Cultivation Starting from Choosing Augments-Chapter 57 - 56: The Hidden Surprise in the Alchemy Notes
Since he went out every morning to practice the *Vertical Earth Golden Light* and didn’t return until evening, it took Xiao Chen a full seven days of intermittent reading to finish going through the two alchemy journals.
For the first two days, he was a little disappointed, as several of the Pill Formulas recorded inside were identical to ones in the sect’s Pill Book.
While they did help deepen his understanding of the properties of many Spirit Grasses and were quite beneficial for improving his Alchemy skills, it ultimately lacked any element of surprise, leaving him slightly disappointed.
However, as he continued reading over the next few days, Xiao Chen gradually discovered scattered mentions of an Alchemy Secret Technique called the *Alchemy Technique*.
As is widely known, of the six major steps in Alchemy, the most difficult and time-consuming is the sixth step: Pill Formation.
The vast majority of an Alchemist’s time is wasted on this final step.
And the purpose of this *Alchemy Technique* was to help an Alchemist effectively solve this major problem.
By reducing the Pill Formation time—while still ensuring the medicinal liquid was evenly distributed—it effectively lessened the Alchemist’s burden.
Depending on one’s mastery of the *Alchemy Technique*, it could help an Alchemist save anywhere from ten to thirty percent of the time needed for Pill Formation.
’Save ten to thirty percent of the time? If my system boosts that by a factor of ten, I’d save three times the original time!’
’Does that mean for every batch of pills I refine, I’ll have enough time left over to refine two more?’
’Holy crap! That’s like time flowing backward!’
Xiao Chen shook his head, casting the unrealistic thought aside.
He decided that practice was the only way to find the truth. First, he would master the Secret Technique, then he would try refining a batch of Qi Nourishing Pills.
Although he had used up the Spirit Grass he bought before, the bundle he purchased with the alchemy journals included several dozen more stalks of Spirit Grass.
It was just enough material to refine three portions of Qi Nourishing Pills.
The next evening, it only took him four hours to produce a fresh batch of Qi Nourishing Pills. His performance was perfect, yielding ten pills.
At the same time, the "buy one, get one free" effect triggered smoothly, gifting him another ten pills.
’A day has twelve two-hour periods. If I subtract four of those for eating and sleeping, I still have eight left.’
This meant that if he was disciplined enough, he could refine four batches of Qi Nourishing Pills every day, effectively doubling his earning efficiency.
More importantly, since the time required for Alchemy had been drastically reduced, Xiao Chen could now find time to refine pills every day.
He didn’t waste any time.
The very next day, he went to find Shen Siyue, and they took a trip to the Marketplace together to purchase twenty portions of Spirit Grass.
Every morning, he would go out to practice the *Vertical Earth Golden Light* until his vision grew poor at dusk, then he would return to start up his furnace for Alchemy.
Before bed, he would review the Magic he had already mastered.
His days were incredibly fulfilling, and in the blink of an eye, twenty days had passed.
His Pill Formation Success Rate dipped slightly but remained at ninety percent overall, and he once again harvested thirty-six bottles of Elixirs.
It was now the twenty-third of the second month, which was another day the Black Market was open.
Xiao Chen actually had two Black Market Tokens, so he could have easily made another trip if he wanted to.
However, after some thought, he considered his currently empty pockets and decided to skip the Black Market this time, heading back to the Hundred Treasures Tower instead.
Since he needed to hide his identity this time, he didn’t look for Shen Siyue and went alone.
In truth, if he weren’t trying to maintain a low-profile image, he could have just as easily bought the Spirit Grass by himself last time.
If he really ran into some fool of a Tribulation Cultivator, it was hard to say who would be the unlucky one.
The Appraiser on duty at the Hundred Treasures Tower was once again Ge Changfeng. He stared at the large pile of Qi Nourishing Pills before him, thoroughly confused.
More than three months had passed since their first transaction.
’What on earth is that hidden Alchemy Master thinking? Why does he only ever refine Qi Nourishing Pills, without a single bottle of any other type of Elixir?’
After confirming there were no quality issues with the Qi Nourishing Pills, he took advantage of the time while the manager was fetching the Spirit Stones.
Ge Changfeng couldn’t help but take the initiative to ask, "Honored guest, do you not have any other Elixirs to trade?"
"We can resell more than just Qi Nourishing Pills here."
Xiao Chen waved his hand. "I don’t have any other Elixirs for now."
’Of course, he knew the Hundred Treasures Tower sold almost everything, but he only knew how to refine Qi Nourishing Pills at the moment. He couldn’t sell other types even if he wanted to.’
’But once he learned to make other Elixirs in the future, he would naturally come here to sell them. That’s why he’d used the words "for now."’
When Ge Changfeng heard this, however, he misunderstood Xiao Chen’s meaning.
’It seems that although the Alchemy Master is rather cautious, he’s definitely willing to cooperate. He’s probably just a bit prudent by nature, which is perfectly normal.’
He once again began to look forward to their next transaction with great delight, hoping to admire a new type of Elixir soon.
After all, having appraised Qi Nourishing Pills so many times, he had long since lost that initial sense of amazement. He was even getting sick of looking at them.
Unfortunately, he was destined for disappointment.
Xiao Chen was extremely busy lately and had no plans to spend ten days to half a month learning how to make a new type of Elixir.
At the earliest, that would have to wait until after he returned from the Secret Realm.
Speaking of which, there were only seven days left until the third month, and he still didn’t know the specific time the Secret Realm would open.
This time, Xiao Chen simply didn’t buy any Spirit Grass, deciding instead to spend those extra four hours making a final push in his training of the Vertical Earth Golden Light Technique.
After more than twenty days of high-intensity practice, he felt that his Escape Techniques had become quite proficient.
At the very least, he no longer crashed into trees or rocks when encountering unfamiliar mountain ranges or forests.
Moreover, he had already run several laps around all the nearby areas.
With an extra four hours each day, he could now run a bit farther to better improve his reaction time in unfamiliar environments.
Another ten days passed in a flash.
It wasn’t until the third day of the third month that the sect officially announced that the Flame Pool Secret Realm would open on the ninth day of the third month.
At the same time, they announced a three-day period for voluntary registration and selection within the sect.
Only disciples with the ability to resist Fire Qi would be able to compete for a spot to enter the Secret Realm.
As soon as the news broke, some were joyous while others were distraught.
Some disciples who had practiced Fire Avoidance cheered, thankful for their good luck, and hurried to sign up.
Other disciples beat their chests and stamped their feet in endless regret, wishing they could switch their Cultivation Technique on the spot.
The Flame Pool Secret Realm typically only opened once every fifty years, unless a shift in the Earth Vein, like the one that just occurred, caused it to open early.
Therefore, if they missed this opportunity, the next one would have nothing to do with their generation.
Three days later, many disciples who practiced a Fire Technique but had not yet mastered its Fire Avoidance Technique were eliminated.
Of the sixty originally planned spots, there was actually one left over.
Several disciples had been just shy of qualifying, and one female disciple lost control of her emotions on the spot and burst into tears.
Xiao Chen looked at the posted list of selected disciples; Shen Siyue was not on it.
The people he was more familiar with—Su Wanqing, Su Yuanpeng, Jiang Sixuan, Jiang Cungang, Liu Benxin, Song Zhongming, and Chen Guangyu—were all on the list, regardless of whether they had a Fire Spirit Root or not.
Ye Fei had returned safely and easily secured a spot.
The renowned Lin Ping’an was also selected.
And, as always, his good luck held.
It was said that after joining Blazing Fire Peak, he had happened to choose a Cultivation Technique that provided fire resistance.
On the sixth of the third month—the final day—at half past one in the afternoon, he successfully broke through to the Minor Achievement Realm, passing just under the wire.
Although he had long heard of him, Xiao Chen had never actually met this Lin.
He was actually quite curious about Lin Ping’an.
This trip to the Secret Realm would finally give him a chance to see the man in person.
