This discovery left Shu Han in a difficult spot.
He had originally hoped to make up for his flawed spiritual roots through unlimited pill replication, but that path was now blocked! Without pills, directly consuming spirit herbs was an alternative.
Yet after gaining some pharmacological knowledge, Shu Han realized that rashly ingesting spiritual herbs carried hidden dangers!
Most spirit herbs with potent effects contained impurities, which was precisely why alchemy was necessary to refine them.
Even so, after thoroughly studying the Herb Manual, Shu Han managed to find a few spirit herbs in the garden that were safe for long-term consumption. However, their efficacy fell far short of the Qi-Fusing Pill. To make substantial progress in his cultivation, he needed a large supply of Qi-Fusing Pills.
Realizing this, Shu Han set aside his meditation and threw himself entirely into studying pharmacology, hoping to master alchemy as quickly as possible. Without pills, just as Second Elder had said, he would likely need three hundred years just to reach the twelfth layer of Qi Condensation.
Shu Han could not afford to wait that long; he still harbored the dream of reaching the legendary Heavenly Profound Sect.
Immersing himself completely in pharmacology, Shu Han’s learning speed increased day by day. As his studies deepened, however, he realized that due to the complex and conflicting medicinal properties of herbs, forming pills was nearly impossible without a proper Pill Formula.
A month later, frustrated by the lack of a formula to practice with, he mustered his courage and asked Second Elder for guidance.
Shu Han’s performance over the past month had greatly pleased Second Elder. He handled his chores efficiently, applied himself with diligence, and fit the ideal image of a disciple.
Even so, upon hearing that Shu Han wanted a pill formula or two, the old man’s face dropped.
“You haven’t even learned to walk, yet you want to run! You reckless brat, why must you aim too high and chase what is far?”
Hearing Second Elder’s tone of hating iron for not becoming steel, Shu Han quickly turned his mind and defended himself, “Master, I’ve hit a bottleneck in my pharmacological studies recently. I thought having a pill formula to reference during practice would deepen my understanding.”
Second Elder shook his head. “It is not that this master is unwilling to pass them on to you! Alchemy has an exceptionally high failure rate, and medicinal materials are hard to come by. Most primary ingredients take ten or twenty years to mature; there is simply no way to waste them on a novice’s practice.”
“Master, this disciple only wishes to verify my pharmacological studies with the formulas. I would never dare pluck the spirit herbs to refine them.”
Looking at Shu Han’s resolute little face, Second Elder finally relented. He retrieved two pill formulas from his quarters and said, “These are two elementary formulas: the Yellow Dragon Pellet and the Clear Spirit Powder.”
“The Yellow Dragon Pellet can provide a modest boost to your Qi Condensation speed. Its efficacy cannot compare to the Qi-Fusing Pill, but its advantage lies in its simplicity.”
“As for the Clear Spirit Powder, it is merely a healing medicine. It is worthless in the cultivation world, though mortals would pay a fortune for it. Take them back to study, but do not let your hands itch and start plucking spirit herbs to refine them!”
Clutching the two pill formulas, Shu Han hurried back to his wooden hut, overjoyed.
It felt as though he had suddenly been given two intricate puzzles; the mountain of knowledge he had accumulated finally had a practical outlet. The source of this chapter is g.com.
Thus, Shu Han devoted himself even more fiercely to studying the formulas, forgetting sleep and food.
After pondering them for two weeks, he decided the time had come to try compounding them himself.
Second Elder had forbidden him from attempting alchemy too early simply out of fear that he would waste precious ingredients.
Yet wasting ingredients meant nothing in the presence of Shu Han’s Black Jar.
Alchemy required fire to refine the medicinal ingredients.
According to books, ordinary alchemists used their own spiritual power to generate pill fire.
Second Elder, however, relied on century-old fruitwood charcoal. Such flames were impure and difficult to control, making it easy to ruin the herbs. Yet through years of practice, Second Elder had grown so proficient that he could still guarantee a high success rate with mere firewood.
He had once explained that if he had to use his own pill fire for every single pill required by the Dragon Profound Sect, his old bones would be drained dry.
Aside from these two methods, there was also Earth Fire.
That was a flame accessible only to major cultivation sects, anchored to spiritual veins with a powerful, endless source of heat.
Shu Han began studying how to generate his own pill fire.
Thanks to the support of the spirit herbs over the past period, he had barely managed to complete thirty-two great circulation cycles, finally coaxing a tiny, threadlike trickle of spiritual power into his meridians.
Following the instructions in the manual, he channeled this spiritual power into his dantian and, using his spiritual perception as a guide, attempted to spark a flame.
Shu Han discovered that while cultivating his spiritual power was exceedingly difficult, igniting it into a pill fire was relatively easier. After only a few days of trying, he successfully coaxed a wisp of pill fire into being within his dantian.
Yet his spiritual power remained severely limited; maintaining the pill fire drained his reserves at an alarming rate, exhausting him after just a few attempts.
Whenever his spiritual power was depleted, he would immediately consume herbs and run his circulation cycles to recover.
Through this continuous cycle of exhaustion and recovery, after three weeks of grueling practice, Shu Han was finally able to produce a steady pill fire of consistent temperature.
Moreover, this punishing regimen had pushed his cultivation forward significantly, firmly establishing him at the first layer of Qi Condensation.
Counting the days, he had now been in the Dragon Profound Sect for two months. Read this novel at g.com for the best experience.
One morning, as he went to the valley entrance to fetch charcoal for the alchemy furnace, he spotted Erdan and Goudan peering anxiously into the valley. Upon seeing Shu Han, the two boys shouted in excitement, though they dared not take a single step forward.
Delighted to see them, Shu Han quickly hauled the charcoal into the Alchemy Pavilion and dashed back out. The three boys from Shu Village were overjoyed to be reunited.
Erdan and Goudan were dressed in fine silks and brocades, bearing no resemblance to the rustic mountain children they once were.
Goudan blurted out eagerly, “Big-Head Brother! Guess what cultivation level I’ve reached? The first layer of Qi Condensation! Erdan was even faster-he broke through twenty days ago. First Elder said both of us are rare talents and promised to allocate more pills to us!”
Hearing this, Shu Han was momentarily speechless.
He had also broken through to the first layer twenty days ago. His progress was actually faster than Goudan’s, matching Erdan, who possessed dual spirit roots.
It seemed his months of bitter toil and herb consumption had not been in vain.
Erdan remained quieter, pulling out three Qi-Fusing Pills. “Big-Head Brother, these are my leftovers. Your five spirit roots make cultivation much harder; these pills can help you advance faster!”
Goudan looked shocked. “Erdan! You secretly kept your Qi-Fusing Pills? If First Elder finds out, you’re done for!”
“What is there to be afraid of? If nobody says anything, how would First Elder ever know?”
Listening to Erdan’s confident tone, Shu Han could tell that his standing in the Dragon Profound Sect was indeed extraordinary. He pushed the pills back with a smile and said, “Keep these for your own cultivation, Erdan! Remember what Senior Brother Liheng told us? Once you enter the Heavenly Profound Sect, whatever you casually pick up will be better than these pills. Cultivate hard-we’ll all be counting on you in the future.”
At those words, both Erdan and Goudan fell silent.
“Big-Head Brother… Senior Brother Liheng is dead.”
“What?”
Shu Han’s mind went blank.
Erdan explained in a low voice, “The senior brothers say that martial world factions have been intercepting and killing our sect members lately, just like that day with Immortal Master Zhang. More than a dozen senior and junior brothers have already been killed.”
“Why would this happen? Won’t the Headmaster do anything? Are we just supposed to let these jianghu gangs bully us?”
Goudan chimed in, “First Elder said the Heavenly Profound Sect is too far away, and the Headmaster’s whereabouts are unknown. The sect has forbidden all disciples from descending the mountain.”
Recalling the bearded man’s bold declaration from that fateful day, Shu Han shuddered involuntarily. He grabbed Erdan and Goudan by the shoulders and said urgently, “You must be extremely careful from now on! If it’s dangerous even within the sect, come straight to my place-Master has set up a sword formation here!”