chapter 8 Alchemy ===

Verdantius Liu retracted his palm, took a step back, and landed lightly outside the circle. The killing intent in his eyes flashed and disappeared, and Viridius Tie was spared. "What happened? Why are you fighting privately!" Silvianus Xu's command forbade fighting within the family, and although there were some small grievances among them, people rarely resorted to violence. As the head of the family, his daily life was taken care of by others. He rarely visited places like the dining hall, and the conflicts among the servants were even less known to him. "Master, please speak up for me!" Viridius Tie suddenly knelt in front of Silvianus Xu, crying with a voice that tore through the air. The tears, the size of beans, really fell, making many people present twitch at the corners of their eyes. "Speak up. If Verdantius did something wrong, I will punish him." In front of outsiders, especially servants, Silvianus Xu was biased, and his demands on Verdantius Liu were even more stringent. The onlookers showed a hint of a malicious smile. Looking at Verdantius Liu, many had a sympathetic look. He was bound to endure Silvianus Xu's anger next. "Recently, the dining hall is short of tables and chairs. I temporarily used the chairs my uncle used. He doesn't understand our good intentions and even spoke ill of us, leading to a physical confrontation. Please investigate, Master." Viridius Tie's words made the killing intent in Verdantius Liu's eyes gather again, forming a straight line that fell on Viridius Tie. Facing Verdantius Liu's terrifying gaze, Viridius Tie shrank his neck in fear. When did this waste's gaze become so sharp? "Is what he said true?" Silvianus Xu swept his gaze over the others, seeking confirmation. If what Viridius Tie said was true, he would not easily forgive Verdantius Liu. "What Viridius Tie said is true. To save expenses, we've been making do with tables and chairs. We hope the Master can understand our good intentions." Several other servants from the dining hall ran out and echoed Viridius Tie. No one stood up to speak for Verdantius Liu, indicating the low status of the original owner of this body in the Xu family. "Don't worry; I will speak for you. You've been considerate; go and treat your injuries first." Silvianus Xu couldn't help but notice that there were many unused tables and chairs around. After comforting them, he looked at Verdantius Liu and glared at him fiercely. "You, come with me!" Swinging his sleeves, he left the dining hall, and Verdantius Liu had no choice but to follow. If there was someone he respected the most in the entire Jinmu continent, it was Silvianus Xu, who had raised him as if he were his own parents. No one spoke until they left the dining hall and stood in a small pavilion where no one was around. Silvianus Xu finally looked at Verdantius Liu. "It's been hard for you these years. From now on, dine with us." Verdantius Liu thought his father-in-law would scold him, but to his surprise, there was no scolding at all. Instead, Silvianus Xu showed a hint of affectionate smile. As a cultivator in the Cleansing Spirit Realm, he couldn't even tell truth from falsehood. It was a waste to live for so many years. "Aren't you scolding me?" Looking puzzled, usually, in such situations, his father-in-law would scold him severely, even putting him in confinement. "You've married Valerrie, you're an adult now. I can't scold you like before. I'll investigate today's matter, and if you've done wrong, I will punish you. Your talent is not outstanding, but you can rely on hard work. The family has had too many things happen recently, and I don't have time to take care of you temporarily. You need to take care of yourself. If Brother Liu comes back, I also have an explanation for him." Silvianus Xu said meaningfully, mentioning Brother Liu with a trace of respect in his eyes. Originally, Verdantius Liu had some anger in his heart. He had wanted to kill Viridius Tie, but Silvianus Xu's words made him show a bitter smile. As an Immortal Emperor, when did he start having such petty quarrels with ants? "Father-in-law, is the matter with the weapons resolved?" Verdantius Liu rarely intervened in the internal affairs of the Xu family, but if needed, he didn't mind helping. "Don't worry about that; I will figure something out. It's late; you should rest. I'll arrange for someone to bring food to you." The father-in-law and son-in-law separated, and Verdantius Liu returned to his courtyard to continue practicing his knife skills. The meals were personally delivered by the steward, consisting of delicious dishes. After finishing his meal, Verdantius Liu sat cross-legged to cultivate the The God Swallow formula of Tai Huang until late at night when he finally stopped. "It's time to refine the Spirit Elixir!" After half an hour of rest, with his aura evenly balanced, any mistake during alchemy was unacceptable. He hated being disturbed during alchemy, and so he waited until the deep night to begin. The dry wood emitted a cracking sound as the flames burned vigorously. A true alchemist needed to seek out the unique fire of heaven and earth. In his past life, Verdantius Liu obtained the rare Samadhi True Fire. Ordinary flames were used to refine second-grade pills, but only Verdantius Liu dared to do so. Master Huo, in the alchemy process, relied on alchemical fire. Each medicinal ingredient was thrown in, undergo refinement in the tempered body liquid. With much proficiency in technique, controlling the true energy to manipulate the flames, the ingredients dissolved rapidly, releasing a rich herbal scent. Verdantius Liu sat by the alchemical furnace, cultivating while manipulating the flames. He effortlessly controlled the God Swallow tripod, causing several extra drops of liquid to emerge. These liquids already possessed the strength to impact the barrier of the Sixth Stage of the acquired Realm. Once this batch of refined pills was completed, he could use the power of the Spirit Elixir to break through his realm. Every ten minutes or so, different medicinal ingredients were added, a few pieces of wood were thrown in, and the flames sizzled. Verdantius Liu's hands moved like fans, gently swaying, making the flames come alive. It was as if a flame phoenix was flapping its wings, dancing gracefully with his hand movements. If other alchemists saw this, they would be terrified. Achieving such mastery in controlling fire at the fourth stage of the acquired Realm was beyond even Master Huo's reach. An hour passed, and a strong fragrance emanated from the furnace. The first batch of Spirit Elixirs was about to be completed. Due to the unfamiliarity with the technique, a faint burnt smell wafted from the furnace, indicating the appearance of a few waste pills. To achieve such results on the first attempt was already shocking. Standing up, a powerful true energy shot out from his palm, causing the flames to suddenly surge, enveloping the entire furnace. This was a critical moment. "Condense the pill!" No matter how well the preliminary work was done, failure in the final step would still lead to failure. Many alchemists failed at this last step - successfully purifying the medicinal ingredients but unable to condense the pill. The requirements for the fire in this step were extremely strict. Verdantius Liu had refined countless pills, and these common pills didn't pose a challenge to him. "Seal!" Suddenly, the flames disappeared in an instant. The rich medicinal fragrance emanated from the furnace, filling the entire courtyard. Opening the furnace cover, there lay twenty Spirit Elixirs, along with five turning brown, indicating waste pills that couldn't be used. He took out a prepared porcelain bottle, stored the good pills inside, and didn't discard the waste pills. They could be further purified and used as food for some spiritual beasts. "Let's stop here for today. Once I break through the fifth stage of the acquired Realm, the speed of refining and the success rate will increase." Returning to the room, he poured out a Spirit Elixir, placed it in his palm, and rolled it around. Its fragrance was more than ten times higher in value than the Peddling Essence Pill and Heart Nurturing Pill on the market. It contained a trace of spiritual energy. Swallowing it in one gulp, a powerful energy surged through his meridians. Each acupoint absorbed the energy frantically, and his realm was on the verge of a breakthrough. Without hesitation, the few drops of liquid condensed in the God Swallow tripod were poured out, and his realm began to ascend. The God Swallow formula of Tai Huang operated wildly, the spiritual energy in the courtyard gathered again but still couldn't meet the demand. The spiritual energy from other courtyards was continuously drained. Almost like a liquid, the spiritual energy was sucked in by Verdantius Liu, entering his abdomen. "Crack, crack, crack..." Sounds of cracking came from his body, like hatching chicks breaking out of their shells. A certain acupoint in his body was opened, and his realm suddenly soared, breaking through to the postnatal fifth stage. For the whole night, Verdantius Liu practiced. His realm ascended to the peak of the fifth stage of acquired realm, but he didn't hurry to continue the breakthrough. The foundation was essential. Having been transformed by the mysterious liquid, his physical body was already pure and unblemished. Continuous breakthroughs to the ninth stage of acquired realm were no problem, but he wasn't in a hurry. He refined it bit by bit. The better he polished the acquired realm, the higher his future achievements would be. When breaking through to the innate realm, there would be no time to polish. It was like a house already built; trying to reinforce the foundation later would miss the optimal timing. The night quickly passed. Opening his eyes, two vortexes appeared before him, and the spiritual energy in the room suddenly dissipated, returning to tranquility. In the courtyard, familiarizing himself with the new realm, he drew his long knife and continued the practice - draw the knife, cut, retract the knife. Repeating this process over and over again, he didn't find it monotonous. Practicing the knife was similar to polishing the body in the acquired realm - the foundation was crucial. With the same set of martial techniques, when displayed by a hundred people, it resulted in a hundred different effects. The more stable the foundation, the more proficient the knife technique. "No, this knife is too light, and the length doesn't suit me. It seems I have to find a suitable long knife." Giving up on practicing the knife, the current long knife in his hand, both in curvature and weight, was significantly different from the Blood siphon method he cultivated. A weapon must be handy to unleash its maximum combat power. As the day broke, the family's weapon shop hadn't opened yet. Verdantius Liu fetched some clean water, poured it into the tempering liquid, dived in, and continued practicing. The strength of the physical body was still ascending. Although his realm was only the fifth stage of acquired realm, the strength of his physical body had long been comparable to the ninth stage. With the Blood siphon method, no one except for those in the prenatal realm was his match. Not until the tempering liquid was almost depleted did he emerge from the wooden barrel. He took a simple bite of last night's leftovers, changed into clean clothes, left the Xu family, and headed to the weapon workshop.