Pill Refining (I)
Not long after, Guan Yu and Chen Feng each came running over carrying a bag of spirit herbs. Yue Qianchou took the bags, weighed them in his hands, and asked, "A hundred portions should be enough?"
"That's enough." "That's quite a lot."
Yue Qianchou poured the spirit herbs directly into his Storage Bag, then threw the two cloth bags back to the two men and laughed, "Keep planting the spirit herbs, just wait for my good news!" The two men were so excited that they were about to say something flattering, but he had already disappeared.
Back at the hut in the Sang Cao Garden, before it was even dark, Yue Qianchou fell asleep immediately, needing to prepare for the next day. He slept soundly until dawn, when he heard Furong rustling as she got up, knowing she was going to do chores, so he woke up to help.
Furong couldn't refuse his kindness, and the two of them, just like before, one carrying a load on a shoulder pole and the other a ladle, swayed leisurely out of the Sang Cao Garden. Little did they know that not far away in the night, Elder Lan was watching them with a frosty expression.
The two were busy until dawn. Yue Qianchou then stood guard at the entrance of the inner garden of the Sang Cao Garden. After a few people started to come out of the garden, Yan Zixia also came out. The two of them tacitly left the Sang Cao Garden and headed towards the river.
Furong, busy in the garden, watched their figures, bit her lip, and subconsciously raised her hand to touch the half of her face that had been disfigured.
After walking along the stream for quite a while, Yue Qianchou turned around to look around and, finding no one, chuckled and asked, "Zixia, have you inquired about the Qingguang Sect?"
"Hmm!" Yan Zixia nodded and said, "I asked Aunt Lan. The Qingguang Sect disciples are here because they have nothing to do with you. They are here to deliver invitations to Fu Xian Island to participate in the 'Demon Extermination Assembly'."
"Demon Extermination Assembly? What's that for? I've never heard of it," Yue Qianchou asked.
"Aunt Lan said it was a conference organized by the Qingguang Sect, and it seems they're preparing to establish an organization specifically to eradicate the demonic path. Aunt Lan didn't tell me the specifics," Zixia said.
"Qingguang Sect taking the lead? Heh! This Qingguang Sect is really getting too big for their britches. When did it become their turn to be in charge in the Cultivation World?" Yue Qianchou shook his head and laughed.
Yan Zixia admitted, "The Qingguang Sect has been very powerful in recent years. Last year, they even caused trouble in our Hundred Flower Valley."
"What's going on?" Yue Qianchou asked curiously. "As far as I know, although your Hundred Flower Valley is neither righteous nor demonic, it can't be considered a demonic sect either! What is the Qingguang Sect doing causing trouble in Hundred Flower Valley?"
Yan Zixia frowned and said, "Liu Zhengguang, the grandson of the Qingguang Sect Master, was staying at the inn we run in Hundred Flower Valley when he was... was ambushed and injured. He came to us demanding an explanation." As she spoke, her face turned slightly red.
Upon hearing Yan Zixia's words, he understood what had happened. Last year, the one who ambushed Liu Zhengguang in Hundred Flower Valley was none other than himself; he had castrated that guy. However, it wasn't easy to say it outright. Yue Qianchou chuckled, "I'm afraid your Hundred Flower Valley isn't so easily bullied!"
"Of course, our Hundred Flower Valley just sent out a few elders, explained the situation clearly, and the Qingguang Sect obediently retreated." Yan Zixia said, her expression full of pride.
The two chatted and laughed as they arrived at the secret alchemy chamber in the cave. As usual, Yan Zixia took out a small pile of common medicinal herbs from her Storage Bag. Yue Qianchou scratched his head and laughed, "I'm afraid we won't need these today."
Yan Zixia asked curiously, "Aren't you practicing today?"
Yue Qianchou sheepishly pulled out a few spirit herbs from his Storage Bag and threw them on the ground. Yan Zixia, having spent quite some time in the Sang Cao Garden, was familiar with these spirit herbs and exclaimed in surprise, "Shou Xin Orchid, King Kong Fruit, Mixed Gold Grass... These are spirit herbs used to refining Foundation Establishment Pill!"
"That's right, I'm going to refining Foundation Establishment Pill today." Yue Qianchou said, staring into her eyes to see her reaction.
Yan Zixia frowned and said, "Where did these spiritual herbs come from? Did you... steal them from the garden?"
"Steal it?" Yue Qianchou said dejectedly, "Do you think I'm that kind of person? Besides, even if I wanted to steal it, the spiritual herbs in the garden weren't even ripe yet! Otherwise, I wouldn't have had to wait another three years."
"Then where did this come from?" Yan Zixia pressed.
Seeing her pressing him so intently, as if she didn't believe him, Yue Qianchou felt slightly annoyed and waved his hand, saying, "Anyway, it wasn't stolen. I'll explain later. The most important thing now is to refine the Foundation Establishment Pill. I really need it."
Yan Zixia could also sense the displeasure in his words. She bit her lip and put the spiritual herb she had just thrown on the ground back into her Storage Bag.
The mechanism beneath the Pill Furnace was activated, and surging earth fire immediately burned beneath it, turning the Pill Furnace chamber a deep red and instantly raising the temperature. Yue Qianchou cleared his mind of distractions, adjusted his emotions, circulated his internal True Qi, and waited patiently for the Pill Furnace to preheat.
Today's alchemy is different from usual. In the past, although Yan Zixia brought a considerable number of spiritual herbs, they were all the same common herbs, and the resulting pills were only ordinary external wound medicines. Today, we are refining Foundation Establishment Pill, which not only use precious spiritual herbs, but also require all nine herbs to be refined together, unlike refining a single herb in the past. This also places high demands on the ability to control one's Divine Sense.
Last night, Yue Qianchou memorized the refining methods and steps in the Pill Formula Tablet of Elixir Formulas perfectly. He recited them fluently in his mind without making any mistakes, which made him quite excited.
The Pill Furnace was almost ready. Standing to the side, his face was burning from the heat. Yue Qianchou quickly threw the nine kinds of spiritual herbs into the Pill Furnace, circulated his True Qi, and struck the furnace lid with a palm strike from mid-air. The lid slammed shut with a "bang".
Without hesitation, he swiftly entered the Pill Furnace with his Divine Sense, controlling the rising heat to quickly separate the nine spiritual herbs. Before long, all nine herbs were refined into a paste, swirling in the air amidst nine wisps of air. Once stabilized, his Divine Sense, carrying the airflow, rushed towards the central 'cleansing herb' paste, painstakingly dividing it into eight portions, which then slowly drifted towards the eight wisps of herbs.
Suddenly, the eight large and eight small clumps of paste inside the furnace began to shake. Yue Qianchou knew something was wrong; controlling all sixteen clumps at once with his Divine Sense was proving difficult. As the 'cleansing herbs' separated into greater and greater distances, his Divine Sense finally gave way, and all sixteen clumps of paste fell into the red-hot furnace bottom, instantly turning to ashes.
Oh no! All the herbs for a Foundation Establishment Pill are wasted. Yue Qianchou withdrew his Divine Sense, opened his eyes regretfully, and struck the furnace lid with his palm in mid-air. The lid bounced up, and a cloud of black ash sprayed out of the furnace, emitting a burnt smell.
Yan Zixia, who had been watching from the sidelines, naturally knew that he had failed. She felt a little sad for him and comforted him, saying, "Qianchou, it's okay. After all, very few people succeed in refining pills on their first try."
Yue Qianchou shook his head and smiled bitterly. Pills of the Foundation Establishment Pill level are different from lower-grade pills; they absolutely cannot contain impurities, otherwise, their efficacy will be affected. Foundation Establishment is already difficult enough; if you add a Foundation Establishment with poor efficacy to that, it's truly disheartening. The 'Purifying Grass' is precisely for removing impurities from pills; this step of fusing it with other spiritual herbs is indispensable.
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