Chapter 109: Chapter 110: Guidance
"Grandpa Nine!" Ye Jingcheng stepped forward to greet him.
"Jingcheng is here." Ye Haitian, who was extremely busy at the moment, brightened up upon seeing Ye Jingcheng.
This scene left Ye Jingcheng somewhat confused.
Meanwhile, the other Ye Family youths in their teens all called out to Ye Jingcheng:
"Eleventh Brother!"
"Is Eleventh Brother here for alchemy?"
...
Facing these junior cousins, who had come up the mountain three years ago, Ye Jingcheng responded with smiles one by one, then shook his head.
"I am here to learn, just like you!"
The Ye Family holds the Immortal Ascension Conference in the mortal villages and towns once every three years.
This ensures that good cultivation seedlings are not delayed, and the Ye Family cultivators do not have to toil every year.
The generational designation in the Ye Family is every forty years, and those who ascend from mortal lineage follow this cycle for their designation.
If they are direct descendants of family cultivators, they naturally inherit one generation designation.
After staying on the mountain for three years, they go to the Alchemy Pavilion, Artifact Refining Pavilion, Spirit Plant Pavilion, and Beast Taming Pavilion to study successively.
Three years is neither long nor short, almost enough for them to cultivate from the Qi Cultivation First Layer to the Qi Cultivation Second Layer, and their minds mature significantly.
At this moment, they can explore alchemy, artifact refining, beast taming, and spirit planting.
Ye Jingcheng had reached Qi Cultivation First Layer, while most of those with Three Spirit Roots were at Qi Cultivation Second Layer.
"Your Eleventh Brother is now a Tier One High-grade Alchemist, and you should learn from him!"
Ye Haitian introduced to the Ye Family youths, then looked at Ye Jingcheng and transmitted directly:
"Jingcheng, I have a task for you, guide these younger cousins for a month, two hours a day, and the family will credit you with five hundred contribution points!"
This news caught Ye Jingcheng off guard!
After all, he came here to learn as well.
He hadn’t thought about teaching others.
Thus, he was naturally hesitant, because he was not sure if he could lead them well.
"You must have encountered a bottleneck in alchemy; if you agree, I’ll tell you how to break through this bottleneck!" Ye Haitian continued transmitting with meaningful intent.
His eyes slightly smiling.
As if they could see through everything.
This left Ye Jingcheng feeling helpless, was his expression that easy to read?
"As long as Grandpa Nine doesn’t mind me misleading the younger family members!" Ye Jingcheng finally agreed.
Ye Haitian saw that Ye Jingcheng agreed, so he took out a Jade Talisman.
Within the Jade Talisman, there was an outline of the teaching framework.
It included the basics of Comprehensive Spiritual Medicine and Pharmacological Analysis, as well as Furnace Controlling Fire, Pill Formation, and Nourishing Pill.
There was a general explanation inside, which, when integrated with the Alchemist’s own insights, became a teaching guide.
"Today, you all go to the Earth Fire Room and stay there; you cannot use any magic or employ cultivation techniques!" Ye Haitian addressed the ten or so Ye Family youths.
They all nodded one by one and entered an already prepared Earth Fire Room, where the heat was intense.
As an Alchemist, the first thing to endure is heat tolerance.
Under high heat, one must remain calm and composed.
If they can’t endure even this, achieving great success in alchemy becomes more challenging.
The Ye Family habitually has them endure this for three days, and Ye Jingcheng was the one most resilient in his cohort.
Once all the Ye Family youths entered, Ye Haitian closed the Earth Fire Room, then took out a mirror, revealing the ten or so Ye Family youths who appeared in the mirror.
Not long after entering, differences were already apparent.
Some were sweating profusely, restlessly looking around, while others quietly closed their eyes.
"Jing Kuo is doing well!" Ye Haitian praised, then sat on his spiritually rich chair.
Ye Jingcheng took out Spirit Tea, not only because Ye Haitian found him a job earning 500 contribution points, but the method to overcome his bottleneck was also enlightening.
Ye Jingcheng was skilled at brewing Spirit Tea; for an Alchemist, finding the optimal tea-water ratio and temperature wasn’t difficult.
Soon, the entire Alchemy Pavilion Hall was filled with the aroma of tea.
"What is the most important thing in alchemy?" Ye Haitian took a small sip of tea and looked at Ye Jingcheng.
"Pharmacology, Furnace, Extraction, Fire Control, Pill Condensation!" Ye Jingcheng answered without hesitation.
"Indeed, since you know this, you usually use Spirit Beast Refining, which skips the fire control step. Although you follow the Pill Formula shortcut, for an Alchemist, mastering your fire control is crucial. Pill Formulas are fixed, and the Spirit Beast’s fire control relies on you!"
"By missing the most important step, you may swiftly progress in low-tier Spirit Pills!"
"But in the long term, it is indeed like pulling the seedlings to help them grow!" Ye Haitian replied.
Ye Jingcheng was shocked but had to admit that Ye Haitian was right.
"However, the Spirit Beast Refining Technique naturally has its benefits, but the premise is that your fire control must keep up. Only then can you combine both in alchemy to complement each other!"
"Otherwise, do you think other family cultivators don’t have fire attribute spirit beasts?" Ye Haitian continued.
After speaking, he stopped, letting Ye Jingcheng figure it out on his own.
Having said so much, his mouth had also become dry.
Sipping spirit tea is something an elder like him should do.
Young people teaching young people, he finds amusing, as usually it’s him doing the teaching.
"Thank you, Grandpa Eight!" Ye Jingcheng paused for a moment, then nodded, for he understood.
He then smiled and poured spirit tea for Ye Haitian.
Though he drank very little himself, those few words from Ye Haitian were enough for him to benefit immensely.
Sometimes, people cannot break free from their own misconceptions; this is where the guidance of elders is needed.
"Go, try it. As half a teacher, there is no rent!" Ye Haitian waved his hand, allowing Ye Jingcheng to experiment.
Ye Jingcheng nodded, choosing an earth fire room, and began once again using earth fire for refining.
It had been a long time since he used earth fire for alchemy, and he felt somewhat unfamiliar during the Yun Furnace phase.
For the first batch, he continued refining the Cyan Spirit Pill. Although he didn’t have to pay rent, the spiritual medicine materials still cost spirit stones, so he opted to be cautious.
Currently, he has three Money-Spending Beasts.
Apart from slower furnace phases, other steps went smoothly without incident, and he ended up producing five pills, though inferior to the spirit beast alchemy method.
However, Ye Jingcheng gained some insights; he quickly took out a jade talisman to record them and began comparing them with his observations using spirit beast alchemy, realizing there were indeed differences.
This discovery filled Ye Jingcheng with joy.
After refining, Ye Jingcheng stepped out, and Ye Haitian continued sorting the archives.
Though Ye Jingcheng found a solution, it didn’t mean he would stop asking questions.
Having already become a family lecturer, the family raising the standard for its lecturers seems quite reasonable!
Subsequently, Ye Jingcheng asked, and Ye Haitian answered, leaving nothing unsaid.
Moreover, many details made Ye Jingcheng feel like applauding.
An elder at home is like a treasure.
With so many elders, Ye Jingcheng was extremely satisfied.
He realized that the elders in his family were a valuable treasure, and he needed to seek more guidance and delve deeper.
For the time being, Ye Jingcheng also became extremely busy.
Day and night dedicated to alchemy, summarizing, asking questions, with spare hours left to guide the family juniors.
These teachings focused on pharmacology, furnace hands, and matters, not much on pill solidification.
Additionally, Ye Jingcheng asked these Ye Family juniors to use jade talismans for note-taking and later compared their notes.
Listing the best and worst-ranked ones!
It revealed two promising seedlings among those ten or so juniors.
Among them was Ye Jingkuo.
At his own courtyard, he also took out the Golden Scale Pill and fed it to the Golden Scale Beast.
As for the Red Flame Fox, Ye Jingcheng kept it guarding his small courtyard.
Though on Lingyun Peak, the Golden Scale Beast was advancing in its bloodline.
While the Jade Qilin Snake was still too small.
...
A month’s time flew by, and Ye Jingcheng conducted their final examination, which was refining the Fasting Pill.
The Fasting Pill is the most commonly used spirit pill in the Cultivation Realm and the foundation of all spirit pills.
It only requires two spirit materials: Fasting Fruit and Cyan Spirit Flower.
This time, at the final examination, both Ye Haitian and Ye Haiyun were present.
Ye Haitian was a regular sight each day, but Ye Haiyun recently seemed a bit aged, as if he had refined some spirit pill that consumed significant effort.
Most in the Sea Generation of the Ye Family were around eighty or ninety, like Ye Haicheng who was older, over a hundred twenty.
Qi Cultivation Cultivators generally have lifespans around a hundred twenty, and consuming some Longevity Fruits can extend their years, but similarly, Life-extending Elixirs can only be taken once by a cultivator.
Moreover, any Life-extending Elixir appearing is typically monopolized by High-Tier Cultivators, and few Qi Cultivation Cultivators live past a hundred twenty.
As the competition began, the eight remaining family members all took out jade talismans and began their pre-alchemy preparations.
This scene made Ye Haiyun very pleased, even casting a few more glances towards Ye Jingcheng.
For a cultivator, memory is excellent; the real difference between using a jade talisman or not lies in better mentally reinforcing the knowledge.
It’s essentially a small technique.
Ultimately, only Ye Jingkuo produced the Fasting Pill, while six people produced residue pills.
Only one person ended up with a clump of waste.
This surprised both Ye Haitian and Ye Haiyun.
In their expectations, having three residue pills would have been good enough, given that they’re only at Qi Cultivation First and Second Layer, having studied alchemy for just a month!
"Jingcheng, from now on, the explanation of alchemy for new family members will be handled by you. Each time, you’ll earn six hundred contribution points."
"Furthermore, visit the Alchemy Pavilion more, the family will grant you an additional fifty contribution points annually!" Ye Haiyun spoke generously and directly, unlike Ye Haitian’s roundabout manner.
"Additionally, I’m planning to refine a Tier Two Elixir soon, specifically a Barrier-Breaking Pill for Tier Two, you may come and observe!" Ye Haiyun communicated this through transmission, leaving Ye Jingcheng momentarily stunned.
Indeed, Ye Haiyun could refine Tier Two Elixirs.
And it was even a Barrier-Breaking Pill for a cultivator’s cultivation breakthrough.