Lord Guan Above, Bless My Pill Refining to Succeed

Early the next morning, before dawn had even broken, Luo Chen climbed out of bed.

The world outside was shrouded in mist. If he listened carefully, he could occasionally hear one or two beast roars from within the Million Mountains.

But none of that had anything to do with him.

Today—or rather, for the time to come—he would be very busy.

First, he had to sort and process the various medicinal ingredients.

Most of the herbs he had bought from rogue cultivator stalls had been handled rather crudely. Some had not even been fully dried.

He first spread those things across bamboo trays, planning to take them outside to dry once the sun came up.

Then came the Jade Lotus Seeds.

They had to be peeled. He only needed the kernels; the skins absolutely could not be used.

Working beneath an oil lamp, Luo Chen peeled them one by one. Only when his eyes had started to feel dry did he stop.

"I wonder if this will make me nearsighted?"

"But I'm cultivating immortality now. Surely I can't still end up nearsighted!"

By the time he had finished processing the huge pile of lotus seeds, the sky was already fully bright.

After soaking the lotus seeds in diluted Red Sun Chicken blood, Luo Chen carried several bamboo trays outside to dry.

Living on the edge of the Outer City Area was not very safe, but it came with corresponding advantages—there was plenty of usable space.

When refining Grain Avoidance Powder, one particular step actually gave off an extremely pungent smell. If he refined it in a crowded area, he would very likely get complaints.

Old Taoist Chen had been complained about more than once while tanning talisman hides at home. In the end, he had only muddled through by slipping several good talismans to the managers.

Luo Chen did not have that concern.

The Jade Mountain Herb had to be diced, and some of it also had to be sliced. That portion would be kept for refining Grain Avoidance Powder.

Luo Chen was not the sort of person to put all his eggs in one basket.

In the early stages of refining All Wonders Pills, he could foresee plenty of failures.

It was even entirely possible for every attempt to fail, leaving him with nothing but ashes and debt!

After all, he only had Entry Level proficiency.

Under such circumstances, he absolutely could not cut off his original source of income.

At worst, he would lose everything. Even then, he could still rely on the profits from Grain Avoidance Powder to support himself before rising again from the ashes.

By the time he finished processing the Jade Mountain Herb, it was already noon.

At this hour, it was time to eat!

Feeling the hunger in his stomach, Luo Chen curled his lip.

People said cultivators did not eat the grains of the mortal world, but in reality, they still got hungry!

After washing his hands, Luo Chen entered the kitchen.

He scooped a small bowl of crystal-clear rice from the rice jar and poured it directly into a small pot without washing it.

This was Spirit Rice. One Spirit Stone could only buy ten jin of it!

He could not bear to wash it, afraid he would rinse away some of its spiritual energy.

He went to a hidden compartment beside the kitchen and pressed it. A large hole immediately appeared in the ground, revealing a cramped underground storage room about three feet square.

Inside hung half a side of beef!

Tier 1 Demon Beast Yellow Cattle!

This stuff was expensive too—roughly ten jin for one Low-Grade Spirit Stone.

The reason Luo Chen had over a hundred jin of meat was not because he was greedy. Yellow Beef was one of the main ingredients in Grain Avoidance Powder.

One jin of meat, along with suitable amounts of Ginseng, Angelica Sinensis, and various other medicinal ingredients, could produce five bottles of Grain Avoidance Powder, which could then be sold for one Spirit Stone!

Whenever he bought it, he tried to buy as much as possible. Buying in bulk was cheaper, and he stored it with ice.

Looking at that half side of beef, Luo Chen swallowed.

Then he used a kitchen knife to cut off a little over two liang of meat, before taking some ordinary vegetables from the ice cellar.

He washed the meat and vegetables until they were spotless, diced the vegetables, sliced the meat paper-thin, and finally tossed everything into the small pot.

Add firewood!

Light the fire!

His hands formed seals as he muttered an incantation. After roughly two breaths, a Small Fireball appeared in his palm.

Puff!

The firewood in the Stove Chamber immediately burst into flame.

"This time went smoothly. That Fireball Spell exploding in the Stove Chamber incident from when I first transmigrated should never happen again!"

Luo Chen smiled faintly, rather pleased with himself.

He glanced at the panel. The proficiency of his Mastery Level Fireball Spell had leapt from 268/300 to 269/300!

At present, he had only cultivated three spells.

The Water Element Cleanse Spell, the Wood Element Entangling Spell, and the Fire Element Fireball Spell.

Among those three spells, the Fireball Spell had the highest proficiency.

There was a reason for that.

At first, he had merely thought cultivation was mysterious and fun, so whenever he had nothing to do, he played around by firing off fireballs.

He had tested the effects of this spell. It was slow, consumed a great deal of energy, but its power was indeed immense!

As long as it hit the target, it could melt gold and dissolve iron, burn bones to ash.

But that was only if it hit!

For an ordinary cultivator to cast Fireball Spell, it took at least three breaths from forming seals to chanting incantations.

In three breaths, an enemy could kill him a hundred times over.

Luo Chen had been much the same at first, and every casting consumed one-tenth of his total spiritual power.

Only then did he understand why low-level cultivators rarely used spells in battle.

They either used Magic Tools or talismans. Both were fast, consumed little energy, and were no less powerful than spells.

After learning this, he had lost interest in low-level spells like Fireball Spell.

But as he repeatedly used Fireball Spell to ignite fires while refining pills, his proficiency increased, and he began to feel that spells did have their place after all.

Like now, its energy consumption had not changed—it still used one-tenth of his spiritual power—but its casting speed had already been reduced to under two breaths.

And this was only Mastery Level.

What if it reached Perfect Proficiency?

What if it reached Grandmaster Level Proficiency?

Therefore, whenever there was a place to use Fireball Spell, he almost always cast it once or twice.

Many a little made a mickle!

Amid those random thoughts, the food in the pot was nearly done.

Smelling the fragrant aroma of the meal, Luo Chen took out a chunk of Pickled Radish from the pickle jar.

A huge bowl of beef rice stew, brimming with spiritual energy and glistening in tempting shades of red, green, yellow, and white, paired with several pieces of sweet, sour, crisp Pickled Radish.

Sitting beneath the eaves, facing the cool breeze from the stream and the sunlight, he dug in with gusto.

This was Luo Chen's favorite part of every day!

If there were no pressures of survival and no pursuit of immortality, then having a meal like this every day truly counted as enjoyment.

Unfortunately, Luo Chen had no choice. He was a man with a system; even beneath the pitch-black curtain of night, he would eventually shine brilliantly!

"Fuck, why does this thing stink so badly!"

The man destined to shine clutched his chest and crouched beside the stream, retching again and again.

He had not expected the Fire Hound Whip he bought from Hundred Herbs Hall to stink to such an extent during its special processing.

After getting himself a mask, Luo Chen gathered his courage and began processing the Fire Hound Whip again.

As he used one hand to peel back the outer skin and apply the special liquid, he silently chanted to himself.

"This thing doesn't stink. This thing doesn't stink."

"They're Spirit Stones, all Spirit Stones, wonderfully fragrant Spirit Stones!"

After finishing one Fire Hound Whip, he rushed to the stream without delay.

"Bleurgh!"

Processing raw ingredients took a great deal of effort and time, but no corners could be cut whatsoever!

It could even be said that it was more crucial than the techniques used during the refining process itself.

The reasoning was simple. No matter how perfect your Pill Recipe was, how exquisite your techniques were, or how top-tier your pill-refining equipment was, if the ingredients themselves had problems—

Then the final result was already set in stone.

It was like building a tall tower. If the foundation itself had problems, what else was there to discuss?

After seven days, the semi-processing and deep processing of all the raw ingredients had been completed as perfectly as possible.

Luo Chen had also found time to refine several batches of Grain Avoidance Powder, kneading them into pill pellets and storing them away.

But he did not plan to sell them this time.

He planned to wait until the All Wonders Pills had been refined, then sell them together.

For the next stretch of time, that Iron Pot containing traces of Spirit Ore would be cleaned and used to refine All Wonders Pills.

Standing before the stove, Luo Chen solemnly put on an apron.

He bowed toward the blackened kitchen ceiling. "Lord Guan from my hometown, Lord Lao, and the local Pill Saint, bless me with success in one batch!"

Open the pot!

Raise the fire!