops all started out this way...

……

It was already afternoon when we left the alchemy workshop.

Ying Chan had originally intended to return, but then suddenly remembered that there was a class he was interested in taking that afternoon in the courtyard—

But it is 'carving'.

It wasn't that Ying Chan had any free time; in fact, after copying the class schedule that day, he had made a special inquiry about it.

It turns out that courses like silk and bamboo music, painting, and carving are not just leisurely pursuits for spiritual cultivation, but rather have their own intricacies.

For example, if one learns painting well, it can be very beneficial for cultivating illusion magic, paper doll magic, and even the art of formations, etc.

The same applies to carving, and it is a necessary lesson to learn before studying weapon crafting.

To paraphrase a book on weapon crafting, one must first learn to carve with one's hands before learning to carve with one's heart, and only after learning to carve with one's heart can one learn to carve with magic.

Carving with magical power is a fundamental skill in weapon crafting.

Whether it's refining the form and separating the essence of magical artifacts, shaping energy channels and meridians, or engraving divine patterns and talismans... in the end, it all comes down to this principle.

This carving course was taught by one of the master craftsmen at the workshop.

Ying Chan possesses the Spiritual Treasure Dao Seed, enabling him to comprehend the Spiritual Treasure and even analyze its mysteries. This will undoubtedly be a great help in his ascent to the Great Dao.

Therefore, he had long harbored the desire to study weapon crafting, and now that he had made some progress in his cultivation, he could pick up this matter again.

So Ying Chan hurriedly headed towards the lecture hall.

Another day without a moment's rest.

(End of this chapter)