There were mercenary group leaders.
There were even several envoys from neighboring small kingdoms who had pulled strings to submit visiting cards, all in the hope of securing a chance to have pills refined.
In response—
Liu Bai's answer was simple and direct: the rules remained unchanged.
Three portions of medicinal ingredients.
Plus payment.
No favors, no bargaining.
Those were an alchemist's rules.
As for the form of payment, Liu Bai placed no restrictions on it.
Gold coins were acceptable, and high-tier Magic Cores were fine as well.
Some people could not produce items of equivalent value, so they simply offered Dou Techniques, cultivation methods, or incomplete secret arts in exchange.
Liu Bai accepted all of it without exception.
What he lacked most was never money.
It was foundation and knowledge.
Thus, the pill refining officially began.
Within the Imperial Palace, a side hall had been specially cleared out and furnished with protective formations, serving as a temporary pill-refining chamber.
One furnace.
Two furnaces.
Three furnaces.
During the first few attempts, Liu Bai refined pills rather slowly. It was not because he failed, but because he deliberately slowed his pace. He was familiarizing himself, feeling things out, gradually calibrating his current soul control, Heavenly Flame temperature, and Dou Qi output to the most suitable range.
After all, his soul power had surged greatly recently, and his Flame had risen by another level as well.
The deep purple Heavenly Flame surged within the pill furnace, yet he kept it exceptionally tame.
The Flame was not violent, and the pill fragrance did not grow chaotic.
Even alchemists watching Liu Bai refine pills in person for the first time could clearly see it.
His techniques were not flashy, but they were incredibly steady.
So steady that he barely seemed like an alchemist who