An Extra Villain in Cultivation World-Chapter 71: Master-level attainment

After Lingling was finally pushed out of the chamber, the heavy wooden door closed quietly behind her, leaving only Xuanyan, Yanmei, and Mei Lingyao inside the private alchemy hall.

Mei Lingyao gestured for Xuanyan and Yanmei to follow her deeper into the alchemy residence. The interior was far larger than it appeared from outside, with corridors leading toward numerous chambers used for cultivation, alchemy, and storage.

Most of those rooms were filled with carefully preserved materials. Shelves of spirit herbs, jade containers of refined medicines, and sealed cages containing various gu insects could be seen everywhere. There were even several chambers dedicated to beast materials of different ranks.

Seeing this, Xuanyan asked whether those beasts were still alive or not.

Yanmei shook her head. "The gu are alive," she explained. "But beasts are far more troublesome. They require constant feeding, resources, and time to control. Mother doesn’t bother raising them, so she usually keeps only the useful parts for alchemy."

She gestured toward several sealed containers nearby. "Beast blood, bones, horns, and cores are far easier to preserve. Once refined properly, they contain most of the useful essence anyway. Maintaining a living beast just to harvest those materials later would only waste time and resources." 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

Xuanyan nodded slightly when he heard that explanation. For someone like Mei Lingyao, whose time was far more valuable than ordinary cultivators, focusing only on refined materials made far more sense than raising beasts herself.

As they walked through the chambers, Mei Lingyao occasionally spoke with Xuanyan, asking simple questions while observing his reactions. Yanmei joined the conversation from time to time, explaining the purpose of certain herbs or insects when Xuanyan showed curiosity.

To Xuanyan, everything here was fascinating. Many of the creatures and spiritual insects carried unique abilities, especially the gu. However, he knew very well that refining such things for personal use required reaching the Foundation Establishment Realm first.

Wild gu carried dao marks aligned with specific cultivation paths, and a Qi Condensation cultivator could not use them at all. Before such creatures could serve anyone, they first had to be refined, a process far more difficult than capturing them in the first place. Even Foundation Establishment cultivators often struggled with that step.

In fact, Qi Condensation was barely considered a true cultivation realm in the eyes of Heaven itself. Even if someone refined every minor stage of Qi Condensation to the absolute peak, their lifespan would not increase in the slightest. In the eyes of Heaven, this stage was only a preparation period before the true path of cultivation began. Without stepping into Foundation Establishment, a cultivator could not obtain dao marks, and their existence would remain bound by the same limits as ordinary mortals.

Xuanyan knew that until he reached Foundation Establishment, such creatures were nothing more than fascinating curiosities to observe, not tools he could truly control.

Eventually they arrived at Mei Lingyao’s alchemy training courtyard. The chamber itself was circular, its stone walls etched with faint formation lines that glowed softly whenever spiritual energy stirred in the air.

At the center of the chamber stood a jade-inscribed alchemy furnace. Its surface was carved with faint beast patterns, and the metal still carried a gentle warmth as if pills had been refined there not long ago. A faint herbal fragrance lingered in the air.

Several low wooden tables surrounded the furnace, each arranged with careful order. Crystal bottles filled with powdered spirit herbs were sealed with talisman paper, while jade boxes stored more delicate ingredients—glowing petals, fragments of monster bones, and small beast cores.

Mei Lingyao finally turned toward Xuanyan. She studied him for a brief moment before raising one hand. A black alchemist robe appeared in her palm, its fabric smooth and neatly folded, the design strikingly similar to the one she wore herself.

"Put this on."

Xuanyan accepted the robe and quickly changed. The cloth felt light but carried faint spiritual warmth. Mei Lingyao watched him quietly after he finished putting on the robe. The black fabric suited him surprisingly well, its long sleeves settling naturally as he stood before her.

"From today onward you will follow me and learn alchemy." Mei Lingyao gaze lingered on him briefly before she continued.

"You are my personal disciple."

Xuanyan cupped his fists and bowed deeply. "Disciple Xuanyan greets Master. I may lack experience in alchemy for now, but I will follow your teachings carefully and dedicate myself to learning so I will not bring shame to your name."

When he straightened again, his eyes briefly shifted toward Yanmei. Her face remained calm as ever, but the slight tension in her shoulders revealed a trace of jealousy she clearly didn’t intend to show.

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"Before we begin your alchemy test, there is something you should understand first. I will not test you the same way I tested Yanmei. From what she described earlier, your control over spiritual fire during pill refinement is unusually stable."

"That level of control is not something ordinary disciples achieve easily; many alchemists spend years practicing before reaching that point. Your attainment in this aspect is already very close to master level—did you know this about yourself?"

Xuanyan already knew the answer, of course. After receiving the Major Alchemy Talent from Tang Lishen, his control over spiritual fire had reached an astonishing level. Even without deep knowledge of alchemy or familiarity with many pill formulas, his instinctive handling of flame far surpassed most disciples who had studied for years.

Still, he shook his head. "Master, I didn’t realize it was anything special," Xuanyan replied honestly. "What exactly do you mean by approaching master-level attainment?"

Mei Lingyao considered his question for a moment before answering. "You probably don’t know much about attainment ranks yet," she said. "Disciples in the sect aren’t allowed to choose a cultivation path or study its deeper knowledge until they reach Stage Four—and you only reached that stage hardly ten days ago."

"In the cultivation world, attainment represents the depth of a cultivator’s understanding in a particular field. It isn’t measured by how long someone has practiced, but by how well they truly comprehend the principles behind what they are doing."