Pill Completion

On his twentieth attempt at alchemy, Zhao Ming executed every step perfectly.

The liquid medicinal mass had to be continuously refined by the pill flame, evaporating all excess moisture and impurities while compressing the medicinal power to its utmost limit before it could finally condense into a solid pill.

This process required extremely precise temperature control. If the heat was even slightly too high, the medicinal mass would burn; if it was even slightly too low, it would be unable to condense into a pill.

Zhao Ming took a deep breath and pushed his spiritual power to its limit.

At the same time, the hand seals between his fingers changed continuously as the Yin-Yang Flame precisely controlled the temperature fluctuations within the cauldron.

Under the refinement of the pill flame, the liquid medicinal mass slowly contracted, its initially cloudy color gradually becoming clear and translucent.

A faint medicinal fragrance drifted from the cauldron. It was elegant and lingering, refreshing the mind and spirit upon inhalation.

Joy rose in Zhao Ming's heart, but he immediately suppressed it and maintained absolute focus.

As Zhao Ming was not yet proficient at pill condensation and feared another cauldron explosion, he proceeded with extreme caution for a full hour. When the liquid medicinal mass inside finally shrank to the size of a soybean and a pale golden shell began to form on its surface, Zhao Ming knew the moment for pill completion had arrived.

He abruptly opened his eyes. As his hand seals changed, the Yin-Yang Flame beneath the cauldron suddenly surged, enveloping the entire medicinal cauldron in intertwining black-and-white flames.

At the same time, his spiritual power poured into the cauldron like a tide, wrapping around the nearly formed pill layer by layer and guiding the final medicinal power into it.

"Condense!" Zhao Ming shouted. A clear hum rang out from within the cauldron, followed by an incomparably rich medicinal fragrance that erupted like something tangible.

That fragrance contained Soul Power fluctuations of the purest kind. Just one breath of it made the Soul Power within one's body circulate a little faster.

Zhao Ming slowly withdrew the pill flame and let out a long breath. Raising a hand to wipe the sweat from his forehead, he revealed a smile of relief.

Though utterly exhausted, his eyes shone brilliantly, filled with irrepressible excitement.

He rose to his feet, walked to the medicinal cauldron, and lifted its lid.

Inside the cauldron, three round, plump pills lay quietly at the bottom. Each was the size of a thumbnail, its surface covered in a pale golden sheen, with faint wisps of green patterns flowing within.

Pure Soul Power fluctuations slowly radiated from the pills, echoing the medicinal fragrance permeating the air.

Three Origin-Recovery Pills—all successfully formed, without a single defective pill.

Zhao Ming carefully removed the three pills from the cauldron and examined them closely in his palm.

They felt warm and smooth as mirrors. With a gentle squeeze, he could even sense the surging medicinal power contained within them.

By the standards of the Taiqing Lineage Alchemy Art inheritance, these three Origin-Recovery Pills were merely low-grade. After all, this was his first successful attempt at alchemy, and his control over heat and timing was still far from flawless. Yet for a beginner, producing three pills in one batch was already quite impressive.

Zhao Ming placed the three Origin-Recovery Pills into three jade bottles he had prepared beforehand and sealed them away.

Then he sat cross-legged and began recovering the Soul Power and spiritual power he had expended during alchemy.

Although the Yin-Yang Flame was powerful, activating it consumed no small amount of energy. Combined with the constant output of spiritual power during the alchemy process, even though Zhao Ming's spiritual power had reached the level of a Soul Emperor, he still felt deeply exhausted.

However, that exhaustion was soon diluted by the joy of success.

The successful refinement of the Origin-Recovery Pill meant that his path of alchemy had officially begun.

In this world without an alchemy system, the value of pills was beyond measure. At a critical moment, a single Origin-Recovery Pill was equivalent to having one more life.

And as his alchemy improved, he would only be able to refine more and more high-grade pills in the future, with increasingly powerful effects.

More importantly, the success of his alchemy proved that the Taiqing Lineage inheritance in his mind was viable on Douluo Continent.

Since Origin-Recovery Pills could be successfully refined, then the more formidable Foundation-Nourishing Pills, Body-Strengthening Pills, Soul-Congealing Pills, Realm-Breaking Pills... those higher-grade pills would one day be refined by him one after another as well.

By then, the rules of Douluo Continent might even change because of the emergence of pills.

Zhao Ming stored the jade bottles in the wooden house within the Mustard Seed Space, then sat cross-legged and began circulating Nine-Breath Qi Absorption to recover.

The Mustard Seed Space contained medicinal power that had dispersed through it while he was refining pills, making his recovery twice as effective with half the effort.

After about an hour, Zhao Ming's Soul Power and spiritual power had returned to their peak.

He stood and stretched his somewhat stiff limbs before firing up the cauldron for alchemy once more. This time, things went even more smoothly, and he refined ten Origin-Recovery Pills in a single batch within half an hour.

Zhao Ming took out an Origin-Recovery Pill and placed it in his mouth. The pill melted upon entry, turning into a warm current that slid down his throat into his abdomen.

The next instant, that warm current exploded like ignited gunpowder, transforming into a torrent of incomparably pure Soul Power that rushed toward every part of his body.

Zhao Ming felt every pore across his body open, greedily absorbing this sudden influx of Soul Power.

His meridians swelled slightly under the washing force of that Soul Power, but he felt no discomfort. Instead, he experienced an indescribable sense of ease.

Zhao Ming immediately sat cross-legged and circulated Nine-Breath Qi Absorption, guiding the Soul Power through his meridians according to the technique's pathways.

One cycle, two cycles, three cycles... refined by the technique, that Soul Power gradually transformed from an external force into his own Soul Power and merged into his dantian.

When the final trace of medicinal power had been completely refined and absorbed, Zhao Ming slowly opened his eyes, a flash of surprise appearing within them.

One Origin-Recovery Pill had not only completely restored his Soul Power, but even had the effect of increasing it. A single pill had raised the Soul Power he had only just broken through to level 36 by roughly half a level.

Zhao Ming refined a third batch of pills, then consumed another Origin-Recovery Pill.

This time, however, it did not increase his Soul Power at all. It merely restored it.

It seems the Soul Power-enhancing effect only works the first time it is taken, Zhao Ming thought.

Zhao Ming did not hurry to leave the Mustard Seed Space.

He sat cross-legged on the grass before the wooden house, taking out all his remaining medicinal ingredients one by one and arranging them by category in front of him.

Zhao Ming took a deep breath, adjusted himself to peak condition, then activated the Yin-Yang Flame once more and began a new round of refinement.

Batch after batch of Origin-Recovery Pills took shape in his hands. The medicinal fragrance lingered throughout the Mustard Seed Space, steeping the entire grassland in an elegant, refreshing scent.

He failed only once during this time. That time, Zhao Ming was slightly distracted during the pill condensation stage, causing a subtle disturbance in the medicinal power vortex within the cauldron. In the end, the nearly formed pill shattered explosively at the final moment, turning into a mass of charred medicinal residue.

When the final batch of Origin-Recovery Pills emerged from the cauldron, Zhao Ming counted his results. He had refined a total of thirty-three Origin-Recovery Pills.

Zhao Ming placed the pills into porcelain bottles, consumed another Origin-Recovery Pill to return himself to peak condition, and only then left the space in satisfaction.