I Have a Cultivation Simulator

Looking at the noticeably younger Alchemist Yun, Zhou Qing felt a wave of nostalgia.

In the simulation, Alchemist Yun was the person he had interacted with the most.

Even though he had been nothing more than an apprentice for those first twenty-plus years, Alchemist Yun had never treated him any differently.

After decades of observation, Zhou Qing was certain of the man's character—Alchemist Yun was genuinely a good person.

When Ye Feng wanted to buy his freedom and spoke to Alchemist Yun about it, the man hadn't refused. He merely asked Ye Feng for a hundred spirit stones.

A hundred spirit stones was exactly the original cost of Ye Feng's Spirit Contract.

If it were any other artisan, who would have agreed to that?

"Fellow Daoist, which mid-grade pill do you intend to refine?"

Unaware of Zhou Qing's emotion, Alchemist Yun asked in a mild tone.

Furthermore, to prevent outside factors from skewing the results, the test required using a Pill Furnace and earth fire provided by the Alchemy Alliance.

Only then could they directly observe an alchemist's true skill.

"The Qi Nourishing Pill,"

Zhou Qing replied.

The Qi Nourishing Pill was the mid-grade pill Zhou Qing had been most adept at refining in the simulation.

Its primary effect was to assist Qi Refining Mid-Stage Cultivators with their daily practice.

While not as precious as a Realm-Breaking Pill, it was still considered quite good among mid-grade pills.

"The Qi Nourishing Pill?"

Alchemist Yun's eyes lit up.

He was also adept at refining it.

In truth... the reason Zhou Qing was so adept at refining the Qi Nourishing Pill was because Alchemist Yun had taught him.

However, the recipe for the Qi Nourishing Pill was widely circulated. Coupled with the massive demand from cultivators, three or four out of every ten alchemists were adept at it.

Because of this, Alchemist Yun thought nothing of it.

"Let's begin."

Alchemist Yun led Zhou Qing to a Pill Furnace prepared by the Alchemy Alliance, with the medicinal ingredients required for the Qi Nourishing Pill already arranged beside it.

"Rise!"

Zhou Qing focused his mind, and his spiritual energy surged into the Pill Furnace, causing the earth fire to flare and dance.

"Melt!"

With a flick of his finger, the dozens of ingredients arranged beside him flew into the Pill Furnace. Under the scorching heat of the earth fire, they rapidly melted down into droplets of medicinal liquid.

Every ingredient fused at a different temperature. This demanded a profound understanding of each herb's properties and precise control over the earth fire, matching the heat to every individual material.

Under the burning earth fire, the droplets of medicinal liquid were refined. Impurities were purged, reducing the liquid to its purest state.

This entire process flowed without the slightest pause; from igniting the Pill Furnace to purging the impurities, everything was accomplished in one smooth motion.

Watching from the side, Alchemist Yun was inwardly astonished.

The pills hadn't even formed yet.

But Zhou Qing's fire control and technique absolutely placed him in the ranks of Mid-Grade Alchemists.

More than that, the fire-control technique Zhou Qing displayed to refine the medicinal liquid actually gave Alchemist Yun a great deal of inspiration.

Just then, all the medicinal liquid reached its optimal state.

Zhou Qing's expression grew slightly solemn, and he rapidly formed hand seals.

"Condense!"

The dozens of droplets of medicinal liquid swiftly fused together.

This was the most critical step in the entire pill-refining process, known as pill condensation.

The slightest misstep would ruin the entire batch.

Yet, with his decades of alchemical experience from the simulation, and the Qi Nourishing Pill being his specialty, Zhou Qing naturally faced no mishaps.

After half a day of refinement, the dozens of droplets of medicinal liquid finally merged completely.

Without a moment's hesitation, Zhou Qing formed another seal, thoroughly stabilizing the fused medicinal liquid.

Half a shichen later.

Zhou Qing began the finishing process, gradually lowering the temperature of the earth fire.

Until he cast the final pill-collection seal.

Clack.

The Pill Furnace opened.

Fourteen perfectly round, evenly colored pills flew out.

The surfaces of all fourteen pills were covered in pill patterns. The lowest among them bore a single pattern, while the highest bore three. The moment they flew out, a rich pill fragrance filled the air.

"A yield of fourteen pills. Eleven ordinary, two standard, and... one premium Qi Nourishing Pill?"

"Excellent! Excellent! Excellent!"

"Fellow Daoist, your alchemical skill is truly awe-inspiring!"

A brilliant light danced in Alchemist Yun's eyes.

For any given pill type, there were four tiers of quality: waste, ordinary, standard, and premium.

Waste pills went without saying. Unable to condense pill patterns, they were riddled with pill toxicity and unfit for normal cultivators to consume.

Ordinary-quality pills condensed a single pill pattern. Their medicinal properties were fundamentally fused and they contained little pill toxicity; this was the quality of pill consumed by the vast majority of cultivators.

Standard pills... possessed two pill patterns. With relatively perfect fusion of their medicinal properties, they contained even less pill toxicity, and their efficacy surpassed the ordinary quality.

As for premium pills? They bore three pill patterns. Their medicinal properties were flawlessly integrated, rendering them virtually free of pill toxicity, and their effects were several times that of an ordinary pill.

Premium pills could be encountered but not sought. The moment one appeared, it was invariably snapped up by second-generation cultivators with deep backgrounds.

"Just a stroke of luck,"

Zhou Qing said, looking at the fourteen plump Qi Nourishing Pills.

He wasn't just being modest. Throughout his decades-long alchemical career in the simulation, Zhou Qing had never refined a premium pill.

His absolute best had been standard pills, and even those only appeared once every few months.

Zhou Qing guessed that refining a premium pill today was primarily due to exceptional luck, and secondly because during his final few years in the simulation, he had been so tormented by pill toxicity that he had barely touched a Pill Furnace.

However, stepping away from the Pill Furnace didn't mean he had entirely abandoned the Dao of Alchemy.

Even while tormented by pill toxicity in those later years, he had continued to delve into the Dao of Alchemy.

When the simulation ended, Zhou Qing perfectly inherited everything from his simulated self. Taking up the Pill Furnace for the first time in years, coupled with being at his absolute peak state, resulted in an explosion of inspiration that led to this outcome.

It was the result of multiple aligning factors, and couldn't be replicated.

"Luck is a part of strength,"

Alchemist Yun said with a smile, looking at the fourteen Qi Nourishing Pills.

Then, he stated his purpose. "Fellow Daoist, would you be willing to sell these fourteen Qi Nourishing Pills... to the Alchemy Alliance?"

Even though the raw medicinal ingredients had been provided by the Alchemy Alliance, any pills successfully refined by a Mid-Grade Alchemist during an assessment belonged entirely to that alchemist.

It was essentially a welcoming gift from the Alchemy Alliance to its new member.

The cost of refining a single batch of Qi Nourishing Pills was merely a few dozen spirit stones. As a gesture to win over a Mid-Grade Alchemist, it was no real price to pay.

"No problem."

Zhou Qing naturally had no objections.

Even if Alchemist Yun hadn't made the request, he would have quietly sold off these fourteen Qi Nourishing Pills anyway.

For one, he was in desperate need of spirit stones.

And secondly, in reality, Zhou Qing would not consume any pills.

Every medicine harbored a sliver of poison. Even premium pills merely claimed to be virtually free of pill toxicity; in truth, some still remained.

Reality was the starting point for Zhou Qing's simulations. If he chose to consume pills and accumulate pill toxicity in his body, it would affect every future simulation.

Even his innate talent, Pill Toxin Nemesis, couldn't grant complete immunity to pill toxicity.

Therefore, Zhou Qing would only ever consume pills within a simulation.

By taking pills in the simulation, no matter how much pill toxicity he accumulated, it wouldn't matter. Once the simulation ended, Zhou Qing only inherited the pure cultivation base, without carrying the pill toxicity over with him.

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