After experiencing a breakthrough, Ye Ming didn’t waste time and began to make more of the same pills. He immediately noticed that his fire was a bit stronger.
Which was good; it was progress!
After making three more pills, he swallowed one, and once more, he needed to refine Qi in his gut. His cultivation spiked after he added all that refined energy.
But that’s when he noticed his Qi flow was a bit unstable.
"Hmph... turns out I can’t just eat all of the pills and catch up to everyone from my generation." He complained, though he already expected that; his elders had mentioned that cultivation through pill consumption is not the way
He was sixteen, and all of his fellow sixteen-year-olds were halfway to the Foundation Realm, if not close to it.
A realm where one truly starts to be a Cultivator.
’Hmm, if that is the case.’ Ye Ming frowned as he couldn’t run from the looks of it; all he could do was walk...a bit faster towards the next stage.
His gaze went to a much smaller pod of herbs he had. These herbs are used to purify food, water, and other herbs.
These herbs grow in water streams and are also known as Water Purity Grass. There is nothing special about this grass except that it’s extremely flammable.
And that is why he had never heard that there is a pill that is made from this grass.
’I do wonder... if I can do anything with you?’
Ye Ming opened the clay pot and pulled out several extremely thin grasses, and placed them in the cauldron.
’Let’s see.’
He started the alchemy fire and swiftly noticed how fragile they were.
’I can’t bring fire close to it. It would burn them in an instant... what if I...’
At that moment, he had an idea. What if he surrounded the herbs from all sides and heated up the area?
After burning the first batch, he tried the second one with this new method.
’These herbs have no impurities, which means they only need to reform and crystallise into pills.’
A bit later, Ye Ming noticed there wasn’t enough grass.
’I see... the amount of energy they hold is extremely small.’
With this revelation, he used one hand to hold the flames and the other hand to bring more grass; he dropped them into the cauldron.
Slowly, before his eyes, he watched the pill form. It was strange, pure white.
Like one of those strange white sweets he remembered back on Earth.
A couple of moments later, he was done, and it was around the size of the other pills.
’Damn... I used so much just to have a single pill...’
Unlike other pills, the Qi in this one was strange; it was... pure... felt like soap?
’So strange...’
Well, he had little choice; he needed to fix his bad talent. The best way he could do it was by cleaning the meridians; these pills should do that.
With that in mind, he popped it into his mouth.
The taste was strange... There was no specific taste at all! It was like eating a blob of nothing!
When the energy reached his gut, he began to refine it and spread it through his body.
This is where he senses ’it’.
He could sense his impurities; his whole body was full of them! At that moment, he felt extremely dirty. The pure Qi highlighted his impurities, so he quickly used it to clean his meridians.
Ye Ming circulated this energy until it ran out of steam.
"...Haah..."
A sigh escaped from his lips as he got up.
"Hmmm!?? Ewwww, what the hell!?"
The Alchemist-to-be immediately noticed the smell and muck around his whole body.
The smell was horrible as he rushed to clean himself up.
~~~
A bath later, he returned to his practise. Ye Ming immediately tried to cultivate in an old-fashioned way.
All he needed was a couple of moments, and he felt the difference. The absorption of Qi had accelerated several times.
Meaning that he was cultivating as fast as normal people.
’Right... all I needed to do was make a pill that probably only Master Alchemists can do.’
Ye Ming grimaced at that realisation. He could only do this with his heightened spiritual awareness and life experiences from Earth.
’Well, doesn’t matter, let’s return to the cleaning session.’
After testing cultivation speed, he went back to his pill-making. This time around, he got water ready for a quick shower.
"Let’s get to it~."
The Alchemist-to-be smirked as he called for his flames.
’Oh?’
He immediately noticed that the flames were brighter and more powerful.
’Of course, I am using my Qi to fuel them, and since more meridians are open, the fire is better!’
Though he quickly needed to compose himself and focus! The fire was stronger, which meant that he could burn the grass before he could extract the essence.
Regardless, he swiftly recovered and began to place the grass into the cauldron and form a new pill.
Around five minutes later, he got another pure white pill.
"...amazing..."
He commented after inspecting it. The pill was as perfect as the last one. No! This one was even better! Because he used a new method to crystallise.
It was a whirlpool style; he began to spin the essence and crystallise it into a small ball that looked like a sweet.
After he was done, he went to his new favourite spot, sat down on the ground and popped the new pill into his mouth.
Just like before, he used the Pure Qi to remove the ’dirt’; however, after the first session this time around, the dirt was far harder to remove.
It felt ancient, glued to his very being; he needed something stronger to remove it!
"...Hmm..."
After the energy ran its course, Ye Ming frowned.
He felt like he had wasted that pill, as he only got half of what he was able to do before.
’What if I mix those two at once?’
At that moment, he recalled that Qi Gathering Grass was pure ’energy’ and the Water Pure Grass was Pure Qi.
If he could mix those two.
With that in mind, he was about to start another session, but then he could smell the disgust. For a moment, he had forgotten about that!
"Eww...damn..."
The smell stopped him in his tracks as he went to wash up immediately.
~~~
"Let’s try this again."
This time around, Ye Ming experimented a bit. He used the Qi Gathering Grass as a base, removed the impurities, then added Water Pure Grass and used the surrounding heat method to melt it; he needed both of his hands for this.
One hand kept the Qi Gathering essence in a liquid state, while the other manipulated flames to turn Pure Water Grass into liquid essence.
This was practically two things at once, and it would be hard if not for his potent Spiritual perception.
Once the melting was over, the Alchemist-to-be began to mould both of them with the vortex method he ’invented’ a couple of moments ago.
The method did work, as two energies wove together and became a green salad pill with a white vortex in the middle.
The pill looked more like a piece of art than something one should not consume.
Though not for Ye Ming, he was in no position to keep it like some collectable; instead, he walked to his favourite spot and sat down before popping the pill into his mouth.
A cool mint taste washed over him as the pill hit his gut before exploding into a ball of pure and dense Qi!
’Damn!’
The Farmer boy was surprised by how much energy the pill had! He swiftly began to circulate this energy through his body.
The ’dirt’ rapidly began to leave his meridians as a tsunami washed it away.
Ye Ming could not believe how potent this pill was! But it was given that he made a Rank Two pill. He used two materials for this one.
After a while, the energy settled in his meridians, and his body was in a pristine state, from what he could tell.
When he opened his eyes, he was about to breathe in, but the smell!
"!!!"
The Alchemist-to-be scrambled to his feet as he dashed out of his house to get some water! This was worse than the first session!
After cleaning himself up, he tried to cultivate.
His eyes snapped open wide when he sensed how every single pore in his body was taking in Qi! This was... monumental!
He not only fixed his talent but also improved beyond what he expected!
’I should be able to reach the next stage in a matter of days!’
Ye Ming scrambled to cultivate. There was no need to wait anymore.
He needed to improve himself.
And so he spent the whole night stabilising his base before resuming cultivation.
~~~
For the next three days and nights, he cultivated and consumed two out of three pills he had prepared beforehand.
He achieved Stage Four of Qi Gathering, almost halfway towards the Foundation Realm.
It was great, but Ye Ming needed to do something else. He needed to start selling his pills to the Sect so that he could access the Cultivation Tower or even get a better house with denser Qi.
Otherwise, he would be wasting time.
With that in mind, he created a batch of regular Qi Gathering pills and left his shabby house.
He walked to the Contribution Hall. This place was like Heaven and Earth when compared to General Hall. It was in pristine condition, with blue tiles and gold-embroidered animals on the walls and ceiling.
Most importantly, the leader of this Hall was a Jiang and a Houtian.
After taking in the sights for... countless times by this point, Ye Ming walked to the line and waited for his turn. Several Sect members stood in front of him.
Even if this was the Outer Sect’s Contribution Hall, the personnel here were extremely professional, as this was related to the Sect’s finances. Contribution points and Qi stones were the bread and butter of Cloud Sword Sect and most likely any other Sect.
Since there was nothing else to do, the Alchemist-to-be looked around. His eyes ended up on a group of girls.
It was a common occurrence to see a group of girls in this Sect.
From what he understood so far. The females of this world were not that different from Earth.
While on Earth, they wanted stability and a man with a good, stable income; in this world, they wanted someone who could assist with cultivation and secure good resources.
’In other words, the most common thing one would see here is a gold digger. If you want a ’decent’ one, then get a farm girl.’
As Ye Ming thought about the cultivation world, the line moved, and he got his chance to get to a counter where a Sect Girl was running... basically a bank?
"What can I do for you?" She asked in a professional tone.
"I want to exchange these pills for contribution points."
The Farm boy dropped three salad green pills on the counter.
"Qi Gathering Pills? Let me see my elder. I will return with the exact number of points and stones you can get from these." The girl took the pills and left the counter.
At that moment, everyone looked at Ye Ming. They started to talk about him!
’Thankfully, this was a righteous Sect, and people have to follow rules.’
Ye Ming wasn’t scared someone would rob him. From what he heard, something like robbing a fellow Sect Member would lead to crippling cultivation.
After all, the Sect has to maintain its image.
"Where did you even get those pills? You are a mere Stage Four of Qi Gathering." A proud voice said from behind.
"By making them, obviously." Ye Ming rolled his eyes at that comment. He lifted his hand and showed a flame dancing above his fingertip.