I Can Upgrade My Talent Infinitely

Chapter 317 - 265: Tier 3 Pill (Part 2)

On all of Dan Cloud Peak, no Elder of Alchemy possessed greater Alchemy Talent than Fang Yun—not even Bai Heyan.

If it had been anyone else, like his own master, he really wouldn’t have agreed.

"And you, Elder Fang?" Bai Heyan asked, seeking Fang Yun’s opinion.

Such exchanges would certainly take time, and Bai Heyan was well aware of Fang Yun’s attitude toward his time.

If Fang Yun felt it was a waste of time, he wouldn’t agree.

"I have no problem with it."

’Some discussion is necessary. Jiang Yan has many ideas, and perhaps one of them might actually be viable.’

"Good, then it’s settled." Bai Heyan nodded, then continued, "If there are no other matters, you may all leave. Oh, and Elder Fang, please stay behind for a moment."

"Understood."

Before departing, Song Qiaoqiao glanced at Fang Yun. After he gave her a subtle nod, she left on her own.

A moment later, only Fang Yun and Bai Heyan remained.

"Elder Bai, is there something you need?" Fang Yun asked promptly.

Having been given no prior notice, he had no idea why Bai Heyan had asked him to stay.

As soon as Fang Yun asked, Bai Heyan quickly revealed his purpose.

"Fang Yun, as you are now, are you confident enough to take on the task of refining the Five Qi Chao Ling Pill?"

The Five Qi Chao Ling Pill was not a Second Tier pill, but a true Third Tier pill.

Refining a Third Tier pill required a main Spirit Medicine that was also Third Tier.

The Five Qi Chao Ling Pill was a medicinal pill used to aid the cultivation of Core Formation Stage Cultivators, a fact Fang Yun was certainly aware of.

"Elder Bai, before I attempt to refine the Five Qi Chao Ling Pill, let me first perfect the refining of the Primordial Spirit Pill. That will give me greater confidence for the Five Qi Chao Ling Pill."

The Primordial Spirit Pill was the medicinal pill most commonly used to aid cultivation among the Late-stage Foundation Establishment and Peak of Foundation Establishment Elders of the Celestial Cloud Sect.

The Primordial Spirit Pill could be considered an upgraded version of the Spirit Ascension Pill.

Sixty percent of their supplementary Spirit Medicines were the same; the difference lay in the main Spirit Medicine.

The main Spirit Medicine for the Spirit Ascension Pill was Second Tier, Lower Grade, whereas the main Spirit Medicine for the Primordial Spirit Pill was Second Tier, Upper Grade.

Currently, Fang Yun only refined Spirit Ascension Pills; he had not yet begun refining Primordial Spirit Pills. The reason was simple: as a Cultivator still at Mid-stage Foundation Establishment, he had no use for them. He would only begin using Primordial Spirit Pills to aid his cultivation after he broke through to the Late-stage Foundation Establishment realm.

According to Fang Yun’s plan,

he would start on the Primordial Spirit Pill when he was about five years away from reaching the peak of Mid-stage Foundation Establishment.

That was when he would also need to start accumulating Primordial Spirit Pills.

He only had so much time. Since he dedicated most of his Alchemy hours to refining Spirit Ascension Pills, he naturally couldn’t refine Primordial Spirit Pills as well.

"Very well, then it’s decided." Bai Heyan agreed the moment Fang Yun finished speaking.

Fang Yun’s reasoning was sound. Although the Five Qi Chao Ling Pill was a Third Tier pill, as a cultivation-aiding pill, it shared some commonalities with the Second Tier Primordial Spirit Pill.

The Alchemy experience gained from refining the Primordial Spirit Pill could be applied to the Five Qi Chao Ling Pill.

"The pill yield for the Primordial Spirit Pill is the same as for the Spirit Ascension Pill. Fang Yun, your reward for refining Primordial Spirit Pills will follow the same structure."

"Deal."

’A maximum of three Upper Grade Primordial Spirit Pills...’ Fang Yun certainly had no objections to that.

This wasn’t a decision Bai Heyan could make on his own. Primordial Spirit Pills were much scarcer than Spirit Ascension Pills. The only reason he could make such an offer was because he had already received approval from the Supreme Elder and the Sect Leader.

A cultivator like Fang Yun, with his Five Spirit Roots, had to be nurtured this way.

Without sufficient cultivation resources, given Fang Yun’s talent, he would face immense difficulty even reaching Late-stage Foundation Establishment, to say nothing of the true Peak of Foundation Establishment.

"In half a month, I’ll assign you the task of refining Primordial Spirit Pills."

With the final arrangements made, the two chatted for a few more moments.

When Fang Yun departed, Bai Heyan was the only one left.

"Senior Brother Fang, over here."

Fang Yun had just stepped out the door when he heard Jiang Yan’s voice.

Jiang Yan was standing nearby, waving him over.

"So, Junior Brother Jiang, you have some ideas for me?" Fang Yun asked as he walked over.

"I do. Lots of ideas."

Jiang Yan nodded emphatically. He had been bottling up a stomachful of ideas for a while now.

"Let’s hear them."

"Senior Brother, what do you think about swapping the supplementary Spirit Medicine, Hundred-leaf Grass, for Xilin Leaf in the Spirit Ascension Pill formula?"

Before Fang Yun could reply, Jiang Yan answered his own question.

"Compared to Hundred-leaf Grass, Xilin Leaf, when combined with the Spirit Ascension Pill’s other supplementary Spirit Medicines and the Three-Core Spirit Flower, can accelerate the pill’s assimilation speed, thereby increasing its efficiency."

Fang Yun didn’t answer right away. Instead, he began to ponder the suggestion.

In his mind, he was already simulating the Alchemy process and the final effects of the resulting Spirit Ascension Pill.

After a moment of thought, Fang Yun gave his answer.

"It won’t work."

"Why not?"

"While it’s true that Xilin Leaf would accelerate the pill’s assimilation rate, it would also make the Spirit Ascension Pill harder to absorb."

The process known as assimilation involves first breaking down the pill’s energies, then absorbing them.

They are two distinct steps.

"With increased difficulty in absorption, the overall efficiency of assimilating the Spirit Ascension Pill would actually be lower. Furthermore, substituting Hundred-leaf Grass with Xilin Leaf would also increase the difficulty of refining the pill itself."

"Oh... All right."

His idea shot down, Jiang Yan seemed dejected for a moment, but he quickly recovered and began to share his other ideas.

Fang Yun listened patiently to all of Jiang Yan’s proposals, simulating the Alchemy process for each one.

He gave his answers quickly, wasting little time.

’I’m glad I have seven-star Alchemy Talent now,’ Fang Yun thought. ’If I only had six-star talent, I’d probably need much more time to simulate the Alchemy process in my head.’

In the end, Fang Yun rejected all of Jiang Yan’s ideas. Not a single one was an improvement; for every suggested change, the drawbacks outweighed the benefits.

Optimizing a Pill Formula is no easy task to begin with.

These inherited Pill Formulas had already been optimized countless times over the generations.

The fact that Jiang Yan could even propose such detailed modifications was already quite impressive.

"None of them will work?"

"Correct."

Having been so thoroughly rejected, Jiang Yan felt he had to push back a little.

"Senior Brother Fang, practical application is crucial in Alchemy. Without refining at least a batch or two, how can we be certain my ideas won’t yield good results?"

"Junior Brother Jiang, back when you were an Inner Sect Disciple, you must have tested quite a few of your theories. How many of those times did you get good results?"

Jiang Yan was left speechless.

Thinking back, none of the Pill Formulas he had "improved" had ever been officially adopted.

"Besides," Fang Yun continued, "Elder Bai specified that you need my approval before you can begin refining. You agreed to that condition during the meeting."

With that, Fang Yun had completely cornered Jiang Yan.

He had personally agreed to this. If he went back on his word now, he would be even less likely to get a chance to experiment with pills in the future.

Second Tier pills were far rarer than First Tier ones; they couldn’t just let Jiang Yan experiment with them.

"If there’s nothing else, I’ll be going."

Head bowed, Jiang Yan could only nod in response.

"Don’t be discouraged, Junior Brother Jiang. These ideas may not have worked, but perhaps your future ones will. This isn’t your last chance to consult with me. As long as you come up with a suitable improvement, I will absolutely let you refine it. Not only that, I’ll refine it alongside you."

At Fang Yun’s words, Jiang Yan’s spirits lifted instantly.

From Fang Yun’s words, it was clear he still held out hope that Jiang Yan would develop a useful modification to a Pill Formula. That alone set him apart from the other Elders of Alchemy.

’I knew it,’ Jiang Yan thought. ’A Pill Master with high Alchemy Talent would definitely be interested in improving Pill Formulas.’

"Thank you, Senior Brother Fang," Jiang Yan said finally.

After bidding farewell to Jiang Yan, Fang Yun headed to the Dan Cloud Pavilion to purchase the Pill Formula for the Primordial Spirit Pill.

In his original plan, he wasn’t scheduled to start refining Primordial Spirit Pills until much later, so he had not yet learned its Pill Formula.

Bai Heyan wouldn’t be assigning him the task of refining Primordial Spirit Pills for another half-month.

In terms of time, that was more than enough.

Even though he hadn’t started yet, he was still very confident about refining the Primordial Spirit Pill.

After all, not only did he possess seven-star Alchemy Talent, but he had also accumulated a vast amount of experience refining Second Tier medicinal pills.

Refining the Primordial Spirit Pill was much simpler than refining the Foundation Establishment Pill.