The original repairer

While many elixir recipes appear in pharmacology, medicinal properties, and medical texts, these are incomplete. They often only list the spiritual herbs, fruits, and objects required for elixir refining, but fail to provide detailed information on key aspects such as the dosage of each spiritual herb, the age of the herb, the order of the main and auxiliary herbs, the purification techniques, the addition methods, the control of the heat at each step, and the final elixir-inducing method.

A complete recipe for an elixir requires far more than a simple parchment or silk scroll could contain. It requires detailed records of the dosage of each spiritual herb required for refining the elixir, the vintage, the order of the main and auxiliary herbs, the purification techniques for each spiritual herb, the addition techniques for each spiritual herb during the refining process, the control of the heat at each step, and the final elixir-inducing technique. These detailed records are usually compiled into a book for easy storage and access.

Jade slips were the perfect medium for recording this information. In the Alchemy Hall, all recipes for elixirs above the first level were stored in jade slips. Disciples who purchased the recipes but hadn't yet cultivated their spiritual consciousness would be assigned a Foundation Establishment Deacon from the sect's Alchemy Hall to impart the knowledge contained in the jade slips.

It was in this way that Shi Chen learned how to refine the Qi-nourishing Pill.

The recipe for the Qi-Nourishing Pill clearly states that there are actually many different combinations for a first-level recipe. As long as they pass the Pill Pavilion's certification and have the same effect, they can be classified as the same type of pill. Many spiritual herbs have similar medicinal properties and compatible medicinal properties. If a specific spiritual herb is unavailable, it can be substituted with another of the same medicinal properties and zodiac sign without affecting the pill's effectiveness. This is theoretically the case.

Combinations that qualify as prescriptions have been verified thousands of times before being recorded in the tradition of elixir. Normally, no alchemist would casually substitute a spiritual herb in a recipe. This is because replacing a spiritual herb with the same properties and zodiac requires in-depth research into dosage, order of addition, and technique. This process can require dozens or even hundreds of experiments to find the most suitable alternative.

Twenty furnaces of spiritual medicine for the Nourishing Qi Pill were only enough for Shi Chen to practice twenty times. During his apprenticeship, the simplest first-level pill to refine was the Nourishing Qi Pill. Most first-level alchemists honed their skills by refining the Nourishing Qi Pill.

Shi Chen spent forty days refining twenty batches of Qi-nourishing Pills. He refined one batch every two days, and all twenty batches failed. Not a single batch managed to produce three pills. He succeeded twice, producing two, and three times, only one.

Twenty furnaces of pills all failed, a result that was already among the best among other alchemy apprentices. If any alchemist knew that Shi Chen had such talent, they might immediately ask him to become their disciple.

Unfortunately, Shi Chen had been studying and researching alchemy on his own, and had never made his progress public. Now he was an alchemy apprentice, and his skills in refining the Bigu Pill had reached the Grand Mastery level.

All the spirit stones earned were used to purchase spiritual medicines for refining Qi-nourishing pills.

Over the past month, he had refined forty batches of Bigu Pills using only the two thousand kilograms of spiritual rice he had purchased. The success rate for mid-grade Bigu Pills had reached 50%, and for high-grade Bigu Pills 10%. After the second month of refining the spiritual rice, after deducting the forty spiritual stones he spent on the rice, he had earned a total of one hundred and sixty-two spiritual stones, leaving him with a dozen or so scattered Bigu Pills for his own consumption.

After purchasing fifty doses of Qi-nourishing elixirs at the Alchemy Hall, Shi Chen returned to his own spiritual farm hut.

The deacon of the Alchemy Hall knew that Shi Chen was trying to refine the Qi-Nourishing Pill. He had already purchased the recipe and twenty spiritual herbs last time, and this time he was buying fifty more. He had already purchased seventy spiritual herbs. If he could refine the pill, he would have the potential to become a first-level alchemist. The next time he came to buy spiritual herbs, he could discuss selling the pills with him and introduce him to the opportunity of becoming his apprentice.

Researching the Qi-nourishing Pill had occupied most of Shi Chen's time. Twenty spiritual herbs had only given him some understanding of the Qi-nourishing Pill, but it was still far from the entry level. The next fifty spiritual herbs, Shi Chen needed to successfully refine a normal Qi-nourishing Pill.

For this reason, he postponed the practice of various spells. He spent one hour every day looking after the spiritual field, one hour refining two furnaces of fasting pills, and another hour practicing spiritual fire techniques and other spells needed for alchemy. Next, he began to develop the Qi-nourishing Pill. He did not start his daily practice until around the hour of Hai in the evening.

Whether it is alchemy or spell practice, it requires cultivation, and cultivation requires resources, so these are complementary to each other.

Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, the third season of this year was drawing to a close. In the middle of the final month of the third season, Shi Chen finally succeeded in refining a normal batch of Qi-nourishing Pills, yielding only six pills. This was a remarkable achievement. It marked his initial mastery of Qi-nourishing Pills and proved he had reached the level of a first-level alchemist.

He could sign up for the sect's alchemist certification at the end of this year. As long as he passed the first-level alchemist certification, he wouldn't have to work as a spiritual farmer anymore. He could then spend an extra hour or two each day practicing or refining pills.

With only fifteen portions of spiritual herbs, he was able to refine a furnace of Qi-nourishing Pills. With the remaining thirty-five portions of spiritual herbs, Shi Chen worked even harder, focusing on the details and techniques to ensure a success rate of over 60%.

Only after he had truly refined the remaining spiritual medicines did Shi Chen realize that refining a first-grade elixir was extremely difficult for a cultivator in the early stages of Qi Refining.

First, the refining process required a significant amount of spiritual energy, which was somewhat strained by his Qi Refining Level 2 cultivation. Second, his control over his spiritual energy wasn't precise enough. Third, as an alchemy apprentice, he lacked experience and guidance from a qualified master, so he overlooked many details. Of the thirty-five spiritual herbs, only sixteen were successfully refined, and the most he could produce was ten pills.

Shi Chen obtained one hundred and twenty-two low-grade Qi-nourishing pills.

Twelve bottles of low-grade Qi-nourishing Pills, with eight extra pills, are worth a total of thirty-eight low-grade spirit stones.

The value of refining seventy spiritual medicines is one hundred and forty low-grade spiritual stones, resulting in a loss of one hundred and two low-grade spiritual stones.

If a alchemist is trained by a family or sect, and can use seventy spiritual herbs to successfully refine seventeen pills when refining Qi-nourishing pills for the first time, this alchemist is very worthy of training.

When a normal alchemist first tries to refine a Qi-nourishing Pill, the success rate is only 10% out of 100 spiritual herbs, which is considered to be a high talent for alchemy.

An alchemist with mediocre qualifications who can refine five out of a hundred spiritual medicines is also qualified to become an alchemist.

Normal alchemists usually enter the third level of Qi Refining, or even the middle level of Qi Refining before they start learning alchemy when refining Qi-nourishing pills.

A first-level alchemist is almost at the late stage of Qi Refining. Only in the late stage of Qi Refining can one cultivate spiritual consciousness, which can accurately control the alchemy fire and spiritual power.

With proper attention to detail and skilled techniques, first-level pills can be easily refined.

Time is running out. Shi Chen cannot wait until the middle stage of Qi Refining to start studying how to refine Qi-nourishing Pills, because his cultivation resources are limited and cannot sustain him until that time.

After harvesting this season's spiritual rice, I have been a spiritual farmer of the sect for more than two years, and there are only three seasons left before the three-year sect assessment.