Chapter 178 - 178: Practicing Alchemy

He brought out the Heavenly Dragon Cauldron that he was gifted by the Branch Master Gu of the Alchemy Hall branch of Greyfall City.

"I am always getting sidetracked by things. I made the plan to practice my Alchemy skills so long ago yet I haven't even started it. No more delay..." Long Chen muttered as he looked at the cauldron. 

He placed the cauldron along with all the necessary equipment he bought from the market that he needed for Alchemy.

Although there were alchemists who could create special fires and use them for Alchemy, they were pretty rare as not many could do it. There were some skills that helped cultivators create a fire which was generally the case for most top-ranked alchemists. There was another method to achieve it which was to comprehend the Law of Fire which could actually help a Cultivator to control fire. There were only a few alchemists in the whole continent that had comprehended the Law of fire and were talented in the ways of Alchemy. Those that became a top rank alchemist and had comprehended the law of fire were all part of the Alchemy Hall's leadership and elders.

Long Chen couldn't control fire nor had he learned the Law of Fire, thus he could only buy objects to create the much-needed fire for his Alchemy practice. Those things were easy to buy in the City of Thunder and Long Chen had brought some when he was coming back from the Mountains.

"Let's start with the easiest… I'll make a 1st rank pill. But there are so many recipes in my mind... which one to choose" Long Chen thought as he went through the knowledge he had received as a reward after passing the first trial from the Bloodline Temple.

"I'll create Self-healing pill" Long Chen smiled as he chose a recipe from his memories.

A 'Self-Healing Pill" was a pill that was more widely available throughout the continent. Although it could not heal any major wound, it was enough to heal lighter wounds like cuts. It also worked as a pill killer.

Long Chen set up everything including the fire and he positioned the cauldron as he began the process.

Long Chen kept adding materials as per the recipe. He tried controlling the temperature to the best of his abilities as he tried Alchemy for the first time. Although he knew how to do it, he was still having a hard time handling the temperature more precisely.

It took less than ten minutes as Long Chen finished making the pill. He opened the lid from the cauldron and found a grey pill inside. Long Chen picked up the pill as he inspected it carefully.

"A mid-grade first rank pill..." Long Chen muttered as he kept the pill in his storage ring.

"Should've been a supreme grade but my lack of control... I need to work on it... " Long Chen let out lightly as he brought the materials out to try once again.

Long Chen tried one more time before he was able to make a high-grade Self-healing pill and three more times before being able to make a Supreme Grade Self Healing pill.

Long Chen decided to try the recipe of a 2nd rank pill but before he could decide which one, there was a knock on the door.

"Are you back? " Came a voice from the other side of the door.

"Yea, I'll open the door right away." Long Chen let out loudly as he put everything back to his storage ring.

He looked towards the bed and saw that Little Snow was still sleeping.

He walked towards the door and opened it. Log Chen saw Mingyu standing outside the door. He could see somewhat of a relief in her eyes.

"You're back." She said with a smile.

" Were you thinking that I wouldn't come back? " Long Chen asked as he looked at her. 

" I never doubted your return. Not even for a second. It's just I was somewhat worried about you, as you had said that you will come back within a week but it had been more than that. "Mingyu said to Long Chen.

" Come on inside. There's something I need to talk to you about" Long Chen said as he looked at Mingyu. He walked back to the bed. Mingyu entered his bedroom and stood in front of him.

"Sit down. I'm not going to eat you up. Either way, you're not weaker than me" Long Chen said to Mingyu with a laugh.

Princess Mingyu sat down beside Long Chen without saying a word and just looked at Long Chen with a questioning gaze.

"You remember the three people from the North Moon Empire that we met in that restaurant last time?" Long Chen inquired as he gazed at Mingyu.

"Yea, what about them?" Mingyu asked as she looked back.

" The girl that introduced herself as Meng came here yesterday," Long Chen told Mingyu.

" What for?" She inquired as she looked at him.

" She wants us to join them on their exploration of a strong cultivators tomb, "Long Chen said to Mingyu with a thoughtful expression.

"But why...?" She let out with a confused expression on her face.

" She said that they found an old map somehow. It pointed towards a tomb of a cultivator who was supposedly above Heavenly Realm. They reached that tomb but discovered that it could only be accessed by a group of four or more Cultivators. So they want us to join their group of three" Long Chen explained everything to Mingyu.

"What do you want?" She asked Long Chen.

" I want to join them. Although I don't want you to join this trip, I thought that you should be the one to make the final decision" Long Chen said with a serious look on his face.

" Why don't you want me to join? Do you think that I will drag you down?" Mingyu asked with an upset look on her face.

"Not at all. It's just that there's a lot of risk in this. Although I can escape easily if things go wrong, I'm still worried about you." Long Chen let out seriously.

" You don't need to be worried about me. I'm confident that I can handle all three of them alone with ease" Mingyu said as she smiled.

" I guessed as much. But still..." Long Chen said in a concerning tone.

" I want to come with you. When are we leaving?" Mingyu interrupted him before he could complete his sentence.

" Hah, If that's what you want. Anyways, Meng will come here today to clear the details" Long Chen told Mingyu.

" By the way, did I mention that you're looking really pretty today. I missed seeing your face all this time." Long Chen said with a smile as he saw Mingyu about to get up.

"Liar." She let out but Long Chen noticed a glimpse of happiness in her eyes.

"Is there a reason for me to lie? It's an honest compliment, though I must say that you look just as beautiful every day." Long Chen let out.

Mingyu was about to reply when the sound of a heavy thumping was heard. Long Chen stood up as he hurriedly walked towards the exit. He noticed that the sound was coming from the main door as if someone was hitting the door heavily.

With an annoyed look on his face, he opened the door. As the door was suddenly opened towards the inside by Long Chen, the fist that was about to hit the door came towards his face.

Long Chen subconsciously responded as he used his Demon Monarch Physique and Earthly Monarch Effect to its fullest and moved his palm in front of the fist.

Long Chen grabbed the fist which was only a few inches away from his face. The hand stopped where it was as Long Chen looked at the person whom this hand belonged to.

"Mister Ruan? Is this your manner when you come to someone's house?" Long Chen asked with an annoyed look on his face. He was the person whom Long Chen saw with Meng. He even had somewhat of an argument with him.

Long Chen looked around as he saw Meng standing on his left side with a wry smile on her face. Long Chen also saw Ling standing on his right.

A flicker of anger appeared on Ruan's face as he applied more force to his hand as he pushed towards Long Chen who held his hand. He only used his physical strength and no cultivation.

"Are you done? If you aren't, put your cultivation to it as well... maybe you would be able to move your hand" Long Chen smiled as he felt Ruan applying force to his fist, though this bit was nothing in front of Long Chen as it wasn't able to do anything.

"You!!!" Ruan became then more angry as he began using his Cultivation.

Long Chen couldn't help but smile as he saw Ruan's expression.