Chapter 109 Alchemy
Mira and Maria now added the Training Grounds to their daily routine. Training their bodies is now extremely important since their bodies need to be incomparably stronger compared to others at the same level. It's even more important than cultivating since they won't be able to cultivate without a strong enough body.
Even though this was the case, both of them knew that the Training Grounds could only bring them so far. They might be able to utilize for a year or two, they'll have to look for other ways to temper their body after that.
Mira also thought about finding a quicker way of making themselves stronger, but she didn't want to completely disregard something that was made to make them stronger. Even if it does make them a bit stronger.
Time passed by quickly as they trained, sparred, and cultivated nonstop until the next class. A few days later it was time for class.
After everyone made it into the classroom like usual, Elder Kendra walked up to the front.
"Hello, Disciples. Today I'll be going over one of the four main jobs that cultivators usually learn, Alchemy. Alchemy is one of the most popular and well-known professions out there. The reason for this is that alchemists make more money than any other profession. But this doesn't mean it's easy, in fact, alchemy is the hardest profession and very few are able to progress that far in it."
"Alchemists are separated in Ranks from 1 through 10. A Rank 1 alchemist can make a Rank 1 Pill and so on. Pills are also separated into Ranks 1 through 10 and are further separated into 4 Stages for each Rank, Low, Mid, Late, and Peak. These 4 stages don't determine how strong the pill is, only it's quality and efficiency. I see some of you are confused so let me explain a bit more."
"The 4 stages represent the quality of the pill, or how many imperfections and impurities are contained in the pill. A Low-Stage Pill can only bring out 10% efficiency of the Pill, Mid-Stage can bring out 50%, Late-Stage can bring out 75%, and Peak-Stage can bring out 100% efficiency of the pill. This can also translate to cultivation as well. Let's take an Early-Houtian Foundation Realm cultivator for example along with a Rank 4 Pill. A Low-Stage Rank 4 pill would still be effective for this cultivator as the 10% efficiency would bring some of the desired results that the cultivator is looking for. But this pill would be useless for someone in the Mid-Houtian Foundation Realm as the pill's quality is too low for it to be of use. But a Mid-Stage Rank 4 Pill would work just fine."
"The higher the quality of the pill, the harder it is to make. This is also one of the reasons why it's so hard to advance in cultivation as these pills also become harder and harder to make the higher in Rank you get. But I'll let you know one thing, Rank 1 and 2 Pills are essentially useless if they aren't at the Peak-Stage so normally we just refer them to Rank 1 and Rank 2 pills as only Peak-Stage Rank 1 and Rank 2 pills are sold."
"Now that you know a bit more about the ranking, let me explain what pills can do. They can boost cultivation, heal wounds, cure poison, purify your body, strengthen your body, increase your strength for a short period of time, increase your beauty, and more. But you can't just grab some random materials and cook them together and get a pill. Most pills have recipes. These recipes contain the materials needed and also the process for making a pill. But pill recipes are the life-blood of an alchemist so trying to get an alchemist to share his or her recipes is incredibly difficult unless they're teaching you. But this is not always the case as there are plenty of pill recipes that can be considered common knowledge."
Mira had stopped listening at this point. She does not want to be an alchemist. Sure they can make a lot of money, but talent plays a huge part in learning. Mira does not have the talent to be an alchemist, nor does she want to look for every opportunity to find Pill Recipes. All of her time would be spent trying to be an alchemist instead of getting stronger. She'd rather do something that isn't so time-consuming.
Elder Kendra continued explaining things about alchemists. Like how there is an Alchemist guild that is one of the biggest organizations in the world. The Elder said that the Alchemist Guild reaches every continent and has a branch in almost every major city on each continent. Lunar Fox City also has an Alchemist Guild.
She then demonstrated how one would perform alchemy. She said that it's easier for someone with a Fire Affinity to be an alchemist since they can control the flame better, but it's not uncommon for those without a Fire Affinity to be alchemists too.
Elder Kendra just demonstrated her skills in alchemy and made a Rank 2 Rejuvenation Pill for the class. Not many people were marveled by the performance other than Maria as she's never seen someone make a pill before.
"Although Alchemy isn't as complex as things like Arrays or Inscriptions, the reason it's so difficult is the meticulousness that goes into Pill-Making. One small mishap could ruin the pill. But don't let this scare you away from trying to learn alchemy. If you have the necessary talent and resources, becoming a great alchemist is within your grasp. Class dismissed!" Elder Kendra ended the class with that.
She had barely even scratched the surface of Alchemy and some disciples left feeling a little dissatisfied.
"Mira, what profession would you pick? Do you want to be an alchemist?" Maria turned and asked Mira as they walked out.
"I do not want to be an alchemist. If I had to pick one, I'd say Forging or Inscriptions. Alchemy is too time consuming and boring, not to mention having to memorize all of those pill recipes and creating high-quality pills. I might as well kill myself now if I became an Alchemist. Arrays are too confusing and require immense knowledge and lots of time. Forging is rather simple compared to the other professions and inscriptions are great for enhancing things." Mira answered back.
"I see! Well, I kind of want to be an alchemist! When I watched the Elder making that pill, I could tell when the other ingredients needed to be put in or when they needed to cool or heat up. And the Elder would always do what I felt needed to be done right afterward. I think I might have some talent in this field!!" Maira said with bright eyes as she clenched her fists. Mira just looked at her strangely.
"If that's how you feel, then you should go look for someone to teach you. Alchemists are very valuable and sought after. Killing an Alchemist will generally make you the number one public enemy as alchemists help people get stronger. The likelihood of you dying for some stupid reason may drop significantly." Mira slightly encouraged Maria to go for it. If Maria could become an Alchemist then she wouldn't have to pay for their ridiculous prices when searching for a specific pill. Mira also knew that it wouldn't be long before she needed to start purchasing pills from alchemists to get stronger.
Maria's eyes brightened even more as now she seemed to radiate a blinding golden light when Mira encouraged her to do it.
"Hehe! Now I'm even more fired up to become an Alchemist! That was the first time you encouraged me to do something without beating me up first! If I don't become an alchemist, then I'd be disgracing your thoughts of me! Alright! I will go find myself a master!" Maria said as she was about to run off, but Mira stopped her.
"Do it later. We have to cultivate. Also, I'm sure that won't be the only class that will be about Alchemy. I'm sure that Elder Kendra will bring in people that are accepting Disciples or something later on. Just be patient." Mira said as she dragged her to the cultivation cave. Mira also turned out to be right.
Several more weeks went by as both of them kept training, cultivating, and teaching the unarmed combat class. Also, the classes with Elder Kendra were all about alchemy.
Though Mira didn't care about any of this and just cultivated throughout the class. Most of what Elder Kendra did during class is make pills and provide a commentary as she was making them. Sometimes she would have students interested in alchemy come up and give it a try as she walked them through what to do.
Maria of course would always volunteer and was actually quite skilled. She got the basics down relatively fast and the only thing she was missing is experience and knowledge.
And finally, on the fourth class about alchemy, other Elders entered the classroom to watch the disciples make their own pills. There were a total of 35 disciples that wanted to be alchemist, but only around of these people would have the opportunity to be picked.
These 35 disciples all went up to demonstrate their skills. Some failing to make a pill, some showing decent talent, and some were able to successfully make a Low-Stage Rank 2 Pill. This is rather good considering they've only spent a few hours total over the last month. Maria was last and was actually able to make a Late-Stage Rank 2 Pill. Maria was almost a Rank 2 Alchemist right off the bat. All of the Elders in the room wanted her, but Maria had her own thoughts.
There were around 6 disciples this time that found an Elder to teach them, but Maria still hasn't decided. But all of a sudden she pointed at Elder Kendra.
"I want you to teach me alchemy!" Maria declared which shocked everyone. The disciples didn't even know that Elder Kendra was a candidate, while the other Elders gave up on trying to get Maria.
"Why do you think my profession is Alchemy? I could've just learned this stuff to demonstrate to the class." Elder Kendra said with a smile.
"Eh? No way! You making pills gives me the same feeling as when I'm sparring with Mira. You seem incredibly skilled in this area." Maria explained and Elder Kendra's smile grew wider.
"You're correct. I'm the best alchemist in the sect, but I usually don't take disciples in because I have other responsibilities and have no time for a disciple of my own. So tell me, why should I accept you?" Elder Kendra explained and then asked Maria.
"Well… Umm… Ah! That's right! You won't have to spend that much time with me. Just help me drill the basics and I'll be able to learn the rest myself. I'm a very diligent worker!" Maria exclaimed sounding 100% sincere. But Mira wanted to cough up blood when she heard that statement.
'Bullshit! You? Diligent? I've never once seen you take the initiative to train!!' Maria screamed internally, but she didn't want to ruin the opportunity for Maria to have a good master so she decided to keep it to herself.
"Haha! Very well. I'll take you in as a disciple. You also seem to be quite talented so I don't believe it'll be a waste to take you in. Plus, just looking at what Mira puts you through every day, I can see that you can be quite diligent and resilient to failure. Just what an alchemist needs!" Elder Kendra laughed and announced that Maria would be her disciple from now on. The other disciples were all jealous of Maria, but they couldn't do anything about it. Maria was more skilled than them. Besides, other than Mira, she's probably one of the most hardworking disciples in the Sect. At least in their eyes.