Cultivating for a hundred lifetimes to ascension

Jin Ming saw Zhao Sheng choose the lowest-grade item and was slightly astonished, but he immediately regained his composure, praising the Nine Dragon Tripod to the skies within a few sentences.

After packing away the Nine Dragon Tripod, Zhao Sheng inquired of Jin Ming, "Master Jin, do you know how to refine Foundation Establishment Pills?"

Jin Ming was startled upon hearing this, and surprise flashed in his eyes, but he soon replied, "Not to boast, but on the entire Nine Virtues Isle, there are no more than three people who can refine Foundation Establishment Pills, and one of them... one of them is my elder brother in the discipline."

After finishing, he coughed once and hesitated, "You are a senior at the Foundation Establishment stage, and you haven't accepted me as your master. To be called master just this once, I really can't presume. In my arrogance to make big claims, from now on, let's refer to each other as Daoist friends."

"Alright, let's do that. My real name is Zhao Chonghe, and I've only joined the Spring and Autumn Alliance a few days ago," Zhao Sheng replied in a straightforward manner.

After finishing, Zhao Sheng asked again, "Daoist Jin, may I inquire, do you have the Elixir Recipe for the Foundation Establishment Pill?"

Jin Ming was startled again and thought for a moment before nodding, "I do have the Elixir Recipe for the Foundation Establishment Pill, but I can't trade it to you for now."

"Why not?"

"Daoist Zhao does not know, but the Elixir Recipe for the Foundation Establishment Pill is too important. It must be that one is a Second-Order Alchemist within the Alchemy Master Association and has gained the unanimous affirmation of two Sect Leaders before it can be exchanged with an equivalent treasure. If Daoist friend truly wishes to obtain this Elixir Recipe, you must join the Alchemy Master Association first," Jin Ming explained patiently.

"I see, how does one join the Alchemy Master Association? And what are the requirements?" Zhao Sheng's face flashed with sudden understanding as he asked further.

"It's quite simple, as long as one can successfully refine ten types of First-order Elixirs, and the success rate exceeds fifty percent, you can join the Alchemy Master Association after being promoted to a First-rank Alchemist," Jin Ming stated with a smile.

"Thank you for the information, Daoist friend," Zhao Sheng mused for a moment before thanking Jin Ming.

Afterward, the two discussed for a while and detailed the future arrangements regarding the teaching of alchemy. Your next chapter awaits on My Virtual Library Empire

An hour later, having settled their agreement, Zhao Sheng made an excuse of having matters to attend to and left the Elixir Furnace Hall.

Five days later, Zhao Sheng, having initially refined the Nine Dragons Spirit Tripod, headed towards Dusk Peak!

Upon reaching Dusk Peak and entering through the cave at the foot of the mountain, Zhao Sheng smoothly gained access to the interior of the mountain by showing his Guest Token to the guards and walked along the corridor paved with Fireproof Bricks for a while.

Inside the Alchemy Room A-D in the Earth Fire Chamber, Zhao Sheng finally met Jin Ming, who was sitting upright and proper.

Standing beside him was a young man with long limbs and dark yellow skin, who was wearing a white Qing Ding crimson robe.

Upon meeting, after a brief exchange of greetings, Zhao Sheng learned that the young man's name was Jin Dancheng, the scion of Jin Ming's family and his senior apprentice.

Jin Ming looked at Zhao Sheng and spoke candidly, "Daoist Zhao, as you are first stepping onto the path of Alchemy Dao, the first thing you should learn is not how to refine elixirs but to recognize the types, origins, qualities, pharmacology, and properties of spiritual medicines. Once you have entered the door, then you learn how to handle medicinal ingredients and how to control fire. Only after that should you attempt Alchemy. So, start by learning from Dancheng, and if there's anything unclear, come ask me."

Seeing Zhao Sheng's dissatisfied expression, Jin Ming emphasized again, "Refining elixirs is not an easy task; it's several times harder than cultivation. Of course, with your Foundation Establishment Realm, learning these basic Alchemy Dao skills may not take you many years."

Zhao Sheng pondered for a moment and then nodded, "Alright! Then I'll trouble Taoist Dancheng."

Jin Dancheng, seeing this, quickly performed a fist-and-palm salute and said, "I dare not presume, junior will definitely do his utmost to quickly impart all the fundamentals of Alchemy Dao to the senior."

...

After a short while, Jin Dancheng took Zhao Sheng to a Spiritual Medicine Shop within the Elixir Fire Square,

This shop called Treasure Medicine Pavilion, was owned by Jin Ming and boasted more than twenty rooms, ranking it as a large-scale medicine shop within the Elixir Fire Square.

In the storage room at the back of the shop, where spiritual medicines were kept, the medicine racks appeared dense with brown medicine chests arranged on the shelves, similar to a library's bookshelves neatly aligned, packing the entire warehouse full to the brim.

Jin Dancheng walked to the first row of shelves, pulled out a medicine chest, opened it, and revealed a layer of withered yellow, hair-like substances inside.

"Senior, please look, this is Xu Huang Grass, it—"

"I know this!"

Halfway through Jin Dancheng's explanation, Zhao Sheng interrupted him rudely, "Xu Huang Grass, bitter in taste and color, slightly cool in nature, often grows at the base of trees, in hollows of hills... Xu Huang Grass that's more than a hundred years old is the main ingredient in refining the Jade Yellow Pill, which is a First-order Detoxification Pill, mainly effective against poison from snakes, scorpions..."

Watching Zhao Sheng speak non-stop, Jin Dancheng couldn't help but swallow his saliva, his expression awkward.

"...That's all I know. Do you have anything to add, Taoist Jin?" After finishing, Zhao Sheng looked at Jin Dancheng with a sincere expression.

"No...there's nothing more! Senior summed it up excellently, let's move on to the next spiritual medicine... um, this is a Wuling Seed."

Jin Dancheng had just said half a sentence when he was again interrupted by Zhao Sheng, "This Wuling Seed, I also have some knowledge of it. It grows on the Black Spirit Tree, producing a seed every ten years, and the ripe seed doesn't fall..."

...

Half an hour later, in the Spiritual Medicine repository,

"... What about the Sunken Pearl of Elixirs?"

"Um, I know a little..."

As each medicinal chest was opened, Jin Dancheng's pace of opening them grew faster, and his expression became more and more somber.

Because he suddenly realized that this Foundation Establishment senior's knowledge of Spiritual Medicines completely exceeded his expectations.

Although he didn't recognize every single Spiritual Medicine, he could give details about most of them, some even more comprehensive and detailed than Jin Dancheng's own understanding.

No joke!

Zhao Sheng had lived several lifetimes. In his third life, he had gathered spiritual herbs for the better half of his existence, and in his fourth life, he deliberately scavenged and perused all kinds of ancient texts and scriptures, Cultivation Techniques, talismans, elixirs, tools, insects, arrays, and so on, not letting any cultivation knowledge and experience slip by.

With so many years of accumulation, it could be said that Zhao Sheng's theoretical knowledge was quite rich, and his understanding of Spiritual Medicines was in no way inferior to an ordinary alchemist.

Throughout the entire day, Zhao Sheng and Jin Dancheng went through the entire warehouse together, speaking and teaching in turns.

As a result, Jin Dancheng was deeply affected and nearly became reclusive.

That night, when Jin Dancheng reported Zhao Sheng's miracle to his master, Jin Ming, Jin Ming was also inevitably shocked.

Of course, he just thought that Zhao Sheng had put in many years of hard work learning alchemy, never suspecting that the other party had an advantage.

Jin Ming thought about it for a moment and realized that this was a great opportunity for him, so he directly ordered, "Do this, start teaching him how to process medicinal materials tomorrow. If he is still like he was today, directly teach him the preparation of Spiritual Medicines. You may leave!"

"Yes, Master!" Jin Dancheng nodded in agreement and withdrew.

...

Early the next day, inside the Pharmaceutical Institute of the Treasure Medicine Pavilion,

Jin Dancheng brought Zhao Sheng into a spacious room filled with the thick fragrance of herbs.

The room was filled with four long rows of wooden tables, on which were various specialized tools and a variety of fresh Spiritual Medicines.

Jin Dancheng stepped forward, picked up a palm-sized brown Lingzhi, turned back confidently to Zhao Sheng, and said, "This is the sea Ganoderma, a special product of the Shattered Star Sea. It grows on the sea floor and is most averse to being dried by fire. Normally, you'd use a Water Jade..."

To Jin Dancheng's surprise, this time Zhao Sheng did not interrupt him but listened with interest.

"Alright... give it a try!"

Feeling confident, Jin Dancheng stepped aside to let Zhao Sheng try his hand at preparing the Ganoderma.

"Okay!"

Without any hesitation, Zhao Sheng took the sea Ganoderma, picked up the Water Jade Pestle, and gently pressed the cap of the Ganoderma, causing excess moisture to quickly drip from its edges.

Watching Zhao Sheng's skillful and professional technique, Jin Dancheng was once again rendered speechless.

So much for being a newbie, why is his technique so practiced?

Was he playing a trick?

And so, the preparation of Spiritual Medicines entered once again into a mode of acceleration, further and further increasing in pace.

In just seven days, Jin Dancheng had become dispirited, feeling as though his body was hollow, struggling to squeeze out fresh... um, knowledge!

"What? He's already learned it all!"

At night, upon hearing his disciple's report, Jin Ming's jaw dropped in disbelief.