Top-Grade Pills and an Inspection

"Commander-in-Chief, you don't need to do this kind of work. Just call a few more people!"

"No, Dongfang Shuo ordered me to do it, so I have no choice but to do it!"

"He... he... he's so brave!"

The Alchemy Chamber of Shanglin Garden was opened again.

Although the events of gathering herbs and refining elixirs in Shanglin Garden are still vivid in my mind, three years have already passed.

It was three years later that Qinlu No. 8 was reignited.

Compared to the last time the furnace was opened for alchemy, this time there were piles of black stones outside the Alchemy Chamber, and the water vats for washing medicine were no longer limited to Alchemy Chamber; eighteen water vats had been piled up outside the hall.

Large quantities of medicinal herbs were continuously washed, then sorted and soaked, and finally carried into the Alchemy Chamber along with the vats.

In addition to the medicinal herbs already stored in this side hall, several thousand catties of semi-fresh medicinal herbs brought by Hongku were added. Sixteen cartloads of medicinal herbs were transported from Chang'an City, with many herbs weighing over ten thousand catties. Once soaked in water, the total weight of these herbs is difficult to estimate.

Looking at the new emperor, who was slightly out of breath, Wei Qing felt that the new emperor didn't need to do this kind of work.

The new emperor's insistence could only elicit a few complaints from Wei Qing about Zhang Xuezhou, but he disliked gossiping behind people's backs and was not a sharp-tongued person. In the end, he could only say that Zhang Xuezhou, who was making the new emperor work, was very bold.

The new emperor's face showed a hint of helplessness. He was well aware of the reason why he had been conscripted. It was simply because of his cultivation of luck techniques, and Zhang Xuezhou was hoping to benefit from it to increase his success rate in alchemy.

Whether it's washing the medicine or opening the Pill Furnace, the new emperor will intervene.

Zhang Xuezhou had squeezed him to the limit, but the new emperor couldn't complain, since this long-running alchemy project affected many people.

He looked towards the direction of Chang'an City.

In addition to this batch of medicinal herbs, the transaction with Hongku also involved an 'antidote'.

Zhang Xuezhou neither took the 'antidote' nor had any intention of coveting it. The antidote was eventually sent to Changxin Palace, but whether the Empress Dowager took it is unknown.

Will his elixir work?

When the sound of a zither rang out again, Wei Qing tiptoed and peeked towards the Alchemy Chamber.

Compared to previous alchemy practices, this time there were many more elaborate methods. Not only did the new emperor help out for several days, but there was also music and singing to assist.

Initially, it was Wei Shao'er who sang it, but later it was Wei Zifu who sang it.

This was a rare opportunity for Wei Zifu to leave the palace in several years. Wei Qing was a little happy, but also a little disappointed. He felt that Wei Zifu rarely left the palace, but in the end, she was still dragged out to be used as a laborer.

"I'll go light the furnace!"

The zither music was as urgent as a sudden downpour, carrying a hint of urgency. The new emperor stood up and entered the hall.

When the Alchemy Chamber was gently pushed open, a yellowish-orange medicinal mist rushed out. Just a whiff was enough to make the new emperor feel a bitter taste in his throat, as if he were about to be poisoned.

If the aura of the elixir is like this, then the elixir itself must be even more remarkable.

Refining pills in such an environment is by no means an easy task. Not to mention that many Alchemist could not persevere, even the new emperor felt that he could not stay in such an environment for several days and nights.

How are you?

In the misty medicinal fog, the new emperor saw Zhang Xuezhou shaking his head as if he were slightly drunk, or as if he were too deeply poisoned to be lucid.

Although he had seen this symptom several times before, the new emperor still cautiously inquired about it.

"I'm confident this time it will work out. Could you lend a hand and see how it goes?"

Are you alright?

"I'm fine, very fine!"

Zhang Xuezhou gave a nonsensical reply, and only after the new emperor inquired further did Zhang Xuezhou indicate that he was in perfect condition.

Zhang Xuezhou's situation is indeed quite good.

Although it was alchemy, Zhang Xuezhou took advantage of the environment in the Alchemy Chamber to improve his poison avoidance technique.

The Alchemy Chamber was filled with the toxic aura of medicinal herbs, containing the poisonous fumes of arsenic and other substances, as well as the life-giving power of the Life-Creating Pill.

Ren Anran and Zhang Manqian had once used the overwhelming poisonous scales of Leiata City to enhance their Poison Avoidance Technique. The advantage of the 'earth' allowed their Poison Avoidance Zhunti relatively quickly, thus barely adapting to the Spirit-Forging Pill refined by Zhang Xuezhou.

The medicinal and toxic aura in the Alchemy Chamber far surpassed that of Leiata City. Although it was confined to a small area, it was enough for Zhang Xuezhou to experience its effects.

He even invited Wei Zifu to play the zither to help him, trying his best to remain calm and handle everything rationally.

This is the eighth batch of pills he has refined.

The previous attempts at making pills were not unsuccessful; two batches of low-grade pills and one batch of mixed mid-grade and low-grade pills were successfully made.

These pills contained toxic substances, and Zhang Xuezhou experienced a burning sensation in his throat when he took them.

He didn't want to waste it, and thought about improving his poison-avoidance skills to a higher level so that he could take it directly in the future.

"Let's open the furnace!"

The medicinal herbs sent by Hongku were of a complex variety, with significant variations in their medicinal properties. In addition, Zhang Xuezhou needed to make adjustments for large-scale pill refining. He was already quite satisfied with his current success rate in pill refining, and now it was up to Tai Sui to improve the quality of the pills.

He urged the new emperor, clearly eager to combine the combined strength of the two to complete the elixir.

"Then I'll open it!"

The new emperor rubbed his hands together.

As if the answer to the riddle had been revealed, he felt a slight tension. He pushed and pulled with both hands, and the new emperor felt the Pill Furnace shake. He couldn't pull the drawer out for a moment.

"I've been busy for the past few days and I'm feeling a bit tired. Let me try again!"

The new emperor felt a sense of unease when he failed to open the drawer of the Pill Furnace, sensing that he might have messed things up.

He spat on his hands, and as he reached out to exert force again, a dark red blood-red light flashed in his palms.

The feeling of the iron handle being loosened surged into the heart. The new emperor saw Qin Furnace No. 8 suddenly jump, and this ten-foot-tall Pill Furnace almost flew half a meter into the air.

A fierce and scalding medicinal vapor gushed out like a fountain, directly blasting open the Pill Furnace room and creating a towering white wave of air.

"Hey!"

The roof tiles came crashing down on him, and the new emperor was also pulled off balance by the falling Pill Furnace, almost flying off.

As he shouted and steadied himself, a beam of light shot out from the Alchemy Chamber.

As his gaze swept back quickly, the new emperor saw the pills in the Alchemy Chamber shooting out of the Pill Cauldron like bolts from a crossbow.

"Receive!"

When Zhang Xuezhou stretched out his long sleeve to block the way, the new emperor also waved his sleeve repeatedly.

Two consecutive beams of talismanic light emerged from his body, and the new emperor found it difficult to comment on the chaotic state of this top-grade elixir's creation.

"How about it?"

The new emperor shouted, and he saw Zhang Xuezhou already soaring into the air, directly passing through the collapsed ceiling above the Alchemy Chamber, clearly trying to catch the exploding pills.

"One, two, three... six, seven. Dongfang Shuo made two hundred pills at a time, and about twenty of them should be top-grade. His pills were inferior to mine; at least eight to ten top-grade pills were lost, and I don't know how many high-grade pills were also lost!"

Few Technique Method cultivators and martial artists can match each other's on-the-spot reaction speed. The new emperor's drawer was pulled by the Pill Furnace, and then he grabbed pills again. He grabbed more pills than Zhang Xuezhou.

As for the pills that flew through the air, he was helpless against them. After all, the pills were propelled dozens of feet by the shockwave, and he couldn't jump to that height.

Seeing that the elixirs had all disappeared, the new emperor also wanted to go out of the Alchemy Chamber to look for them.

But before he could leap out of the Alchemy Chamber, the new emperor saw Zhang Xuezhou plummeting down from the air, landing covered in dust and dirt.

There seems to be something wrong with this jade pendant!

Zhang Xuezhou glanced at the blast wave from the sealed high-pressure explosion at Qinlu No. 8, then handed the jade pendant hanging from his waist to the new emperor.

He had just adjusted his posture when he felt a fiery gaze sweep across the Alchemy Chamber before quickly receding and moving away.

Faintly, Zhang Xuezhou could also hear a clear bird song.

"It seems the Empress Dowager used some kind of magic at the altar. She probably wanted to use the power of fate to determine the outcome of the antidote. How did she end up here on her inspection tour?"

Zhang Xuezhou could sense that the new emperor's technique was slightly slower, but he quickly reacted.

The Empress Dowager wouldn't come to Shanglin Garden out of boredom to perform the ritual at the altar; rather, an unexpected event prompted her to conduct the inspection.

In rituals involving magical arts, only when those who practice magical arts use their abilities will the Empress Dowager become alert and conduct inspections.

The new emperor couldn't help but glance at the jade pendant that Zhang Xuezhou had taken out.

A single artifact may have limited power, but if the owner of this jade pendant were to arrive, it would be a different story.

Thinking of Liu An, the King of Huainan skills were recorded in classic texts, and considering Emperor Rao's brave and decisive nature, he also became more solemn at this moment.