9: Deducing the formula

Yao Delong looked at the spoils of his labor; his weary face was filled with a look of intense excitement.

Deciding not to sleep, he simply gathered up all the Medicinal Pills.

Without even bothering to tidy up, he rushed down the mountain once again in a whirlwind!

Myriad Medicine Pavilion.

Luo Yan was leaning lazily behind the counter, flipping through an account book.

"Manager Luo!" Yao Delong's voice carried a hint of urgency and excitement.

Luo Yan looked up, seeing Yao Delong's pale face and bright eyes. Her willow-like brows furrowed slightly as she thought to herself,

"He only came to buy medicinal herbs yesterday; why has he run back again today?"

"Fellow Daoist Yao? You..."

Yao Delong didn't waste words. He pulled a small jade bottle from his robes, uncorked it, and handed it to Luo Yan.

An extremely pure surge of spiritual energy, far surpassing ordinary quality, instantly diffused through the air!

Luo Yan's lazy expression froze instantly!

She jerked upright, her charming almond eyes staring fixedly at the emerald-green, jade-like Medicinal Pills with flowing pill patterns inside the bottle.

Her delicate body trembled slightly, uncontrollably!

In a loss of composure, she even snatched the jade bottle away and poured out a pill to examine it closely, her fingertips shaking slightly!

"Per... Perfect quality spirit recovery pills?" Her voice was filled with unbelievable shock!

Perfect quality! This meant a single pill contained almost the absolute maximum medicinal power possible, with negligible Impurities!

This was definitely not something an ordinary Rank One Alchemist could achieve!

It would require at least a Rank Two, or even near-Rank Three Great Master's level of control to be possible!

But what Alchemist of Rank Two or higher would waste time refining such low-tier pills?

She looked up sharply, her gaze as sharp as a blade, shooting straight at Yao Delong's aged and withered face.

"Fellow Daoist Yao! This... did you refine these?!"

Her tone was filled with extreme doubt and shock.

Yao Delong smiled slightly, maintaining a feigned indifference with a hint of subtle pride.

"Heh, it was a fluke, just a fluke. I felt some inspiration after returning last night."

"So I gave it a try. I didn't expect... that a few batches would actually succeed!"

A few batches?!

Luo Yan's heart skipped a beat! She took a deep breath, forcing down the stormy waves in her heart, and put on a merchant's shrewd smile once again.

"Fellow Daoist Yao, you're truly a master in hiding! A hidden dragon! I'm impressed, truly impressed!"

She paused, her eyes burning with intensity.

"I wonder... how many of these pills do you have on hand, Fellow Daoist Yao? Our Myriad Medicine Pavilion is willing to purchase them at a high price!"

"Not many, just 120 spirit recovery pills and 140 blood-invigorating pills, all of this quality."

Yao Delong said nonchalantly.

"260 pills?! All of this perfect quality?" Luo Yan's voice suddenly spiked, nearly cracking!

Despite her vast experience, she felt her scalp go numb at this moment!

Refining 260 perfect-quality Rank One pills in a single night? This was simply a fantasy!

This old man... could he really be an Alchemy genius?

After a bout of intense bargaining, Luo Yan finally gritted her teeth and took all 260 pills at a price of 15 Low-Grade Spirit Stones each.

Although it was higher than the usual purchase price, she could make a net profit of 8 Low-Grade Spirit Stones per pill once she sold them.

Perfect quality pills were rare to begin with, so there was no need to worry about finding buyers!

3,900 Low-Grade Spirit Stones fell heavily into Yao Delong's empty Storage Ring.

"Manager Luo, prepare some more ingredients for spirit recovery pills and blood-invigorating pills for me. Same as before, ten sets!"

Yao Delong planned to strike while the iron was hot and expand his gains!

Luo Yan did not agree immediately. She looked at Yao Delong with shifting eyes, filled with scrutiny and the excitement of discovering a new continent.

She suddenly leaned in close, the fragrance of a mature woman wafting towards him. Her voice was kept very low, carrying an extremely seductive tone.

"Brother Yao~~! Ordinary pills of perfect quality are indeed precious, but they are only Rank One after all."

"I have a bigger deal here... I wonder if Brother is interested?"

Yao Delong's eyes flickered. Smelling the faint fragrance and hearing that soft, sultry voice, his heart stirred slightly.

"Oh? Please speak, Manager Luo!"

Luo Yan's red lips parted slightly as she breathed out like an orchid: "I have a Pill Formula for a Rank One Peak-Grade Medicinal Pill—the 'violent spirit pill'!"

Seeing the light that instantly lit up in Yao Delong's eyes, she continued.

"This pill can forcibly raise the cultivation of a Cultivator below the Foundation Establishment Stage by one minor Realm for a short time!"

"The price is a period of weakness after the effects wear off."

"Even an ordinary violent spirit pill is worth far more than your spirit recovery pills and blood-invigorating pills."

She stared intently into Yao Delong's eyes: "If Brother Yao~... can refine perfect quality violent spirit pills!"

"Our Myriad Medicine Pavilion is willing to buy them at a price of 50 Low-Grade Spirit Stones each! And..."

She threw out the most tempting condition.

"I will provide all the necessary medicinal ingredients for free! For every one you refine, I will buy one!"

Boom!

Yao Delong's heart thumped violently!

Free ingredients! 50 Spirit Stones each! Instant wealth was right before his eyes!

"Truly?!" His voice trembled slightly, unable to believe this pie falling from the sky!

"I speak the truth!" Luo Yan said decisively.

"However, let me be blunt: this pill is extremely difficult to refine, and the success rate is very low."

"For an ordinary Rank One Alchemist, succeeding in one or two out of ten batches is already hard enough. Perfect quality... is even more difficult than reaching the heavens."

"I'll take it!" Yao Delong looked excited. Why pass up free Spirit Stones? A fierce fighting spirit ignited in his eyes!

Carrying the precious ingredients provided for free by Luo Yan for five batches of violent spirit pills (Blood Lingzhi, Violent Stamen, Vein-Condensing Fruit...),"

as well as the complex Pill Formula Jade Slip, Yao Delong practically floated back to Luoxia Peak.

Closing the door of his thatched hut, he immediately began studying the violent spirit pill formula.

As expected, it was profound and obscure. The requirements for fire control and the timing of medicinal Fusion were harsh to the extreme.

He attempted to refine the first batch.

The consumption of spiritual energy was enormous, and his mental concentration was at its peak, yet in the end, he only managed to produce five pills, and their quality was uneven.

Two were ordinary, two were good, and one was excellent.

It was worlds away from perfect! The time consumed was several times that of refining ordinary pills!

"No, this is too slow! It's both mentally exhausting and time-consuming!" Yao Delong looked at the five pills with their mottled colors.

His brow furrowed. As expected, the pie from the sky wasn't that easy to eat!

At this rate, he wouldn't be able to refine much in a night, let alone achieve perfect quality.

He sank his consciousness into his mind, looked at his remaining 8 points of yin-yang value, and tentatively communicated with the System:

"System, can you improve this violent spirit pill formula? Increase the success rate and quality?"

[Ding! Detected Rank One Peak-Grade Pill Formula 'violent spirit pill'. Multiple redundancies and spiritual energy conflict nodes exist.]

[Can consume 5 points of yin-yang value to optimize, increasing success rate by 50%.]

[Enhance medicinal effects (can be effective for Cultivators up to the Late Foundation Establishment Stage).]

[And there is a chance for perfect quality to appear! Proceed with deduction?]

Yao Delong looked at those 8 points of yin-yang value, hardened his heart, and went for it! "Optimize it for me!"

[Ding! Consumed 5 points of yin-yang value! Pill Formula optimization and deduction in progress...]

[Deduction complete! Obtained optimized version of 'violent spirit pill' (Pseudo-Rank Two) Pill Formula!]

A stream of brand-new, more exquisite, and more efficient refining information flooded into his mind!

Those originally difficult nodes became clear and smooth; the timing for fire control and Fusion was as if it had been completely redesigned!

Light shone brightly in Yao Delong's eyes! He immediately started the furnace!

As expected! Spiritual energy consumption decreased, fire control became more adept, and the medicinal liquid Fusion was incredibly smooth!

After one batch, the time taken was nearly halved, and six pills were formed!

Four of them were crimson throughout, with clear and full pill patterns, faintly revealing a hint of restrained golden light!

Perfect quality! Pseudo-Rank Two violent spirit pills!

"Hahaha! It worked!" Yao Delong was ecstatic! He felt as if he could see Spirit Stones covering the ground beckoning him, and he threw himself into refining without tire!

Set after set of ingredients turned into crimson pills emitting waves of violent spiritual energy!

When the dim light of dawn once again peeked through the window, he had three more small jade bottles by his side.

They contained 9 high-quality and 18 perfect-quality improved violent spirit pills respectively!

His remaining 3 points of yin-yang value had long since been completely ignored in his selfless refining.

However, a body at the Qi Refining stage ultimately had its limits.

Two days of high-intensity alchemy, the dual overexertion of spirit and spiritual energy, crashed down like two great mountains!

Thump!

Yao Delong's vision went black. No longer able to hold on, his body went limp, and he collapsed straight onto the ground!