Chapter 72 of 100

Chapter 72

12 min read3,020 words

With a "bang!" and a "sizzle!" as the muffled sound suddenly arose from within the tripod, a pungent smell of burning immediately seeped out from the vent holes of the alchemical tripod.

Chu He’s first attempt at refining a pill was a failure.

The failure was due to being a bit too hasty when elevating the pill, which led to a mishap. At the same time, his control over the furnace fire did not keep up, resulting in the complete destruction of the medicinal materials.

After disposing of the scrapped medicinal residue, Chu He took out another set of materials for the Qi-Benefiting Pill. However, after some thought, he did not immediately continue the refining process but instead closed his eyes and fell into deep contemplation.

Recalling the refining process and comparing it with his previous life’s experience in refining pills in games, and with the assistance of the basic refining method, he had a series of epiphanies, as if enlightened by a sudden insight.

At this moment, it was as if two movies were playing simultaneously in his soul, moving in slow motion, aligning the processes up and down. In between, the basic refining method appeared in the form of subtitles, either a single line or multiple lines, inserted into certain segments.

After about an hour and a half of deep contemplation, he opened his eyes and began the second refining process.

This time, he seemed much more confident, unlike before when he was somewhat hesitant.

Soon, it was time to elevate the pill.

Even though Chu He’s spiritual essence was robust, sweat still appeared on his forehead as he concentrated intensely, fearing another destruction of the medicinal materials.

Fortunately, the elevation of the pill went smoothly.

It was soon time to combine the pill.

Relatively speaking, the combining stage for a legal-grade pill was simpler, requiring only the manipulation of spiritual sense to ensure even distribution. Unlike higher-grade pills such as treasure-grade and spirit-grade, which required the infusion of pure heaven and earth qi and other substances.

“Clunk.” The lid of the alchemical tripod opened, and a scorching hot air emitted. Chu He used his spiritual sense to extract the finished pills from the tripod.

This batch of Qi-Benefiting Pills produced fifteen pills, which looked good, at least of medium quality.

Chu He placed them in a small porcelain bottle and stored them in his storage ring, then sat down to meditate and recover the spent spiritual essence.

Although the spiritual qi here was abundant, it still took about half an incense stick’s time to recover. If not for the powerful treasure-grade purple jade he wore, it would have taken even longer.

There was no way around it; due to the needs of his spiritual body, a significant portion of the spiritual essence he introduced into his body was taken by the spiritual body. Not only was this the case with the introduction of spiritual qi, but also with the refinement of medicinal power, which took more time than for ordinary cultivators.

The transformation of his spiritual body was at a critical stage, and Chu He did not dare to be negligent. He provided whatever was needed, but this process had to be slow and steady, and could not be rushed. Otherwise, Chu He could have taken three high-quality Essence-Cultivating Pills a day, satisfying any demand, even to the point of overindulgence.

After recovering, he began the third refining process.

It took about an hour, and another batch of Qi-Benefiting Pills came out of the tripod, with the refining time shortened somewhat.

There were seventeen pills, still of medium quality.

A smile appeared on Chu He’s face: the insights and comparisons were indeed useful. Being able to reduce the loss and produce two more pills from the same amount of medicinal materials was a significant improvement.

After storing this batch of Qi-Benefiting Pills, Chu He once again reflected on the third refining process in his soul.

After gaining some insights, Chu He proceeded to the fourth attempt.

This time, his goal was to produce high-quality pills!

In the first three attempts, he did not use the Purifying Fire during the elevation of the pill. This time, Chu He intended to use it to see if he could elevate the medium-quality Qi-Benefiting Pills to high quality.

After three attempts, the fourth process went smoothly, almost effortlessly. Even before combining the pill, Chu He had a vague feeling that this batch of pills would reach high quality even without the purification by the Purifying Fire.

However, to ensure the quality, he still used the Purifying Fire.

After elevating the pill, the impurities in the uncombined medicinal liquid were almost negligible for the current Purifying Fire, and the purification was completed almost instantaneously.

“Clunk.” Opening the lid, Chu He reached out without fear of the heat and picked up a pill to examine it closely, his face showing surprise.

High-quality Qi-Benefiting Pills!

Moreover, this batch produced twenty pills. According to market prices, one high-quality Qi-Benefiting Pill was worth about ten low-grade spirit stones. This batch of pills could be sold for two hundred low-grade spirit stones, netting a profit of about one hundred low-grade spirit stones after deducting costs.

Without considering labor costs, a 100% profit margin was indeed lucrative.

No wonder people said that refining pills and artifacts was the most profitable. Moreover, as the grade of the pills and artifacts increased, the profit margins multiplied by ten or a hundred. It was the best way to make money!

High-quality Qi-Benefiting Pills no longer met Chu He’s cultivation needs; at least low-grade Essence-Cultivating Pills were required.

Therefore, this batch of high-quality Qi-Benefiting Pills was also stored away, to be sold in the market when he had the time, along with the medium-quality ones.

By refining high-quality Qi-Benefiting Pills, Chu He could obtain the qualifications of a mid-level pill apprentice.

However, this was not Chu He’s current goal; his goal was to refine the eighth-grade Essence-Cultivating Pills. The Qi-Benefiting Pills were just for practice. Once he became proficient, he would start refining Essence-Cultivating Pills.

With the complete pill formula left by the tall and thin cultivator, he could compare and explore it with the Essence-Cultivating Pill formula within the sect. With some time, Chu He felt confident in refining low-quality Essence-Cultivating Pills. In the future, with experience and the use of the Purifying Fire, he would not fear refining medium-quality and high-quality pills.

From a hardworking spirit farmer to a mid-level pill apprentice capable of refining pills, Chu He had completed a leap that ordinary cultivators would take years to achieve in just over half a year, which was truly astonishing.

This was just the beginning. Becoming a high-level alchemist, an artifact refiner, or even a grandmaster, and eventually reaching the realms of Core Formation, Nascent Soul, or even True Spirit... these were Chu He’s ultimate goals.

Even with an ordinary body, one must have lofty ideals. Dreams never wither, and one must strive for life. This was the belief Chu He held.

...

After the fourth batch of pills was refined, Chu He still had several dozen sets of materials in his storage ring, enough for him to refine extensively. However, he put away the black iron alchemical tripod and returned to his room to rest.

It was still over an hour before dawn, and he wanted to use this time to restore himself to his best condition. Facing the new environment tomorrow, he only hoped to avoid any mistakes.

Time passed quickly; the four batches of pills were completed in six hours, from the hour of Shen to the hour of Yin. No wonder people said that the path of refining was like cultivation, where one lost track of time, and time passed like a white horse through a crevice.

The next day, Chu He got up early, washed up, and went to the Earth Fire Department. Unexpectedly, he met the steward Zhang He on the way, and they walked together.

Seeing him come early, Zhang He secretly praised him: "Good lad, coming half an hour early, much better than those lazybones who come just on time. This is what a pill refiner should be like."

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