Chapter 853, Primary and Secondary

After a while, Du Wan handed over the Saint Grade Low-Rank pill that Yang Kai had refined before.

This Saint Pill had previously been kept by the several Grandmasters, but now that Yang Kai was awake, Du Wan naturally returned it to him.

Yang Kai accepted it and gently grasped it, a thoughtful look soon appearing on his face.

Possibly because he had fully comprehended the True Alchemic Way, leading to a leap in his Alchemy skills, Yang Kai noticed that he could clearly feel all the details and nuances of the pill in his hand without even looking at it.

It was as if it was a part of him, a wondrous feeling.

“Right, I saw that at the last moment when you were refining this Saint Pill, you suddenly portrayed a large compound Spirit Array… Was that in some way related to producing Pill Veins?” Du Wan asked suddenly.

Yang Kai nodded lightly, “Indeed, the appearance of Pill Veins was thought to be a purely coincidental occurrence, but at that moment I thought there were actually some subtle ways to promote the probability of Pill Veins being born, hence why I used so many Spirit Arrays.”

“Promoting the probability of their appearance?” Du Wan’s eyes lit up and hurriedly asked, “How much can you improve that probability?”

If this method was really effective, then Alchemy across Tong Xuan Realm would undergo a sensational change. Being able to frequently refine pills that gave birth to Pill Veins would allow the value of Alchemy to multiply several times over.

However, Yang Kai smiled wryly and shook his head, “I can’t give you an answer to that question, all I can say is that it can improve the chances of Pill Veins appearing to some degree. I’ve yet to comprehend and understand everything related to this as well… En, some time ago I came across an ancient Saint Pill that allowed me to spy on some of the Alchemy techniques a Grandmaster from long ago used. I hadn’t expected those techniques were actually to promote the appearance of Pill Veins.”

“A Saint Pill left over from ancient times?” Du Wan’s expression became solemn, “How did you know that Saint Pill came from a previous era?”

“Because it did not have Pill Veins… but a Pill Cloud. Through the condensation of its medicinal efficacies, I could infer that it had existed for at least a few thousand years!”

Du Wan inhaled sharply, his eyes flas.h.i.+ng brightly, “A Saint Pill with a Pill Cloud? Where is it now? Can you let me see it?”

Yang Kai scratched his head awkwardly and muttered, “I ate it.”

“Y… you… ate it?” Du Wan was stunned.

“I nearly exploded as a result!” Yang Kai smiled bitterly, thinking back to the scene when he had swallowed that ancient Saint Pill. It was truly a rash move, but thanks to consuming that ancient Saint Pill, his Five Coloured Soul Warming Lotus had finally evolved into a six coloured one.

“Such a waste of Heaven’s gifts!” Du Wan stood up and shouted angrily, “A Saint Pill that had given birth to a Pill Cloud was eaten just like that by you? How could you…. the nerve!”

Du Wan didn’t hold back, vehemently scolding Yang Kai for wasting such a precious treasure.

It wasn’t that Yang Kai couldn’t understand Du Wan’s mood. When one’s knowledge of Alchemy reached a certain height, they would be able to comprehend some of the methods and techniques another Alchemist used by examining their finished works, even possibly uncovering many long-lost Alchemy mysteries.

At the time, Yang Kai had similar thoughts, hence his decision to swallow the ancient Saint Pill in order to examine it while refining it.

It was no surprise that Du Wan became angry when he learned about this.

After ranting indignantly for a while, Du Wan took a deep breath and steadied himself, saying, “Fortunately your luck was good, or there wouldn’t be a Yang Kai today.”

Pill Clouds and Pill Veins were fundamentally different. Pill Veins could only guarantee that a pill could retain its full efficacy indefinitely, but a Pill Cloud would allow any pill to slowly absorb the surrounding World Energy, thus increasing its efficacy over time.

An ancient Saint Pill from thousands of years ago which had been nourished by its Pill Cloud would have condensed an unfathomable amount of medicinal energy.

Yang Kai not dying in a violent explosion after swallowing it was already a miracle.

“What exactly did you realize from that ancient Saint Pill?” Du Wan asked eagerly.

“That Pill Cloud… it had some traces of being artificially produced, that’s why when I was performing Alchemy a few days ago I took those actions. Looking back now, it seems that Pill Veins and Pill Cloud can really be artificially induced, even if the probability of producing them is still somewhat small,” Yang Kai frowned.

“Any increase in probability is good,” Du Wan’s immediately said, quickly following up, “You must study this method well. If you can one day fully comprehend it, it will have a huge impact on the entire Alchemy world. If you need any a.s.sistance, don’t hesitate to ask, this old man will do everything in his power to help.”

“Then I must thank Old Man Du in advance, I will most likely be troubling you in the future,” Yang Kai replied honestly.

“Right,” Du Wan suddenly remembered something, reaching down and sifting through his Universe Bag, a moment later pulling out a golden token and handing it over, “This is your new ident.i.ty token, the original one only recorded you as being a Spirit Grade Low-Rank Alchemist, right? Now that you are a Saint Grade Alchemist, you’ll have to change it.”

“No, Old Man Du… I don’t care about such things.”

Du Wan smiled at him knowingly and said, “I know that you don’t care about such formalities, but as the Manager of Grand Boulder City’s Alchemist Guild Branch, it is my responsibility to hand this token to you. En, if you agree, I’d actually like to report this to the guild’s headquarters! When those old stick in the mud learn there’s such a young Saint Grade Alchemist here, won’t their eyes pop out of their sockets?”

As if he could already see those people’s reactions, Du Wan smiled very cheerfully.

“Old Man Du, is there any way you can not report this?” Yang Kai bitterly said, “While high-level Alchemists indeed receive much respect and privilege, it’s also accompaniee by a lot of trouble… I don’t want people bothering me each day seeking Alchemy services.”

Du Wan’s expression became solemn hearing this and after a moment let out a long sigh, “I must ask you something, and I hope you will answer honestly.”

Seeing Old Man Du suddenly turn so serious, Yang Kai couldn’t help also become so, nodding, “Old Man Du, please.”

“Have you really not thought about dedicating your life to the pursuit of Alchemy?” Du Wan asked almost forlornly, “Seeing your recent performance, I believe you will one day reach even Old Man Li’s height in the Alchemic Dao. I don’t wish to see such Heaven defying apt.i.tude buried in vain.”

Yang Kai smiled and firmly shook his head firmly, “Old Man Du… You and I are not strangers, so I won’t try to gloss over this. I told you once before, what I pursue is the peak of the Martial Dao, Alchemy is only an auxiliary in that pursuit… today, I still hold that same belief, which one is primary and which one is secondary cannot be confused.”

Du Wan’s expression dimmed slightly, seemingly somewhat saddened.

“However… studying Alchemy has brought me tremendous benefits and a.s.sisted me greatly in my pursuit of the Martial Dao, so in the future, as I cultivate the Martial Dao, I won’t slack in my study of the Alchemic Dao.”

Du Wan frowned and sighed, “When one studies two different paths, one is destined to be the main while the other the branch… But you are still young and have infinite possibilities ahead of you. En, good, this old man will do his best to live on to see if, while majoring in the Martial Dao, you can reach the pinnacle of Alchemy as well!”

Speaking these words, it was as if a knot in his heart was untied, allowing Old Man Du to let out a hearty laugh.

Yang Kai also grinned and nodded, “Then I must ask Old Man Du to wait and see.”

“En,” Du Wan gently nodded, “I won’t report your promotion to the Guild Headquarters, but in exchange you must promise me a request.”

“What request?”

“You’ve met Wu’er, yes?” Du Wan did not answer immediately.

Yang Kai nodded.

“What do you think of her?”

“Her apt.i.tude is good, whether it is cultivation or Alchemy, she is far above average.”

Du Wan chuckled happily, “En, in my Alchemist Guild Branch, there are very few of us; not long ago, it was just Ye Xiong and Mi Na accompanying this old man. Ye Xiong is a little dull, but if there is enough opportunity in this life, he can still improve, even possibly becoming a Saint Grade Low-Rank Alchemist. Mi Na is better than her master, but her future achievements are still likely limited. Without some life changing encounter, she won’t be able to surpa.s.s this old man… but about Wu’er, I am very optimistic.”

“The meaning of Old Man Du is…”

“Heh heh, if you have free time, I hope you can grant Wu’er some guidance. If your Alchemy skills were by chance buried and lost, this old man would die from regret.”

“Old Man Du is too serious.” Yang Kai quickly said.

“This old man can take responsibility and let Wu’er wors.h.i.+p you as her master, what do you think?”

Yang Kai was dumbfounded, “Old Man Du, like you said, I am still young and immature, how could I be qualified to take on a disciple? Also, I have many matters I need to attend to and won’t be able to dedicate a lot of time to caring for and raising her. I think it best if we go with your original thought and I simply provide her with some guidance from time to time.”

“Well… fine, this old man won’t force you.”

Du Wan making such a proposal was understandable to Yang Kai. As a cultivator who frequently ran around outside, his life was accompanied by many dangers. If one day Yang Kai was to accidentally die, all the Alchemy knowledge he had mastered would also fade from existence.

Old Man Du definitely didn’t want to see such a result.

Therefore, he had asked Yang Kai to teach Wu’er.

After agreeing to Old Man Du’s request, Yang Kai wasn’t in a hurry to return to Soaring Heaven Sect, so he asked Mi Na to send a message to the Sect saying he would be staying in the Alchemist Guild for a while.

He too needed to upgrade his Alchemy proficiency, as he was just a small step away from becoming a Saint Grade Mid-Rank Alchemist.

Time pa.s.sed by quickly as he spent his following days together with Mi Na and Wu’er.

Everything he had grasped about Alchemy he shared freely with the two girls, allowing Mi Na and Wu’er’s skills to grow rapidly.

From time to time, even Ye Xiong would shamelessly join in on Yang Kai’s lectures.

However, Yang Kai was surprised to find that the Spirit Arrays which he could quickly comprehend were actually quite difficult for others to grasp, even if he was there to personally guide them through it.

After thinking about it though, Yang Kai understood.

The reason he could so easily grasp these concepts was naturally because the True Alchemic Way had been directly branded into his Knowledge Sea, all of its mysteries and wonders available for him to review and study at a glance. Others were different, they had to learn everything from scratch.

Wu’er was the best of the three; after all, the time she had been exposed to Alchemy was the least so her ability to learn and accept new things was quite good. Mi Na was also quite flexible in this regard and learned nearly as quickly. Ye Xiong, on the other hand was another story, sometimes, even after hearing things explained multiple times and ways, he couldn’t comprehend them.

After such things happened two or three times, Ye Xiong was too embarra.s.sed to return again.

As time went by, Wu’er’s att.i.tude toward Yang Kai also gradually changed, going all the way from hostile to fondness and eventually reaching something akin to wors.h.i.+p.

The little girl was lively and energetic, seemingly bursting with enthusiasm the whole day long, many ideas and insights popping out of her head as she voraciously learned. There were even times when some of her casual words allowed Yang Kai to gain something.