"Combined Refinement?"
Hearing the unfamiliar words uttered by Zhou Xuan, Lu Ming was slightly taken aback, somewhat confused. Clearly, with his knowledge of Dao of Alchemy, he was unfamiliar with such a thing.
"The so-called joint refining, simply put, is when two or more people work together to refine a batch of pills," Zhou Xuan explained.
"You can do that?" Lu Ming asked, somewhat surprised.
"Of course, joint alchemy is also a technique, but the prerequisite is that the people involved must cultivate the same Dao of Alchemy abilities to avoid conflicts and deficiencies in medicinal power during the transfer of pills between furnaces, thus ensuring a smooth transition. Moreover, in a sense, joint alchemy is actually much more difficult than individual alchemy."
"Because in the process of refining together, the participants need to maintain a very high degree of tacit understanding, using their Spirit Sense to connect and blend the medicinal power to finally form the pill. The slightest negligence in this process will result in the destruction of the medicine and the shattering of the pill," Zhou Xuan said.
"Must one cultivate the same Dao of Alchemy?"
Lu Ming raised his gaze to Zhou Fuling, whose beautiful eyes were wide with surprise, and asked, "Doctor Lu, do you mean to have Senior Sister refine with me?"
Right now, only the three of them are cultivating the " True Explanation of Six Refinements of Clear Qi ". It's impossible for Zhou Xuan to join him in cultivating, so it can only be their senior sister.
Zhou Xuan nodded slightly and analyzed, "You are good at fusing medicinal properties, but you lack the technique for forming the pill. Fuling, on the other hand, has more experience than you and is more skilled at forming pills. So if the two of you work together and use the method of combined refining to complete this test, the final success rate may be higher."
Lu Ming was stunned, taken aback by this operation. He had clearly not expected that there could be such a unique technique in the art of alchemy.
"Of course, whether or not to refine them together depends on Fuling's wishes. I'm just suggesting an option with the highest probability of success, one that surpasses other alchemists. If Fuling is unwilling, then you'll have to rely on your own abilities," Zhou Xuan said with a nonchalant smile.
Zhou Fuling, standing to the side, was a little confused. Was Lu Ming supposed to first fuse the medicinal properties of various herbs in his alchemy furnace to form a medicinal liquid, and then immediately pour the liquid into her furnace so that she could take over and carry out the final pill-forming step?
Wait! Does that mean her alchemy furnace is unclean?!
Zhou Fuling, who has always been somewhat obsessive about cleanliness, felt dizzy just thinking about it.
"No way! I don't want to combine cultivation with someone else!"
Zhou Fuling's pretty face flushed red and burning hot. She glared at Zhou Xuan, embarrassed and annoyed, and said, "Fourth Uncle, can you please stop giving me such terrible ideas?"
Zhou Xuan was speechless and said, "I devised a plan for him to win. What do you mean by a bad idea? This combined alchemy isn't some kind of unorthodox method. Even if we presented it, none of the Dao of Alchemy masters present could criticize it."
"I've provided the solution; whether you do it or not is up to you. It's not like I'm the one who wants this ' Netherwater Flame '."
Seeing Zhou Fuling's strong reaction, Lu Ming didn't press the matter. Instead, he said, "Master, let me try it myself first to see if I can successfully form the pill. If I fail, we can consider other methods."
Zhou Xuan nodded indifferently.
Then Lu Ming comforted Zhou Fuling, saying, "Senior Sister, don't worry about it. We've never tried 'joint refining' before, and the level of tacit understanding is difficult to control. It's highly likely that even if we join forces, we won't succeed."
Zhou Fuling looked at the boy's carefree face, gently bit her red lips, her eyes filled with conflict.
While they were exchanging ideas, President Pang Qingsong announced the recipe for the pills needed to refine the " Netherwater Flame " in this competition.
"The pill refined this time is called the ' Thunderclap Pill,' a mid-grade pill that has the effect of tempering the physical body. Some Great Divine Ability Practitioner practice physical supernatural abilities can benefit from taking this pill to advance their abilities."
" Thunderclap Pill? Senior Sister, have you ever refined it?"
Lu Ming rubbed his teeth. He had hardly ever heard of this kind of pill in Qingyuan Market. It was clearly a relatively obscure and difficult-to-obtain mid-level pill.
"I've refined this Thunderclap Pill a few times, and it's indeed quite difficult. I feel like many alchemists are going to have a headache," Zhou Fuling said softly from the side.
Sure enough, as soon as Pang Qingsong finished speaking, some of the young alchemists in the hall looked embarrassed, clearly indicating that none of them had much experience refining this so-called " Thunderclap Pill ".
Lu Ming glanced at Song Ren and found that the man's expression was quite calm, as if he was not surprised by the alchemy test. Not only him, but also the young alchemists standing behind the several Dao of Alchemy masters on the second floor did not show any hesitation or difficulty.
"Damn it, these bastards must have known about the alchemy exam questions beforehand. This Alchemist Association so corrupt, the insider manipulation is so obvious!" Lu Ming cursed inwardly, then said to Zhou Xuan, "Master, they really don't give you any face, leaking the questions without even including you."
Zhou Xuan said irritably, "I'm a master Dao of Alchemy from out of town. They only let me come here because of Huo Shanhe's influence. How could they possibly be colluding with me to leak the questions?"
That kid is cunning and wicked; he even tried to incite him to cause trouble.
"All alchemists who are eligible to participate in the competition may first hand over 500,000 Heavenly Gold Sand and a hundred-year-old high-grade spiritual medicine. Whoever becomes the final winner will take these away and offer up the ' Netherwater Flame '. The other losers will return them intact." At this moment, Pang Qingsong's voice rang out again.
At the same time, a maidservant stepped forward with a pen and book to begin recording and registering the information.
Lu Ming took out an iron box containing 500,000 Heavenly Gold Sand, of which 200,000 units were borrowed from Zhou Fuling. The " Scarlet Flame Fruit " was also taken out and handed over.
After the maid finished her inspection, she recorded Lu Ming's name and gave him a blue wooden plaque.
Lu Ming glanced at them briefly and saw that there were about ten alchemists who had obtained the wooden tokens. This meant that these people had all prepared high-grade spiritual herbs that were a hundred years old. No wonder he couldn't find them at all in the pharmacies in the city. It turned out that they had all been snapped up by these people in advance.
After completing the registration process, Pang Qingsong pointed to the west corner of the spacious hall, where there was a platform with rows of alchemy stone tables. "Alchemists who want to refine pills, go over there and find a spot. The Heaven and Earth Yuan Qi here is quite abundant, making it suitable for alchemy."
So everyone gathered around, and at the same time, figures leaped up.
Lu Ming's gaze swept over the dozen or so young alchemists. Each of them had a rather imposing presence, clearly among the best young alchemists in Fengyang Prefecture. Of course, being able to take out 500,000 Heavenly Gold Sand and a high-grade spiritual herb that was a hundred years old also indicated that their family background was quite substantial.
At the very least, given their previous financial situation, the Thunderfire Hall wouldn't have been able to afford even this ticket.
Lu Ming's gaze swept over two people: one was Song Ren, who had bid at the Spirit Herb Pavilion, and the other was a young woman with short hair, who was capable and efficient, but whose appearance could only be described as pretty, far inferior to Zhou Fuling.
From the whispers around him, Lu Ming learned that the woman's name was Su Tao, the daughter of the Dao of Alchemy master Su Wan on the balcony, making her a well-known "second-generation alchemist" in Fengyang Prefecture.
According to Lu Ming's speculation, these two people are probably his biggest competitors this time.
"Master, Senior Sister, I'll go try it first."
Lu Ming thought to himself, then smiled at Zhou Xuan and Zhou Fuling.
Zhou Xuan nodded, while Zhou Fuling gently bit her red lips and whispered, "Good luck."
Lu Ming agreed, his figure leaping onto the platform, and finding a stone platform.
Soon, a maid came up and placed all three portions of medicinal materials for refining the " Thunderclap Pill " on the stone platform, along with a jade book containing the pill's formula.
As Lu Ming was examining the medicinal herbs, he felt an unfriendly gaze directed at him. Looking up, he saw a young man named Song Ren staring at him with a cold smile from a stone platform not far away.
"Boy, you actually managed to get your hands on a hundred-year-old high-grade spiritual herb from who-knows-where. Was it with the help of that noble lady?" Song Ren sneered.
It's clear that he harbors considerable resentment towards Lu Ming. After all, a high-grade spiritual herb that could have been obtained easily for only 80,000 Heavenly Gold Sand was instead costing him an extra 120,000 Heavenly Gold Sand due to Lu Ming's interference.
This unexpected loss pained him for a whole night.
"None of your business."
Lu Ming didn't indulge him and immediately replied expressionlessly.
Upon hearing this, Song Ren was immediately annoyed, but the occasion was inappropriate, so he could only suppress his anger and sneer inwardly, "A peasant from a Third-Tier Divine Ability Hall dares to act arrogantly in the prefectural city. With such meager abilities, he still wants to compete for the ' Netherwater Flame '? Don't even dream about it."
Regarding this " Netherwater Flame," all the Dao of Alchemy masters in the Alchemist Association have already made a decision: they will definitely have to choose between him and Su Tao.
This so-called alchemy competition was nothing more than a formality. After all, they knew the exam questions in advance and had been practicing diligently for a month. With such preparation, how could other alchemists compete?
After the young alchemists had been studying the formulas for a full incense stick's time, Pang Qingsong's calm laughter echoed in the hall.
"Gentlemen, please begin."