Chapter 72

Leaving the meeting hall, Xiao Yan returned to his room and prepared the items needed for refining the healing medicine. Afterward, he quietly slipped to the secluded cave on the back mountain where he had previously practiced.

Old Medicine had once said that when refining medicine, one must avoid being disturbed. With so many people in the family, if someone were to barge in like Xiao Yu did last time, Xiao Yan would not be able to bear the consequences.

Sneaking into the cave, Xiao Yan eagerly took out the storage ring from his chest, infused a strand of combat qi into it, and the pale red ring glowed slightly. Then, a nearly half-meter tall red medicine cauldron appeared out of nowhere in the cave.

The cauldron was dark red overall, with a faint glow. At the bottom of the cauldron, two fierce snake heads were carved, their mouths wide open, forming two interconnected fire holes. The holes were curved and narrow, becoming smaller the deeper they went, hinting at some hidden secrets.

At the top of the cauldron, a large snake coiled into a dark red lid, with a special hole for adding ingredients. On the lid, there were some fine holes made of ice silver, which helped dissipate heat to prevent the cauldron from exploding. In the middle of the cauldron, a transparent mirror made of ice essence was installed, allowing one to clearly see everything inside during the refining process.

The surface of the cauldron was adorned with intricate and lifelike magical beast patterns.

Looking at the magnificent cauldron, Xiao Yan nodded in satisfaction and touched the ancient black ring on his finger. Old Medicine appeared as a faint glow.

"Hmm, a two-mouthed cauldron. This is not bad for a beginner like you." Old Medicine glanced at the three snake mouths on the dark red cauldron and said indifferently.

"Two-mouthed cauldron?" Xiao Yan blinked in confusion at the unfamiliar term.

"Medicine cauldrons have different levels. The more fire mouths a cauldron has, the higher and rarer it is. Don't think these fire mouths are just random holes; the intricacies are hard for outsiders to understand. The fire mouths are the essence of the cauldron, requiring precise craftsmanship. Any mistake during the creation process can turn the entire cauldron into a failure. Therefore, the more fire mouths a cauldron has, the better it aids in refining. However, controlling multiple fire mouths requires strong soul perception. For you now, controlling two fire mouths is your limit." Old Medicine smiled and explained.

"A good medicine cauldron is as important to an alchemist as a precious sword is to a warrior."

Nodding slightly, Xiao Yan looked at the large cauldron in front of him and asked blankly, "What should I do next?"

"First, get familiar with the cauldron. Place one of your hands on a fire mouth and then channel the combat qi in your body into it." Old Medicine sat cross-legged in the cave and directed.

Nodding, Xiao Yan touched the fire mouth, closed his eyes, and the pale yellow qi vortex in his body fluctuated slightly. Streams of pale yellow combat qi surged out, making his palm slightly yellow.

The pale yellow combat qi paused at his palm, then, as if drawn by a powerful suction, it shot out from his palm and entered the cauldron through the fire mouth.

"Thud..."

A muffled sound echoed as the pale yellow qi was suddenly transformed into a pale yellow substantial flame, which burned and churned inside the cauldron.

The sudden flame from his palm startled Xiao Yan, almost making him reflexively pull his hand back. However, he calmed down when he felt the coolness in his palm.

"Hmm, not bad. You managed to transform the qi into a flame on your first try."

Looking at the churning flame inside the cauldron, Old Medicine nodded and said solemnly, "The flame you summoned is not the refining flame. Now, focus your mind and control the trace of wood energy in your body, then channel it into the cauldron!"

Xiao Yan closed his eyes as instructed, his mind gradually settling. His excellent soul perception scanned his body for the thin trace of wood energy.

It took Xiao Yan over ten minutes to find the wood energy in his body before he finally opened his eyes with a sigh of relief.

"Found it?" Seeing Xiao Yan open his eyes, Old Medicine was somewhat surprised. When the latter nodded, he couldn't help but praise him. It had taken Old Medicine nearly half an hour to find the wood energy in his body the first time, which showed how strong Xiao Yan's soul perception was.

Xiao Yan extended a finger and lightly touched another fire mouth, and a very thin green qi stream was slowly infused.

As soon as the green qi entered the cauldron, the pale yellow flame inside calmed down as if a chemical reaction had occurred. Even without controlling the flame, Xiao Yan could sense that the violent elements in the flame had been neutralized by the wood energy. Due to the principle of wood generating fire, the flame was now more enduring and controllable.

"Good..." Old Medicine nodded in satisfaction, touched Xiao Yan's forehead with his finger, and transmitted a piece of information into his mind.

"This is the formula for the healing medicine I formulated. Try refining it, and I will remind you to control the temperature of the flame and the extraction of the ingredients."

Xiao Yan nodded slightly, feeling the information in his mind.

"Blood Coagulating Powder: one Blood Coagulating Grass, one Vitality Fruit, two Poppy Flowers..."

After memorizing the quantities of the ingredients, Xiao Yan's soul perception gradually invaded the cauldron, trying to control the relatively gentle flame.

He flicked his finger on the storage ring, and a somewhat dark red Blood Coagulating Grass appeared in his palm. After a brief hesitation, Xiao Yan threw it into the cauldron through the snake head at the top.

As soon as the Blood Coagulating Grass entered the cauldron, the flame surged up before Xiao Yan could control it, and the grass was instantly turned into black ashes, which were then expelled from the cauldron by a special mechanism.

Looking at his first mistake, Xiao Yan smiled awkwardly.

"Continue." Old Medicine said indifferently.

Swallowing a mouthful of saliva, Xiao Yan threw another Blood Coagulating Grass into the cauldron. This time, the grass lasted a bit longer in the flame but still turned into black ashes.

"The temperature is too high."

Wiping the cold sweat from his forehead, Xiao Yan finally realized that refining pills was not something anyone could easily handle.

After persistently burning through over twenty Blood Coagulating Grasses, Xiao Yan finally managed to grasp the temperature point suitable for the grass.

Throwing another Blood Coagulating Grass into the cauldron, Xiao Yan's face was serious as he tightly controlled the temperature of the flame with his soul perception, his eyes fixed on the floating Blood Coagulating Grass through the ice mirror.

After churning in the flame for a while, the Blood Coagulating Grass began to shed its skin, and the juice inside the leaves was roasted into a pale white powder. The essence of the Blood Coagulating Grass was finally successfully extracted by the novice Xiao Yan.

(Rolling on the ground... please give me a recommendation! ^_^)