Chapter 67: The Difficulty of Refining Dan

  It's been a whole month, and Zhang Chengcai has finally mastered the first level of the Qianyuan Kontrol Fire Spell. However, this speed is nothing in the eyes of Dan Chenzong, because when he first started practicing, it took him less than seven days to fully grasp it.

  However, Dan Chenzi didn't know that he wasn't just cultivating this one technique, but was simultaneously cultivating six techniques, averaging about five days per technique.

  If he knew this, I don't know what he would think.

  In the following days, Zhang Cheng followed Dan Chenzi to learn about alchemy and understand the medicinal properties of ten kinds of elixirs, including Antidote Elixir, Detoxification Elixir, Spiritual Purification Elixir, Hunger Suppression Elixir, Qi Enhancement Elixir, Spirit Nourishment Elixir, Yang Supplement Elixir, as well as their ingredient ratios and effects.

  These are all the basics, just need to remember, and with Zhang Cheng's ability to memorize at a glance, it was almost completely recorded in his mind after a quick scan, and what's left is how to refine the elixir.

  "Kid, I'll only demonstrate these ten types of elixirs once. I'll explain some key points while demonstrating, and if you don't understand something, you can ask me. However, I won't proactively point things out to you, because refining elixirs relies on your brain and diligence. If you learn to rely on others, let me make it clear to you: you're done for." Dan Chenzi said solemnly.

  "Ah, I understand." Zhang Cheng understood what Dan Chenzi meant. Although the sentence was a bit roundabout, it could be summarized with a phrase from Confucius: "Learning without thinking is futile; thinking without learning is perilous."

  In his view, alchemy and doing exercises are the same, both requiring independent thinking and summarization to improve one's experience and increase the success rate of elixir production.

  If you develop the habit of copying homework or asking others when you encounter questions you don't know, there won't be any problems in the short term. However, when it comes to exams, your true form will be revealed.

  So Zhang Cheng understood Danchenzi's words very well, and he had never thought of relying on others either.

  "Hmm, watch closely, my refining process will be a bit slower, you must remember every detail, including the changes in the elixir!" Dan Chenzi said as he took out the medicinal materials for refining the Bao Gu Dan from his spatial bag and directly threw them into the alchemy furnace.

  "Before putting the medicine back in, you must use the Qianyuan Kontrol Fire Spell to control the earth's heart fire, binding its heat, lest the medicine be burned away as soon as it is put into the Dan Ding. After all, these are the lowest grade medicines, which cannot withstand the scorching of the earth's heart fire at all." Danchenzi reminded while demonstrating.

  The earth fire was under his control like a docile and obedient little cat, with no sign of its previous frenzy.

  Then, under the continuous burning of the earth fire, a group of light green energy cups were smelted out and condensed together above the flames to form a light green gas column.

  And those medicinal materials that had lost their efficacy were incinerated by the earth's core fire at the same moment, disappearing into nothingness.

  "This is the first step, to extract the power from the medicinal materials, and then it's time for coagulation. I've already given you the hand seal for coagulation before, now watch me use it." As he spoke, Dan Chenzi clasped his hands together in front of his chest, his ten fingers flying about, and within a few breaths' time, dozens of hand seals were executed by him, leaving Zhang Cheng staring in amazement.

  At the same time, the medicinal power in the air also continued to be compressed and condensed into a thumb-sized small ball with a color change from light green to deep green.

  "Condense!" At the moment this group of hand seals were finished, Dan Dust directly spat out this word. Instantly, that cluster of medicinal energy seemed to have heard the general's command like a small soldier, rapidly shrinking and transforming into a deep green dan pill in an instant.

  "If you think the elixir has been successfully cultivated at this stage, then you are greatly mistaken. The elixir that has formed now is only a false elixir. It must be smelted with the earth's core fire without stopping to remove impurities and increase its degree of polymerization, and then determine whether it is time to form the elixir based on changes in the degree of polymerization."

  "This is also the most difficult step in alchemy, if the elixir leaves the fake dan too early, its medicinal properties will disperse due to insufficient cohesion. If it's too late, the entire elixir will be consumed by the earth fire, this is also the fundamental reason why the success rate of alchemy is hard to improve. As for how much fusion is required to succeed, it's a feeling, that is, grasping the fire timing, can only be understood intuitively, I also cannot describe it in words, so you can only ponder on your own." With that, Dan Dust's hand seal changed, and he suddenly shouted: "Done".

  "Boom"

  Almost at the same time, a loud noise like a cannon sounded, and the elixir shot out like a wild horse breaking free from its reins, moving extremely fast.

  However, it was no faster than Dan Chenzi. He only saw him wave his hand, and then the dan medicine seemed to be summoned and flew into his palm obediently.

  "This is also the final step, forming the Dan. You must be careful at this stage, because once the Dan medicine takes shape, it will also be given spirituality. The higher the level of the Dan medicine, the stronger its spirituality, and it will not willingly be taken by humans. So, at the moment of forming the Dan, it will choose to escape. At this time, you need to use the Dan-guiding technique to guide the Dan medicine over. If you can't keep it in place, it will escape from here, and this Dan medicine will become someone else's gain." said Dan Chenzi.

  "Oh, I remember." After Dan Chenzi's analysis, he had a general understanding of alchemy.

  He analyzed it in his mind and thought that the alchemy of elixir was divided into four steps. The first step, refining medicine, extracts the medicinal properties from the medicinal materials; the second step, condensing shape, condenses the medicinal properties into a solid form; the third step, forming elixir; and the fourth step, collecting elixir.

  Every step is crucial; if there's even a slight mistake, the entire elixir will be ruined.

  "Alright, let's proceed with the second type of elixir." Dan Chenzi saw that Zhang Cheng had gained some insight and nodded his head in satisfaction. He then added another portion of medicinal material into the mixture...

  These ten elixirs are all ordinary first-grade elixirs, and they have little effect on mid-to-high-end cultivators. For low-level cultivators, their effect is also not significant.

  So, after these elixirs are refined, they are mainly sold to the secular world in exchange for a large amount of cultivation resources.

  However, these elixirs are quite suitable for newcomers to practice their skills. The skill boost enhances the control ability of flames and also increases the experience of alchemy. Moreover, the value of the medicinal materials is not high, and once they are successfully sold after refining, all the costs will be recovered.

  Under Dan Chenzi's careful guidance, the refining methods of all ten elixirs were quickly demonstrated. Then Dan Chenzi said: "These ten elixirs can actually be refined in one furnace for dozens of times, but to make it clear for you to see, I concentrated all the medicinal properties together, which is why these pills are relatively large."

  "But the actual effect of this Dan medicine is the same as that of ordinary Biegu Dan, at most it can only make the person taking it persist for a while. So, when you refine it, try to refine as many as possible, this way you can enhance your Qianyuan Kontrol Fire Chant's fire control ability, okay, you can start now."

  After finishing speaking, Danchenzi made way and gave Zhang Cheng a seat.