A Small Test of Skill (4)
Don't underestimate the ordinary Qi Replenishing Pill; Yang Qian knew its significance. The disciples of Fu Xian Island, with the Foundation Establishment Realm, consumed a huge amount of Qi Replenishing Pill. The Qi Replenishing Pill herbs grown in Myriad Fragrance Garden were often insufficient. Moreover, to appease disputes with other sects, the sect had to sell a considerable portion of Qi Replenishing Pill every year—the sheer quantity was unimaginable.
The large quantity required necessitates extensive refining, but the proportion of waste pills is too high. It's likely that more than half of the pills in a single batch are waste. Only a master alchemist like Guan Wei Wu can keep it below half. If every batch could produce a full batch of finished pills like Yue Qianchou's, and these were top-grade finished pills with a halo, each one could fetch at least double the price. The immense benefits this would bring to the sect would be unimaginable.
Yang Qian finally understood why Guan Wei Wu had acted so recklessly just now.
With a "bang," the furnace lid sprang open, Guan Wei Wu spread his five claws, sucking all the pills into his palm. Yue Qianchou and Yang Qian went to watch together.
In his large palm, seven out of twenty pills were defective. Yue Qianchou and Yang Qian exchanged a glance. Guan Wei Wu suddenly let out a long howl, which startled everyone busy in the Alchemy Chamber. It was impossible to tell whether he was happy or sad. He crushed all twenty pills in his hand into powder and threw them aside.
Yang Qian understood Guan Wei Wu's feelings at this moment. Having refined pills his entire life, he was no match for a newly initiated disciple; his frustration was unimaginable. Yue Qianchou, on the other hand, was dumbfounded, wondering what had gotten into his master. It was just a few ruined pills! Was it really worth blaming himself like this? Look at me, my entire batch of pills turned out poorly, and I was perfectly calm! Sigh! This master is truly an Alchemy Fanatic; hopeless!
Guan Wei Wu grabbed Yue Qianchou's arm and shouted, "Come with me!" Then he dragged him away.
"Damn it! That was hard, it hurts!" Yue Qianchou grimaced in pain as he ran after them. Yang Qian followed.
The three of them jogged to Guan Wei Wu's private Alchemy Chamber. Once inside, Guan Wei Wu released Yue Qianchou's arm and said, "Yue Qianchou, refine another batch using the same method as before. I need to inject my Divine Sense into the Pill Furnace to see how you refine it. Don't worry about my Divine Sense; I won't disturb you. Just focus on refining your pills. Do you understand?"
Yue Qianchou rubbed his arm, which had been pinched so hard, and was also moved by his master's meticulous guidance. He thought to himself, "Yue Qianchou What have I done to deserve such kindness from both of my masters? I am so grateful!" Tears welled up in his eyes, and he vowed to never forget this kindness.
He took the spirit herbs from Guan Wei Wu and nodded vigorously, saying, "Master, I understand." After saying that, he put the spirit herbs back in and began refining them once again.
"Tsk tsk! The furnace of the head elder of the Alchemy Pavilion is truly exceptional. The heat is even and powerful, even better than the one used by Grandma Ma Jiu. It's really quite impressive. "Yue Qianchou had just sighed inwardly when he noticed two more Divine Sense inside the furnace. One was his master, and the other...? Needless to say, there were only three people in the Alchemy Chamber, so the other one must belong to Yang Qian.
Guan Wei Wu also noticed the extra Divine Sense and glared at Yang Qian, who smiled sheepishly and gestured towards the Pill Furnace. The two of them then closed their eyes and focused on the scene inside the Pill Furnace.
The two were taken aback when they took a quick look. They discovered that Yue Qianchou was not using his Divine Sense to directly control the essence of the refined spiritual herbs, but rather controlling the heat flow within the furnace. The two had been refining pills for many years and had never seen such a method before. Since ancient times, who in the Cultivation World had not used their Divine Sense to control objects in order to refine pills?
Unless it's just ordinary people claiming to be able to refine pills, but actually producing only some kind of ointment, which they then roll into balls, dry, and use as pills—that's completely different from refining pills. If they treat a genuine elixir like that, even if they use the finest ingredients, nine-tenths of the essence of heaven and earth will likely be lost. Yue Qianchou's method was unheard of and unseen, but it was certainly refreshing.
They didn't know that Yue Qianchou had already started learning alchemy while still in the Qi Refining stage. With his cultivation level at that time, his Divine Sense was not able to directly control any object in the furnace, which forced him to come up with a way to control it by stirring the airflow with his Divine Sense. Although he eventually succeeded in learning it, Guan Wei Wu and Yang Qian could not understand the hardships and pain he suffered during that time. They also did not know that Yue Qianchou would be so foolish as to forcibly use his Divine Sense to refine pills before even reaching the Foundation Establishment Realm.
Of course, there were objective reasons why he did this. First, he desperately wanted the Foundation Establishment Pill. Second, he listened to Yan Zixia's words, who said that Grandma Ma Jiu said very few people could refine pills with the cultivation of the Qi Refining stage. Since it was rare, it meant that it existed, and since it existed, it meant that he could do it too. As a result, he actually succeeded by using a large amount of Spirit Stone. Third, he didn't know that the so-called few were exceptionally gifted, and their cultivation at the Qi Refining stage was comparable to that of the Foundation Establishment Realm. Fourth, he didn't know that forcing it would accidentally and completely destroy his Divine Sense, turning him into an idiot.
If he had known back then, he probably would have preferred to be killed rather than suffer the consequences of becoming an idiot. The fifth point is somewhat related to the third. Although he wasn't exceptionally gifted, back in the Qingguang Sect, thanks to the Golden Pearl's help, he spent an extremely long time cultivating his Dantian, giving him a larger capacity of True Qi than others at the same cultivation level. This made his late-stage Qi Refining cultivation significantly stronger than the average person, and his Divine Sense was naturally much stronger as well, which largely prevented him from becoming an idiot.
In fact, Yue Qianchou's current cultivation level was sufficient to directly refine pills using the method of controlling objects with Divine Sense. However, he discovered that using the method of controlling airflow to refine pills was much less strenuous. Utilizing the heat from the Pill Furnace was like using minimal effort to achieve maximum effect, making it extremely labor-saving. Moreover, during pill refining, the inertia of the airflow caused the essence of the spiritual herbs to separate and combine. Even if many pills were separated, the medicinal properties of each pill could be guaranteed to be uniform. This was something that could not be achieved by forcibly separating pills using the method of controlling objects with Divine Sense. In that case, the medicinal properties contained in each pill would always be more or less uneven, and there would be absolutely no uniformity of medicinal properties maintained by the method Yue Qianchou was currently using.
As the essence of the spiritual herbs within the Pill Furnace was Yue Qianchou's Divine Sense to create fluid and dynamic effects, various luminous liquids danced and swirled within, tracing breathtaking and dazzling arcs of light. The arcs they drew were multicolored, their convergence captivating the eye. Sometimes they appeared as tiny drops, sometimes as fleeting moments of gathering and dispersing, sometimes as blooming flowers, sometimes as swirling embraces. Under the simple manipulation of the energy flow by his Divine Sense, the spiritual liquid within the furnace gradually evolved towards its ultimate goal.
Guan Wei Wu and Yang Qian's Divine Sense inside the furnace initially fluctuated with disbelief, but then they both quietly enjoyed this visual feast. Their physical bodies outside the Pill Furnace wore expressions of rapture. Even after the pills were completed, they remained completely absorbed in the spectacle.
With a "bang," the furnace lid opened, Yue Qianchou used a method far more clumsy than Guan Wei Wu's, jumping up and using the old trick of catching the pill with the hem of his long robe.
The sound of the stove lid being opened startled the two of them awake. They opened their eyes and slowly exhaled a breath of pent-up frustration.
Yue Qianchou walked over, lifting the hem of his robe, and scratched his head, saying, "Master, is there a big problem with the pills I refined this way?"
Guan Wei Wu and Yang Qian exchanged a glance, both shaking their heads and smiling bitterly.
"Sigh!" Guan Wei Wu sighed, examining the twenty finished pills before him. He reached into his disciple's clothes and picked up a Qi Replenishing Pill, gazing dreamily at the alluring halo emanating from it. Suddenly, he tossed it into his mouth and swallowed it. Both the pills he and his disciple had refined were Qi Replenishing Pill, but after circulating their energy, the latter's efficacy was nearly twice that of the former.
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