The moon rose above the treetops, and before we knew it, night had fallen.
At the summit of the cliff, Xiao Yan sat cross-legged before a massive cyan-gold medicine cauldron. In the void around him, hundreds of rare medicinal herbs floated in mid-air, forming a ring around Xiao Yan.
A roaring flame burned within the medicine cauldron. Xiao Yan was calmly controlling several medicinal herbs, placing them into the cauldron. Under the refining power of the Heavenly Flames, the originally vibrant green herbs gradually changed color. Of course, this change was extremely subtle, even imperceptible to ordinary people. Only alchemists, with their immense spiritual perception, could clearly perceive it in their minds.
The process of refining medicinal herbs is long and tedious, which requires the alchemist's patience as well as their understanding of the herbs.
The degree of extraction of each medicinal herb determines the final extraction result, which in turn directly affects the final outcome of the elixir.
The quality of a finished elixir depends not only on the later fusion of medicinal materials, but also, crucially, on the earlier refining process.
The purity of the medicinal herbs determines the quality of the elixir itself, while the degree of refining determines the quantity of the finished elixir. The more refined the herbs, the more elixir can be refined, and the more elixir can be produced. Conversely, if the herbs are not refined, nothing will be produced.
In the blink of an eye, half a month has passed.
It is said that there is no time limit in cultivation, but the same is true for alchemy. Both require a lot of time to complete. As the saying goes, there are gains and losses. In a sense, alchemy itself is a combination of gains and losses, and cultivation is even more so.
Inside the cyan-gold cauldron, the raging flames burned without change. Xiao Yan's eyes were closed. Half a month had passed, but Xiao Yan did not feel the slightest bit tired. On the contrary, under this constant and repeated refining, he felt that his temperament had become more calm and composed.
The three of them, including Tian Ying A Bao, kept a watchful eye from a distance. Under their imposing presence, no magical beast dared to set foot here. The high-level magical beasts that originally lived deep in the Xilin Mountain Range had no choice but to retreat to the outer perimeter of the Xilin Mountain Range. This incident caused all kinds of magical beasts in the Xilin Mountain Range to change color, and the humans outside the mountains were also puzzled by it.
"Damn it, what on earth happened in the Xilin Mountain Range? Why are all these high-level magical beasts here?!"
" Eight-Star Half-Emperor level magical beast! Such a powerful creature should usually be living deep within the mountains in seclusion, cultivating in seclusion. How could it appear here!"
On the outskirts of the Xilin Mountain Range, a group of people gazed at the vast mountain range before them with expressions of surprise and fear. None of them could have imagined why these high-level magical beasts from the depths of the Xilin Mountain Range would appear here. What they could not have imagined even more was that these magical beasts existed for the sake of a human!
This situation lasted for a long time, to the point that many powerful individuals who originally intended to enter the Xilin Mountain Range for training were ultimately driven back by the powerful magical beasts on the outskirts. For a time, the Xilin Mountain Range became a forbidden area.
In the blink of an eye, another half month has passed.
Time flew by unnoticed, and the medicinal herbs in the cauldron in front of Xiao Yan had been refined into various forms, such as powder, viscous liquid, liquids of different colors, and ointments, totaling more than a hundred kinds.
At the summit, Xiao Yan sat motionless, like a statue. In the medicine cauldron before him, hundreds of refined medicinal herbs were slowly merging together under the control of the Heavenly Flames.
When medicinal properties clash, other medicinal materials can neutralize them; when medicinal properties are compatible, the more potent medicinal materials can be incorporated.
The process of blending the medicinal herbs is slow and lengthy; this step alone took Xiao Yan a full week.
Inside the blazing cauldron filled with Heavenly Flames, clusters of medicinal essence, each about the size of a thumb, spun around under the influence of the Heavenly Flames. As Xiao Yan infused his Spiritual Strength, these herbs approached at an extremely slow pace. The moment they touched, an indomitable energy surge burst forth, dispersing some of the surrounding flames.
The two clumps of medicinal liquid were like two raging demonic beasts, neither willing to yield. Merging them together was an incredibly difficult task, and even with Xiao Yan's Spiritual Strength, he couldn't help but feel a sense of trouble.
As expected of herbs used to refine third-tier pills, the powerful energy fluctuations were far superior to those of second-tier pills. Fortunately, although the process required considerable effort from Xiao Yan, the two clumps of medicinal liquid eventually fused together under Xiao Yan powerful Spiritual Strength. However, this was only the beginning; many more clumps of medicinal liquid remained to be fused. By the time Xiao Yan had finished fusing all the herbs, another half month had passed.
However, just when everything seemed to be gradually getting on track, the medicinal herbs inside the cauldron, which were about to officially enter the process of Pill Fusion, suddenly turned into a pile of ashes with a "poof" sound.
This sudden turn of events caused everything Xiao Yan had done to vanish in an instant, leaving him momentarily dazed. Fortunately, Xiao Yan recovered quickly.
Failing in alchemy is commonplace for alchemists; failure is nothing, they can simply start over. The real problem is when someone fails once and loses the courage to face it again—that's truly pitiful.
The first failure did not leave Xiao Yan with any complicated emotions. On the contrary, it made Xiao Yan even faster and quicker in the second alchemy process. Everything became smooth and effortless. Even in some crucial parts related to refining third-order pills, Xiao Yan did not hesitate. In this way, after more than two months, the second batch of medicinal materials in Xiao Yan's medicine cauldron officially entered the process of Pill Fusion.
This process involves separating and fusing the various medicinal materials extracted earlier, followed by the final step of Pill Fusion. Once this step is completed, the process of Pill Condensation and Pill Nurturing begins. This step is the most crucial and important moment in the entire alchemy process.
It can be said that the success or failure of this step is directly related to the elixir itself. If successful, the elixir has potential and great value; if it fails, it will turn into a pile of black ash, worthless!
Even now, a few beads of cold sweat finally trickled down Xiao Yan's forehead.