The night was ink-black, the moonlight flowing like water.
In the small courtyard, Mo Yun sat cross-legged before the stone table, the crude Alchemy Furnace he had borrowed from Black Wolf set before him.
The charcoal beneath the furnace burned fiercely, its orange-red glow illuminating his resolute face and tracing the contours of his concentration.
"Only two sets of ingredients left."
Mo Yun took a deep breath and pulled the last two sets of medicinal ingredients from the cloth bag.
Of the five sets he had received from Zhou Bo yesterday, three had already been lost in the Alchemy Furnace.
Although all three attempts had failed, Mo Yun could clearly sense his progress.
It was a marvelous feeling.
With the panel ensuring that every gain remained his forever, each failure sharpened his control over the heat and deepened his understanding of the ingredients' medicinal properties.
"I should be close to succeeding."
Mo Yun steadied himself and placed the prepared ingredients into the furnace one after another.
The Blood-Stopping Grass leaves quickly curled and softened in the heat, seeping emerald-green juice.
The qi-gathering flower petals dissolved into a pale-purple liquid and mingled with the emerald juice.
The short sections of red essence grass released a pungent scent that made him narrow his eyes.
He covered the furnace and let the mixture simmer over low heat.
He added the various supplementary ingredients at the proper moments.
A hissing rose inside the furnace as the medicinal liquid gradually thickened under the gentle heat.
Mo Yun pressed one hand against the furnace, gauging what was happening inside through the changes in temperature beneath his fingertips.
The scattered hisses gradually grew more frequent, then abruptly paused at a certain instant before taking on a smoother tone.
"Now!"
Mo Yun instantly increased the heat, sending the