Pill Refining

"Phew." He had reached the Two-Star Dou Practitioner level. It seemed his accumulation of Dou Qi had been quite substantial. Last time, he had not only advanced directly to One-Star Dou Practitioner, but had also taken a major step toward Two-Star Dou Practitioner. That was why he had reached Two-Star Dou Practitioner in just over half a month. Since he had broken through, he would go to the Medicine Refinement Hall today and begin Pill Refining.

Upon entering the Medicine Refinement Hall, Lin Ming went straight to the fifth floor. Arriving outside Master Toso's room, Lin Ming knocked on the door and said, "Master Toso, this kid Lin Ming has come to report."

"Lin Ming, kid, come in quickly," Master Toso said. Lin Ming entered the room, and Master Toso said eagerly, "You finally came. If you hadn't come these past two days, I was about to go invite you myself."

Lin Ming hurriedly replied, "After finishing my Cultivation Method, I was preparing to come when I felt my Dou Qi was about to break through at any moment. So I was delayed another two days and came only after breaking through in cultivation."

"You broke through again? It has only been a month since you became a Dou Zhe, yet you're already a Two-Star Dou Practitioner? The world of geniuses truly differs from that of ordinary people." Master Toso sighed. Then he added, "Breaking through is even better. You'll have more Dou Qi for Pill Refining. Come, hurry and follow me to the Pill Refinement Room. I'll teach you alchemy." With that, he grabbed Lin Ming and hurried toward the Pill Refinement Room.

Looking at the man who was even more anxious than himself, Lin Ming felt somewhat speechless. This was probably the eagerness an Alchemist felt upon seeing a worthy successor.

When they arrived at the Pill Refinement Room, Master Toso's Storage Ring flashed, and he took out an ancient bronze Medicinal Cauldron. Master Toso said, "Lin Ming, you have studied medicinal theory in the Medicine Refinement Hall and watched others refine pills for three years. I won't go over that basic knowledge again. Since you are only starting out, this two-vent cauldron will be about right. Any more vents and it would not be so easy to control."

Lin Ming knew Master Toso was not speaking carelessly. He had read books for several years as well and knew that a two-vent cauldron was nearly the limit for beginners. With more vents, it would become much harder to control. Thus, Lin Ming replied, "Yes, Master Toso. This two-vent cauldron is very suitable."

"Mhm, then let's begin. You know what the first step is, right?" Master Toso asked Lin Ming.

"I do. After obtaining a new Medicinal Cauldron, an Alchemist must first familiarize himself with it. Only then can he better control the heat during later Pill Refining," Lin Ming answered.

"Mhm, not bad. You haven't studied for nothing these past years. Then begin. I'll watch over you," Master Toso said.

Lin Ming stepped before the Medicinal Cauldron and pressed his right hand against one of its fire vents. Then he circulated his Fire-Wood Dual Attribute Dou Qi, gathering it in his right hand before pouring it through the fire vent into the cauldron.

"Puff..."

With a muffled sound, flames rose within the Medicinal Cauldron and churned continuously.

"Not bad. Not bad at all. You truly have not wasted these years of study. Not only did you summon tangible flames on your first attempt, they are even flames capable of Pill Refining," Master Toso praised.

Not every flame could be used for Pill Refining. Flames suitable for refining pills had to be mild flames, their Violent Factors of combustion neutralized by the Wood Attribute. Besides using the Wood Attribute to sense the vitality of Medicinal Materials within the cauldron, ensuring that they could be refined into the desired ingredients, neutralizing the Violent Factors within the Fire Attribute was another reason Alchemists needed Fire-Wood Dual Attributes.

"You will practice with this pill. The Medicinal Materials are over there. After reading the pill formula, go get them yourself. Let me see how well you understand medicinal herbs." Master Toso took out a pill formula scroll from his Storage Ring and handed it to Lin Ming.

Lin Ming accepted the pill formula and opened it.

"Strength-Accumulating Pill." A First-Grade Pill. Consuming it could increase one's strength by roughly ten percent. Required Medicinal Materials: one Arhat Fruit, one Vitality Fruit, two stalks of Golden Bright Grass..."

After reading and memorizing the Medicinal Materials, Lin Ming went to the medicinal herb area beside them to search for them. After about half an hour, Lin Ming returned with enough materials to refine ten batches of Strength-Accumulating Pills.

"Now that you have gathered them, begin refining," Master Toso said when he saw Lin Ming return.

Lin Ming returned to the Medicinal Cauldron. This time, he pressed his left hand against the fire vent and circulated his Fire-Wood Dual Attribute Dou Qi. Flames rose inside the cauldron once again. He let the flames burn within the cauldron first, warming it up so it could achieve its best performance. When he felt it was about right, Lin Ming took out an Arhat Fruit. Looking at the fist-sized fruit wrapped in a shell that resembled layered scales, Lin Ming recalled the description in the pill formula. Once he felt the flames matched the description, he tossed the Arhat Fruit into the coiled snake mouth at the top of the Medicinal Cauldron.

The moment the Arhat Fruit entered the Medicinal Cauldron, Lin Ming used his Spiritual Strength to control the flames and refine it. Before long, there was a bang, and the Arhat Fruit burst apart. Lin Ming knew that this Arhat Fruit had failed to refine.

"The flame temperature became too high later on. At first, the Arhat Fruit had its hard shell protecting it, so the temperature was fine. But when the shell was about to melt, you needed to lower the flame temperature. You must use your Spiritual Strength to control your Wood Attribute Dou Qi and sense the vitality of the Medicinal Material at all times, so you can react accordingly." Master Toso explained the reason for Lin Ming's failure just now.

After hearing Master Toso's explanation, Lin Ming began another round of refinement.

"Hiss." This time, another sound came from the Medicinal Cauldron further along in the process. Lin Ming had run into another problem later in the refinement.

"This time, it was..." Master Toso explained the issue with this attempt as well.

Lin Ming lit the fire once more and began a new round of refinement. This time, he finally extracted the essence of the Arhat Fruit. He then took out a Jade Bottle and stored the extracted essence inside. As for the remaining waste from the Arhat Fruit, it was burned into black powder by the flames and, through the restriction within the Medicinal Cauldron, gathered in the waste compartment at the bottom. Only after extracting the Arhat Fruit essence did Lin Ming understand how important guidance from a senior was. If he had relied solely on his own exploration, he would not have been able to finish refining the Arhat Fruit even after an entire day.

"Not bad. On your third attempt, you extracted the Arhat Fruit essence to the standard required for pill refinement. However, when you adjusted the flame temperature just now, if you had raised it a tiny bit more, the Arhat Fruit essence would have been purer. Then the pill refined from it would have better medicinal effects. If every Medicinal Material is refined to near perfection, the refined pill will contain less pill toxicity. Pill Patterns are the manifestation of such nearly perfect pills. That requires long-term practice and a thorough grasp of the properties of the Medicinal Materials being refined. The same herb can differ depending on its age and where it grows... An Alchemist must control these differences himself during refinement. That requires a great deal of refining to accumulate experience." Master Toso explained Lin Ming's shortcomings in his refinement and the points he needed to pay attention to when refining Medicinal Materials.

Lin Ming listened seriously to Master Toso's explanation and carefully reflected on the shortcomings in his refinement just now.

After the time it took to drink a cup of tea, Lin Ming took out another Arhat Fruit and began a new round of refinement. Master Toso saw that Lin Ming thought for a while before beginning and nodded in satisfaction. When I refined this Strength-Accumulating Pill back then, even people who had already refined other pills failed four times before extracting the Arhat Fruit essence. And their essence was not as pure as Lin Ming's now. Yet Lin Ming completed the extraction in only three attempts despite having just started. This talent is truly terrifying! More importantly, he is neither arrogant nor impatient, and he knows to reflect after finishing a refinement. Fortunately, someone like him belongs to my family.

Thus, amid Lin Ming's repeated refinements and Master Toso's repeated explanations, all the Medicinal Materials were refined. The purity of the later extractions of every Medicinal Material left Master Toso amazed. He said that even if he refined them himself, he would not do much better.

After all the Medicinal Material Essence had been extracted, Lin Ming rested and regulated his breathing for half an hour.

After seeing Lin Ming finish recuperating, Master Toso began explaining again. "Next, you must fuse these extracted essences together, perfectly combining their different medicinal effects before compressing them into a pill. This is the most crucial step. After all, even the slightest mistake will ruin all the essence. The required temperature, pressure, and order of fusion differ for every essence. This is a great test for every Alchemist. Your Spiritual Strength must control the flames and timing with absolute precision. Therefore, the stronger one's Spiritual Strength, the easier it is to refine pills."

After explaining it to Lin Ming, Master Toso personally demonstrated it once. Lin Ming carefully observed Master Toso's movements, sensing the order in which he fused the essences, the timing of the fusion, the temperature during fusion, and every other detail. Looking at the complete pill, Lin Ming recalled Master Toso's actions and began his own refinement.

Using his Spiritual Strength, he sent the Arhat Fruit essence into the Medicinal Cauldron and wrapped it in flames. Then he controlled the Vitality Fruit essence and sent it in as well. He wrapped the two essences in flames of different temperatures. After warming them for a while, he brought the two essences closer together. Once they mixed, he increased the firepower while applying pressure with his Spiritual Strength. After a while, Lin Ming added the Golden Bright Grass essence as well...

Boom. A loud explosion came from inside the Medicinal Cauldron. Lin Ming had mishandled the control when adding the Medicinal Material, causing the cauldron to Explode.

After tidying up, he began the next fusion attempt.

"Hiss." The Medicinal Liquid essence was burned away. Failed!

Boom. The cauldron exploded. Failed!

He began another fusion. Arhat Fruit essence entered, Vitality Fruit essence entered. Fusion successful! Golden Bright Grass entered, fusion successful... Until the final essence entered, fusion successful!

"Phew." Lin Ming Breathed a Sigh of Relief. After failing so many times, he was finally close to success.

"Don't lose focus. Reduce the firepower and increase the pressure. It is about to reach Pill Formation," Master Toso's voice sounded at that moment.

Lin Ming did not dare lose focus again and followed Master Toso's instructions.

"Lower the firepower further," Master Toso said again.

Lin Ming reduced the firepower once more.

After a moment, Master Toso spoke again. "It is almost done. Lin Ming, you must constantly sense the condition of the pill. At the instant all the medicinal properties fully fuse, increase the pressure of your Spiritual Strength by One Third and raise the flame temperature to the level used to refine the Arhat Fruit. Then form the pill."

Lin Ming poured in his Spiritual Strength with all his might to sense the changes, ready at any moment to do as Master Toso said once the medicinal properties fully fused. A moment later, Lin Ming felt the time had come. He abruptly raised the flame temperature and increased his Spiritual Strength by One Third as well. Under Lin Ming's control, the medicinal essence inside the Medicinal Cauldron compressed into something the size of a thumb.

Master Toso watched and nodded. "Although it was a little early, it is close enough. Nurture it with heat a little longer to make it smoother and more rounded."

Once the pill inside the Medicinal Cauldron had become smooth and rounded, Lin Ming stopped supplying Dou Qi. With a sweep of his Spiritual Strength, a pill with a smooth, full luster appeared in his hand. Looking at the pill in his hand, Lin Ming smiled.

"Lin Ming, congratulations. You have officially refined your first pill. This signifies that you are now a true Alchemist," Master Toso congratulated Lin Ming.

"Thank you for your guidance, Master Toso. Without your guidance, Lin Ming does not know when he would have been able to refine a pill. Please accept a bow from Lin Ming." Lin Ming finished speaking, then gave Master Toso a ninety-degree bow.

"Fine, I will accept this bow. There are still two portions of materials left. Refine them as well," Master Toso said after accepting Lin Ming's bow.

"Alright. Lin Ming will regulate his breathing before refining them." Lin Ming finished speaking and began to recuperate.

Boom. The refinement failed.

"Collect the pill." Success!

From the materials for ten batches of Strength-Accumulating Pills, three pills were successfully formed in total. One was refined by Master Toso, and two were refined by Lin Ming.