Stronger from Earth-Chapter 166: Difficulties

As a True Immortal, Feng Daozi had a good understanding of the power of space, and his cave abode was truly exceptional. It appeared to be just a small palace on the mountain. 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

However, once inside, Wang Xuan discovered that the internal space was actually several miles wide, a feat achieved by an unknown spatial array.

This True Immortal had several disciples who were Pill Masters specializing in the Alchemy Dao, and Wang Xuan followed behind, listening to Feng Daozi's explanations.

"Pill Masters are a very special existence among cultivators because they understand the principles of medicinal stones and their transformations very well.

They extract the essence of medicinal stones, capture the fortune of heaven and earth, and refine them into miraculous pills. The efficacy of pills can perfectly maximize the effects of the raw materials, even multiple times with proper combinations."

In the domain of Pill Masters, Feng Daozi held a sense of pride. Compared to immortals of the same realm, their status is higher and respected wherever they go.

Pill Masters are divided into four major tiers: Spirit, Earth, Celestial, and True, with each tier further divided into nine grades. The gap between each major tier is significant.

The pills refined by Spirit-tier Pill Masters are invaluable to Human Immortal level cultivators. As long as a Pill Master understands one pill recipe, getting rich is not difficult.

Earth-tier corresponds to the Earth Immortal Realm, and Pill Masters of this level are considered masters. They are highly sought after by major mountain gates.

Celestial-tier Pill Masters are esteemed as grandmasters, effortlessly handling all kinds of pills, while True-tier Alchemists are rare. It takes years, if not decades, to refine a batch of Immortal Pills, truly capturing the fortune of heaven and earth, and their pills possess incredible abilities.

As for Immortal-tier Pill Masters, it's unknown whether they exist on the Mother Star. If they do, the materials they use for alchemy are likely rare treasures that astound the world.

"Pill Masters are so valuable, they should be quite wealthy, right?" Wang Xuan asked.

Feng Daozi laughed heartily, "More than wealthy, they are extremely wealthy. Among cultivators of the same realm, Pill Masters are the most extravagant.

Of course, the resources consumed on the path to becoming a Pill Master are also unimaginable. Cultivating a Pill Master requires great courage from a sect."

In short, this field is a drain on resources. Talented disciples burn fewer resources, their success rate increasing, and the quality of their pills improving until consumption matches profit.

As for those without talent, it's like a reckless driver constantly practicing with luxury cars; it's no wonder if they end up bankrupt.

"I don't know how my talent is; I hope it's not too bad," Wang Xuan said with a smile.

Feng Daozi tossed out a Jade Token, saying, "If you want to become a Pill Master, be prepared to endure hardship.

There are tens of thousands of commonly used alchemy materials, and hundreds of thousands of less common ones. This Jade Token contains information on three million alchemy materials, including names, appearances, origins, characteristics, and effects, all presented in illustrations and text totaling billions of words.

For each material, especially the common ones, you cannot forget a single point, or it could easily lead to major errors.

Of my students, the quickest one took at least eight months for this process, and she is my most promising disciple.

You can take your time examining it; once you've finished, you can start handling materials. As for formal pill refinement, well, I estimate it will be ten years from now."

Feng Daozi smiled at Wang Xuan, eager to see him look disheartened. Even for Human Immortal cultivators with superior mental abilities, memorizing the billions of words without missing a letter and being able to recall it at any time was a daunting task.

However, he didn't see Wang Xuan looking disappointed or disheartened. The young man merely furrowed his brow slightly.

"Got it," Wang Xuan responded calmly.

His spiritual cultivation and soul strength were much stronger than cultivators of the same realm. Remembering this wasn't difficult; it just required some time.

Becoming a true Alchemist is a long journey. Some maverick alchemists obtain a single pill recipe and specialize in that one type of pill.

As for the various effects of materials, they don't bother to remember; they spend a lifetime making and consuming one type of pill, refining it for hundreds of years. Although there's no room for advancement this way, becoming such a pseudo alchemist is a pursuit for many Loose Cultivators.

Since Wang Xuan decided to pursue this, he was determined to do his best, lay a solid foundation, and not take shortcuts or skip the basics.

Feng Daozi's Pill Room was enormous, containing a Eight Trigrams Burner over a yard tall, as well as several person-height pill furnaces. His disciples were tending to the blazing flames within the pill furnaces, where Immortal Pills were being refined.

After identifying the types of medicinal stones, one must learn how to process them. Different materials have different extraction methods to condense their essence and obtain pure ingredients. There are hundreds of refining techniques, and mastering each one is extremely difficult; most Pill Masters focus on a few dozen that they commonly use.

Apprentices who learn the refining technique can become assistants, helping Pill Masters process materials and gradually gaining experience through practice.

Afterwards, they are taught the principles of the Alchemy Dao—whether different properties of medicinal stones complement or counteract each other, transformations between the Five Elements and Yin-Yang, and what changes various materials undergo in different environments.

These principles of alchemy are distilled from repeated failures or derived from wisdom, and the process is aided by High Level intelligence for recording and analysis, sparing their effort.

A good teacher is invaluable to a Pill Master, and the process of learning alchemical principles is the most crucial and challenging part, far exceeding the difficulty of memorizing alchemy materials.

After passing the first three stages, students must learn techniques for growing Spirit Medicine, Fire Manipulation Skills, Refining Techniques, Spirit Summoning Techniques, Separation and Fusion Techniques, Detoxification Methods, Pill Condensation Techniques, Pill Pulling Skills, and more.

Completing the system takes a good ten years, and it's impossible to become a formal Pill Master without decades of effort.

By the end of this process, a child would be an adult, and the effort involved can be imagined. This is for young people with great talent.

Even Wang Xuan raised an eyebrow upon hearing this. This field is indeed not easy; even with his talent, it requires some effort.

However, considering the preciousness of Pill Masters and their earning potential, Wang Xuan wasn't surprised in the slightest.

Several of Feng Daozi's disciples glanced at Wang Xuan, unfazed; Zhou Wu and Wan Futu had also been here before, and the disciples were betting on how many days it would take before Wang Xuan gave up.

If Wang Xuan spent his cultivation talents on alchemy, Mountain Lord He Fang might be unhappy. Understanding the difficulty of this field, Wang Xuan might eventually retreat in the face of adversity.

Wang Xuan "casually" asked, "Senior, I've heard that Pill Masters use Celestial Treasure materials when refining pills. Why is that?"

Feng Daozi chuckled, "It's indeed true. This is because the material of Celestial Treasure is itself a spiritual object, giving it a reasonable probability of being used in pill refinement."

"Isn't it because they're special?" Wang Xuan was surprised, "I always thought they contained unique energy, which is why they have various superpowers."

Feng Daozi's eyes brightened as he nodded, "There is indeed special High Level energy contained within, but extracting it is very difficult, and the return doesn't necessarily outweigh the cost.

If a cultivator can resonate and achieve perfect compatibility with a Celestial Treasure, they might be able to extract the High Level energy from the treasure. However, very few cultivators can do this.

If used well in pill refinement, even a trace of this energy can be incorporated, causing a significant enhancement in the quality of the pill. But, of course, these are rare situations."

Feng Daozi then took Wang Xuan on a tour of his storage room for remnant Celestial Treasures, where thousands of pieces were neatly categorized on dozens of shelves.

At first sight of them, Wang Xuan made a resolute decision to become a true Pill Master.

Though it might be arduous and require a lot of effort, he still made the choice, as it presented an excellent opportunity for collecting Source Power.

On the same day he returned, Wang Xuan activated the Heart Spirit Demon Scripture, transforming his spirit into a state of detachment and absence of distractions, greatly enhancing his divine aura.

In this state, his learning ability increased significantly, reaching tens of times his usual rate. Photographic memory and reading ten lines at a glance were minor feats.

With the Jade Token pressed to his brow, his spirit delved into a sea of knowledge, where three-dimensional images of Spirit Medicine and textual introductions flowed through his mind.

This method of spiritual reading didn't require visual inspection and was ten times faster than book or electronic reading. However, once the information from the Jade Token was mentally imprinted, it still required personal recording.

If a cultivator with a powerful Earth Immortal-level soul was involved, the information could be directly imprinted as a spiritual mark, akin to copying with electronic devices.

After three days and nights, Wang Xuan tossed the Jade Token aside; everything he needed to memorize was committed to memory.

"That was quite exhausting indeed."

He stood up, stretched, and as he slightly reminisced, countless words and images flashed through his mind, as if recorded with a camera.

The information was securely retained in his mind. Not only would he not forget critical points, but he also wouldn't get a single word wrong.