After purchasing the medicinal ingredients, Xiao Ning did not stay in Wu Tan City, returned to the clan, and marched straight towards his room.
'I need to find a quiet and isolated place,' Xiao Ning mused; the next instant, his eyes lit up, "Yes! I can go to the mountain range behind the clan."
Xiao Ning quickly prepared enough dry food and water for a month's training. The 'Age of Coming Ceremony' will be held after a month, and during this period, he intends to refine 'Blood Coagulating Powder.'
...
Xiao Ning walked through the mountain range, and soon he found a small empty cave. He carefully checked the surroundings before entering the cave.
He used a boulder and partially covered up the cave's entrance with it. Xiao Ning placed an oil lamp on the corner, and a dim yellow light illuminated the cave.
Before beginning, Xiao Ning took out the alchemy scroll and again reviewed the details. After that, he sat cross-legged, meditated for a while, and adjusted his status.
Soon, Xiao Ning's shut eyes opened, and he took out the low-grade storage ring obtained from Gu NI. He injected a stream of Dou Qi into the space ring; it glowed, and a black medicine cauldron appeared in the cave.
From the metallic luster, Xiao Ning estimated that the cauldron was new. There was nothing fancy about it. It had two outlets to let air and Dou Qi enter the cauldron. On top of it, besides the lid, there was an opening to insert the ingredients into it.
Lastly, there was a transparent screen present in the middle of the cauldron. Cauldron forgers used Ice Essence to make this screen. Its sole purpose was to let an alchemist view the refining process.
...
'The first step is to become familiar with the medicine cauldron,' Xiao Ning recalled the instructions written, and accordingly, he placed his hand on one of the outlets.
Instead of channeling his Dou Qi, Xiao Ning summoned his 'Golden Budha Flame and injected it into the cauldron. Still, he needed Dou Qi to sustain his flame.
The next instant, a green-gold-colored flame appeared in the cauldron, and the cauldron's temperature started to rise.
Unlike other alchemist's Xiao Ning did not have to find a trace of wood-element Dou Qi and inject it into the cauldron to stabilize the flame and make it suitable for refining.
'The flame looks stable, and there is no sign of agitation,' Xiao Ning noticed the condition of his flame.
As he had expected, his 'Golden Budha Flame' contained both fire and wood attributes.
The next moment, Xiao Ning's spiritual strength enveloped the cauldron, and he separated a strand of 'Golden Budha Flame,' using 'Fire Controlling Art.'
Through the transparent screen, Xiao Ning could watch everything. He controlled the separate strand of flame with his spiritual strength and tried to reduce its temperature.
After several tries, Xiao Ning managed to lower the temperature of the separated strand.
'This Flame Controlling Art is marvelous,' Xiao Ning sighed. He knew that without this technique, it might take him a month to reach his current progress.
Still, Xiao Ning was not aware that his flame manipulation level had surpassed most of the 1-star alchemists.
...
"Here comes the hard part!" Xiao Ning muttered. There was no one to oversee his training and guide him.
Hence, Xiao Ning could only go through a continuous trial method to determine the accurate temperature required to refine each ingredient separately.
Xiao Ning injected his Dou Qi into the storage ring, and stalks of Blood Clotting Grass appeared in front of him. He picked a stalk and threw it into the cauldron through the opening near the lid.
To be extra cautious, Xiao Ning had already lowered the temperature of the flame by controlling it with his spiritual strength.
The Green-gold-colored flame flared, and it started grilling the stalk of Blood Clotting Grass. Xiao Ning looked at it through the transparent film and slowly raised the temperature.
Soon, the Blood Clotting Grass started to shed its skin, and a smile appeared on Xiao Ning's face, yet at this instant, his spiritual strength fluctuated, and the flame's temperature suddenly spiked.
It burned the semi-refined Blood Clotting Grass to ash, and after looking at this, the smile on his face stiffened.
Still, Xiao Ning did not lose his confidence, as he had already mentally prepared himself for the failure, but it turned out to be better than he had expected.
Without any further delay, Xiao Ning threw another stalk of Blood Clotting Grass into the cauldron. This time, Xiao Ning enveloped the cauldron with his spiritual strength, and everything was under his control.
The flame slowly roasted the stalk of Blood Clotting Grass until it shed its skin, and the juice contained in it transformed into specks of white powder. After that, the flame calmed; Xiao Ning took out the refined product and placed it into a jade bottle.
Even though the process consumed a lot of Dou Qi, still, Xiao Ning had a large reserve. The quality and quantity of his Dou Qi were several times better than others at the same rank.
...
Xiao Ning did not get proud after succeeding once; instead, he diligently refined the remaining stalks of Blood Clotting Grass. He did the same with the other ingredients.
After refining the poppy flower, he obtained a red-colored liquid and black kernel from the lively fruit.
It took him more than two weeks to fully refine all of the ingredients in his possession. After his Dou Qi depleted, Xiao Ning would stop, recover and train his Dou Qi.
Apart from attending to his bodily needs, Xiao Ning spent the rest of the time either refining ingredients or training his Dou Qi.
...
"Finally, 3-star Dou Practitioner." Xiao Ning smiled after feeling the strength in his body.
"Only ten days are left." Xiao Ning muttered. He had already refined the ingredients separately; the only thing left was to fuse their medical qualities and create 'Blood Coagulating Powder.'
Xiao Ning's storage ring flashed, and three jade bottles appeared in his hand.
...
Xiao Ning threw the white powder into the cauldron and baked it for a few minutes until its color changed from white to red.
The next moment, he poured the red-colored liquid obtained from the poppy flower into the cauldron. As the red-colored liquid entered, it wrapped around the reddish powder.
Xiao Ning didn't dare to be careless; his spiritual strength kept the flame's temperature steady, and under the constant grilling, the two ingredients started fusing.
He slowly raised the flame's temperature and stopped after the two fused. After a few minutes, Xiao Ning saw a light-red paste through the transparent screen.
The next moment, a solemn expression appeared on Xiao Ning's face, and he threw the black kernel into the cauldron.
Xiao Ning knew that each ingredient has flame resistance and would require different temperatures to refine them. He separated a strand of green-gold-colored flame and enveloped the black kernel in it.
Xiao Ning divided his spiritual strength into two parts and increased the temperature of the strand while keeping the rest of the flame at a constant temperature.
Soon, under the grilling of the flame, it cracked open, and jet-black powder remained behind.
'Sigh!' After looking at the black-powder, Xiao Ning took a deep breath, although he could go on for another few minutes, but then he was prone to make mistakes.
Finally, under Xiao Ning's control, the separated strand merged back; the black-powder fused with the light-red paste and changed its color to deep-red paste.
After looking at the deep-red, Xiao Ning waved his hand, and the green-gold-colored flame returned to his body.
Xiao Ning lifted the lid and placed it on the ground; he carefully scooped out the dark-red-colored paste and stored it into jade bottles. After storing the cauldron, he lay down on the ground, closed his eyes, and slept.