Eternal Cultivation of Alchemy

Chapter 2173  Substitute

Silvermist laughed upon hearing Alex's process of making the pill. "You didn't have to be worried about how to get the energy exactly that same," he said. "It happens automatically when you compress it beyond a certain point."

"I know that now, but I had no idea beforehand," Alex said. "I was worried there was going to be some trick involved that I didn't know about."

"You could've just asked me if you didn't know," Silvermist said as he looked at the pill in his hand. He could feel the energy inside of the pill and smiled as it was exactly the same as the energy inside the flower he had left with Alex.

The pill was of a bad quality, but that did not matter in the end as quality itself did not matter at the moment. The fact that Alex had managed to come up with this within a single day went to show just how good his understanding of alchemy ingredients was.

"Make another pill, but this time I want you to make sure it is of a better quality," Silvermist said.

Alex nodded and began. Within minutes, he prepared another pill. This time, it was of a more than decent quality. The quality of the pill didn't count in terms of Harmony. Because the energy was condensed anyway, there was only so much space it would take inside of a pill. What mattered was the quality of the structure of the pill, so that it could hold all of the energy.

One good thing about this was perhaps the fact that there was no danger of being attacked by Pill lightning as the energy within the pill could never reach 100%.

Alex handed the pill over to his master who looked at it and nodded with satisfaction.

"We can begin."

The pink cauldron, Bloodstone, came out from within Silvermist's Soul Space and landed in front of him. At the same time, he brought out all the ingredients required for a Sky Heart Cultivation Pill, of which Blueveined Orchid was one of the main ingredients.

"Before we start," Silvermist said. "Tell me what troubles I will face because of me using a pill instead of an ingredient."

Alex thought for a moment and came up with 3 issues.

"The rate at which the pill will defuse the energy will be different from the flower, so it is important to make sure you handle it carefully."

"Correct," Silvermist said. "And?"

"There will be more powder than normal since you used a pill instead of an ingredient, resulting in the final pill being larger than normal."

"That is correct as well," Silvermist said.

"And finally, I do not believe this pill can ever reach 100% because the structure of the pill itself is all wrong. I do not know if it can even accept all of the energy within the pill."

Silvermist nodded. "Those are all valid concerns," he said. "And you are right in worrying about them all."

"But there is a way to go past all of that, is there not?" Alex asked.

"Not… directly," Silvermist said. "There is only one way. You have used a substitute for the energy. Now you use a substitute for the powder as well."

"Oh? How do you create a substitute?" Alex asked.

"There are two ways," Silvermist said. "The first one is perhaps the simpler of the two methods. Just use any ingredient you have on you to create the required powder. It only matters that it is the same shape, and not that it came from the same ingredient."

"Huh?" Alex was taken aback a little. "We can use anything? That shouldn't be right. As far as I know, you must use the correct ingredient powder to have it accept the energy. Was I wrong this whole time?"

"You're not wrong, but you are not completely right either," Silvermist said. "It is correct that you need the original ingredients, but it is only to a certain extent. You don't need all of it to be original, just most of it. As long as the energy recognizes most of the pill to be the former host they come from, they will go back in and remain there."

Alex was amazed. "I wasn't aware of such a thing being possible," he said. "What about the other way?"

"The other way is… a little more difficult, but it is considered the better way. All you do is change the recipe around so that you do not need the powder from the missing ingredient."

Alex paused for a moment. "You mean for the 13 ingredients in the Sky Heart Cultivation pill, I should try to make a pill with only the matter of the 12 remaining ones and just use the energy of the Blueveined Orchid through the pill?" "That is what I mean," Silvermist said. "The first method I gave you is the easy one, but as you mentioned, it is not entirely the right ingredient, so there is a very low chance of it failing or just not having a very high harmony."

"But if you follow the second method, you are guaranteed to never fail."

Alex nodded. "But it is difficult since you need to change the recipe altogether again," he said.

"Yes," Silvermist added.

"Are you certain it won't fail, master? It might not have a foreign matter, but it is still missing an ingredient," Alex said.

"Have you made pills using liquid before?" Silvermist asked.

Alex nodded. Nectars, spirit water, juices, and all sorts of other fluids from plants and animals were well-known ingredients used in many recipes. It would be impossible for him to have never used it.

"When you burn the liquid, does it leave behind powder?" he asked.

"No, it mostly just—" Alex's eyes widened. "Oh, you're right, master. They don't leave behind any powder most of the time, and yet they still form pills with no issue."

Silvermist grinned. "I'm glad you managed to figure it out before I had to tell it to you," he said. "Since you understand, do you need me to show you how it is done?"

Alex shook his head. "I think I understand, master," he said. "I just need to change the recipe is all. That much I can do myself."

"Yes," Silvermist said. "Or use a substitute. Or, there is one more thing you can do."

Alex raised his eyebrow. "What else can I do? Is there a third way?"

"There is, but I wouldn't rely on it since it's not so readily available," Silvermist said.

"Do tell me, master. Even if I don't use it, I can keep it in mind," Alex said.

"There is an ingredient out there that can accept energy from other ingredients and keep it without rejecting it. If you use it as a substitute for the powder, you won't have to worry about the energy rejecting the pill or worry about having to make a different recipe altogether."

"Oh! What is this ingredient?" Alex asked. "I don't think I know any ingredient like this."

"It's a flower called the White Canvas Daisy."

Alex's eyes widened slightly. "A… White Canvas Daisy?" he asked.

"Yes," Silvermist said. "If you have that flower, you have nothing to worry about."