Refining Void Insight Pills, Seeking Red Envelopes
Zhang He smiled. "Actually, not being at the Martial Child Academy gives me more freedom. For me, that's a good thing." As he spoke, Zhang He opened the box, and a strange medicinal fragrance suddenly wafted out. Wang Pengyu leaned over to look inside. A flash of envy crossed his eyes. "So this is the Iron-Rank Pharmacist's identity token. You became an Iron-Rank Pharmacist at such a young age. It's enough to make people envy, resent, and hate you."
"Haha, it was only thanks to a lucky coincidence and meeting you and Master Lu Tiao, two benefactors, that I received this honor," Zhang He said modestly. He picked up the black token from the box. The Iron-Rank Pharmacist's identity token really was made of iron; it felt cold and heavy in his hand. But Zhang's attention was drawn to a finely made booklet inside the box. He opened it and found that it recorded the privileges of an Iron-Rank Pharmacist in the Pharmacist Association, along with some important notes about the association. Zhang He quickly skimmed it, finding a few things that interested him. I should give it a proper read when I get back.
Lu Tiao had been thoughtful enough to leave him an instruction booklet.
"I've received everything. If I get the chance, I should thank Master Lu in person." Zhang He put everything away.
"Ha! After your Martial Child Assessment, you can go to Luowang Prefecture and visit him in person. The girls there are all fiery and sexy. You'll feast your eyes when you go." Wang Pengyu blinked at him, and Zhang He couldn't help smiling. Wang Pengyu then had someone bring over the ledger. This time, the profits had reached more than eight thousand gold coins. With all his money from before and now added together, Zhang He's assets had already reached ten thousand gold coins. He was a bona fide nouveau riche. With such a generous fortune, he could be considered well-off in Mengyin City.
"By the way, you have plenty of connections in Mengyin City. Could you help me find a nice estate? Money isn't an issue. The important thing is that it be quiet and comfortable." Zhang He suddenly remembered this matter. Now that he had plenty of money, he should let his mother and little sister live a better life.
"That won't be a problem. I guarantee I'll take care of it perfectly," Wang Pengyu declared confidently.
Zhang He thanked him and took his leave. Wang Pengyu hurried to escort him out, but Zhang He refused. When he'd arrived, he'd seen people outside enthusiastically discussing that mysterious pharmacist. If they saw Wang Pengyu escorting him, they would surely take notice of him. At a time like this, Zhang He would rather keep a low profile.
After leaving the Wang Family Pharmacy, Zhang He headed for the courtyard where he cultivated.
"I've gathered all the ingredients needed to refine the Void Insight Pill. Now I can get started. There's still half a month before the Martial Child Assessment. Once I finish refining the Void Insight Pill, I'll have plenty of time to break through!" Zhang He thought. With the Void Insight Pill, his chances of breaking through to the True Martial Realm would be even greater. And—
Zhang He touched the two Universe Bags against his chest. Their faint chill lifted his spirits. There were still two Cold Flood Dragon Poison Pills inside. They were poison cores from a level-four demon beast. Zhang He was certain that once he refined the Cold Flood Dragon's demonic poison, his cultivation would soar!
When he returned to the courtyard, Fatty Tang and Wang Dachui were sparring. The two no longer stuck rigidly to set moves when they fought. Their attacks had become much more fluid. Of course, the way they fought had the air of street thugs brawling. They would do whatever it took, throwing kicks below the belt, gouging at eyes, and jabbing fingers into nostrils as casually as anything.
Zhang He felt embarrassed just watching them. Was this really what these two were like by nature?
"Ahem." Zhang He cleared his throat, and only then did the two notice he was back. They immediately stopped and crowded around him with grins.
Zhang He immediately sensed that their auras were different from before. He looked them over carefully and asked in surprise, "What have you been doing these past few days?"
"Just following your training plan," Fatty Tang and Wang Dachui answered, exchanging a glance. They didn't know why Zhang He was asking.
"Do you feel a kind of swelling inside your bodies?" Zhang He asked seriously.
"Yeah. What's wrong? Is something off? Damn, did we mess up our qi cultivation?" Fatty Tang cried out. His alarm made Wang Dachui's expression change too.
Zhang He couldn't help laughing wryly. "Congratulations. You should be able to condense True Qi Seeds soon." The swelling sensation meant that the qi sensation in their bodies had built up to a certain level. Once it had accumulated enough, they could condense True Qi Seeds.
What? Fatty Tang and Wang Dachui froze. They stared at Zhang He in disbelief. Zhang He smiled faintly and patted them on the shoulders. "Don't be nervous. Under my wise leadership, cultivating True Qi Seeds is a piece of cake. But don't get carried away. Condensing True Qi Seeds isn't easy. Keep cultivating for now. After a while, I'll help you condense them."
To condense True Qi Seeds successfully, they would still need the help of True Qi Condensing Liquid. Preparing the liquid wasn't difficult, and building up a strong qi sensation beforehand would make it easier to condense the seeds. So Zhang He wasn't in a hurry to prepare the liquid.
"Don't get ahead of yourselves. Build up your strength before unleashing it. If you want to condense True Qi Seeds successfully, you still have to keep working hard. I need to take care of something first. Once I'm done, I'll come out and help you condense them," Zhang He reminded them.
The doors to the main room in the back courtyard were shut tight. Alchemy equipment covered the floor. He'd obtained it from Wu Xuan's Universe Bag, so Zhang He couldn't let anyone else see him using it.
"As expected of a Medicine King Valley disciple—even the charcoal for the medicinal furnace is extraordinary." Zhang He picked up a piece of charcoal. It was pitch-black and gleamed like metal. This charcoal had undergone special processing, so the flames it produced burned very steadily. That meant he didn't have to worry about uneven heating causing the furnace to explode.
This set of alchemy equipment was exquisitely made, with superb craftsmanship.
Zhang He took out the ingredients he needed and prepared them with a mortar and pestle.
"The most important thing when refining the Void Insight Pill is balancing the properties of the two main ingredients. It's like yin and yang; the key is maintaining balance. Only by balancing yin and yang can they produce the right effect." The recipes in the Tang Sect's Myriad Poison True Scripture used poisonous ingredients. If they weren't handled properly, the resulting medicine wouldn't heal people—it would kill them.
From the Five Poison Beads to the True Qi Condensing Liquid, then the Berserk Pill, and now the Void Insight Pill, they all involved the use of poison.
Nothing in the world was absolute. Water could irrigate fields and bring in a good harvest, but in excess, it became a flood that could destroy people's homes. People spoke of poison with terror because it could harm them. They always kept their distance from anything that could easily hurt them. What they failed to realize was that, when properly used, these poisons could work as wonders, every bit as effective as miraculous pills.
Take the Blood-Coagulating Mushroom, a common plant in the mountains. If someone mistook it for an ordinary wild mushroom and ate it, their blood would clot throughout their body, blocking their blood vessels and killing them. But if it was paired with another poisonous herb, Heartbreak Grass, whose medicinal properties were its exact opposite, and mixed with other ingredients to make a medicine, it could become a supreme wound-healing remedy. Even if someone's arm had been chopped off, this medicine could quickly stop the bleeding and save their life.
That was what they meant by using poison to fight poison.
Zhang He first put the Blood-Draining Vine into the medicinal furnace. At once, the liquid inside turned crimson as blood. A strange fragrance wafted out. That fragrance was poisonous too; anyone who smelled it would hallucinate. But it no longer affected Zhang He. When the liquid turned blood-red, he began adding the other supporting ingredients in an orderly fashion.
The supporting ingredients served to balance the medicinal properties of the two main ingredients, allowing their poisonous powers to blend slowly and hold each other in check. The poisons in the Blood-Draining Vine and Ghost Thunder Needle Grass were exact opposites. Simply mixing them together would only make them destroy each other, not produce the reaction he wanted.
As the supporting ingredients went in, the liquid's color gradually changed.
Zhang He watched the liquid's changes calmly. He had long since memorized every step of refining the Void Insight Pill. All he had to do now was keep his hand steady and avoid making a mistake.
After watching the liquid change color three times in a row, Zhang He calmly tossed in the Ghost Thunder Needle Grass.
Whoosh!
A mass of deep blue mist suddenly rose from the liquid, like a flame burning blue. It hung still in the air, gathering without dispersing. Zhang He's expression turned slightly grave. Now was the time to turn up the heat. If the temperature wasn't high enough, the poison in the Ghost Thunder Needle Grass wouldn't be released in time. It would be suppressed by the Blood-Draining Vine's poison, and the whole batch would be ruined!
He opened the air vent beneath the furnace, and air immediately rushed in. The temperature soared. The flames below roared, and the bottom of the medicinal furnace glowed red, as if it were about to burn through. Yet despite the intense heat, the liquid inside didn't boil. The only change was that the deep blue mist grew richer in color and began drifting out of the furnace, one slender wisp at a time, like the ribbons trailing from a beautiful woman as she danced. The mist's brilliant color and drifting motion gave it an uncanny beauty.
Zhang He flared his nostrils and gently fanned the air, slowly drawing a wisp into his nose. A sharp, slightly spicy sensation immediately spread through his body. Like wasabi, it made him feel as if every pore were opening. Even the True Qi inside him began to stir.
A hint of delight appeared on Zhang He's face. He immediately set a specially made lid on the medicinal furnace. He had also poured freshly drawn well water into the lid to cool the medicinal liquid!
When the blue mist touched the lid, the icy well water chilled it, and the mist immediately condensed into a layer of powder that clung to the surface. Before long, the entire underside of the lid had turned blue. With the blue powder coating it, the blue mist continued drifting upward.
Zhang He saw this and his expression changed. The lid wasn't cold enough anymore to cool the mist.
"Void Insight Pills are usually refined in winter, when ice is available and the temperature is low enough to cool the medicinal liquid. Well water isn't cold enough!" Zhang He realized the problem. If this continued, much of the medicinal mist would be wasted.
There was no ice! Did he have to watch all that medicinal liquid go to waste?
Zhang He scratched his head in frustration. Then he suddenly froze. Ice? He pulled a Universe Bag from his robes, revealing the two Cold Flood Dragon Poison Pills. White frost curled around them.
"How could I forget? I still have these!" Zhang He put the two Cold Flood Dragon Poison Pills into the lid. The moment they touched the well water, a thin layer of ice formed across its surface. In no time, all the water in the lid had frozen solid.
The blue mist had barely risen from the medicinal furnace before it condensed against the underside of the lid. Not another wisp drifted away to waste.
"Thank goodness I had these Cold Flood Dragon Poison Pills. Otherwise, at least sixty percent would have gone to waste." Watching all the blue mist condense, Zhang He let out a relieved breath. Only then did he realize that his back was soaked through.
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