Chapter 4: Lessons

Song Yan and Lin Qing chatted as they walked and soon arrived at the Pill Hall. The Pill Hall was not small; the lecture was held in the main hall of the Teaching Pavilion. Both of them were familiar with the place and quickly found their seats.

Song Yan was one of the Pill Hall’s miscellaneous workers this month, so he sat at the far right of the second row, with Lin Qing sitting behind him.

“…”

Song Yan closed his eyes to rest, but in reality he was seizing every moment to cultivate the nameless incantation he had obtained from the black-and-white space.

Song Yan’s original advantage was that his divine sense was slightly stronger than ordinary people’s. If he could expand this advantage, pill refining might become even easier.

There was still some time before the lecture began, and the surrounding disciples gradually increased in number. Outer disciples were the majority, while inner disciples were in the minority.

This was quite normal; if inner disciples wished to learn, they could freely choose from the four great halls. Usually, lectures covered only the basics, primarily to answer questions and clear up doubts for outer disciples who had no one to guide them.

Perhaps because this lecture was given by an elder from an external sect, the number of inner disciples was slightly higher than usual.

At this moment, an elder with an otherworldly bearing entered the hall, surrounded by Pill Hall elder Hu Zheng, Pill Hall disciple Zhou Wen, and two other young men and women.

The whispered conversations that had been filling the hall came to an abrupt halt.

“I am Shen Yu of the Profound Abyss Sect. I originally came to the Eastern Abyss Sect’s gates on official business, and by chance my old friend—your Elder Hu—invited me to speak to you about the dao of alchemy.”

“I have some small insights into the path of pill refining. Today, I shall share them openly. Please, everyone, take your seats.”

Wang Xi and Shen Huai sat in the first row, Zhou Wen sat beside them, and Elder Hu took the assistant lecturer’s seat.

“The dao of alchemy is vast and profound. Let us take the simplest pill in the cultivation world, the Qi Nourishing Pill, as an example…”

Song Yan listened with ravenous thirst.

This Elder Shen from the external sect truly spoke well!

Many alchemy principles were illustrated using the simplest and lowest-grade Qi Nourishing Pill, progressing from shallow to deep, seeing the grand from the minute.

Reflecting on his own pill refining techniques, he realized there were so many oversights and misconceptions in areas where he had been completely unaware.

“So that’s how it is…”

Song Yan focused intently and absorbed these most fundamental alchemy principles.

In his view, apart from occasionally revealing a somewhat uncomfortable sense of superiority in his words, this Elder Shen was truly capable.

The main thing was that elders who lectured on refining Qi Nourishing Pills were far too rare nowadays.

“Other elders always go on about Yellow Sprout Pills, Qi Condensing Pills… This Elder Shen is more down-to-earth.”

Song Yan thought this.

But the others did not think so.

“A dignified Profound Abyss Sect elder… comes here just to lecture on Qi Nourishing Pills?”

It was not only the inner disciples who were puzzled.

Even some outer disciples exchanged bewildered glances, their interest lacking.

Shen Yu naturally saw this, but he did not care. After all, he had never intended to lecture properly in the first place.

“Hmm… if that’s the case, perhaps it can reduce the probability of failed pills.”

Shen Yu spoke casually, while Song Yan took notes desperately.

“Alright, today’s lesson shall end here.”

Shen Yu coughed lightly. “I will be lecturing at the Eastern Abyss Sect for three days. If you are interested, you may come again tomorrow.”

“I am not originally from the Eastern Abyss Sect, so I will not make today’s assignment mandatory. If you are inclined to listen, go back and refine a Qi Nourishing Pill, and hand it in tomorrow for our evaluation.”

In reality, Shen Yu was merely going through the motions verbally, as Hu Zheng had instructed.

What did it matter to him, an elder of the Profound Abyss Sect, what the pill refining level of the Eastern Abyss Sect’s disciples was?

Moreover, they were all misshapen outer disciples. Having an elder evaluate them was utterly absurd.

It was still early in the day. With his mind ablaze and his memory still vivid, Song Yan struck while the iron was hot. He went to the pill workshop, rented a subpar pill room and furnace, and refined a batch of Qi Nourishing Pills.

“Hmm, Elder Shen was truly right.”

Song Yan nodded in delight, feeling none of the usual exhaustion after pill refining.

“What happens in the furnace does not require control over every detail. The medicinal properties will naturally respond to one another. Reserve more divine sense and spiritual energy to control the medicinal properties and the fire…”

Moreover, whether it was his imagination or not, he felt that his divine sense had made a slight improvement once again.

Could it be because of that nameless incantation?

“Could it be that fast?”

He gazed at this batch of Qi Nourishing Pills, overjoyed.

Given the quality and spiritual energy contained in this batch of pills, they could be used for his own cultivation. The next day, all the disciples submitted the pills they had refined, and Song Yan did the same.

The pills were not evaluated on the spot. They were typically sorted and recorded by the lecturer’s disciples or pill assistants, and then distributed later.

Over the next two days, in addition to some knowledge that had not been covered in depth the previous day, some alchemy history and the rudiments of Yellow Sprout Pills were also introduced.

Although it felt less useful than the first day, it was still alchemy knowledge, and Song Yan did not disdain it.

The Yellow Sprout Pill was one of the most mainstream pills consumed by Qi Refining stage cultivators. Its refining process and technique requirements were considerably more difficult than those of the Qi Nourishing Pill. Song Yan did not yet intend to spend spirit stones to practice refining it.

Soon, the three days of lectures came to an end.

One quarter past the You hour, Dragon Head Mountain.

Hall of Returning.

“Wang Xi, Shen Huai, you two clear these out. Pick a few decent ones and write up some brief evaluations.”

Shen Yu furrowed his brows deeply. “Having an elder personally teach outer disciples pill refining—what kind of logic is that… No wonder after all these years, the Eastern Abyss Sect has yet to produce a second Golden Core cultivator.”

“Wasting time on things like these…”

He waved his sleeve and left.

Wang Xi and Shen Huai exchanged a glance, said nothing, and began sorting through the pile of pills.

Although Shen Yu had emphasized that it was not mandatory, no outer disciple would waste this opportunity. Even if there was one, they would not have the nerve.

“…”

Wang Xi was merely idle and flipping through casually, while Shen Huai was being quite diligent.

However, most of these pills were too terrible to look at.

“There is not even a pill shape. Completely and utterly failed pills…”

Wang Xi picked up a pill that, by the looks of it, was already considered one of the better ones, with a mocking expression.

“The level of the Eastern Abyss Sect is truly worse than I could have imagined.”

Shen Huai continued working with a blank expression, saying coldly, “These were mostly refined by the Eastern Abyss Sect’s outer disciples. They rarely have the opportunity to practice, so this situation is quite normal.”

“If you had our sect’s outer disciples refine them, it would probably be much the same.”

“Heh.”

Wang Xi chuckled softly, his meaning ambiguous.

Shen Huai paid no attention to her contemptuous tone.

But then again.

These pills were indeed a complete mess.

Such simple pills, yet so few had even achieved a proper pill shape…

Failed pills.

Failed pills.

Failed pills again.

The furnace explosion left them so deformed they no longer resembled pills—why bother handing them in!?

Hmm, finally found one that could barely be considered an effective pill.

This pill’s issue was that its quality was mediocre and its shape was unstable. The pill-collecting step had been too hasty.

This one’s issue was that, although its shape was decent, the spiritual energy it contained was far too little. The medicinal herb ratio must have been wrong, but it succeeded by sheer luck.

The Qi Nourishing Pill already contained little spiritual energy to begin with. In this case, what was the difference between a cultivator eating it and eating a candy bean?

This one’s issue…

Hmm?

The one who discovered that strange pill was not Shen Huai, but Wang Xi.

Shen Huai caught sight of Wang Xi staring blankly from the corner of her eye and thought she was slacking off. When he turned to look, he found Wang Xi holding a pill, examining it repeatedly, lost in thought.

“What’s…”

Shen Huai focused her gaze and looked, her expression shifting slightly.

“Huh?”