Chapter 143 Strengthening Spiritual Perception

The vast majority of pharmacists do not possess a fire spirit. They rely solely on ordinary flames, delicate techniques, and powerful spiritual perception to refine potions. However, to become an alchemist, a fire spirit is an indispensable asset. The fundamental ingredients of elixirs are rare treasures of heaven and earth, most of which can only be melted down by the extreme high temperatures of a fire spirit.

Therefore, possessing a fire spirit was a major advantage for Ye Cheng on his path as a pharmacist, as it could increase his success rate in potion-making by several folds.

Feeling the ambient heat, Ye Cheng's expression shifted slightly. When the fire spirit was dormant and resting quietly within his body, he had not anticipated such terrifying temperatures.

Yet, half a breath later, Ye Cheng regained his composure. He slowly closed his eyes, following the flame-control techniques of the intermediate alchemy manual known as the Profound Fire Art, and cautiously extended his spiritual awareness outward, letting it creep into the medicinal cauldron.

Since he was still in the Blood Qi Realm, his spiritual awareness was relatively young and had not yet fully condensed into shape. The range it could reach was merely within a few meters, forcing Ye Cheng to lean exceptionally close to the cauldron. The scorching heat caused beads of sweat to immediately break out across his forehead.

Spiritual awareness is inherently ethereal and should not be afraid of the intense heat of flames. However, the moment Ye Cheng’s awareness probed inside the cauldron, his face instantly turned pale, and a sharp pain pierced his brain, causing his spiritual awareness to reflexively withdraw from the cauldron.

"Do not retreat," Elder Mu’s voice sounded. "This fire spirit is no ordinary flame; it can burn spiritual awareness. As the master of the fire spirit, it will not truly harm your spirit, but it will cause some pain. Endure it, and your spiritual awareness will undergo a profound transformation through this burning. Who knows, you might even condense divine awareness ahead of time in the future."

"Divine awareness!" Ye Cheng's heart skipped a beat. He had not expected that allowing the fire spirit to burn his spiritual awareness could serve as an alternative form of cultivation. Normal spiritual awareness possessed only the capacity for perception and lacked offensive power, whereas divine awareness possessed genuine lethality. He had heard tales of supreme powerhouses in the Primordial Spirit realm who could kill enemies with a single glance, invisible and formless.

If he could condense divine awareness in advance, it would undoubtedly become a formidable trump card.

Having once endured endless days and nights of unbroken cultivation without ever giving up just to condense a bloodline and enter the Blood Qi Realm, Ye Cheng's tenacity had long since been forged into something immensely powerful. No hardship, no matter how great, could easily frighten him.

Clenching his teeth, Ye Cheng summoned that ingrained stubborn resilience once more. He forced his spiritual awareness to probe back into the fire spirit. The sensation of ten thousand ants devouring his flesh immediately struck him again. Ye Cheng bit down hard on his back teeth, stubbornly refusing to withdraw from the cauldron.

Swish! Swish!

Red flames tumbled and churned within the medicinal cauldron, while Ye Cheng's spiritual awareness drifted inside like a frail skiff tossed upon a stormy sea, looking as though it could capsize at any moment.

***

Elder Mu lazily leaned against a large boulder inside the cave, watching unblinkingly as Ye Cheng, drenched in sweat and deathly pale, couldn't help but inwardly praise the youth. Back when he resided within the jade stone, he had already witnessed the boy's unwavering perseverance and fierce tenacity over four years of cultivation.

Yet, seeing this scene unfold once more, he still could not help but nod in satisfaction.

Under Elder Mu's watchful gaze, it took a full half-joss stick of time this time before Ye Cheng finally pulled his consciousness back from the fire spirit. His face was as pale as a sheet of white paper.

After resting and regulating his breath for a brief moment, Ye Cheng probed his spiritual awareness into the cauldron once again. This time, he endured for a full joss stick of time before withdrawing. Every single time his spiritual awareness was pulled back from the fire spirit, Ye Cheng would feel a wisp of gentle coolness travel from the jade pendant around his neck directly into his mind. This coolness instantly dissolved the lingering pain caused by the burning of his awareness, and his spiritual awareness seemed to grow slightly more refined and advanced as a result.

This reminded Ye Cheng of what Elder Mu had once mentioned: the jade was an ancient soul jade, possessing the miraculous property of nurturing the soul. The so-called soul was essentially the primordial spirit, though Ye Cheng had not yet reached that realm. Nevertheless, spiritual awareness was the precursor to the primordial spirit and served as the vessel of a person's consciousness, so the soul jade naturally proved effective for it as well.

Even Elder Mu, having lived for so long, had almost forgotten that his temporary dwelling place was an ancient soul jade. Just as he noticed Ye Cheng continuously plunging his spiritual awareness into the fire spirit for tempering and prepared to issue a warning, the jade pendant around Ye Cheng's neck began to emit a faint glow, reminding him of the ancient soul jade's true utility.

"Heh, this brat is quite fortunate," Elder Mu murmured with a smile, watching the young man without making a sound. "I originally thought it would take him a few days just to adapt, but looking at it now, that won't be necessary after all."

Roughly half a day passed in this manner. Ye Cheng's spiritual awareness repeatedly probed into the medicinal cauldron and withdrew, back and forth no less than dozens of times. It was precisely because of the nurturing properties of the ancient soul jade that Ye Cheng's spiritual awareness was able to undergo such uninterrupted tempering.

Under the tempering of the fire spirit, the resilience of his spiritual awareness grew stronger step by step, and the duration he could endure within the fire spirit steadily increased.

"Hah!"

When Ye Cheng once again withdrew his spiritual awareness from the fire spirit, the overwhelming pain in his mind was melted away by the energy radiating from the ancient soul jade within the span of just a few breaths.

This time, instead of resting, Ye Cheng did not pull his awareness back into dormancy; instead, he allowed it to spread outward. In an instant, every single blade of grass and tree within the entire cave came clearly into his perception. This caused a triumphant smile to break across his pale, pain-wrenched face.

"Let's see how far my spiritual perception can reach now." Suppressing the joy in his heart, Ye Cheng pushed his spiritual awareness further outward, though when his awareness approached the cave entrance, it finally reached its limit and could no longer stretch any further.

"The effect is impressive." Although his spiritual awareness had failed to reach beyond the cave entrance, this achievement still left Ye Cheng thoroughly satisfied. One had to remember that his current position was a good seven or eight meters away from the entrance. This meant his spiritual awareness now possessed a perceptive range of seven or eight meters—a massive leap from his previous range of merely a single meter. The improvement was glaringly obvious.

"Alright, brat. Now that you've tasted the sweetness of success, it's time to try refining medicine. I can see your spiritual awareness has built up enough tolerance to adapt to the temperature of this fire spirit. If you don't attempt alchemy now, it'll be dark soon," Elder Mu's teasing voice drifted over.

"Yes, Teacher!" Glancing at the sky outside, which was visibly darkening, Ye Cheng finally realized that tempering his spiritual awareness had already consumed half a day.

He rubbed the jade pendant around his neck, feeling its gentle coolness, and cast a grateful look toward Elder Mu, who appeared indifferent on the surface. A warm smile touched the corners of Ye Cheng's mouth.

Without this jade pendant, tempering his spiritual awareness wouldn't have taken just half a day; it would have required several days, perhaps even longer. After all, excessive consumption of spiritual awareness required time to recover, and this ancient soul jade perfectly compensated for that fatal flaw.

"Let's begin refining medicine!"

Ye Cheng gathered his focus, resting his palms lightly on either side of the medicinal cauldron. His spiritual awareness probed into the cauldron once more. A trace of familiar pain flared up, but it was no longer enough to distract his mind.

Under Ye Cheng's precise control, his spiritual awareness seemed to transform into a pair of large hands, slowly mastering and regulating the temperature of the fire spirit.

At that moment, his eyes snapped open. A stalk of snake-saliva grass rested within his palm. After a brief moment of hesitation, he tossed it straight into the top of the medicinal cauldron.