## AST: Chapter 21 – It is Tough to be Strong

“Could it be that herbs of the precious grade and above can’t be directly consumed?” Qing Shui mused. He knew that people in his previous world actually consumed things like 100-year old ginseng with no ill effects!

Qing Yi patted Qing Shui on his forehead and gently said “Herbs of the common grade can be directly consumed after slight processing, but of course the percentage of medicinal strength one can absorb would only be about 10-20%. The majority of the leftover medicinal strength will be wasted. Naturally, there are some exceptions to this. When herbs are aged 500 years or more, the herbs can no longer be consumed directly. If you ignore the safety restriction, and are set on doing so, instead of helping you, the herbs will cause great harm to your body. If the herbs are of Precious Grade or higher, directly consuming it may even lead to one’s death!”

“Ooo, then how about the herbs that cannot be directly consumed? Maybe there is a method for us to absorb the medicinal essence inside of them?” Qing Shui speculated. As the thought about it, the alchemy profession suddenly appeared in his mind.

“Alchemist!”

Seeing that Qing Shui seemed to be extremely interested in the alchemy profession, Qing Yi gave a detailed explanation “The herbs that cannot be directly consumed will need an alchemist to concoct them into pills. Using various methods, after extracting the herbal essence and finally coagulating them into the shape of a pill, they will be able to prevent the excessive loss of medicinal strength! And thus, in this way it will also be more beneficial for a cultivator to consume the pill concocted, rather than the herb itself.”

So that’s the reason why. Qing Shui understood it better now. Initially he thought that directly consuming a herb would at most only lead to a miniscule loss in the amount of energy retained. He originally thought that because the body wasn’t able to absorb such a large amount of energy in one go, the excess energy would be dispersed as waste. He never expected that for herbs graded Precious or higher, the excess amount of energy would cause one’s body to explode, leading to one’s death!

“Mother, since herbs and medical ingredients can be divided into grades, what about alchemists? What is the difference between the pills created by a 3rd ranked alchemist and a 5th ranked one?”

“The higher ranked an alchemist is, the better the quality of his concocted pills will be. Obviously, a common ranked alchemist will find it almost impossible to refine and concoct pills of the Precious Grade.” Qing Yi replied.

The ranks of alchemists was somewhat similar to the classifications of herbs. It was only slightly more complex in comparison. Common, Precious, Jade, King, Royal, Emperor, Saint, Divine. These 8 grades of spiritual herbs were comparable to the 8 different alchemist ranks. The only difference was that, for alchemist, each rank was further divided into 10 levels. Eg. Common-Ranked Alchemist of the 10th level.

“Hmm, it is actually the similar to [Western Fantasy]. The higher the rank of an alchemist, the higher the quality of concocted pills. However, I still do not know when I will be able to master the alchemy arts gifted to me by the Ancient Strengthening Technique. I wonder… If I concoct pills based on the ancient recipes from the Ancient Strengthening Technique, what grade will they be?” Qing Shui’s eyes gleamed with a light, he was getting more and more excited about becoming an alchemist!

“The Situ Clan from Hundred Miles City wants to buy all the precious graded herbs from our Qing Clan. Could it be that they are hiding an alchemist?” Thinking back on how arrogant Situ Bu Fan acted, as well as that cold glance of Shi Qing Zhuang when she was introduced by Situ Bu Fan as his fiancee, Qing Shui could not help but clench his fist. Pieces of the puzzle began to fall in place inside his mind. “Could this be the reason why Qing Shi Zhuang was forcibly betrothed to Situ Bu Fan as his fiancee, despite her unwillingness?”

Qing Yi looked at Qing Shui in shock. This child… his power of deductions are almost godlike.. She smiled and rustled Qing Shui’s hair and said “Your guess is correct, the reason why the Situ Clan is so illustrious in Hundred Miles City is because one of Situ Nan Tian’s sons has broken through to the Jade-Ranked Alchemist level.”

“Just a Jade-Ranked Alchemist, and yet he dares to be so arrogant?” Qing Shui exclaimed in displeasure.

Hearing that, Qing Yi almost coughed out blood. Using a bit of force, she tapped Qing Shui’s head and said “What do you mean with ‘just a Jade-Ranked Alchemist’ `Do you think there are plenty of alchemists? Even in the entire Hundred Miles City, the amount of reputable alchemists can be counted on a single hand. Although the one named Lei from the Situ Clan has only reached the 1st level of the Jade-Ranked, he naturally has the ability to be arrogant!” Qing Yi giggled, half in humor and half in consternation at Qing Shui’s ignorance.

Qing Shui gently shook his head and smiled, seeing Qing Yi happy made him happy too.

Only in front of Qing Yi would Qing Shui appear to be a child… A simple and naive little child.

“Since being an alchemist is so revered, why doesn’t the Situ Alchemist leave Hundred Miles City and go to some other bigger cities to develop? Why would he want to limit himself?” Qing Shui could not understand.

“Hai, do you not understand the theory behind ‘one would rather be a big fish in a small pond compared to a small fish in a big pond’? Over there, his status is akin to a diamond. Out there in the vast world, he may only be a piece of stone.” Qing Yi explained.

Qing Shui finally understood!

“With a status of a 1st level Jade-Ranked Alchemist, he was nothing compared to the stronger alchemists out in the world.” Qing Shui was getting more and more excited about the prospect of heading out into the vast world of Kyushu. It was a pity that he still did not have sufficient strength. The world outside could be fascinating, but also dangerous. Qing Shui did not want to throw away his life for nothing!

“Yeah, although people usually say that alchemists have terrifying might. The alchemists they are referring to are the alchemists that are King-Ranked or higher. Because those who are able to concoct King Grade or higher pills are usually Xian Tian Cultivators!

Qing Yi’s words jolted Qing Shui out of his contemplation. “Xian Tian? A cultivator at the Xian Tian realm could wipe out Hundred Miles City with just a flick of his finger. Not to mention a Xian Tian Realm Cultivator who was also an alchemist. Just being an alchemist alone already grants one a revered status. In addition to the fact that he is a Xian Tian Realm Cultivator, to also be an Alchemist? Even the City Lord would have to show him respect!”

Being an Alchemist is so awesome! After all, they spent every bit of their time delving into the arts of pill concoction, sometimes even to the point of neglecting their own cultivation! If everyone could easily concoct King Grade or higher level pills, how could the alchemy profession still be considered as the profession with the most revered status?

“This profession truly has strict requirements needed to train in it. To produce King Grade pills or higher, one would need to be at the Xian Tian Realm. Only at the Xian Tian Realm will the cultivator be able to use their Xiantian Inner Fire to aid them in pill concoction!” Qing Shui and Qing Yi had already arrived at their own courtyard in the midst of their discussion.

“Although it is exceedingly tough to breakthrough to the Xiantian Realm. If I want to reach the stage of a Common, Precious or Jade-Ranked alchemist, will the requirements also be as difficult? After all, in Hundred Miles City which has a population of over 1 million people, there are only a few Jade-Ranked alchemists.” Qing Shui mused.

“The main point is that training to be an alchemist is very tough, the prerequisite is to memorize and understand everything inside the books <Continental Medical Annal>, <10,000 Herbology Encyclopedia> and <Herbal Combination Formula>. Just this initial step alone is considered a barrier, these three books restrict 80%-90% of the people who want to become an Alchemist. It is insufficient to merely possess determination. Memorization skills and a high level of comprehension are both extremely important as well!”

“Only after completing the initial steps of memorizing and completely comprehending the essence of these three books will you be considered a Medical Physician. If you truly want to become an alchemist, you will need to seek out a master. Only with the guidance of a master alchemist will you be able to learn the true alchemy skills, such as essence extracting and pill concoction techniques.”

“For pills concoction of the Common Grade to Jade Grade, the process is known as Essence Extracting. Only after you have reached the Xiantian Realm will you be capable of concocting King Grade level pills or higher with the use of Pill Concoction Techniques.

“Oh, I see.. Mother, those 3 books which you mentioned earlier, can I find them in our library?” Qing Shui eagerly asked.