Alchemy? Isn't This Easy as Long as You Have Hands?

The sky gradually darkened.

The cliff at dusk was silent, with only a flickering flame casting the shadow of a person.

Lin Qingyun stared intently at the churning flames inside the Medicine Cauldron. His slightly pale face was covered in beads of sweat. Maintaining the output of Dou Qi for so long was an extremely draining process, and even though the amount of Dou Qi in his body was comparable to that of a Dou Shi, he could not withstand prolonged consumption. Being able to hold on for nearly three hours was already a decent result.

His narrowed eyes were already threaded with blood. Through a small hole in the cauldron lid, he could see a bit of white light rolling within the Black Flame.

It was a small lump of medicinal liquid, gradually revealing a bit of keratin under the tempering of the flame.

Under these circumstances, about fifteen minutes passed. The original lump of medicinal liquid had completely turned into an irregular sphere.

At this point, Lin Qingyun seemed as if he had been injected with chicken blood. His narrowed eyes suddenly snapped open, and with a thought, through the flames, he could clearly sense everything inside the Medicine Cauldron.

"The temperature needs to be lower too!"

With a shift of his mind, the flames no longer surged so violently, and the temperature was no longer so scorching, leaning toward gentleness instead.

But the temperature was not too low either. It was just enough to melt the protruding parts of the irregular sphere.

Another seven or eight minutes passed during this. When the last raised bit retracted, the hand pressed tightly against the fire inlet suddenly withdrew. The flames converged, and supported by Dou Qi, that medicinal pill also fell into Lin Qingyun's hand.

"Haha, I finally succeeded! Haha!"

Lin Qingyun raised both hands and laughed up at the sky. His beaming face swept away all his gloom, and even his spirit seemed to be instantly renewed.

"I knew it would definitely work!"

Lin Qingyun murmured to himself, turned around, and reached to his left.

Scattered to his left were seven or eight jade bottles. Their crystal-clear bodies revealed the shadows inside under the light of the new moon.

Most of them were medicinal liquids, while some were irregular spherical objects.

Just two hours ago, Lin Qingyun had an idea. If it was simply turning one type of medicinal herb into a small medicinal pill, then this process was not much different from refining medicinal pills.

It was the same extraction, the same gentle simmering over a warm flame, then crystallization, and finally nurturing until the pill formed. If there was a difference, it was only that various different medicinal herbs had to be fused in at the same time, and during this process, some repulsive energy reactions would occur.

If he could refine one medicinal herb into a small medicinal pill, then he would not be far from being able to refine pills.

Fortunately, after spending several hours, Lin Qingyun did it.

He successfully condensed one medicinal herb into a small medicinal pill.

After putting away the small medicinal pill in his hand, Lin Qingyun's expression abruptly turned solemn.

He slightly closed his eyes!

His hands formed seals, his legs crossed, and with each breath, he drove the flow of Heaven and Earth Energy.

And in his mind, it was as if another world had opened up, where a Little Golden Man sat before a Medicine Cauldron refining pills.

This was the result summarized from refining pills over the past two or three hours.

Under the circulation of the Dragonless Heart Method, it gradually turned into an extremely thick stream of Dou Qi flowing into his Meridians.

This result made Lin Qingyun's brows show faint delight, and the trace of fatigue on his face completely dispersed.

And in some corner unknown to him, a pair of eyes was watching Lin Qingyun.

Medicine Elder glanced at Xiao Yan, who was training bitterly, then looked toward Lin Qingyun. In his cloudy old eyes, there was a strange gleam.

His figure swayed slightly, and he quickly approached Lin Qingyun. However, when he reached a spot two or three zhang away from the latter, Medicine Elder's figure quietly vanished, as if merging into Heaven and Earth.

About half an hour passed. The sky had completely darkened, and at this moment, Lin Qingyun also slowly opened his eyes.

A trace of golden light flashed through his eyes, and he exhaled a slightly turbid breath.

The Dou Qi that once again filled his body made Lin Qingyun suddenly brimming with fighting spirit.

He very solemnly arranged the nine portions of medicinal herbs.

With a pinch of his fingers, Spirit Gathering Grass fell into his hand. After pondering for a moment, Lin Qingyun threw it into the Medicine Cauldron without hesitation.

The flames suddenly surged and churned, swallowing the Spirit Gathering Grass in one gulp. Under this fierce tempering, the Spirit Gathering Grass quickly shed its withered outer layer, and drops of emerald-green liquid fell, floating within the flames.

In just a short while, the Spirit Gathering Grass had completely turned to ash, leaving only a thumb-sized lump of medicinal liquid floating inside the flames.

After nurturing it for a moment, Lin Qingyun's mind stirred. He separated out a cluster of flames, lowered the temperature, and carefully wrapped that lump of medicinal liquid inside.

This action immediately made Lin Qingyun's face turn a little paler, and a trace of cold sweat emerged on his forehead. Splitting his attention had always been a thankless and exhausting method.

But there was no other way. In that Scroll Painting he had seen, this was precisely what that mysterious old man had done when refining pills.

Moreover, after doing this, Lin Qingyun also discovered that under the nurturing of the flame, the Spirit Gathering Grass medicinal liquid did not gradually evaporate. Instead, it remained in a state of constant condensation, not only ensuring its quality but also ensuring that its energy did not easily volatilize.

Taking a deep breath, Lin Qingyun then threw another medicinal herb in. The purple blades of grass soon began dripping with droplets of juice.

Once again separating a cluster of flames to wrap it up, Lin Qingyun's brows also furrowed slightly as he felt several times more pressure.

Having reached this point, he could not allow himself to give up. He also tossed the Jade Lotus Fruit in.

The pure-white fruit lasted quite a while under the tempering of the flames. A full seven or eight minutes passed before it turned into a pool of medicinal liquid the size of half a fist.

He separated another cluster of flames, and by this time, Lin Qingyun's face seemed utterly drained of blood.

The heavy pressure seemed about to split and tear apart his will. Looking at the deep-blue Magic Core in his hand, Lin Qingyun hesitated for a moment.

He knew clearly that if he split his focus again to refine this Magic Core, his will absolutely would not be able to bear it, and it was even very likely to collapse.

But unfortunately, he had a certain feeling.

It was like those novels he had read in the past, where one broke through one's limits in adversity.

Breaking through one's limits in adversity!

Hehe, how ridiculous!

But...

"Damn it, I refuse to believe it. I'm the protagonist! Haha." Licking his slightly dry lips, Lin Qingyun widened his eyes. Like a crazed gambler staking everything, he threw the Magic Core in his hand into the flames without hesitation.

The flames swept over it in an instant. Lin Qingyun pressed his right hand against the fire inlet of the Medicine Cauldron, and his Dou Qi poured into it madly as if it cost nothing.

Before long, the Magic Core's hard shell let out a crisp crack, then quickly split apart. The old shell fell away, leaving only a bit of deep-blue light that was quite conspicuous within the Black Flame.

The energy inside the Magic Core was already extremely pure and did not require any further purification or refinement.

"It's time for the final step!"

Lin Qingyun straightened his body, his widened eyes fixed firmly on everything inside the cauldron.

The flames that had previously been separated flew back and merged again, and in that instant, Lin Qingyun swiftly controlled the temperature of the flames to the lowest point.

Only when the several lumps of medicinal liquid were about to touch did he gradually begin to raise the temperature.

The various medicinal herbs were all of an extremely gentle nature, and everything seemed to be developing in a favorable direction.

"He rushed it!"

Medicine Elder, who had been hiding in the dark all along, could not help murmuring to himself. At first, when he saw Lin Qingyun's alchemy method, he had admired it greatly, even found it somewhat astonishing. But when it reached this point, just as it was about to fuse, he shook his head.

From his professional eye, this fusion was destined to fail.

It seemed to verify his words.

Just as the Magic Core energy was about to merge in, the Magic Core energy suddenly trembled. In an instant, it scattered the fused medicinal liquid of the Spirit Gathering Grass and the other medicinal herbs.

The flames rolled over, instantly devouring those medicinal liquids.

And the Magic Core energy did not escape disaster either.

Lin Qingyun froze at once, and his hands that had been pressed close unconsciously lowered.

His brows were tightly knitted. Lin Qingyun could not figure out which step had gone wrong.

Everything had been orderly, yet an energy collision had suddenly occurred.

Without saying a word, Lin Qingyun picked up the Spirit Gathering Grass once again...

He repeated the same steps as before. When he reached the final step and it was about to fuse, Lin Qingyun seemed to deflate in an instant, his entire body relaxing completely.

Yet his will was fully fixed on the Magic Core energy.

As before, everything was very smooth at first, but just as the Spirit Gathering Grass and the other medicinal liquids were about to collide with the Magic Core energy...

The abnormal change occurred again. The same explosion made the huge Medicine Cauldron tremble, producing a clear ringing sound.

Lin Qingyun lowered his head, his brows furrowed tightly. He had discovered some key issues.

The medicinal liquid condensed from the medicinal herbs was very gentle, but the energy refined from the Magic Core leaned more toward tyranny.

When two different energies collided, it was like an old wolf meeting a young, strong wolf.

But if it were reversed, if the Magic Core energy was used to devour the medicinal liquids condensed from the medicinal herbs one by one, then would that not happen to solve this problem?

It was a bit like big fish eating small fish, and small fish eating shrimp.

Devouring bit by bit.

Having thought of a solution, Lin Qingyun also roused his spirits and once again put in the medicinal herbs, repeating the initial operation.

With the foundation from the previous two attempts, this third time was almost completed in one breath without the slightest pause.

Medicine Elder no longer hid his figure. He looked with some curiosity at the young man before him, who seemed to be in a state of madness.

He stood there quietly, making not the slightest sound. With even a wave of his hand, he stopped the howling mountain wind.

At this moment, Lin Qingyun's entire mind was focused on the fusion. With a thought, he controlled the Magic Core's energy and began to devour the energy of the Spirit Gathering Grass.

The two energies, one strong and one weak, collided. There was only a slight tremor, and no violent explosion occurred.

The Spirit Gathering Grass merged into the Magic Core energy, and everything followed naturally.

At this point, Lin Qingyun's spirit lifted. Vaguely, he saw hope.

Next came the Purple You Orchid and the Jade Lotus Fruit. When the last drop of energy merged in, it seemed to have taken on the embryonic form of a pill.

The medicinal liquid, fully the size of two thumbs, split into two with a thought from Lin Qingyun.

Under the tempering of intense flames, the embryonic form of the pills quickly appeared.

After he lowered it to a warm flame, about seven or eight minutes passed, and the pitted surfaces were gradually repaired. A faint blue luster appeared on the surface of the pills, making them dazzlingly beautiful.

After completing these steps, Lin Qingyun did not immediately stop. Instead, he nurtured the pills in the flames for nearly seven or eight minutes before finally withdrawing the flames.

The two pills entered the bottle, letting out a crisp sound.

Lin Qingyun pinched the jade bottle and raised it high above his head. Under the moonlight, two shadows could be seen inside the jade bottle.

"I finally succeeded! Haha!"

"Alchemy! That's it? Isn't this easy as long as you have hands?"

The corners of Lin Qingyun's mouth rose slightly, and his unrestrained laughter echoed over the cliff.

Originally, I planned on two chapters, but it seems I can't finish them. After my final exam ended today, I rushed nonstop to move the things in my dorm back home. By then it was already past four. Cooking for myself, making dishes, plus taking a shower kept me busy until seven. After finishing the novel, it was almost eight, nearly nine, and tonight this author still has to take a car back to his hometown. My ID card is about to expire, so I need to get it renewed. There's no helping it.

Tomorrow! Tomorrow I should be able to do two chapters.