Cultivation: I Have Studied Abroad in the Modern World

It's important to let the Qingmu Sect feel the pressure.

To be honest, Zhao Jingfan had never seen the entire Qingmu Sect work together in unity before; even when the Great Freedom Demon Ancestor attacked, some people were still trying to muddle through and hold each other back.

But surprisingly, due to Zheng Fa's project, they began to unite as one...

Seeing Zheng Fa staring at him with a somewhat fearful look, he found it amusing:

It wasn't intentional on his part either.

But when it comes to competitiveness, once the atmosphere is right, it doesn't change with a person's will.

He was pleased to see the efforts of the Qingmu Sect bear fruit.

As the saying goes, Qingmu works hard today, and Zheng Fa will form a Nascent Soul tomorrow.

Everyone was very happy.

Zheng Fa pointed at the group of Foundation Establishment disciples and asked, "How are they doing with the spell learning?"

"After breaking it down, it indeed became a lot simpler..." Zhao Jingfan looked at the dozen disciples and sighed, "I just learned how you produce outer elixirs."

"Compared to making outer elixirs, the difficulty of these spirit pills is not high."

Zheng Fa looked at those disciples with satisfaction, a hint of pride in his eyes.

Most of these disciples have undergone the "Golden Core Project" and are familiar with this assembly line style of alchemy.

The outer elixir is somewhat related to alchemy methods.

As Zhao Jingfan said, in terms of difficulty, outer elixirs are actually more challenging than these Golden Core Stage spirit pills.

Thus, just in the learning of spells, these Foundation Establishment disciples from the second spirit pill experiment group didn't encounter any particularly difficult problems.

Their difficulties were the same as Elder Xiong's and the others'—insufficient efficacy and too much pill toxicity.

"Has Lady Xuanhua sent the new pill furnace?"

"Received!"

A disciple quickly responded.

Then a brand-new alchemy furnace was moved into the alchemy room.

The furnace looked quite similar to the previous ones, except its surface was covered with many new runes.

Most noticeable was a transparent glazed section on the furnace's belly, allowing one to see inside.

"What is this for?"

"Observation. Our data is still insufficient and not detailed enough." Zheng Fa explained while nodding to the disciples, indicating for them to begin.

Zhao Jingfan stood aside, watching the disciples skillfully form spells, ignite the spiritual fire, and through the glazed section, he saw the Five Elements Orchid and other herbs enter the furnace's belly, slowly burning or melting.

Then, he noticed some numbers and curves on the glaze that he couldn't understand.

"What is this..."

Zheng Fa, not intending to hide it, smiled and said:

"I know too little about alchemy, so I could only simplify the process. In the end, I think alchemy is nothing more than raw materials and environment."

"As for secret techniques, they are merely methods of altering the environment."

"So what's on here?" Zhao Jingfan listened, finding some sense in it, at least as a Foundation Establishment Pill Master; he couldn't spot many flaws and curiously asked.

"We already understand the raw materials. Even how to mix them, how they react, Elder Xiong helped us perfect a general idea."

"At least, according to Xuanhua's validation, this path is feasible."

Zhao Jingfan listened, understanding Zheng Fa's meaning: "So now we just need to consider the environment?"

"It's not just that; it's more that currently, we can only make progress on the environment aspect," Zheng Fa modestly said, pointing to the glaze, explaining, "On here, we've gathered several environmental data points."

"Temperature, pressure inside the furnace."

This was something he learned in a chemistry class.

"And the spiritual energy scanner."

This is to control the concentration of spiritual energy in the furnace, as the biggest difference between alchemy in the Xuanwei Realm and modern chemistry lies in the presence of spiritual energy.

The concentration of spiritual energy is perhaps the most crucial environmental variable in Xuanwei Realm's alchemy.

"Lastly, there's the Microscopic Array."

"Combined with the Void Spirit Eye, it can observe the types of spiritual energy inside and clarify the reactions inside the furnace under different environments."

Zheng Fa explained simply, and Zhao Jingfan quickly understood, furrowing his brow and questioning:

"Will this work?"

Zheng Fa gently shook his head, watching the pills gradually form in the furnace:

"This is merely a hypothesis about the Alchemy Dao."

"As for whether the hypothesis is correct... I don't know either."

Zhao Jingfan understood; in terms of alchemy, the Jiushan Sect couldn't compare to the Qingmu Sect even slightly.

So they had to find a new path, a new framework, but Zheng Fa wasn't entirely confident; it seemed there was a bit of luck involved.

That's why the Qingmu Sect needed to continue on its established path.

Soon, he realized... Zheng Fa might be too modest!

The disciples of Jiushan Sect aren't relying on luck!

"Sect Leader!"

Zheng Fa looked at the few spirit pills in the furnace, instructing, "Send these to Lady Xuanhua and Jiao Wuji for validation, and proceed to the next batch."

"Yes!"

Watching the disciples leave, Zhao Jingfan curiously glanced at the experiment records.

"...Is this repeating a Great Elder's alchemy?"

"Elder Xiong has practiced almost a hundred times, with two instances particularly noteworthy."

Zheng Fa handed him a thick experiment record and explained:

"The thirty-seventh attempt had the strongest medicinal effects."

"The one hundred and fifty-second attempt, although not strong in effects, had the weakest pill toxicity."

"Our experiment is based on these two attempts."

Zhao Jingfan flipped through the records, his mouth widening in disbelief:

"Did you even record the Great Elder yawning?"

"Could my eye-rubbing be the reason for that failure?"

"You record everything!"

Zheng Fa chuckled, feeling a bit embarrassed; they recorded much more than Zhao Jingfan could see, which was just the tip of the iceberg.