8: Chapter 8 Qi Gathering Pill

Although Introduction to Alchemy Scripture is just an introductory piece, its explanations are extremely detailed, far surpassing the Alchemy introduction in the Sect's Scripture Pavilion. If the Sect's Disciple could successfully refine pills just by relying on that Alchemy introduction, then he could as well.

As the flames rose beneath the Pill Furnace, Yun Ming relied on the qi gathering pill Pill Formula and the knowledge from Introduction to Alchemy Scripture to begin Alchemy.

Along with the three main medicines—Dew Condensing Grass, Red Flame Fruit, and Earth Vein Root—being tossed into the Pill Furnace, the Pill Furnace instantly began to boil, like a pot of hot water.

Yun Ming began using Spiritual Qi to pull, suppress, and guide the rampaging Spirit Medicine.

Qi Refining Level 4 is a watershed in the Qi Refining Stage; the primary reason is that at Qi Refining Level 4, one can pull Spiritual Qi.

Simply put, it means relying on Spiritual Qi to manipulate objects. Although he couldn't yet fly on a sword, he could already achieve simple sword manipulation.

Moreover, the Spiritual Qi reserves at Qi Refining Level 4 far exceed the sum of the first three levels, and are sufficient to stimulate some simple Spell. Their power is much greater than fists and kicks, providing some means of self-preservation after all. This is why one can only join the Outer Sect upon reaching Qi Refining Level 4.

Things like Alchemy and Artifact Refining require reaching Qi Refining Level 4 to even start. Otherwise, one cannot achieve the pulling of Spiritual Qi, and with insufficient Spiritual Qi, no matter how many batches of Medicinal Pill one refines, there is only one possibility: a furnace explosion.

Half an hour later, the three main medicines turned into a thick medicinal liquid and began to slowly merge.

Slowly, the medicinal liquid began to shrink. Just as it was about to completely condense into pills, an accident suddenly occurred.

The Pill Furnace began to vibrate violently, and the medicinal liquid also began to boil.

Yun Ming wanted to suppress it, but it was to no avail.

Boom!

With a loud blast, the Pill Furnace exploded, as expected.

The medicinal liquid splattered everywhere. Fortunately, there was a Formation for protection; aside from some turbulence in his aura, Yun Ming was unharmed.

"Damn, failed right at the start. Again!" After cleaning up the surroundings, Yun Ming rallied his spirits.

Half an hour later.

Boom!

It exploded again. This time it exploded even earlier, the moment the three main medicines turned into liquid.

"Again!"

Boom!

After three consecutive explosions, Yun Ming began flipping through the book.

After carefully consulting the Introduction to Alchemy Scripture, Yun Ming finally found the problem.

First, when condensing the medicinal liquid, one must use a gentle flame for slow refining; he had clearly been too impatient in the last two batches. Then, when condensing into pills, one needs to use Spiritual Qi to pull them again; otherwise, it's difficult for them to form pills on their own.

But pulling with Spiritual Qi meant he needed to multitask, because he also had to control the Pill Furnace's heat. One moment of inattention, and it would explode again.

There was still plenty of time left, but only two sets of qi gathering pill Materials remained. Yun Ming began to adjust his breathing again, striving to fully recover before going all the way through in one go.

Another hour passed, and Yun Ming's Spiritual Qi had fully recovered. He began the fourth batch of qi gathering pill refinement.

"Gentle flame, slow refining."

The medicinal liquid began to slowly condense, and the Pill Furnace didn't explode, which counted as half a success.

As the minutes and seconds ticked by, it soon reached the final step: the medicinal liquid condensing into pills.

Yun Ming began to split his attention, using Spiritual Qi to pull and form the pills while simultaneously controlling the heat.

Even Yun Ming was drenched in sweat; it was no small drain on his spiritual power and mental energy.

Fortunately, hard work pays off. This batch was a success!

Although there was no fragrant aroma or dazzling light—only ten crooked qi gathering pills in the Pill Furnace.

But Yun Ming was extremely happy; a sense of pride from his success welled up within him.

Even though there were still many problems and only ten pills were formed in the end—half of the twenty pills a normal batch should yield.

It was the first time, after all; it was normal.

Yun Ming quickly adjusted his mindset and prepared to refine the final batch.

...

The Senior Brother from before was watching the crowd in the hall refine pills with boredom. Whenever someone's Pill Furnace was about to explode, he would step forward to suppress it; otherwise, it would affect others. They were all refining pills for the Sect, so no losses could be permitted.

Primarily, he was worried about causing a chain reaction where one explosion would distract others and cause them all to explode.

It just so happened that Xiao Hao walked into the Alchemy Room at this moment. Upon seeing him, the Senior Brother hurried to greet him: "Senior Brother Xiao, here to refine pills again today?"

Xiao Hao looked at the man and said, "Junior Brother Li, you're on duty today. The usual."

While getting the keys, Li Ping asked, "Senior Brother Xiao has been coming to refine pills constantly lately, and Alchemy Peak has been pressing that there aren't enough Medicinal Pill. Has something big happened? Why don't you tell your Junior Brother about it?"

Xiao Hao glanced at Li Ping and said casually, "It's nothing major. It's mainly on the Sword Peak side. They were originally just going to a Mortal kingdom to slay demons, but unexpectedly encountered a group of Evil Cultivators, nearly a hundred of them. The Sect is using this incident to conduct a trial."

Li Ping suddenly realized: "Oh, I see. A group of nearly a hundred Evil Cultivators is no small number. There wouldn't happen to be a Golden Core True Person, would there?"

"Of course not. The highest is only an Evil Cultivator at the Foundation Establishment Middle Stage. I expect the people from Sword Peak will have wiped them all out in a few more days." Xiao Hao clearly didn't take this group of Evil Cultivators seriously.

"By the way, Senior Brother Xiao Hao, I heard that Senior Brother Lu Ming from Sword Peak is about to Breakthrough to Foundation Establishment. Is it true?"

"Why are you, an Alchemy Peak Disciple, concerned about a Sword Peak Core Disciple?"

Li Ping gave a sheepish smile. "Senior Brother is joking. What am I worried about? Doesn't Senior Brother already know?"

Xiao Hao saw through Li Ping at a glance and lowered his voice, saying, "Lu Ming's foundation establishment pill was given to him by his Revered Master, the Sword Peak Elder. It doesn't take up a Sect quota, so rest assured."

Hearing that it didn't take up a Sect quota, Li Ping finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"Thank you for letting me know, Senior Brother." Li Ping cupped his hands in thanks.

"No matter. Likewise, my foundation establishment pill won't take up a Sect quota either, so you all can rest easy."

"Hahaha, I don't know about others, but don't I know you, Senior Brother? You are the Core Disciple of the Alchemy Peak Elder; you certainly won't lack a foundation establishment pill."

While the two were chatting with their heads down, Yun Ming walked out.

Seeing Yun Ming come out, Li Ping checked the time again. There was still an hour left. Coming out so early, it seemed his Alchemy had failed.

"Junior Brother, don't be discouraged. Failure is common for a soldier, and even more so in Alchemy. It's normal for nine out of ten furnaces to explode," Li Ping consoled him casually.

Xiao Hao also saw Yun Ming and remembered that this was the kid who had just asked him how to join the Alchemy Room.

He hadn't expected him to actually go refine pills. He moved so quickly; surely he hadn't run off to refine pills without even reading the Alchemy introduction in the Scripture Pavilion? But hearing Li Ping's words, he probably failed.

He was also about to say a few words of comfort to Yun Ming, but Yun Ming's words gave them a huge shock.

"Thanks to Senior Brother, I succeeded on my fourth batch. Moreover, I succeeded in two consecutive batches; the fifth batch was also a success."

Li Ping was stunned, and Xiao Hao was also stunned.

"Ju-Junior Brother, are you tongue-tied? What you meant to say was that the tenth batch was a success, and the fifteenth batch was also a success."

Yun Ming scratched his head in embarrassment. "My pockets are shallow, so I only prepared five sets of qi gathering pill Materials. My technique is unrefined, so I only succeeded on the fourth batch."

Li Ping staggered slightly. He was also an Alchemy Room Disciple and had refined pills before; he knew better than anyone how difficult it was to succeed. For a newcomer attempting Alchemy for the first time, saying nine out of ten furnaces would explode was an understatement, and he hadn't really meant to console him.

Yet this Junior Brother succeeded in two out of five batches. This could already be considered a Genius.

Xiao Hao was more concerned about the quality. "Where are the qi gathering pills you refined, Junior Brother? Let me see."

Yun Ming took out the thirty-five successful qi gathering pills. Yes, his fifth batch was not only successful, but it also produced twenty-five pills.

Xiao Hao looked at the qi gathering pills from the fourth batch. Although they were successful, the quality was poor, with only about eighty percent of the original qi gathering pill's efficacy.

But the fifth batch was as if it hadn't been refined by the same person; every pill was full and rich in Spiritual Qi, even slightly stronger than an ordinary qi gathering pill.

Xiao Hao's eyes lit up. His Alchemy Peak was about to produce a Genius.