Meng Fu said, "Though that's true, I really don't have much confidence. Brother Zhao, if things really don't work out, let's end the trial here."
Zhao Qian said, "Brother Meng, don't forget that opening the Earthfire this time cost ten origin pills in total, and we only bought twelve hours. If we want to refine pills again next time, without knowing when we'll pass the first stage, we'll certainly have to buy another twelve hours. Do you think we can afford that? No matter what, Brother Meng, don't lose heart. With your cultivation, you should be able to hold out. All right, enough talk. Hurry and regulate your breathing, Brother Meng. We'll start again in half an hour."
With Zhao Gan putting it that way, Meng Fu could only swallow his worries, however much he still had.
Half an hour later, the refining began right on schedule.
Chen Gong had been there from the start, and now Meng Fu was doing the same. Neither ever took a break from the first stage, which consumed a great deal of their spiritual power.
Such an arrangement might have seemed unreasonable, but in truth, all three lead refiners bore great responsibility this time. The more they participated in the first stage, the more practice they gained, and that experience was far more important than the spiritual power they expended.
The refining began again, and as expected, the first stage once more became an insurmountable obstacle.
In Xu Yi's view, this had practically become a matter of probability. The outcome was far too random.
This time, luck was slow to come. They failed three times in a row, without a single success. Despair inevitably welled in everyone's eyes.
No matter how thoroughly they had prepared themselves mentally before refining the pills, each of them