After Transmigrating into a Book, I Was Entangled by a Crazy and Beautiful Villain - Chapter 43

The Sun Heart Grass had now withered, its vitality in the stem and roots extinguished, and all its energy returned to the world. Zhang San could only sigh, pull it out, and toss it onto the soil in the courtyard.

Its greatest use now was returning to the earth, providing faint nourishment to the surrounding plants. Disposing of it also freed up a jar, which could be used to grow other herbs.

Zhang San continued to complete what she hadn’t finished writing, then handed the Xuan paper to Song Linlin. Song Linlin took the paper and quickly scanned it. It mainly listed plant names that Song Linlin didn’t recognize at all.

“You should first gather the things written on this paper. These are all basic materials, and they shouldn’t be hard to collect. Once you’ve prepared these, I’ll start teaching you some fundamental knowledge of alchemy tomorrow morning,” Zhang San slowly explained.

Song Linlin nodded. She just needed to buy what was listed, which wasn’t complicated. It was also good since she didn’t know what to do every day, and having a proper task seemed nice. Song Linlin agreed, “Okay.”

The two had nothing else to do staying at Ziting Residence. Song Linlin still needed to collect materials, so after saying goodbye to Zhang San, she left with Chi Qianning.

Closing the courtyard gate, Song Linlin quietly exhaled. The death of the Sun Heart Grass was truly strange. They hadn’t known the herb’s characteristics beforehand, and it died after Chi Qianning merely touched it.

Fortunately, Zhang San hadn’t noticed anything afterward. Compensating for one herb wasn’t much; the money Song Linlin had saved these past days was enough to buy one. What she feared was that Zhang San might become suspicious. However, Zhang San was thankfully easy-going and clearly hadn’t noticed any problem.

The next task was to purchase the items on the list. These were very basic alchemy materials and weren’t difficult to collect. Aside from the simplest beginner’s alchemy furnace being a bit expensive, Song Linlin even bought extra of the other things as spares, as their prices seemed dirt cheap to her.

Song Linlin returned home laden with a pile of items. Seeing her struggle to carry them, Chi Qianning gave her an empty Cosmic Ring to hold the items. Otherwise, carrying such a large bag out tomorrow would look quite undignified.

That night, Song Linlin, unusually, didn’t fall asleep immediately. She was looking forward to learning alchemy tomorrow, already fantasizing about her wonderful life after becoming a famous alchemist.

The First Lesson

The next morning.

Song Linlin woke up early as usual. After washing up, she yawned and prepared to attend the morning class. She could have secretly been lazy and skipped the early class, but she had developed a biological clock and couldn’t sleep once it was time to get up. Since she was free anyway, attending a class to clear her head wasn’t a bad idea.

After the morning class, Song Linlin headed to Ziting Residence, ready for the first alchemy lesson of her life.

Pushing open the gate, she saw Zhang San was already waiting in the living room, sitting on a round mat. Song Linlin quickly sat down next to her.

She took out the things she had bought yesterday, arranging them neatly in front of her. Song Linlin also handed the replacement Sun Heart Grass she had bought to Zhang San.

Once the preparations were done, Zhang San nodded and said, “Alright, next I will explain some of the most basic knowledge of alchemy to you.”

This was all theoretical knowledge. Although Song Linlin only half-understood some parts, she forcibly memorized everything. As someone who had reached the Golden Core stage, memorizing these things temporarily was no problem; continued deep study would be needed later.

The path of alchemy, even its most basic theoretical knowledge, is complicated and vast. Zhang San couldn’t teach everything in this short time. For now, she could only give a general overview so Song Linlin had a basic understanding. Further in-depth study would depend on Song Linlin’s own diligent research.

Song Linlin hadn’t expected to become an alchemy master in just a few days; she just needed to learn the basics. The entire morning was spent on fundamental explanations and teaching Song Linlin how to distinguish the properties of plants.

In the afternoon, Zhang San prepared to let Song Linlin start the practical application.

Having just eaten, Song Linlin sat on the mat, looking at the materials in front of her, feeling a little nervous. Although she had gained a basic understanding throughout the morning, when it came to hands-on work, she couldn’t help but feel insecure.

Zhang San sat next to her, sensing her lack of confidence. She patted Song Linlin’s shoulder and comforted her, “Don’t worry, what we’re doing today isn’t strictly formal alchemy. As long as you understand a little bit of pharmacological knowledge and simple alchemy techniques, even a Qi Condensation stage cultivator can successfully refine it.”

“With me watching you and your Golden Core stage strength, you’re definitely stronger than those who fumble around on their own. You will surely be able to refine it!”

Her words gave Song Linlin some confidence. She nodded, silently cheering herself on, then turned to the relaxed Zhang San and asked, “Okay! So what will I be refining this afternoon?”

Zhang San reached into her pocket and pulled out three slips of paper, slowly saying, “I have prepared three choices for you. These are the simplest options, best for beginners to get started with. You can choose one to practice.”

“The first is Blood-Coagulating Paste. This is a common healing ointment popular among the lowest-level Qi Condensation practitioners. The materials are common, the refining process isn’t difficult, and it’s very popular outside.”

“The second is Qi-Nourishing Pill. This is a simplified version of the Spirit-Restoring Pill; it can restore spiritual energy, but it’s only suitable for those in the Qi Condensation stage. The refining process is slightly more complex than the first one.”

“The last one is the least difficult. The steps for refining are simple, and it uses the fewest materials. Although the price isn’t high, its applicable population is very wide.”

“Oh?” Naturally, Song Linlin wanted to choose the simplest one. And if it was suitable for the widest population, didn’t that mean it had the largest market?

So, Song Linlin quickly asked, “What is the last one?”

Zhang San said an unexpected name without changing her expression, “Joyful Union Powder.”

Song Linlin was momentarily stunned, unsure if she had misheard, and repeated, “J-Joyful Union Powder?”

Isn’t that an aphrodisiac?!

Before joining the sect for cultivation, Song Linlin had lived in the mundane world and was naturally familiar with the name Joyful Union Powder. This was the most common type of aphrodisiac. It wasn’t expensive, and its effect was reportedly good. Even though the officials officially prohibited its sale, some pharmacies would secretly sell it.

After all, Joyful Union Powder had a large market, and its uses were many. Whether it was used by people of questionable character to do bad things, or kept for personal use, most people chose Joyful Union Powder for such matters.

Song Linlin stared at Zhang San in surprise, but the latter had a calm expression, showing no sign of embarrassment. Instead, her bright, innocent eyes looked at Song Linlin with confusion. Zhang San asked:

“What’s wrong? Joyful Union Powder can even be refined by ordinary people without cultivation, making it very suitable for beginners to practice with. I also used it for practice back then.”

“Uh…”

Song Linlin looked at Zhang San, deeply feeling that the other party probably didn’t even understand what this thing was used for. She asked, “Do you know what this medicine is? What its effects are…”

“I don’t know.” Zhang San shook her head, her expression candid. She said, “I’ve never used it. I only used it a few times for practice and haven’t refined it since.”

“Alright.” Song Linlin nodded. It turned out Zhang San had no idea about the effects of Joyful Union Powder. Naturally, Song Linlin felt too embarrassed to say more, to avoid an awkward situation.

Zhang San then asked with some hesitation, “Is there a problem with this Joyful Union Powder?”

“No, no!”

Song Linlin quickly waved her hands. Explaining it would be too embarrassing; it was better to let her continue to be unaware, or Song Linlin couldn’t bring herself to open her mouth.

She just wanted to forcibly change the subject and shift Zhang San’s attention away from the Joyful Union Powder. Song Linlin immediately continued, “Then let’s refine the Joyful Union Powder this afternoon! No time to lose, I’ll start now!”

“Good.”

Seeing the other party so motivated, Zhang San stopped thinking about the Joyful Union Powder. She handed the paper slip containing the recipe to Song Linlin and patiently explained some of the details and steps, which were based on Zhang San’s personal experience from when she refined it.

After quietly listening to the details, Song Linlin nodded, committing the information to memory, and began to prepare to refine the Joyful Union Powder systematically according to the steps.

First, she had to mash some herbs into fragments. She used small saucers to hold these ingredients. Then, Song Linlin lit the furnace fire, channeled spiritual power into it, constantly monitored the heat of the furnace, and poured the prepared herbs into it one by one.

The temperature inside the furnace kept rising. When Song Linlin was reading the information on the paper and listening to Zhang San’s explanation, she hadn’t felt that refining pills was difficult. However, once she actually started, even though Song Linlin knew the steps and key points, she gradually lost control and became flustered, eventually burning the herbs to ash.

The first attempt failed quickly.

Song Linlin looked at the pile of black ash in the furnace and sighed, only able to silently pour it out.

“It’s okay. The first attempt is very likely to fail. Accumulate more experience, and just keep trying later!” Zhang San encouraged her from the side.

Song Linlin nodded. She naturally understood this principle; otherwise, there wouldn’t be so many people wanting to become alchemists while the actual number of alchemists remained small.

However, Song Linlin couldn’t help but ask curiously, “Zhang San, how many attempts did it take you to succeed?”

“Me?”

Zhang San thought for a few seconds, then said, “I think I succeeded on the first try.”

Song Linlin: “…”

Those words are definitely going to attract hatred, especially since the other person looked so innocent.

Sure enough, people are different. The gap was too wide. Fortunately, Song Linlin always had a good mindset; she was just a minor female supporting character, so this situation was quite normal.

It was a good thing Song Linlin had bought extra materials because they were cheap. Now, she had only wasted one portion of material, which was not a big deal. The pile she bought was enough for her to waste.

After continuously burning several batches of materials, Song Linlin finally found some rhythm and knack. This time, she was exceptionally focused while burning the herbs, safely passing the step where she had failed last time. Song Linlin couldn’t help but let out a sigh of relief. She had finally managed to complete the initial stage of burning the herbs. The next stage was to fuse the pile of herbal powder and liquid inside the furnace.

At this point, Zhang San also nodded in satisfaction and praised Song Linlin, “Well done. You’ve finally completed the first step. However, the next step will be more difficult.”

“You need to find a way to balance the medicinal conflicts between the different herbs and continuously use the flame to temper and remove the excess impurities from the herbs. This is considered the hardest part of the refining process. Keep it up!”

Song Linlin nodded. There were no shortcuts in this step; now, she could only rely on continuous practice to explore the techniques.

As the flame kept flickering and burning, a faint scent gradually permeated the furnace. The various herbal smells mingled together and smelled quite fragrant, but it also subtly made people feel somewhat disoriented.

“Oh right, I almost forgot.”

Smelling this scent, Zhang San immediately reached into her pocket again, pulled out a square little bottle. She uncorked it, tilted the bottle, and pressed her finger against the opening. The liquid inside flowed out; it was a light, pale green, with a strong, fresh aroma. As this scent spread, Song Linlin instantly felt her mind clear up a lot, and her concentration became even better.

Song Linlin was busy watching the alchemy furnace and couldn’t free her hands. Zhang San applied the pale green liquid on her finger to Song Linlin’s nose tip. Her nasal cavity was filled with the fresh scent, and she could no longer smell the original medicinal fragrance.

“This is the Clear Mind Dew. It can help you block out the scent generated during the refining of those herbs. That scent can disrupt your mind, and smelling too much is not good,” Zhang San explained, applying some to herself as well.

The scent produced when refining certain pills cannot be ignored. These scents are generated by the volatile components of the herbs and have the same effects as those herbs, though perhaps less potent.

When refining certain poisons, the resulting gases often inherently carry toxicity. Some unlucky alchemists might end up poisoning themselves before the pill is even formed.

Song Linlin nodded. Although the medicinal fragrance was faint now, over a long period, smelling too much could lead to strange situations. She didn’t want to give herself a simplified version of an aphrodisiac while refining pills.

The afternoon passed quickly. Song Linlin worked hard all afternoon and finally, as dusk approached, refined a batch of pills with uneven surfaces.

Strictly speaking, this product definitely wasn’t a successful refinement of Joyful Union Powder; it was a defective product. The medicinal effect would definitely be much weaker, but at least she had finally refined something with a shape. Song Linlin was quite satisfied, estimating that she would definitely master this completely by tomorrow.

“I’m leaving, Zhang San. I’ll come back to find you tomorrow!” Song Linlin said goodbye to Zhang San at the door.

Zhang San nodded, “Mhm, see you tomorrow!”

Song Linlin left Ziting Residence in a good mood. She had clearly made great progress in alchemy. Although she wasn’t even considered an entry-level practitioner yet, Song Linlin was still very satisfied. At least she could refine a medicinal pill now—this was a good start.

She walked with light steps back to her residence, pushed the door open, her voice cheerful, the end rising slightly, “I’m home!”

She came to a chair and sat down, poured a cup of tea, lifted it, and drank it all in one go. She contentedly said to Chi Qianning, “I feel like I had a very fulfilling day today!”

Chi Qianning, however, couldn’t help but frown as she looked at her. She smelled the aroma filling the air and subconsciously felt something was wrong. “What is that smell on you?”

The scent was sweet and cloying, like an enticing floral fragrance, making people feel disoriented, and even her body subtly felt a little warm.

“Hmm?”

Song Linlin asked in confusion, lifting her hand to sniff, but she didn’t smell anything unusual. There was only a faint, fresh scent lingering in her nose.

Wait, unusual smell?

Only then did Song Linlin remember that she had used the Clear Mind Dew, which could help her block out other smells. So naturally, she couldn’t smell anything unusual.

However, Song Linlin had been refining Joyful Union Powder all afternoon. She was closest to the alchemy furnace and hadn’t taken any special protective measures with her clothes, so she inevitably got stained with the confusing medicinal fragrance.

Isn’t this equivalent to using Joyful Union Powder as an aromatherapy and fumigating herself all afternoon? Song Linlin suspected she had been marinated in the scent.

Song Linlin had a bad feeling. She remembered that Chi Qianning had a very keen sense of smell, and the other party was also in the throes of a heat cycle. Especially with the two of them sitting so close, the scent must be strong.

“Uh… Are you… okay?” Song Linlin turned to look at Chi Qianning, feeling a little guilty.