The Miraculous Ability of Spirit Water

Earth fire is purer and hotter than the true fire of a cultivator, and its advantage lies in its durability and stability. Beneath Kuixing Market lies an earth fire spirit vein. The Golden Core cultivators of the Ocean Listening Pavilion hired a third-rank formation master to set up a formation that gathers the earth fire into one place, renting it out to cultivators for pill refining and artifact forging.

Han Changshuo was at the Earth Fire Hall taking his assessment; calculating the time, it should be over by now.

When they arrived at the Earth Fire Hall, disciples of the Ocean Listening Pavilion blocked their path.

"Idlers stay back. No entry for those not taking the assessment."

"Fellow Daoist, has the assessment not finished yet?" Han Changjiong asked politely.

"No, it will take a full day to finish. Come back tomorrow!"

Hearing this, Han Changming and Han Changjiong had no choice but to return to their lodging and come back tomorrow.

Earth Fire Hall, a certain side chamber.

Han Changshuo sat cross-legged on a green cushion with a three-foot-tall red pill furnace in front of him, its base submerged in a mass of crimson flames.

The walls were inscribed with dense, red runes, and five lifelike python heads were embedded in the stone wall. Each python head spewed a stream of crimson flame, converging at the bottom of the red pill furnace and radiating a terrifying heat.

The pill refining assessment provided five sets of materials for refining Qi Accumulation Pills. The Qi Accumulation Pill is a first-rank high-grade pill, suitable for cultivators at the sixth level of Qi Refining and above.

Red Shrimp Island does not have an earth fire spirit vein. Previously, when Han Changshuo refined pills, he used a type of spirit wood called Fire Sun Wood. This spirit wood burns for a long time, and cultivators who are just starting to learn pill refining and artifact forging all use Fire Sun Wood; Han Changshuo was no exception.

Pill refining in the Earth Fire Hall uses earth fire, which is much hotter than Fire Sun Wood. Han Changshuo had practiced with it for a period of time before, but he was not very proficient.

A full batch of Qi Accumulation Pills is twenty-four pills. Han Changshuo must hand in sixty Qi Accumulation Pills to pass the assessment, which means his success rate must reach fifty percent.

Before this, Han Changshuo's success rate in refining Qi Accumulation Pills was fifty percent, but he was unfamiliar with refining with earth fire. In the first batch, he only refined five Qi Accumulation Pills, which was already quite good.

In this way, with the remaining four sets of materials, Han Changshuo had to refine fifty-five Qi Accumulation Pills.

Han Changshuo's expression was somewhat nervous. He was a key talent being cultivated by the Han Clan. This time, the clan leader sent him to join the Ocean Listening Pavilion, and his relatives had high hopes for him; his pressure was immense.

After a short quarter of an hour, a burnt smell suddenly wafted from the pill furnace.

Han Changshuo frowned, hurriedly extinguished the flames, opened the lid of the pill furnace, and stepped forward to check.

Inside the furnace were several black, round objects. Clearly, Han Changshuo had underestimated the high temperature of the earth fire, and the refining had failed.

Han Changshuo took a deep breath, sat down cross-legged, and recalled the refining process.

His technique was not wrong. The failure this time was mainly because he was too nervous and somewhat distracted.

He sat cross-legged to meditate and rest, allowing himself to calm down.

More than an hour later, Han Changshuo felt his physical state had adjusted to its best. He cleaned the pill furnace and continued to refine the pills.

This time, Han Changshuo refined eight Qi Accumulation Pills.

There were two sets of materials left, and he needed to refine forty-seven Qi Accumulation Pills to pass the assessment. In other words, he had to refine a full batch, which was clearly impossible. He had never refined a full batch before; the most he had ever managed was twenty Qi Accumulation Pills.

He thought of the hopes his relatives placed in him and the expectations of his parents. If he could not pass the assessment, he would still be a key talent of the Han Clan, but this was not the result he wanted.

The clan's foundation was too shallow. Even if he could reach Foundation Establishment, he would not be able to go very far. The Ocean Listening Pavilion was different; it had been passed down for over a thousand years, with a deep foundation and countless experts.

Han Changshuo wanted to go further on the path of immortality; he was unwilling to follow the path of the older generation.

His heart was filled with pain and mixed emotions. With only two sets of materials, it was impossible for him to refine forty-seven Qi Accumulation Pills.

Han Changshuo suddenly thought of something. He took out two blue porcelain bottles, a determined expression appearing on his face.

This was the Spirit Water Han Changming had given him, which was said to have flowed out from the Lu Clan of Black Crow Island and had a boosting effect on pill refining.

He asked himself if he could refine a full batch, but he decided to treat a dead horse as a living one! He would try this Spirit Water; what if it worked? The Lu Clan was famous for their pill refining techniques in the Red Algae Sea; perhaps this Spirit Water could really increase the success rate.

He pulled out the bottle stopper, and a stream of pure spiritual energy wafted out. He inhaled a little and felt his spirit lift. He nodded with satisfaction; it was indeed worthy of being Spirit Water from the Lu Clan.

"Forget it, I've refined three batches and only managed thirteen Qi Accumulation Pills. It's impossible to succeed anyway, so I'll try this Spirit Water. What if it's effective!"

Han Changshuo muttered to himself. He sat cross-legged and meditated to rest.

An hour later, Han Changshuo opened his eyes and began to refine the pills.

This time, when refining the Qi Accumulation Pills, he added half a bottle of the Spirit Water Han Changming had given him.

Rolling flames enveloped the pill furnace, and before long, a strange fragrance wafted from the furnace.

Han Changshuo pinched a spell, and the flames became smaller.

A short quarter of an hour later, the pill furnace emitted a thick, strange fragrance. Han Changshuo took out a red token, injected his spiritual power into it, and the earth fire vanished.

He opened the lid of the cauldron, walked to the front of the pill furnace, swept his gaze over it, and was dumbfounded.

Lying in the pill furnace were twenty-four pills, all identical in size.

Han Changshuo swallowed a mouthful of saliva, an expression of disbelief appearing on his face, his eyes somewhat excited.

"A full batch, it's actually a full batch, haha."

Han Changshuo was extremely excited. He had never refined a full batch before. He felt some regret; if he had used the Spirit Water to refine pills earlier, he might have already refined ninety-six Qi Accumulation Pills.

He calmed the excited emotions in his heart and steadied himself.

Now was not the time to be happy. He was still twenty-three Qi Accumulation Pills short of completing the task.

After resting for a while, Han Changshuo refined the Qi Accumulation Pills again. He threw the materials into the pill furnace one after another, along with the remaining half bottle of Spirit Water.

After the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, the door of the side chamber opened, and Han Changshuo walked out with a look of great joy on his face.

The final batch of Qi Accumulation Pill was a full yield, and he had successfully completed the task.

He appeared in a long corridor, where several alchemists were walking out of the Earth Fire Chamber with expressions of regret, looking as though they had failed their assignments.

Not long after, Han Changshuo appeared in the main hall of the Earth Fire Hall.

A man in a green shirt and a young woman in a red dress, both Foundation Establishment cultivators, sat behind a cyan wooden table; the man in the green shirt was responsible for collecting the pills, while the woman in the red dress was in charge of tasting and recording them.

The alchemists participating in the assessment handed in the pills they had refined one after another, and Han Changshuo stood in line honestly to submit his.

"Han Changshuo, submitted sixty-one Qi Accumulation Pill."

After the woman in the red dress recorded the entry, she randomly picked one from the pills Han Changshuo had submitted and swallowed it.

Before long, a look of surprise appeared in her eyes.

"Senior Brother Chen, try one; the quality of the Qi Accumulation Pill he submitted is excellent."

Upon hearing this, the man in the green shirt picked up a Qi Accumulation Pill, swallowed it, and a flash of surprise crossed his eyes.

"Are these Qi Accumulation Pill refined by you?"

The man in the green shirt asked in a deep voice, his tone somewhat stern, though he quickly realized that his question was redundant.

For cultivators participating in the alchemy assessment, Ocean Listening Pavilion would send three disciples to conduct body searches to prevent anyone from smuggling in Qi Accumulation Pill, though Spirit Water, which provided a certain bonus to alchemy, was allowed to be brought into the Earth Fire Chamber.

"They were refined by this junior; is there a problem, Senior?" Han Changshuo's expression was somewhat nervous.

He had long known that the Foundation Establishment cultivators of Ocean Listening Pavilion would ask this.

"The pills you submitted have two different levels of quality; what is the meaning of this?" The woman in the red dress asked with a dark face after carefully inspecting the pills Han Changshuo had submitted.

"This junior was not familiar with refining pills using Earth Fire at first, but later added some Spirit Water. Is there a problem with that?"

The man in the green shirt frowned and said, "What Spirit Water? Take it out and let me see. Even with the addition of Spirit Water, the quality shouldn't be this good."

Han Changshuo had long been prepared; he knew the Foundation Establishment cultivators of Ocean Listening Pavilion would certainly interrogate him, so he had diluted the remaining bottle of Spirit Water at a ratio of one to two.

Han Changshuo took out a blue porcelain bottle and handed it over.

The man in the green shirt inspected it carefully, suddenly realized, and said, "The spiritual energy in this Spirit Water is more abundant than what is found on the market; no wonder the quality of the pills refined is relatively high."

"Senior, have I passed the assessment?" Han Changshuo asked nervously.

"You passed. It was already permitted to use Spirit Water for alchemy, as Spirit Water provides a certain bonus to the process, but if one's alchemy level is insufficient, no amount of Spirit Water will help. You have passed the assessment; go to Ocean Listening Palace tomorrow to undergo a series of tests. If there are no issues, you will be a disciple of our Ocean Listening Pavilion."

"Yes, this junior will take his leave." Han Changshuo beamed with joy and walked away quickly.