Pill Refining (2)
"No need to comfort me, it's alright." Yue Qianchou walked to the side, took out a mid-grade Spirit Stones, sat down cross-legged, and absorbed Spiritual Qi into his body to repair his slightly damaged Divine Sense and True Qi.
Yan Zixia stood silently to the side, putting herself in the other person's shoes. If she hadn't yet reached the Foundation Establishment and finally obtained a set of spiritual herbs to refining Foundation Establishment Pill, only to fail in the process, one could imagine how she would feel.
Having restored his body to its optimal state, Yue Qianchou stood up, stretched his arms, expanded his chest, and relaxed his muscles and bones. Under Yan Zixia's watchful gaze, he then took out a portion of spiritual herbs from his Storage Bag.
He has more? Yan Zixia was slightly taken aback, and immediately shouted, "Wait!"
Yue Qianchou turned around and asked, "What's wrong?"
Yan Zixia explained, "I didn't mean anything by it. You can keep this spiritual herb for now! I'll go and ask my Great-Grandmother to help you refine it. I think if she does it, the success rate will definitely be higher."
Yue Qianchou waved his hand and said, "No, no, I think it's better not to let her know about this. Failure is the mother of success, you'll get used to it after a few failures. It's just a spiritual herb, it's fine." He thought to himself, "Damn it, if I hadn't really been looking for a place to refine pills, I wouldn't even want to tell you. If that old lady knew I had a spiritual herb so quickly, who knows what the consequences would be."
Yan Zixia didn't think so. She still vividly remembered Yue Qianchou kneeling down for the spirit herb seed, which showed how important the spirit herb was to him. She hesitated, then ultimately said nothing more.
The Pill Furnace was blazing hot. Yue Qianchou tossed the spiritual herbs in, slammed the lid shut, and used his Divine Sense to control the herbs as they were refined. He was extremely focused and careful as he separated the 'purifying herb' paste, but unfortunately, his Divine Sense wasn't strong enough, and he failed once again. If the Pill Formula hadn't required that the eight herbs be refined at the same temperature, Yue Qianchou would have loved to fuse them one by one.
Yan Zixia bit her lip and silently watched Yue Qianchou clear the ashes from the furnace and take the Spirit Stone to restore his Divine Sense and True Qi. She couldn't help but blame him for not listening to her advice.
When Yue Qianchou took out the third set of spiritual herbs, Yan Zixia's lips parted slightly in surprise. This was only possible because it was a major sect like Fu Xian Island. If it were any other ordinary sect, it wouldn't be easy to gather three sets of spiritual herbs for refining Foundation Establishment Pill. You should know that a set of spiritual herbs for refining Foundation Establishment Pill can sell for a lot of Spirit Stone in the Cultivation World.
The consequences of forcibly refining pills when the conditions are not right are predictable. After repeated failures, Yue Qianchou was starting to feel a bit of a toothache. He had already destroyed ten portions of spiritual herbs, but he couldn't even pass the 'Cleansing Herb' fusion stage. Although he still had ninety portions of spiritual herbs as backup, they couldn't withstand this kind of thing!
He gritted his teeth and tried two more batches of spiritual herbs, failing each time by a hair's breadth. Reflecting on the alchemy process, he realized that his mental state was problematic. He was impatient, tense, and excited, his mentality was very unstable, and his Divine Sense was not strong enough to begin with. These factors, which affected his control over his Divine Sense, were probably the reasons for his failures.
Having found the root of the problem, he naturally had a solution, at least that's what he believed. He took out Spirit Stone and slowly inhaled its Spiritual Qi, gradually restoring his True Qi and Divine Sense. After recovering, he didn't rush to refine pills, but instead relaxed and calmed his mind, thus entering a state of tranquility.
Yan Zixia had been keeping an eye on him, wondering why it would take him so long to recover this time.
After sitting cross-legged for a long time, Yue Qianchou slowly exhaled, stood up, and quietly walked to the Pill Furnace. His face was expressionless. He casually took out a portion of spiritual herbs from his Storage Bag, put them into the Pill Furnace, and closed the lid.
With the assistance of the previous dozen or so refining sessions, his movements were very smooth. He controlled the refining of the spiritual herbs with his Divine Sense, and the paste of the 'purifying herb' was once again divided into eight portions. However, he was in no hurry to fuse them. He carefully sensed the sixteen clumps of paste of varying sizes, and only after confirming that his mindset was indeed fine did he calmly control eight drops of paste to force them towards the other eight clumps of spiritual herbs.
His Divine Sense wasn't strong enough to control objects; he could only drive it by stirring the air currents within the Pill Furnace. This is the difference between those who have reached the Foundation Establishment Realm those who haven't. However, it also consumes more energy and True Qi.
With a calm mind, the effect was indeed achieved. The eight drops of cleansing herbs successfully merged into the eight spiritual herbs, and the eight chaotic clusters also grew considerably larger. Yue Qianchou couldn't help but get excited. As his emotions fluctuated, the eight spiritual herbs floating in the furnace also swayed. Yue Qianchou was startled and immediately calmed his mind. The sixteen clusters became eight, making it much easier to control with his Divine Sense.
The next step was to remove impurities from the spiritual herbs. After the cleansing herbs were added to the eight clumps of paste, a change occurred; what was originally a paste gradually became clear. Using his Divine Sense to control the airflow generated by the high temperature, he swirled the eight clumps of spiritual herbs around them. As the rotation speed increased, impurities were flung out little by little. Just as the eight clumps of paste were about to turn into clear liquids of different colors, Yue Qianchou suddenly felt his True Qi running low. Controlling the airflow at such a high speed with his Divine Sense was consuming too much of his True Qi.
"Damn it!" Yue Qianchou groaned inwardly. He should have grabbed a handful of Spirit Stone. He was about to succeed in removing the impurities when his True Qi ran out. He didn't have the energy to spare his Divine Sense to retrieve the Spirit Stone from 'Utopia'. He could only blame his lack of experience! He could only watch helplessly as the eight clumps of spirit liquid vanished.
Withdrawing his Divine Sense, he opened the furnace lid. This time, not only did a cloud of black ash spew out, but also a fragrant mist, making Yue Qianchou's heart ache. Yan Zixia could also see that he had improved compared to the previous times. Although she had never refined Foundation Establishment Pill before, her cultivation level was there, and she wanted to help. However, Yue Qianchou wouldn't let her, stubbornly insisting on doing it himself.
Having recovered to his best condition, he learned from his previous experience and took out several high-grade Spirit Stones beforehand, tucking them into his belt so that he could easily access them whenever needed.
When he felt his True Qi running low again, Yue Qianchou quickly took out a high-grade Spirit Stones from his waist and absorbed the Spiritual Qi into his body to replenish his True Qi. After using two high-grade spirit stones in First Company, the eight chaotic clumps finally turned into crystal-clear liquids of different colors, floating in the Pill Furnace, which looked quite beautiful.
Using his Divine Sense to control the flow of energy, he rearranged the essence of the eight spiritual herbs, placing the Mixed Gold Grass in the center. While the medicinal effects of these herbs were miraculous, they were also incredibly potent for the human body, especially ingesting several at once, which would be difficult for the body to withstand. The Mixed Gold Grass served to neutralize the medicinal effects, preventing conflicts between the different spirit medicine.
The airflow swept towards the Mixed Gold Grass Elixir, dividing it into seven portions, which then smoothly blended into the other elixirs. Next, the elixirs from the century-old ginseng and century-old Ganoderma were extracted and fused into a large mass; both are excellent for replenishing vital energy. This large mass of nourishing elixirs was then divided into five smaller masses, each blending into the remaining five masses. This was precisely to replenish the body's vital energy while the medicinal properties of the herbs were taking effect, preventing any damage to the body.
Having done all this, Yue Qianchou dared not be careless. Now was the most crucial moment. He absorbed another Spirit Stone to replenish his True Qi and restore his Divine Sense. After adjusting his physical condition, he gathered the other four spirit medicine (except for the Spirit Gathering Grass) together. He stirred them together with his qi until they were evenly mixed. Then, he quickly divided them into ten equal portions and placed them all in the center of the furnace to bake. He used his Divine Sense to control the high temperature inside the furnace, focusing it on the ten fist-sized liquids, while also keeping the ten liquids rotating evenly.
Maintaining this control caused his True Qi and Divine Sense to be consumed like flowing water, Yue Qianchou in a state of great distress. Fortunately, he had the foresight to have inserted a bunch of high-grade Spirit Stones into his belt. Whenever he felt a little weak, he would immediately take out a Spirit Stone to absorb and replenish it.
Yan Zixia, standing to the side, was dumbfounded. She had never seen anyone refine pills like this before. It was as if they were just piling up spirit herbs and Spirit Stone. In just three months, they had probably used more than two thousand high-grade Spirit Stones, which was equivalent to more than twenty million low-grade Spirit Stones! In any case, she, the young lady of the Hundred Flower Palace, had never used so many Spirit Stone before.
Those dozen or so portions of spiritual herbs are even more frightening. Even a major sect like Fu Xian Island can only manage to gather ten portions every three years. Yue Qianchou has already taken out fourteen portions so far, and it's unknown whether he has any more in his Storage Bag.
Judging from his current state, he might actually have to refine a whole batch for him. Yan Zixia shook her head and smiled wryly, speechless. No wonder he wanted to refine it himself; with such a solid foundation, he could not only improve his alchemy skills but also amass a fortune. Where did he get this thing that rivaled the strength of an entire sect?
The ten fist-sized clumps of liquid, initially clear, gradually darkened and shrank by half in size, continuing to shrink. When they reached the size of eggs, the Divine Sense swiftly moved the Spirit Gathering Grass liquid, which had been hiding to the side, to the top of the furnace, dividing it evenly into ten portions. These portions corresponded to the ten nascent pill-shaped spheres below, which slowly descended. As they rotated at a uniform speed, the Spirit Gathering Grass liquid adhered evenly to their surfaces.
The function of the Spirit Gathering Grass is to lock in the efficacy of the elixir and prevent it from dissipating. Even a slight loss of efficacy from Foundation Establishment Pill can be a blow that affects the success or failure of a cultivator attempting to Foundation Establishment.
After completing all this, only the final step of baking and shaping remains. There shouldn't be any major problems. With ten Foundation Establishment Pill right before his eyes, even Yue Qianchou, who was usually very composed, couldn't help but feel a little excited.
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