Sitting cross-legged with a pill furnace in front of him, Aotian focused with his eyes closed.

Just as when he created the formation and refined the cauldron, the enlightened minds of the respective avatars—those talented in these areas—merged with Aotian’s consciousness, allowing him a more precise understanding of his actions. And now, it was the turn of the alchemy masters’ minds to assist with their expertise.

Having talent or not in this world could change everything. The more talented someone was in a particular field, the more distinct their perception became compared to ordinary people.

To better understand this difference, let’s take an example:

A person without talent walks through an endless cave and encounters a fork in the path. They stop and spend days pondering which way to go. If they make the right choice, they will find another fork ahead and have to decide again. But if they choose wrong, they might travel a long way in the wrong direction. Maybe they’ll be lucky and eventually find the right path again. Maybe they’ll be unlucky and keep making mistakes. Or, more commonly, they’ll reach a dead end and become stuck.

A talented person, on the other hand, is different. They decide quickly which path to take, purely by intuition. They advance much faster and make fewer mistakes. And if they do make an error, they often notice it midway, turn back, and choose the correct direction.

That’s the difference. And the greater the talent, the more real this truth becomes.

Aotian considered himself average in everything, without any remarkable talent. However, with his avatars, he could be talented in every area… as long as he had avatars with the necessary aptitudes.

Taking a deep breath, Aotian opened his eyes, which gleamed with sharp determination.

He picked up the materials set aside beside him and began processing them carefully. Some were sliced, others ground into powder, while a few remained whole.

Alchemy wasn’t too different from chemistry. Mixing different elements led to various reactions, and determining these reactions to obtain a desired product was the core of alchemy.

The biggest difference lay in the materials: spiritual herbs were plants mutated by spiritual energy, granting both physical and spiritual effects. Alchemy required extreme caution—aside from the risk of a cauldron explosion, the greatest danger lay in the pill’s effects on the user.

A pill might seem correct but could actually be poison without the alchemist realizing it.

Before starting, Aotian placed a mid-grade spirit stone at the base of the furnace, causing its runes to light up.

Then, he struck the cauldron with his spiritual energy, making it tremble slightly. A faint flash of light emerged from its runes, followed by a small burst of black smoke escaping through four holes in the lid. As soon as the smoke cleared, the holes sealed shut.

This was the self-cleaning function, ensuring the cauldron was completely free of residue, reducing the risk of impurities contaminating the pill during the process.

Placing his hands on the cauldron, Aotian manipulated the control runes on its surface, which helped him guide his fire-element spiritual energy inside, allowing it to envelop and heat the cauldron rapidly.

Then, using his pure spiritual energy, he picked up all the prepared materials. With another slap on the cauldron, the lid lifted slightly. Without hesitation, Aotian tossed all the ingredients inside, mere milliseconds before the lid shut completely.

Normally, when preparing pills, the less time the cauldron remained open after its internal cleansing, the better—impurities in the air could affect the pill’s quality. However, it was uncommon to throw all ingredients in at once, as Aotian had done. This made it much harder to control the recipe, significantly increasing the difficulty.

To counteract this, formations were often created to sterilize the environment, allowing the cauldron to be opened multiple times without significantly compromising the pill’s quality.

However, for Aotian, managing multiple focuses couldn’t have been easier.

Closing his eyes and relying on his spiritual energy and the cauldron’s control runes, he could clearly see what was happening inside the container, even without using his eyes.

This time, to create a pill of absolute quality and free of impurities, he spared no effort—nor the number of enlightened minds assisting him.

Some minds rotated the ground herbs to separate them from impurities using heat, exercising precise control to avoid damage or burns. Others focused on mixing certain ingredients, while some kept herbs away that were not yet meant to enter the process.

The impurities expelled during the process remained inside the cauldron, but there were also minds dedicated to controlling them, preventing them from reattaching to the already refined herbs.

The biggest problem with impurities was their persistence. Even with three minds focused solely on containing them, there was still a risk of some escaping in a moment of carelessness.

And why was that? Simply because impurities varied in size—some were so minuscule that even with the sect leader’s mind, it was difficult to detect and control them.

Fortunately, he didn’t need to eliminate all impurities to create a perfect pill—only those large enough to hinder Qi Refinement.

Only in higher realms, where cultivation became more delicate and complex, would these tiny impurities become a real concern. But at this stage, with his high level of cultivation, as long as they were minimal, eliminating them later would be simple.

Of course, even though these impurities wouldn’t affect his cultivation now, excessive accumulation wouldn’t be good for him. Since he was still in the Qi Refinement stage, if too many small impurities built up, it could become a major issue.

Thus, even with perfect pills, relying on them as a cultivation path was unsustainable. That was why it was believed that cultivation based on pills was weak and unstable.

How many realms could he reach if his body was filled with impurities? What kind of battle could he fight if, due to impurities, his spiritual roots poorly mobilized energy and his dantian became deficient because of them?

For this reason, Aotian did his utmost to remove the impurities and isolate them from the pill.

Slowly, the ingredients cooked at different temperatures, reaching their medicinal peak. Then, they were partitioned into precise measures and began to condense into spheres under his control.

When he felt everything was ready, Aotian opened the cauldron’s exhaust vents, and with a jet of black steam, the impurities were ejected.

He had only expelled them now because if he had done so earlier, the pressure could have interfered with the pill formation.

With a slap on the cauldron, the lid flew off, and with his spiritual energy, he gently placed it beside him.

With the same motion, twelve pills shot into the air. Aotian quickly controlled a jade bottle and caught them all.

He picked up one, examining it carefully.

The pill was small and light blue. It had no markings or engravings like the ones in the stories Aotian used to read—just a smooth, rounded surface that emitted subtle spiritual fluctuations.

Bringing it close to his nose, he inhaled its aroma. Then, he analyzed every side with careful attention. He circulated his spiritual energy to inspect it. Finally, he lightly scraped it with his nail and tasted it, closing his eyes in meditation.

‘No issues. Impressive quality. With my Qi Refinement level, I can’t detect any impurities. Of course, they exist, but with my current cultivation, they are beyond my perception. Unfortunately, the minds of my avatars within my body are limited to what I can perceive; otherwise, I could get a more precise analysis. Even so, not even a Founder-Tier alchemist should be able to craft a pill of this level so well.’

Aotian pondered for a moment. Then, without hesitation, he walked over to Rihai, stepping out of the formation, which rippled as he passed through.

Sitting at the edge of the bed, he wiped the sweat from her forehead and neck before speaking softly:

“Hai’er… I made a Spiritual Tranquility Pill. I don’t think you suffered internal injuries in the battle. Most likely, your spiritual energy is in turmoil for some reason. But even if I’m wrong, this pill will only calm your energy—it might allow me to examine your body with my own energy and find out what’s happening.”

Finishing his whisper, he gently pressed a kiss to her forehead.

Then, without hesitation, he placed the pill in her mouth, sealed her lips with a kiss, and gently pushed it deeper with his tongue to help her swallow.

As he pulled away from her lips, he held her hand with concern.

That night was a sleepless one for Aotian.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep