Bigu Pill

The next morning, at dawn.

Rumble—!!

The Steel Gate to the alchemy room opened, and Yao Yan and Zhu Zhuqing walked inside.

At the workbench, Yao Yan took out the Mountain Smelting Cauldron from his Soul Tool and set it on the table.

He opened the lower compartment and placed the Fire Essence Stone inside. Flames instantly rose within the Alchemy Furnace, scorching its inner walls.

Once the furnace began radiating searing heat—

With a wave of one hand, Yao Yan sent a Sun Flower into it. He circulated his Soul Power and pressed the button on the back, pushing out the Blood Flame Gold. Firelight immediately flared.

The temperature inside the Alchemy Furnace rose further.

Yao Yan extended his spiritual power into the furnace and observed the situation within. Under the flames' baking, the Sun Flower's outer skin gradually peeled away as its moisture began to evaporate.

Yao Yan immediately increased the heat.

Suddenly!

Flames burst up around the Sun Flower, and in an instant, it turned to ash.

"This..."

Yao Yan stopped the flames and stared at the pile of ash inside the Alchemy Furnace. After thinking for a moment, he guessed that the flames had been too hot and that he needed to find the critical point.

After all, everything required balance.

He sent another Sun Flower inside. As the temperature in the furnace gradually rose, it once again turned to ash.

"I refuse to believe I can't find that critical point."

Yao Yan took a deep breath and tossed in medicinal ingredients one after another, completely immersing himself in the tedious process of extraction.

Seeing how wholly absorbed Yao Yan was, Zhu Zhuqing quietly retreated to the room next door. She took several books on herbs from the bookshelf and began reading them in silence.

She, too, longed to broaden her knowledge as soon as possible, so that she could lend him a hand in the future.

Three days later.

With disheveled hair and deep dark circles beneath his eyes, Yao Yan dragged his exhausted steps back into the alchemy room.

Over the past three days, he had used up more than two hundred medicinal herbs, yet gained nothing.

"Creating something from nothing... really is difficult." He slumped before the workbench, his hands supporting his forehead as his unfocused gaze fell upon the Alchemy Furnace.

Controlling flames and temperature was far more intricate than he had imagined. The slightest mistake would ruin all his previous efforts.

"Flames... temperature..." he murmured unconsciously.

Then a flash of insight struck his mind, and he suddenly understood. Perhaps he had been putting the cart before the horse, focusing all his attention on the medicinal herbs.

Rather than on controlling the temperature within the Alchemy Furnace.

As long as he kept the furnace at a constant temperature, even the smallest flame would eventually stew the toughest bones until they softened.

It was merely a matter of how long it took.

"So that's it!" Yao Yan slapped the table and sprang to his feet, a gleam of realization flashing in his eyes.

He immediately lit the fire again. This time, however, he did not add any medicinal herbs, instead focusing completely on controlling every subtle change in temperature inside the furnace.

Five days later.

Yao Yan's control over the flames had become exceptionally deft, and the furnace's temperature was entirely within his grasp.

He sent another Sun Flower inside, extending his spiritual power into the Alchemy Furnace to monitor its condition at all times.

Under the baking heat, the Sun Flower gradually withered and curled up, shrinking until it finally turned into a small pile of fine yellow powder.

He had succeeded!

Yao Yan was overjoyed. With a wave of his hand, he opened the cauldron lid, drew the powder out, and placed it onto a jade dish.

As he examined the Sun Flower's essence, he finally let out a breath of relief.

This counted as successfully taking the first step in alchemy.

Just then, Zhu Zhuqing emerged from the room. He happily picked up the jade dish and walked over. "Zhuqing, look."

When Zhu Zhuqing saw the yellow powder on the dish, she could not help but be astonished. He had actually managed to extract medicine from raging flames.

It was practically a miracle!

"This is the... medicinal extraction you mentioned before?" She extended her slender fingers, gently pinched up a little of the powder, and circulated her Soul Power to examine it closely.

"How does it feel?" Yao Yan asked expectantly.

"It's extremely pure. It seems that all of its essence has been condensed here," Zhu Zhuqing answered after carefully sensing it.

"Of course." Yao Yan rubbed her head, then turned and continued extracting medicinal ingredients, preparing to fully master medicinal extraction.

The two each went about their tasks, quietly working hard between the alchemy room and the study.

A month later.

Rumble—!!

The steel gate opened once more, and Yao Yan and Zhu Zhuqing entered. As usual, he took out the alchemy furnace and set it in place. When he turned around, he saw that many jade bottles had already been placed beside the workbench.

These were all the fruits of his labor over the past month. By now, he had become exceptionally proficient at refining medicinal ingredients.

Today's task was to officially begin pill refinement!

The pill he would refine was, naturally, the most common bigu pill in cultivation novels, and also the easiest type of pill for beginners to get started with.

To refine a pill, one had to grasp three things.

The pill formula, the temperature, and the timing for opening the furnace. All of these had been recorded in novels from his previous life, especially in that old demon's books, which he had studied several times.

As for where to find the formula, that was naturally simple as well.

Not to mention cultivation novels—even in the real world, this kind of pill had long since been invented.

It was simply a matter of concentrating and combining certain high-energy foods into a pill, ultimately achieving the effect of fasting.

As a scholar of traditional Chinese medicine in his previous life, Yao Yan naturally knew all this.

At that moment, Zhu Zhuqing entered carrying a basket of processed medicinal ingredients. Inside were ancient konjac, poria cocos, cassia seeds...

Some medicinal ingredients could control the human nervous system and reduce hunger, while others could replenish high levels of energy and serve as a substitute for food.

Yao Yan took the medicinal ingredients from her and placed them on the workbench. He skillfully added a Fire Essence Stone, and the flames began to burn as the temperature rose.

Zhu Zhuqing sat quietly some distance away, watching Yao Yan's busy figure. The days since coming to Qingshan Town had brought her a peace she had never experienced before.

Especially when Yao Yan looked up amid his work and gave her a warm smile, a delicate sweetness would rise within her heart.

When the temperature inside the alchemy furnace reached an astonishing level, Yao Yan raised one hand and opened the furnace lid. He sent the medicinal ingredients inside, gradually refining them into powder.

Before long, after the refinement was complete, he sent one portion of the powder inside and immediately increased his control over the flames.

Not long after, a refreshing medicinal fragrance wafted from the alchemy furnace, filling the entire pill room in an instant.

"It smells so good!" Sitting to the side, Zhu Zhuqing caught the refreshing scent and could not help closing her eyes to savor it.

Yao Yan opened the alchemy furnace at the right moment and added another portion of the prepared medicinal powder.

Soul power surged out wildly, causing the two masses of medicinal powder to spin and fuse within the furnace. Gradually, an irregular pill embryo slowly took shape.

Yao Yan knew that he had reached the most crucial step.

His spiritual power erupted fiercely. Focusing with utmost concentration, he controlled the flame's temperature as he polished, refined, and compressed the pill embryo.

Before he knew it, a long time had passed.

The pill inside the alchemy furnace gradually became rounder and smoother on the surface.

Yao Yan grew increasingly tense as well. His forehead was already covered in sweat; pill refinement consumed an enormous amount of spiritual power.

He carefully controlled the flames and carried out the final refinement.

Gradually, the medicinal fragrance emanating from the alchemy furnace grew richer. Even more surprisingly, golden patterns slowly emerged across the pill's surface!

"Pill patterns!"

Yao Yan could not suppress his excitement. This was a sign that the pill was of exceptionally high quality!

Ten minutes later, the pill in the furnace had completely formed, round and full, with golden light flowing across it.

Yao Yan held two fingers together like a sword, and the furnace lid burst open.

"Pill complete—!!"