Refining Qi Replenishing Pill

Under Little Yue'er's curious gaze, Qin Shaofeng began his first attempt at alchemy.

Qin Shaofeng had seen alchemists refine pills before, but they were all mere apprentices.

In Lanjiang City, those generally called alchemists were not true alchemists; they were just alchemy apprentices.

There was only one true alchemist in all of Lanjiang City.

That was an alchemist that the merchant family, the Wang Family, had invited at great expense.

Yes, a beginner alchemist, but even a beginner alchemist being able to stay with the Wang Family was a great joy for them.

When that beginner alchemist first joined the Wang Family, they had specifically organized an alchemy competition in Lanjiang City, refining pills in front of countless people.

Qin Shaofeng clearly remembered that when that alchemist was refining pills, they had used a cauldron nearly three meters tall, and over a dozen alchemy apprentices had added wood to the fire under the cauldron while it was in use, making it burn.

Thinking of that scene, Qin Shaofeng couldn't help but feel a little uneasy.

This was the System's alchemy technique, so surely it wouldn't require burning wood during the refining process, right?

Although he thought so, Qin Shaofeng was still a bit uncertain.

This was also one of the reasons he had chosen a large pot.

Using a large pot would make it more convenient to start a fire.

However, before that, he wanted to try and see if simply activating the skill could refine a pill.

After setting up the large pot, Qin Shaofeng began to add Qi Yuan Grass.

Under normal circumstances, one stalk of Qi Yuan Grass could refine one Qi Replenishing Pill.

This was Qin Shaofeng's first time refining pills, so he didn't add much, only putting one stalk of Qi Yuan Grass into the large pot.

But his actions seemed strange to the little girl.

Grass?

When she saw Qin Shaofeng throw something into the large pot, the little girl looked closely and was shocked to find it was just a blade of grass. Her eyes widened, her crescent-shaped pupils turning into full moon jade plates, filled with suspicion.

Is Young Master trying to boil grass?

But why isn't he starting a fire?

Boiling grass?

If Qin Shaofeng knew what the little girl was thinking at that moment, he would probably be so angry that he would grab her and give her a good spanking on her little tender backside.

Young Master is refining pills here, what do you mean boiling grass!

However, Qin Shaofeng was too nervous at the moment to notice the little girl's expression, so she narrowly escaped.

Ignoring the little girl's strange expression, he put the lid on the pot, placed his right hand on it, and silently cast the alchemy technique!

Then Qin Shaofeng felt a slight movement in his Dantian, and a small stream of Inner Qi instantly flowed out, directly entering the large pot through his right hand.

Then, something astonishing happened to Qin Shaofeng.

The Inner Qi that entered the large pot seemed to act as Qin Shaofeng's eyes, allowing him to sense everything inside the pot as if he could see what was happening within.

Buzz!

As soon as the Inner Qi entered the large pot, the pot vibrated slightly, and then...

There was no "then." The expected pill did not appear. Just as he "saw" everything inside the pot, the Qi Yuan Grass instantly ignited, turning into a pile of charred ashes.

And at that very moment, Qin Shaofeng lost contact with the stream of Inner Qi that had entered the large pot, and could no longer "see" the situation inside.

Uh, what is this?

Qin Shaofeng was slightly stunned, then immediately lifted the lid to check.

Just as he expected!

Just as he had "seen" moments before, there was no Qi Yuan Grass in the large pot now, only a small pile of charred ashes!

Uh, did it fail?

Looking at the Qi Yuan Grass that had been burned to ashes, a hint of disappointment flashed in Qin Shaofeng's eyes.

However, Qin Shaofeng quickly cheered up.

It was his first time, so failure was normal.

As the saying goes, failure is the mother of success; I cannot give up.

His self-comfort seemed to work quite well. Qin Shaofeng immediately swept the ashes out of the large pot and put another stalk of Qi Yuan Grass in.

But this time, the situation was the same as before. As soon as the alchemy technique was activated, the lush green Qi Yuan Grass instantly turned into charred ashes.

Failed again?

Looking at the ashes in the large pot, Qin Shaofeng felt a bit speechless.

"Damn it, I don't believe it. I can't refine a mere mortal-grade one-star Qi Replenishing Pill!"

He muttered softly and began to add Qi Yuan Grass again.

But the situation that followed was no different from the previous two times.

Failure!

Failure!

Still failure!

After several consecutive failures, Qin Shaofeng was a bit confused.

No way, I'm just using low-grade Qi Yuan Grass, and only refining a one-star Qi Replenishing Pill, but I've tried five or six times and haven't succeeded once?

He exclaimed in surprise and looked again at the Alchemy skill on his status interface.

That's right, the success rate of Alchemy is indeed determined by the Alchemy level and the pill being refined!

No matter how low the success rate of level 1 Alchemy is, it shouldn't be this low. Refining a mortal-grade one-star Qi Replenishing Pill and failing five or six times in a row?

Could it be because of this big pot?

Soon, Qin Shaofeng seemed to find the reason and stared intently at the big pot.

Alas, a big pot is just a big pot. It's not a medicinal cauldron, so it's normal for alchemy to fail!

Hmm, this problem definitely isn't with me, it's with this big pot.

It seems I can only find a real alchemy cauldron.

He sighed softly in his heart, muttering to himself whether he was comforting himself or making excuses, and then attributed all the failed alchemy attempts to the big pot.

At this moment, the little girl beside him saw Qin Shaofeng remain silent for a while. She looked at the big pot and then at the small pile of ashes on the ground beside him.

The little girl was a bit confused!

Young Master clearly didn't light a fire, so why did those grasses get scorched?

She didn't understand!

However, the little girl didn't think too much about it. After thinking for a moment, she hesitated and finally said to Qin Shaofeng, "Young Master, if you're boiling grass, you should add some water. That way, the grass won't get scorched!"

Qin Shaofeng, who was contemplating where to find an alchemy cauldron, suddenly heard the little girl's words beside him and almost fell to the ground.

Boiling... boiling grass?

This girl actually thought that Young Master had been boiling grass all this time?

Qin Shaofeng couldn't take it anymore.

"You're just a little girl, you don't understand. I'm refining pills, not boiling grass! Where did you get such a bizarre idea?"

As if to defend his dignity as a young master, Qin Shaofeng warned the little girl.

Where did such a bizarre idea come from?

The little girl felt a little wronged and couldn't help but whisper, "Isn't it because I saw you doing it that I thought that?"

Uh...

Qin Shaofeng was speechless.

However, the little girl quickly recovered and then looked at Qin Shaofeng with sudden admiration, "Refining pills? I didn't expect Young Master to be able to refine pills. Are you also an alchemist?"

Uh...

Qin Shaofeng was still speechless.

An alchemist?

He already possessed the skill of Alchemy, so he could technically be called an alchemist.

It's just that he hadn't successfully refined a single pill yet.

But the little girl didn't care about that and continued to speak excitedly.

"Little Yue'er has heard that alchemists are very powerful figures! Even in our Lanjiang City, only the Wang Family has an alchemist, and he's an old man with a white beard. Young Master is much younger than him."

"But, Little Yue'er has also heard that alchemists use those big cauldrons when refining pills, right? Why are you using a big pot, Young Master?"

A series of crisp, pearl-like sounds rang out as the little girl started chatting.

At first, it was fine. Listening to the little girl's tone of admiration for alchemists, Qin Shaofeng felt a little proud for a moment.

But as she continued, things didn't sound right, especially the last sentence, which made Qin Shaofeng a bit embarrassed.

If it were anyone else, Qin Shaofeng would have taken it as mockery. But facing the little girl with her adoring expression and starry eyes, Qin Shaofeng knew very well that she wasn't mocking him.

Even so, Qin Shaofeng's face turned slightly red, and he felt a little embarrassed.

It's not that your Young Master intentionally used this big pot. The problem is, I can't find an alchemy cauldron!

But the more the little girl was like this, the more Qin Shaofeng wanted to successfully refine a Qi Replenishing Pill.

Seeing the little girl's excited and admiring look gave Qin Shaofeng more motivation.

A big pot is a big pot, I don't believe I really can't refine a Qi Replenishing Pill!

He took out another stalk of Qi Yuan Grass, threw it into the big pot, and then covered it. He silently recited the command to activate his Alchemy skill again.

Alchemy!

With this silent command, Qin Shaofeng's Inner Qi instantly decreased by 10 points, and then the familiar scene happened again.

Qin Shaofeng once again 'saw' the situation in the large pot.

However, this time, Qin Shaofeng's heart stirred, and an idea appeared.

The previous few times, he had merely 'watched,' letting the Inner Qi act naturally. What if this time he controlled that small wisp of Inner Qi himself?

Although Qin Shaofeng didn't understand the general principles of refining pills, he figured it was just a process of melting the medicinal ingredients to get a liquid, and then solidifying the liquid into a pill, right?

If that was the case!

A flash of brilliance crossed his eyes, and Qin Shaofeng moved slightly, beginning to try controlling the small wisp of Inner Qi that had entered the large pot.

Unexpectedly, this attempt actually succeeded.

It really worked?

Qin Shaofeng was delighted, but he didn't let his guard down.

Recalling the scene from previous attempts where the Vitality Grass had instantly turned to ash, Qin Shaofeng carefully controlled that wisp of Inner Qi, approaching the Vitality Grass in the large pot bit by bit.

This attempt really worked!

As only a small amount of Inner Qi approached, the Vitality Grass not only didn't instantly burn to ash, but it even began to melt little by little.

So this was how it was!

Seeing this scene, Qin Shaofeng finally understood.

It wasn't his problem, nor was it the large pot's problem. The repeated failures in the previous attempts were simply because he hadn't controlled the Inner Qi, causing the Vitality Grass to be directly burned to ash by the Inner Qi.

However, Qin Shaofeng didn't know that, in this regard, it was indeed the large pot's fault.

Generally, alchemists refine pills using proper alchemical cauldrons, precisely because alchemical cauldrons have the ability to temper the Inner Qi released by the alchemist.

Therefore, the alchemical cauldron is an indispensable item for an alchemist!