Humming a little tune, Bai Xiaochun cheerfully returned to the sect. Upon arriving back at his courtyard, he couldn't help but sigh.
"Cultivation is for the sake of immortality. All this fighting and killing… these people must be out of their minds."
In his courtyard, Bai Xiaochun began organizing the storage pouches he had taken from Chen Fei and his two companions. Unfortunately, they weren't wealthy—their pouches were rather empty—so his harvest wasn't much. But he didn't mind too much. He then took out the medicinal herbs he had bought and examined them carefully, studying each one with meticulous attention.
Although he had a strong foundational knowledge of flora, he hadn't had many opportunities to handle real medicinal herbs. Now, as he observed them, he gradually matched them with the knowledge in his mind. From time to time, he would gently slice the herbs open to study their inner structures in detail.
After verifying each one, Bai Xiaochun fell into deep thought and took out the two formulas he had purchased. He only glanced briefly at the one that replenished spiritual energy, but his focus was on the one that strengthened the body of ordinary people.
*"Longevity Incense…"* Bai Xiaochun muttered under his breath. The recipe required only seven types of herbs, and the pairing wasn't especially unique. It relied simply on the principle of mutual reinforcement and counteraction between the herbs to activate their power. The mixture would then be ground into a powder and condensed into incense.
Two of the ingredients were even mildly poisonous. While they wouldn't be lethal to cultivators—at worst, they might cause diarrhea for half a month—they could be fatal to ordinary people.
"There are countless plants and spiritual herbs in the world. Some can be taken directly, others must be refined into pills to be effective. But some, due to their toxicity, can only be made into incense," Bai Xiaochun murmured as he carefully examined each of the seven herbs involved in the Longevity Incense. He didn't stop until he understood them down to the tiniest detail.
*"Still not safe.* The key to alchemy is the success rate. Even though this is just a basic first-tier spiritual medicine, the chances of failure are still quite high.
*"I only have ten portions of each herb. I can't afford to waste them."* Bai Xiaochun was cautious by nature and always played it safe. Just as he had thoroughly memorized all his herbal knowledge, he now applied the same thoroughness to studying the recipe before he even began refining anything.
Days passed. After seven days, once he had fully internalized the recipe, he sat quietly with his eyes closed, repeatedly simulating the process in his mind. Only at dusk did he open his eyes. After thinking for a moment, he took out the recipe for the spiritual replenishment pill and began studying it as well.
Half a month later, Bai Xiaochun's eyes were bloodshot. He had fully comprehended both recipes and every herb involved. After some more contemplation, he stood up suddenly and left his courtyard.
Refining medicine required a pill furnace, but pill furnaces were expensive, and Bai Xiaochun couldn't afford one. Fortunately, the sect had a *Pill Concocting Pavilion*, where disciples could refine medicine for a small contribution fee.
The Pill Concocting Pavilion was located on the eastern side of Fragrant Cloud Mountain, not far from Bai Xiaochun's location. Unlike the bustling Ten Thousand Medicines Pavilion, it was much quieter. After all, not many disciples qualified to refine pills, and most of those who could had already acquired their own furnaces.
After paying the required contribution points, Bai Xiaochun obtained permission to use the Pill Pavilion for one month. He stepped inside.
The interior was divided into over a hundred private rooms, each one sealed with formation arrays to prevent any outside disturbance.
Holding the wooden plaque he had received, Bai Xiaochun arrived at Room Thirteen. He glanced around—the room was small and empty, except for a pill furnace in the center. Under the furnace, a small flame was flickering.
He sat cross-legged and took a deep breath. He examined the furnace carefully, then looked at the flame beneath it. Using his spiritual energy to stimulate it, the flame immediately grew more intense, raising the temperature of the entire room. The furnace even began glowing red.
After several attempts, Bai Xiaochun—who had already reached the level of forming violet qi into a cauldron—quickly became familiar with controlling the intensity of the flame. Once he was confident in his ability to manipulate the fire, he slapped his storage pouch and took out his herbs.
*"Longevity Incense is too important for me right now. I can't start with it. I need to get familiar with alchemy first. I'll use the Spirit Replenishing Pill as practice. It's a first-tier pill, suitable for cultivators below the fifth level of Qi Condensation."*
With his decision made, Bai Xiaochun grew incredibly focused. After recalling the Spirit Replenishing Pill recipe in detail, he began.
He selected the first herb, examined it carefully, and with a wave of his hand, its leaves all fell off. His eyes sharp and intense, Bai Xiaochun released a surge of spiritual energy and compressed the leaves together with great force, squeezing out nine drops of juice, which he dripped into the furnace.
*Puff!* A green mist rose from within the furnace. Bai Xiaochun focused intently. As soon as the mist appeared, he quickly peeled off the stem and veins of the herb and tossed them into the furnace one by one, carefully adjusting the fire to produce even more mist.
Oddly, the mist didn't disperse but began condensing and churning inside the furnace. Bai Xiaochun brought out the second herb, catalyzed it with spiritual energy until it bloomed, then picked its petals and tossed them in as well.
Time passed as Bai Xiaochun remained fully immersed in the process. He continued adding herbs until he had used eight in total. His eyes sparkled as he controlled the temperature of the flame with extreme precision. Beads of sweat trickled down his forehead, sliding along his face from the intense focus.
After one hour, a muffled *boom* echoed from the furnace. A foul, black smoke poured out. Although the room's array quickly absorbed the smoke, Bai Xiaochun still coughed and looked into the furnace with a grim expression.
Inside, there was nothing but blackened residue.
*"Failed…"* Bai Xiaochun sat down, resting his chin on his hand in deep thought. He began carefully reviewing every detail of the process. He didn't try again immediately. His cautious nature meant he always sought the safest and most thorough approach, whether studying herbs or refining medicine.
He thought for *three days straight. During that time, he replayed the entire process in his mind over a thousand times, identifying over **fifty mistakes*.
Only then did he take a deep breath, rest briefly, and start his *second attempt*.
Alchemy itself didn't take long. After two hours, the furnace rumbled again, black smoke emerged, and the remains inside were just as scorched as before.
Bai Xiaochun's obsessive side was fully ignited. He studied the residue carefully, cross-referenced it with his mental simulation, and re-analyzed both the recipe and the herbs. This time, he spent *ten days* studying before starting his *third attempt*.
This third attempt went smoothly at first—but just as the pill was about to form, the entire furnace cracked and failed once more. The dull boom echoed through the room. Bai Xiaochun jumped up and stared at the residue in silence for a long time before sitting down and closing his eyes again.
He thought for nearly *half a month* before finally opening his eyes near the end of his allotted time in the Pill Pavilion. Gritting his teeth, he began his *fourth attempt*.
And yet… even this fourth attempt ended in failure.
If another alchemy disciple had seen this, they would have been shocked. In a month's time, most people would have refined *dozens* of batches. Even if just one pill succeeded, that would still be considered progress.
Because to everyone, pill refining was *extremely* difficult. Otherwise, why would there be only two true alchemists in the entire Eastern Forest Continent?
Even qualified alchemy disciples were rare, and most of them would never become true alchemists in their lifetimes.
But the real reason for this scarcity was simple: *lack of resources. If resources were unlimited, and one could attempt endlessly, then while becoming a true alchemist still wasn't guaranteed, the odds would be **much* higher.
Thus, for most, the only way to improve success rate was through *constant practice, increasing **proficiency*.
And that proficiency was what everyone chased.
Only with enough proficiency could one improve their success rate. For most, failed batches were normal. They would summarize their mistakes and try again. Especially with common pills and cheap herbs, it was the best time to practice.
Bai Xiaochun's approach was the same, but his *speed* was far slower than everyone else's. Every failure led him to spend *many times longer* analyzing and simulating than he had spent refining.
This was because of his nature—cautious and meticulous. When studying herbs, this trait was noticeable. But in alchemy, it was amplified, becoming his defining approach.
Because he was so meticulous, he discovered *far more mistakes* than others—sometimes dozens more. Even details others overlooked seemed wrong to him.
Because of his caution, he refused to continue refining unless he solved *every issue*, no matter how minor.
Thus, his analysis time became exponentially longer than the actual refining process.
At the end of the month, Bai Xiaochun emerged from the Pill Pavilion disheveled, his hair a mess, his face covered in soot. He returned to his courtyard in silence, mind endlessly replaying the process.
*"There are still nine problems left. I must resolve them all before I refine again."* Gritting his teeth, he sat down in the courtyard and closed his eyes, analyzing again. Occasionally, he pulled out herbs for microscopic observation.
Half a month later, he rushed back to the Pill Pavilion, spent more contribution points, and began again.
*Fifth attempt… failed!*
He spent seven days analyzing the reasons and resolving the issues, then refined again.
*Sixth attempt… failed!*
With red eyes, Bai Xiaochun spent twenty days analyzing everything. Finally convinced there were no remaining problems, he started his *seventh attempt*.
An hour passed. No explosion. Instead, a fragrant aroma filled the room. Bai Xiaochun's spirit lifted. He looked into the furnace and saw *two green pills*.
He took a deep breath—*on the seventh attempt, he had succeeded!*
He continued refining.
*Eighth attempt… success. Three pills!*
*Ninth attempt… success. Five pills!*
*Tenth attempt… also a success, but only one pill formed. And it was black, not green. It had no fragrance—in fact, it smelled… weird.*
While Bai Xiaochun was still puzzled by this strange outcome, *a stir suddenly swept through the entire Pill Pavilion…*