Trial

Chapter 10: The Trial

The interior of Danxia Mountain had been hollowed out and transformed into alchemy rooms and artifact refining rooms of various sizes. Qi Refining Stage disciples who wished to refine pills or artifacts would come to Danxia Mountain to rent a secret room.

Halfway up the mountain stood a black grand hall over ten zhang in height, with people constantly entering and exiting.

As soon as one stepped inside, they were greeted by a hundred-zhang-wide hall. A dozen or so red-clad disciples stood near a long black counter, responsible for guiding those who rented secret rooms.

"I'd like to rent an alchemy room," Shi Yue said, walking up to the counter and addressing the attendant disciple behind it.

"One spirit stone per day. How long do you want to rent it for?" the attendant disciple asked, glancing at Shi Yue indifferently.

"Two days," Shi Yue said after a moment's thought. He then took out two spirit stones and placed them on the counter.

"Zhao Feng, take him to Alchemy Room No. 45. The time limit is two days," the attendant disciple instructed a fair-faced red-clad man. As he spoke, he produced a red square token and tossed it to the man.

"Follow me." The red-clad man left a single sentence and walked toward a passage on the left side of the hall.

Seeing this, Shi Yue quickly followed. After several twists and turns, he arrived before a row of tightly shut stone rooms. A faint medicinal fragrance hung in the air.

He noticed several red-clad disciples standing guard outside the stone rooms, as if waiting for something.

The red-clad man stopped in front of a stone room engraved with the three large characters "Forty-Five" and inserted the square token into a groove on the stone door.

After infusing it with spiritual power, the square token radiated brilliant light.

The next moment, with a loud "rumble," the stone door swung open.

This alchemy room was not large, about five or six zhang in size. In the center of the room sat an antique yellow furnace. On three of the stone walls, two lifelike golden-red dragon heads were embedded on each wall. The dragon heads' mouths tilted slightly upward, aimed directly at the furnace as if in a spitting posture, incredibly realistic.

In front of the yellow furnace lay an emerald green cushion.

"Junior apprentice brother, the earth fire needed for alchemy is emitted from these six dragon heads. You can also adjust the size and height of the flames as needed. The specific method of control is recorded in this token," the red-clad man explained, pointing at the six dragon heads. After finishing, he handed the square token to Shi Yue. Then, as if remembering something, he added:

"You only paid two spirit stones, so you can only stay here for two days. When the time is up, I'll call you out. If you stay longer than two days, you'll need to pay the difference. Also, once this stone door is closed, it isolates the room from the outside world. Unless a Core Formation Cultivator takes action, no one can enter from outside. So rest assured, junior apprentice brother, no one will disturb you!"

"Thank you for your guidance, senior apprentice brother," Shi Yue said, cupping his fist in thanks.

The red-clad man nodded, gave a few more instructions, and then withdrew.

Shi Yue infused spiritual power into the square token, and a beam of red light shot out from it, sinking into the stone door.

With a "bang," the stone door closed automatically.

Shi Yue sat cross-legged on the cushion, placed the square token against his brow, and extended his divine sense into it to examine its contents.

Before long, he withdrew his divine sense, formed a hand seal with both hands, and struck a series of six hand seals onto the dragon heads. The dragon heads immediately blazed with light, then opened their mouths and each spat out a finger-thick crimson flame. The six crimson flames converged at the base of the yellow furnace.

Seeing this, Shi Yue changed his hand seal, and the flames from the dragon heads grew significantly thicker. Rolling blazing flames engulfed the yellow furnace.

Satisfied with the sight, he nodded, withdrew his hand seal, and the rolling flames dissipated.

He then took out a jade slip containing the method for refining Bigu Pills and placed it against his brow.

After the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, Shi Yue had memorized the steps for refining Bigu Pills flawlessly and put away the jade slip.

The essence of alchemy was, in fact, the decomposition and recombination of certain medicinal ingredients, using high heat to condense them into a pill.

Everyone knew this process, but few could actually produce pills. Successfully refining a pill required the alchemist to master material blending, temperature control, and the timing of the pill's emergence.

Even a slight deviation in any single step could cause the entire process to fail. Therefore, learning alchemy required a massive expenditure of spirit stones. Only cultivators with considerable wealth could afford the cost.

The mysterious space's time flowed ten times faster than the outside world. As long as he had seeds, he could grow large quantities of spirit herbs. This was Shi Yue's capital for learning alchemy.

The first step in refining Bigu Pills was washing the spirit grain, removing the husks, and grinding it into powder. Next, wash the Blood Qi Fruit and Purple Luo Apricot, and cut off the flesh. The second step was to throw the spirit grain powder, along with the flesh of the Blood Qi Fruit and Purple Luo Apricot, into the furnace and refine them into a pill.

There were only two steps. The first step was very simple—just washing and processing the alchemy materials. Whether he could successfully refine the Bigu Pill depended entirely on the second step.

Shi Yue took out a few spirit grains, removed the husks, washed them clean, cut them into small pieces with a dagger, and ground them into powder. Then, he took out one Blood Qi Fruit and one Purple Luo Apricot, washed them, cut off the flesh, and mixed it into the spirit grain powder.

He struck six hand seals onto the six dragon heads. Each dragon head spat out a finger-thick crimson flame, gathering at the base of the yellow furnace to slowly preheat it.

A little less than half an hour later, the yellow furnace had grown hot, radiating astonishing heat.

Seeing this, Shi Yue struck a hand seal onto the furnace lid. The lid immediately flew up and landed steadily on the ground. Then, he poured the spirit grain powder, along with the flesh of the Blood Qi Fruit and Purple Luo Apricot, into the furnace.

He formed a single hand seal and pointed at the furnace. The lid flew up again and sealed shut.

Inside the furnace, the flesh, roasted by the high heat, turned into several pools of juice. These juices mixed with the spirit grain powder, forming a pale yellow viscous substance.

As time passed, the moisture in the juice gradually evaporated, leaving only the essence.

A faint fragrance wafted out from the furnace.

Seeing this, Shi Yue changed his hand seal. The flames from the dragon heads suddenly doubled in size, and rolling blazing flames engulfed the furnace.

An hour passed. The fragrance grew stronger and stronger.

By now, he had consumed most of his spiritual power, but he dared not relax in the slightest. He hoped to hold out until the pill emerged.

Half an hour later, with a "bang," the yellow furnace, submerged in rolling flames before Shi Yue, emitted a puff of black smoke, faintly mixed with a burnt smell.

Seeing this, Shi Yue's brow twitched. He withdrew his hand seal, and the flames around the furnace instantly dissipated.

Then, he struck a hand seal onto the furnace lid. The lid flew up automatically and landed steadily on the ground.

He stood up, walked quickly to the furnace, and looked down. At the bottom of the furnace lay a clump of dark brown matter, giving off a burnt odor.

Shi Yue sighed and shook his head. His first attempt at alchemy had failed.

He carefully recalled the process. Every step of the alchemy had strictly followed the records in the ancient texts. If there was a problem, it was most likely in the timing of the flame control.

Having figured this out, Shi Yue dumped out the black, charred waste at the bottom of the furnace.

He then took out another Gugu the size of an infant's fist, peeled off the shell, washed it clean, and ground it into powder. After that, he took out one Blood Qi Fruit and one Purple Luo Apricot, washed them clean, and cut off the flesh.

Once the lid was sealed, Shi Yue formed a hand seal with both hands. Six Hand Seals were struck in succession onto the six Dragon Heads. Each Dragon Head spat out a finger-thick stream of Crimson Flame, converging at the base of the furnace.

Time trickled by. Two quarters of an hour passed, and success seemed near. But at the final moment, with a "bang," a pungent, burnt smell wafted out from the furnace.

The second attempt at alchemy had also failed.

After resting a while and recovering his spiritual power, Shi Yue began his third attempt.

He took out a set of ingredients, processed them, poured them into the furnace, and then manipulated the Dragon Heads to spew flames.

This time, he failed again.

Seeing this, a resolute expression appeared on Shi Yue's face. He refused to believe he couldn't even refine a single batch of Bigu Pills. He took out another set of ingredients and began refining.

The fourth attempt ended in failure as well.

The fifth attempt still failed.

The sixth attempt was also unsuccessful.

A day later, a dull "bang" echoed from the Alchemy Room. The furnace before Shi Yue, engulfed in Rolling Blazing Flames, once again belched out a plume of black smoke and a burnt odor.

Shi Yue's face darkened. He let out a light sigh, withdrew his hand seals, and the flames around the furnace dissipated.

He had lost count of how many times he had failed. The Blood Qi Fruits and Purple Luo Apricots were all used up, and he hadn't managed to refine a single Bigu Pill.

Although the classics had long stated that it was normal for a beginner alchemist to fail hundreds of times, facing this reality still dealt a heavy blow to Shi Yue.

From the initial enthusiasm, he had now sunk into deep frustration.

With the Blood Qi Fruits and Purple Luo Apricots gone, there was no way for him to continue alchemy for now.

After the frustration passed, Shi Yue gradually regained his composure. This failed attempt had revealed many issues—besides flame control, the handling of the ingredients also played a major role. He decided to find a few alchemy manuals from the Scripture Repository to study, or perhaps seek advice from an alchemist, before considering reopening the furnace.

After all, alchemy consumed nothing but gleaming Spirit Stones!

Thinking of the dozens of Spirit Stones he had wasted, Shi Yue's heart ached.

He stood up, shook the Square Token in his hand, and a beam of red light shot out, sinking into the door.

With a "bang," the door swung open. Shi Yue stepped out.

"Oh? Junior apprentice brother, you're out so soon? It hasn't even been two full days," the Red-Clad Man waiting outside said with some surprise upon seeing Shi Yue.

"The materials are used up. Here's your Restriction Token back." Shi Yue explained briefly, returned the Square Token to the Red-Clad Man, and then walked back the way he came.