Alchemy Drudgery

After a round of introductions, Mu Bai learned that all ninety-eight people present were Alchemists of the Third Level or higher. Most were pure Alchemists who only inscribed the Soul Spirits of plants, metals, and stones, unlike him, who cultivated several powers of spirit, soul, and body together. There were even a few Third-Level Peak alchemy practitioners among them. One, named Zeng Yuan, looked middle-aged and seemed unskilled at conversation, yet left a deep impression on Mu Bai. As for Hall Master Zhu Da, Mu Bai later happened to hear someone mention that he, like Mu Bai, was only a Second Level practitioner who cultivated spirit and soul together. The profession did not recognize him as an Alchemist, but jokingly called him a "Miscellaneous Master."

This Zhu Da became master of the Pill Hall despite being a Second Level Miscellaneous Master. The connections behind him must be anything but ordinary!

Through the Pill Hall's staffing arrangements, Mu Bai gained a deeper understanding of how the Spirit Taming Sect employed its people.

"Deputy Hall Master Mu, I originally intended to assign you some administrative duties within the hall. But the sect's once-a-decade tournament is about to begin, and outer disciples, inner disciples, and even the core elite disciples have all been coming to our Pill Hall to buy pills, making every preparation for the tournament. Yet our reserves are truly limited and nearly exhausted. You must hurry and get to work refining pills as well..."

Zhu Da's face was wreathed in smiles that never reached his eyes as he immediately assigned Mu Bai his work.

"But rest assured, I've prepared the finest Alchemy Chamber for you. It's warm in winter and cool in summer, with earthfire that's flexible and easy to control. The Pill Furnace is an ancient treasure, too. What do you think?"

"Naturally, I would not dare disobey your orders, Hall Master. I shall follow your arrangements."

"Here is a list of pills. I'm aware of your current cultivation stage, Deputy Hall Master Mu, so most of these are common Second Level pills. As long as you use the supplied medicinal ingredients to meet the quotas listed here each month, the hall will make no demands on the remaining pills. However, if you fail to meet the required quota, you'll have to find a solution yourself. This is also a rule of the hall, an incentive policy established to improve everyone's refining efficiency. It concerns the work, not the individual..."

Having finished, Zhu Da chuckled. Watching him, Mu Bai felt as though he saw a warning to look out for himself.

This short, fat Zhu Da actually has quite a knack for management. Not bad.

Mu Bai muttered inwardly, while outwardly accepting respectfully.

Sure enough, the Alchemy Chamber was fully equipped. Once the ingredients were ready, he could essentially begin refining immediately. While waiting for the Medicine Boy to deliver them, Mu Bai opened the pill list Zhu Da had given him. There were not many varieties, only Soul-Returning Pills and Soul-Nurturing Pills, the two best-selling pills during the tournament.

Neither pill was particularly difficult to refine at Mu Bai's level as a Second Level Miscellaneous Master, but producing a hundred of each within a month was quite challenging. Although he had been refining pills for several years, his Soul Power had only just broken through to the Second Level. Refining one batch of these Second Level pills a day and obtaining three to five finished pills was already a rare achievement. By that reckoning, he could only complete about half his quota within a month, let alone have any surplus to dispose of freely.

That Fatty Zhu is deliberately making things difficult for me. But everyone has the same quota, and the pills required are common Second Level pills. There's not much I can say.

While Mu Bai was still considering how to handle this monthly quota, the Medicine Boy he had met in the front hall arrived with bags of ingredients. Before Mu Bai could ask him a few questions, the little Medicine Boy turned and left.

That child is rather interesting!

Without dwelling on it, Mu Bai spread out the ingredients. You Licorice, costus root, soul-nourishing wood, Snowbud Thread, Cypress Goldstone, and various other rare medicinal herbs filled an entire corner of the Alchemy Chamber. There was also a bottle of Dark Nether Beast blood that emitted powerful fluctuations of Soul Power.

He didn't deceive me, at least. At a seventy-percent success rate, these ingredients would be enough to produce over a hundred and ten of each pill. But my success rate is below fifty percent. That makes things difficult. Oh well, when the cart reaches the mountain, there will be a road. I'll start refining first.

With that thought, Mu Bai began refining pills. Since he was using the Pill Furnace for the first time, he would first refine a batch of ordinary pills to try his hand. Selecting suitable ingredients, he began with a batch of Healing Pills, which could also treat injuries and save his life at a critical moment.

After refining two consecutive batches of Healing Pills, Mu Bai gained some familiarity with controlling the earthfire and Pill Furnace, then began refining Soul-Returning Pills. The Soul-Returning Pill was the first true pill Mu Bai had ever seen. The Clan Patriarch had given it to him back then, and he still kept it on him, the sight of it reminding him of its giver. During his year or so in the canyon at the edge of Silver Frost Forest, Mu Bai had followed the pill formula in the Compendium of Pills and Herbs and successfully refined a batch of three, though he had recently traded them to Xi Bazì and the others for soul crystals.

He gently stroked the ancient-looking Pill Furnace, warmth passing into his hand. He would have to rely on this furnace to establish himself in the Spirit Taming Sect, and he could not help feeling somewhat moved. Whatever happens, the difficulties are right before me. How will I know whether I can get past them unless I make an effort? Subduing the enemy without fighting isn't utterly impossible... With a proper Pill Furnace, my success rate should be somewhat higher!

Activating the earthfire, Mu Bai tossed a stalk of dragon licorice into the Pill Furnace, then focused his mind and extended his divine sense. He carefully controlled the herb as it floated up and down inside the furnace, slowly releasing Soul Power to adjust the earthfire and control the changing temperature within.

Half an hour later, just as the dragon licorice showed signs of melting, it unexpectedly burned to drifting ash with a puff.

"Ah, I'm still too accustomed to using the Crow Cauldron. I haven't properly mastered the heat in this Pill Furnace, and ruined a stalk of dragon licorice."

Mu Bai recalled what he had just done, searching for the reason for his failure.

"No rush. Again!"

He tossed another stalk of dragon licorice into the Pill Furnace. Controlling his Soul Power, Mu Bai carefully sensed the subtle relationship between its output and the changes in the furnace's temperature. Just as he was beginning to find his way, another puff sounded, and another stalk of dragon licorice turned to ash.

"Again!"

Mu Bai put in another herb, carefully sensing the refining process.

Compared with the Crow Cauldron, the Pill Furnace seems to change temperature faster when first activated, but afterward, its response to changes in Soul Power is somewhat sluggish. Just now, I failed to withdraw my Soul Power quickly enough, so the temperature didn't drop in time, causing the herb's melting and refinement to fail...

Through refining Healing Pills and pondering his several attempts, Mu Bai gained a new understanding of the Pill Furnace he was using. It really is a silver spear with a wax tip-good to look at, but useless.

Despite the immense pressure of his pill-refining quota, Mu Bai did not dare take out the Crow Cauldron to refine pills here. After all, he knew perfectly well what mattered more and understood that wealth should not be displayed.

"I'll just have to make do."

Mu Bai gathered his thoughts and concentrated on refining pills. From noon until dusk, he only just managed to finish one batch, three Soul-Returning Pills gleaming darkly inside the furnace.

At this success rate, I wouldn't produce a hundred Soul-Returning Pills within a month even if I refined nothing else. And there aren't enough ingredients, either. It seems that even if I work day and night without rest, I'll still have to find a way to improve my success rate. But that would delay my cultivation again. What am I to do?

Mu Bai was truly troubled. He had not come to the Spirit Taming Sect to refine pills for others day and night at the expense of his cultivation.

"I'll refine another batch of Soul-Nurturing Pills first!"

Not daring to waste a moment, Mu Bai melted and refined the ingredients for Soul-Nurturing Pills one by one. Although he was only at the early Second Level, fortunately his Soul Power was greater than most people's. Even so, he had barely managed to carefully condense the liquid into pills before his Soul Power was exhausted. While the pills were being gently nurtured, Mu Bai painfully took out a soul crystal and held it in his hand, slowly restoring his Soul Power. The day's expenditure of mental energy also left him feeling utterly exhausted.

After nurturing them for nearly four hours, Mu Bai opened the Pill Furnace, only to find that he had produced just three Soul-Nurturing Pills as well. It was already midnight.

Dragging his exhausted body along, his head aching as though it would split, Mu Bai returned to Hundred Flowers Peak. Along the way, he saw dozens of brightly lit cave abodes on Hundred Flowers Peak, filled with orioles' songs and swallows' dances. Farther along the mountain path, he saw cold moonlight spilling outside his own cave abode.

If this continues, I'll wear myself out coping every day and neglect my cultivation entirely. How could I speak of becoming strong, or washing away the deep blood feud for the Clan Patriarch and the tribe!

Even with his firm resolve, when Mu Bai returned to his cave abode and considered his current situation, he could not help wavering slightly over his decision to remain in the Spirit Taming Sect.

He summoned the Crow Cauldron and saw that it had once again completely absorbed the ten soul crystals he had placed inside before leaving that morning. Without hesitation, Mu Bai took out another ten and put them inside.

The Crow Cauldron needs to absorb twenty soul crystals every day and night. What I have on hand will last a little over a month...

Not only had he spent the entire day doing pill-refining drudgery for someone else, but he had also used up a soul crystal of his own. It truly pained him.

Yet no matter how difficult things became, Mu Bai decided to let the Crow Cauldron absorb twenty soul crystals every day, hoping the Artifact Spirit Ancestor could awaken soon. As for his monthly stipend of two thousand soul crystals, after distributing it among the Qing Mao clanspeople, he still had one or two hundred left. But if he failed to meet his monthly pill-refining quota, those hundred or two hundred soul crystals would probably not even cover the penalty!

Clearly, the Spirit Taming Sect had not taken him in, given him a monthly stipend of two thousand soul crystals, and granted him the status of elder and hall master because anyone was as beautiful as a flower. He had to produce surplus value!

After briefly analyzing his current circumstances, Mu Bai felt the pressure bearing down on him. Fortunately, he now had a cave abode of his own, with abundant natural essence to aid his cultivation of the Flying Immortal Scripture.

At that thought, Mu Bai hurriedly cast aside his frustration. With several hours still remaining before sunrise, he gathered his mind, sat cross-legged, and regulated his breathing. Natural essence lay mysteriously within all things between heaven and earth, and also within the workings of an alert and lucid mind. Without stilling the mind, even if that essence were as plentiful as pools and seas, one could hardly sense the slightest trace!

After daybreak, Mu Bai hurried to the Pill Hall again and continued burying himself in pill-refining drudgery for the sect. Zhu Da also visited his Alchemy Chamber during that time. After leaving him with some encouraging words, he breezily went off to inspect and supervise the work in the other Alchemy Chambers.

How does he have it so easy and comfortable as hall master?

Comparing oneself to others could anger one to death. Since things had already come to this, complaining was useless.

Over the following days, through Mu Bai's careful consideration and persistent efforts, his success rate gradually stabilized at around fifty percent. Yet more than half the month had already passed, and he had produced fewer than fifty of each pill, still far short of his quota.