188: Chapter 187 All Ten Furnaces Complete

Yun Ming returned to the Quiet Room, took the Pill Furnace out from the map of mountains and rivers, and placed it in front of him.

He reviewed the Pill Formula for the zifu true essence pill once more, mentally running through every step—the processing of the Materials, the control of the heat, and the application of the Alchemy techniques—before he began.

For the first furnace, he refined very slowly.

Every step was done with extreme caution; the processing of the Materials was repeatedly verified, the heat control was precise to every breath, and he dared not be the slightest bit careless with the application of the Alchemy techniques.

The Materials entered the cauldron, the furnace fire rose, and his Divine Sense, like threads, meticulously sensed every subtle change within the furnace.

An hour later, the Pill Furnace gave a gentle tremor, and the lid sprang open automatically.

He reached into the cauldron and took out a Medicinal Pill.

The Medicinal Pill was the size of a Dragon's eye, purple throughout, with faint cloud patterns on the surface, and the fragrance of the pill was clear and crisp.

But looking closely, the cloud patterns were somewhat blurry, and the color was not uniform enough; it counted as Medium Grade, barely passing.

The first furnace was a success; although there were some minor flaws, the flaws did not obscure the virtues.

For the second furnace, he adjusted the heat and shortened the warming time.

When the Medicinal Pill came out of the furnace, it was much better than the first; the cloud patterns were clearer, and the color was uniform.

The third furnace was even better, almost reaching High Grade quality.

The fourth, fifth, and sixth furnaces—starting from the fourth, every furnace produced High Grade pills.

With ten portions of Materials, he finished refining all of them in less than half a month.

Not a single furnace failed.

During this period, he went out once and toured several pill pavilions in the city, wanting to buy Materials for the Xuan Ying Pill.

The Xuan Ying Pill was a Fourth-Rank Low Grade Medicinal Pill; as long as he could refine it successfully, he would officially step over the threshold of a Fourth-Rank Alchemist.

He bought a total of three portions of Materials from three pill pavilions, spending quite a few Spirit Stones.

After returning, he couldn't wait to start the furnace and try, but all three portions failed.

The first portion caused the furnace to explode, and the Pill Furnace was almost ruined.

The second portion formed into a pill, but it had no pill patterns, the medicinal efficacy was less than one-tenth, and it was practically a waste pill.

The third portion didn't even form into a pill; when he opened the furnace, there was only a pool of black, charred goo inside.

He was not discouraged.

The difficulty of Fourth-Rank Medicinal Pills was more than a level higher than Third-Rank; failure was normal.

But the fact that he could buy Materials for the Xuan Ying Pill in Qingyao City surprised him.

Not only the Xuan Ying Pill, but he even saw finished Xuan Ying Pills for sale on the shelves of several pill pavilions; the price was high, but they were indeed available.

Even the rarer nine-turn jade infant pill, he saw one in the largest pill pavilion, with an outrageously high price tag, locked in a separate glass cabinet as the store's treasure.

The Zifu Immortal Dynasty was truly worthy of being the Zifu Immortal Dynasty; things that people would fight to the death for elsewhere were clearly priced here, with no deception of customers.

The agreed-upon day arrived.

The courtyard gate was knocked upon. Yun Ming opened the door, and Zhou Qian stood outside with a smile, carrying a box of snacks in his hand, looking like a neighbor coming for a visit.

"Mr. Yun, I trust you have been well." Zhou Qian cupped his hands in greeting.

"Come in and sit." Yun Ming stepped aside to let him in.

The two sat down at the stone table in the courtyard.

Yun Ming went to brew tea, brought it out, and poured a cup for Zhou Qian.

It was still ordinary tea, and he still praised it as good tea.

Zhou Qian put down the tea he had only sipped, his gaze landing on Yun Ming's face with a touch of anticipation.

"Mr. Yun, as for those ten portions of Materials for the zifu true essence pill, I wonder how many furnaces you have successfully refined?"

He asked, his tone very casual, as if he were asking what the weather was like today.

"Although this zifu true essence pill is only a Third-grade Medium Grade, the difficulty of refining it is quite high. I have asked several Alchemists in the City Lord's Mansion, and they all say that the difficulty of this Pill Formula approaches that of a Third-grade High Grade. If you can succeed with four out of ten portions of Materials, that is already considered an extremely high success rate."

Yun Ming put down his teacup, took out ten jade bottles from his sleeve, lined them up, and placed them on the stone table.

Each jade bottle had a small label affixed to it, indicating the name and quantity of the Medicinal Pill.

Zhou Qian's gaze fell upon those ten jade bottles, and his pupils contracted slightly.

"Ten portions of Materials, ten furnaces of pills." Yun Ming said, "They are all here."

Zhou Qian was stunned.

He opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but swallowed it back.

He reached out and picked up the jade bottle on the far right, pulled out the stopper, and a rich fragrance of the pill gushed out from the bottle's mouth—clear, crisp, and mellow; just smelling it once made one feel refreshed.

He poured the Medicinal Pill into his palm; it was the size of a Dragon's eye, purple throughout, with clear cloud patterns and a uniform color—it was unmistakably High Grade.

He opened the second bottle; High Grade. The third bottle; High Grade.

The fourth bottle; High Grade. He opened them one by one, looked at them one by one, and every bottle was High Grade.

Until he opened the bottle on the far left, the fragrance was slightly weaker, and the cloud patterns were a bit blurry, but it was still of a quality above Medium Grade.

Zhou Qian raised his head and looked at Yun Ming, his eyes complex.

He was silent for a long time, put the Medicinal Pill back into the bottle, put the stopper back in, and placed it back on the stone table.

He picked up the teacup, took a sip, put it down, then picked it up again and took another sip.

"Mr. Yun," he began, his voice somewhat dry, "have you refined this kind of Medicinal Pill before?"

"No." Yun Ming said.

Zhou Qian looked at him, as if judging whether he was lying.

Yun Ming's expression was calm, and his eyes were also calm; one could not see any trace of guilt or arrogance.

"Then Mr. Yun's talent is truly..."

Zhou Qian did not finish, shook his head, and gave a bitter smile.

"I have lost my composure. To tell you the truth, Mr. Yun, the best result among those Third-Rank Alchemists in the City Lord's Mansion was only five successful furnaces out of ten portions of Materials. Mr. Yun, having succeeded in all ten furnaces, and with most being High Grade—this ability is something I have never heard of."

Yun Ming picked up his teacup, took a sip, and said nothing.

He did not want to explain why he was able to refine so well.

The enhancement of Divine Sense by the Dao scriptures, the understanding of the Dao of Alchemy from the Secret Volume of Qingwei Alchemy, and over a decade of hard practice—there was no point in speaking of these things.

People only look at the results, not the process.

Zhou Qian carefully put the ten jade bottles into his Storage Pouch, then took out ten portions of Materials and a bulging Storage Pouch from his sleeve, placing them on the stone table.

"This is the next batch of ten portions of Materials, as well as the Spirit Stones for the previous batch of Medicinal Pills. According to the agreement, fifty percent belongs to Mr. Yun, and we will purchase the other fifty percent at market price. Please check it, Mr. Yun."

Yun Ming picked up the Storage Pouch, his Divine Sense swept inside, and it was filled with a pile of High-Grade Spirit Stones.

He did not count them and directly stored them inside the map of mountains and rivers.

Seeing that he didn't even count them, a trace of surprise flashed in Zhou Qian's eyes, but it quickly returned to normal.

"Is there anything else Mr. Yun needs?" Zhou Qian asked, "Medicinal Pills, Materials, Magical Artifacts—as long as Third Highness can obtain them, please feel free to ask, Mr. Yun."

Yun Ming thought for a moment and said, "Do you have the Materials for the Xuan Ying Pill?"

Zhou Qian was stunned, "Xuan Ying Pill?"

"Yes."

Zhou Qian pondered for a moment and nodded, "We do have them. But Materials of this level are all in the City Lord's Mansion's warehouse, and only Third Highness and a few core Alchemists can authorize their use. I need to go back and ask for instructions."

Yun Ming nodded, "Then forget it. I will just wait a while longer."

Zhou Qian glanced at him and did not respond.

He picked up his teacup, finished the remaining tea, stood up, and cupped his hands, "Mr. Yun, then I shall take my leave. I will come to disturb you again on this day next month."

Yun Ming stood up and returned the greeting.

Zhou Qian turned and walked out of the courtyard gate, his pace faster than when he arrived.

Yun Ming stood at the courtyard gate, watching his back disappear at the end of the alley, then closed the door and returned to the Quiet Room.

He took out the Pill Furnace, set out the newly arrived ten portions of Materials for the zifu true essence pill, and continued Alchemy.

No matter how strong the wind and rain were outside, life had to go on, and pills had to be refined.