The Ultimate Pill

Inside the alchemy room, the acrid smell of burnt residue had yet to dissipate.

Su Yun stared at the pile of black ash inside the alchemy furnace, his face darkening.

He refused to accept this.

With his comprehension and his monstrous Thousandfold Amplification ability, how could he fail to refine even the simplest Body Tempering Pill?

It was impossible.

"I don't believe it."

Su Yun gritted his teeth.

It was just refining a lousy pill, wasn't it?

He was determined to succeed today.

He cleaned the furnace thoroughly, dumping out all the residual ash.

He rearranged the herbs.

The second attempt at alchemy began.

This time, Su Yun was even more cautious.

He slowed down every single step.

Igniting the fire, controlling the temperature.

Drying the herbs, removing the impurities.

When the medicinal liquids began to fuse, he stared fixedly at the changes inside the furnace.

He spread his mental energy out completely, locking it tightly onto the interior of the furnace.

He dared not be the slightest bit careless.

The flames were steady, and the medicinal liquid was clear.

Everything looked perfect.

Su Yun nodded slightly, feeling certain.

This batch was in the bag.

Half an hour passed slowly.

The pill-forming stage arrived.

Just as the medicinal liquid was about to solidify and take shape, it suddenly churned violently inside the furnace.

The surface blackened rapidly, and a wisp of black smoke rose.

Puff.

It was ruined again.

A batch of medicinal essence had once again carbonized into black ash.

In the quiet alchemy room, only the faint residual heat of the furnace remained.

Su Yun froze in place, his eyelids twitching wildly.

Twice.

He had failed two consecutive times.

He furrowed his brows, his face full of confusion.

The flame intensity, the refining duration—everything had strictly followed the Body Tempering Pill Formula Jade Slip.

How could he fail repeatedly?

There must be something he had overlooked.

Su Yun stopped being impatient.

He sat on a stone stool to the side and took out the Body Tempering Pill Formula Jade Slip.

His fingertips brushed over the jade slip as he scrutinized every word and sentence repeatedly.

His Thousandfold Amplification of comprehension triggered at full power.

In his mind, every detail of the alchemy process replayed continuously.

A moment later, Su Yun's eyes suddenly lit up.

He had found it!

The problem lay in the temperature difference during the fusion of the medicinal properties.

Ordinary novice alchemy involves rough fire control.

High heat to dry in the beginning, medium heat to form the pill at the end.

The books explain it in simple, easy-to-understand terms, and everyone practices this way.

Yet, this pill recipe hid a subtle detail.

Red Root Grass is heat-resistant, while Blood Coagulation Leaf is extremely sensitive to high temperatures.

The melting temperatures of the two herbs are completely different.

They cannot be refined with a uniform heat.

One must control the temperature in stages, switching back and forth between high and low flames.

High heat to dry the Red Root Grass in the early stage, then lower the temperature to gently melt the Blood Coagulation Leaf in the middle stage.

Finally, raise the temperature again to form the pill.

It was this one inconspicuous, tiny detail that caused his previous two attempts to be completely wasted.

"So that's it."

Su Yun suddenly realized, the corners of his mouth curling up.

Once the problem was understood, everything became simple.

He flexed his fingers, his gaze turning resolute.

The third time.

Three strikes and you're out.

Could a mere Grade 1 Body Tempering Pill really stump him?

"I'm going to refine you today if it's the last thing I do!"

Su Yun reorganized the herbs and cleaned the pill furnace.

The third attempt at alchemy officially began.

This time, he was neither hurried nor impatient.

His inner fire was steady, and his mental energy firmly enveloped the entire furnace.

Step one.

Open flame, high heat, scorching the Red Root Grass.

The herb dehydrated, precipitating a red medicinal liquid.

Step two.

Rapidly suppress the flame; the temperature plummeted.

Low, gentle heat melted the Blood Coagulation Leaf and Spirit-Cleansing Flower.

Tender green and pale white medicinal liquids slowly precipitated.

Step three.

The three types of medicinal liquids were stored in layers and fused step by step.

There was not a hint of collision, not a hint of repulsion.

Inside the furnace, the medicinal liquid was clear and translucent, warm and bright.

Su Yun slowed his breathing, his focus reaching its peak as his fingertips minutely adjusted the flames.

The temperature was precise to the extreme.

Others controlled fire by feeling.

He controlled fire with precision down to every single flicker.

With the blessing of a thousand-fold mental energy, his mastery over the flames reached a terrifying level.

Time flowed slowly.

Half an hour passed.

No accidents, no explosions, no charring.

Inside the pill furnace, the medicinal liquid began to compress, solidify, and roll.

A faint, refreshing fragrance drifted out through the gaps in the furnace.

The medicinal scent was sweet and mild, not pungent.

It was the aroma of a pure pill.

"It's done!"

A flash of joy crossed Su Yun's eyes.

He waited a moment longer.

He raised his hand to withdraw the earth fire and slowly lifted the furnace lid.

A rich medicinal fragrance erupted instantly, filling the entire alchemy room.

Inside the alchemy furnace.

Ten round pills lay quietly.

Their bodies were crimson, their surfaces smooth.

A faint, blood-colored shimmer flowed across the pills.

The patterns were clear, crystalline, and translucent.

There was not a hint of impurity, not a single flaw.

Su Yun was stunned.

He picked up a pill, placing it between his fingertips to examine it.

He flipped through the alchemy manual to compare the grades.

Pill grading: inferior, low-grade, mid-grade, high-grade, and supreme-grade.

Supreme-grade pills possessed pure color, natural spiritual light patterns, and almost zero medicinal toxicity.

The Body Tempering Pill was merely a first-grade pill, the lowest tier.

For an ordinary alchemy apprentice, producing an inferior-grade pill was already considered decent.

Even an official third-grade alchemist might not be able to consistently produce supreme-grade pills when refining a first-grade Body Tempering Pill.

Yet, this batch of his.

All ten of them were supreme-grade!

"Good heavens!"

Su Yun couldn't help but let out a low cry.

Shocking.

Absurd.

It was too monstrous.

He realized it in an instant.

It wasn't that his alchemy talent was exaggerated; it was the Thousandfold Amplification working in the shadows.

While others removed seventy percent of impurities, he removed ninety-nine percent directly.

While others barely managed to condense four or five pills, he filled the furnace with ten.

While others got random grades, he was guaranteed supreme-grade.

It felt too good!

Su Yun grinned from ear to ear.

According to the market price of pills.

An ordinary low-grade Body Tempering Pill cost two low-grade spirit stones.

A supreme-grade Body Tempering Pill had triple the efficacy and almost no medicinal toxicity.

On the market, they went for at least fifteen low-grade spirit stones each.

That was a seven or eightfold increase!

Moreover, they were in high demand with no supply.

Low-level cultivators scrambled to buy them.

Looking at the costs.

The cost of herbs for one furnace was less than twenty low-grade spirit stones.

One furnace of ten supreme-grade Body Tempering Pills could be flipped for one hundred and fifty low-grade spirit stones.

The net profit increased seven or eightfold!

Profiteering!

This was the true path to wealth.

"I'm going to be rich."

A sharp glint flashed in Su Yun's eyes.

Freedom from financial worry was right before his eyes.

He didn't stop, striking while the iron was hot.

He familiarized himself with the feel, understood the details, and mastered the heat.

Next, it was time for mass production.

One furnace, two furnaces, three furnaces...

The furnace fire never died, and the medicinal fragrance lingered on.

Late at night.

The fire in the Alchemy Pavilion burned bright, Su Yun immersed in the art of alchemy.

His movements were fluid and natural, his techniques growing increasingly proficient.

He controlled the flames with ease, the medicinal liquids merging with silky smoothness.

Every batch he produced was of supreme quality; not a single pill was merely high-grade.

He spent the entire night refining without sleep.

Ten batches of Body Tempering Pills.

Ten batches of Blood Qi Pills.

Twenty batches of pills, all completed to perfection.

The massive quantity of low-level medicinal herbs he had purchased in advance was completely exhausted.

Over the next ten days.

Su Yun entered a state of absolute frenzy.

He left early and returned late, his movements mysterious and secretive.

Every day, just as the sky began to brighten, he would head straight for the Alchemy Pavilion.

His life became extremely monotonous.

There were only two things: cultivation and alchemy.

By day, he was immersed in the alchemy room, the furnace fire burning incessantly as he refined one batch of pills after another.

At night, he returned to his villa to circulate the Golden Spirit Art, meditating diligently to stabilize his realm and push against his bottlenecks.

Neither side was neglected; he was surging forward on both fronts simultaneously.

With Thousandfold Amplification as his foundation, his mental energy was being frantically honed and tempered while he practiced alchemy.

Controlling the fire, condensing the pills, and purifying the medicinal liquids—every precise operation polished his mind.

His mental energy became increasingly condensed, robust, and refined.

What had originally been the mental strength of an ordinary Qi Refining cultivator surged significantly after ten days, far surpassing those of the same rank.

His cultivation level also progressed naturally, breaking through to the sixth level of Qi Refining.