Building a long-lasting family lineage starting with genealogy

Chapter 81 A Freebie, Complete Elixir Formula (Seeking Further Reading)

This page of the prescription contains seven kinds of miraculous medicines.

However, Xu Chuan only recognized two kinds: 100-year-old Ganoderma lucidum extract and 50-year-old Poria cocos.

I had never heard of the rest, let alone their medicinal properties and vital energy.

"Young friend Yiming."

"What are your orders, Daoist Sanshu?"

"Does your Zhou family have any books on spiritual herbs? I am ignorant and do not recognize several kinds of spiritual herbs. Could you please fetch them for me to study?"

"This"

The boy outside the door hesitated, his face showing astonishment.

He looked at Xu Chuan and thought he had been cultivating for twenty or thirty years. Since he was skilled in alchemy, he must have studied various spiritual herbs in his spare time.

You can't even recognize all the spiritual herbs?
But since he was a pharmacist who had passed the Zhou family's test, Zhou Yiming was still undecided and said, "Alright, I'll go ask for you."

He went to find Zhou, the pharmacist in charge of the pharmacology assessment.

“Uncle, that Daoist San Shu is really strange. He can’t even recognize all the spiritual herbs in the pill formulas, yet he wants to borrow our books on spiritual herbs. Do you think we should lend them to him?”

"Oh?"

The Zhou family pharmacist was also surprised.

His tests focused on basic skills, primarily pharmacological changes, so he selected common herbs.

"These three Daoist masters are the most skilled in the art of pharmacology among the four of us. So we will lend them the 'Complete Collection of Spiritual Herbs' from our clan."

"Yes, uncle."

Soon after, Zhou Yiming borrowed the "Complete Collection of Spiritual Herbs" from the Zhou family's library and gave it to Xu Chuan.

Xu Chuan had originally planned to go to the Immortal Cultivation Market to look for some spiritual herbs, classic texts, and pill formulas, but he never expected to get them for free at the Zhou family's place.

Indeed, this trip to the Zhou family proved to be a fortunate opportunity.

Xu Chuan possessed a powerful soul force and an amazing memory. For the past few days, he had been studying this book, "The Complete Book of Spirit Herbs," day and night.

Since it's from a Foundation Establishment family's collection, it must be far superior to some ordinary books in the cultivation market.

Half a month has passed in the blink of an eye.

"Purple Essence Fruit, a first-tier spiritual fruit, mostly grows in secluded valleys near water sources. It is about the size of a fist, entirely purple and translucent with white spots. It is mild in nature and strengthens vital energy."

"Thornfire Vine Flower, a spiritual flower that blooms from the first-tier spiritual herb, the Thornfire Vine. It mostly grows in hot regions, with whitish stamens and sword-shaped, angular petals. Its nature is fire, and it bursts with vital energy. If consumed raw, it can ignite one's magical power and help one break through bottlenecks, but..."

"If I'm not mistaken, this pill formula is for breaking through the bottleneck of one's cultivation realm."

"Among them, two are elixirs that promote magical power, two are elixirs that break through bottlenecks, and three are elixirs that stabilize the foundation. They are very likely to be used by cultivators in the middle and late stages of Qi Refining."

"Both the fire vine and the ice grass have the effect of breaking through bottlenecks, but they also have certain side effects."

"According to the principle of changes in medicinal properties, there should be two more elixirs to compensate for the deficiencies, unify the medicinal properties, and enable them to truly achieve the effect of breaking through the bottleneck."

"One hot and one cold, two extremes clashing, ordinary spiritual medicines simply cannot suppress it."

"The Frostflame Flower is acceptable, but it is a rare second-tier spiritual herb with too high a value. It would be a waste to acquire it, and its immense medicinal properties would damage the medicinal properties of the other spiritual herbs."

Even for Xu Chuan, completing such a pill formula was no easy task.

"Never mind, let's first use the medicinal herbs in the current prescription to practice a few times and observe the changes in their properties."

Xu Chuan immediately went to the alchemy room.

There happened to be one empty room, and Zhou Yiming stood quietly to the side observing without disturbing it.

These boys, known as medicine boys, were actually there to monitor others.

After three attempts, Xu Chuan made a discovery: three of the spiritual herbs underwent special changes during the refining process, but ultimately failed to refine the pills due to the eruption of both fire and ice attributes.

"So, the main ingredients of this pill formula are actually complete. The missing one or two are just auxiliary ingredients to make the pill fully formed."

“Blindly experimenting won’t work either. Go back and look through the ‘Complete Collection of Miraculous Herbs’ again.”

Every two or three days, Xu Chuan would go to the alchemy room to test his ideas.

A month and a half has passed in the blink of an eye.

Two of the recruited cultivators and alchemists left, but then another one came.

In numerous experiments, Xu Chuan failed to condense the elixir even once. "It was truly incredibly difficult."

Xu Chuan also sighed, noting that the Zhou family had a pharmacist who was proficient in pharmacology, and Elder Zhou's alchemy skills must also be extraordinary.

However, none of them were completed, which shows how difficult it was.

"Moreover, the formula uses spiritual herbs of extreme ice and fire as its main ingredients, and its effects are extremely powerful. It is probably not an ordinary formula for breaking through bottlenecks."

"Wait, if suppression alone isn't working, could we try the opposite approach?!"

"Using auxiliary materials of Lesser Yang and Lesser Yin, first add the Thornfire Vine Flower and Lesser Yin spiritual materials, then stabilize the vital energy, and finally add the Frost Grass and Lesser Yang materials."

Xu Chuan's eyes flashed with a sharp light, and he immediately began to study which two spiritual herbs to choose.

"Young friend Yiming, please fetch these spiritual herbs for me and bring them to the Jia-class pill room."

Zhou Yiming immediately went to retrieve it. On the way, he glanced at the medicinal herbs, and the first seven were the same as those on the prescription.

"Yuyang grass and Shuiyuan flower".

"There were already two kinds of spiritual herbs, Yan and Han, and now two more are added. How can this make a pill?"

"Fine, I'll do it."

Jia-character cave.

Xu Chuan put the thorn fire vine flower and the water element flower into the pot and refined them into a medicinal liquid. Then he put in the purple element fruit and refined it into a medicinal liquid. He did not mix it with the previous medicinal liquid.

Next are Ice Grass and Jade Sun Grass.

Xu Chuan held his breath and focused his mind, controlling four balls of azure medicinal liquid in his palms within the alchemy furnace.

His fingertips moved nimbly like butterflies flitting among flowers, his magical power flowing in continuously. He divided his mind into four parts, controlling the four clumps of medicinal liquid to circulate without dispersing, and keeping them close to each other.

Before long, large beads of sweat appeared on his forehead and slid down his temples.

"Not bad. To be able to persist for so long without losing any power, you must be at the fifth or sixth level of Qi Refining."

Zhou Yiming himself was at the first level of Qi Refining and could not see through Xu Chuan's realm. He thought to himself, "It is not easy for a rogue cultivator to reach the fifth or sixth level of Qi Refining at such an old age."

The Xu family's path to martial arts has been fully opened, and there is also a tradition of using martial arts to enter the Dao.

It will probably take several decades to catch up with the accumulated knowledge of the Zhou family's Qi Refining clansmen.

"It really works."

Xu Chuan was overjoyed, and his mental state caused the medicinal liquid to fluctuate violently.

"not good!"

"Give it to me!"

Xu Chuan had no choice but to suppress it with all his might and accelerate the condensation of the core.

However, the path of alchemy emphasizes the transformation of yin and yang and the subtlety of the timing of the fire, which is extremely demanding and cannot tolerate the slightest negligence. The slightest mistake will lead to the reversal of the universe.

At best, it will affect the quality of the pill; at worst, it will become a useless pill.

puff~
Suddenly, a soft sound came from the alchemy furnace.

"Another attempt to refine it has failed. At this rate, when will it ever end? Even with the deep foundation of my Zhou family, we can't withstand this kind of depletion."

"But if we give up, wouldn't all our previous efforts be in vain?"

As Zhou Yiming sighed inwardly, Xu Chuan frowned, and with a slight flick of his sleeve, four pills suddenly flew out and landed in his palm like stars falling onto a jade plate.

Three of them, though shaped like pills, were entirely jet black, with a layer of black mist swirling around their surface, clearly indicating that they were poisonous waste pills.

Judging from its appearance, it exudes a potent poisonous aura; consuming it may damage one's tendons and veins.

Only one remained, half gray and half white, with a faint fragrance like a newly blooming orchid, subtly flowing from its body, completely different from the three beside it.

"Hmm, Danxiang?"

As Zhou Yiming glanced sideways, his gaze suddenly hardened, his eyes widened like copper bells, his Adam's apple bobbed slightly, as if it were being gripped by an invisible hand.

After a long pause, his finger trembled as he pointed at Xu Chuan, letting out a half-sound of surprise and doubt through his teeth.

"The pill...it's formed?!"

　Fellow Daoists, have you learned it all?
　　
　
(End of this chapter)