Chapter 68: Chapter 68: Elixir
I went out for a wedding today, which was a round trip of over four hours by car. I also got less than five hours of sleep last night, so this update is a bit late. During this strong recommendation period, I hope everyone can vote to support Xiaodao. These are the last ten days before the book goes on sale, and whether it succeeds or fails is all up to you. So, Xiaodao sincerely asks all my brothers and sisters to support ’Only I am Venerable.’ Thank you!
Without any hesitation, Leng Yao carefully took out a small stalk of grass from her backpack that was only about half a foot tall. At first glance, it looked very much like a sapling. What was astonishing was that even after everyone had been fighting for several hours, the grass, having been inside Leng Yao’s backpack the whole time, showed no signs of withering. In the firelight, its leaves even shimmered with a vibrant, dewy green glow!
"This... is a medicinal herb?"
In both his past and present lives, Qin Li could be considered an expert in the Martial Dao, but when it came to Elixirs, his theory was passable at best, while his practical experience was nonexistent. The old Daoist had been quite skilled at Alchemy and had once tried to teach Qin Li with great care, but Qin Li had no interest in it whatsoever. In the end, the old Daoist had no choice but to give up.
In Qin Li’s view, Alchemy was not as simple as one might think. The most fundamental skill was controlling the furnace’s temperature. The slightest mistake, and an entire batch of Elixirs would be ruined. And it wasn’t as if they were refining common weeds; the ingredients were extremely valuable medicinal herbs, many of which could even be considered priceless. They shared a collective name—natural treasures!
Not to mention, many Pill Formulas were incredibly complex, and getting the sequence of steps wrong by even one would lead to total failure. Therefore, Qin Li had always held Alchemy Masters in the highest esteem, admiring them to no end.
"Of course it’s a medicinal herb!" Bu Yunyan sneered, speaking through clenched teeth. "Did you really think those Qin Family brothers gained all their strength through hard work? A while ago, the Qin Family was buying up Top-Grade medicinal herbs on a massive scale. The effort they’ve invested in those two over the years has been immense, but now, you’ve basically ruined it all. How satisfying!"
Hu chimed in, "Qin, don’t underestimate this little herb. Do you know what it’s worth? Heh, this little thing is worth one thousand taels of gold!"
"Huh?" Even though Qin Li didn’t have much of a concept of money, he was still shocked by the number. ’One tael of gold is worth a hundred taels of silver... so one thousand taels... isn’t that worth one hundred thousand taels of silver?! Twice as much as that Green Furred Cat cub?’
Hu gave a pained laugh. "Unexpected, right? This thing is called a One-leaf Centennial Grass. It takes nearly a hundred years for it to grow a single leaf! Actually, those under a hundred years old are quite common. But take a look, how many leaves does this one have?"
Qin Li gave it a quick glance and saw that the One-leaf Centennial Grass had at least ten leaves! ’Doesn’t that mean this small plant, less than half a foot tall, has actually weathered a thousand years?’
Seeing the look of astonishment on Qin Li’s face, Hu smiled wryly. "See? This is a thousand-year-old Spirit Grass. Look at these leaves. They’ll stay just like this even without water or soil for more than ten days. The moment you transplant it, it will immediately regain its vitality. They say this thing grows by absorbing the Essence of Heaven and Earth. The older it is, the more of that essence it contains. If an experienced Alchemy Master were to refine this stalk with some other herbs, it could produce at least a hundred-odd Elixirs. Brother, do you know how many years of Power a single one of those Elixirs can grant?"
Dumbfounded, Qin Li shook his head, but then he suddenly zoned out, lost in thought.
He only knew that back then, the old Daoist had muttered to himself every day while performing Alchemy, saying that if he succeeded, he could refine a Foundation Establishment Elixir. That would allow him to enter an Immortal Sect and cultivate the Celestial Dao. Unfortunately, right up until Qin Li transmigrated, he never saw the old Daoist succeed once. The old man was, however, almost guaranteed to succeed with ordinary Healing Elixirs. ’To think that a medicine that grants such a huge boost in Power actually exists in this world.’
It wasn’t that Qin Li was ignorant. It was just that the original owner of this body had lived a very hard life since childhood. He couldn’t even afford a decent Physician, let alone priceless Elixirs, which he had never even heard of. Back then, the original Qin Li was quiet and withdrawn, having almost no communication with his mother all day, so there was no way for him to learn about these things.
Speaking of which, Qin Li felt a wave of emotion. ’If I had transmigrated ten years earlier, I’d probably have mastered some incredible skills by now. The reason is simple: my own mother is a supreme master. How could I not have coaxed her into teaching me? That good-for-nothing father of mine’s family rules forbid teaching outsiders, but... am I an outsider?’
’Then again,’ he thought, ’if I hadn’t painstakingly practiced the Basic Techniques since I was young, I probably wouldn’t have been able to build such a good foundation for this body. It seems every cause has its effect, as if determined by fate!’
The original Qin Li hadn’t suffered much physical harm growing up. The pressure he felt came more from psychological sources, like the cold stares and mockery of others.
When the current Qin Li occasionally searched his mind for memories of the past, most of them were of being ostracized, ridiculed, and mocked by the children of other Qin Family servants. As for the true core disciples of the Qin Family, the original Qin Li had barely ever seen them. They had always just ignored him!
The title "Basic Master" was first coined by the children of those Qin Family servants. Because even the children of Qin Family servants were considered house-born servants. Inside the great family, they were servants, but outside its gates, countless people were envious and jealous of them. Therefore, these servants’ children were not ashamed of their status; on the contrary, they were proud of it. And so, they spared no effort in mocking Qin Li, an illegitimate son whose status should have been countless times higher than theirs.
If Qin Hu hadn’t, for some crazy reason, come to mock Qin Li that day, crushing him so completely that his spirit and will collapsed, then the current Qin Li would never have transmigrated here.
’So, thinking back, I guess I really am fated to cross paths with the brothers Qin Hu and Qin Feng.’
"Qin, what’s wrong? What are you thinking about?"
Qin Li suddenly heard Hu calling him and snapped back to his senses. He smiled apologetically. "Sorry, I zoned out for a bit. It’s just that what you said was so incredible."
Leng Yao couldn’t help but let out a small laugh, probably finding Qin Li rather humorous. ’What Martial Artist on the Celestial Essence Continent doesn’t know about the power of Elixirs? And here he is, playing dumb.’ But then she suddenly remembered Qin Li’s background, and her expression sobered. She felt a pang of guilt. ’I forgot this young man has suffered so much since he was a child. He probably couldn’t even afford a regular Physician, let alone have ever seen an Elixir.’
Hu gave an honest smile and said, "A single Elixir refined from a One-leaf Centennial Grass can increase your Power by ten years! A single one is worth ten years of bitter cultivation!"
"That powerful!" Qin Li exclaimed in amazement. Then he said, "If you ate all one hundred of those Elixirs, wouldn’t you instantly become an Ancient Demon with a thousand years of Power?"
Even though everyone was in a bad mood, they didn’t know whether to laugh or cry at Qin Li’s naivete. Bu Yunyan chided him, "My dear Little Brother Qin, do you think these Elixirs are jelly beans? You can just eat as many as you want? Let’s not even talk about whether anyone can afford the price of over twenty thousand taels of silver per Elixir. Just consider its medicinal properties... Do you think your Dantian has unlimited capacity? Without bitter cultivation to constantly expand your Dantian’s volume, you wouldn’t need many. Just three Elixirs, thirty years’ worth of Power, would be enough to make your Dantian collapse. If you took four or five, your Dantian would probably just explode... After taking one Elixir, you need to go into seclusion for at least a month just to digest its effects. A hundred of them? You really have a wild imagination!"
Qin Li scratched his head, a little ashamed of his own ignorance. But a little embarrassment like this was nothing to the great Sect Leader Qin. He laughed and changed the subject. "I was too poor when I was a kid, so I don’t know the first thing about Elixirs. Um, could you tell me about them?"
Bu Yunyan rolled her eyes at Qin Li. ’This is the first time I’m seeing just how thick his skin is.’ She said, "When it comes to this, Leng Yao is the real expert. Let her tell you. Your dear Leng Yao is an Alchemy Master, you know! Otherwise... did you really think she could only cultivate to the Profound Level? Little Brother Qin, your Leng Yao has a lot of secrets!"
"Chatterbox!" Leng Yao shot Bu Yunyan a look, but she wasn’t truly angry. She just said faintly, "That’s all in the past. What’s the point of bringing it up? As for Elixirs, I do have some knowledge. On the Celestial Essence Continent, there are many kinds of Elixirs, and also many families and Sects that specialize in them. The most common are the mass-market ones you see, like various Healing Pills, Antitoxic Pills, Disguise Pills that you dissolve and apply to your face to change your appearance, and Beauty Pills for women. These are all just elementary-level Elixirs."
Leng Yao’s clear, cool voice was like an oriole’s song. Accompanied by the crackling bonfire, the flickering light danced across her cold, beautiful face, shrouding her in an air of mysterious allure.
"Better Elixirs are the ones that provide great nourishment. For example, the Tongyuan Pill can restore your Primordial Power in a short time, making it indispensable for High Level Martial Artists. The ones that can be called Upper Grade Elixirs are those I just mentioned that can increase your Power. They are called Primordial Power Pills. Actually, the effect of a Primordial Power Pill also depends on the person. For example, a Martial Artist with average talent might only be able to cultivate to the seventh or eighth tier of the Yellow Level in ten years. So if that kind of person takes a Primordial Power Pill, the ten years of Power it grants will only take them from the first tier to the seventh or eighth tier of the Yellow Level. But for a Martial Artist with outstanding talent, who can reach the fourth or fifth tier of the Profound Level in ten years... if they take a Primordial Power Pill and absorb it well, they can at least break through to the second or third tier of the Profound Level! Finally, the effects of a Primordial Power Pill probably only work up to the High Tier of the Profound Level. At least, I’ve never heard of any Earth Level master who got there just by consuming Primordial Power Pills."
Qin Li now had a general understanding of the various Elixirs on the Celestial Essence Continent. ’They aren’t as overpowered as I imagined, but they aren’t weak either. It makes sense why those super-powerful families are so strong. Take these Primordial Power Pills. They’re expensive on the market, but their production cost is only about a tenth of the sale price. To an ordinary person, it’s an astronomical sum, but to those great families, it’s nothing. Forming an army of Celestial Level Martial Artists probably isn’t even that hard for them.’
’This is... a world where strength reigns supreme!’ Qin Li suddenly gained a deeper understanding of this phrase.
Leng Yao seemed quite interested in the topic of Elixirs and continued, "Actually, besides these, there are also some Elixirs known as Divine Grade! Those... are what every Alchemist truly yearns for. To obtain a single one of their Pill Formulas would be to die without regret!"
"Divine Grade?" Qin Li was puzzled.
Bu Yunyan said, "According to legend, the Celestial Profound Pill, the Elixir that assists the ’Nine Heavens and Ten Lands, Only I am Venerable’ combat technique, is a Divine Grade Elixir!"
Leng Yao nodded. "That’s right. That’s why I hope I’ll have the chance to see that Pill Formula in this lifetime, to see if it’s really as miraculous as the legends say!"
