Su Yan followed Xu Zhongdao into the Pill Room, where a pitch-black Pill Cauldron immediately caught his eye.
"Sort the medicinal ingredients by type and lay them out first. Watch how I handle them in a moment."
As Xu Zhongdao spoke, he changed his clothes and tied up all his hair.
"When I refine the Sinew-Mending Meridian-Continuing Pill, I need to focus on controlling the cauldron, so I need someone to assist me. I could have brought someone from the Hundred Herbs Hall or asked Old Song, but I'm worried someone might interfere—and that old fellow might get too worked up."
Song Qi had entrusted him with teaching Su Yan a few skills, but another crucial part of the arrangement was to refine this Sinew-Mending Meridian-Continuing Pill.
Su Yan laid out all the medicinal ingredients as Xu Zhongdao instructed.
"Elder Xu, the ingredients are ready..."
He turned around, and surprise immediately crossed his face.
Xu Zhongdao was actually crouched there lighting a fire. Charcoal was spread beneath the cauldron, and sparks from a firestone ignited it.
Seeing his expression, Xu Zhongdao chuckled. "What, did you think refining medicine was something unfathomably profound?"
For a moment, Su Yan did not know how to answer. "I thought it might be a little more wondrous. I really never imagined it would be like this..."
"That's for higher-tier pills."
Xu Zhongdao tossed the firestone aside and fanned the charcoal to make the flames burn hotter.
"Higher-tier pills aren't merely refined with True Essence. Beast Spirit True Intent is also infused into them, along with Heaven and Earth Essence, granting them the power of creation. But those belong to experts from major sects like the Beast King Sect and the Danxuan Sect. Most are third-tier pills or higher."
So that's how it works? Still, that makes sense. You can't even cultivate True Essence in the first three stages of the Body Tempering Realm. Naturally, it couldn't be like what I imagined.
"Elder Xu, if pills of the third tier and above require all that, what about the First Tier and Second Tier?"
"Well, isn't a First-Tier Pill right here?"
"Refining pills with ordinary fire—though we call it pill refining, refining medicine would actually be more accurate."
Xu Zhongdao tossed the yinred root into the cauldron, then adjusted the heat.
"A so-called First-Tier Pill combines the medicinal properties of various ingredients. Through simmering, roasting, grinding, and proportioning, they're made into medicine, bringing out medicinal effects beyond those of the ingredients themselves."
Xu Zhongdao had long since become thoroughly practiced at refining medicine. Even as he instructed Su Yan, he had already dried the yinred root somewhat.
"Watch closely."
He then tossed in several more ingredients, forcing out their juices and blending them with the yinred root.
"Matching medicinal properties, neutralizing toxicity, and drawing out potency are the foundations of refining medicine. That's especially true for first-tier precious medicines, since True Essence can't be introduced into the cauldron to regulate and guide them."
"What about the Second Tier?"
"In the Origin Nurturing Realm, you can cultivate True Essence. Once it leaves your body, it can enter the cauldron to harmonize the medicinal properties and guide the flames. When the effects increase greatly, the result can be called a Second-Tier Pill. If you reach the True Intent Realm and infuse beast spirit true intent into it, the pill's effects naturally become even stronger. Only then does it truly qualify as a Second-Tier Pill."
Xu Zhongdao picked up several more ingredients and added them. "The Sinew-Mending Meridian-Continuing Pill barely qualifies as a second-tier medicine, and even then, it's among the weakest."
Su Yan felt tempted as he listened. If the Darkwater Centipede and the Velvetfire Scorpion took pills, they would probably progress faster.
Xu Zhongdao stopped speaking. As he continued adding ingredients, the flames gradually died down. He removed the dried medicine, placed it in a grinding vessel, and began grinding it.
After roughly half an hour, he finally produced two bottles of dark red powder.
"Take it and give it a try. Let me see the limits of what you can withstand so I can make adjustments."
Su Yan accepted the specially formulated Redskin Powder. Although there was less of it, these two bottles cost twice as much as the Redskin Powder sold at the Hundred Herbs Hall.
Su Yan thanked Xu Zhongdao again. The two left the Pill Room and, without resting, headed straight to the rear courtyard to test the effects of the Redskin Powder.
When they reached the courtyard, Song Qi was practicing his stance there.
He had removed his blue robe from his upper body, revealing a lean, powerful torso covered in scars. Although he was old and his body had gained a few wrinkles,
his sharply defined muscles and surging blood and qi rumbled like thunder, with the mighty force of an Azure Goat splitting a mountain.
The Grandmaster Stance Art—is this the blood and qi of the Blood Shifting Realm? It's like a mighty river.
Out of the corner of his eye, Su Yan noticed two large wooden tubs nearby, one of which showed signs of use.
Medicinal dregs lay scattered around it, giving off an extremely faint herbal fragrance.
Xu Zhongdao was making preparations to treat Song Qi's injuries, while Song Qi himself was constantly stimulating his meridians, making preparations of his own.
Only when Song Qi noticed the two entering did he stop his practice.
"Boy, that tub over there is yours. The servants will add hot water for you."
Su Yan nodded and strode over. By then, the servants had already poured several buckets of hot water into it.
The specially formulated Redskin Powder was added, and in an instant, the water in the entire wooden tub turned crimson and almost began to churn.
Before Su Yan even stepped inside, a pungent gust with a bloody sweetness struck him, carried on the rising heat.
This is probably several times harsher than the usual Redskin Powder.
"Boy, what are you waiting for? There isn't much time left before the Golden Ape Martial Hall's Inner Gate examination."
Xu Zhongdao seemed unsure whether he wanted to watch the spectacle or see how talented Su Yan was.
Without hesitation, Su Yan stripped down to his shorts, revealing sharply defined muscles. His tendons, bones, skin, and muscles seemed like a perfectly crafted model.
He stepped into the wooden tub and quickly submerged his entire body.
In an instant, it felt as though flames were searing his skin. Even with his Skin Refining at grand mastery, agonizing pain coursed through his entire body.
It hurts so much. Even grand mastery in the Body Tempering Realm can't withstand it.
Su Yan's expression changed. Immense pain swept across every inch of his skin, twisting his face into an ugly grimace.
His veins bulged, and damage began to appear across his body as the medicinal solution ate into it.
Golden Ape Stance Art!
The intense pain was like an endless tide, sweeping over every inch of his skin again and again.
The medicinal potency, mixed with toxicity, relentlessly corroded his skin. His body turned crimson, and visible injuries appeared.
Enduring the agony, Su Yan began circulating the Golden Ape Stance Art inside the tub. On one side was excruciating pain; on the other, his mind sank into stillness like water, as though he stood between worlds of ice and fire.
"This boy really is ruthless with himself."
Even Xu Zhongdao was inwardly startled by the sight of Su Yan.
Blood was already beginning to seep from his corroded skin. If this poison had been used on an ordinary person, they would long since have resembled a peeled shrimp and might not have survived.
Even for someone who had achieved grand mastery in Skin Refining, such torment was hard to endure.
"Boy, mobilize your blood and qi, absorb the medicinal potency, and repair your skin anew. Unite the medicine, your skin, and your blood and qi into a cycle. That will raise the skin you refine to another level, complementing the Golden Ape Jade Body Art."
Golden Ape Jade Body Art?
Su Yan heard Xu Zhongdao's words, but he had no time to dwell on them. Instead, he followed Xu Zhongdao's instructions and continually refined new skin.
The Poison-Skin Powder contained ingredients that regenerated flesh, and their combined action was now releasing those medicinal effects.
Su Yan's skin was being destroyed and rapidly repaired at the same time.
On top of the intense pain that already felt like flames corroding and burning him, a strange sensation arose, like ants crawling over him and gnawing at his flesh.
For a time, even Su Yan was tormented by unbearable pain and itching, his veins bulging.
This repeated torment continued for a full two hours before all the medicinal potency was finally absorbed.
Su Yan leaped out. His skin and muscles were crimson, and his blood and qi surged as he assumed the complete Golden Ape Stance.
His tendons and muscles moved in unison, white mist curling around his breaths. White vapor also rose continuously from his entire body, though it was impossible to tell whether it was steam from the hot water or a manifestation of his churning blood and qi.
A long while later, Su Yan ended his practice, his eyes gleaming as sharply as blades.
[Body Tempering Realm: Skin Refining 37/400 (Grand mastery)] [Golden Ape Stance Art: 24/400 (Grand mastery)]
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