I rely on learning to achieve immortality.

"You want to borrow the alchemy furnace?"

Upon hearing Xu Zhou's request, Ke Yanfeng couldn't help but raise an eyebrow slightly.

He certainly understood the meaning behind this request. For apprentices at Baicaotang to become alchemists, they had to be able to consistently produce pills and maintain a continuous supply for a period of time to pass the test. However, they still had to seek out the alchemy furnaces themselves, and whether they could borrow one depended entirely on their individual abilities.

Generally, apprentices borrow alchemy furnaces from the alchemists who teach them. After all, alchemy furnaces are valuable magical artifacts and are not easily lent out.

Ke Yanfeng did some calculations with his fingers and nodded: "That's true. You've been a member of the sect for ten years now, so it's time to consider this."

He reached out and took the storage bag from Xu Zhou, and after glancing at it, a slight look of surprise appeared on his face:

"Snow Lotus? You can even get your hands on something like that?"

"No, the roots are somewhat damaged. But the lotus fragrance remains, as if it has been repaired and maintained. Judging from its appearance, it probably has about 50% of the original's medicinal properties."

He looked at Xu Zhou, somewhat puzzled: "Did you use Yin-type spiritual water?"

Xu Zhou nodded and said, "It is indeed Yin-type spiritual water, plus a few drops of condensed flower dew. It is changed every five days and has been nurtured for two years to be restored to its current level."

"Condensed flower dew? It actually has such miraculous effects."

Ke Yanfeng frowned and pondered, "I remember the medicine book only said that the condensed flower dew is used to store some water element medicinal materials, and it didn't mention that it also has the ability to repair."

Xu Zhou explained: "The condensed flower dew does not have any auxiliary nourishing effect, but the reason why the Snow Lotus loses its medicinal properties is due to root damage. The flower dew can repair this damage, thereby enhancing the nourishing effect of the Yin Spirit Water."

This is the result of my testing and improvements. I didn't initially expect it to recover so well.

Ke Yanfeng nodded repeatedly: "That's right."

This Snow Lotus is quite rare; you've put in the effort, lad. Alright, go back and prepare. Tomorrow, go to the alchemy room and refine a low-grade pill. Once the required number of pills is achieved, you'll be considered a first-tier alchemist.

Xu Zhou was overjoyed and immediately cupped his hands in thanks, saying, "Thank you, Senior Brother."

After Xu Zhou left, Ke Yanfeng took out the Snow Lotus from his storage bag and played with it in his hands, clearly quite fond of it.

While the Snow Lotus was indeed rare, he didn't lack it much. If he really wanted it, he could issue an order and have more than a dozen plants delivered that very night.

But this one is truly rare; despite the damage to its roots, it has been repaired to retain 50% of its medicinal properties.

What pleased him most was that Xu Zhou had actually told him the repair method as well. This repair method was not recorded in many medical classics, and it also contained the possibility of compensating for other medicinal materials, which was the most valuable aspect.

...

The next day, in the alchemy room.

Xu Zhou arrived early and, after Ke Yanfeng signaled that it was time to begin, he skillfully prepared the medicinal materials for alchemy.

Song Rou was also watching from the side, but she didn't step forward to help. After all, it was Xu Zhou's test, and she was just watching to gain experience.

In just half an hour, Xu Zhou had prepared all the medicinal materials needed for alchemy. Next, it was time to start refining the pills.

Standing before the alchemy furnace, he couldn't help but feel a sense of pressure.

This was, after all, his first time refining pills by hand.

Although I had observed it countless times beforehand and practiced it in advance, I still couldn't help feeling excited and nervous when the moment actually arrived.

He took a deep breath, calmed his emotions, and his gaze gradually became calm as he began to control the earth fire mechanism beneath the alchemy furnace.

Light the furnace and begin refining the elixir.

The prepared medicinal herbs were put into the furnace one by one, and the underground fire began to run, smelting the herbs in the furnace.

The intense heat from the fire slowly spread, and beads of sweat involuntarily appeared on Xu Zhou's forehead.

"This is bad, the temperature is too high."

"It would be fine if I could stay for a while, but with my cultivation level, it would be difficult for me to last until the alchemy is finished."

He usually only needed to assist and didn't need to get so close to the alchemy furnace. Now that he was personally controlling the earth fire, he realized how much its high temperature affected the alchemist.

After a moment's thought, he patted his storage bag and took out a talisman.

This was a fire-repelling talisman that Li Zelei had given him before. He had kept it in his storage bag without using it, but he never expected it would actually come in handy today.

Xu Zhou did not activate it directly, but simply placed it in front of him. The spiritual power within the talisman naturally circulated, creating a blurry barrier that dispelled the high temperature.

Under the protection of the talisman, Xu Zhou was finally able to ignore the high temperature of the earth fire and safely control the fire to refine pills.

Although the heat was mostly blocked, the spiritual power of the talisman flowed close to his body, making his movements a little more sluggish.

This continued for most of the day.

Finally, after several hours of refining, when Xu Zhou's face was full of fatigue, a wisp of white mist slowly rose from the furnace.

Upon seeing this, Xu Zhou's eyes lit up, and he quickly controlled the ground fire to carry out the final furnace opening.

A moment later, as a rich fragrance of elixir spread, the earth fire gradually died down, and the alchemy was finally completed.

Xu Zhou was overjoyed. After the white mist dissipated and the fragrance of the pills gradually faded, he opened the pill furnace to check the results of his pill refining.

"Eight Qi-replenishing pills."

After taking out the pale yellow pills, a look of relaxation finally appeared on his face.

Theoretically, the medicinal herbs he used in this alchemy process could produce twelve pills. If Ke Yanfeng were to refine them himself, he could guarantee at least ten.

However, this was Xu Zhou's first time refining pills, so he used the most conservative methods and dared not increase the intensity. In addition, his cultivation level was relatively low, and he could only control the earth fire at the weakest level, so he could only refine the pills slowly.

Even so, the fact that eight pills were successfully formed in the end is already considered a remarkable result.

"good."

Ke Yanfeng, who had been watching the whole process, finally spoke, nodding in praise: "For your first attempt at alchemy, to have achieved such results, you have already reached the basic level of a low-grade alchemist."

Xu Zhou was initially delighted, but immediately realized that the other party still had something to say.

Sure enough, Ke Yanfeng continued, "However, with your current level, your future prospects as an alchemist are limited."

Xu Zhou pondered for a long time, then sighed softly, "This disciple's cultivation is too low; I cannot withstand the temperature of the earth fire."

"That's right," Ke Yanfeng said sternly, "You can rely on talismans to resist now, but when you want to increase the amount of pills you make or try to refine higher-level pills, the obstruction brought by the talismans will affect your subtle judgment."

At that point, even the slightest misjudgment could lead to the failure of the alchemy process.

Xu Zhou's expression turned serious as he asked, "Does Senior Brother have any instructions?"

"I do have some ideas; you can decide for yourself whether you want to listen."

Ke Yanfeng slowly said, "Your foundation in alchemy is solid, even comparable to mine, so there's not much more you can learn. Ultimately, the problem lies in your cultivation level."

I know you want to focus on alchemy and don't want to be distracted by other cultivation practices. But for cultivators, cultivation level is fundamental. Without it, no matter how hard you try, you can never reach the pinnacle of alchemy.

"Perfect timing. Once you obtain your alchemist status, you should settle down and focus on cultivation. At least raise your cultivation level by one or two levels before slowly learning the Dao of Alchemy."

Xu Zhou pondered for a moment, then solemnly replied, "Thank you for your guidance, Senior Brother."

Ke Yanfeng sighed and said, "In addition, I also have to make the unpleasant things clear upfront."

With your aptitude, without the right opportunity, you might not even reach the late stage of Qi Refining, let alone the high level of Alchemy. Instead of desperately striving for higher positions, you should face reality sooner rather than later.

"Now that your foundation in Daoist alchemy is solid, yet your future seems fraught with obstacles, it would be better to pause and further study and develop the fundamentals of Daoist alchemy."

He took out the Snow Lotus from his storage bag: "I see that you have made great achievements in the research of basic medicinal materials. If you can concentrate on this in the future, you may become a master of alchemy."

Rather than blindly pursuing alchemy, you should focus on what you excel at. This will benefit future generations of our school, and that would be a great achievement.

After Ke Yanfeng finished speaking, his gaze fell on Xu Zhou's face, as if waiting for his reaction.

However, no one noticed any sign of dejection on Xu Zhou's face, not even a furrowed brow.

He simply nodded calmly and replied respectfully, "Thank you for your guidance, Senior Brother. I understand."

Seeing this, Ke Yanfeng wasn't sure if the other party had actually listened to him.

He felt both annoyed and amused, and snorted, "Fine, you can handle this yourself."

Furthermore, I will inform the other stewards of your assessment results. If all goes well, you will be the new alchemist at Hundred Herbs Hall in three days.