The afternoon class hall was filled with a faint medicinal fragrance. Unlike Mo Qinghe’s strict and heavy atmosphere, this hall was warmer, but strangely suffocating because of the intense heat of the question lingering within the room. At the center stood a middle-aged man wearing dark-red robes.

His sharp eyes had traces of exhaustion, but beneath them rested a frightening experience. From him, an aura of Flame Panther oozed out across the academy hall. He was Dan Zhenren.

The academy’s apothecary master. Only one silly question held the reason for the silence in the hall: "What is Stability?"

"Cultivation, Alchemy, Combat, Synchronization — everything depends on one principle; it is Stability," Dan Zhenren continued, carrying a calm smile on his face. "But, what really is this stability?"

Almost all the disciples frowned immediately. The question sounded simple, but it was strangely difficult. The collective murmurs began to linger across the hall.

"It is a simple question, right?"

"But if it was asked so confidently by the master, then there should be a deep meaning in that!"

"Stability means..."

Lian Nichang raised his hand first. "Stability means maintaining calm essence circulation, Master."

Dan Zhenren shook his head instantly. "Wrong."

Yun He spoke next. "It means controlling the beast essence without losing balance."

"Wrong."

"A stable cultivator is someone whose foundation cannot collapse." Gu Shiyan answered carefully

Dan Zhenren remained expressionless. "Incomplete!"

The disciples became quieter. Even Mo Qinghe’s classes never asked such strange questions. Dan Zhenren slowly walked between the students. "You people misunderstand cultivation."

His fingers tapped lightly against a spirit herb bottle beside him. "You all think stability means slowness, defense and caution."

He stopped walking. Then jolted his head around sharply. "No."

His eyes narrowed. "Stability means efficiency."

The hall fell silent. Several disciples looked confused. Dan Zhenren raised a flame-covered herb carefully between his fingers. "A weak flame wastes heat. A reckless flame burns everything. But an efficient flame..."

Dan Zhenren paused. The herb slowly melted perfectly into liquid essence without losing a single drop.

"...uses exactly what is needed."

The disciples stared at the liquid. Even Lin Yuan’s eyes sharpened. Dan Zhenren continued calmly. "The same applies to cultivation. An unstable cultivator wastes essence, movements and thoughts."

His beast aura slowly leaked into the hall. "True stability is the perfect efficiency of using the beast essence to acquire the fastest result."

Dan Zhenren’s gaze suddenly darted toward Lin Yuan. "That... is the foundation of survival."

"Its a half truth, master," Lin Yuan muttered, raising his eyes slowly.

All students glanced at Lin Yuan instantly. Dan Zhenren didn’t let out any expression.

"Explain!"

"Yes, stability is efficiency. It is correct, and I totally agree with it. But... efficiency alone is meaningless in some situations." Lin Yuan stood up, elucidating the answer to Dan Zhenren. "A sharp blade can cut through anything if it is used efficiently... But it has a limit. Once it slices through something, its sharpness slowly begins to evade. Even if you are efficient and the sword is efficient, time will consume everything."

Lin Yuan paused, taking a deep breath.

’This brat is really a genius!’ Dan Zhenren smirked inside his mind.

"So, the true definition of stability is efficiency with minimal loss," Lin Yuan continued. "Restrict the usage of essence, movement, risk to low and more importantly to ascend one should ruthlessly detach from the anchor of emotion. One should control their feelings, but never let them constrain their hearts. One shall treat an emotion as a passing weather, but not as a permanent part of his body. Then naturally, one’s body and aperture will be stabilized enough to nurture through any struggle they are facing."

Dan Zhenren’s eyes widened, hearing the words of Lin Yuan.

"MAGNIFICENT!" Dan Zhenren commended, marching toward Lin Yuan. "Are you really a fifteen year old boy, Lin Yuan or a hundred-year prodigy’s reincarnation?"

Dan Zhenren smirked, placing his hand on Lin Yuan’s shoulder. "Well Said, Lin Yuan."

’Yeah, he was a genius... but... Lin Yuan was something beyond genius, the word can’t be the constraint to carry the character of this brat!’ Dan Zhenren smirked physically, but thought deep about Lin Yuan’s nature.

Dan Zhenren walked back to the center of the hall again. He gently took out a handful of shimmering spirit herbs from the bag he placed on the side desk when he entered the room.

"Alchemy... It is the main thing one should learn to attain stability," Dan Zhenren glanced at the spirit herbs with a faint grin on his face. "If you can’t heal yourself from minor wounds and bruises, it’s a burden to the people around with whom you are fighting!"

"Most cultivators believe strength alone determines survival. But it is wrong!" Dan Zhenren continued, crushing the spirit herb lightly between his fingers. A drop of crimson liquid slowly trickled down. "A cultivator who survives stronger is one who understands healing."

The disciples calmly locked their eyes onto Dan Zhenren. Dan Zhenren flickered his hand once. Several objects floated onto the table. Spirit herbs, Vial of Beast blood essence, Beast cores, and a small Bronze Cauldron.

The cauldron was covered with scorched marks and flame patterns.

"Alchemy is the art of refining essence." Dan Zhenren pointed toward the spirit herbs first. "Spirit herbs contain natural essence gathered from heaven and earth."

Then toward the beast core. "Beast cores contain concentrated beast essence after the beast’s death."

Finally, toward the Vial of Beast’s blood essence. "And Beast Blood Essence contains the purest instincts of the beast itself. But it may lead to demonic pathway without proper guidance"

A faint smirk appeared on his face. Dan Zhenren ignited flames beneath the cauldron using his finger alone. A wave of heat spread across the hall instantly. Behind him, a Flame Panther opened its burning eyes silently.

"Alchemy has three foundations." Dan Zhenren explicated, raising three fingers calmly. "Potion Refinement, Pill Refinement and Medical Essence Extraction."

The disciples carefully listened. "Potion refinement is the easiest."

The crushed spirit herb slowly melted into red liquid within the cauldron. "Potions are unstable, and easy to create. Also, fast to use."

The liquid bubbled softly.

"Healing potions, Essence recovery potions, Poison resistance mixtures," Dan Zhenren glanced at the students. "Most academy disciples rely on these during beast hunts."

The liquid suddenly condensed slightly.

"But, Pill Refinement is different. It requires balance." Dan Zhenren’s expression became more serious. He carefully added powdered beast core essence into the cauldron. The flames instantly became vehement.

Several disciples subconsciously stumbled backward in their seats.

"Too much heat and the pill explodes," The liquid shook violently. Dan Zhenren reduced the flame instantly, and the cauldron stabilized again. "Too little heat and the essence dies."

The disciples stared at the cauldron carefully, the liquid losing its glow slowly.

"A proper pill contains compressed essence refined into a stable form." The liquid slowly condensed into a tiny crimson sphere.

"Higher-quality pills allow cultivators to heal internal injuries, strengthen beast essence, purify impurities, and even help in accelerating cultivation." Dan Zhenren raised the crimson pill between two fingers. "A single high-grade pill can save your life inside a dungeon."

The hall became quiet. Lin Yuan’s gaze widened slightly while observing the refinement process. Noir’s memories instinctively analyzed the heat control, mana circulation and balance.

’Similar process and results,’ Lin Yuan thought with Noir’s memories storming in his brain.

"Lastly... Medical Essence Extraction" Dan Zhenren placed the pill aside, pouring beast blood essence into another smaller container.

The moment the liquid touched the flames, a violent beast aura exploded outward.

ROAR!!

Several disciples flinched instinctively.

"This is the hardest, because medical essence is not directly used. It is diluted, refined and merged carefully with the herbs." Dan Zhenren spoke calmly despite the violent pressure. "This is not a thing you all should learn now! For now, Pill Refinement and Potion Refinement is enough. But never cultivate or refine Beast Blood Essence without proper guidance!"

"Why, master? Is it that dangerous?" A male student asked, raising his hand.

"Dangerous... Yes, it is quite dangerous because it contains the instincts of a beast," Dan Zhenren’s calm face turned pale, his eyes sharp. "Spirit herbs contain natural essence, Beast cores contain condensed essence which are easy to control. But instincts are not easy to control, since they include desire, violence, intent, hunger. The stronger the beast, the stronger those instincts become."

Some students took a heavy gulp.

"Without proper guidance, refining Beast Blood Essence into the body may slowly corrupt a cultivator. Their essence becomes violent, emotions become unstable and beast instincts begin overpowering their humanity." Dan Zhenren continued, his eyes skimming the hall. "This may cause the deviation of cultivators into the Demonic pathway. This is called Demonic Deviation."

A chill spread across the hall instantly.

"Okay, let’s start your trial for Potion refinement!" Dan Zhenren beamed, waving his hand to deviate the thoughts of the students.

"Trial?"

"What trial?"

Murmurs started to linger across the academy.

"For this trial, we need to go to the academy’s refinement chamber," Dan Zhenren said, walking toward the door of the room. "Follow me!"

All students collectively rose and strolled toward Dan Zhenren, talking with each other.