I long to return home!

It was almost midnight when everyone had finished eating. After being told by Su Yifeng to go to Xiafeng to find him the next day, Xue Wu left alone. After a busy day, even stewing meat had left his hands very tired. He dragged his weary body back to his little home.

Jin Lingjiao followed along and went inside before Xue Wu opened the door, sitting down on the bed as she had done the day before.

"You didn't give me any clothes today, why are you still here?" Xue Wu said, yawning.

“From today onwards, this will be where your aunt will sleep,” Jin Lingjiao said, swaying her slender waist.

"I don't care about you, I'm so sleepy, you can sleep if you want..." Xue Wu closed his eyes slightly, yawned, and squeezed Jin Lingjiao inside to fall asleep.

Seeing that Xue Wu was indeed exhausted, having cooked for an entire sect and even made her a bowl of egg noodles, Jin Lingjiao didn't disturb him and quietly fell asleep next to him.

The next day, just as dawn broke, Xue Wu woke up groggily. After a busy day, sleeping until he naturally woke up was such a blissful thing. He turned to look at Jin Lingjiao, who was still fast asleep, and got out of bed lightly, quietly closing the door, afraid of waking her up.

As Su Yifeng said, Xue Wu could go to Xiafeng to find him the next day. Xue Wu stretched lazily and quickly went to Xiafeng.

Following the stone steps that ascended the Xiafeng Peak, he soon came to a simple and unpretentious mansion. After taking a few steps forward, the mansion gate opened automatically, and he walked in with curiosity.

Unlike Lin Mubai's quiet and elegant mansion, this place is filled with various spiritual plants, making the entire mansion resemble a medicinal garden, constantly exuding the fragrance of herbs.

Each of the spiritual plants is full of vitality, clearly showing that they have been carefully cared for every day to grow so bright and beautiful.

"Come in." Su Yifeng pushed open the door and came out, dressed neatly and with a serious expression, a stark contrast to his usual carefree personality, making him seem like a completely different person.

Xue Wu didn't recognize the dignified Su Yifeng for a moment, and after a moment of silence, he went to Su Yifeng's private alchemy room.

The room was clean and tidy, as if it were brand new. It was neither too big nor too small. The only things in the room were a few rows of cabinets labeled with various medicinal herbs against the corner and a huge alchemy furnace in the center. In front of the furnace were a rolled-up straw mat and two futons, which was obviously intentional.

"Come sit here." Su Yifeng sat directly on the futon facing the alchemy furnace and gestured for Xue Wu to sit beside him.

Xue Wu sat cross-legged to one side as instructed by Su Yifeng.

"Alchemists are mainly involved in refining elixirs, whose effects range from treating minor injuries, relaxing muscles and improving blood circulation, and replenishing spiritual energy, to significantly increasing cultivation level, raising realms, and breaking through bottlenecks..."

"It can even increase lifespan, bring the dead back to life, and grant immortality."

"To refine elixirs, one must not only have extensive knowledge of herbs, but also be proficient in the techniques for extracting each herb, as well as the principles of mutual generation and restraint among herbs. This is a course that every alchemist must go through."

"Low-level common pill formulas can be purchased from the market, and they are also recorded in Xiafeng. High-level pill formulas are generally in the hands of major sects, but it is also possible that they can be obtained through ancestral inheritance or by chance during adventures."

"Often, having a formula for pills is not enough. To refine high-level pills, the age of the rare and precious materials required is even higher. They are so rare that they are priceless and will inevitably cause a fight once they appear."

"When refining pills, you also need sufficient cultivation to control the tempering and fusion of the pills, but you can rest assured that the cultivation required for an alchemist is not too high. If you have a wood or fire spiritual root, the effect of refining pills will be twice as good with half the effort," Su Yifeng said slowly and gently.

"If I want to establish my foundation, can I simply take a Foundation Establishment Pill?" Xue Wu asked after a moment's thought.

"It is possible, but try not to use pills to break through realms. The effects of pills are limited and far less effective than absorbing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth to break through realms. However, taking pills during the breakthrough process can make the breakthrough more effective."

"Today I will first demonstrate the alchemy process. You must watch carefully and try to understand it," Su Yifeng instructed earnestly. He then channeled his spiritual energy to ignite the flames in the furnace, like lighting a lamp in the darkness, illuminating the entire alchemy room.

"What I'm going to refine is a first-tier Qi-replenishing pill. This is the most basic pill that an alchemist needs to master. It can replenish the true qi lost in the body, which is exactly the kind of pill that you Qi Refining stage cultivators need most."

"The required herbs include ginseng, astragalus, atractylodes macrocephala, and licorice..." As he spoke, Su Yifeng reached for the medicine cabinet, and with a gentle wave of his arm, the required herbs flew out and hovered in his hand, like a group of obedient children waiting for his command.

He immediately took control of the furnace fire with one hand, like a skilled musician playing a beautiful symphony, and put the herbs into the furnace one by one to refine them.

The herbs in the alchemy furnace were quickly consumed by the flames, slowly dissolved, and then gradually condensed into translucent essences the size of water droplets. Finally, under Su Yifeng's control, the essences formed by all the herbs merged together like dancing sprites.

Su Yifeng possessed a natural wood spirit root, granting him a far superior ability to perceive plants compared to others. He could clearly sense the timing of herbs condensing into pills, as if he could see it with his own eyes. Furthermore, the Qi-replenishing pill itself was relatively simple, and he had refined it countless times, becoming highly skilled in its process. Even without needing to perceive it, he could accurately know when the pill was forming.

The essence that had fused together in the alchemy furnace took the shape of the pill, and it was completely solidified under the tempering of the furnace fire. Soon after, Su Yifeng saw that the time was right and slowly reduced the fire.

"Now that the elixir has taken shape, what is needed is to nurture it with a gentle fire. Nurturing the elixir means controlling the furnace temperature during its formation to preserve it, allowing the elixir to fully integrate the medicinal properties. This will result in a higher quality elixir, like a dazzling pearl."

"This is a technical skill; you can't seize the opportunity to nurture the pill without putting in hard work," Su Yifeng said calmly. Then, with a flick of his sleeve, the Qi-replenishing pill that had been successfully refined in the furnace floated to Xue Wu's eyes.

"Try taking this; it's a top-grade first-level Qi-replenishing pill."

Upon hearing this, Xue Wu grasped the pill in the air and swallowed it. At first, nothing happened, but as the pill entered his abdominal cavity, pure true energy emanated and nourished his dantian.

"The specific process of alchemy is like this. Since you have no foundation, you must first memorize the properties of each herb..." As he spoke, Su Yifeng took out the complete herb manual he had prepared for Xue Wu from his storage bag and handed it to Xue Wu. Then he slowly stood up and walked towards the door, saying, "You should study the herb manual for the next few days. When you come out of Hundred Weapons Valley, I will teach you alchemy step by step."

"Ok."

After stuffing the herbal medicine encyclopedia into his storage bag and bidding farewell to Su Yifeng, Xue Wu returned to his hut and briefly glanced through the encyclopedia in the limited time he had.