Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Zhou Yun was sitting cross-legged in the middle of the alchemy room.

The room was small and there were only a few items inside.

In front of him was a cauldron that was connected to Earth Fire.

Next to the cauldron was a preparation table. It was a stone table that could withstand the heat of the flames.

Below the cauldron was Earth Fire needed for alchemy.

The temperature of this flame was much higher than that of the flames commonly used, and it also had many other wonderful uses.

If one wanted to refine medicinal pills, the majority of alchemists wanted to use Earth Fire to refine them.

Zhou Yun sat beside the cauldron with two alchemy manuals in his hands.

One was the Alchemy Classic Notes that Eldest Senior Sister Su Wanyi had given him, and the other was a simple guide to alchemy that he already had.

After comparing the two alchemy manuals, he immediately noticed the difference between the two.

The book that Su Wanyi gave him was most likely the real alchemy manual.

Compared to the Alchemy Classic Notes, the one he initially had was like a child’s book.

They were not on the same level at all.

After the comparison, he immediately picked up the simple guide to alchemy and was about to throw it into the cauldron in front of him.

Just as he was about to do so, he hesitated.

What if he could exchange it for some money?

He then told himself, “Forget about it. I won’t throw it away for now!”

He kept it because he was too poor now; he didn’t dare to throw away anything he had.

After putting away the simple guide, he took out the Alchemy Classic Notes.

He flipped to the first page, and just as he read the first word, the system’s voice rang in his mind.

“Activating the God-tier Enlightenment System.”

Zhou Yun immediately entered a profound state of enlightenment.

After entering the state of enlightenment, he flipped through the alchemy manual with one hand as his other hand slowly began to simulate the actions of refining pills.

The actions involved were very simple. He only had to grab the herbs and put them in the cauldron.

However, the rhythm was hard to grasp.

The art of refining pills was both mysterious and ordinary. It was simple yet complex. This was an extreme contradiction.

Refining pills only involved two movements. Yet, he felt that they were extremely difficult to accomplish.

In his opinion, he would never be able to master it if he did not rely on the system.

As Zhou Yun continued to attain enlightenment, he slowly began to understand the profundity of alchemy.

As he read more, he still only performed two actions, grabbing and putting the herbs into the cauldron.

However, there were a lot of particulars that he had to focus on, such as the rhythm of his breathing, the strength of his breaths, his state of mind when refining the pills, the strength of his grip, and so on. All of these had to match the rhythm of the pill refining.

A slight difference would render the pills ineffective. Worse still, the cauldron might explode.

After a long time, Zhou Yun finally managed to refine his first batch of pills.

After a while, Zhou Yun suddenly snapped out from his enlightenment. When he opened his eyes, he realized that the pills had been refined.

Zhou Yun exclaimed, “The art of alchemy is really mysterious. It feels completely different from cultivation!”

Zhou Yun wiped his forehead. He was already covered in cold sweat.

He turned his gaze to the cauldron.

At this moment, the flames in the cauldron had already been extinguished.

All that was left was the residue heat of the flames.

He sniffed hard, but he couldn’t pick up the scent of the pills.

In the past, the Qi Refining Pills he received would more or less give off a trace of medicinal fragrance.

This time, there was no medicinal fragrance. This situation made him a little nervous.

“My future depends on this!”

Zhou Yun closed his eyes and prayed for a while. Then, he placed his hand on the lid of the cauldron.

Sizzle!

Zhou Yun opened the cauldron and white hot waves of smoke immediately spewed out from inside.

When the white smoke dissipated, Zhou Yun was instantly stunned.

He was shocked when he saw the pills in the cauldron.

There were 12 round pills lying inside the cauldron, each emitting dazzling light.

Furthermore, the surface of each pill was exceptionally smooth. They could be considered perfect.

From the book that Su Wanyi had given him, Zhou Yun had learned some basic information about pills, such as their grade.

Generally speaking, the grades of pills were all divided according to the degree of smoothness of their surface and strength of their medicinal fragrance.

The smoother the surface of a pill, the more perfect the pill was.

A perfect pill would not emit any smell. The medicinal strength of such a pill would not be lost in the slightest.

The Qi Refining Pills that he had previously received looked round. However, on closer inspection, one would discover that there were some small pits on the surface of the pills.

Moreover, the pills emitted some fragrance. The fragrance that was emitted meant that the pills were losing their medicinal strength.

On the other hand, each of these 12 pills was flawless. No matter which direction one looked at them from, they were all extremely smooth, without the slightest bit of damage.

Furthermore, they were scentless. They were simply perfect!

Zhou Yun looked at the 12 pills in the cauldron. His heart was filled with excitement.

His entire body was trembling with joy!

Then, he looked up at the roof at a 45-degree angle and said indifferently, “If the Heavenly Path did not give birth to me, Zhou Yun, then the world of Alchemy would still be in a dark age.”

“Who else but me could do this?”

“Who else has the ability?”

At this moment, Zhou Yun had a strong urge to rush out of the alchemy room and shout to the people outside, “No offense, but I just want to say that you are all trash!”

“Why isn’t Brother Zhou Yun out yet?”

At this moment, Qiao’er was bitterly waiting for him to come out.

“I wonder how he is,” she said as she pouted.

It was not easy for her to come to see him.

She still hadn’t updated him on her current situation.

Previously, she did not visit him like she used to because she was trying to break through to the foundation establishment stage.

After she had broken through to the intermediate of foundation establishment stage, she had quickly come out to see him.

After learning that Brother Zhou Yun might be expelled from Spirit Valley, she had rushed over to the Alchemy Pavillion.

She was going to get him some pills that could help him achieve a breakthrough.

She did not expect to run into him and find out that he had broken through to the fifth layer of Qi cultivation.

This surprised her greatly. She believed that Zhou Yun’s achievements would definitely not stop here.

“Why isn’t he out yet? I still have a lot of things to tell him!”

Qiao’er’s eyes were fixed on the alchemy room where Zhou Yun was.

When Su Wanyi saw this, she teased, “Weren’t you planning on buying some pills? Why are you still standing here?”

“Or do you only wish to buy pills from this shop? But I don’t think he’s produced them yet!”

Su Wanyi chuckled after she finished speaking.

This caused the rest of the crowd to stop and watch them again.

“Senior Sister!”

Qiao’er’s face immediately turned red when she heard this, and she quickly hugged Su Wanyi’s arm and shook it.

“You know that I am doing this for Brother Zhou Yun!”

Qiao’er’s coquettish tone made everyone present gasp.

It took a while for everyone to come back to their senses. For a moment, they were entranced by her voice.

“Hehe! You’re lying.”

Su Wanyi pinched Qiao’er’s face. The people around them were also eager to pinch her soft cheeks.

At this moment, a gloomy-looking Qin Xiu reached the Alchemy Pavilion!