Chapter 97: Elixir Refinement Beginner Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios For the next few days, Su Zimo was in no rush to leave his cave abode. Instead, he chose to remain in seclusion to practice his self-invented spirit gathering method. As he had expected, he was truly able to achieve a 100% success rate for spirit gathering after removing the Weapon Tripod. The pity was that he could only create a single spirit pattern each time. He had yet to succeed on a second spirit pattern. Initially, Su Zimo thought that the materials used were the cause for it. However, he still could not create any results even after using the Pure Gold Crystal. Puzzled, he decided to stop his efforts on weapon refinement for the time being. His victory at the year end Weapon Peak face-off was assured with a 100% success rate of creating inferior-grade spirit weapons. He had six months left and he still had to raise his cultivation, learn fighting techniques and elixir refinement. Towards refining elixirs, Su Zimo had zero knowledge. However, he had no intention of boasting about his current feats. The fact that he was able to create an inferior-grade spirit weapon after just three months into weapon refinement was something that would shock the world. Furthermore, Su Zimo’s intention was to defeat Feng Haoyu completely during the year end face-off. If news of his feat was spread now, there was a chance that Feng Haoyu could avoid the challenge. This day, Su Zimo headed out of his cave abode and flew towards Elixir Peak on his flying sword. He intended to spend his time on learning the craft of refining elixirs. Because the five peaks weren’t really far apart, it did not take long before Su Zimo arrived on Elixir Peak. Every afternoon, inner sect disciples that were Elixir Refinement Masters would head forth to explain more about the craft of refining elixirs and disciples of all five peaks were welcome to learn. Elixir and Weapon Peak were similar in strength – both were the two weakest peaks in Ethereal Peak. However, there were slightly more disciples in Elixir Peak than Weapon Peak. The reason was simple – an Elixir Refinement Master could create elixirs for himself which was a huge booster for raising one’s cultivation. However, Weapon Refinement Masters could only create spirit weapons. Even though they boosted one’s fighting strength, it was of no use to one’s cultivation. There were many cultivators who were talented in weapon refinement but failed to form a core. Because of that, they still died of old age with a lifespan of a hundred years. Most importantly, refinement of elixirs was comparatively simpler than weapons because it did not require the step of spirit gathering. Spirit gathering was something so difficult that through the history of time, there were no Weapon Refinement Masters who would dare proclaim a 100% success rate – Su Zimo was the only one. Su Zimo’s arrival at Elixir Peak attracted quite a bit of attention. After the events of the spirit arena, there were now extremely few trial disciples of the five peaks who did not recognize him. The feud between him and Feng Haoyu was something everyone knew about. Of course, the disciples of Elixir Peak were unsurprised at Su Zimo’s appearance on Elixir Peak too. Afternoon. An inner sect Elixir Refinement Master standing at the front of Elixir Peak’s square gestured with their hands and the crowd gradually went silent. “Fellow sect mates, there’s a few things to know before you start on elixir refinement.” The inner sect Elixir Refinement Master said slowly, “There are nine grades of elixirs. Typically, a Grade 1 elixir is suitable for Qi Refinement Warriors. Grade 2, Foundation Establishment Cultivators. Grade 3, Perfected Golden Cores. If a Qi Refinement Warrior were to consume a Grade 3 elixir, not only would it not benefit them at all, they might even die on the spot!” Su Zimo nodded in agreement. The logic behind it was simple – it was the same as when he had devoured the Scarlet Flame Fruit. If one’s body was unable to endure the overwhelming energy, they would just rupture and die. “Anyone who can create a Grade 1 elixir is an Elementary Elixir Refinement Master. Grade 2, Intermediate Elixir Refinement Master. Grade 3, Advanced Elixir Refinement Master. My name is Bo Xuezhen and I’m an Intermediate Elixir Refinement Master.” The many disciples below looked at him in awe. “Have you guys heard of the saying that every medicine contains 30% poison?” Bo Xuezhen continued, “It is the same for elixirs in the cultivation world as well. However, the poison now refers to the impurities contained in the elixirs. The less the impurities, the better the quality of the elixir. If an elixir could contain at least 89% impurities, it would truly be a poisoned elixir for cultivators.” The crowd chuckled. “Senior Brother Bo, how do we differentiate between the qualities of elixirs?” A disciple from Array Peak who had just started on learning about elixirs as well asked. Bo Xuezhen’s gaze paused momentarily on Su Zimo before chuckling. “I see that we have disciples from Weapon Peak around as well. Actually, the difference in quality for elixirs is the same as spirit weapons – both have obvious patterns. The only difference is that they are called spirit patterns in weapon refinement whereas for elixir refinement, they are called elixir patterns.” “There are five different tiers of qualities for every grade of elixirs. The lowest quality would show a single line of elixir pattern. Of course, an Elixir Refinement Master would not have to gather the pattern personally. That is merely a representation of the amount of impurities within. An inferior-grade elixir would have a single elixir pattern with an impurity content of 40%” “A middle-grade elixir would contain two elixir patterns at 30% impurity. Following that logic, a superior-grade has three patterns and supreme-grade has four. If one could create an elixir with five patterns, it would be 100% pure and that’s called a perfect elixir.” The mention of that had Su Zimo’s heart skipping a beat. If it was as Bo Xuezhen had mentioned and the same theory applied to spirit weapons since a supreme-grade spirit weapon had four spirit patterns... Could there be an even stronger perfect spirit weapon with five spirit patterns gathered? In theory, Su Zimo was right – perfect spirit weapons did exist. The reason why no Weapon Refinement Masters in the sect had mentioned it was because spirit gathering was way too difficult. Notwithstanding five spirit patterns, one could even count with their fingers the number of Weapon Refinement Masters who could create supreme-grade spirit weapons in the whole Great Zhou Dynasty. If one were to say that spirit perception was a sense gained through experience, one would have to require immense luck to gather five spirit patterns and create a perfect spirit weapon. Luck, affinity, status, providence, environment, harmony, situation, mental state... a perfect blend of a myriad of factors were required for the possibility of creating a perfect spirit weapon. And that was with the prerequisite that the Weapon Refinement Master himself was at the paragon of weapon refinement. Bo Xuezhen’s voice rang out once more, “There are six steps for elixir refinement as well. The first step is material selection which involves the choosing of spirit herbs and elixir recipes. Every elixir requires a different recipe. Within the sect, you can exchange for recipes using contribution points. Outside, you’ll have to purchase them with spirit stones. Naturally, the rarer the recipe, the more expensive they will cost.” Even Grade 1 elixirs have different types and functions. There’s the Essence Nourishing Elixir which is used for stabilizing one’s foundation and nourishing their essence and there’s also Spirit Regeneration Elixir which is used for recovering spirit qi. Something like the Spirit Gathering Elixir is the most commonly available elixir which can help cultivators gather spirit qi better. Those elixirs are easier to refine at the same time. Of the Grade 1 Elixirs, the Foundation Establishment Elixir is the most difficult to refine requiring the most complex ingredients. As the name implies, the Foundation Establishment Elixir can help Perfected Qi Refinement Warriors with breaking through the barrier to Foundation Establishment. The gap in cultivation between Qi Condensation and Foundation Establishment was a huge one. If one had the help of a Foundation Establishment Elixir, things would be much easier. Su Zimo listened intently. Even after Bo Xuezhen left, he sat on the spot for a long time, making sure he remembered everything he had learned thoroughly before standing up. Arriving at the Elixir Chamber, he used his contribution points to exchange for an Elixir Furnace and a recipe for the Spirit Gathering Elixir before returning to his cave abode.