As soon as Pang Qingsong's voice fell, the dozen or so young alchemists on the stage immediately took action. In an instant, Primordial Qi surged, and alchemy furnaces of various shapes, created by their own alchemy Dao of Alchemy powers, appeared one after another.
Lu Ming also activated the Fire Lotus Mark, summoning the lifelike Fire Lotus Pill Furnace.
He is now considered a mid-level alchemist and is proficient in the alchemy process. However, since this " Thunderclap Pill " is indeed being refined for the first time, he is still extremely unfamiliar with the combination of medicinal materials and the order of melting before and after the medicinal properties are developed. Therefore, Lu Ming can only awkwardly pick out the medicinal materials.
Most other alchemists are like this, after all, refining medicinal materials and breaking down their medicinal properties requires practice to master.
Their first attempt at refining " Thunderclap Pill " naturally required trial and error.
Basically, the first batch of medicinal herbs is used for trial and error.
However, while Lu Ming was still selecting medicinal herbs, Song Ren and Su Tao skillfully sorted the spiritual herbs into order and then put them into the alchemy furnace to begin refining their medicinal power.
This speed was significantly faster than everyone else's.
Lu Ming glanced at them out of the corner of his eye and shook his head inwardly. These two really weren't even going to put on an act anymore.
There would be a miracle if there wasn't something fishy going on!
However, Lu Ming didn't pay much attention to it. Since he couldn't change this shady practice, he could only do his best to refine pills, since he also had advantages that others couldn't match.
As time went on, Lu Ming finally figured out the order of refining the spiritual herbs and began to put them into the Fire Lotus Pill Furnace in batches.
Then, Lu Ming pretended to close his eyes slightly, and with a thought, he retrieved the Fire Lotus Pill Furnace into his body. His Divine Ability Bone roared, and Primordial Qi flowed out continuously, entering the pill furnace to maintain the pill fire.
The Flame of Life ignited within the alchemy furnace, Fire Lotus Pill Furnace slowly bloomed, a breathtaking sight.
The medicinal herbs were rapidly refined under the stimulation of the Fire Lotus Pill Furnace, and the chaotic medicinal power was melted out. At the same time, under the wondrous power of the Fire Lotus, the medicinal power intertwined and fused together.
"Go, Brother Fire Lotus!"
This perfect fusion left Lu Ming with almost no right to interfere, so he was a bit bored and could only cheer from the sidelines.
The Fire Lotus Pill Furnace was incredibly powerful, refining the medicinal power almost flawlessly. Each perfect fusion of the medicinal power captivated Lu Ming, as if a master alchemist was personally instructing him.
Thus, in just ten minutes, the thirty kinds of spiritual herbs were transformed into a ball of extremely pure and colorful medicinal liquid.
The Fire Lotus Pill Furnace slowly stopped operating, and the wondrous medicinal power of the elixir dissipated.
And that's when Lu Ming took over.
"Brother Fire Lotus, how about you handle the rest of the pill-forming process too?" Lu Ming murmured to himself, hoping for the best.
He didn't have high expectations for becoming a Grandmaster; if Fire Lotus could achieve it, wouldn't that be equivalent to him achieving it?
However, the Fire Lotus Pill Furnace did not respond to his expectations.
Lu Ming could only sigh helplessly. With a thought, he activated the " True Explanation of Six Refinements of Clear Qi ". In an instant, a full twenty-one streams of Clear Qi emerged from the Fire Lotus Pill Furnace and began to circulate around the ball of pure medicinal liquid.
To successfully refine this mid-grade " Thunderclap Pill," Lu Ming needs to use twenty-one strands of Clear Qi to successfully complete the " Third Refinement " before the pill can be successfully formed.
However, since this was Lu Ming's first time refining the " Thunderclap Pill," he was extremely clumsy in controlling the fusion of medicinal power at the moment of pill formation. So, just as the liquid had completed the First Refinement and was about to enter the Second Refinement, he saw the originally calm liquid begin to boil and vibrate.
That's a sign that the medicinal effects have gotten out of control.
So Lu Ming had an idea and quickly summoned the Fire Lotus Pill Furnace.
boom!
As soon as the Fire Lotus Pill Furnace was removed from the body, a muffled explosion of Primordial Qi emanated from it, followed by a thick plume of black smoke rising into the air.
Lu Ming looked helplessly at the black smoke rising from the alchemy furnace. This first attempt at refining had, unsurprisingly, failed.
This was quite normal, as muffled sounds of failed refining echoed from all around, black smoke billowed from the furnaces, and most of the alchemists looked disheveled and covered in soot.
There were only two exceptions.
Those are naturally Song Ren and Su Tao.
The two men remained calm. Before them, each had a pill furnace manifest, with flames rising and a ball of medicinal liquid churning within, changing shape from time to time. The rising medicinal energy seemed to conjure up the image of a spiritual herb.
Finally, the liquid gradually solidified, forming the prototype of a pill.
That's a sign that the elixir is about to be formed.
Song Ren looked smug and glanced at Lu Ming. When he saw the black smoke rising from Lu Ming furnace, the mockery in his eyes intensified. Seeing this kid get his comeuppance finally made him feel a little better after being depressed for the past few days.
Although he paid an extra 120,000 Heavenly Gold Sand, Lu Ming, who must have paid a considerable price to obtain this high-grade spiritual herb, would also be unable to use it.
Lu Ming ignored Song Ren's gaze and instead stared thoughtfully at the two remaining medicinal herbs. In fact, he had a great advantage, since he had done the fusion of medicinal power perfectly. What he lacked now was only the skill in the pill-making process. If he had more opportunities to try and fail, he was absolutely confident that he could refine Thunderclap Pill, at least of medium or even high grade. And this quality would be enough to crush everyone else.
However, in this kind of competition in alchemy, there aren't many opportunities for trial and error.
That's truly despicable.
Right now, Lu Ming can only pin his hopes on the next two trial and error opportunities, hoping they will allow him to become more proficient in pill-making techniques. If he can produce a mid-grade Thunderclap Pill, he feels he will have a chance to compete with Song Ren and Su Tao.
With that in mind, Lu Ming immediately adjusted his mindset and decisively made his move.
"First came the Purple Thunder Grass, releasing its thunderous medicinal power; then came the Pure Spirit Saliva, neutralizing the violent energy within; and finally, the Scorched Fruit..."
After placing the medicinal herbs into the alchemy furnace in order of their medicinal properties, Lu Ming absorbed them into his body again, activated his Primordial Qi to infuse them, and began the second alchemy process.
This time, however, the progress has improved significantly.
But just as the Third Refinement was about to be completed, the medicinal liquid boiled over, and the furnace exploded again.
Lu Ming frowned slightly as he stared at the black smoke billowing from the alchemy furnace in front of him, silently clearing away the dregs.
At this moment, a commotion arose from the stone platform, and a strong fragrance of pills spread out. Lu Ming raised his eyes and saw that faint thunder was resounding from the pill furnace in front of Song Ren and Su Tao, and a rich pill aura was spreading.
Their faces lit up with surprise. They reached into the alchemy furnace and pulled out a bolt of lightning. The lightning gradually subsided and condensed into a silver pill.
It is indeed the Thunderclap Pill!
On the balcony, Pang Qingsong, Ye Changfeng, and other Divine Ability Master all smiled. With their sharp eyes, they could tell at a glance that Song Ren and Su Tao had not only successfully refined the Thunderclap Pill, but that they had also achieved a mid-grade quality.
This quality is far superior to that of other alchemists who constantly cause their furnaces to explode.
Barring any unforeseen circumstances, the final winner will be one of these two.
"A mid-grade Thunderclap Pill..."
Lu Ming sensed the intense medicinal energy emanating from the two Thunderclap Pill, but his eyes remained quite calm. Then he reached out and grabbed the third batch of medicinal herbs.
But at that moment, a slender, white hand, as white as jade and shimmering with light under the surrounding alchemical fire, reached out and blocked his hand.
"Um?"
Lu Ming looked up in surprise and saw Zhou Fuling's bright face, which was filled with complex emotions and still had a blush on it, in front of him.
"Senior sister? What brings you up here?"
Zhou Fuling bit her red lips, her cheeks flushed red again, and her fair and delicate earlobes were burning hot. She took a deep breath and whispered shyly.
"This is the last batch of medicinal herbs; we can't afford to make any more mistakes..."
"Let's combine our skills."