C99

Chen Jing stayed inside for more than an hour (which meant nearly two hours). The little girl was bored to death in the front yard, but she didn't dare to go in and look for her, nor did she dare to run out.

"You said that you'll be out soon, why …" The moment Chen Jing and the others came out, the little girl burst into tears. She was going to scold Chen Jing, but the moment she opened her mouth, all the grievances couldn't be stopped. She threw herself into Chen Jing's arms and began to cry sadly.

"Alright, stop crying. No one wants to …" Chen Jing did his best to dissuade the wronged Zhu Yinyin.

"Head senior brother, I will take my leave." While Chen Jing was comforting the little girl, Huang Zhibin was bidding farewell to the ten thousand swords.

"Ninth Junior Brother, it's rare for you to come back. Why don't you stay for a while before leaving?" The ten thousand swords said as they tried to pull him back.

"No, this trip was an accident. We've already wasted a lot of time, and we haven't settled things there. It's best that we return earlier." Huang Zhibin was concerned about the matter in the Southern Hill Estate, and he was anxious to return home as soon as possible.

"Then senior apprentice-brother, I won't be staying. Be careful on your way." Sword1 Ten Thousand Swords knew Huang Zhibin's heart very well.

"Junior Martial Brother Chen, Senior Martial Brother will take his leave. If there's a chance, you will definitely come to our Southern Hill's Upper Courtyard to visit." After bidding farewell to the ten thousand swords, Huang Zhibin cupped his hands towards Chen Jing and said.

"Senior-apprentice Brother Huang, there's no need to thank me for this great favor. Have a pleasant journey." Chen Jing was extremely grateful towards Huang Zhibin's kindness.

After Huang Zhibin left, the Thousand Sect Leader sent one of his disciples to escort Chen Jing and Zhu Yinyin to the outer sect. Along the way, the little girl asked curiously, "Big Brother Chen, why is Elder Huang calling you Junior Brother?" After the girl had a fight with Chen Jing, she no longer had any relations with him, so she addressed him as "Big Brother Chen".

"Little girl, this is a secret, but since you called me big brother, then I will only tell you one person. Your big brother Chen is a grand master undergoing heavenly tribulation, and is at the same level as Elder Huang." However, you must keep it a secret. " Wanjian Yi and Huang Zhibin had a junior brother named Chen Shouzhi who had died during the tribulation not long ago, so the news hadn't been made public yet. Therefore, Wanjian suggested that Chen Jing use the name of Chen Shouzhi to gain experience outside the sect.

"Junior Brother Chen, our outer court's emphasis on primary cultivation is different. We need to choose a corresponding courtyard, battalion, or class. I wonder what you'll choose as your primary cultivation?" At the Main Hall of the outer courtyard, because Myriad Swords had told Chen Jing in private that it was Thirteenth Junior Brother Chen Shouzhi, the outer courtyard Principal who had received them, Liu Changsheng, also addressed him as Junior Brother.

The structure of the outer court of Wu Dang was like that of a super university, and below it were the sword arts academies, blade arts academies, spear arts academies, magic arts academies, array formation academies, refining academies, and alchemy academies, and so on. It was exactly the same as the academies, departments, and departments in the university.

"Which one should I choose?" Chen Jing thought a bit too much. As a martial artist, most of them focused on killing, life and death, as well as fighting on the path of the sword and sabre. This was because during intense battles and life and death situations, it was often easier to understand the essence of the Dao! However, Chen Jing was not a butcher who liked to kill. His comprehension of the Dao of Taiji was not the way of fighting and killing, so it was not suitable for fierce battles and life or death situations.

Thus, Chen Jing shifted his attention to the serene and peaceful path of tea, flowers, formations, and pills. He thought of the < True Alchemy Scripture > that he had obtained, and the fact that refining pills required subtle and precise control of spiritual sense. Thus, Chen Jing decisively chose the Pill Institution.

There was one other important point. As the saying went, "Poor literature is rich and powerful." Honestly, this idiom was something that many people on Earth could not understand. After all, it was very easy to understand the word 'short' because even if one was poor and kept clattering, as long as one studied hard, they would still be able to achieve great things. However, many people did not understand the meaning of "martial arts". There were even people who racked their brains to come up with reasons such as nutrition, weapons, and even the medical fees for fighting and wounding, which were too far-fetched to explain. This was because back on Earth, where the spiritual energy was poor, martial arts training was just a matter of dancing the sword and making the stick, boxing and training the body. A poor boy had followed a poor master who lived in seclusion in the mountains for ten years, and after he was born, he was still a master of martial arts. As a result, many people think that the word "rich" has more water content.

Actually, the ancient people didn't have much of an idea to create this idiom. It was just that the later generations didn't understand it. To cultivation, there were two aspects: realm and cultivation. Although strength was determined mainly by cultivation, cultivation was equally or more important. If one's cultivation level was water, then one's realm would be the bucket to store water. Although people needed water, it was still the bucket's size that determined how much water they could store. Although on the surface, it seemed as if it had nothing to do with resources, it was not. For example, if Chen Jing had relied on just the small amount of enlightenment he had gained in his previous life, it might have taken him one or two years, ten or eight years, or even longer. However, relying on the top-grade treasure, the dao comprehension tea, he was able to obtain it almost instantaneously.

However, this kind of absorption was too slow, it required a long period of time to accumulate energy bit by bit. Unfortunately, a person's lifespan was indeed limited, so most people were unable to accumulate the amount needed to break through the next boundary (everyone could understand this point, or use a water bucket as an example, because in order to make the water in the small barrel flow into the large barrel, one would need to fill the small barrel with water, otherwise how big a barrel would be? Just like what was Chen Jing right now, although a few large barrels might have been prepared, it was only half a bucket of water, so the lifespan still wouldn't be more than that). Of course, this world isn't that simple. For example, if you have a terminal illness and want to go from Mianzhou to the capital to treat it, walking over there will take a month, but for someone like you, who only has half a month left, it's naturally impossible. But don't worry, we still have a shortcut, because you can go by car or by train, and then you'll only need more than a day.

But Zhang San, on the other hand, had only eaten a 1000-year-old ginseng and had achieved the same result. Although Zhang San had absorbed a small portion of the energy from the ginseng, but it was still comparable to years of hard practice, because the energy contained in the ginseng was absorbed and accumulated by that 1000-year-old ginseng! As he spoke of this, a problem had arisen. That was, how could he absorb even more energy from heavenly and earthly treasures? This was the reason why alchemy was so common. Through alchemist's refinement and concocting of heavenly materials, the amount of energy a cultivator could absorb would increase by several times, or even ten times, compared to eating raw food. Not only that, but the importance of alchemists was not limited to just that. The energy in treasures was naturally not pure enough. If one ate raw and absorbed too much of this energy, the energy within one's body would be impure. Honestly speaking, in the past when Patriarch Sanfeng used this method to reach the Universe level, it was all thanks to his heaven-defying talent. If it was an average person, they would most likely be crippled.

Chen Jing knew that he was broke, so he didn't believe that he had the same heaven-defying luck as those pigs in the fantasy novels, where he could take the majority of the treasures in the process of exploration. Then how could he obtain the massive amount of resources needed for his long cultivation path? Perhaps, becoming a supreme apothecary was the only path that he could take. Of course, Chen Jing was clear that the path of pills would not be smooth sailing. The journey ahead would definitely be filled with twists and turns and thorns. Otherwise, alchemists would not be so rare. Chen Jing had the confidence to face all the difficulties and dangers. Being afraid of the wolves and the tigers was not his character. After all, he had to face everything he had to face. The key was to choose a path that suited him.

Zhu Yinyin saw that Chen Jing wanted to follow him after choosing the Pill Dao Academy, so naturally, Chen Jing felt that it wasn't appropriate. After carefully analyzing her advantages, she finally chose the Mage Academy on Chen Jing's suggestion.

Of course, choosing the Pill Academy did not mean that you would be able to enter, but rather that you would have to pass the Pill Academy's examination. As for the Pill Academy's examination, it was naturally an examination of the ability or potential to concoct pills. Then, what was the actual ability or potential to concoct pills? First of all, you have to understand what pill refining is.

As previously mentioned, the thousand-year-old ginseng relied on endless years of absorbing and accumulating large amounts of energy. However, the ginseng's purpose of absorbing and accumulating energy was for its own further evolution, and not to provide energy to the person who ate it. Therefore, the types and attributes of the energy it absorbs and accumulates are compatible with its own needs. As a result, it is not easy for humans or other living creatures to absorb this energy. In addition, the majority of the energy contained within heavenly and earthly treasures was impure compared to humans. If it was absorbed directly into the body then there would be more or less side effects, a small amount would be fine, if there was more then it would be absolutely troublesome, just like a bucket of clear water. If dirty water was added, it would gradually become turbid, and a small amount would be barely enough. However, humans were smart (and so were other intelligent beings), so they continued to purify and modify the energy contained within heavenly and earthly treasures, making them purer and easier for humans to absorb. The job is to concoct pills or to refine drugs.

Pill refining usually consisted of three steps. The first step was to extract the energy from the heavenly and earthly treasures; the second was to purify them, remove the impurities, or separate the beneficial ingredients; and the third was to modify the medicinal properties to make them more soothing. The three processes may sound simple, but they were not that easy to execute. One needed the control of the fire element and precise control. To do this, one naturally had to have strong spiritual sense and precise control. Therefore, to become an outstanding alchemist, one must possess extremely strong mental strength …

Compared to the large academies with hundreds of thousands of people, the Pill Dao Academy only had a few hundred people. The first battalion was the largest, with over two hundred people. They were all Tier 1 alchemists and freshmen without rank. The second battalion was relatively fewer in number, but there were also more than a hundred of them. All of them were Tier 2 apothecaries. The Third Battalion had the least amount of people, only a few dozen people. However, they were all Tier 3 alchemists, and they were one of the most respected disciples of the outer sect.

In the 1st Battalion and the 2nd class, Alchemy Class were all unrated apprentices. If they could learn something, they would be able to master three Alchemy skills: Extraction, Refinement, and Conditioning. After refining a single pill, they would be able to enter the Alchemy Class. Generally speaking, because the purity and modification degree of the medicine concocted by an unranked apprentice was not enough, most of them were either liquid or paste, so they were called medicinal liquid or pills (The paste medicine could be twisted into balls), and this was the foreign medicine mentioned earlier. As the purity and modification degree of the medicinal pill increased, the medicinal pill would become crystal clear and could be said to be a product at this time. Normally, the crystal clear pill would only be low-grade, while mid-and high-grade pill would have pill patterns. Only those with 10% or less of the pill pattern would have a mid-grade, and more than 10% would be a high-grade pill. As for the top-grade pill, there were too many pill patterns. After entering the Alchemy Class, one could continue to practice and consolidate the skills of a Tier 1 alchemist while learning the skills of a Tier 2 alchemist. Once the pills were produced, the level would increase by 2 Battalions.

The Pill Academy's assessment had three parts. The first was to identify the medicinal properties, and to determine the age of the medicinal herbs. The main factor was the sensitivity of one's sense of smell. The second was to test the fine control of one's divine sense. This was very difficult because divine sense couldn't be released until it reached the Soul Formation stage, so one couldn't use divine sense to control anything. But divine sense control was too important to concoct pills, so he had no choice but to take it. How would he do so then? To put it plainly, it was very simple. Perhaps everyone had already guessed it, but it was Zhou Baitong's multitasking: his left hand was round and his right hand was right. If he could draw a circle in the air, then it would be considered a pass. The assessment method was to boil a pot of water on top of a stove, with the apprentice to control the temperature of the fire. It required the temperature of the water in the pot to reach the boiling point, and if the evaporation of less than 20% of the water after an hour, the test was passed.

After Chen Jing reported, he went through the examination under the guidance of a teacher from the Pill Academy called Luo Mingrui. Of course, this examination might be difficult for others, but for Chen Jing who was already proficient in using his spiritual sense, it was quite easy.