Chapter One: Zǐ Huī Dān

  Alchemist's chamber, secret room.

  Unlike before, Nie Xingyun and Lian Tianxin were both present at the same time. Looking at Nie Kong's proper sitting posture, Lian Tianxin nodded in satisfaction and placed several jade boxes on the low table: "Purple Jade Three Heart Grass... Snake Scale Fruit... Hundred Leaf Fragrant Orchid... Ice Plate Water!"

  Tian Xiang reported nearly ten kinds of drug names in succession.

  "These are the materials for refining 'Zi Huan Dan'."

  Nie Kong was taken aback, looking at Lian Tianxin and Nie Xingyun with a hint of surprise. "Zi Xu Dan" was a second-grade spiritual medicine that could raise the cultivation level of a newly promoted Spiritualist by one grade when consumed. This was also the only spiritual medicine that the Nie family could refine to help Spiritualists advance in rank.

  Of course, this doesn't mean that there's only one kind of elixir that can upgrade a medium's rank, but rather the Nie family only has the recipe for Zixi Dan. After all, most recipes in the Tianling Continent are confidential, and even if they obtained samples of other elixirs, it would be difficult to refine them.

  Seeing the expressions of the two, Nie Kong immediately understood that they wanted him to try refining the Zi Huai Dan.

  For the past month, Nie Kong has been following Nie Xingyun and Lian Tianxin to learn about the medicinal properties of various medicines, as well as basic knowledge related to alchemy. However, from start to finish, neither of them mentioned letting Nie Kong refine spiritual medicine, not even "Rejuvenating Dew" was allowed for him to refine temporarily.

  As expected, Nie Xingyun stroked his beard and sighed, "According to the agreement between me and Hong Mao earlier, we originally planned to spend half a year helping you rebuild your foundation before truly learning alchemy. But I didn't expect your ability to absorb knowledge to be so astonishingly fast..."

  "That's right, so I and Lao Wu decided to let you practice alchemy ahead of time." Tian Xin continued.

  As they spoke, the two old men couldn't help but exchange a glance, and both saw a hint of loss in each other's expressions. They were lost not because Nie Kong was bad, but because he was too excellent.

  The alchemists in the Alchemy Hall, Nie Xingyun and Lian Tianxin would occasionally offer guidance, a casual remark could make them ponder for days, savoring every word. But Nie Kong was different, no matter what they said, he could understand it immediately, and even extrapolate further.

  For this kind of disciple who understands at a glance, teaching is really too easy, so easy that the two fifth-grade spiritual medicine masters have no sense of accomplishment. As a result, the half-year plan arranged by Nie Kong was shortened to one month, and the two were relieved but couldn't help feeling lost.

  A mediocre apprentice makes the master anxious, while an excellent one gives the master a headache. This sentence is a true portrayal of Nie Xingyun and Lian Tianxin's current state of mind.

  If they knew what Nie Kong was in his past life, perhaps they wouldn't have such thoughts.

  In his past life, Nie Kong became a renowned traditional Chinese medicine doctor at a young age, with the exception of the ancestral "Nine Revolutions Golden Needle Technique", he was well-versed in various medicinal herbs. Although after rebirth, Nie Kong had almost no understanding of the medicines on this Tianling Continent, there were still some commonalities between them.

  Especially like the previous life, the spiritual medicine formula here also emphasizes the "monarch, minister, assistant and envoy". Although the Tianling Continent does not have such a clear statement, the meaning is similar. As a Chinese medicine doctor who is proficient in this way, Nie Kong had a strong advantage when learning to refine medicine.

  Moreover, some of the medicines here are exactly the same as those in the Demon and Magic game. In Nie Kong's Dantian Youqi hidden cave, there is also a small creature called "Zi Luo Huan Ling Xiang". Every time Nie Xingyun and Lian Tianxin explain the medicine, Nie Kong will personally taste it, using the little guy's ability to "smell the fragrance and recognize the medicine" to experience its medicinal properties at the fastest speed.

  After a month, most of the herbs in this secret room had been tasted by Nie Kong, and the little guy was stuffed every day. It saved Nie Kong the trouble of preparing herbs for him. Unfortunately, like "Electric Light Vine", those rare herbs were still hard to come by for Nie Kong. Moreover, after most of the herbs had been eaten once, Nie Kong no longer had an excuse to continue stealing medicine, and he had to think of another way to succeed.

  With a wave of his hand, a round cauldron the size of a rice bowl landed on the table: "The things to note when refining the Zi Xuan Dan have already been told to you by Master, let's begin!"

  "Use this medicine?"

  Nie Kong was stunned. To be honest, if he didn't use the "Medicine Cauldron Phantom Body" and mobilize the small cauldron that Xiao Guy had transformed into, Nie Kong would find it very difficult to guarantee that this little bird could successfully refine medicine in one go, let alone the degree of fusion of the medicinal properties.

  "That's right."

  Practice heavenly virtue and rectify human nature.

  Nie Kong's face turned sulky, and Nie Xingyun couldn't help but laugh. "Little guy, this is also for your own good. If you only refine one or two spiritual medicines, that toy medicine cauldron of yours can still be used. But if you want to refine high-grade spiritual medicines, you must use a large medicine cauldron. Take the third-grade spiritual medicine 'Biqing Pill' for example, just the materials needed to refine it are eighteen kinds, and your small medicine cauldron can't even hold all the ingredients, how can you refine the medicine?"

  "My little medicine cauldron will grow up!"

  Nie Kong muttered to himself and had no choice but to start preparing, after all, he was only refining a "Zi Huang Dan", even if he failed, it wouldn't be a big deal.

  Zi Yu San Xin Cao two coins, She Lin Guo a, Bai Ye Xiang Lan five pieces... one by one the medicines were put into the medicine cauldron with familiarity by Nie Kong.

  Finally add one or two ice plate water. This medicine from the depths of "Ice Flame Cave" can be used in the refining of many spiritual medicines.

  He put down the gourd and slowly closed his eyes, adjusting his mood.

  No matter what kind of spiritual medicine, the spiritual medicine used to forcibly improve the cultivation of a spiritual master is the most difficult to refine. Nie Xingyun and Lian Tianxin let Nie Kong refine the second-grade "Zi Xun Dan" for the first time, besides believing that Nie Kong had this ability, there was also a thought of making things difficult for him.

  After all, Nie Kong's previous performance was too freakish. Not to mention the variation in spiritual power, he could refine "Hui Chun Lü" with a fusion degree of nearly 10% through self-study. Recently, he had even emptied out more than half of the knowledge from the two people's bellies in just one month. If Nie Kong failed to refine the "Zi Xun Dan" this time, Nie Xing Yun and Lian Tian Xin, these two old guys, would be able to balance their minds a bit.

  "Ah!"

  A moment later, Nie Kong's mind was calm and waveless. He lightly exhaled, suddenly opened his eyes, and placed both hands on either side of the medicine cauldron. The emerald green spiritual power burst out from his palms and entered the interior of the cauldron.

  Under the scorching heat of the spiritual power, the medicine cauldron began to gradually warm up, and a faint red light appeared on the body of the cauldron surrounded by the spiritual power. The small holes in the lid of the cauldron also emitted wisps of hot air, from barely visible to increasingly dense.

  Nie Kong's palms slowly left the cauldron body.

  "Hum!"

  Under the dual stimulation of heat and spiritual power, the medicine cauldron slowly rotated and rose from the tabletop, finally suspending at a position level with the chest. The rotation speed of the medicine cauldron also began to gradually increase. At this time, Nie Kong's right palm unconsciously moved to the directly below the medicine cauldron, and the emerald green spiritual power continuously surged out from his palm, swallowing and spitting like a cluster of flames, scorching the bottom of the medicine cauldron.

  Seeing Nie Kong's calm and unhurried movements, Nie Xingyun and Lian Tianxin exchanged a smile, feeling that the other was more pleasing to the eye for the first time after a month of cold war. However, Nie Xingyun also had a small doubt, this time Nie Kong's control over his spiritual power and the medicine cauldron seemed not as smooth as when he refined the "Rebirth Dew" last time, perhaps it was because he suddenly switched to a large medicine cauldron and was refining a second-grade spiritual medicine for the first time.

  ……