Abundant Gains from Refining Medicine

Jiang Yun took out several jade jars and sealed the medicinal liquid inside.

These were all essences extracted from spiritual herbs. If they were not sealed and left exposed outside,

their vital essence would dissipate after some time, greatly diminishing their effects.

Jiang Yun extracted the remaining five Black Jade Ginseng plants one by one. With his previous experience, he directly sealed them into the jade jars.

Looking at the large ceramic jars and six jade jars before him, Jiang Yun felt that his gains had been plentiful.

Jiang Yun released his divine sense to inspect them briefly, then placed the medicinal liquids into the pill furnace in batches.

Allowing them to fully blend together.

Next came purification. He did not need to be overly meticulous; once it reached the standard of the Hundred-Grass Liquid sold within the Heavenly Cave, Jiang Yun stopped.

This batch of Hundred-Grass Liquid was not intended for his own consumption, but to be exchanged for resources.

Jiang Yun ceased controlling the Fire Fiend, and the pale cyan flames gradually subsided.

He took out the freshly refined Hundred-Grass Liquid and slowly poured it into the jade bottles he had crafted.

Jiang Yun calculated that the six spiritual herbs and some supplementary ingredients he had bought with sixty bottles of Hundred-Grass Liquid

had ultimately yielded ninety bottles of Hundred-Grass Liquid. He had made a tearful profit of thirty bottles, for a fifty percent return.

Ten bottles of Hundred-Grass Liquid could buy the resources needed to refine one batch of Hundred-Grass Liquid.

Producing ten bottles from one extraction was a loss; eleven bottles counted as a small profit.

He could not help but marvel that the Dao Venerable Alchemy Art was truly infinitely profound.

It had allowed someone refining Hundred-Grass Liquid for the first time to produce far above the average level—fifteen bottles from one batch of materials.

Of course, part of the credit also belonged to the Fire Fiend. The spiritual energy consumed by the Fire Fiend was also a resource.

Yet so long as he did not drain the spiritual energy within the Fire Fiend dry, it could continue recovering. It was a renewable resource.

As Jiang Yun's grasp of alchemy improved, the profits from refining Hundred-Grass Liquid should rise further.

Jiang Yun saw that it was already evening outside the courtyard. Refining medicine had taken roughly four hours.

Making thirty bottles of Hundred-Grass Liquid in four hours was already quite a lot. This time, the spiritual herbs had been refined one plant at a time; next time, he could refine them together.

The herbs also did not need to be refined in separate batches, which would greatly increase his speed.

He could make quite a bit. Twenty bottles of Hundred-Grass Liquid could be exchanged for one jin of Source.

The main purpose of refining Hundred-Grass Liquid was not to earn resources, but to improve his medicine-refining ability.

It was preparation for refining the One-Turn Golden Core next.

He had enough resources for now. His primary goal remained cultivation.

Once he reached the Dao Palace or Four Extremes Realm, he could make a trip to Purple Mountain and find the Source Heavenly Book. Would that not be more profitable than refining Hundred-Grass Liquid?

That evening, Jiang Yun contemplated the profound methods of the Dao Scripture for a while before returning to the room he shared with Jiang Shuanglan.

A night passed, and the moon hid shyly behind the clouds, too afraid to show its face.

After Jiang Yun's physique improved, Jiang Shuanglan found him even harder to handle. Before passing out, she made up her mind that she truly could not delay any longer. If this continued, she would be played to ruin.

Jiang Yun changed the bedding again. He did not know about other women, but Jiang Shuanglan truly seemed to be made of water.

Not wishing to disturb Jiang Shuanglan's rest, Jiang Yun sat for a while before returning to the alchemy room. He had run out of materials for refining Hundred-Grass Liquid, while the materials for the One-Turn Golden Core could not yet be touched.

With nothing else to do, he continued cultivating.

Jiang Yun had cultivated to the Divine Bridge. To reach the next realm, his will had to be incomparably firm and never waver.

Only then could he see through illusion and mist, and find his own Other Shore.

Throughout this process, not only did the body need to transform, but the spirit also needed to ascend. Spirit and body had to become one, breaking through shackles and transcending oneself.

Only then could one return to one's origin and find one's foundation. At that time, the Divine Bridge would arrive like a rainbow, forcefully crossing the Sea of Bitterness. This was the fourth realm of the Sea of Bitterness Secret Realm... the Other Shore.

To explore the next secret realm of the human body, the Dao Palace, one had to reach the Other Shore first. The Other Shore could be considered the starting point for leaping into the Dao Palace.

Crossing the Sea of Bitterness to reach the Other Shore no longer merely required opening up the Sea of Bitterness to nourish the body.

The spirit also needed to grow stronger and ascend.

Once cultivators reached a certain realm, only by strengthening their divine sense could they comprehend heaven, earth, and nature.

Upon reaching that level, the only way to improve one's cultivation was through "comprehension"; there was no other method.

Divine sense and spiritual perception were manifestations of a sufficiently powerful spirit. They were hurdles Jiang Yun could not avoid.

Fortunately, the nourishment of Divine Spring Fluid was not limited to the body. As the divine spring used to cultivate immortal medicine, if cultivators consumed it over a long period,

it not only provided life essence for cultivation, but also contained strange energy that nourished both body and divine sense.

The Divine Veins condensed above Jiang Yun's Sea of Bitterness were crystal clear, though somewhat short.

When he looked upward, the sky above was hazy, and he did not know how to proceed.

Yet a dazzling rainbow floated overhead, spanning the heavens in brilliant splendor. To evolve a Sea of Bitterness Vision, these strange sights were the foundation.

Every advancement in realm had its own extraordinary qualities, and visions were the greatest distinction of the Sea of Bitterness Secret Realm.

Jiang Yun increased his consumption of Divine Spring Fluid. Cultivation became increasingly difficult the further one progressed.

Originally, one or two drops of Divine Spring Fluid could be refined over a long period. Now, each time he consumed Divine Spring Fluid, the amount nearly reached that of a bottle of Hundred-Grass Liquid.

Fortunately, he had obtained plenty of Divine Spring Fluid in the Desolate Forbidden Land. Otherwise, relying only on Hundred-Grass Liquid and Source Stone would have made his cultivation far too slow.

By the time he finished refining it, it was noon. Jiang Yun went out.

He exchanged ninety bottles of Hundred-Grass Liquid for the raw materials needed to make it, receiving nine full batches.

Gradually, three days passed. Jiang Yun became a master of time management: cultivating in the morning, going out at noon, and refining medicine in the afternoon.

At night, he returned to Jiang Shuanglan's room to rest.

The quantity of Hundred-Grass Liquid gradually increased, reaching more than three hundred bottles.

At most, he refined only ten batches of materials per day. If he wanted to refine more, he would not have enough time.

The yield from each batch stabilized between sixteen and seventeen bottles of Hundred-Grass Liquid.

He had already reached the limit, which varied according to the spiritual nature of the spiritual herbs.

This was only the limit for the ordinary spiritual herbs sold in the Heavenly Cave. If he used better spiritual herbs, the yield could be higher, but there was no need.

Common spiritual herbs were best refined into Hundred-Grass Liquid, while precious spiritual herbs were better used to refine Golden Cores.

At noon that day, Jiang Yun went out again, intending to buy thirty batches of ingredients at once.

It would save him the trouble of running out every day. He could refine some concentrated Hundred-Grass Liquid for Jiang Shuanglan to consume, and its effects would be even better.

The moment Jiang Yun stepped out of the courtyard gate, Xia Weier stopped him.

"Big Brother Jiang Yun, here are five bottles of Hundred-Grass Liquid. Use them for now. Thank you for protecting me during this time."

After saying that, Xia Weier, afraid Jiang Yun would refuse, ran off in a fluster with a red face.

"Why are you suddenly giving me this?" Jiang Yun called after Xia Weier.

Jiang Yun could not figure out what had happened. He knew that although Xia Weier looked delicate and easy to bully,

she was extremely stubborn about things she believed were right.

When they had previously reclaimed the herb fields together, Jiang Yun had even angered her into tears several times. In the end, Xia Weier had proven to be right, leaving Jiang Yun rather embarrassed.

Unable to understand why Xia Weier had done this, Jiang Yun went to find Jiang Shuanglan and ask what was going on.