Supreme Emperor of Mist

Pill Refining.

It was one of mankind's eight prominent inheritances.

Although Qin Lan was the one who regularized and compiled this into an inheritance in his first reincarnation, he was not the one who brings it through the era until these days.

He was merely one of the "Forefathers" mentioned in the legend.

What was considered precious knowledge during his peak is no longer the same today. And with modernization changes in the world's law, some of them have lost their value.

One of the best examples would be the stove used in refining the medicine.

Qin Lan inspects the Obsidian Dragon Cauldron in his grasp. Black luster with red veins stretching all over the pot. It came with three fire inlets and a lid with dragon decoration.

"This is indeed a proper medicinal cauldron... But unfortunately, it will be unfair for me to use this during a test." Qin Lan removed the dragon-headed lid and returned it to Leng Ching above him.

And with a slap of his hand on the Qiankun Pouch holding plenty of medicinal ingredients, Qin Lan selected a few with the lowest quality as he stabilized the cauldron in one hand.

The Spiritual Energy of a fifth-level Flesh Refining Cultivator quickly preheated the open cauldron as Qin Lan processed the ingredients to their usable form.

His performance surprised the crowd as Qin Lan tossed the ingredient into the cauldron at once.

"To think there's a fool like he exists! It was one thing he tried to refine the pill without a proper stance. But trying to refine a pill from a lidless cauldron?" the disciple was disappointed at Qin Lan's effort to pull his stunt together.

"It would be a miracle if he doesn't burn the ingredients this way..." everyone assumes that Qin Lan was here to waste their time. A few of the disciples even left because there's nothing much for them to learn over here.

They ended up as the ones who regretted the most the next day in the morning.

Not only the ingredients Qin Lan threw into the lidless cauldron does not burn into ashes. Qin Lan's control of the flames surprises them and the youth on the seat, as a blob of medicinal essence is brought to the boiling temperature.

"What is this? Cooking?" the disciples asked themselves. Qin Lan's method of pill refining is no different from preparing a plate of vegetables.

The performance even caught Leng Ching's attention as this lazy senior brother descends from the wooden beam. Taking the other seat across the youth, Leng Ching supported his head on one hand as he lazily stares at Qin Lan's "cooking" process.

The medicinal aroma from Qin Lan's cauldron was the first to spreads across the testing hall, even though he was the last person that started the concoction process. Even those that never tasted the flavor of Fiery Pear Flower would recognize this aroma.

Soon, a cauldron with three beautiful, white cultivation pills is presented on a table beside Leng Ching. Since Qin Lan was using Leng Ching's cauldron to refine this pot of medicine, it is only right for him to present them to Leng Ching.

It was a cauldron of three Li-Tong Pills.

"This senior brother, thank you for the cauldron and ingredients." Qin Lan cupped his hand together firmly as he presented the pills in return for Leng Ching's helping hand.

"Ding Chenyu, what do you think?" Leng Ching asked. He flicked one of the three Li-Tong Pill over to the examining disciple called Ding Chenyu to inspect the freshly made pill.

"Li-Tong Pill. Beautifully refined. Skillful indeed." although Ding Chenyu has a volatile temper, it did not hamper his judgment when appraising the pills. Every single word of his accurately guessed the method Qin Lan used to refine them.

"There are five pill veins on his Li-Tong Pill..." Ding Chenyu added.

"What's your name, junior brother?" his next question was totally unexpected by the others as Ding Chenyu asked for Qin Lan's name.

"Qin Lan." Qin Lan answered.

"Li Wei, bring junior brother Qin Lan to one of the Lower-Xuan Refining Rooms and brief him with everything he has to know." Ding Chenyu tossed a jade slip to a disciple as he turned his sight back to Qin Lan.

"Junior brother, I'll talk to you again very soon. Get used to the life in Dan-Xin Dwelling for these few days first. If there's anything, ask Li Wei. Although his skill is not on par, he's one of the most resourceful amongst the juniors." Ding Chenyu cupped his hand together as he addressed Qin Lan again as a junior brother.

"You may leave with Li Wei now. The others should hurry up." Ding Chenyu reminds the other to pick their pace as he signaled Li Wei to bring Qin Lan out from the hall.

"Fellow disciple Qin, please come with me." Qin Lan followed Li Wei out from the test hall without adding any superficial speeches in reply. About an hour later, the four other participants quietly left the Dan-Xin Dwelling in disappointment.

As for Leng Ching, he left quietly after leaving the two remaining Li-Tong Pills on the table. It takes the disciple a while to notice that their eldest senior brother is missing from the spot he's lazying.

...

...

"He said his name is Qin Lan?" the eighth elder asked as he inspects the three Li-Tong Pill in his hand. On each of the pills is a light streak of pill veins, which represents its quality.

Like an Offensive or Defensive Treasure, Cultivation Pills are also graded accordingly, starting from Xuan-Grade, to Huang, Earth, and Heaven. And from there, it was further evaluated based on the marking printed on the pill itself.

For a pill of Flesh Refining Layer, it was determined by the numbers of Pill Veins. To qualify as a Xuan-Grade, one has to be at least at three Pill Veins. One that reaches six Pill Veins can be graded as Huang-Grade, and nine Pill Veins as Earth-Grade.

And for a Heaven-Grade Pill, it has to have ten identical Pill Veins to qualify as one.

Of course, there was a reason for the Pill Vein to exist. These "blemishes" on the pill itself, are in fact, a marking or proof of the cultivation pill's medicinal potency. Each one of the veins is equal to a tenth of its potency increase.

That means one who cultivates using a veinless Flesh Refining Layer pill would only enjoy the base benefit. But for those using a Xuan-Grade version, he/she would obtain a-third more using the same amount of time.

It will be two-third additional benefit from using a Huang-Grade Pill and doubled from an Earth-Grade Pill. Taking a Heaven-Grade one would even triple the effectiveness from the same cultivation pill.

"Yes." Ding Chenyu answered.

"Where's your eldest brother?" the eighth elder inquired about Leng Ching's location.

"Based on the time now, he's likely sleeping on top of his beloved Amber Cinnamon Tree." Ding Chenyu replied.

"Hahaha, you're wrong. Try to look around at the usual Upper-Xuan Room Refining Room today." the eighth elder laughed.

"This disciple will make sure to pay attention when I walked past the eldest senior brother's room. If there's nothing else, I'll be back at my place to complete a body tempering pill's request." Ding Chenyu asked for his teacher's permission to leave.

"En. Go ahead." the eighth elder nodded. The bottle holding three Li-Tong Pills is returned to his hand by the elder as he gave Ding Chenyu permission to do anything he wants with them.

"Thank you, teacher."

After leaving the elder's office, Ding Chengyu unconsciously reached the Refining Room Leng Ching regularly use. With both hands on the door, Ding Chenyu gave it a push and went inside.

"Big brother..." Ding Chenyu called.

...

...

"Fellow disciple Qin, this will be your private room from today onward, and this will be the access key. Except for our two eldest senior brothers and one senior sister, only the eighth elder has the right to access your room." Li Wei said.

"Thank you, fellow disciple. This is a small token from me. I hope you won't mind." Qin Lan accepted the key with both hands as he gave out two bottles of Spiritual Gathering Dew to Li Wei.

"Not at all, not at all." Li Wei happily accepted the two bottles of wine given by Qin Lan.

"Is there anything I supposed to do here?" Qin Lan asked.

"Well, it is up to you. Here in Cloud Plucking Sect, it is essential to have enough contribution points. There are plenty of requests available in the Pill Hall for you to accomplish for some contribution point as rewards."

"At the same time, you can also help some seniors in their pill concoction if making pills is not your forte. There's also a similar hall in other dwellings, so make sure you check them often if you have nothing to do."

Li Wei's briefly guide Qin Lan through the life of a disciple inside the Cloud Plucking Sect.

That as long one has enough contribution points on them, many things could be done. After taking a short nap to recover from the exhaustion of traveling, Qin Lan locked the door to his room and explored the Dan-Xin Dwelling.

"Is that the Pill Hall mentioned by Li Wei?" Qin Lan curiously entered the hall with close to a hundred disciples roaming around.

It was a hall full of people and request boards everywhere.

"New request!" an elderly came out with two wooden boards in his hand.

"Quick, get there and see what Old Sun has in hand." the disciples gathered around this elderly name Old Sun and patiently waiting for him to continue.

"Alright. Listen well."

"One hundred Fasting Pills and one hundred Vein Unblocking Pills. Twenty contribution points." the first wooden board's content is announced and was quickly nabbed by a disciple nearest to Old Sun.

"Refine ten sets of Iron Skin Pills. Three contribution points will be given for each pill. A minimum quota of six Iron Skin Pills must be delivered to be entitled with that price." Old Sun said.