"...Are you full?"
Huang Zihuan asked the three children sitting at the table with grim expressions. They looked queasy despite having just woken up. It was day 7 since their lady started teaching about "raw materials from living things." The teaching process was filled with screams like torture. Even Dragon Queen, who'd never had problems with fresh things before, had flapped her small wings and fled to sit by the sea alone.
"Urp!" Mei Ying, who had the lowest tolerance, nearly threw up the bread she'd just eaten. She quickly pushed her plate away, afraid that looking at it any longer would make her do something embarrassing.
"Where's my lady, Uncle Huang?"
The children asked the elderly butler. Huang Zihuan was drying freshly washed dishes when he smiled and answered:
"My lady's preparing in the workshop. She said once you finish breakfast, you can come find her there."
All three felt a chill hearing the workshop mentioned. Memories from the past two weeks flooded back, making them tremble.
Dragon Queen quickly swallowed her grilled steak. She flapped her wings once and flew out through the balcony to the beach.
"I'll go watch that old man practice sword... when you're done, come find me."
She left those words callously. The three girls watched her go with tears in their eyes.
"...Good luck."
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.
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At Bai Fanxian's workshop, after some adjustments, people she permitted could now enter freely. As long as it had Bai Fanxian's qi nourishing it, the room would keep functioning.
Three little ones hid behind the door, watching Bai Fanxian standing with her back turned while preparing something on the table.
"...If you're here, come in."
Her normally sweet voice sounded frightening, making the children jump. Mei Ying, the oldest, stepped forward toward the young woman in the middle of the room.
"My lady..."
"Sit in your regular seats." Bai Fanxian's words were like a decree. All three quickly obeyed, sitting stiffly while waiting for what came next.
What they feared most was a test like the herbs. Except this time it involved even more pressure with the raw materials. Just thinking about having to chew a whole eyeball or swallow strange organs if they answered wrong—they were too scared to think straight.
The experiences this week were truly beyond description.
"Alright, today I'll teach you about alchemy cauldrons."
When Bai Fanxian finished speaking, three practice cauldrons floated out and placed themselves on the table, one each. These were the cauldrons they'd received on the first day and never touched since. Now they were finally here, ready to use.
"Huh?"
All three made confused sounds together.
They'd braced themselves for today's test, and now they stared at the cauldrons with strange feelings.
Did my lady forget?
"...I know what you're thinking." Bai Fanxian glanced at their faces and could already guess. She waved her hand once and many raw materials floated out to pile up front.
"But time's running short. Even though there are still raw materials like minerals and natural liquids..."
She made a slightly regretful expression at how limited the time was. Otherwise, she would've crammed those foundations into their heads so firmly they couldn't forget even if they tried, before letting them touch cauldrons.
Never mind. Mineral-type raw materials and liquids were mostly used for pills above Tier 2 anyway. For Tier 1 pills, clean water was enough.
She'd teach more once these children developed further.
Unexpectedly, just one sentence from Bai Fanxian completely changed their mood. The children perked up and started stroking the cauldrons on the table happily.
"I'll start then..."
Bai Fanxian's words were like a signal. Everyone focused intently, trying to memorize every word. Meanwhile, Huang Zihuan appeared from behind the door and started recording what his lady said.
"The alchemy cauldron is like another world."
The young woman began lecturing. At the same time, one practice cauldron floated from the floor and opened its lid. Bai Fanxian channeled qi down until it became visible to the naked eye.
"What's most important is complete balance inside the cauldron. There's a saying that the best cauldron has equal amounts of Yin and Yang—exactly half each. Because it's easiest to adjust the balance afterward."
Suddenly, two streams of qi appeared inside the cauldron, one hot and one cold, swirling like a spiral. But the moment that happened, the cauldron trembled slightly. Faint cracks appeared on its body. Bai Fanxian narrowed her eyes and reduced the Yang slightly. The balance returned to equilibrium.
"This cauldron has more Yang than Yin. If the qi you send in is half Yin and half Yang, combined with what's already in the cauldron, Yang immediately becomes higher than Yin. An excellent alchemist can analyze the best ratio for each pill, then adjust the cauldron's balance to suit that pill perfectly."
Bai Fanxian tossed in some raw materials—three or four items. Blue flames appeared below the cauldron. The moment those raw materials started melting and combining, her qi began merging with the pill. But the cauldron trembled again as a sign of explosion. Bai Fanxian sent the Yang she'd extracted earlier back in. The cauldron stopped trembling and returned to equilibrium.
"See? Balance isn't just the cauldron and your qi—it includes the raw materials and fire strength too. The raw materials I just added have very high Yin properties. So the balance was destroyed. I needed to add Yang qi back."
Bai Fanxian demonstrated slowly for the children watching intently. But Huang Zihuan observing from the side had trembling eyes. What she described sounded simple. But just controlling Yin and Yang amounts in the body was nearly impossible for ordinary cultivators!
That's why they needed fire control arts to help. Increasing or decreasing fire strength would also help adjust the balance forming in the cauldron.
Bai Fanxian demonstrated again by reducing Yang once more until the cauldron trembled. But this time, instead of adding qi, she increased the fire strength. The result was almost identical to her first demonstration.
Normally, what ordinary alchemists practiced was experimenting with appropriate balances for each pill. Instead of trying to adjust qi balance in their bodies—which was nearly impossible—they adjusted fire intensity until finding the right proportion.
So it wasn't strange that beginner alchemists blew up practice cauldrons—dozens per person.
"But you don't need to worry. For pills below Tier 3, except certain specialized ones, the balance range for successful refinement is quite wide. Even if your balance is off by twenty to thirty percent, you can still refine it perfectly..."
Bai Fanxian chose measurements from this era that people understood easily. Huang Zihuan, hearing this, couldn't help feeling curious.
"My lady, for Tier 4 pills, how much can the balance deviate?"
This was what they wanted to know most. Tier 4 alchemists were the dream of many in this era.
Bai Fanxian paused, calculated in her head, and answered:
"About five percent. That's the deviation tolerance before the attempt fails."
The old man quickly recorded it like treasure. But he felt somewhat concerned.
"...Does my lady know the proportion for pills higher than that?"
After asking, Huang Zihuan swallowed several times. It was a mysterious realm no one in this world had reached for far too long.
But Bai Fanxian laughed lightly. She glanced at her butler and answered without hiding anything:
"Three, two, and one... as for Tier 8 pills and above, there's no room for even a sliver of mistake."
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After the lesson period came actual practice. Dragon Queen, who'd been expecting screams of torment but heard nothing, flapped her small wings into the room to watch.
All three stood excitedly in front of their cauldrons.
Bai Fanxian watched and nodded. "...Today's assignment is a Tier 1 recovery pill. You've already memorized all the raw materials. Take them from the shelves in this row."
One corner of the room had been modified into multi-level shelves packed with entry-level raw materials that she'd had the Tang family procure until the crates were full.
She'd prepared them for the children to practice without worry, since she didn't have many low-level raw materials left.
"Green Grass, clean water, deep water plant root..."
All three recalled what they'd learned after looking at the raw materials Bai Fanxian wrote on the board. They hadn't memorized formulas yet, so they had to check the manual. But distinguishing and memorizing raw materials? No one their age could beat them. Even with several herbs and blood vials that looked almost identical, they could pick the right ones with just a sniff.
They gathered almost ten types of raw materials on the table. Bai Fanxian nodded with satisfaction. She'd truly trained all three well in this.
"Recovery pills at almost every level have neutral properties. So they're suitable for practice. Just try to manage the balance inside your cauldrons to be as centered between Yin and Yang as possible..."
Bai Fanxian explained to shorten the time. She wasn't about to waste time letting these children blow up four or five cauldrons before figuring it out. Whatever could be told upfront—just tell them. It was faster.
All three nodded. They lit the fires below and started setting up their cauldrons. Each raw material was added according to the manual. When it started boiling was when they'd start "adjusting balance" so the pill would refine into pellets.
At this step, even beginners usually succeeded by circulating qi and sending it into the cauldron—if it showed signs of exploding, just reduce the fire. This recovery pill with energy drink-like properties? About eight out of ten people succeeded.
But it seemed Bai Fanxian had forgotten something.
Boom!
Crack!
Hui'er's cauldron exploded the instant she sent qi in. No trembling or cracks as warning. As for Tang Yeye's cauldron—the entire thing was covered in ice until even the fire below extinguished instantly. Both girls froze as if their brains were processing too slowly.
As for Mei Ying, the moment she sent qi into the cauldron, she nearly collapsed. She gasped, her body swaying like she might faint. But all the processes in her cauldron remained smooth and safe.
Bai Fanxian stared at all three with vacant eyes. She didn't say anything until Huang Zihuan cleared his throat to break the awkward atmosphere.
...My lady had been so busy lately that she must have forgotten—
The qi in each of these children's bodies was nothing like ordinary people!