"Um, so this is where you, Senior Sister Yuan Liuer, do your alchemy?" Hu Ke'er voiced her confusion as she followed Yuan Liuer to a cave.
"Yeah. Originally, all the disciples on Red Tiger Peak could use the sect's alchemy rooms. But there are too many people there, and it's quite chaotic. Sometimes, the pills I've refined or the materials I've prepared would be taken by others. Even the alchemy furnaces might be borrowed by others. So I found this place on my own for alchemy."
As Yuan Liuer spoke softly, she took out a jade talisman and gently grabbed Hu Ke'er's hand.
"Junior Sister Ke'er, hold my hand. I asked Master to set up a powerful restriction at the entrance of this cave. Without this jade talisman, we won't be able to get in!"
"Okay!"
Hearing Yuan Liuer's words, Hu Ke'er nodded and then slowly walked into the cave with her.
"Ouch!"
Originally, Hu Ke'er saw the inside of the cave as pitch - black from the outside. But the moment she stepped into the cave, she felt a strong light stabbing her eyes.
"Junior Sister Ke'er, are you okay?" Yuan Liuer asked with concern upon hearing Hu Ke'er's exclamation.
"I'm fine. I'm just not used to such a sudden strong light."
Hu Ke'er covered her eyes and slowly opened them when she felt the light was no longer so blinding.
"Wow, there's really a whole new world inside!"
When Hu Ke'er's vision gradually recovered, she could clearly see what was in the cave. The light inside was no less than that outside. The gentle white light illuminated the surrounding environment clearly.
"I thought it would be completely dark inside. I didn't expect it to be so bright!"
"Of course. Junior Sister Ke'er, come with me!"
As Yuan Liuer said, she pulled Hu Ke'er and trotted for a while. Then she pointed to the ceiling.
"It's all because of this that it's so bright here."
"This is—"
Hu Ke'er looked in the direction Yuan Liuer was pointing and saw a huge white crystal above her head. This crystal was radiating white light all around.
"This is a Sunstone. It was the prize I got when I won first place in an alchemy competition before."
"So amazing!" Hu Ke'er exclaimed in admiration as she looked at the white crystal.
"Junior Sister Ke'er, a little further ahead is where I do my alchemy. Come and take a look with me~"
"Okay!"
Hearing Yuan Liuer's words, Hu Ke'er quickly followed. Then she saw a large red alchemy furnace not far away.
"This alchemy furnace is so big!" Hu Ke'er exclaimed in surprise when she saw the alchemy furnace in front of her.
"Well, this isn't that big. I have to put a lot of materials into it every time I do alchemy. This furnace is even a bit small. When I'm refining some high - level pills, there might not be enough space for all the materials!"
"Eh?!" Hearing Hu Ke'er's words, Chen Tianyi also exclaimed in surprise.
"Do those tiny pills really need so many materials?"
"Of course. But usually I put in fewer materials. Because if I put in too many materials, although I can refine more pills at once, there will also be more impurities in the pills. As a result, the quality will decline."
"Um, I see!" Hu Ke'er nodded thoughtfully. Then she looked around and saw several huge wooden shelves with labels on them, all filled with various materials.
"Those should be the materials you use to refine pills, Senior Sister Liuer?"
"Yeah!" Yuan Liuer nodded slightly and then looked at Hu Ke'er and asked, "Junior Sister Ke'er, what pills shall we refine this time?"
"Well~ Senior Sister Liuer, just refine some simple pills. It would be useful in case we get injured during the inner - sect test!"
"Okay. In that case, let's refine some White Jade Pills and Blood Qi Powders!" Yuan Liuer said softly upon hearing Hu Ke'er's words.
"Senior Sister Liuer, will it take a long time to refine these two kinds of pills? Is it difficult?"
"It's not difficult. These are both relatively basic pills, and I have all the materials here. If you've never refined pills before, Junior Sister Ke'er, just watch from the side."
"Okay!" Hu Ke'er nodded obediently and then began to observe Yuan Liuer's alchemy process intently.
After all, Hu Ke'er's goal wasn't to learn how to refine pills, but to know the process of alchemy. As long as she knew the whole process of alchemy, she could break down these steps one by one and simplify them. Then she would be able to create an automatic alchemy furnace step by step!
"The first step is to prepare the materials we need."
As Yuan Liuer said, she began to search for herbs on the huge wooden cabinets. After a while, she selected a large pile of herbs from several cabinets and placed them beside the alchemy furnace.
"So many?!" Hu Ke'er exclaimed in surprise when she saw the herbs piled up all over the place.
"This isn't even much. If we're lucky, these herbs should be able to refine eight parts of Blood Qi Powder."
As Yuan Liuer said, she turned around and opened the lid of the alchemy furnace, then put some of the herbs into it and closed the lid.
"Um, Senior Sister Liuer, aren't you going to put the other herbs in?" Hu Ke'er couldn't help asking when she saw Yuan Liuer close the lid of the alchemy furnace.
"We can't put these herbs in yet. If we put all the herbs in at once, the alchemy will fail. We have to do it one by one!" Yuan Liuer explained.
"The process of alchemy is quite boring. Actually, alchemy is neither extremely difficult nor extremely simple. There are only two core points. One is to control the quantity of the herbs and the timing of putting them in, and the other is to control the heat of the alchemy furnace."
As Yuan Liuer said, she carried a large pile of red crystals and placed them under the alchemy furnace.
"This is the Crimson Flame Crystal. It's used to replace wood for starting a fire. The crystal burns slowly, and it's relatively easier to control the temperature."
As Yuan Liuer said, she stretched out her palm towards the Crimson Flame Crystals under the alchemy furnace.
"Essence of the world, spirit of the blazing fire, rise!"
"Swish!"
As Yuan Liuer's incantation fell, the Crimson Flame Crystals flashed a faint red light, and then the blazing flames suddenly rose. The alchemy furnace also began to slowly turn crimson.
"Okay. Next, we just need to wait until the time is right to add another material. The rest is similar. When the pills are finally formed, we can take them out. As for the impurities, we can only remove them after the pills are formed!"
"Um, I see~" Hu Ke'er said softly as she watched Yuan Liuer concentrating on controlling the heat.
"Thank you, Senior Sister Liuer. I have a general idea now!"