Florida Man Addicted to Nutting in Forest

Chapter 16 – Florida Man Addicted to Nutting in Forest

= Life Sword Sect, Alchemy Department =

In the morning, Gao Yan woke up early and read a basic alchemy guidebook that he had received from Wu Buyi. He was interested in the applications of Wood Qi and Fire Qi.

He skimmed through the trivial parts until his eyes caught on to the topics that he was interested in.

'Ah, found it! Here… Alchemy is not about burning everything in a pot into charcoal. It's about the choice of elemental Qi and ingredients. An alchemist has to pay extra attention to the element circles because each element gives a different result. For example, fire Qi promotes earth, weakens wood, and dominates metal, but insults water. Okay, this much I know. But what is "Insult" anyway?'

Gao Yan continued to read further. Then, he started to get confused as the relationship table sounded bizarre.

'Wood Qi promotes fire, weakens water, and dominates… earth? Insult metal? Huh? Metal Qi creates… water?! Weaken earth, dominate wood, and insult fire? What?!'

The disciple scratched his head as he had no idea what "Insult" in alchemy term meant. He flipped the pages to the glossary section in the book. Then, he found the translation of the word.

Insult in the alchemy term translated to "Harm". For example, fire evaporates water. Water destabilizes earth. Earth rots wood. Wood dulls metal, and metal conducts fire (heat).

Gao Yan flipped back to the section that he had left off earlier. He started taking notes as every element had a different effect on another element. Although he didn't understand the hidden meaning of the description and the relationship table, Gao Yan felt like he broadened his horizon.

'Alchemy is profound. So, there are things that Wood Qi and Fire Qi can do best, but they can't refine everything in the world. I wonder if I have to rely on other alchemists if I have to refine water pills in the future.'

Gao Yan continued reading. At the end of that chapter, there was an annotation, made by Wu Buyi. The latter wrote it for Gao Yan.

[An alchemist only needs two types of secondary elemental Qi to refine every element. In common practice, average alchemists cultivate fire Qi, wood Qi, and metal Qi, so they can refine almost every type of high-graded pill and some superior pills. Master alchemists usually spend centuries cultivating the third and even the fourth secondary element Qi to be well-versed in every field.]

[An alchemist can choose to become a specialist by relying on only two or three elements, or they can become the jack-of-all-grade by spending centuries in cultivation. It's about personal career choice in the end. But if you ask me which is better, I'll pick the jack-of-all-trade route. You might waste a few hundred years getting stuck at the nascent soul stage and trying to acquire one more element Qi. But trust me, the investment will be worth the blood, tear, and sweat. Not only will you thrive as a top-tier alchemist, but as a cultivator, you will also be invincible!]

[Also, legends said that an alchemist with all five elemental essences can turn simple grain pills into elixir. Even my mentor hasn't achieved that state. You should strive for that. Set your goal high, and you will never be a failure even if you fail to achieve that goal.]

Gao Yan was grateful for the notes. His motivation skyrocketed once more.

"Alright. Time to cultivate and reinforce my wood Qi! I must condense my dantian and reach the foundation establishment stage within a year! Before I'm 25, I must reach the golden core stage!"

He closed his book and put it back in his clothes. Then, he returned to his room and sat on his bed.

Inside a water pot on a desk next to his bed was a blade of immortal grasses, which Wu Buyi had brought from the outer disciple courtyard to Gao Yan's room. Although there was only one blade of immortal grass, it still filled the room with wood Qi.

Gao Yan closed his eyes and meditated, deeply inhaling the warm vapor in the air. His body grew warmer as his blood reacted to the nutritious energy.

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Meanwhile, Leo was clueless about what essence or Qi could do to the pills. He stared at the system messages and rested his hands on his hips in frustration.

'Meh, what's the point of overthinking something I don't know. I'll just YOLO this thing and see how it turns out. There is nothing to lose anyway.'

Leo shrugged and let the alchemy workshop do the work. He pressed the confirm button.

DING

The black cauldron turned white, and a metallic lid appeared out of nowhere. It covered the pot, and a timer appeared.

"…"

Leo's expression turned dark. He thought that the pills would come out instantly.

"One hour to make stupid drugs!? Seriously? I ain't going to sit around and wait!"

Had any alchemist heard Leo's remark, they would have fumed with rage as one hour of pill-refining was considered a lot faster than average. A newbie alchemist always fumbled for six hours to make simple non-elemental grain pills for the first time while experts still needed two to three hours to make elemental pills.

The workshop slowly counted down. Leo scoffed and carried the ingredients back to the store in disappointment. While he was at it, he cracked an iron pine nut and popped it in his mouth.

The nut was rock solid, but there was nothing in the world that Leo's teeth couldn't destroy. He crushed it and savored the iron-like flavor.

It tasted like human blood. However, Leo got something useful.

DING

"One nut per year?"

Leo's eyes gleamed. He dropped the basket of potatoes and carried an empty container outside the store. He rushed to the fallen pine trees to collect more nuts.

An hour quickly went by. Leo stopped nutting (collecting nuts) and returned to the workshop to see the result.

The cauldron was black again, but the lid was gone. 30 colorful pills floated over the pot, waiting for Leo to collect them. They came in seven colors – Red, blue, green, yellow, black, purple, and white. Each round pill was an inch thick.

"Oh, neat. 30 balls at once?"

Leo purchased a large glass bowl for this occasion. He reached out to pick up the floating pills. But as soon as he touched one of them, the workshop system informed him of the result.

"Wut da hail?"

Leo frowned and glanced at the seven floating system windows around him. Each displayed the effects of the pills.

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Lesser Metal Grain Pill

- Satisfy the hunger for 48 hours.

- Improve blood circulation and internal organ efficiency by 15% for 48 hours.

- Increase lifespan by two years.

- Increase Metal Qi by two years' worth of cultivation.

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Inferior Fire Grain Pill