Chapter 7: First Level of Spiritual Master

Words : 1770 Updated : Mar 26th, 2026

He kept cultivating the method, forcing himself to condense Pill Fire… Time slipped by like water. In the blink of an eye, half a month had passed. "Hiss!" After fifteen days of bitter training, Archie Cutmore finally coaxed a tiny flame into being. The little flicker was only two fingers wide, brightening and dimming as if it might go out at any moment. Still, it meant he had taken his first real step as an alchemist. He pressed on while the momentum was hot. Another half month passed. The flame that had once been two fingers wide had grown into a fist-sized blaze. Heat rolled off it in waves, scorching the air until it snapped and crackled. "I can move on to the second step," Archie murmured. He set the cauldron in front of him and laid the three herbs he needed to one side. "Pill Fire, rise!" With a low shout, Archie's hands flashed through seals. A mass of Pill Fire gathered between his palms, and he pointed straight at the cauldron. "Whoosh!" The Pill Fire shot forward and plunged inside. The fist-sized flame swelled in an instant, turning into a roaring inferno. The temperature around him jumped by dozens of degrees. Following the pill recipe and the refining steps recorded in Basics of Alchemy, Archie tossed the three herbs in one by one. To refine pills, Pill Fire was not enough. An alchemist also needed a pill recipe. To an alchemist, pill recipes were priceless. High-grade recipes could be worth even more than powerful cultivation arts or martial techniques. As an introductory manual, Basics of Alchemy recorded only three basic recipes: the recipe for the low-tier, first-grade Fasting Pill; the recipe for the Rejuvenation Pill; and the recipe for the mid-tier, first-grade Energy Nurturing Pill. What Archie was refining was the simplest of them all, the Fasting Pill. "Pff!" The moment he dropped in the third herb, the Pill Fire surged violently and reduced everything inside to ash. His first attempt at pill refining had failed. Archie's expression stayed calm, without the slightest surprise. Refining pills was a craft built on repetition, just like training martial techniques. From beginner to competent to mastery, it all took time. If he had succeeded on the first try, that would have been shocking. He drew a slow breath, steadied himself, and began the second attempt… The three herbs required for the Fasting Pill were the lowest-grade first-rank materials, easy enough to find. On the outskirts of the Quirby Range, Archie had gathered several thousand immature herbs and seeds and planted them in the first-floor space of the pagoda. By then, they had all matured, more than enough for practice. Every time he failed, Archie summarized what went wrong. As the days passed, his experience grew richer and surer. Half a month later, after failing one hundred and sixty-six times, Archie finally succeeded in refining a Fasting Pill! He lifted the lid and took out a black pill from the cauldron. It was the Fasting Pill. He had succeeded, but the quality was poor. It was only a low-grade Fasting Pill. Pills were divided not only by rank, but also by quality. Based on potency and refinement, alchemists classified them into four tiers: low-grade, mid-grade, high-grade, and perfect-grade. A perfect-grade pill could unleash one hundred percent of its medicinal effect. A high-grade pill reached ninety percent. A mid-grade pill reached eighty percent. A low-grade pill only managed sixty percent. Between perfect-grade and low-grade alone, there was a full forty percent gap in potency. At that point, Archie could barely be considered a low-tier, first-grade alchemist. If he wanted to become a truly skilled one, he still had a long road ahead. And that was without even mentioning his real goal: becoming a mid-tier, first-grade alchemist capable of refining the Energy Nurturing Pill. After storing the Fasting Pill in a bottle, Archie's gaze returned to the cauldron. He continued condensing Pill Fire, refining Fasting Pills, and sharpening his skill… In the blink of an eye, three and a half months passed. During that time, Archie did not only practice the Fasting Pill. He also refined the Rejuvenation Pill, another low-tier, first-grade pill. When he had finally used up every last herb planted in the pagoda's first-floor space for the Fasting Pill and Rejuvenation Pill, his refining skill reached the peak of a low-tier, first-grade alchemist. He could produce perfect-grade Fasting Pills and perfect-grade Rejuvenation Pills. After resting briefly, Archie began attempting the Energy Nurturing Pill. "Pff!" The first attempt failed. The herbs all burned to ash. "Pff!" The second attempt failed. "Pff!" … As a mid-tier, first-grade pill, the Energy Nurturing Pill was far harder to refine and took far longer than the Fasting Pill or Rejuvenation Pill. Archie spent a full two months on it. After failing one hundred and twenty-one times, he finally succeeded in refining an Energy Nurturing Pill. Of course, the first one he produced was the lowest tier: a low-grade Energy Nurturing Pill. "I finally did it!" Archie stared at the freshly refined pill, joy surging through him. The herbs needed for the Energy Nurturing Pill were a bit more precious than those for the Fasting Pill and Rejuvenation Pill. On the outskirts of the Quirby Range, Archie had only managed to collect a few hundred immature herbs and seeds. After two months of consumption, only thirty sets of ingredients remained. He had failed one hundred and twenty-one times in a row and had already thought he would have to leave the pagoda's space to harvest more from the Quirby Range. He had not expected to break through today. Archie calmed himself, bottled the Energy Nurturing Pill, and continued refining. With the experience of his first success, the next rounds came easier. Out of the remaining thirty sets of ingredients, he succeeded twenty-one times and failed nine. Among the twenty-five Energy Nurturing Pills he refined, one barely reached mid-grade quality. "Haa…" After bottling all the Energy Nurturing Pills, Archie stood and stretched. From the moment he began condensing Pill Fire until then, he had trained for more than seven months. At last, he had become a mid-tier, first-grade alchemist. In those seven months, Archie had not cultivated his technique. Still, refining pills consumed not only spiritual energy, but also Soul Power. It also helped raise his realm. By then, his cultivation had advanced from the early stage of Eighth Level of Spiritual Warrior to the early stage of Ninth Level of Spiritual Warrior. After resting for half a day, he circulated Fire Cloud Art and resumed cultivation. With the Energy Nurturing Pills assisting him, his realm rose steadily… Time flew. In the blink of an eye, half a year passed. While cultivating, Archie suddenly opened his eyes. A dazzling glint flashed through them. "Break!" He roared, and his aura climbed higher and higher. "Crack!" With a faint sound like something shattering, his cultivation leapt from the late stage of Ninth Level of Spiritual Warrior to First Level of Spiritual Master!

Chapter 7: First Level of Spiritual Master

Comments (0)