Silvermist’s face changed from a seemingly unbothered look to one of sudden frown. It was no different than seeing a storm gather out of nowhere on a sunny summer day.

His hands trembled a little, his breathing pattern changing along with it.

“Listen to me,” he said, his voice one of power. “Never, ever, think of refining humans. I won’t lie to you, It is possible. Not only that, it is also very beneficial. But, the path of refining humans is the path of a demon. It is the path of evil.”

“You cannot walk down that path,” Silvermist said.

Alex had never seen his carefree master get this agitated and angry in more than a decade they had been together. He had been serious before, but this was different.

“You do not mean the Demons who we fought in the war, right?” Alex asked.

“NO!” Silvermist shouted out loud before realizing what he was doing. “No.” He calmed down. “No, I am talking of anyone who walks the path of demonic cultivator. One who uses others for their own advancements.”

Alex nodded. He wanted to ask if he could do it ethically, by simply refining the corpses he came across. But then, he wasn’t sure if he wanted to hear the answer right now. What if he said yes? What if using even corpses for his own sake was considered demonic?

Would all the Spiritual Root transplant he had learned about back in the Phoenix dome be considered demonic as well?

Had he walked the path of evil without knowing it?

He did not believe so. He considered what he did ethical. But then, so must have every person who began on the path of demonic cultivation. Once you start making compromises on the little things, you start making compromises on larger things as well.

When did that stop?

Alex decided to change the conversation. “So I should gather natural treasures or artifacts to refine. What then, master?” he asked.

“What do you mean?” Silvermist asked, returning to his usual self, but still a little serious.

“What happens to my cauldron? Does it get stronger?” he asked.

“I cannot tell you that,” Silvermist said. “I don’t know myself. Every cauldron is different, so every spirit is different as well. It is hard to say what they will do.”

Silvermist brought out his own cauldron. It was a large, pink cauldron with 3 stands at the bottom and two intertwining serpentine dragons that spiraled around the cauldron until their heads extended out on either side at the top.

“This is Bloodstone, my cauldron,” Silvermist said. “Is it made of Rosesteel?” Alex asked.

“He is,” Silvermist said. “I started my alchemy journey back in the Myriad Spirit realm, so I got my cauldron there. I have kept this cauldron with me for the entire time, and when I reached the precipice of entering the Divine realm, what was it now, nearly 200 thousand years ago, was when my cauldron fully formed its spirit.”

“Now, Bloodstone mostly helps me with maintaining the temperature or changing it quickly enough. I do not have all the Dao of Fire, so I need him to help me with that.”

“There are cauldrons out there that can expand their internal space. There are ones that can help with flame control. Ones that suppress the internal elements, and many others. As soon your cauldron forms said spirit, you will find out what it does.”

“I see. So I am working towards my cauldron’s spirit. I was doubtful about it because my cauldron already has a nascent spirit,” Alex said.

“You can’t have your cauldron start absorbing on your own without a nascent spirit,” Silvermist said. “I’m actually surprised you can even do that already.”

“Is that so unusual?” Alex asked.

“Yes, quite,” Silvermist said. “Most artifacts without a spirit form their spirit after either being refined and used by a high-level cultivator, or after being used for a very long time. Or, you can just use one that already had a spirit created by someone who used it before you.”

“As far as I know, you are neither strong nor have you lived long enough to have used it for a long time. It stands to reason that you got it from someone else. Did you find it somewhere? It must’ve been used by someone powerful if you found it in your lower realm.”

“No, I didn’t find it. I made it,” Alex said. Silvermist paused for a moment. “You made what? The cauldron?” he asked.

“Yes,” Alex said. “I have some training in making artifacts. So I made my cauldron and my sword a long time ago.”

“You made your cauldron?” Silvermist asked. “By yourself?”

“Yes.”

Silvermist frowned. He looked at Alex’s cauldron for a long moment, his frown deepening. “The material used inside of it is strong, but it isn’t… that good.”

“I suppose by the Immortal realm standards, it’s lacking,” Alex said. “But it is the best metal I could find in my lower realm.”

“It shouldn’t matter though,” Silvermist said. “So long as you continue using it properly and don’t abuse it, it should be fine. Given that it already has a nascent spirit, it is already much better. Still, I wonder why your cauldron has a nascent spirit. If you made it…”

“Oh, that should be because when I made it, I blood-refined it,” Alex said.

“Blood refined?” Silvermist’s eyes flickered upward and widened at that moment. “You know about blood refining? That is a very high-level concept. Even most regular Immortals don’t know about it.”

“I learned it in the lower realm,” Alex said, not explaining anymore. He didn’t want to go into his life back in the lower realm for a variety of reasons, let alone talk about Godslayer at the moment.

“Blood refinement, huh?” Silvermist crossed his arms, finally understanding what was going on. “Yes, that would create a nascent soul very quickly.”

“So I will have to wait and see what my cauldron is capable of when the spirit finalizes,” Alex said. He thought for a bit and brought out his sword. “Do you have any suggestions on what I should do with my sword? Unlike the cauldron, I cannot just feed it stuff.”

“I am… not very sure about the sword,” Silvermist said. “Brother Grimsight will be a better person to answer that question. The theory should be the same, but I will tell him to help you later on anyway. For now, let’s see what you’ve learned while I was gone so I can start teaching you some stuff.”

“Okay,” Alex said, quickly finishing his ingredients preparations. Once all 18 sets of ingredients were more or less prepared, he began tossing them into his cauldron, 18 at a time.

Immediately, his attention split 18 different ways, grabbing onto all 18 ingredients he put inside and placing each of them an equal distance away in his circular cauldron.

They moved at the same time, each releasing their energy which was a little difficult to control because of the quantity, but not undoable.

He placed the rest of the ingredients in, one after another, and when the time came to form the pill, he individually formed 18 different spherical clumps before forcing the energy into it to finish making the pills.