The Benefits of Alchemy

After passing through a few more sights and buildings here and there, Shi Li eventually went back home to the Shi clan's estate, quickly heading back to his room as he infused qi into his legs. Just like before, he had to rest a couple of times before actually arriving, given how he could only store a fourth of the qi someone at his current cultivation level would normally have.

Closing the door, he noticed that there was a box of food waiting to be eaten lying on the table near his bed. While looking at it, he could not help but think about how his mother continued to toil just so he could continue cultivating without worry. Feeling a hint of pain as he thought about it, he promised himself that he would keep striving to become stronger, eventually being able to provide for the two of them without his mother having to work.

"I hope it doesn't take that long for me to actually make that dream come true," he muttered, soon sitting cross-legged on the floor as he removed the stopper on the gourd.

Pop!

Not long after, a faint medicinal scent started to waft throughout his room, giving him a feeling that he was currently full of energy. Scratching his head as he looked through the hole in the gourd, he wondered if Huo Shenshou gave the gourd to him so that he could become his test subject. However, that thought soon disappeared as he had a feeling that Huo Shenshou wasn't someone like that.

Nevertheless, he could not help but feel nervous. After all, from how Huo Shenshou phrased it, no one else other than him had received this gourd before. Although he did tell him that it was a successful experiment, he wasn't sure if he was just telling him that so he didn't have to worry.

"In the first place, cultivation is about going against the heavens, so why should I have to be worried about some measly gourd?" he soon told himself, psyching himself up for what he was going to do. "Life is about taking risks, and risk is what makes life interesting!"

Gulp.

Without hesitation, he tipped the gourd over his mouth, allowing the contents to flow as he swallowed it nonstop. While drinking what was inside the gourd, he could not help but note that it tasted similar to fruit juice. Alongside that, there was a slightly bitter aftertaste that seemed to haunt every Eastern medicine, which Shi Li did not really mind.

After he emptied the gourd of its contents, he placed it beside him as he waited for the liquid he drank to take effect. Fortunately, he did not have to wait too long as he felt his body slightly heating up.

"Is the liquid taking effect?" Shi Li muttered to himself, soon checking the acupoints he opened to see if there was anything different. As he looked at it, he quickly noticed that the qi contained within the acupoints was boiling, as if it was seething with rage. Then, a few seconds later, a soft explosion resounded throughout his body.

However, rather than feel pain from this explosion, he instead felt a sense of relief from it. If he were to put it into words, then the feeling would be similar to finding something that one lost from sometime in the past. In any case, he noticed that the qi inside the acupoints started to gradually increase in volume, stopping at a certain point a few minutes later.

Once the qi inside his acupoints stopped moving, Shi Li went ahead and checked how much qi he could store per acupoint, noticing that there was quite a significant difference. "To think that I could store 10% more of the total volume per acupoint…this liquid works wonders."

In other words, rather than having a quarter of the qi one would normally have at his cultivation realm, he now had three-eighths of the qi. Although it did not seem like much to someone else, to him who had gotten used to working with his illness, it was a godsend.

"I wonder if this liquid also affects the speed of my cultivation," he muttered, instantly becoming interested to try it out as he closed his eyes, attuning himself to the qi in the surroundings as he aimed to break through the 31st acupoint.

Eventually, around five and a half hours later, a small pop resounded in his body, signaling that he had opened it, officially entering the 2nd Stage of Acupoint Breaking.

Opening his eyes with surprise evident in them, he could not help but recall the liquid he had drunk a few hours later. At this point, he could not help but think of the liquid as a panacea that would allow him to cultivate faster while Huo Shenshou was a benevolent god that gave him hope that he would be able to live for longer.

Noticing that the effect of the liquid was still there, Shi Li didn't waste time and closed his eyes once more, continuing to break through more acupoints as he remembered to eat the food his mother gave him.

And with that, a day quickly passed by. While Shi Li was in the middle of his usual cultivation session, his body gradually returned to its normal temperature, prompting Shi Li to stop cultivating as he opened his eyes, letting out a light sigh as he muttered to himself, "The effect lasts for a day, huh."

Looking at the 35th acupoint that was half-opened for a bit, Shi Li closed his eyes and continued to cultivate for a bit more, only to stop as the 35th acupoint was finally opened.

"I see. Since I opened the 35th acupoint without the liquid taking effect, it returned to storing only a quarter of what it could actually hold. As for the other acupoints, they still have the same amount of qi inside them while the effect was active," he said, making a mental note in his mind as he stood up and grabbed the box of food his mother had prepared for him. Surprisingly, it was nighttime when he finished opening his 35th acupoint.

Munching on the food, he then asked himself, "I wonder if the 34 acupoints that experienced the liquid's effect would store the same amount of qi once I consume all of the qi in them? It would be great if that was the case. Then again, it wouldn't be surprising if it returns to its original condition. Truly ridding myself of Imperfect Meridians would need me to consume a Tier 2 Meridian Cleansing Pill, after all."

As he thought about this, he could not help but let out a long sigh, wondering how great it would be if he had access to the liquid Huo Shenshou gave him at all times, effectively reducing the time it took for him to cultivate by about 40%. Pondering further over this, he could not help but imagine what it would be like if he had access to Meridian Opening Pills, knowing very well that they would alleviate his problem even further than the liquid Huo Shenshou gave him.

However, it was then that a thought quickly surfaced in his mind, prompting him to freeze in place as he continued to mull over. Slowly but surely, a faint smile appeared on his face as he let out a cackle sometime later.

"Why I haven't thought about this in the first place?!" he yelled, continuing to cackle with great glee… only for him to stop as the person inside the room beside him yelled for him to stop laughing as it was deep into the night.

Apologizing to the man that yelled at him, he soon conveyed his excitement through clenching his fists as he decided to yell out his thoughts inwardly.

'Since I need pills to alleviate my problems and cure them in the future, then why don't I just take up alchemy?!'

This was the thought that he had in mind. Then again, it was no surprise that he would eventually come to this conclusion. Even if the fact that he had illnesses was excluded, alchemy was a pretty lucrative profession, given how a few ingredients that cost a few coins would be concocted into pills that sold for many times more.

With this in mind, he decided that he would start learning alchemy, only to wonder as to how he was going to learn it in the first place. However, it did not take long for him to recall the man he was talking with a day ago, the same man that gave him the liquid that allowed this thought of his to blossom in the first place, Huo Shenshou.

"I wonder if he'll accept me?" was the first question Shi Li had in mind. In any case, his doubts weren't baseless. He was someone who had multiple illnesses, as well as someone who had Wood-level aptitude. Adding on the possibility that he might not be well-suited for alchemy, it wouldn't be surprising if he was rejected.

And with that, his excitement waned down, allowing him to think of this thought of his from a rational perspective. Eventually, he decided that he would only approach Huo Shenshou once he had reached the peak of the 2nd Stage.

Thus…he started to cultivate once more.