Alchemy Lessons, Part II
Zhou Lihua sat before her cauldron, which came up to about her waist when she stood up. It came almost up to her head while sitting. He’d never actually seen an alchemist’s cauldron until yesterday, so he had no idea they were so large.
“Do you know how alchemy works?” asked Zhou Lihua.
“You explained a little to me before. You refine ingredients into a pill shape. But I don’t know much more than that.”
“That’s only the basics. Alchemy requires two elements to refine pills. The first is fire. We use fire to break down each ingredient and refine it into a liquid form. Of course, fire on its own does nothing but burn. If we used only fire, we’d simply reduce our ingredients to ashes. That’s where the wood element comes in. The wood element acts as a catalyst during the refining process and protects the ingredients. Of course, the predominant element needed is still fire.”