First Time Refining Medicine

Lu Heng took a deep breath and closed his eyes.

In his mind, the Pharmacopoeia of Ten Thousand Worlds instantly brought forth the method for refining the first-grade medicine, Blood Coagulation Powder.

Purple Blue Leaf, Bone Cleansing Flower... The required temperature and extraction timing for each medicinal ingredient flashed through his mind.

The next second, Lu Heng opened his eyes.

At that moment, Gu Ni clearly sensed that the young man's aura had changed.

If he had been a mild-mannered, humble youth just moments ago, then Lu Heng now resembled a freshly unsheathed sword—focused and sharp, even carrying a maturity that did not match his age.

"That presence..."

Gu Ni's graying brows rose, and the last trace of contempt in his heart vanished completely.

This was definitely not some empty show.

Lu Heng pressed his right hand against the fire vent of the cauldron as the vortex of Dou Qi within him began to circulate.

Whoosh!

Crimson flames surged into the medicine cauldron, making its entire body emit a low hum as the temperature rapidly rose.

With his left hand, Lu Heng expertly grabbed a stalk of Blood Coagulation Grass. Without even looking at it, he tossed it directly into the cauldron.

"Too fast!" Gu Ni's heart skipped a beat.

Which novice alchemist did not proceed with trembling caution, preheating the cauldron for ages before carefully adding the medicinal ingredients?

Yet Lu Heng had simply thrown it in as casually as if he were tossing out trash.

But that was not the end.

Lu Heng immediately grabbed a Vitality Fruit and tossed it in after it.

"Refining two ingredients at once?" Gu Ni nearly cried out.

That was a multitasking technique only second-grade or even third-grade alchemists dared attempt. Had this kid gone mad?

Yet no burnt stench from scorched ingredients came from within the cauldron as expected.

That was because of Lu Heng's powerful mid-stage Mortal Realm soul power!

Lu Heng's soul perception extended into the cauldron like countless tendrils, precisely splitting the flames into two streams.

One stream of fierce fire assaulted the Blood Coagulation Grass, swiftly burning its withered stalk and leaves into ash, leaving behind only a drop of emerald-green medicinal liquid;

The other stream gently enveloped the Vitality Fruit, slowly baking away the moisture within it.

This feat of dividing his attention in two made Gu Ni's scalp tingle.

"Miss..."

Gu Ni lowered his voice, his throat slightly dry.

"Are you sure Lu Heng is refining medicine for the first time? That technique... it's even wilder than mine!"

Ya Fei blinked. Though she did not understand alchemy, Gu Ni's ghost-stricken expression told her that Lu Heng was doing remarkably well.

"It really is his first time." Ya Fei's voice carried a smile. "My little brother Lu Heng never lies."

Gu Ni felt his entire worldview collapsing.

Did someone truly possess innate knowledge?

Just then, a muffled pop sounded from inside the cauldron.

A wisp of black smoke rose from a hole in the lid, followed by a pungent burnt smell.

He had failed.

Lu Heng stopped what he was doing and looked at the lump of black residue at the bottom of the cauldron, his brows faintly furrowing.

"What a pity."

Gu Ni let out a breath of relief, strangely feeling as though this was how things ought to be.

He stepped forward and assumed the air of an instructor.

"The heat was too intense when condensing the pill.

The extraction beforehand was impressive, but the final fusion is the key. Haste makes waste. Young people are still too..."

"The fire was slightly too strong."

Lu Heng interrupted Gu Ni's lesson. Staring at the black residue, he analyzed it to himself.

"The purity of the Blood Coagulation Grass liquid was higher than I expected. During the fusion just now, if I hadn't increased the fire to suppress it, the risk of the cauldron exploding would have been even greater.

The problem wasn't that the heat was too intense. It was that I still haven't fully mastered the total amount of Dou Qi in this body."

Gu Ni opened his mouth, but forcibly swallowed the rest of his words.

This kid's analysis seemed more correct than his.

"Again."

Rather than becoming discouraged, Lu Heng's eyes grew brighter.

That failure had allowed him to touch the threshold.

The sensation of the medicinal liquids churning and merging within the flames was rapidly correcting the theoretical knowledge in his mind.

He cleaned the cauldron and, without resting, immediately began his second attempt.

This time, his movements were faster and his control over the flames even more precise.

Failure.

Still failure.

For three consecutive attempts, black smoke rose from the cauldron.

The air in the alchemy room grew somewhat stifling, and the floor was covered in discarded medicinal dregs.

Gu Ni had initially been offering pointers from the side, but by now, he had fallen completely silent.

Because he had discovered that with every failure, Lu Heng's technique improved noticeably in the next attempt.

This was not a novice practicing at all. He was clearly evolving at a terrifying speed.

That visible rate of growth made Gu Ni feel a chill.

"Whew..."

Lu Heng wiped the sweat from his forehead, his face somewhat pale.

The dual drain on his Dou Qi and soul power was becoming too much for this nine-year-old body.

Yet the excitement in Lu Heng's eyes only grew stronger.

He had found it.

That subtle point of balance.

Without pausing for even a moment, Lu Heng grabbed the last portion of medicinal ingredients beside him.

"You're still going to continue?"

Gu Ni could not help speaking up.

"Lu Heng, your Dou Qi is nearly depleted. Forcing yourself to continue refining will only damage your foundation. Rest for a while and continue tomorrow..."

"No need."

Lu Heng's voice was not loud, but it carried an unquestionable calm.

"Trust me! This time, it will succeed."

Lu Heng could feel it. That feeling was right at his fingertips.

Inside the cauldron, the flames surged once more.

This time, Lu Heng's movements flowed as smoothly as drifting clouds and running water, without a single unnecessary action.

Extraction, removal of impurities, fusion, nourishment.

Every step seemed to have been meticulously calculated, without the slightest deviation.

The flames within the cauldron suddenly contracted, and all energy converged toward the center.

"Condense!"

Lu Heng shouted softly, slamming his palm onto the cauldron.

Clang!

A crisp, pleasant impact rang out from within the cauldron. Immediately afterward, a faint medicinal fragrance spread through the air, instantly washing away the burnt odor in the room.

He had succeeded!

Gu Ni was even more anxious than Lu Heng. He practically flashed to the stone table and flipped open the cauldron lid in one motion.

A pill the size of a longan lay quietly at the bottom of the cauldron. It was dark red throughout, its surface carrying a smooth, rounded sheen.

Gu Ni carefully picked up the pill between two fingers and brought it close to inspect it.

"Rich color, restrained fragrance."

Gu Ni's voice trembled. He abruptly turned to Lu Heng, looking at him as if he were a monster.

"This is a Blood Coagulation Pill close to top grade!"

His first successfully refined pill was not some barely formed defective product, nor was it an ordinary low-grade pill. It had reached mid-grade quality and was even approaching top grade!

One had to know that even Gu Ni could not guarantee producing pills of such quality from every batch when refining this kind of first-grade pill.

"Is he even human?"

Holding the pill, Gu Ni only felt that it was scorching his fingers.

Lu Heng's body swayed as a wave of dizziness struck him.

The intense mental focus and overdrawn Dou Qi left him unable to stand steadily.

Ya Fei, who had been watching him all along, reacted quickly. She stepped forward in two strides, grabbed Lu Heng's arm, and let him lean against her.

Feeling Ya Fei's soft, delicate body, Lu Heng wore a smile as well.

He had finally succeeded!

At that moment, Ya Fei's mildly reproachful voice sounded.

"Who told you to push yourself so hard?"

But there was more heartache than blame in her tone.