The Pill Furnace and the Visitor
"Mr. Gongsun is truly a man of action; he gets things done as soon as he says he will. The power of the Southern Flame should surpass that of my cousin!"
Zhang Xuezhou recently hid in the palace, and another theft occurred at his residence. Rong Tianding, who was well aware of the situation, knew that Zhang Xuezhou had made arrangements and had not been coming to the Imperial City District repeatedly recently.
Rong Tianding was no different from Zhang Xuezhou, always adhering to the idea that as long as the Technique Method were sufficient, the development of Nanming Fire was limited.
Zhang Xuezhou felt that Rong Tianding could practice more, and perhaps he could inadvertently lend him a helping hand.
As for Zhang Xuezhou's Realm Technique, it is inferior to the Confucian School middle way and difficult to match Shi Jiao. Therefore, he himself finds it difficult to achieve success in cultivation and can only place his hopes on others.
"Alchemy is still the most practical!"
Placing one's hopes on others is undoubtedly unreliable, and Zhang Xuezhou eventually returned to his main profession.
On the one hand, he should study the method of refining the Life-Creating Pill as soon as possible, so as to use the great medicinal resources of the imperial court and the Xiong State to refine the pill and push the Nine Revolutions Qi Integration Technique to the eighth revolution, so as to have the ability to not be afraid of losing limbs.
On the other hand, Zhang Xuezhou was seeking elixirs to enhance his physical body techniques, attempting to use resources to advance this technique, which required years of honing.
Once you have the ability to survive being attacked, the rest is about nurturing and enhancing the spiritwood staff, thereby maximizing your combat strength in the Sole Self Realm.
He studied the Pill Furnace Pill Furnace that the new emperor had sent after losing the game of Shefu for a while, and saw that there were still remnants of black burning material inside.
"It looks like coal!"
High-quality charcoal is mostly used in alchemy, not only because the flame temperature can be controlled, but also to prevent smoke from affecting the medicinal properties.
Aside from the Golden Crow Great Emperor's feather demonic fire, Zhang Xuezhou rarely encountered high-quality fire sources, and he could only obtain charcoal for refining pills.
Coal is another excellent source of ignition.
This type of fire source also has another name, 'fire in stone', as its flame temperature is higher than that of charcoal, and it produces less smoke and ash.
This small Pill Furnace is not as good as the water and fire Pill Furnace inherited by the Yin-Yang School, and it is difficult to automate alchemy. However, the fuel used is something that Zhang Xuezhou finds very interesting.
When searching for the recipe for the Life-Creating Pill, a regular fire source was fine, but if it was for mass production of the pill, Zhang Xuezhou clearly wanted a better fire source.
"This matter requires Your Majesty's help to find out where the coal comes from and whether a large quantity of coal can be found!"
Zhang Xuezhou took out some samples and lit a fire under the Pill Furnace.
Compared to the cauldrons used for cooking in mansions, Pill Furnace can be sealed, have their contents pulled out, and easily add medicinal herbs, thus achieving more standardized proportions.
After comparing the cooking cauldrons, Zhang Xuezhou felt that the Pill Furnace was a much more serious subject of study.
As usual, he took the medicinal herbs that Yi Shuo had brought back from the Imperial Medical Academy and did some simple compatibility testing.
"It hasn't collapsed or cracked; the elixir energy is condensed and orderly, seemingly showing signs of elixir formation!"
The Imperial Medical Academy retrieved thirty portions of medicinal herbs from the residence; this represents thirty opportunities for proper matching.
This amount is insufficient to cover the materials Zhang Xuezhou squandered in one alchemy session, and it's also insufficient to allow Zhang Xuezhou to continuously test medicines over a long period.
He currently relies on luck when making pills, trying once or twice every day or two. This trial-and-error method of refining medicine will deplete the medicinal materials in no time, which is why Yi Shuo is still applying for medicinal materials from the Imperial Medical Academy.
Zhang Xuezhou didn't expect that on his second attempt at refining the medicine, he seemed to have stumbled upon the right formula.
"Could it be that I've benefited from His Majesty's good fortune and gotten lucky along with him?"
Zhang Xuezhou looked at the Pill Furnace that the new emperor had personally delivered.
With the Yin-Yang School's water and fire Pill Furnace before him, how could he possibly look down on the smaller Pill Furnace from the last one?
Zhang Xuezhou's attention was almost entirely focused on the coal, and he paid no attention to the Pill Furnace itself.
Only when there were signs of pill formation in the furnace did Zhang Xuezhou realize that this was a good Pill Furnace.
The style of the Pill Furnace is not important, nor is its convenient capabilities; what matters is its ability to refine pills.
Just as Zhang Xuezhou adhered to the standard of "good enough" when it came to Technique Method, the quality of his Pill Furnace was also "good enough."
This Pill Furnace is not as advanced as the water-fire Pill Furnace, and it is difficult to produce a large number of pills at once. However, as long as it can refine the Life-Creating Pill, it is a good Pill Furnace.
Zhang Xuezhou touched the Lesser Heaven and Earth Bag, took out the meat Ganoderma, and cut off a small portion to add to the medicine.
Having made a general judgment in his mind, he changed from preparing medicine and testing pills to refining pills.
After simmering for nearly half an hour, Zhang Xuezhou removed the perforated filter, poured out the dregs, and waited for the medicinal soup to slowly transform into a shaped pill over a low flame.
His eyes were slightly lowered, and he could feel several pairs of eyes sweeping over him from time to time.
Alchemy and medicine making are inherently tedious tasks, and the process of slowly simmering fire to form pills requires an extremely long waiting time.
If alchemy weren't so time-consuming, Zhang Xuezhou wouldn't have considered mass-producing pills.
The Life-Creating Pill has a long refining period. If some methods of nurturing the pill are added, it is normal for a single pill to take three days to form, and it is not uncommon for it to take three months.
When demand is high, there is nowhere to get the medicine.
If the quality of the pills is also a factor, it is almost impossible to accumulate a large number of pills.
This is also why Daojun, despite his apparent falling out with Zhang Xuezhou and others, ultimately tacitly allowed Hongku group to come to the Great Han Dynasty to exchange materials for finished elixirs.
Without a large number of qualified Alchemist, it would be almost impossible to obtain a sufficient number of high-quality pills in a short period of time.
There are only a few Alchemist in the world who can mass-produce pills like Zhang Xuezhou. The reason why Zhang Xuezhou can refine medium-grade or even top-grade pills is because of the flesh spirit mushroom. If the conditions are not met, Zhang Xuezhou himself will not be able to produce a large number of high-quality pills in a short period of time.
The many expectant gazes eventually returned to their own, leaving only Zhang Xuezhou to open his eyes every hour to adjust the fire and maintain its stability during the warming process.
As long as the pill is formed and conforms to the medicinal properties of the Life-Creating Pill, Zhang Xuezhou will not care about the quality of the pill in the furnace.
As the rooster crowed, Zhang Xuezhou was about to lift the lid of the furnace to check the pills when his eyes turned to the direction where the sword was hanging in the main hall.
He didn't have any immediate Technique Method, so he threw a punch as he stood up.
Zhang Xuezhou's skillful control over 'fast and slow' allowed him to make contact with his opponent in an instant.
A sharp pain shot through the bone in my hand in an instant, and bloodstains from the cuts made by the silk thread appeared on the back of my hand before quickly fading away.
"My martial uncle, you should just visit me openly and honestly. What kind of behavior is this, sneaking around like this?"
Zhang Xuezhou grumbled, but there was no response from the darkness; only a few puppet strings, barely visible to the naked eye, appeared.
He could only take a deep breath and then grab the puppet strings.
The powerful pull caused the puppet strings to tighten instantly in his palm, and he felt a sharp, needle-like cutting sensation as they pierced his skin. Zhang Xuezhou exerted force continuously with his right hand, while his left hand flicked his fingers several times.
"You actually dared to attack me head-on? Don't you want to use your hands anymore?!"
Jin Chang's hoarse voice came from the shadows, accompanied by the same muffled groan, his figure swaying uncontrollably in the darkness.
"No one can cripple me in a battle of puppet silk. Your move won't work against me... Hmm?"
The puppet threads transformed into a soft, tangible pull, causing many opponents to raise their limbs in pain, thus cooperating with Jin Chang's manipulation.
But this time, the manipulation of the puppet threads did not work.
It was as if they were pulling a wooden stake that knew no pain; the other party did not care about the stinging pain of their flesh being tightened by the puppet silk.
In the ensuing collision as they pulled at each other again, Jin Chang emerged from the shadows, having already taken four punches and two kicks.
These were very clumsy martial arts techniques, but Jin Chang had to endure them because of the pulling of the puppet strings.
Moreover, Zhang Xuezhou's punches and kicks were very heavy, and Jin Chang felt as if some of his bones had been broken.