Still Salvageable

Master Qian left the room. With nothing to do alone, Su Chen sat in the room, drinking tea as he waited for Master Qian to return.

Before long, the door was suddenly shoved open with a bang. Someone dressed as an alchemy apprentice barged in rashly and asked anxiously, "Where is Lord Qian? Is Lord Qian here?"

Without even raising his head, Su Chen said, "He isn't."

"Lord Qian isn't here? Then you're his apprentice, right?" The alchemy apprentice grabbed Su Chen without another word. "There's no time to explain. Come with me quickly! Master Mo needs help with his alchemy. If we're late, it'll be too late!"

Su Chen neither agreed nor refused. The apprentice tugged him by the sleeve and brought him to an alchemy chamber on the fourth floor.

There were already five or six people inside the chamber. The alchemy apprentice immediately called out to another, somewhat older apprentice, "I found someone!"

The older apprentice glanced at Su Chen and frowned, clearly displeased. "Why did you find such a little brat?"

The apprentice who had brought Su Chen over was about to say something, but the older apprentice cut him off again. "Forget it, there's no time. He'll do! You lot, hurry over here. You, grind the Seven-Colored Stone. You, crush this Cloud Essence Grass... Move faster! Lord Mo is about to begin refining pills!"

Su Chen looked toward the deepest part of the chamber. Sure enough, a purple pill furnace there was giving off curling wisps of heat, while a white-haired old man in a red alchemist's robe stood with his back to them, busy beside the furnace.

"That is Master Mo?" Su Chen asked. In his previous life, he had heard of Master Mo's reputation. He was the president of the Qinghe City Alchemy Guild and held immense prestige in Clear River City. He was the kind of figure who could make Clear River City tremble three times with a single stomp.

"That's right, that's Lord Mo. Stop staring! Cut the heads off these Iron Wire Worms!" A small jar of Iron Wire Worms and a knife were stuffed into Su Chen's hands.

Su Chen smiled and slowly began cutting the heads off the Iron Wire Worms with the knife.

Master Mo stared intently at the pill furnace. The pill he was refining today was the Snow Lotus Creation Pill, an extremely difficult pill to refine. Master Mo had never successfully refined it.

Today was his seventh attempt. He had made every possible preparation, and he had adjusted the pill formula according to the lessons of his previous failures. He believed there would be no problem this time. He would definitely succeed in refining the Snow Lotus Creation Pill.

"Materials!"

Seeing that the pill furnace had nearly finished preheating, Master Mo called out.

The older alchemy apprentice hurriedly carried over the prepared materials. Master Mo took them and sorted the five main ingredients before placing them into the pill furnace one after another, followed by the supplementary ingredients.

The Snow Lotus Creation Pill alone required five main ingredients and as many as twenty-three supplementary ingredients, for a total of twenty-eight materials. Both the order in which they were added and the timing of each addition mattered. If even one went wrong, the refinement would fail.

Beyond the materials, the properties of the pill furnace and the steps of Fire Ignition were also crucial. The pill furnace had to be of the cold attribute, and Fire Ignition had to draw upon five sources of flame, corresponding respectively to the five attributes of metal, wood, water, fire, and earth.

Master Mo carried out every step with extreme care, following the procedure without deviation. By the time he had finished all this, fine beads of sweat had appeared on his forehead.

It was no wonder he was so nervous. He could not withstand another failure. The materials for refining the Snow Lotus Creation Pill were extremely valuable, and he had already failed six times.

If this attempt failed as well, then even if Master Mo's wealth could rival an entire city, he would not be able to bear the consumption of so many materials.

Fortunately, everything went smoothly this time, proceeding exactly according to Master Mo's expectations. Barring any mishap, he should be able to succeed today.

The several alchemy apprentices in the chamber watched Master Mo's busy back, their eyes involuntarily revealing looks of admiration. In their eyes, Master Mo was their idol, the god of alchemy in Clear River City. His attainments in alchemy had reached a level of marvelous perfection.

Yet they did not notice that Su Chen, standing not far away and watching Master Mo's movements, slowly shook his head.

Two quarters of an hour passed, and wisps of green smoke began to rise from above the pill furnace. When Master Mo saw the shape of that smoke, however, his heart sank.

The shape of this green smoke was wrong. Could the refinement have failed again?

Ignoring the rule that the furnace could not be opened before the refinement was complete, Master Mo strode forward and lifted the lid of the pill furnace slightly. A billowing cloud of smoke and dust immediately burst from within, mixed with a dense medicinal scent.

That pungent medicinal smell made Master Mo's heart sink again. He craned his head toward the furnace, and when he saw the few pitch-black pill embryos inside—far removed from true Snow Lotus Creation Pills—he knew the refinement had failed again!

"How could this be?"

Though he had already sensed it, when he truly saw this scene, Master Mo was struck as if by lightning. With vacant eyes, he muttered to himself. He had clearly made every step as perfect as possible. How could the refinement still have failed?

Where exactly was the problem?

Master Mo stared in disarray at the pill furnace before him, whose fire had yet to go out, his heart filled with dejection. This failure meant that he would be unable to attempt refining the Snow Lotus Creation Pill again anytime soon. After all, no matter how great one's family fortune, it could not endure such waste again and again.

But Master Mo remained unwilling to accept it. This refinement had clearly been flawless. Where exactly had the problem arisen?

At that moment, Master Mo heard a voice from behind him. "This batch of pills has not failed yet. It can still be salvaged!"

"Who said that?" Master Mo froze. Turning around, he remembered that there was still a group of alchemy apprentices in the room.

And the one who had spoken was the youngest-looking among those apprentices!

"Hey, are you insane?" The alchemy apprentice who had brought Su Chen here nearly lost his soul from fright. He gave Su Chen a hard smack and lowered his voice. "How dare you spout such wild nonsense before Lord Mo?"

The oldest alchemy apprentice hurriedly stepped forward and bowed to Master Mo. "Lord Mo, please do not take offense. This boy may be a newly arrived alchemy apprentice who does not know any better. We'll take him away immediately."

As he spoke, the older apprentice turned around and barked softly at Su Chen, "Why aren't you leaving yet?"

"Wait!"

Master Mo raised a hand to stop them, then strode over to Su Chen. Looking at the teenager, who was only in his teens, he asked, "You just said this batch of pills can still be salvaged? How?"

Although Master Mo knew he should not listen to the words of a teenager, he was now like a desperate patient grasping at any remedy. The materials in this batch would be wasted anyway. Even if there were only a one-percent chance of salvaging them, it was worth trying.

Master Qian left the room. With nothing to do alone, Su Chen sat in the room, drinking tea as he waited for Master Qian to return.

Before long, the door was suddenly shoved open with a bang. Someone dressed as an alchemy apprentice barged in rashly and asked anxiously, "Where is Lord Qian? Is Lord Qian here?"

Without even raising his head, Su Chen said, "He isn't."

"Lord Qian isn't here? Then you're his apprentice, right?" The alchemy apprentice grabbed Su Chen without another word. "There's no time to explain. Come with me quickly! Master Mo needs help with his alchemy. If we're late, it'll be too late!"

Su Chen neither agreed nor refused. The apprentice tugged him by the sleeve and brought him to an alchemy chamber on the fourth floor.

There were already five or six people inside the chamber. The alchemy apprentice immediately called out to another, somewhat older apprentice, "I found someone!"

The older apprentice glanced at Su Chen and frowned, clearly displeased. "Why did you find such a little brat?"

The apprentice who had brought Su Chen over was about to say something, but the older apprentice cut him off again. "Forget it, there's no time. He'll do! You lot, hurry over here. You, grind the Seven-Colored Stone. You, crush this Cloud Essence Grass... Move faster! Lord Mo is about to begin refining pills!"

Su Chen looked toward the deepest part of the chamber. Sure enough, a purple pill furnace there was giving off curling wisps of heat, while a white-haired old man in a red alchemist's robe stood with his back to them, busy beside the furnace.

"That is Master Mo?" Su Chen asked. In his previous life, he had heard of Master Mo's reputation. He was the president of the Qinghe City Alchemy Guild and held immense prestige in Clear River City. He was the kind of figure who could make Clear River City tremble three times with a single stomp.

"That's right, that's Lord Mo. Stop staring! Cut the heads off these Iron Wire Worms!" A small jar of Iron Wire Worms and a knife were stuffed into Su Chen's hands.

Su Chen smiled and slowly began cutting the heads off the Iron Wire Worms with the knife.

Master Mo stared intently at the pill furnace. The pill he was refining today was the Snow Lotus Creation Pill, an extremely difficult pill to refine. Master Mo had never successfully refined it.

Today was his seventh attempt. He had made every possible preparation, and he had adjusted the pill formula according to the lessons of his previous failures. He believed there would be no problem this time. He would definitely succeed in refining the Snow Lotus Creation Pill.

"Materials!"

Seeing that the pill furnace had nearly finished preheating, Master Mo called out.

The older alchemy apprentice hurriedly carried over the prepared materials. Master Mo took them and sorted the five main ingredients before placing them into the pill furnace one after another, followed by the supplementary ingredients.

The Snow Lotus Creation Pill alone required five main ingredients and as many as twenty-three supplementary ingredients, for a total of twenty-eight materials. Both the order in which they were added and the timing of each addition mattered. If even one went wrong, the refinement would fail.

Beyond the materials, the properties of the pill furnace and the steps of Fire Ignition were also crucial. The pill furnace had to be of the cold attribute, and Fire Ignition had to draw upon five sources of flame, corresponding respectively to the five attributes of metal, wood, water, fire, and earth.

Master Mo carried out every step with extreme care, following the procedure without deviation. By the time he had finished all this, fine beads of sweat had appeared on his forehead.

It was no wonder he was so nervous. He could not withstand another failure. The materials for refining the Snow Lotus Creation Pill were extremely valuable, and he had already failed six times.

If this attempt failed as well, then even if Master Mo's wealth could rival an entire city, he would not be able to bear the consumption of so many materials.

Fortunately, everything went smoothly this time, proceeding exactly according to Master Mo's expectations. Barring any mishap, he should be able to succeed today.

The several alchemy apprentices in the chamber watched Master Mo's busy back, their eyes involuntarily revealing looks of admiration. In their eyes, Master Mo was their idol, the god of alchemy in Clear River City. His attainments in alchemy had reached a level of marvelous perfection.

Yet they did not notice that Su Chen, standing not far away and watching Master Mo's movements, slowly shook his head.

Two quarters of an hour passed, and wisps of green smoke began to rise from above the pill furnace. When Master Mo saw the shape of that smoke, however, his heart sank.

The shape of this green smoke was wrong. Could the refinement have failed again?

Ignoring the rule that the furnace could not be opened before the refinement was complete, Master Mo strode forward and lifted the lid of the pill furnace slightly. A billowing cloud of smoke and dust immediately burst from within, mixed with a dense medicinal scent.

That pungent medicinal smell made Master Mo's heart sink again. He craned his head toward the furnace, and when he saw the few pitch-black pill embryos inside—far removed from true Snow Lotus Creation Pills—he knew the refinement had failed again!

"How could this be?"

Though he had already sensed it, when he truly saw this scene, Master Mo was struck as if by lightning. With vacant eyes, he muttered to himself. He had clearly made every step as perfect as possible. How could the refinement still have failed?

Where exactly was the problem?

Master Mo stared in disarray at the pill furnace before him, whose fire had yet to go out, his heart filled with dejection. This failure meant that he would be unable to attempt refining the Snow Lotus Creation Pill again anytime soon. After all, no matter how great one's family fortune, it could not endure such waste again and again.

But Master Mo remained unwilling to accept it. This refinement had clearly been flawless. Where exactly had the problem arisen?

At that moment, Master Mo heard a voice from behind him. "This batch of pills has not failed yet. It can still be salvaged!"

"Who said that?" Master Mo froze. Turning around, he remembered that there was still a group of alchemy apprentices in the room.

And the one who had spoken was the youngest-looking among those apprentices!

"Hey, are you insane?" The alchemy apprentice who had brought Su Chen here nearly lost his soul from fright. He gave Su Chen a hard smack and lowered his voice. "How dare you spout such wild nonsense before Lord Mo?"

The oldest alchemy apprentice hurriedly stepped forward and bowed to Master Mo. "Lord Mo, please do not take offense. This boy may be a newly arrived alchemy apprentice who does not know any better. We'll take him away immediately."

As he spoke, the older apprentice turned around and barked softly at Su Chen, "Why aren't you leaving yet?"

"Wait!"

Master Mo raised a hand to stop them, then strode over to Su Chen. Looking at the teenager, who was only in his teens, he asked, "You just said this batch of pills can still be salvaged? How?"

Although Master Mo knew he should not listen to the words of a teenager, he was now like a desperate patient grasping at any remedy. The materials in this batch would be wasted anyway. Even if there were only a one-percent chance of salvaging them, it was worth trying.