Chapter 17: Chapter 17: Master Huo Yuan

Jin Dafu's eyebrows rose in delight as soon as he heard Yang Ji wanted to purchase a Pill Furnace and Spiritual Medicine.

Yang Ji of course knew what he was thinking, and a verbal battle ensued, which concluded rather quickly.

An inferior grade Pill Furnace, known as the Four-Sided Furnace.

All four sides featured a lustrous mirror surface, each polished from heat-resistant Heavenly Crystal Stones.

Heavenly Crystal Stones could absorb the high heat of flames to improve the pill formation rate, and the polished mirror surfaces allowed one to observe the pill-making process inside the furnace.

If any issues arose, adjustments could be made in time.

The Four-Sided Furnace wasn't too shabby and cost a total of one thousand Spirit Stones. Sёarch* The Nôvel(F)ire.nёt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

Yang Ji also purchased ten batches of Spiritual Medicine needed to concoct inferior grade Spirit Enhancing Pills, two hundred Spirit Stones per batch, spending a total of two thousand.

Combined with the thousand Spirit Stones for the Pill Furnace, minus the thousand for the Water Boat,

Yang Ji currently had three thousand six hundred and fifty Spirit Stones on him.

With preparations complete, Yang Ji followed Jin Dafu's guidance and made his way alone to the cave behind Myriad Treasures Tower's back mountain.

After walking about a mile down a cobblestone path, he arrived at the foot of a cliff.

There was a stone cave about three meters high at the base, with red glimmers visible inside, and the air that blew out carried a tinge of heat.

Clearly, as Jin Dafu had said, there was Earth Fire within.

Yang Ji's expression brightened, and he proceeded towards the cave.

Upon entering the cave, he found a hollowed-out stone chamber on the right-hand side of the wall.

It contained simple furnishings and at the moment, a gaunt old man sat on a stone bench. His complexion was yellowish, and from his appearance, he looked to be about sixty years old, with two untidy whiskers curling slightly at the ends, as if singed by the Earth Fire.

He was currently engrossed in a book titled "How to Become an Alchemy Master," with a deeply furrowed brow, evidently facing some tricky problem.

Indistinctly, one could hear him muttering through gritted teeth.

"That brat He Gu actually became a Peak Alchemy Master before me, damn it! If I can't do it, how could he? No, I must be able to."

This must be Huo Yuan, the master Jin Dafu mentioned. Does he seem a bit restless and angry? Yang Ji's eyes flickered as he glanced at him lightly.

"Who's there?"

Perhaps sensing his gaze, Huo Yuan suddenly looked up and saw the unfamiliar Yang Ji, immediately shouting in anger, "This is the Alchemy Forbidden Land. What are you, a brat, doing here? Get out at once!"

He exhaled a couple of heavy breaths, standing up irritably, and waved his hand impatiently.

"I have seen Master Huo Yuan! I am the Ship Guardian of Myriad Treasures Tower, coming to borrow the Earth Fire to concoct Medicine Pills." Yang Ji greeted with a bow and a slight smile.

"Ship Guardian?" Huo Yuan frowned, sizing up Yang Ji.

Yang Ji knew he was puzzled by this unfamiliar title, so he exaggerated the status and importance of a Ship Guardian.

Indeed, after hearing this, Huo Yuan's expression became slightly more amiable.

Though the anger was restrained, his face remained stern as he stood with his hands behind his back, scoffed coldly, "A lad like you, not focusing on Cultivation, yet wishes to learn Alchemy? Do you think everyone can become a noble and high-ranking Alchemist like me?"

Seeing his disdainful look, Yang Ji wasn't upset but merely responded with a calm smile,

"The youngster recognizes a few Spiritual Medicines, hence wishes to give it a try. What if by some small chance I did indeed become an Alchemist?"

"Hmph, knowing a few Spiritual Medicines has filled your head with such foolish ambitions. Young people these days are truly becoming more and more arrogantly self-important."

Huo Yuan raised an eyebrow, glancing sideways at Yang Ji, and with a flick of his Storage Bag, immediately took out a Spiritual Medicine shaped like a flame and coldly said, "Then let me ask you, what is this Spiritual Medicine?"

"This is a forty-three-year-old Flame Herb," Yang Ji answered with a smile.

Hmm? Recognizing the Flame Herb didn't surprise him, but seeing the accurate age at a glance did surprise Huo Yuan.

"Then what about this Spiritual Medicine? How many years?" Huo Yuan flicked his Storage Bag again and took out a green fruit-like Spiritual Medicine.

"This is a fifteen-year-old Green Nether Fruit, which can be used to make Green Essence Pills," Yang Ji said.

"Then what about these?" Huo Yuan's brows furrowed slightly, he glanced at Yang Ji, and in one breath, he took out twenty-eight different kinds of Spiritual Medicines.

"A thirty-six-year-old Wind Spirit Flower, a twenty-eight-year-old Heavenly Green Herb, a seventy-two-year-old Vermilion Sedge Lotus, a fifty-three-year-old Silver Horn Tree Leaf..."

As Yang Ji accurately recited the names and ages of each Spiritual Medicine, the mocking look on Huo Yuan's face slowly faded, and a glint of astonishment flashed in his eyes.

This young man had effortlessly named the exact age of various Spiritual Medicines at a glance, and that had taken Huo Yuan by surprise.

The most basic aspect of Medicine Pill making is learning to identify the ages of various Spiritual Medicines, as only then can you know how much fire to use to melt the Spiritual Medicines and extract the right amount of medicinal power during Alchemy.

This is the fundamental skill of Alchemy, and also the most important one.

Some intermediate Alchemists still cannot directly see the exact ages of various Spiritual Medicines with their eyes, needing to combine the sense of smell and feel of the Spiritual Energy contained in the medicinal herbs to make a judgment.

Even so, some Alchemists still are not as accurate as Yang Ji, often struggling to adjust the heat properly when making Medicine Pills.

In the end, even if they adjusted it correctly, it was based on having burned a few Spiritual Medicines.

And now, this astonishing young man in front of him clearly had a very firm grasp on the basics.

Seeing the [Amazement] above his head, Yang Ji couldn't help but smirk, with the assistance of the Golden Finger, everything was transparent at a glance.

Huo Yuan's expression flickered, and it was hard for him to believe that this young boy in front of him had such a solid foundation; he immediately flicked his Storage Bag and took out a box of ground Spiritual Medicine powder.

He said coldly,

"This powder is ground from how many kinds of Spiritual Medicines? What are their respective ages?"

"There are a total of three kinds of Spiritual Medicines in this, namely, a sixty-year-old Luoyun Fruit, a fifty-eight-year-old Snow Moon Flower, and a sixty-one-year-old Absolute Rock Herb," said Yang Ji, sniffing the fragrance and examining its color before he answered with a slight smile.

"Wrong! There's clearly no Luoyun Fruit in here; it's the similar Purple Luo Fruit. Also, the age of the Snow Moon Flower is incorrect, it is only forty-six years old," Huo Yuan rebuked in a low voice.

"Oh?" Yang Ji's expression flickered, and then he said with a smile, "Then it seems I was mistaken."

"Hmph, you've got some skills, kid, but there's still a lot for you to learn, and you must remain humble and strive to make progress," Huo Yuan, with his hands behind his back and a stern face, said, preaching like an old pedant.

"As someone who has only recently begun Alchemy, there is indeed much to learn; I hope you won't be stingy with your teachings in the future," replied Yang Ji with a slight smile, bowing respectfully.

"So... can I go in now?" he asked.

"Hmm, go ahead," Huo Yuan said, waving his hand impatiently.

At that moment, watching Yang Ji's retreating figure, he furrowed his brows, muttering, "This kid has keen eyesight, he got them all right."

"His basic skills are indeed strong, but how about his Alchemy technique?" he wondered to himself.

Huo Yuan's beady eyes twinkling, at that moment, he resembled a cunning old rat as he quietly followed.