Published: December 25, 2024
Qin Chen arrived in front of the shelf filled with medicinal materials: “The Runmai Pill requires seventeen main ingredients and forty-one auxiliary materials, making it a rather complex pill. Therefore, Master Qing Hong used the technique of Long Fei Feng Wu to place the materials.”
“Long Fei Feng Wu is a powerful method among the techniques for placing herbs, capable of coordinating the placement of the ingredients to achieve perfect fusion. This is true, but the mistake lies in that Master Qing Hong completely treated Long Fei Feng Wu as a universal technique.”
“For example, when he was refining the Runmai Pill, he placed Mu Ya Grass third into the furnace. This was fine because Mu Ya Grass is heat-resistant, and placing it third was intended to prolong the refining time to fully release its medicinal effects. However, due to the inertia of Long Fei Feng Wu, the Mu Ya Grass fell straight into the furnace, which was problematic.”
“The preliminary refining of Mu Ya Grass takes about seven breaths. Therefore, at the seventh breath, Master Qing Hong added Angelica liquid, which complements the Mu Ya Grass. However, because the temperature at the center of the furnace is lower than that of the furnace wall, Mu Ya Grass, after falling straight into the furnace, would require at least nine breaths to be completely refined. The correct method would have been to place the Mu Ya Grass against the wall of the furnace, but Master Qing Hong, confident in Long Fei Feng Wu, delayed the refining time of the Mu Ya Grass by two breaths, and because of these two breaths, nine percent of the medicinal effect was wasted, resulting in failure!”
“The Double True Essence Manipulation Method uses the dispersiveness of true essence to manipulate the materials in the furnace simultaneously, speeding up the fusion. However, not all spiritual herbs require this. For instance, the characteristic of Yin Sun Grass is that it must gradually be integrated into the materials to fully exert its medicinal effect. Yet, Master Qing Hong completely overlooked this, accelerating the refining of Yin Sun Grass using the Double True Essence Manipulation Method, resulting in imperfect fusion, leading to failure!”
“The Vortex Backflow Technique is the same; seizing the timing during the condensation of the pill was off by one-fifth of an incense stick, leading to failure!”
“Needless to say about the Nine Rotation Heat Cauldron Method, the timing of the heat cauldron must perfectly match the addition of the spiritual herbs... still a failure!”
“……failure!”
“……failure!”
Qin Chen spoke faster and faster, like a machine gun, with every statement being logical and traceable. Each failure struck like a heavy hammer to Master Qing Hong's face, making his complexion grow paler and his body tremble uncontrollably.
Refining pills is not a game; the same medicinal materials with different years yield different effects. The same cauldron of varying levels also requires different timing for refining, involving too many details; even a single detail can warrant a lengthy discussion.
Just discussing the Runmai Pill alone, if Qin Chen were to start from the beginning, he could talk for three days and nights without finishing.
It is precisely for this reason that becoming an alchemist is so difficult. Unlike martial artists who can rely solely on talent to cultivate, it requires many intricate details, each one indispensable.
“This... is unbelievable.”
“To think that after only watching Master Qing Hong refine once, he could identify so many errors. I was completely stunned by Master Qing Hong's operation, not realizing how he refined it.”
“I was the same; what's even more exaggerated is that Qin Chen not only remembered the order in which Master Qing Hong placed numerous spiritual herbs but even recalled whether the Mu Ya Grass was placed straight or at an angle. How did he do that?”
“What’s this? The most terrifying part is that after Master Qing Hong’s refinement, he used Master Qing Hong’s method to refine once more, yet only consumed half the time and completely corrected the various errors, producing a top-grade Runmai Pill. What level is this?”