As the flames were poured into the pill furnace, the medicinal herbs inside were immediately roasted dry. Their spiritual energy hadn't even dispersed before they were burned to death, resulting in an immediate failure. However, Shen Xiang wasn't discouraged. He realized that his flames were too powerful and needed to be controlled with more precision.
After picking more herbs, Shen Xiang carefully controlled his fire this time, cautiously roasting the medicinal herbs inside the furnace, but he still failed. After failing three times, he finally gained some experience and realized the issue was with the control of the fire's intensity.
By the fourth attempt, Shen Xiang made significant progress, reaching the later stages of pill refinement.
The furnace was specially designed so that spiritual energy could be infused to view its interior. Shen Xiang could now see the herbs emitting different colors of spiritual energy. He controlled the flow of these energies inside, forming them into a vortex. The herbs, meanwhile, had dried up and were slowly turning to ash.
At this moment, Shen Xiang used his spiritual power to control the spiritual energy released by the herbs and the herbal "powder" formed from their combustion. He mixed them together…
Shen Xiang was at the fifth level of the Mortal Martial Realm, so his spiritual power was decent, but he still felt he was reaching his limit. He had to divide the "herbal spiritual energy" into five vortices and fuse them with the "herbal powder" in order to create five pills at once.
The five vortices formed, and Shen Xiang frowned, sweat covering his forehead. At this point, not only was he continuously using his True Qi to release the flames, but he was also consuming large amounts of spiritual energy to control both the fire and the condensation of the pills.
"I must succeed!" Shen Xiang urged himself, as the five herbal spiritual energy vortices spun rapidly, fusing with five portions of herbal powder. Now, all that was left was to add a suitable amount of water to the mixture so that the herbal powder and the spiritual energy could condense into pills.
After adding the water nurtured by True Qi, five pills finally appeared inside the furnace. They were still wet and were surrounded by a dense spiritual energy.
"Success!" Shen Xiang shouted inwardly. Inside the furnace, the five pills were suddenly enveloped by a burst of white steam as the moisture was evaporated.
Shen Xiang was drenched in sweat, looking exhausted. After all, he had been continuously releasing flames and spiritual energy, nearly depleting his True Qi.
"Finally, I did it! It took me a whole day. Refining pills truly requires time," Shen Xiang said with a sigh.
He opened the furnace, and as the mist dissipated, five white Body Refining Pills were revealed. Shen Xiang couldn't help but grin. He had consumed Body Refining Pills before, but he felt that the ones he just made were of better quality.
If those veteran alchemists knew that he had successfully refined Body Refining Pills in just one day, they would surely feel inferior. It's known that many people take three to five years to successfully refine a pill, and even the most talented need at least a year or more, usually attempting to refine just one pill at a time.
Yet, Shen Xiang had successfully refined five pills in one go on his first successful attempt. If veteran alchemists knew this, many would be utterly shocked.
Even Su Meiyao and Bai Youyou were stunned by Shen Xiang's talent for alchemy. As they held the pills in their delicate hands, they couldn't believe their eyes.
"Hehe, Sister Meiyao, you said it would take me at least a year or more to refine a pill, but I did it in just one day! You should reward me," Shen Xiang said proudly.
Su Meiyao, feeling equally joyful, asked with a teasing smile, "Then how does Young Master Shen want us two girls to reward him?"
Shen Xiang crossed his arms and smirked. "Give me a kiss on the cheek."
"Dream on!" Bai Youyou coldly remarked and quickly returned to her ring.
However, Su Meiyao smiled coquettishly and leaned over. Her soft, cherry lips lightly touched Shen Xiang's cheek as she said with a playful laugh, "My dear little brother, keep working hard, but don't get too arrogant."
Shen Xiang had been joking, but he hadn't expected the beautiful Su Meiyao to actually kiss him. He stood there in a daze, while Su Meiyao covered her mouth and giggled before retreating back into the ring.
Shen Xiang took a deep breath, still savoring the fragrant scent left by her kiss. He muttered, "As expected, she's a seductress. I suddenly feel much more energized!"
He caressed the invisible ring on his hand as if he were stroking a lover's face. To help the two fairy-like women inside the ring recover their strength, he felt a renewed sense of purpose.
Each Body Refining Pill could be sold for 700 large spirit stones, and Shen Xiang had just refined five of them, making him 3,500 large spirit stones richer. What's more, he still had one set of materials left to refine, and if he succeeded, that would be another 3,500 spirit stones.
While reading books, Shen Xiang had learned that one set of materials could produce five Body Refining Pills, so his goal from the start was to refine five at a time. What he didn't know was that producing five pills from one set of materials utilized the herbs to their fullest potential. Only alchemists with extremely high comprehension could grasp the exact moment of pill condensation, which was the most critical part of the process.
Controlling spiritual power and the heat required constant, subtle adjustments based on changes inside the furnace. Otherwise, all the effort could be wasted.
Body Refining Pills were very useful for tempering the body, but their effects were limited to martial artists below the third level of the Mortal Martial Realm. Shen Xiang was now at the fifth level, so the Body Refining Pills wouldn't benefit him much, though they could help him recover his True Qi more quickly.
Shen Xiang consumed one pill, and his True Qi quickly recovered by more than half. He then wrapped up the remaining four pills, intending to give them to Shen Tianhu to try.
"The taste isn't bad, but I just consumed 700 large spirit stones in one go!" Shen Xiang felt a little pained, but he hurried to his father's study.
It was already late at night, but Shen Tianhu was still awake, deep in thought about martial arts techniques, as was his habit.
"Xiang'er, what brings you here so late?" Shen Tianhu wrinkled his nose at the smell of sweat on Shen Xiang and frowned.
Shen Xiang grinned. "I told you that when I succeeded in refining pills, I would bring them to you first!"
"What!" Shen Tianhu stood up abruptly, his eyes wide with disbelief. He had thought it would take at least ten years for Shen Xiang to succeed, but it had only taken him one day!
Shen Xiang handed over the four white Body Refining Pills. Shen Tianhu stared in astonishment at the still-warm pills in his hands, utterly dumbfounded.
"They're still warm!" Shen Tianhu was so shocked that his mind went blank. He found it hard to believe that his son had mastered alchemy in just one day. This was the mark of a once-in-a-thousand-years genius.
Such a rare talent would be coveted by many powerful factions, but at the same time, such talents also faced great danger, becoming targets of jealousy and assassination.
Shen Tianhu took a deep breath to calm himself before saying, "These are of much better quality than those from the Spirit Pill Pavilion. Each one could sell for at least 800 large spirit stones! I'll take these four pills and exchange them for spirit stones, then use the money to buy more medicinal herb seedlings for you."
In just a few days, Shen Xiang had not only mastered the art of maturing herbs but had also successfully refined pills. Shen Tianhu knew that his son was destined to become a grandmaster alchemist.
"You shouldn't rush things. Focus on refining lower-grade pills for now. When you feel ready, you can move on to higher levels."
Shen Xiang nodded and returned to rest. After recovering his spiritual energy, he planned to refine the last set of materials.
The next morning, Shen Xiang woke up early, excited by the prospect of refining more pills. Now that he had succeeded once, the process went much smoother. He quickly reached the final pill-condensing stage.
Inside the furnace, the five masses of herbal powder and spiritual energy had merged into spherical forms. Shen Xiang felt at ease this time, unlike before when he had been on the verge of exhausting his spiritual energy and True Qi.
"Success!" Shen Xiang breathed a sigh of relief as he opened the furnace lid and retrieved the five freshly refined Body Refining Pills.
This time, the entire process had only taken two hours!
In the following days, Shen Xiang continued maturing herbs and refining pills. He not only refined Body Refining Pills but also began working on other practical low-grade pills such as Qi Recovery Pills, Golden Injury Medicine, Detoxification Pills, and Qi Condensation Pills.
Although he still occasionally failed during the early stages of refining, once he became familiar with the properties of the herbs, he was able to master the control of the flames and refine pills with increasing ease.
Su Meiyao's alchemy skills were incredibly profound. Initially, Shen Xiang had found it hard to believe that this delicate and beautiful woman
could be an expert in alchemy, as he had always imagined alchemists as white-haired old men.
This routine of alchemy and cultivation made Shen Xiang's life feel very fulfilling. Moreover, it didn't interfere with his martial training. At night, while cultivating, he would simultaneously use the "Dragon Saliva Technique" to condense the green dew that could mature medicinal herbs.
A month passed, and Shen Xiang had become proficient in refining low-grade pills.