Coming to alchemy, there were various theories on how it worked, though the most mainstream and widely accepted of these was based on the principle that it was a form of external cultivation.

Cultivation was a way of strengthening the mind and soul to get closer to immortality. But while man might think of himself as the center of the universe, the universe is vast and broad. The Dao existed not just for humans, but for everything from the beetles crawling through the grass to even non-living things such as minerals.

The Dao was everything - and as such, conversely, there was nothing that was without the Dao.

In truth, the earliest ideas and theories of cultivating came as an adaptation of alchemy, not the other way around.

In alchemy, one usually took ingredients from outside and then merged them with the help of fire. This was a gross oversimplification of course, but it fell in line with what most people could understand.

There was a deeper meaning to this that fewer people knew about - in that alchemists intended to mimic the way in which the universe was said to have been created from a primordial flame (what might in modern day terms if one were living on Earth be called ‘The Big Bang’) and replicate it through their experiments.

Much like that, humans were said to contain a ‘fire’ within them. It was said that the creation of the universe itself involved the usage of a sacred flame, into which the components of the universe merged to create something greater than the mere sum of the components - in other words, just like an alchemist making pills.

Life essence was compared to fire, and as alchemists would add ingredients to a flask, cultivators would add ‘ingredients’ - thoughts, will, and life experience to their life essence to temper their own bodies.

Essentially, alchemy could be considered to be ‘external cultivation’ while cultivation could also be thought of as ‘internal alchemy.’

That was why people could also technically be turned into cauldrons and pills - though obviously, such things were demonic in nature and not done by any of the righteous sects of the Raswatian Empire.

At least, not openly. There were always rumors that either some of the sects or the Imperial Family themselves held underground ‘dark laboratories’ where such forbidden research took place.

Such stories would always pop up from time to time - whether or not they had even the slightest bit of truth to them or not. There were conspiracy theorists in this world just like back on Earth, and this was a popular conspiracy theory to believe in - because many people felt that it was plausible. After all, cultivators were oftentimes people willing to do anything for power. Was it so hard to believe that powerful people like the Imperial Family or the sects would take advantage of weaker people if it would make them stronger? No!

Just because it was easy to believe didn't make it true, however.

Of course, regarding whether or not there were demonic cultivators who engaged in such practices - that was almost always going to be true at any point in time no matter where or when you were. That was what made them demonic in the first place, after all- a willingness to disregard life for their own personal gain.

Tang Ze had even told Yin Tiang about an alchemist from his old memories who had fused his daughter with a dog as a part of an abnormal experiment - Yin Tiang had heard of more horrifying and disturbing stories than that though.

Yin Tiang picked up one of the Ironthorn Fruits.

His task today was to work on an aphrodisiac.

This aphrodisiac was not intended for human use - such a thing, much like making human pills or cauldrons, was forbidden for obvious reasons.

Moreover, humans are intelligent creatures and there is a limit to how much such things would really work on them in the first place.

Certainly nothing as low-level as what Yin Tiang could make could greatly move a person’s heart.

Some of Yin Tiang’s fellow Initiates had asked him in roundabout manners for ‘human aphrodisiacs’, and he had angrily told them all to get lost whenever they approached him.

Some people did sell ‘human aphrodisiacs’ on the market, though up till now, Yin Tiang had found that all of them were just scammers.

The aphrodisiacs he was making were for a certain species of animal - pandas!

Much like back on Earth, pandas as a species had several aspects to them which could be considered to be evolutionary flaws such as feeding on food that was not nutritionally optimal, and also that they did not breed very willingly or frequently.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

In order to assist with their breeding - that was what this aphrodisiac was actually for!

In other words, to bring up the panda population, which teetered on the brink of extinction even in this world.

Making alchemical pills and elixirs was far more difficult than making medicine back on Earth.

There were various things that one would not even notice while making medicine back on Earth, since they didn’t matter to the final product.

And yet, several minute details that one would normally not even think of as carrying importance; well, they could not be ignored when it came to alchemy.

As a famous example - an alchemist had been working on a certain elixir over and over again, and had failed nearly ten thousand times.

And yet, one day, while going through very similar motions as before, he managed to succeed!

Unfortunately, despite trying to make this recipe again and again another ten thousand times, he was unable to recreate the single stroke of success he had managed to achieve.

What was it that had led to him being able to make it one time and failing all of the others?

He went through all the things he had done differently that day - whether it had been what he had eaten for breakfast, the phase of the moon in the lunar cycle, the temperature and weather outside, as well as if there had been any impurities in the ingredients used that day.

He could not come to a solution despite racking his brains thoroughly and trying to recreate all the conditions as much as possible. Until one day, it came to him.

That day when he had been successful, he had visited a friend’s house beforehand. And that friend had a doorknob that was rusty, so that some of the metal had stuck to his hand.

And it was this tiny detail that had allowed the elixir’s recipe to be finalized! The small traces of metal, although they were so small he could not see them, mixed in with the ingredients of the elixir and allowed it to be made successfully.

That was how meticulous one had to be while doing alchemy.

First, Yin Tiang had to crush the Ironthorn Fruit - it was imperative he do it with his hands and not with an instrument. The crushing part was actually quite important, which is why intact fruit was better than simply using its juices.

He then had to keep the juice in a silver bowl.

He then added some Dragonroot Powder, and then mixed the two with a copper spoon until they made a thick paste.

Now, this would be put aside for an hour while he worked on the other half of the recipe.

He took out a bath of copper sulfate and then soaked several pieces of deerskin within it.

Once the deerskin was done drying, he lit up a flame, and then dipped the deerskin in the same.

Instantly fumes began to emerge from the deerskin, which is why this step had to be done under a fume hood.

Many alchemists had accidentally poisoned themselves through their experiments, even those who were experienced veterans. Occasionally they had to work with substances regarding which even an accidental whiff was fatal, though they did not try to make such things here. If one wanted to work with really noxious ingredients, they would have to go to a larger division of the sect where there were special rooms prepared for the same.

While nothing was being used in this laboratory that could kill you by inhaling a single whiff of it, there were still a thousand and one ways to kill yourself if you were not careful.

Once the deerskin had been burnt to a crisp, the flame took on a gentle green color.

Yin Tiang let out a sigh of relief - that meant that this step had been successful.

The next step, however, was where his skill would truly be tested. The thick paste he had just made was then put atop this flame.

All alchemical processes had one step in common - they needed a burst of energy in order to trigger the whole process. This was usually fire, though it could more rarely also be lightning, light, or even spiritual energy from the alchemist.

While it was widely assumed that the universe had been created in much the same way - a large number of ingredients coming together with a sudden burst of energy fusing them and creating something greater than the sum of the ingredients used, resulting in the myriad number of lifeforms, galaxies, and planets that were seen today. It was unclear, however, as to who had carried this process out.

Whether it had been a case of ‘natural alchemy’ - as in, ingredients coming together in nature by themselves to make something (which was seen occasionally) or the action of some greater being was a topic that many alchemists and non-alchemists debated till this day. Also, the ingredients used would've needed to come from somewhere, resulting in a strange circular problem with no true end the more one contemplated this.

There was a reason why many Bodhisattvas said that it was an exercise in futility to try to contemplate the origin of the universe.

This paste, as it was heated, was not meant to be stirred. Instead, Yin Tiang took out an identical bowl to the first one, and began gently tapping the second one while keeping it close to the first.

It was through this - resonance - that the mixture would be stirred, indirectly.

The skill was in keeping the frequency of taps at a level that would resonate with the other bowl.

Sweat began to coat Yin Tiang’s brow, but the paste finally turned the light blue color that he had been expecting. That signified that it was finished. He let out a sigh of relief - although he was successful ninety percent of the time when making this, the ten percent of the time that he failed always felt soul-crushing.

He put the finished aphrodisiac into a vial, capped said vial, and handed it over for it to be sold. The sect itself had no use for it, but it would fetch a high price on the open market. Many people bred pandas as they were popular, and this was somewhat encouraged as their numbers were low.

As Yin Tiang washed his hands, he hoped that the pandas in question, once they’d had their fun, would appreciate his effort. More likely than not though, being animals, they wouldn’t.

As his work was quite profitable, he didn’t need to stay in the lab for long before his daily quota was met.

Once he was done with his daily quota, he could do whatever he wanted - though Yin Tiang preferred to remain in the laboratory looking at what else was going on even after he was done with his work. There was quite a lot that you could learn by observing the more senior workers. Nearly everyone in the lab knew Yin Tiang so no one really minded letting him watch, or giving him a few pointers to help him improve.

It wasn’t like the rest of his squad was there for them to do anything together once he got back to their shared room anyway. He could go back to his room to try to cultivate, but he would rather stay here and study alchemy.

Speaking of the rest of his squad, hopefully, Chen Yu thought, they were also having an easy time like he was.