Having achieved minor mastery in spiritual fire control and received Master Xuanlin Zhenren's tacit consent—or rather, a certain degree of acknowledgment—the long‑brewing thought in Xiao Qi's heart could no longer be suppressed: he wanted to try alchemy. It was not mere over‑ambition; he understood deeply that alchemy was an extremely important branch among the hundred arts of cultivation, indispensable both for earning resources and for assisting one's own cultivation. His current exquisite fire‑control ability, together with that frying pan that seemed able to purify medicinal properties, appeared to offer him a unique advantage in stepping onto this path.
He cautiously reported this idea to his master. After listening, Master Xuanlin Zhenren fell silent for a moment. With Xiao Qi's meager third‑layer Qi‑Refining cultivation and mixed spiritual‑root aptitude, wanting to learn alchemy was no different from a fool's dream. Alchemy placed extremely high demands on spiritual sense, spiritual power, and fire control; normally one needed at least mid‑stage Qi‑Refining, and even then only those with outstanding fire‑ and wood‑attribute spiritual roots could make a preliminary attempt. Yet looking at the light in Xiao Qi's eyes—not a momentary impulse but a determined gleam born of careful consideration—and recalling both his fire‑control skill that far surpassed his peers and the Temple Master's veiled mention, Master Xuanlin Zhenren ultimately did not directly oppose him. He merely said mildly, "The way of alchemy is profound and complex; it cannot be accomplished in one step. If you insist on trying, you may start with the most basic fasting pill. The required materials such as 'Green Sprout Powder' and 'Dew‑Grass' can be exchanged for contribution points at the Mission Hall, or sought in the back mountains. Success or failure depends entirely on your own fortune; do not let it hinder your proper cultivation." This was already a tacit permission in disguise.
Xiao Qi was overjoyed and respectfully thanked his master. The fasting pill was the most basic, simplest elixir, with a single utility: providing the body's essential energy needs, freeing one from hunger for a certain period. It was a regular provision for low‑level cultivators venturing out on training trips. Its refining method was relatively straightforward; the main ingredients were merely several ordinary, non‑spiritual herbs ground and mixed together. The key lay in precise mastery of "heat control" and, at the final "pill‑condensation" moment, the subtle grasp of medicinal‑power fusion.
Having no contribution points to exchange for ready‑made materials, Xiao Qi used his opportunities of going to the back mountains to gather firewood to search carefully. After several days of effort, he finally managed to collect the required Green Sprout Grass and Dew Flowers, then cautiously ground them into unevenly coarse powder with a stone mortar. With everything prepared, he returned to his "exclusive corner" in the kitchen backyard.
Without a proper alchemy furnace, his only tool was that dark‑iron frying pan. For his first attempt, following the most basic pill formula, he poured the medicinal powder into the slightly heated pan and tried to mobilize spiritual power to control the fire. However, he had no experience with how the powder would change under heat. The fire was a bit too strong; the powder in the pan instantly blackened, emitting a pungent, scorched smell.
The second time, he learned his lesson and kept the fire extremely low. But the powder heated unevenly and could not coalesce for a long time. In the end, his spiritual power was exhausted, and the powder remained a loose, sandy state.
The third time, the fourth time… failures followed one after another. Either the heat control failed, or the medicinal powers could not fuse, or at the very instant of pill condensation a tiny fluctuation in spiritual power ruined everything. Refining fasting pills seemed simple, but the demands on details were extremely high—especially at the crucial moment when the medicinal powers fused and condensed into a pill, it required nearly perfect control over both heat and spiritual power.
Looking at the failed residues in the pan again and again, Xiao Qi did not become disheartened. He cleaned the pan thoroughly and summarized the lessons from each failure. He discovered that the frying pan's even‑heating characteristic indeed helped keep the powder steadily heated, but it also magnified the effect of any slight instability in his fire control. And that wisp of weak spiritual power he habitually injected during fire control seemed genuinely able to make the fusion between powder particles a little smoother—only it was extremely hard to grasp.
He immersed his whole mind in the process, forgetting the passage of time. His mental power was highly concentrated; his fingertips manipulated that faint but stable flame (he could already condense it from empty air fairly skillfully), sensing every subtle change in the powder within the pan, adjusting the size of the flame and the output of spiritual power.
It was he knew not which attempt. He poured the last portion of medicinal powder into the pan, his mind clearer than ever before. Under his control, the fire was like a docile sheep, evenly licking the bottom of the pan. Under the heat, the powder gradually gave off a faint grassy fragrance and began to show signs of melting.
Then came the most critical moment—pill condensation! Xiao Qi held his breath, his intent at peak concentration. He commanded the flame to contract sharply inward; simultaneously, that faint wisp of spiritual power that had been lingering around the pan handle also abruptly gathered!
*Hum!* The nearly molten medicinal paste in the pan seemed compressed and kneaded inward by an invisible force! A faint, slightly impure medicinal aroma spread through the air.
The flame scattered. Nervously, Xiao Qi peered into the pan. Lying on the bottom were three pill‑shaped pellets, each about the size of a longan, their surfaces rough, their colors unevenly gray‑white, even somewhat twisted. They had no luster; their appearance was wretched, worse even than the lowest‑grade fasting pills issued by the sect.
But they were undeniably formed pills! And they emitted the distinctive medicinal‑power fluctuation of fasting pills—only weak and not pure.
Success! Even though the quality was wretched to the extreme, these were indeed usable fasting pills he had refined with his own hands! Immense joy instantly washed away the exhaustion of successive days of failure; Xiao Qi nearly jumped up. He carefully collected these three miserable‑looking fasting pills into a small jade vial he had prepared long ago, handling them as if they were priceless treasures.
He knew he had taken a crucial step. Relying on this frying pan and his own unique fire‑control ability, he had successfully bypassed the restrictions of aptitude and cultivation, stepping into the threshold of alchemy in an almost bizarre way! This undoubtedly affirmed once more the extraordinary nature of the frying pan, and also gave him a more concrete understanding of its "fusion" property—not only could it purify medicinal properties, it also seemed able, to some extent, to assist the fusion and condensation of medicinal power!
Although the road ahead remained long, and refining higher‑grade elixirs would require stronger spiritual sense, purer spiritual power, and more complex techniques, this first successful experience was like lighting a lamp in the darkness, illuminating a path for him—a path where perhaps, relying on the way of "vessel" and "mastery," he could walk a different cultivation journey.
He clutched the small jade vial tightly, gazing at that pitch‑black frying pan, his eyes filled with unprecedented confidence and anticipation.