Chapter 80: He Came with a Spatula
Zhang Daoming adjusted the alchemy furnace to face directly north and south, with the top of the furnace pointing towards the center of the sun.
The way of placing the alchemy furnace was also very particular. It was just like choosing the location of a residence. One needed to observe the qi and choose the right time.
This was called having the right timing and geographical advantages.
The final factor of harmony among people depended on the skill level of the alchemist.
All in all, alchemy was a meticulous job that required a lot of preparation and had many details to pay attention to, including the pretreatment of medicinal materials, the choice of furnace fire in the later stage, and the techniques and skills.
These were all the concerns in alchemy. If one wanted to refine a pill of above the proficient quality, these steps also had to reach the proficient level, and there could be at most one or two minor flaws.
And these minor flaws should not affect the effect of the pill. If there were more than one or two minor flaws, it would affect the effect of the pill, downgrading it from proficient to beginner level.
For the next higher level, which was the perfect level, not a single minor flaw was allowed, and the pill qi, pill fragrance, and pill shape all had to be perfect.
Only then could it be considered a pill of the perfect level. As for the even higher level of divinely crafted, that was too fantastical.
Zhang Daoming had lived for thousands of years, but he had never seen a pill of the divinely crafted level come into being. Only a Sage of the Alchemy Path could refine such pills.
The rarity of Sages of the Alchemy Path was comparable to that of Quasi-Emperors. In a star region, one could count them on one hand. Moreover, two of the Sages of the Alchemy Path hadn't shown up for a long time. There was no news about them, and they might have passed away in their own sects.
Currently, the one closest to being a Sage of the Alchemy Path in this star region was Wang Yangzi, a rising star in the alchemy field in the Realm Domain and also one of the leading figures.
It was said that Wang Yangzi had already half-stepped into the Great Way of Pills. He was only half a step away, and it was also the most difficult half step, from achieving the status of a Sage of the Alchemy Path.
When a Sage of the Alchemy Path refined pills, they would be secretly protected by the Great Way of Heaven and Earth, and the pills refined would be at least of the perfect grade.
For Zhang Daoming, a Sage of the Alchemy Path was something he couldn't even hope to reach. He had never seen one, let alone achieved that level himself.
His current level allowed him to refine pills of the proficient level at most, and there was still a long way to go before reaching the perfect level.
But there was no way around it. This was the path of alchemy, which required a huge accumulation of foundation and not bad talent.
The alchemy formula, medicinal materials, alchemy furnace, furnace fire, techniques, and so on.
None of them could be missing.
It was impossible that you just took an iron pan, stir-fried it randomly a couple of times, and then pills were formed, right?
Zhang Daoming had finished cleaning the medicinal materials. The pill he was going to refine today was quite good. It was the Guanxuan Pill at the level of Dao pills, and it was also of high quality among Dao pills.
It could allow one to briefly attain enlightenment and witness the grand vision of the Great Xuan Capital.
The Great Xuan Capital was the site of ancient immortals. It was said to be located in an abandoned star region. Above the Xuan Capital, there were thirty thousand Dao laws, with a total of ninety million mysterious large characters surrounding the Great Xuan Capital.
Several eras ago, a Quasi-Emperor crossed star regions and accidentally caught a glimpse of the Great Xuan Capital. As a result, his eyes were forcibly cut off, and he fled in panic.
After that, this Quasi-Emperor relied on the vision in his mind and researched the Guanxuan Pill, allowing later generations to see the vision of the Great Xuan Capital in his memory.
In other words, what the Guanxuan Pill showed was not even the real vision of the Great Xuan Capital but the vision in the Quasi-Emperor's memory.
However, this was in line with the rating of the Guanxuan Pill as a Dao pill. After all, even a Quasi-Emperor would have his eyes cut off just by looking at it. For cultivators like them at the Mountain-Moving or Overturning Sea Realm, if they witnessed the real vision of the Great Xuan Capital, their lives would probably be in danger.
Even so, the Guanxuan Pill was still very precious. Its price in the outside world had been driven up to around one hundred thousand spirit stones, which was twice the price of ordinary Dao pills.
Zhang Daoming let out a breath. His short and small body stood straight, watching the sun rotate and waiting for the best moment to arrive.
And he was also waiting for someone.
The Witch Clan's Pi Hu, the Divine Fire Clan's Hei Yan, and the Six-Armed Golden Body Clan's Tong He, who were also elders in charge of pills.
These ethnic groups all had innate advantages in alchemy and had unique insights in this regard.
Refining the Guanxuan Pill today was a very tough challenge. Only by the combined efforts of the four of them would they have a chance to succeed.
It was probably a quarter past noon.
Three figures suddenly flashed in front of Zhang Daoming. The alchemists from the three clans arrived at the same time, with different expressions on their faces.
The one from the Divine Fire Clan was the most enthusiastic. Hei Yan, with his flaming beard, grinned and said loudly, "Old Zhang, why did you come so early? There aren't even any bugs for you to eat."
"Preparing earlier is better." Zhang Daoming also replied with a smile. He had a good relationship with this Hei Yan.
"The best time is a quarter to one in the afternoon. It's still early now." The Witch Clan's Pi Hu said in a flat tone, with a calm expression on his face.
The Six-Armed Golden Body Clan's Tong He didn't say anything. He put all six of his hands in his pockets and looked at the sky.
They all took this refining of the Guanxuan Pill very seriously. They must succeed in refining it. As long as the pill was successfully refined, they could take another step forward and have the opportunity to touch the threshold of being a Dao alchemist.
In the world, the grading of alchemists was divided as follows. The lowest level was the alchemist, who could refine pills that were somewhat beneficial.
After that was the Spirit Alchemist. Refining spirit pills was of great benefit to cultivators below the Mountain-Moving Realm, and they could receive great respect in remote areas of the star region.
After that, the Dao Alchemist was quite remarkable. They were rare figures in the entire Azure Sky Sword Sea, and one could count them with just a few hands.
As for the later levels of Grand Master of the Alchemy Path and Sage of the Alchemy Path, those were realms that they didn't dare to even think about.
A Grand Master of the Alchemy Path was at least a powerful being at the Mending Heaven Realm and had already reached the qualifications to establish a sect and could be the founding ancestor of a sect.
Needless to say, a Sage of the Alchemy Path was, in a certain sense, an existence even more precious than a Quasi-Emperor.
Zhang Daoming was counting the time. He moved his gaze from the sky down and looked into the distance, as if he was waiting for someone.
However, he didn't see anyone coming.
He let out a slight sigh in his heart. That young human friend didn't come after all. Maybe he wasn't interested in alchemy.
It was normal. Not many young people nowadays were interested in alchemy. Most of them couldn't calm down to study it carefully, and they also lacked the time to study it.
He just thought that since he saw a young human cultivator who was rare to be reading books about pills that he liked, Chen Xia might also like alchemy.
He was just a bit too excited and carried away.
The best time was coming soon.
Zhang Daoming turned around and stood in four different directions with the other three people, surrounding the alchemy furnace in the middle, with a solemn expression on his face.
This alchemy furnace was a top-notch furnace they had borrowed. It contained over a thousand strands of pill qi, was extremely good at absorbing fire, and was resistant to fire qi.
Using it to refine the Guanxuan Pill was like matching a good saddle with a good horse.
In terms of the choice of medicinal materials, they also used the best ones, striving to maximize the medicinal properties. It would be great if there could be one or two more strands of pill qi when the pill was formed.
It was two quarters past noon now.
The sun was high in the sky.
The four of them were concentrating intently, on full alert, and couldn't afford to be sloppy at all.
They were behind the Heavenly Pavilion. In order to achieve the best timing, they didn't go to a sparsely populated place, so there were some disciples coming to watch.
Most of them just came to watch the fun, because they couldn't understand alchemy anyway.
On the sword-patterned road not far away, a figure in a green shirt was walking slowly, carrying a big pot in one hand and a brand-new...
Spatula in the other hand.