Introduction to Alchemy

On the morning of the third day since Tieu Lan arrived at the planned site of Hoa Van Town, the desert wind was gentler than usual. The sun had only just risen beyond the eastern dunes when its light fell across the experimental medicine area behind the forward camp, bathing the stone shelter in pale gold.

A faint burnt smell from the previous day’s attempts still lingered inside.

The two imperfect medicinal masses had been placed in separate jade boxes, each labeled with the time, proportions, and result. In front of them, Tieu Lan had added a small wooden sign with three very clear words:

Do Not Use.

She had checked them twice more between the previous evening and this morning. The medicinal force inside had not completely dispersed, nor had any new toxicity appeared, but both masses were showing signs of instability. One had developed a deeper crack, while the other still held its shape but had begun flaking into powder. The Fire-aligned medicinal force within it also remained unevenly distributed.

They could not yet be called pills.

Even so, the first two attempts had proven at least one thing.

With Hao Nhien’s fire control and Tieu Lan’s understanding of medicinal properties, medicinal force could be refined and preserved in a more stable form rather than dispersing completely.

By the time Hao Nhien entered, Tieu Lan was already seated at the table.

Three sheets of notes had been spread neatly before her. The first contained Phong Van Tu’s simulated formula, the second recorded every detail of the first failed attempt, while the last held the results of yesterday’s partial condensation. The amount of each ingredient, the order in which they entered the cauldron, the duration of each stage of heat, the color of the vapor, the medicinal scent, and the point at which the different properties began to reject one another had all been recorded in detail.

Hao Nhien pulled out a chair and sat down.

“Have you found the problem?”

Tieu Lan looked up. There was a faint trace of exhaustion beneath her eyes, clear evidence that she had gone through the notes many times during the night.

“A few of them.”

She pushed one page toward him.

“The second attempt only managed to take shape partly because Young Master stopped forcing the medicinal force like you did the first time. The Clearheart Flower also retained its medicinal properties longer after being soaked in spirit-spring water, while the Sand Spirit Root slowed the loss of moisture.”

Hao Nhien looked at the dense numbers on the page.

“But it still wasn’t enough?”

“Yes.”

Tieu Lan placed a Spirit Cloud Leaf on the table.

“The largest problem was this. Yesterday, I cut it too finely because I wanted the medicinal force to release faster. That helped the medicinal mass condense sooner, but it also caused the Wood-aligned medicinal force to concentrate unevenly. That was why the layers separated after cooling.”

Hao Nhien picked up one of the jade boxes and looked through its transparent lid.

“What are you planning to do this time?”

“Cut half of the Spirit Cloud Leaf into thin pieces for the early stage, but keep the rest whole and add it later. I want to see whether it can stabilize the medicinal force once condensation begins.”

She pointed toward a curve she had drawn on the paper.

“As for the heat, last time we raised and lowered it in three very distinct stages. I think there should be a short low-heat interval between refinement and condensation. We should not extinguish the fire, only keep it very low so the medicinal force has time to stabilize on its own.”

Hao Nhien studied the curve for quite a while.

“Like letting everything settle into place before we begin collecting it?”

“That is what I think.”

Tieu Lan did not sound certain, but her eyes showed that she had considered the idea again and again before reaching that conclusion.

Hao Nhien nodded.

“Let’s try.”

Tieu Lan picked up her brush and wrote at the top of a fresh page:

Third Attempt.

The cauldron had already been cleaned the previous night.

Hao Nhien sat opposite her, placed both hands against the cauldron, and mobilized his Fire spiritual power. A ring of pale golden flame quickly appeared around the bottom, so steady that there was almost no unnecessary fluctuation.

Tieu Lan watched the color of the metal, then nodded lightly.

The Fire Sand Grass went in first.

Under Hao Nhien’s Divine Sense, pale red essence slowly emerged from the herb, no longer surging out as violently as it had during the first attempt. Only after the medicinal vapor stabilized did Tieu Lan add the portion of Spirit Cloud Leaf that had been cut thin.

A layer of green mist immediately appeared and gathered around the pale red medicinal force.

Next came the Clearheart Flower that had been soaked in spirit-spring water.

A cool medicinal fragrance spread outward, softening the Fire-aligned properties.

Hao Nhien sensed the three streams of medicinal force beginning to make contact. The rejection was still there, but it was much less violent than before. He did not rush to interfere and simply maintained the heat at exactly the level Tieu Lan requested.

Sand Spirit Root powder was sprinkled in last.

The medicinal mass began to slow.

“Raise it by half a measure.”

Hao Nhien increased the heat slightly.

“Hold it there.”

Tieu Lan watched the medicinal vapor and continued measuring the time by counting breaths.

Only when the Fire-aligned properties began to rise did she say,

“Lower it.”

Hao Nhien immediately reduced the flame.

Only a very thin layer of fire remained around the bottom of the cauldron.

Inside, the medicinal force did not condense immediately. Instead, it slowly rotated into a single mass. The red, green, and white streams remained separate at first, but after a short while, they began to blend far more clearly than before.

Only then did Tieu Lan add the remaining whole Spirit Cloud Leaves.

The leaves softened under the heat, releasing a gentle layer of Wood-aligned medicinal force around the mass.

Tieu Lan watched closely.

“Now we collect.”

Hao Nhien closed his eyes and used Divine Sense to feel the heat currents inside the cauldron.

After his Fire affinity awakened and he received the Fire Qilin inheritance, controlling heat had become a natural part of how he used spiritual power. This time, however, he did not rely on Fire spiritual power alone.

He quietly began using his Wind affinity as well.

The hot air inside the cauldron did not move evenly. Some currents circulated faster, while others were slightly slower. Hao Nhien could not see temperature as a number, but he could sense the direction in which the heated air moved and the way it passed over different parts of the medicinal mass.

For the first time, he clearly realized something.

Even inside the same cauldron, not every position was the same.

He adjusted his Fire spiritual power without increasing the total heat, changing only how it was distributed so that the hotter areas cooled slightly while the cooler sections received a little more fire.

The medicinal mass began rotating more steadily.

One cycle passed, then another, under the combined use of Divine Sense, Fire spiritual power, and his Wind affinity’s perception of airflow.

Three points of condensation gradually appeared.

This time, Hao Nhien did not deliberately divide the medicinal mass. The three points formed naturally once the medicinal force reached a sufficiently stable state.

Tieu Lan noticed the change as well.

“Keep it like that. Don’t force anything.”

Hao Nhien obeyed.

The three condensed points continued circling the center of the cauldron. The heat around them was just strong enough to prevent the medicinal vapor from dispersing without touching their surfaces directly.

After a while, three faint taps sounded from inside the cauldron.

Tieu Lan tightened her grip on the notebook.

Hao Nhien maintained the flame for a few more breaths before slowly withdrawing it.

Only after the temperature inside had fallen somewhat did he lift the lid.

A stream of white vapor carrying a cool medicinal fragrance drifted out.

Three pale red pills lay at the bottom.

Their surfaces were not yet truly glossy, but their shapes were far rounder than the two crude masses from the previous day. Two still looked somewhat rough, while the third was much more stable, with even color and no obvious sign of separation.

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Tieu Lan did not cheer.

She immediately used jade tongs to take out the most stable pill, scraped away a tiny amount of powder, and dissolved it in spirit-spring water. She then examined it carefully with Wood spiritual power for a long time.

Hao Nhien sat quietly and waited.

Eventually, Tieu Lan withdrew her hand.

“There is no obvious toxicity. The medicinal force is much more stable now. The Fire-aligned property is still slightly too strong, but the Clearheart Flower has successfully fused.”

She placed another medicinal testing stone into the bowl.

The color on its surface slowly shifted to green mixed with red, with none of the gray-black signs associated with toxicity.

Tieu Lan studied the pill in her hand for quite some time before saying,

“Compared with the standards in Master’s notes, this one has reached the threshold of lower grade.”

Hao Nhien looked at her.

“Clearheart Pill?”

Tieu Lan nodded lightly.

“We can call it that.”

Then she looked at the other two.

“But those two do not qualify. One fused unevenly, and the other still contains too much Fire-aligned medicinal force.”

She wrote in her notebook:

Third Attempt: Three pills formed. One reached lower grade. Two failed to meet the standard for use.

Hao Nhien looked at the line, and the corner of his lips slowly curved upward.

Three attempts had already shown him a very clear pattern.

Every failure left something behind that could be observed, and every correct adjustment produced a change that could be recognized.

Luu Thanh had apparently been standing outside the doorway for some time. Unable to hold back any longer, he finally asked,

“Did you really form pills this time?”

Tieu Lan turned toward him.

“One reached lower grade.”

Luu Thanh’s eyes widened.

“So can we say Hoa Van has already refined a pill?”

Before Tieu Lan could answer, Hao Nhien said,

“You may only say that one experimental pill reached lower grade.”

Luu Thanh looked slightly disappointed.

“Is there really that much difference?”

“A great deal.”

Hao Nhien replied.

“Producing one pill does not mean we can produce another one next time.”

Luu Thanh thought for a moment before nodding.

“I understand.”

He turned to leave, but the moment he stepped outside, he pulled aside the nearest person and whispered,

“They formed a pill, but the Clan Head says it still doesn’t count as knowing how to refine pills.”

His voice was quieter, but still loud enough for several people nearby to hear.

Tieu Lan pressed her lips together to hide a smile.

Hao Nhien only shook his head.

At noon, Tieu Lan continued examining the three pills while Hao Nhien sat nearby reviewing the entire process.

He did not care much about which pill looked better.

What he wanted to know was why one had reached lower grade while the other two had not.

The same cauldron, the same amount of medicinal ingredients, the same period of time. Where had the difference come from?

That question remained in his mind for a long time.

By early afternoon, Tieu Lan brought out another notebook.

“I have another formula.”

Hao Nhien looked over.

“Qi-Recovery Pill?”

“Yes.”

It was a pill formula used by Qi Condensation cultivators to recover true qi, and it was more difficult than the Clearheart Pill because it required stronger medicinal force while still remaining stable.

Tieu Lan pointed to the listed ingredients.

“The primary ingredient is still Sand Spirit Root. Fire Sand Grass stimulates the medicinal force, Spirit Cloud Leaf regulates it, and Ice Spirit Fruit is used to temper the dry heat.”

Hao Nhien read through the formula.

“What makes it difficult?”

“Sand Spirit Root is very difficult to refine completely. Fire Sand Grass is light, while Ice Spirit Fruit carries a Cold property. If the order or temperature is even slightly wrong, the medicinal forces will reject one another.”

Hao Nhien looked toward the cauldron.

“You want to try?”

Tieu Lan hesitated briefly, then nodded.

“I do.”

Hao Nhien pulled his chair closer.

“Then let’s try.”

The fourth attempt began in the middle of the afternoon.

From the moment Sand Spirit Root entered the cauldron, Hao Nhien realized that this formula was completely different from the morning’s. The essence inside the root emerged very slowly, forcing him to maintain a higher temperature for much longer.

When the Fire Sand Grass was added, the Fire-aligned medicinal force immediately surged more strongly than expected.

Tieu Lan told him to lower the heat, but the Sand Spirit Root had still not been completely refined, so the two medicinal forces refused to fuse.

The Spirit Cloud Leaf only stabilized the situation slightly.

The moment Ice Spirit Fruit was added, the real problem appeared.

Its Cold energy pressed directly against the Fire-aligned properties of the Fire Sand Grass. Chaotic fluctuations immediately spread inside the cauldron, while hot and cold currents collided and caused the temperature to shift rapidly from one area to another.

Hao Nhien could clearly sense the disorder through his Wind affinity.

One side of the cauldron was heating up.

The other was cooling down.

But he had no way to know exactly how large the difference was.

Tieu Lan watched the color of the vapor.

“Lower the fire a little.”

Hao Nhien obeyed.

Only a few breaths later, she immediately changed her mind.

“Raise it by half a measure.”

The moment the heat changed again, the medicinal mass lost its rhythm.

Hao Nhien could clearly sense the rejection increasing. Instinct told him to use Divine Sense to force everything back together, but the lesson from the previous day immediately came to mind.

He did not force it.

Even so, the reaction had already gone beyond their ability to correct.

A dull sound came from the cauldron, followed by white-gray vapor leaking rapidly through the lid. Once the heat was withdrawn and the cauldron opened, only a half-solidified red-gray medicinal mass remained, stuck to the bottom.

Luu Thanh, standing farther outside this time, coughed.

“It didn’t explode, but the smell is still terrifying.”

Hao Nhien glanced at him.

Luu Thanh immediately stepped even farther back.

“I’ll stop talking.”

Tieu Lan ignored him. She looked at the ruined medicinal mass and immediately opened her notebook.

“Fourth attempt. First Qi-Recovery Pill attempt. Failed.”

She recorded each point.

“The Sand Spirit Root had not finished refining before the Fire Sand Grass was added. The Ice Spirit Fruit also entered too early, causing the Cold property to suppress the Fire-aligned medicinal force.”

Hao Nhien sat beside her.

“And we changed the heat twice too close together.”

Tieu Lan looked up.

“You felt that too?”

“Mm.”

Hao Nhien pointed toward the cauldron.

“I could feel the air currents inside changing direction. One side became hotter while the other became much colder, but I could not tell exactly how large the difference was.”

Tieu Lan looked at him.

Hao Nhien did not immediately continue.

After a moment, she asked,

“We have enough ingredients for one more attempt.”

Hao Nhien looked outside.

The sun was still fairly high.

“You want to try again?”

Tieu Lan nodded.

“I want to change when the Ice Spirit Fruit is added.”

Hao Nhien considered it, then agreed.

“Alright. One more attempt.”

The fifth attempt proceeded more slowly than any of the previous ones.

Tieu Lan prepared each ingredient more carefully, while Hao Nhien began using his Wind affinity to sense the entire flow of hot air within the cauldron rather than focusing only on the medicinal force.

The Sand Spirit Root was refined for longer, until its dense medicinal force finally began to soften.

Only then was the Fire Sand Grass added.

This time, instead of surging violently, most of its Fire-aligned medicinal force was held by the foundation formed from the Sand Spirit Root.

The Spirit Cloud Leaf followed, creating an intermediate layer between the two.

Tieu Lan did not add the Ice Spirit Fruit immediately.

She waited until the three medicinal forces had truly begun to stabilize.

One breath passed, then another.

“Now.”

A small portion of Ice Spirit Fruit entered the cauldron.

Hao Nhien immediately sensed the arrival of the Cold current.

Instead of allowing it to strike the hottest region directly, he adjusted the internal airflow through the combined use of Fire spiritual power and his Wind affinity, guiding the Cold energy along the outer edge of the medicinal mass before letting it gradually seep inward.

A faint hiss sounded.

This time, there was no chaotic fluctuation.

Tieu Lan watched the color of the medicinal vapor.

“Yes. Keep it there.”

Hao Nhien did not change the overall heat.

He only continued adjusting how the flame was distributed around the bottom and walls of the cauldron, trying to make the hot currents flow more evenly.

The medicinal force began rotating into a single mass.

When it entered the collection stage, Hao Nhien divided the heat into two layers. The outer layer maintained a stable temperature, while the inner layer was slightly more concentrated to guide the medicinal force toward the center.

Three points of condensation slowly appeared.

Unlike the previous attempt, the three points had noticeably different properties. One carried stronger Fire-aligned medicinal force, the second contained more Wood-aligned force, while the last retained more of the Cold property.

Hao Nhien sensed the imbalance.

If they condensed separately, their quality would definitely differ.

He did not force the three points to merge. Instead, he used the airflow within the cauldron to make them continuously exchange positions around the same center. The hotter portion moved outward, the colder portion moved closer to the center, and then their positions reversed again.

Tieu Lan watched the medicinal vapor and occasionally gave a brief instruction to adjust the speed.

The process lasted nearly the time it took an incense stick to burn.

Eventually, the three condensed points became much more balanced.

The cauldron trembled three times, each movement extremely faint.

Tieu Lan looked at Hao Nhien.

“Withdraw the fire.”

He slowly extinguished the external flame, leaving only an extremely thin thread of Fire spiritual power so the temperature inside could fall gradually.

After about thirty breaths, Tieu Lan said,

“You can open it.”

The lid rose.

A medicinal fragrance, richer than that of the Clearheart Pill, spread through the room.

Three orange-red pills rested at the bottom. Their surfaces were far rounder and smoother than the pills from the morning. Each carried a very thin blue line blended into the red color rather than separating from it.

Tieu Lan immediately examined them in the same way as before.

She took them out one by one, scraped off a tiny amount of powder, dissolved it in water, then tested it with a medicinal stone and Wood spiritual power.

A long time passed.

Hao Nhien did not rush her.

Finally, Tieu Lan placed all three pills on the jade tray.

“They all meet the standard.”

Hao Nhien looked at her.

“Lower grade?”

Tieu Lan shook her head.

“No.”

She checked the color of the medicinal stone one more time before saying,

“Mid-grade.”

Even Hao Nhien fell silent for a moment.

Tieu Lan looked at the three pills, and a smile slowly appeared on her face, one she no longer tried to hide.

“Mid-grade Qi-Recovery Pills.”

She immediately lowered her head and wrote in the notebook, though her handwriting was clearly faster than usual.

Fifth Attempt. Second Qi-Recovery Pill attempt. Three pills formed. Mid-grade.

Luu Thanh, still standing outside, could no longer hold himself back.

“Can I say it now?”

Tieu Lan turned toward him, but before she could answer, Hao Nhien said,

“You may only say that we refined three mid-grade Qi-Recovery Pills.”

Luu Thanh nodded immediately.

“I understand.”

The moment he stepped outside, he cupped his hands around his mouth and called toward the people nearby,

“Hoa Van refined mid-grade Qi-Recovery Pills!”

His voice carried so far that Hao Nhien could only stare after him in silence.

Tieu Lan burst out laughing.

Before long, several people in the camp had gathered outside the entrance. No one was allowed to touch the pills, but merely seeing the three pills resting on the jade tray was enough to change their expressions.

For people who had to patrol and survive in the Western Wastes, a Qi-Recovery Pill was not something meant for display.

It could be the true qi that allowed them to run a few more miles while being pursued, endure one more strike from a demonic beast, or make it back before collapsing from exhaustion.

Tieu Lan remained cautious.

“This is only one successful batch. We still need more testing before we know whether the result can be reproduced reliably.”

No one disagreed.

But the happiness in their eyes was impossible to hide.

Hao Nhien was happy as well.

He picked up the brightest pill and turned it gently between two fingers.

Tieu Lan noticed his expression.

“Young Master?”

“Mm?”

“Are you not satisfied?”

“I’m very satisfied.”

Hao Nhien replied.

“But I’m thinking about something.”

He placed the pill back on the tray.

“We are using breaths to measure time, the color of the vapor to judge changes, and medicinal scent to tell whether the properties are stable. Those methods work, but they still depend heavily on perception.”

Tieu Lan listened quietly.

Hao Nhien continued,

“If we refine another batch tomorrow, how do we know the temperature is truly the same as today? If we switch to another cauldron, how do we know how much hotter the eastern side is than the western side? If we use the same herb with a different moisture content, how much should we adjust?”

Tieu Lan looked at the pages of notes before them.

“Young Master wants to record things in greater detail?”

“Not just record them.”

Hao Nhien replied.

“I want to find ways to measure them.”

Tieu Lan paused.

“Measure heat?”

“Temperature, time, ratios, and anything else that can be measured.”

He stopped briefly.

“We should still keep everything Divine Sense and a cultivator’s perception can do. I do not want to replace them. But if we can add another way to determine exactly what we changed, the result should become easier to reproduce.”

Hao Nhien looked at the three mid-grade Qi-Recovery Pills.

He did not want to know only that they had succeeded today.

He wanted to know why they had succeeded.

More importantly, he wanted to know how, one month from now, one year from now, or even with another person standing before the same cauldron, at least part of that result could be reproduced.

Images from a distant world suddenly surfaced in his mind.

Small scales.

Graduated vessels.

Instruments used to measure temperature.

Tables filled with data from repeated experiments.

A world without spiritual qi, alchemy cauldrons, or Divine Sense, yet people there had learned to use measurement, comparison, and repeated experimentation to understand how matter changed.

Alchemists in this world had inheritances, Divine Sense, and perception of both medicinal materials and flame.

What would happen if those two approaches were placed side by side?

Hao Nhien looked at the cauldron before him.

The idea was still crude. He did not even know where to begin.

But this time, the question in his mind was no longer whether he could refine pills.

It was whether he could make alchemy easier to understand, easier to verify, and easier to reproduce.