4 hours later...
'This is it! This is the final step!' Blake declared as he formed a series of hand seals at the microwave. "Pill condense!"
*Ding!*
Blake opened the microwave before he took out a ceramic pot. When he opened the lid of the ceramic pot, he couldn't help but smile as he felt that his gamble had paid off. Blake had successfully refined a batch of Mana Purification Pills using herbs found on this floor, a ceramic pot and a microwave taken from the café.
Normally, alchemists would never use any electronic gadgets such as electronic stoves, microwaves or ovens to refine pills because the success rate of using such equipment was usually very low. They would rather stick with the old than with the new.
Even Blake, who had only dabbled in Alchemy for less than 10 years, would prefer to use an alchemy furnace than actually use a microwave to refine pills. Furthermore, alchemists would normally be unable to control the strength and heat of their fires with the average microwave or ovens.
In alchemy, there were naturally various steps that must be followed to succeed in pill refining, the most important three would be the liquid extraction process, liquid fusing process and pill condensation process.
Other than that, an alchemist would need to know the exact quantity of the medicinal ingredients needed for each pill, the strength of the flame and a pill condensation method. If an alchemist were to forget any one of these conditions, their pill refinement would undoubtedly fail.
Blake on the other hand had almost everything prepared. He had the medicinal ingredients, the pill recipe, a pill condensation method and was restored back to his peak state. But the thing he was missing the most was a source of heat and an alchemy furnace.
An alchemy furnace may not have been that important but Blake would still need a source of heat to melt down the medicinal ingredients into liquid before the rest could be done. Without even a source of heat, there's no way Blake was able to refine anything. So that's why Blake decided to gamble...
He went into the cafe's kitchen and took out a ceramic pot and the microwave. He then grinded down the medicinal ingredients into powder before he placed all into the ceramic pot. Then he added a bit of water before he closed the lid and inserted the pot into the microwave. Was that really alchemy? Or was he making soup?
Both. He was doing both. Blake's improvised method of refining was to increase the pill refinement's success rate since Blake knew a microwave could not emit enough heat for normal medicinal ingredients to melt. He then added water to the pot so the mixture of medicinal powder could be diluted faster into broth before Blake condensed the pills.
Blake was currently at Rank 30, Magic Grandmaster realm. If he wants to go back home, he needs to be at least Rank 60 and above to withstand the Void storms and attacks from bandits during his travel from the Outer Realm Circle to the Middle Realm Circle. Additionally, Blake has been reincarnated in a Low tier Outer circle realm, nearing the edge of the Outer Realm Circle, a bit more and this realm would have been considered abandoned whereas his home realm was a Mid tier Middle circle realm.
Since Blake was currently in a 'safe zone', it is considered the best place to improve his strength. Floor 26 not only has medicinal ingredient shops but there were also shops where you could buy beast cores and beast parts too. If he wants, he could also practice his arrays and formations.
Blake was a talentless man, like many ancient heroes, his body was possessed by a higher being before he acquired Heaven's Gifts. When his teacher, Chaos, left his body 654 years ago, he had unexpectedly left Blake with a fragment of his understanding and perceptions of the Alchemic Dao and Dao of Arrays as well as his Creation Element.
Chaos had also gifted Blake the Executioner Blade which Blake had formed a life and death contract with, thus he was able to bring it with him into his new life. What Blake didn't know was that the Executioner Blade had been broken down into 7 new blades which were called [Seven Deadly Sins]. An artifact had actually transformed itself into a Secret Art. Too bad, Blake was currently too weak to even summon one blade out, much less summoning all seven at once.
After Blake had found a nice spot with tree shade at the square, he plopped down with his legs crossed before he popped a Mana Purification Pill into his mouth. As the pill slowly dissolved in his stomach, Blake's breathing calmed down and soon entered a meditative state. The pill essence then rushed through his five viscera and the seven orifices before they settled in his heart.
That's where the searing hot pain comes in...Blake immediately gasps for air as he feels his lungs burning. His face grew redder by the minute as he felt his entire body burn up and that even his sweat was evaporating the moment they were excreted. Blake soon couldn't help but roar as loud as he could to the sky as the pain of purifying his mana was truly unbearable.
After an incense stick of time, Blake was now lying helplessly on the ground. His body was bare and one could see his shallow abs as even his clothes had melted away. "That was so...freaking...painful...But at least my mana has been purified. Heh, that was worth it."