Reaper of the Martial World

Book 12: Chapter 37: Moment (1)

“Sure, I don’t mind if you watch.”

Dyon lowered his gaze from the skies above, looking toward Vargas.

Though Vargas tried to hide it, Dyon could see the skepticism in his eye. This wasn’t due to his questioning Dyon’s alchemy talent. He had long since been convinced of this. Rather, he wondered why Dyon would be pretending as though he could see the battle above them. Even he as an Immortal Essence expert wasn’t qualified to. How could Dyon as a mortal be able to?

On top of that, the so-called ‘battle’ above them was actually the result of Immortal Saints leaping high and over the battlefield before landing and jumping once more in quick succession. Due to that, the battle was even more impossible to follow since they had no ability to fly.

Vargas didn’t think too much about it though. Every youthful talent was arrogant. It wasn’t a surprise that Dyon would try to appear more capable than he was to cover up for his failings. Even if he was posturing now, at the very least, his alchemy skill couldn’t be faked.

Dyon didn’t bother to correct Vargas. To him, not only could he see the battle, but they were moving exceptionally slow before his gaze. Even if Immortal Celestials were battling before him, he would be able to see every strike with absolute ease.

“Sure, let’s begin then. What’s our true quota, Emery?”

“Replying to Venerable Sacharro, we have the responsibility of exactly double the order of the help Venerable Greene placed. Forty half-immortal qi gathering pills and twenty half immortal bone mending pills.”

“Alright. Then let’s begin now.”

Dyon tapped empty air with a single finger, his soul qi surging.

Numerous miniature arrays began to appear and form up, swirling around each other with a gentle light. In the end, even as they continued to spin, they formed and ironically formless cauldron standing at a meter tall and two wide.

‘No furnace?’ Vargas’ eyes widened. ‘… So this is the Innate Aurora…’

Vargas gaze couldn’t help but travel to the small bobbing cauldron above Dyon’s shoulder. Just what level had this young man reached? If he wanted to concoct a half-immortal pill, even he had to meditate and adjust himself for a moment. At the very least, he would find a place to sit down and quiet everything around him. Yet, Dyon hadn’t done any of these things…

If his pills could be so perfect even like this… What would happen if he went all out… what if he used that cauldron over his shoulder…?

With a wave of his hand, the crate of herbs Vargas had brought opened, bringing its contents out to float into the air.

“When breaking down and preparing an herb for concoction, it’s important to understand its fundamental structure. The mistake most make is assuming that just because an herb shares the same species as one another, they can be broken down the same way. But this is fundamentally untrue.

“Humans are the same species as well, but are we not all different? We have different talents, bloodlines, thoughts, feelings. Every herb, even if they share the same name and family, also functions similarly. If you aren’t first analyzing your heavenly herb to see the best way to approach it, you’ve already failed in the very first step.”

At these words, even Vargas’ pupils constricted into pinholes. He had never heard of such a concept. He thought that simply studying and memorizing the properties of every herb was enough.

Let alone him, the apprentices felt waves going off in their hearts.

The herbs flew into Dyon’s spinning translucent gold cauldron. They were immediately sheared apart, becoming gorgeous motes of light of pure medicinal strength.

“Once the herbs are analyzed and broken down, the next steps come down to adjusting your alchemy formula. Since not every herb is the same, there are of course differences in concentrations between their medicinal efficacies.

“Think about it. If you are working from a formula, but you’ve gotten the measurements wrong from the very beginning, how could you succeed?”

“… How… How do you do that?” Belin trembled.

As the closest to the end of his life between them all, of course he was the most impacted by this lecture. Maybe this was his chance to continue to live.

If it was someone else in the middle of concocting, he wouldn’t have dared to make even the slightest noise. But… Dyon was on an entirely different level.

“The methods are incalculable. This is where the true study of alchemy lies. The number of unique solutions to these problems and how many you can apply on a whim is what decides the skill of an alchemist.

“In this particular case, the qi gathering pill uses Cleansing Lotus Aloe. There’s a medicinal agent within this heavenly herb that opens pores. When applied properly, it can decrease the density of qi within the meridians, thus resulting in qi naturally flowing quickly toward a practitioner. It’s a simple concept.

“However, if this medicinal agent is too large in quantity, it has the opposite effect. Any qi you accumulate will end up leaking, making the pill near useless.

“With the batch I just created, the Cleansing Lotus Aloe had a particularly high concentration of this agent. In order to combat it, I’ve purposely kept some impurities within the aloe and didn’t fully purge it. This weakens the agent overall and creates a more robust pill…

“… And just like that…” Dyon clapped his hands.

The formation ended in the blink of an eye, 40 perfect pills laying at the bottom of the large translucent cauldron.