Demonstrating Pill Refinement
In the Utopia Misty Palace, Yue Qianchou walked out of the room with a grin. The beautiful Qu Ping'er, who came out behind him, still had a flush on her face and her bright eyes were watery with lust. Hearing the man in front of her laughing lewdly, she reached out and pinched him hard on the waist. Yue Qianchou winced in pain, but he was also happy despite the pain. Clearly, he hadn't done anything good to Qu Ping'er earlier.
As Yue Qianchou passed Bai Suzhen's door, he paused for a moment, then shook his head and walked away. Since giving her the Azure Nether Sword, she had rarely come out, focusing solely on breaking the seal on the sword. She was always so devoted to the tasks he entrusted to her. Yue Qianchou remembered every good thing about Bai Suzhen. When he encountered setbacks and hardships, just thinking of her at home, her gentle and Jue Tian face appearing in his mind, was like a magic pill, instantly dispelling his worries and giving him boundless motivation.
After leaving the Misty Palace, Qu Ping'er led him to a newly opened medicinal garden. Relying on the miraculous effects of the purple chaos, the 'True and False Restriction Breaking' had already propagated over a thousand plants in a short period. The emerald green Ye Zi and crystal-like branches of this magical plant greatly pleased Yue Qianchou. He personally picked several pairs and asked Qu Ping'er to prepare some supplementary spiritual herbs for him.
"Chen Feng, come to my place in the Misty Palace immediately." Chen Feng was in a daze in a stone chamber, holding a talisman-making pen in his hand, but he hesitated to write on the talisman paper on the table, not knowing what he was thinking. Suddenly, he received a telepathic message from Yue Qianchou. His eyes lit up and he said, "You're finally back." He threw down the pen in his hand and rushed out of the stone chamber in a hurry.
On the top floor of the Misty Palace was the largest room, originally designed and built for Yue Qianchou to meditate and cultivate. However, Yue Qianchou was often away on business and rarely used this room. It was sparsely furnished, containing only a table, a chair, and a couch, making it seem quite empty. Qu Ping'er was arranging the spiritual herbs she had brought on the table, sorting them meticulously, displaying the demeanor of a wife. Yue Qianchou stood to the side with his hands behind his back.
After waiting a short while, Guan Yu and Chen Feng arrived together, both greeting him as soon as they entered, "Boss!" They then exchanged greetings with Qu Ping'er. Yue Qianchou smiled and nodded, his gaze lingering slightly on Chen Feng. Guan Yu still possessed his imposing presence, but Chen Feng seemed somewhat different. Without giving it much thought, he smiled at the two and said, "I brought back some good stuff this time; let me show you."
After saying that, he walked to the table filled with spiritual herbs, gently spread out his palms, and suddenly a wisp of Azure Nether flame appeared in each palm, illuminating the entire room with that eerie blue light. Guan Yu and Chen Feng were immediately startled. What kind of Method Formula was this? They looked at each other, wondering what he was going to do.
Yue Qianchou offered no explanation, instead spreading his arms wide. The azure flames on his palms instantly swelled considerably, while the eerie azure color slowly faded until it became almost transparent, leaving only a faint, indistinct azure shadow. If one were not paying attention, no one would notice that he was actually holding two balls of blazing flame on his palms. After estimating that the temperature was about right, Yue Qianchou said, "Ping'er, throw the spirit herb."
Qu Ping'er had already been instructed, and upon hearing this, she immediately tossed the two forbidden spirit herbs on the table into Yue Qianchou's palms. The moment the herbs entered the almost invisible flames, they were instantly melted into a paste. Guan Yu and Chen Feng were astonished; such powerful flames! Standing nearby, they couldn't feel any heat, yet the flames melted the spirit herbs in the blink of an eye. Clearly, Yue Qianchou could manipulate the fire's temperature at will. Qu Ping'er, also seeing her man's fire technique for the first time, was equally surprised.
The fire was almost invisible; all that could be seen were two lumps of paste on his palms. Suddenly, those two lumps of paste began to spin rapidly, their impurities being flung out and rising to the top of the transparent flame, turning into ashes and drifting away. Guan Yu couldn't understand the mystery, but Chen Feng's eyes lit up. He was now quite skilled in this art and naturally understood what this freely controllable flame meant for alchemy.
After the impurities were removed, the two lumps of paste became two glistening liquids, one shimmering red and the other purple, which quietly settled in Yue Qianchou's palm. Yue Qianchou smiled and said, "I recently obtained two rare barrier-breaking spiritual herbs. They look identical, but one is genuine and the other is fake, one male and the other female. Together they are called True and False Restriction Breaking. The purple one is the female True Restriction Breaking herb, and the red one is the male False Restriction Breaking herb. Ping'er, throw them again." The last sentence was addressed to Qu Ping'er.
Two more spiritual herbs were added, and like the forbidden herbs, they first melted and then impurities were removed, turning into a shimmering liquid. Yue Qianchou then said, "Add more." After repeating this action nine times in succession with Qu Ping'er, the various colored liquids in Yue Qianchou's palms piled up like Linglong pagodas, nine layers high, releasing their brilliance.
"Chen Feng, watch carefully. I'm going to refine Restriction Breaking Pill that combines one genuine and one counterfeit. This is a crucial step before the pill is formed, where the spiritual liquids fuse together. Remember this well. I don't have time now, so I'll be leaving the refining to you from now on," Yue Qianchou said seriously to Chen Feng. The latter's eyes widened, and he nodded repeatedly. He really couldn't understand how his boss could always get his hands on such good pill-refining recipes.
As soon as the words were spoken, nine clumps of liquid, each a different color, began to move within the transparent flame, each shimmering and unique, like the slowly rotating stars of the universe, captivating and dazzlingly colorful. Suddenly, one crystalline clump collided with another of different colors, the two clumps swirling rapidly together. Initially, the colors were somewhat murky, but as they gradually merged and became more even, a single radiance began to appear. The moment the larger crystalline liquid settled, two more immediately began to stir...
Although Qu Ping'er and Guan Yu had seen people refine elixirs before, they had never seen one done without Pill Furnace. They could see every gesture and movement clearly, the colorful interplay of separation and reunion was simply mesmerizing. Unrestrained passion, fleeting heartbreak, subtle embrace, all-consuming fusion, passion and desolation were all unspoken... After witnessing it, they realized that even the fleeting beauty of a shooting star and the brilliance of fireworks were nothing more than this.
The two watched, somewhat mesmerized. Chen Feng, however, smiled wryly. The boss was indeed the boss; his move alone made him feel inferior. The effortless and unrestrained style, and the aesthetic beauty, were beyond his reach. Moreover, he was multitasking, refining two batches of pills at the same time.
The elixir of the Forbidden Grass remained undisturbed at the very top until four large clumps of elixir of different colors began to swirl below. At that point, the elixir at the top also began to move, spinning faster and faster. Suddenly, four evenly distributed drops were flung out, perfectly absorbed by the swirling elixir below. Those four colors, which had been as serene as virgins, were now stirred, their colors changing. Seeing that the temptation wasn't enough, the elixir above flung out four more evenly distributed drops, seemingly determined to change the minds of the four colors below. This continued until it exhausted itself, finally causing the four clumps of liquid to completely change color.
The four blobs of liquid, their temperaments drastically altered, suddenly went berserk, chasing each other and tracing shimmering arcs before colliding recklessly. Finally, they became indistinguishable, merging into one, before ceasing their struggle and slowly spinning. Though united, they remained disjointed, their colors a mixture of states. Yet, an unseen force the Unseen, compelling them to spin faster and faster... The liquid in Yue Qianchou's left hand turned completely red, while the one in his right hand became entirely purple.
The rapid spinning separated the liquid in each hand into ten identical droplets. The world in their palms seemed to calm down, willingly accepting its fate...
When Yue Qianchou extinguished the flames and grabbed a handful of elixirs in each hand, Qu Ping'er and Guan Yu, who were watching, suddenly breathed a sigh of relief. This scene of alchemy had been like a silent play to the three of them; though quiet, it had clearly conveyed the dramatic ups and downs and the breathtaking tension. This was no ordinary alchemy... Chen Feng's mouth remained agape for a long time...
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