I Studied Abroad in the Modern Times-Chapter 319Book 2: : Qingmu’s Pride, Alchemy by Water Technique
Vol 2 Chapter 319: Qingmu’s Pride, Alchemy by Water Technique
“Sect Master, what are you doing here too?”
Zhao Jingfan looked at Sect Master Song inside the pill room, surprised.
Sect Master Song was staring into the flames of the pill furnace, his brows furrowed in concentration, his face calm and focused. He didn’t respond until the spirit fire extinguished. Then he turned to Zhao Jingfan.
“Why wouldn’t I be here?”
Zhao Jingfan hadn’t even answered yet.
Beside the furnace, Elder Xiong picked up a freshly refined pill, sniffed it—only to have a horrifying greenish-purple hue rise from his nose and spread across his cheeks and forehead, looking like he’d been poisoned.
“Hoo!”
Elder Xiong exhaled, releasing a streak of black smoke that hissed in the air—an eerie sound that made people’s skin crawl.
“The pill toxicity is too strong.”
His face went from green to pale, then darkened in frustration. He looked at Sect Master Song.
“Any thoughts?”
Sect Master Song stroked the beard on his chin, contemplating. “This spirit pill has some potency, but it’s not enough—and instead, the toxicity is overwhelming…”
“Probably too many impurities.”
Elder Xiong nodded in agreement, sighing. “It likely comes down to two of the herbs. Forget the Five-Element Orchid—even with the Frostleaf, I’ve heard of it, but I honestly don’t know what it does. I’ve scoured all our texts and found nothing.”
“I’ve used every secret method I know, and still, the toxicity is this strong…”
His face showed more than disappointment—it looked like he was starting to lose confidence.
“Grand Elder, I’ve already summoned all pillmasters above Golden Core stage from within the sect to assist. We’ll tackle this together,” Sect Master Song said firmly, exuding unshakeable determination. “Every secret technique, formula, and record—we’re bringing them all out. This is no time to hold anything back.” Ｒ𝐚ɴ∅฿Ë𝘚
“If we fail to refine this pill, so be it.”
“But if anyone’s going to succeed—it must be Qingmu Sect!”
Even Zhao Jingfan was stunned by that.
Now he understood: Sect Master Song wasn’t just stepping in personally to help Elder Xiong refine the pill.
He was mobilizing the entire sect’s strength—for one batch of pills.
Why?
Zhao Jingfan looked at the sect master, confused.
Sect Master Song glanced at him, seemingly reading his mind, and said calmly: “Qingmu Sect holds the title of Pill Dao leader within the Hundred Immortals Alliance—we cannot lose that reputation.”
“Oh.”
Zhao Jingfan nodded obediently, but inwardly questioned it.
Was reputation really that important?
“You’re being foolish. You’ll lead Qingmu Sect one day—don’t you understand?”
Zhao Jingfan was dazed for a moment. But he was sharp, and after leading the Zhao Clan for years, he quickly caught on:
“The Pillmaster Guild?”
“Exactly!”
Sect Master Song sounded pleased—even pleasantly surprised, as if Zhao Jingfan had exceeded expectations.
Zhao Jingfan couldn’t help feeling a bit insulted—like the sect master thought he was some big idiot.
“Sect Master, I’m not that dense… We’ve already sold off our ancestral techniques. If Jiushan Sect ends up with something better, ours will be worthless.”
“Well said.”
Elder Xiong sighed and added, “That’s the issue. If Jiushan had something better, that’d be one thing. But what we can’t accept… is if a group of Foundation disciples manage to refine a spirit pill that we, the so-called masters, cannot.”
“It’s not just Qingmu Sect’s face on the line.”
“It’s our credibility, our standing, our future…”
“Would we even get a share of the patent rights?”
Zhao Jingfan now truly felt enlightened. He’d thought Elder Xiong was just being petty—but now he saw it for what it was: a conflict of pillmaking ideologies.
Zheng Fa’s so-called “parallel experiment” had evolved into a contest between Qingmu Sect’s traditional Xuanyi alchemy and Jiushan Sect’s new-school method led by its disciples.
And this dispute could very well decide who held authority over the alchemical systems within the Hundred Immortals Alliance.
“If we can’t outperform those Jiushan disciples…” Sect Master Song looked heavy-hearted, even uncertain. “Then all the secret techniques we’ve accumulated…”
“All the Golden Core and Nascent Soul pillmasters we’ve trained…”
“Our entire Qingmu Sect… would become irrelevant.”
“Do you understand now?”
Zhao Jingfan stayed silent for a moment, then muttered, “Grand Elder, weren’t you full of confidence just a few days ago?”
Back then he was still saying stuff like “we’d win unfairly,” and now here he was, calling in reinforcements like crazy.
No shame!
Elder Xiong’s face twitched, a bit awkward. After a long pause, he mumbled, “Of course I was confident. Logically, how could a Nascent Soul like me lose to a few Foundation cultivators…”
“Then why…”
“Because there’s Zheng Fa!”
Zhao Jingfan froze, and Elder Xiong’s voice grew aggrieved:
“But think about Zheng Fa’s history—when has that man ever played by the rules?”
…
When Zhao Jingfan walked into the second pill room, he couldn’t stop staring at Zheng Fa.
It amazed him that Zheng Fa didn’t seem that different from how he remembered him.
Yet Elder Xiong was so… wary of him.
“What’s wrong?”
Zheng Fa was reading through experiment logs when he sensed Zhao Jingfan’s gaze and looked up.
“Nothing… Just, Sect Master Song is now throwing everything he’s got behind Elder Xiong’s work.”
“He even said no one in Qingmu Sect is allowed to hold anything back.”
Zheng Fa’s expression didn’t change at all.
“Oh.”
Oh?
That reaction was so flat, it made Zhao Jingfan suddenly suspicious. “You expected this from the start?”
“Mm.”
Zheng Fa gave him a small smile—and that smile made Zhao Jingfan shiver inside.
Yeah, sure Zheng Fa hasn’t changed…
He’s gotten sneakier!
Zhao Jingfan now thought he understood Zheng Fa’s intent—
Whether the Foundation disciples succeeded or not didn’t matter much.
What mattered was putting pressure on Qingmu Sect.
To be honest, Zhao Jingfan had never seen the entire Qingmu Sect so united—not even when the Great Freedom Demon Ancestor attacked. Back then, people still slacked off or backstabbed each other.
Yet now, thanks to Zheng Fa’s project, they were somehow working together.
Zheng Fa noticed Zhao Jingfan’s wary stare and found it amusing.
It wasn’t like he did it on purpose.
But once a competitive atmosphere sets in, it becomes a force of nature.
Qingmu Sect putting in effort? He was all for it.
Qingmu works hard today, and Zheng Fa forms his Nascent Soul tomorrow.
Everyone wins.
Pointing at the group of Foundation disciples, Zheng Fa asked, “How are they doing with the techniques?”
“Once we broke it down, it got a lot easier…” Zhao Jingfan looked at the ten-odd disciples with a hint of admiration. “I finally understand how you guys make External Pills.”
“Compared to that, this spirit pill isn’t that hard.”
Zheng Fa looked pleased, eyes gleaming with pride as he watched the disciples.
Most of them had experience with the Golden Core Project and were already familiar with this sort of production-line alchemy.
And External Pills did share similarities with traditional pill refining.
In fact, as Zhao Jingfan said, External Pills were actually harder to refine than this Golden Core-grade spirit pill.
So in terms of learning the techniques, the second pill group hadn’t encountered any major challenges.
Their issues were the same as Elder Xiong’s—insufficient medicinal potency and excessive pill toxicity.
“Has Xuanhua delivered the new pill furnace?”
“She has!”
A disciple quickly responded.
Soon after, a brand-new pill furnace was brought into the room.
It looked largely similar to the old one, but with many new talisman inscriptions on the surface.
Most noticeable was its transparent glazed belly—through which the inside of the furnace could be seen.
“What’s that for?”
“For observation. Our data’s still too rough,” Zheng Fa explained while nodding for the disciples to begin.
Zhao Jingfan stood to the side, watching as the disciples skillfully cast hand seals, ignited the spirit fire, and began dropping in ingredients like the Five-Element Orchid one by one. Through the glazed window, he could see them burning and melting.
Then, he noticed some strange numbers and graphs appear on the glass—he didn’t understand any of it.
“What’s that…”
Zheng Fa didn’t hide anything. Smiling, he explained:
“I don’t know much about alchemy. So I simplified it in my mind—down to raw materials and environment.”
“As for secret techniques, they’re just ways to manipulate the environment.”
“So what’s shown here?” Zhao Jingfan was intrigued. As a Foundation-stage alchemist, he couldn’t see any flaws in that logic.
“We already know the ingredients—even how to mix and react them. Elder Xiong’s helped us piece together a decent prototype.”
“And from Xuanhua’s tests, this route is viable.”
“So now we only need to worry about the environment?”
“Not only—it’s just all we can control right now,” Zheng Fa said humbly, pointing at the glass. “This displays various environmental metrics.”
“Temperature, internal furnace pressure…”
This was something Zheng Fa had learned back in chemistry class.
“We’re also using the Spiritual Energy Scanner.”
It was used to monitor the spiritual energy concentration inside the pill furnace—after all, the biggest difference between modern chemistry and alchemy in the Xuanyi Realm was the presence of spiritual energy.
Spiritual energy concentration might just be the single most important environmental variable in alchemy here.
“And finally, the Microscopic Array.”
“Combined with the Void-Gazing Spiritual Eye, it lets us observe the types of spiritual energy inside, and track how they react under different environmental conditions.”
Zheng Fa explained it plainly, and Zhao Jingfan immediately grasped the concept. Still, he frowned and questioned:
“Will this really work?”
Zheng Fa shook his head slightly as he watched the gradually forming pills inside the furnace.
“This is just a theory about alchemy.”
“Whether it’s correct… I don’t know.”
Zhao Jingfan got it. When it came to alchemy, Jiushan Sect wasn’t even in the same league as Qingmu Sect.
So all they could do was carve out a new path and try building a new framework. But Zheng Fa wasn’t overly confident either—it felt a bit like gambling on a lucky hit.
Which was exactly why they needed Qingmu Sect to continue exploring the traditional route.
But then Zhao Jingfan realized—Zheng Fa was being far too modest!
The Jiushan disciples weren’t relying on luck at all!
“Sect Master!”
As Zheng Fa looked at a few spirit pills forming in the flames, he ordered, “Send them to Madam Xuanhua and Jiao Wuji for validation. Then proceed to the next batch.”
“Yes!”
As the disciple rushed off, Zhao Jingfan curiously glanced at the experiment records.
“…Are you repeating one of Elder Xiong’s previous attempts?”
“Elder Xiong ran nearly a hundred tests. Two of them were especially notable,” Zheng Fa explained, handing him a thick record book.
“The 37th batch had the strongest medicinal effect.”
“The 82nd batch had the weakest toxicity, though the medicinal strength was low.”
“Our experiments begin with those two.”
Zhao Jingfan flipped through the record, jaw slowly dropping. His voice was incredulous:
“You even recorded when Elder Xiong yawned?”
“And you blamed one failure on me rubbing my eyes?”
“You people record everything!”
Zheng Fa chuckled, even a bit embarrassed. What Zhao saw was just the tip of the iceberg.
They didn’t just keep written logs—they used image-recording talismans to film everything.
Every move Elder Xiong made, every hand seal, how long each one lasted, even the strength of his spiritual energy—they had it all.
They’d analyzed him frame by frame. Privacy? What privacy?
Zheng Fa wasn’t even sure if Elder Xiong knew he had a habit of biting his thumb while releasing spirit fire...
After two more tests, Zheng Fa carefully reviewed the analysis Madam Xuanhua sent back. Finally, he looked up and said:
“These two batches match Elder Xiong’s most successful ones—one had high potency, the other low toxicity.”
Zhao Jingfan wasn’t surprised, but he still didn’t quite see the point.
“So what’s your next move?”
“For those two batches, Elder Xiong used 57 and 62 different hand seals respectively. Of those, 34 were identical. The rest varied—either different seals, or the same ones used for different durations.”
“We’ll take the dumb approach—test them one by one.”
“Figure out what affects potency and what reduces toxicity.”
Zhao Jingfan thought it over. It did sound dumb… but surprisingly doable.
He helped Zheng Fa begin drafting the experiment plan—and they immediately came up with over 200 variations.
“First round of experiments: begin!”
“Second round…”
“Third round…”
Zhao Jingfan watched Jiushan’s disciples tirelessly carry out the trials, day after day, verifying every setup.
It was dull.
It was exhausting.
Most disciples looked beat-up and sleep-deprived.
But for some reason, it made Zhao Jingfan feel like they were climbing a great mountain, one determined step at a time.
A few months passed.
Over 160 variations had been tested.
Inside the pill room, the disciples hadn’t stopped—they just cast their hand seals with increasingly numb expressions.
“Sect Master!”
One disciple burst in excitedly. “The last batch—Madam Xuanhua says the medicinal effect reached its theoretical peak!”
“The report!”
Another disciple handed the report over.
“After the 13th hand seal, spiritual energy concentration rose to... the energy types were… temperature… pressure… the Frostleaf began to melt and absorbed the Five-Element Orchid powder?”
“Melted…”
Zheng Fa suddenly turned around. “What about the setup with the least toxicity?”
A disciple dug through the mountain of logs before pulling out a slim booklet and handed it to him.
Zheng Fa flipped through quickly, clearly looking for something. After a while, he murmured:
“The mixed liquid of Five-Element Orchid and Frostleaf, at spiritual concentration X… became powdered and reacted with…”
He looked at Zhao Jingfan and suddenly asked, “Didn’t Elder Xiong say that both low potency and high toxicity could be due to too many impurities?”
“Yeah!”
Zheng Fa’s eyes lit up. He muttered:
“Too many impurities—means fewer effective ingredients, hence weak potency. But also… the impurities themselves might be toxic…”
“If we reduce the impurities…”
“Frostleaf melts… extraction?”
Zhao Jingfan didn’t really follow. He was just about to ask when Zheng Fa closed his eyes—as if silently speaking to someone.
A while later, he opened his eyes and explained: “Fairy Xiao just finished exploring that Nascent Soul alchemist’s cave.”
“That fast? Fairy Xiao is really something…” Zhao Jingfan was surprised. “Any findings?”
“Some pill furnaces, artifacts, and techniques—but nothing very useful.”
After all, Zheng Fa was now at the peak of the Golden Core stage. A single Nascent Soul pill master’s leftovers weren’t hugely valuable anymore—though they did help enrich the Jiushan Sect’s stockpile and finances.
“As for pills—they were all degraded.”
Zhao Jingfan sounded a bit disappointed.
“But Fairy Xiao thought we might be in a rush, so she skimmed the alchemist’s journals—found something…”
“What was it?”
Zhao Jingfan immediately perked up.
“No other clues, just a single recipe. It uses Frostleaf. I couldn’t understand it though—take the Tongjian and show it to Elder Xiong.”
Zhao Jingfan bolted to Elder Xiong’s pill room.
“Grand Elder! Fairy Xiao found a clue about Frostleaf!”
Elder Xiong froze, then quickly reached out. “Let me see!”
He skimmed through the Tongjian, mumbling, “Yellow Dragon Powder? Never heard of it… a lost formula?”
“This method…”
He stared for a long time—then suddenly slapped his forehead and shouted, “Why didn’t I think of that?!”
Sect Master Song and a few Golden Core pillmasters looked over.
“I always wondered why I’d heard of Frostleaf but never used it… this herb needs to be refined using Water Method Alchemy!”
“Water Method Alchemy?” Sect Master Song’s expression changed too. “Qingmu Sect doesn’t specialize in that—it explains why we haven’t made any progress.”
Elder Xiong started pacing the room. He muttered while walking:
“This… this is beyond Qingmu Sect’s capabilities.”
Zhao Jingfan stood there stunned.
Faced with Xiao Yuying’s intel, was Elder Xiong… giving up? Admitting defeat?
“You don’t understand how difficult Water Method Alchemy is. It’s a rather niche path—Qingmu Sect has no lineage in it. We’ve been searching, hoping to learn… but had no luck,” Elder Xiong shook his head. “It’s clear now—without that secret technique, there’s no way to properly refine this pill!”
Sect Master Song nodded gravely.
“This kind of technique is considered a top-level secret in many sects. Continuing down this path might just be wasting time.”
After thinking for a while, Elder Xiong gritted his teeth. “Zheng Fa is obviously in a hurry. I know a master who does practice Water Method Alchemy—we’ve got some history. I’ll go seek him out. First, let’s just get this spirit pill done.”
Sect Master Song approved. “That’s fine too. As long as we refine the pill—Qingmu Sect takes the credit.”
…
Elder Xiong grabbed Zhao Jingfan and dashed straight to Zheng Fa’s pill room. He flung the door open and shouted:
“Alliance Leader! I figured it out! I know what’s going on with the Frostleaf!”
“It’s Water Method Alchemy—a very rare secret technique. I can’t learn it anytime soon!”
“But I know someone who can—”
Inside, Zheng Fa was holding a transparent glass beaker. A bluish, glowing liquid swirled inside it, spiritual energy flickering. The glass was rimmed with delicate frost.
He glanced at the dumbfounded Elder Xiong, then turned back to look at the humble, unremarkable Frostleaf solution in his hand, face equally blank:
“This stuff… is Water Method Alchemy?”
“Rare?”
