Not to mention Valley Master Nie's wishful scheme of trading resources for techniques had fallen through; somewhat disappointed, he went out to discuss it with Elder Zhang.
Zhang Xiaohua, however, was not worried that Hui Chun Valley would refuse. The formula clearly described the ingredients and refining method for the Crimson Flame Pill. Hui Chun Valley's current "water-decoction method" would absolutely fail to refine it. Even if Valley Master Nie mastered the True Qi simulation Zhang Xiaohua had taught him, his chance of successfully producing a Crimson Flame Pill would be only thirty percent. Though Zhang Xiaohua's conditions were harsh, he was merely barring them from watching certain stages. Setting aside how the whole process would improve Hui Chun Valley's alchemy, even the successfully refined Crimson Flame Pills alone were enough to make Valley Master Nie and Elder Zhang salivate with desire.
Could Elder Zhang possibly refuse?
How could he refuse? Hui Chun Valley's pill formula recorded that taking a Crimson Flame Pill, together with Hui Chun Valley's secret inner cultivation technique, could increase one's strength by five to ten years out of thin air. This was an absolutely fatal temptation to any martial artist; it was also the first pill Elder Zhang had thought of when he learned that Zhang Xiaohua could refine pills by ancient methods.
Yet in the jade slip containing Zhang Xiaohua's Immortal Path pills, Crimson Flame Pill had another name: "Meridian Nourishing Pill." Its effect was to nourish and widen the meridians. It did not count as a high-grade pill, nor could it even be considered mid-grade. And herbs such as Crimson Pearl Grass and Sun Grass had not been especially rare in ancient times. Only now, with Primordial Qi having sharply diminished and many of these herbs extinct, did this pill appear so precious.