The Foundation Setting Pill was designed to increase success in completing the 13 Rites. It was advertised as being capable of increasing one's Rite completion stage by one. Of course, this didn't include the final four Named Rites.
Though, Ryu believed that the reason it couldn't' do so wasn't because it was incapable, but rather because those that concocted the pill couldn't bring it to a high enough level.
The final four Rites were the most powerful and important of them all. If one wanted to become a true expert in the future, these Rites were the ones you would have no choice but to take a firm hold of. However, if you wanted external help to reach such a stage, the Foundation Setting Pill would have to at least be on the Runed level. Anything less and you could forget about crossing the Named Rites with external help. And, it was probably impossible to cross the final 13th Rite without the support of a full fledged and perfect Runed Pill.
The first thing Ryu did was quite unconventional. He didn't reach to start practicing first, but rather meditated on the truth of the pill, its meaning and its purpose.
Why did Ryu choose such a simple pill for maybe the most important segment of his eight trigram diagram? It was because complex didn't always mean better. In fact, a simple pill would have been continuously refined over so many years that it would reach the pinnacle of perfection.
There was no greater foundational pill than this and it even explained itself in its title.
Just the same way the simpler the Sky God Title, the more powerful it would be, a similar concept could be applied to the function and reputation of a pill. One might not even bend down to pick up a Foundation Setting Pill if they found it by the roadside, and yet it was this very pill that even the greatest of experts relied on in their youths.
Ryu took a breath and exhaled, becoming incredibly tranquil. He couldn't so easily slip into a State of Meditation without his eyes, but he could get close so long as he took his time and reached a great depth of focus.
With slow movements, Ryu picked up the first ingredient. He rolled it between his fingers, allowing his Dao to envelop it.
Just like he had done with the ores he used to forge his first daggers, but this time, the process was even faster. Not only did Ryu see through the innate abilities of the Spiritual Herb, he could feel its unique quirks.
Ryu did this for every single one of them.
While high grade pills could have hundreds to even thousands of ingredients, this one had just five, making it even easier on Ryu. He knew these five individual herbs so well that if he wanted to, he could detail every line that made up every fiber of its being.
When Ryu was done, he placed the herbs down around the cauldron, exhaling slowly.
Alchemy cauldrons came in all shapes and sizes. Most helped the alchemy process in some way, raising the purity grade, quickening the refinement process, and some of the highest and most quality ones could even help to withstand tribulations. Though, those of the caliber of the last were likely maybe only a handful in all of existence.
The cauldron Ryu chose, though, couldn't have been simpler. It was called an Embryonic Cauldron, it was unadorned and a simple black. It had only one function: to grow.
Cauldrons like this were only chosen by the greatest alchemy geniuses. They had no innate abilities of their own, at least in the beginning. They grew along with their alchemist, becoming tempered by the medicinal strength of the concocted pills and potions and growing in strength into the future.
The cauldrons that could withstand tribulations were all once Embryonic Cauldrons of past masters left for future generations. It was simply too difficult for blacksmiths, who weren't alchemists themselves, to have a great enough grasp of the profession to create such a high level cauldron.
Much the same way blacksmiths tended to focus on particular weapons, they would also tend not to focus on alchemy for the same reasons.
To forge a weapon, one needed a deep understanding of it. This was fine for a blacksmith to do as it wouldn't clash with their path. But, trying to become a great blacksmith in forging cauldrons would require spending time learning alchemy, which defeated the purpose.
There were some that had tried in the past as there were many geniuses born in the history of Existence. But none could reach a high enough attainment in both to succeed.
Thus, Embryonic Cauldrons were created. They were designed with an ore capable of evolution. Even with this ore reached its limit, it was possible to place a higher level ore and infuse high level fires into the cauldron. By then, the cauldron would do the rest, absorbing the essence of the higher level ore.
As things stood now, this cauldron was perfect for Ryu. He didn't need a cauldron to make things easier for him, he just needed one that wouldn't interfere or hinder his progress.
Placing his hands on both sides, Ryu's hands began to spring forward with life. The black cauldron quickly heated up in a blazing inferno before Ryu's hands became ice cold.
Ryu put the cauldron through several cycles of this at lower temperatures before forcing the dichotomy further and further apart.
As he did so, the cauldron slowly became used to his wide range of temperatures.
Ryu was already forcing it to endure temperatures far beyond what was necessary for the Common Grade, but this would make certain that he had no need to worry. In the future, as he concocted more pills and it absorbed more Medicinal Essence, it would naturally progress faster as well.
Suddenly, Ryu's aura changed, his eyes snapped open and an eight trigram diagram appeared in his irises, radiating an ancient green.
The lid of the cauldron rose into the air, revealing a flickering fire dancing within, one that Ryu had only just forced to appear.
The ingredients flew in one after another and the lid snapped close. If other alchemists had seen Ryu do such a thing on his first try, they would definitely deem him to be overestimating himself, but the unwavering confidence on Ryu's face spoke of a different story entirely.
Ryu had read through all of the alchemy techniques he had picked up, but he hadn't planned on directly using any one of them, that was why he had chosen so many in the first place.
Alchemy techniques mostly differed in methods of refinement and fusion. However, these were precisely the two steps that would make or break the purity of a pill or potion.
What Ryu wanted to do was use them as reference to understand how other masters approached the problem. However, his main goal was to rely on his Dao to find the perfect path of refinement and fusion.
If refinement and fusion was just about memorizing a method, there would be far more genius alchemists in the world. The problem was that this process could differ depending on the Spiritual Herb, its maturity, the environment it grew in, and even the atmosphere it was being refined in. These complexities were then multiplied by the number of Spiritual Herbs participating.
The best alchemy techniques and the most methods for adaptation and even had calculation methods built in to calculate the best options and paths to take.
However, Ryu didn't need these. His Dao was designed to see through the secrets of the Heavens, why would he struggle with a mere few Spiritual Herbs of the Common Grade?
He had fought against the Heavens themselves for the right to have a Hegemonic Dao, and he would use it to the fullest. A mere Common Grade pill wouldn't stop him.
The cauldron sizzled and Ryu's fingers shifted. The refinement process was already finished. If one looked into the cauldron now, you would find motes of light floated about and a pile of ash below. The dichotomy was akin to heaven and earth.
The flowing flames danced about the motes of light, coddling and joining them piece by piece, being very selective about the temperatures chosen and which unions came first and which ones followed.
The flame Ryu was using was without a doubt the Rebirth Flame. However, alone the Rebirth Flames heat wasn't enough. In fact, at its lowest level, the Rebirth Flame didn't give off any heat at all.
If a Phoenix wanted to alchemy, they would usually fuse it with another flame. Luckily, Ryu had many such methods. He fused his Rebirth Flame with his white flame and his Rage Flame. The control he had over them made him feel alive. In fact, it almost felt like his white flame was the most dominant of them all despite the fact he had made his Rebirth Flame the core.
Suddenly, Ryu slapped the cauldron, his gaze sharpening as he snatched a pill out of the air.