Lai Li’an smiled bitterly and shook his head. To be honest, he didn’t know where he should go either.

In the three years since he transmigrated, the places he had traveled to were all mortal territories. He had never seen a single cultivator’s market, sect, or city.

It wasn’t that he didn’t want to go, but rather that he simply couldn’t find a way in.

Those places were either hidden in deep mountains and great marshes beyond the reach of mortals, or concealed by arrays so that mortals wouldn’t even notice them when walking right past.

Thinking of this, Lai Li’an felt a bit complicated. He had finally gained the capital to cultivate, yet he couldn’t even touch the threshold of the Cultivation World. What kind of joke was this?

Forget it, he would just take it one step at a time.

He took the Silver Moon Grass out from his robes, intending to take a good look at what exactly this thing was. The moment he grasped the Spiritual Herb, a massive amount of information flooded into his mind without warning.

Silver Moon Grass: a century-old Spiritual Herb. Cold in nature, pungent in taste. Grows in places with dense Yin energy. On every full moon night, its leaves absorb Moonlight Power. It takes a hundred years to mature. When mature, it becomes translucent white all over, with a silver luster flowing across the surface of its leaves, hence the name.

He didn’t actively try to recall this information; instead, it was as if it had been engraved into his brain, automatically surfacing the moment he laid eyes on the Spiritual Herb.

Lai Li’an froze for a moment, then immediately realized it was the Scripture of the Eternal Alchemy God.

The Heaven-Grade Alchemy Dao book given to him by the system, he had always thought it was useless trash just like those unusable cultivation techniques. But at this moment, this “trash” was automatically operating in his mind, presenting every single detail of that Silver Moon Grass perfectly before his eyes without the slightest error.

Moreover, the efficacy of the Silver Moon Grass did not stop there.

The most unique aspect of this herb was that it could be refined into a spiritual substance called “Moonlight Spiritual Elixir.” After consuming it, there was a certain probability of opening up an Acquired Spiritual Root within the body.

Spiritual Root!

These two words struck Lai Li’an’s heart like a heavy hammer.

A Spiritual Root was something innate, an inborn trait. You either had it or you didn’t. This was an eternal, unchanging iron law in the Cultivation World.

For three years, he had always known clearly in his heart that he was a mortal without a Spiritual Root. Even if he relied on the system’s Fantasy Gain to temper his physical fitness to be incredibly strong, he would never be able to touch true cultivation.

But now, the Scripture of the Eternal Alchemy God told him that the Silver Moon Grass could break this iron law and create an artificial Spiritual Root.

Although the success rate wasn’t one hundred percent, and the difficulty of refinement was incredibly high—this Spiritual Herb was exceedingly special, the processing methods were complex to the extreme, and the slightest deviation in heat control would waste all previous efforts—ordinary alchemists simply wouldn’t dare to try it.

But Lai Li’an was no ordinary alchemist. The Scripture of the Eternal Alchemy God in his mind was a Heaven-Grade Alchemy Book that could operate automatically.

The refinement method for the Silver Moon Grass, the heat control, the Spiritual Power guidance, and the details of every single step were exceptionally clear in his mind. He knew exactly what to do even with his eyes closed.

As long as he could successfully refine this stalk of Silver Moon Grass, and as long as he could open up an Acquired Spiritual Root, his entire Cultivation Base would no longer be an empty shell.

All those Heaven-Grade Cultivation Techniques gathering dust in his System Inventory could finally be cultivated. At this thought, Lai Li’an’s heartbeat suddenly accelerated.

But the next second, it was as if a basin of cold water was poured over his head: he completely lacked the tools for refinement.

Alchemy required an Alchemy Cauldron, Spiritual Fire, and various auxiliary materials. Although the refinement of the Silver Moon Grass didn’t require other auxiliary herbs, it at least needed a container that could withstand the power of the Spiritual Herb, as well as a flame with precisely controllable heat.

Lai Li’an’s mouth twitched. Even the cleverest housewife could not cook a meal without rice1; he possessed the inheritance of the Heaven-Grade Alchemy Dao, yet lacked even the most basic alchemy tools.

Then, his gaze subconsciously shifted to Su Wan’er beside him.

The young girl was quietly following behind him. Sensing his gaze, she slightly raised her head, revealing a somewhat puzzled expression.

“Senior?”

Lai Li’an withdrew his gaze, pondered for a moment, and said casually.

“Do you know alchemy?”

Su Wan’er blanked for a moment, then shook her head: “In reply to Senior, this junior has never practiced the Alchemy Dao. The sect has an Alchemy Peak lineage, but this junior is a Sword Cultivator, so regarding matters of alchemy… I know absolutely nothing.”

Lai Li’an sighed in his heart, but his face remained impassive.

He asked again, “Do you have items like an Alchemy Cauldron or Spiritual Fire on you?”

Su Wan’er’s expression became even more ashamed: “This junior… does not. This junior only brought my personal sword and a few bottles of Healing Pills. Valuable items like an Alchemy Cauldron, this junior does not possess.”

Sure enough.

The last trace of hope in Lai Li’an’s heart shattered.

He fell silent for a moment, his mind rapidly flipping through the contents regarding the refinement of Silver Moon Grass in the Scripture of the Eternal Alchemy God.

The refinement of Silver Moon Grass was different from ordinary alchemy. Although it did not require supplementary herbs, it was essentially an “extraction” rather than a “refining.”

The key was to slowly boil out the Moonlight Power within the Silver Moon Grass at a specific temperature, and then use Spiritual Power to guide it to condense into a liquid.

Since auxiliary herbs weren’t needed, an Alchemy Cauldron wasn’t actually necessary.

The Scripture of the Eternal Alchemy God recorded that when the Alchemy Dao first began in ancient times, the ancestors used stones as pots and earth fire as fuel, yet they could still refine Spiritual Herbs.

Later inventions like Alchemy Cauldrons and Spiritual Fires were merely tools to make alchemy more precise and efficient.

The true core lay in the alchemist’s control over the heat and understanding of the medicinal properties.

And he, Lai Li’an, possessed precisely the top-tier understanding of medicinal properties and knowledge of heat control bestowed upon him by the Scripture of the Eternal Alchemy God.

If he didn’t have an Alchemy Cauldron, he would use stones; if he didn’t have Spiritual Fire, he would use mortal fire.

Although the quality of the finished product might be somewhat inferior, refining the Silver Moon Grass was never about pursuing some top-grade spiritual fluid. As long as he could successfully open his Spiritual Root, even if it was a Low-Grade Spiritual Root, he would be completely satisfied.

Thinking up to this point, Lai Li’an had a plan in mind.

He raised his head, his gaze sweeping over the surrounding mountain forest. Not far ahead was a rocky mountain, and at its foot, a pitch-black cave entrance could faintly be seen.

“Follow this Venerable.”

Lai Li’an lifted his foot and walked in that direction. Su Wan’er did not understand why, but she obediently followed him.

The cave was not large. Lai Li’an walked a circle inside and nodded in satisfaction. It was hidden enough here that they didn’t have to worry about being disturbed, and there was enough space inside to move freely.

He turned around and looked at Su Wan’er.

“Do you see that huge stone outside?”

Su Wan’er followed his gaze. Not far outside the cave entrance was a half-human-tall, dark greenish-black boulder.

“I see it, Senior.”

“Chop it into a pot.”

Su Wan’er froze. She opened her mouth, suspecting she had misheard: “Senior… what did you say?”

“Chop it into a pot,” Lai Li’an said as if speaking of a trivial matter. “As for the size… it should be able to hold three to five buckets of water. The bottom needs to be a bit thicker to withstand the burning of a raging fire. The shape doesn’t need to be too regular, as long as it’s usable.”

Su Wan’er’s expression shifted from confusion to sheer dumbfoundedness. Chopping a stone to make a pot, what was Senior doing?

She subconsciously wanted to ask, but swallowed the words right as they reached her lips. Senior’s actions must carry some profound meaning. If she couldn’t comprehend it, it was because her own cultivation was lacking, not because there was an issue with Senior.

But still… using a sword to chop a stone into a pot?

Su Wan’er looked down at the longsword at her waist. It was a Magic Tool of decent quality. Although it wasn’t some divine weapon, using this sword to chop rocks…

She bit her lip and ultimately did not ask any more questions, simply replying respectfully, “Yes, Senior.”

Su Wan’er walked up to the giant boulder, took a deep breath, and drew her longsword.

Sword light flashed, and stone chips flew.

Lai Li’an stood at the cave entrance, watching Su Wan’er’s back as she swung her sword to chop the stone. He secretly rejoiced in his heart that he had this girl around; otherwise, he wouldn’t even have a tool to cut the stone with.

As for why he wanted to use a stone pot, he naturally couldn’t admit that he didn’t have an Alchemy Cauldron. He was an expert, after all, and everything an expert did had to have an expert’s reasoning behind it.

Once Su Wan’er finished carving the pot, he would slowly “explain” it to her.

The corners of Lai Li’an’s mouth curled up slightly before quickly returning to a calm expression.

Outside the cave, Su Wan’er’s sword-swinging movements became increasingly skilled. From being cautious at first to making wide, sweeping strikes later, the outline of the giant boulder was visibly conforming to the shape of a “pot” at a rapid pace.

As she chopped, she silently told herself in her heart: if Senior asked her to chop rocks, he must have his reasons. If Senior asked her to make it into a pot, he must have his intentions. She just needed to follow his instructions; there was no need to ask too many questions.

As time passed, a lopsided stone pot was gradually taking shape beneath the young girl’s sword.