"Induction stove, but not a pill refining furnace? The one used to cook, that induction stove?" North River’s Loose Cultivator felt his blood pressure skyrocket.
Song Shuhang replied hesitantly, "Yes."
"Haha, as expected of Senior Song," said Soft Feather.
"What about the pill cauldron? What kind of pill cauldron did you use?" North River’s Loose Cultivator immediately followed by asking.
"Uh, If there was a pill cauldron, it would be the hot pot." Song Shuhang felt somewhat embarrassed. The imagery did not match the Xianxia style, so he felt quite self-conscious.
"Hot pot? What pill cauldron model is that? No… wait, let me calm down. You’re not telling me you used the hot pot that is the pot used to eat hot pot, are you?" North River’s Loose Cultivator typed out these words forcefully.
"Yeah, that’s the one." Song Shuhang confirmed.
"…" North River’s Loose Cultivator sent a bunch of ellipses.
North River’s Loose Cultivator thought all his years of pill refining experience amounted to nothing but dog sh*t. This guy’s first attempt at refining the Body Tempering Liquid was successful despite using only an induction stove and a hot pot, yet he himself still failed in two out of ten tries.
After a long while, he wrote, "Can I cuss?"
"What the f*ck!" Thrice Reckless Mad Saber cussed out first.
"What the f*ck!" Immortal Fortune Teller Copper Trigram immediately followed.
"What the f*ck!" Scholar Drunken Moon maintained the formation. Speaking of Scholar Drunken Moon, it seemed like he appears in the group often, so he should be one of the seniors that are quite active. Song Shuhang did not know why, but he felt a sense of familiarity every time he saw the Scholar Drunken Moon’s messages for some reason. Yet, as soon as he turned away, he would forget about him.
"Bastards, you three have all f*cked, now how am I supposed to shout f*ck?" North River’s Loose Cultivator continued dispirited," Check out my trump card, @Medicine Master, it’s time for you to come out, Brother Medicine Master!"
"Here." Medicine Master appeared—he had been reading the chat log the entire time.
After a while of deleting and writing, he managed to squeeze out a sentence, "Little Friend, can you describe your pill refining process? Especially the forty-first ingredient where you said there was an accident."
Soft Feather’s eyes brightened, "Oooh! Senior Song, I really want to know about this step too. I failed several times at this step!"
With Soft Feather here, Song Shuhang easily immersed himself in the conversations of Nine Provinces Number One Group without any awkwardness.
"No problem, I’ll describe it briefly." Song Shuhang continued, "I put in ginseng slices first, then added a scoop of water."
"Wait, you added water?" Master Medicine wpm exploded," Why add water?"
"If water isn’t added, then the ginseng slices will be boiled dry, right?" Said Song Shuhang, but he understood in his heart—the people in the group did not add water when refining Body Tempering Liquid.
"Oh, that’s right. You used an induction stove and a hot pot." North River’s Loose Cultivator sighed. Why is it that after knowing the truth, I feel that my liver hurts even more?
Medicine Master quietly nodded, "Reasonable. You may continue. Adding water to the first step shouldn’t have too much of an effect later on."
As Song Shuhang began describing, all the seniors in the group saw an image emerge in their minds.
A man with erudite temperament named ‘Stressed by a Mountain of Books’ sat upright… beside an induction stove, then placed a hot pot on top of it, and conscientiously put in Body Tempering Liquid’s medicinal ingredients as he began to refine the medicinal liquid.
Why was there an awkward feeling?
What did pill refining have to do with an induction stove and a hot pot!?
Song Shuhang did not think much; he briefly described the following steps of the pill refining process, supplementing it with his understanding and experience of heat control and time. At the same time, he also described the problems he faced when refining the Body Tempering Liquid.
Following Song Shuhang’s account, and watching him slowly analyze the recipe he modified, Medicine Master felt deeply gratified, and greatly sympathetic.
"It wasn’t until the forty-first medicinal ingredient that the Body Tempering Liquid in the pot burst with a disgusting and scorching smell. The medicinal liquid rapidly evaporated and, in the blink of an eye, there was only one fifth left," Song Shuhang continued. "At this step, I could not understand the reason. I could only guess that this was some sort of medicinal catalyst?"
"I encountered a similar situation, the medicinal liquid evaporated afterwards." Soft Feather called out.
"It was the same for this immortal master." Immortal Fortune Teller Copper Trigram nodded. They were not pill refining masters, but as cultivators, refining a few low-level medicine pills should not be a problem.
"It is because this medicinal ingredient is a catalyst—once it is put in, it signifies the start of purification. When you guys began refining, the control of heat and time was inadequate, resulting in this situation when the forty-first ingredient is put in. If you wish to avoid this, experience needs to be accumulated, there is no shortcut," Master Medicine replied.
Likewise, if a situation like that occurs, it can only be solved by experience and discerning judgment.
"Little Friend Song Shuhang, how did you overcome this?" Master Medicine curiously asked.
"I saw the medicinal liquid rapidly evaporating, so I first added a ladle of water, hoping to slow down the evaporation speed." Song Shuhang recalled as he said.
"You added water again? Oh… perhaps that is a good way to decrease it. Then? Adding water can only decrease it, it cures the symptoms but not the disease." Master Medicine asked. At the same time, he thought of the practicality of adding water, but he pondered—if faced with a similar situation, changing water for some special medicinal liquids could perhaps better alleviate the issue of fast evaporation of the medicinal liquid.
"Then, I just simply threw in the last four medicinal ingredients together, and increased the fire to cook it at the maximum power. At last, the pot lid burst open, with roughly five spoonfuls left from half a pot of Body Tempering Liquid.
"Five spoonfuls, if your spoon isn’t the one toddlers use, five spoonful is plenty." North River’s Loose Cultivator sighed. Normally, refining the Body Tempering Liquid resulted in three spoonfuls.
"How potent is the drug compared to before? Oh… I forgot that this was your first time refining Body Tempering Liquid," Medicine Master dejectedly said." I’ll first refine it using your methods, and I’ll express my views after getting results."
With that said, Medicine Master logged off.
"Haha, when it comes to pill refining, Medicine Master is always impatient. Let’s talk after he finishes refining. If it’s as he said, then your refining method may become the new Simplified Body Tempering Liquid. From now on, anyone in the group that happens to use your refining methods will owe you one. To you, this favor they’d owe you is of ineffable importance 😄." North River’s Loose Cultivator said.
Song Shuhang appearance in this group meant that he wished to expose himself to ‘cultivation’. In reality, from the moment he refined the Body Tempering Liquid and drank it, he was already one step into the cultivation world.
"So, Little Friend Shuhang, welcome to the Nine Provinces Number One Group," said North River’s Loose Cultivator." Originally these things are supposed to be explained to you by True Monarch Yellow Mountain. After all, he was the one who added you and it was also he who kept you in the group, having felt a fate between him and you. However, his monster dog lost its temper again, so I’ll do it on his behalf."
True Monarch Yellow Mountain’s monster dog’s got quite a personality? Song Shuhang mused.
"Since you’ve decided to embark on the path of cultivation, there are some things I must let you know. The path of cultivation is not as relaxed as you may think. Within this path are countless calamities that may bring complete annihilation to you at any time.
"I know about it somewhat. I saw the Lightning Tribulation in H-City from afar." Song Shuhang replied.
Soft Feather further explained, "Senior Song’s dwelling is close to H-City and J-City."
"So you even know of Sixteen’s Lightning Tribulation. It seems like you were paying close attention to us since you have been added to the group?" North River’s Loose Cultivator said playfully.
"Haha." Song Shuhang replied embarrassedly. He could not say that he treated everyone like they suffered from Chuuni disease, looking at them everyday for pleasure as they seemed comical to him, right?
"Since you’re already mentally prepared, then I’ll get to the main point." North River’s Loose Cultivator continued, "Since Little Friend Shuhang has decided to stay in the group, evidently, you want to acquire a way of cultivation from us. Then, based on the Nine Provinces Group’s tradition, you have two choices now. Become a loose cultivator or join a sect of one of the seniors in the group.
Nine Provinces Number One Group’s had so many members—naturally, there would be a some rules on how to deal with various cases. But, a genuine newbie with no understanding of cultivation was a first.