Chapter 103: Second-Rank Alchemist

The millennium spirit ginseng, brimming with vitality, writhed incessantly under the scorching fierce flames—a primal instinctive reaction unique to animals, yet this plant displayed it vividly.

Though a faint pang of pity stirred within him, Du Long understood that this was not a sign of consciousness within the millennium spirit ginseng, but merely a natural, instinctive response of the plant. Observing its movements amidst the flames, it was clear the ginseng still required more time to reach the necessary level of refinement.

Du Long had no choice but to intensify the heat, relentlessly scorching the spirited millennium ginseng. According to the formula for the second-grade spirit elixir, the ginseng, possessing a certain degree of spirit, instinctively mobilizes its internal energy to resist the flame’s burn—a process that diminishes its medicinal potency.

Therefore, he had to forcefully expel the ginseng’s internal energy as quickly as possible. Otherwise, even if the refinement succeeded later, the quality of the resulting second-grade spirit elixir would be severely compromised.

He poured all his strength into stoking the fierce flames, drawing continuously from the fire cloud energy above the Fire Cloud Cauldron to replenish the fierce fire. Yet, despite his efforts, the replenishment lagged behind the rate of consumption.

Du Long could distinctly feel the fierce fire within him gradually weakening. Only now did he finally comprehend why only alchemists of the fourth stage of the Fierce Pill rank or above could hope to refine second-grade spirit elixirs.

Even with the continuous energy supply from the Fire Cloud Cauldron, the depletion of his internal fierce fire was astonishingly rapid—let alone other alchemists without such an energy source.

After about half an hour, Du Long gloomily realized that the millennium spirit ginseng had changed from its initial golden yellow to a pale, sorrowful white. He knew his first attempt at refining the millennium spirit ginseng had failed.

As expected, the energy-depleted ginseng instantly withered and hardened, then turned to ash in the raging fire.

Helpless, he withdrew the fierce fire, dispersing the useless ashes from the Fire Cloud Cauldron’s space onto the ground of the Spirit Gathering Cave. Watching the fierce fire ball shrink to less than half its original size, Du Long knew his work for the day was done.

With such a meager amount of fierce fire energy, it was utterly impossible to continue refining the second-grade spirit elixir. After all, if he couldn’t even handle the millennium spirit ginseng, where would he find the strength to process the dozen or so other spirit herbs required?

Exhaling deeply, Du Long opened his eyes reluctantly and began to analyze the lessons learned from this failed refinement.

Each millennium spirit ginseng was worth over a thousand gold coins—a costly waste even for someone as rich as Du Long. He resolved to summarize his experiences thoroughly to minimize losses in future alchemical processes.

After compiling his insights, he closed his eyes to practice the Profound Heavenly Technique, steadily absorbing and refining the dense Vast Heavenly Fierce Qi, simultaneously restoring his depleted fierce fire.

About three hours later, Du Long finally replenished his fierce fire completely—thanks to the remarkable efficacy of his advanced cultivation methods.

Feeling the fierce fire within him restored to its peak, he immediately immersed his spirit back into the Fire Cloud Cauldron’s space concealed within his dantian. Controlling the blazing fierce fire, he swiftly enveloped another millennium spirit ginseng and began the alchemical process anew.

Armed with experience, Du Long unleashed full firepower this time, fiercely roasting the millennium spirit ginseng.

The ginseng struggled and writhed desperately under the intense flames, but with fire raging on all sides, escape was impossible.

Time dragged agonizingly slow, each second seemingly eternal. When the fierce fire had consumed about half its energy, the struggling ginseng finally stilled. Its color had shifted to a faint golden yellow, barely meeting the requirements for refining a second-grade spirit elixir.

Du Long’s heart leapt with joy as he sharply increased the flame’s temperature. The exhausted ginseng began to exude droplets of golden liquid on its surface, radiating a shimmering golden glow under the fiery heat.

He gradually lowered the flame temperature, continuing to roast the ginseng gently, watching more and more golden liquid being forced out.

Maintaining this lower temperature, he steadily drew large amounts of flame energy from above to replenish the fierce fire, significantly slowing the rate of consumption. Only then did Du Long secretly breathe a sigh of relief.

“Thankfully, I have the Fire Cloud Cauldron to aid me. Otherwise, with my current strength, refining second-grade spirit elixirs would be nothing but a pipe dream,” he thought as he kept the flame steady.

Time passed, and after another hour, the golden liquid energy within the millennium spirit ginseng was fully extracted.

The energy-depleted ginseng finally returned to dust, scattered across the floor of the Spirit Gathering Cave.

Gazing at the golden liquid nurtured by the flames, Du Long couldn’t help but smile. Feeling triumphant, he maintained the temperature as he summoned the other spirit herbs required for the second-grade elixir, refining them one by one.

There were naturally some mistakes along the way, but these herbs were abundant and less precious. The losses were negligible—consider it practice.

Soon, within the Fire Cloud Cauldron’s space appeared a cluster of golden liquid energy alongside a dozen or so colorful medicinal liquids and powders. After reviewing the steps of refining the second-grade spirit elixir, Du Long carefully added each auxiliary liquid and powder into the golden main liquid.

As the last ingredient blended in, he suddenly raised the fire’s temperature for the final refinement.

Within the roaring flames, the multicolored medicinal liquid twisted and churned violently. The colors gradually faded until the concoction suddenly transformed into a milky white, viscous liquid, emitting a fragrant aroma that filled the air.

At that moment, Du Long swiftly withdrew the flames from the milky liquid. The once boiling, twisting potion gradually calmed, forming a smooth, spherical mass.

With a thought, a jade bottle appeared in the Fire Cloud Cauldron’s space. The milky liquid was instantly poured into it. While the cauldron was ideal for storing raw spirit herbs, it was unsuitable for preserving refined elixirs.

In a flash, the jade bottle materialized in his hand. Du Long exhaled deeply, then calmly sealed the bottle and stored it within the Pan-snake Ring’s space.

Having completed all these tasks, he glanced at the two women who remained in deep meditation, then, weary, closed his eyes to recover his nearly exhausted fierce fire energy.

Within the Spirit Gathering Cave, no one knew that just moments ago, the world’s first second-grade alchemist to reach the third stage of the Cyclone rank had been born.

On this Star Continent, the Alchemist Alliance classified alchemist strength into ranks. The minimum standard to be a second-grade alchemist was the ability to refine second-grade spirit elixirs.

It was widely recognized among humans that only those who reached the Fierce Pill rank could cultivate alchemical fire and refine elixirs.

Typically, reaching the Fierce Pill rank took one’s age into the forties or fifties. For someone like seventeen-year-old Du Long, even with the chance to consume spirit elixirs three times a year, it would take three years to reach the ninth stage of the Cyclone rank, another three years to reach the ninth stage of the Qi Sea rank, and yet another three years to attain the ninth stage of the Fierce Pill rank.

This assumed one could afford third-grade or higher spirit elixirs. Ordinary people not only couldn’t afford such luxuries but also dared not consume them recklessly. Those with unstable foundations who forced themselves to the ninth Cyclone stage often stalled there, unable to break through to the Qi Sea stage regardless of spirit elixir intake.

This was why many feared consuming the same grade of spirit elixir more than twice.

As an acquired Profound Yang Body, Du Long and the innate Profound Yin Body of Xia Qinglian had no such concerns about unstable foundations. Yet even so, they could consume spirit elixirs of the same grade only three times a year; exceeding this would harm their future cultivation.

Otherwise, even with jade-like constitutions, they would become beautiful jades ruined by careless carving.

Regarding this, the enigmatic Jade Spirit Beauty, an existence from an unknown world, naturally would not squander such precious jade, carefully sculpting these two into flawless gems.