Eternal Cultivation of Alchemy
chapter-2169

Silvermist wondered how good his disciple could be in another thousand years. Or maybe 2 thousand years. He could tell his disciple had cultivated for no more than a thousand or two at best, and this was the level he had reached. Should he continue further… Silvermist had no idea what to expect.

He had rarely ever seen someone this talented.

Alex shrunk the cauldron down to a manageable size and put aside the 18 pills he made, all of which were over 90% in harmony. Even without any proper technique, he had enough control over the energy inside the cauldron to make such pills. He was quite happy with that fact.

But of course, if he wanted 100% harmony, he would have to use the technique, and he didn't know how he could do it one at a time when all the powders were together.

Unless he made all 18 pills separately, there was nothing he could do.

He ignored those thoughts for later times and waited on Silvermist to begin speaking.

"Do you know what Pill Fusion is?" Silvermist asked.

Alex shook his head. He couldn't remember ever hearing about such a concept. "Pill fusion? Are we fusing two different pills to create a third one?" "Uhh… yes, but no. Not different pills. We're combining two of the same pills to make a single pill out of them," Silvermist said.

Alex tilted his head, trying to think about why that would be good. "Is that different from eating two pills together?" he asked.

"It is," Silvermist said. "It is much better."

"Oh!" Alex was taken aback. "How?"

"Because you aren't making a pill with double the energy as the first one, but rather making a pill with a more condensed energy."

"So, it's like using two Immortal pills to make a Divine-grade pill?" Alex asked.

"That's a perfect analogy, albeit you are expecting way too much out of it," Silvermist said. "From what I am aware, Pill Fusions usually improve a pill by about 2 or 3 pill vein's worth of energy if they were originally of 90% harmony or higher."

"Oh! That is a lot," Alex remarked. "Do they create pill veins or cause pill clouds? Can you fuse two pills with pill veins? What happens in that instance?" The concept of fusing two pills to make a higher-grade pill opened a lot of possibilities in his mind.

Silvermist chuckled a little. "Slow down. I'll explain everything," he said. "First, let me explain how fusion actually works."

Alex nodded and listened carefully.

The gist of the matter regarding Pill Fusion was not very surprising for him as he had already expected what he was going to be told. Simply put, two pills were placed into a cauldron and pulverized back to being separate as powder and energy.

At that moment, the powders were gathered to make a single pill. Since the pill would be larger than normal, it would then need to be compressed down to a smaller pill of appropriate size.

At the same time, the energy was condensed as well before being put back into the pill.

Alex understood the concept of condensing the energy, but could he condense the powder as well? A proper pill's powder was already condensed enough after all.

"It is possible. Most pills, while compact, are still very soft. You can condense it to make it denser," Silvermist said.

"How many times can that be done?" Alex asked. "How many pills can we fuse into one?"

"That depends on how strong your cultivation base is. I wouldn't suggest fusing more than 2 pills. Just the strength of the energy alone makes it difficult to control."

Alex nodded. He wouldn't want a situation like what had happened when he began making the Heavensent Invincibility pill. "Can we do it when making the pill for the first time?" Alex asked. "You said this is done after taking a pill."

"Oh no, you can do it when making the pills for the first time. You don't have to wait until you have made two pills before doing so," Silvermist said.

"Ah! Okay, that is good," Alex said. "And what about Pill clouds?"

"In a way, it is considered a normal pill, so pill clouds do appear as well," Silvermist said. "But, and it is a big but. Because the new pill you make a significantly more powerful energy, the pill clouds follow suit and drop a stronger lightning bolt as well."

"So, you need a higher cultivation base to survive them than what is possible for regular pill lightning," Silvermist said. "And there isn't any specific information on how strong those lightning bolts get to either. I just know they are very strong right from the start."

Alex had to give the new information some thought. It wasn't a weird concept when just thinking about it, but the implications it brought out were quite unique.

"Oh right, what happens if I were to use two pills that already have pill veins? Can they be fused?" Alex asked.

"It's… possible, but also very dangerous," Silvermist said.

Alex paused for a moment. "Dangerous? How so?" he asked.

"Do you understand the concept of what happens when pill veins form?" Silvermist asked. "The heavens deem your pill as something that should not be allowed to exist, so they strike it down. If you manage to protect it, they instead add to your pill, improving its energy."

Alex nodded. That much he understood.

"And each pill vein makes your pill stronger. So, imagine taking two of such pills and combining them together. You are taking two pills with energy from pill lightning that you could barely defend against, and then condensing it to a point where you end up calling another pill cloud. Imagine how strong those pill lightnings will be. Could you survive them? Or will your pill be wasted in the end?"

Alex tried imagining the strength of such a pill, and the sort of pill lightning it would bring. Would that be in the divine realm?

He quickly shook his head. "Sounds like that is a very bad idea, master," he said

"It is," Silvermist explained. "In the end, this concept isn't for people who can make pill clouds on their own. If you can do that, there is no point in wasting your energy on turning two pills into one when you can just make two pills with pill veins."

"This is a concept for those who cannot make pill veins. So, instead, they have to rely on this method to make pills that are better than usual."

"In a way, it is a futile attempt at keeping up in a world where others can call on Pill clouds regularly. Do you understand now?"

Alex nodded. "I understand, master," he said. "I suppose this isn't that useful for me then."

"But it is still a concept to learn and keep in mind. It's especially useful when you are early on in your cultivation after a major breakthrough and need pills to continue. You can't call pill clouds at that point, your pills will just be destroyed."

"In those cases, you rely on Pill Fusion to create for yourself a better than regular pill you can use."