Preparation

Brax steps in and starts looking around. His arrival isn't given any attention, as many people come and go daily. Even the person sitting at the reception doesn't bother looking up at him and continues being engrossed in their fantasies.

'I already know the basics. I should look into pill and elixir making.' He thinks and finds books related to pill and elixir crafting.

As he reads through many of these books, it becomes very clear that controlling the fire seems to be the hardest part of the alchemy process, followed by the action of combining the materials.

Brax spends hours going through everything that seems essential to understanding alchemy and how it works.

'I should buy some pills,' Brax says as he closes the last book. He looks around and sees the library still filled with people, some face still the same as when he came in, and some new faces who came after.

Brax exits the library and enters an alchemy store that is right next to the library.

His nose is immediately presented with the scent of strong herbal fragrances. He sees people being attended to by the store staff. Some of them look like ordinary citizens, while some of them are alchemy apprentices.

Brax approaches a free salesperson standing behind the counter and begins buying. A few Qi-infused pills and some Mind clarity elixirs.

Qi-infused pills are, as the name describes, pills containing a lot of Qi in them for cultivators to take and assimilate into their bodies.

Mind clarity elixirs provide cultivators with a clear mind, increasing their focus so that they can cultivate better.

Unlike Brax, whose body cultivates on its own through his breathing technique, ordinary cultivators need to pay attention to their cultivation technique and execute it correctly throughout the whole session. Because of this, Mind clarity elixirs are in huge demand amongst cultivators as it gives them that extra focus that they need.

And since they are cheap and easy to make, every 1-star alchemist needs to know how to make them.

After getting his hands on the Qi-infused pills and Mind Clarity elixirs, Brax buys some raw materials to make them as well. He is not going to take the exam without perfecting it, after all, he is a perfectionist.

Brax spends over 100 low-level spirit stones on everything. The raw materials didn't cost much at all. He could have bought it with mortal currency. But the pills and elixirs, they are fucking expensive when compared to the raw materials.

This just shows how profitable alchemy is. Raw materials that can be bought with little mortal currency can be turned into items worth spirit stones.

___________________

Brax returns to the Inn and enters his room. He finds Anna still practicing, and it is evident that she is not lazing around, as she is covered in sweat.

She is working hard to be a better cultivator.

Anna immediately stops as she sees Brax enter the room.

"Master, you are back," she exclaims happily. "Looks like you have improved a little, well done," Brax praises her. Anna smiles.

Brax is not lying. He saw her movements just now. Compared to the beginning, she has improved a little. Though not significant, it's still an improvement.

Many cultivators take days to show even a little improvement. It shows that Anna is not only gifted with great cultivation talent but also a martial arts genius.

"Master, how is your preparation going?" she asks.

"It's going good. You don't need to be concerned about it as I am not going to fail," Brax reassures her.

"Continue with your practice. I still have things to do," Brax orders. "As you say, master," Anna returns to her practice.

Brax sits down on the table and takes out the pills and elixirs.

"Let's see their molecular structure," Brax takes out a Qi-infused pill and crushes it into powder. Doing this doesn't reduce the pill's effect, as the Qi is completely bonded to the pill on a molecular level.

He enhances his eyes and focuses on the powder to look at its molecular structure.

Brax finds different atoms, all combined and interacting with each other. Oxygen, carbon, hydrogen, sulfur, and many others.

All these atoms are bonded on a molecular level trapping a dense amount of Qi in them, similar to containers.

As Brax discovers this, his brain already starts coming up with many applications for this. 'I can't wait to play around with this,' he thinks. Just this simple observation opened up so many possibilities for Brax.

He then brings his attention to the Mind Clarity elixir. He pours the elixir on a sheet and begins examining it.

Brax studies the molecular structure of the elixir and understands how to recreate it but he doesn't understand how it affects one's mind.

"Anna comes here," Brax calls Anna. "Yes, master?" Anna stops her practice and approaches Brax.

"Drink this," Brax hands over the Mind Clarity elixir to her. Anna looks at the bottle, takes it, and gulps it down without hesitation.

Within seconds, she immediately starts noticing changes.

"How do you feel?" Brax asks. "My mind feels extremely clear. What was it, master?" she asks. "It's a Mind Clarity elixir," Brax says. "Aren't those very expensive?" she asks, worried.

"You need not be concerned about it. Bring your head closer," Brax orders. Anna nods and bows down a little to get on Brax's level as he is sitting.

Brax grabs Anna's head and releases his Qi into her body to study the changes occurring in her body. 'I see, her body is releasing massive amounts of acetylcholine, epinephrine, and dopamine. Each herb seems to be responsible for a particular chemical reaction,' Brax concludes.

'These herbs are very potent drugs,' Brax thinks looking at the three raw materials used for the making of the Mind Clarity elixir. 'No wonder mortals don't take them directly, they will just die of an overdose,'

"You can continue your practice," Brax releases Anna. Anna confusingly looks at her master before resuming her practice again. She doesn't understand what goes on in her master's mind.

"Now that I know how it all works, let's perform alchemy," Brax says and smiles looking at the raw materials in front of him.