From the original owner's memories, it was clear that with his limited abilities, he definitely couldn't have escaped Tengshe Mountain on his own.

"There are still eight days left. I have to try every possible method."

William Grant picked up the "Essentials of Alchemy" and flipped through it again. Over the past two days, he had absorbed more of the original owner's memories, so now he could barely understand the "Essentials of Alchemy."

After patiently reading for quite a while, William Grant couldn't help but throw the book aside.

Even if he could barely grasp the theory, he was still a long way from being able to put it into practice.

"This won't do. I need to think of another way."

William Grant picked up the book, thought for a moment, then went to the cabinet and took out all the books and items inside.

Thirteen low-grade spirit stones, a pine-patterned refined steel longsword, several sets of clothes, a few books, a box of ten White Dew Pills, and a few low-level talismans.

This was all the property the original owner had left him.

He had actually gone through these things several times already; taking them out again was mainly to organize his thoughts.

William Grant's mind was especially clear now, and he had a strange intuition that what he needed was among these items.

Spirit stones are crystals formed by the natural condensation of spiritual energy, the universal currency in the world of cultivators, comparable to gold in the mortal world.

Thirteen low-grade spirit stones had limited purchasing power. They couldn't solve his problem.

The longsword was useless, as were the White Dew Pills, clothes, and talismans.

So, it had to be these books.

"On the Interactions of the Five Elements," "True Formulas of the Profound Cavern," "Thirty-Six Methods of Alchemy"...

Suddenly, William Grant had a flash of inspiration and picked up "True Formulas of the Profound Cavern."

He had flipped through this book before; it only recorded recipes for dual cultivation, nothing proper. He had tossed it aside as soon as he saw the contents.

"Improper is just right—'Fengyue Mirror' is improper too, they make a perfect pair!"

Actually, "True Formulas of the Profound Cavern" was very simple, recording only nine recipes, including details on how to refine them.

After reading the first recipe, "Deer Antler Powder," William Grant suddenly had an epiphany.

He took out the Fengyue Mirror and saw that a new pill recipe had appeared on the back.

Deer Antler Powder: a tonic for strengthening yang and kidneys. (Beginner 1/10).

William Grant was overjoyed. Learning a pill recipe was nothing special, but the key was that this recipe could be leveled up!

Spending ten points of Human Dao Spiritual Light, Deer Antler Powder quickly leveled up to proficient.

Within the Fengyue Mirror, Sister Lane began demonstrating how to select herbs, wash, soak, boil, dry, grind and mix them into powder, and how to roast and refine them with fire...

In a short time, William Grant had learned how to make Deer Antler Powder and mastered every detail of the process.

"It really works!" William Grant grew even more excited. Deer Antler Powder itself wasn't useful, but the key was the technique for making it—that was what he wanted.

Deer Antler Powder: a tonic for strengthening yang and kidneys. (Proficient 1/10).

Each upgrade cost ten points. Looking at the hundred-plus points of Human Dao Spiritual Light he had left, William Grant didn't hesitate to keep leveling up Deer Antler Powder.

It only took fifty points of Human Dao Spiritual Light to upgrade Deer Antler Powder to master level. But to go from master to grandmaster required fifty more points.

William Grant glanced at the Great Idol Divine Method—it would take five thousand points of Human Dao Spiritual Light to upgrade.

By comparison, this was much cheaper.

For the sake of his own life, William Grant gritted his teeth and pushed Deer Antler Powder all the way to grandmaster level.

It was obvious that there was a qualitative leap from master to grandmaster, which was why it required so much more Human Dao Spiritual Light.

He had finally found a path, so of course he had to go all out. Anyway, the remaining dozens of points of Human Dao Spiritual Light couldn't do anything else.

Within the Fengyue Mirror, Sister Lane began refining Deer Antler Powder again.

The process was the same as before, but Sister Lane's every movement was exceptionally graceful, with an indescribable spiritual charm.

William Grant felt a jolt in his mind, and countless insights about refining Deer Antler Powder flooded his thoughts.

At the same time, over ten years of the original owner's alchemy memories were triggered.

Selecting herbs, starting the furnace, controlling the heat—scene after scene merged into William Grant's memory...

Chapter 5 Deer Antler Powder

"Deer blood, deer antler, deer penis, mica, red stone..."

William Grant placed each prepared herb into the alchemy furnace and started the fire to roast them.

The spoutless, tripod alchemy furnace could be divided into eight different sections using internal wheels and manual partitions.

Some were used for roasting, some for steaming, and some for extracting and refining medicinal properties.

Beneath the furnace was a brick platform, with a flue connected to an external chimney.

Alchemy required a large amount of charcoal, and with this simple platform and the rotating furnace, the temperature could be controlled.

Yin-yang water-fire arrays were carved on the furnace, and if needed, spirit stones could be used to activate the array.

But the cost of using the array was too high, and it demanded a lot from the alchemist.

The original owner had only been at Qi Refining level one, and operating the furnace's array was extremely taxing—he almost always used charcoal for alchemy.

After all, he was only making low-level pills, so charcoal was enough.

After leveling up Deer Antler Powder to grandmaster, William Grant had fully mastered all the basic alchemy techniques.

He had also gained all the original owner's alchemy memories, and the two combined instantly turned William Grant from a rookie into an alchemy expert.

He took out the Fengyue Mirror, and sure enough, the grayed-out alchemy skill had returned to normal. Moreover, his alchemy proficiency had greatly increased and was about to reach the adept level.

To test what he had learned, William Grant decided to try making Deer Antler Powder.