boyutpedia 559. Skillful technique
559. Skillful technique
"This flame." Xiao Yan looked thoughtfully at the emerald flames on Wei Jiangyuan's body. The flames weren't as violent as those of strange fires, but they carried a refreshing vitality. Xiao Yan could naturally sense their power, so they were definitely not ordinary things. However, he immediately made a judgment: they were neither strange fires nor beast fires.
The Dou Qi Continent is vast, and its wonders are as numerous as the stars in the sky. It is understandable that Wei Jiangyuan has a magical flame on his body at this moment.
The medicine cauldron that Wei Jiangyuan then produced was equally extraordinary. Like the Black Demon Cauldron he possessed, it was a renowned cauldron on the Heavenly Cauldron Ranking. The cauldron Wei Jiangyuan was currently using was named Bishan, and its ranking was exactly one place lower than the Black Demon Cauldron. Both the flames and the cauldron testified to Wei Jiangyuan's exceptional alchemy skills.
Upon seeing this, Cao Ying's beautiful eyes also shone with admiration. As the person here who knew the status of Wei Jiangyuan and his teacher, Shennong Laoren, the most, she whispered, "A ninth-grade alchemist's first disciple can obtain such resources."
The cloud patterns on the bronze cauldron seemed to come alive under the flames, and the jade crystals inlaid on the cauldron resonated with Wei Jiangyuan's flames, emitting streaks of azure light. Wei Jiangyuan flicked his finger, and several herbs flew into the cauldron. The azure flames transformed into nine azure snakes that coiled around the cauldron, and a faint sound like silkworms eating leaves immediately rang out inside the cauldron—the herbs were being precisely stripped of impurities.
The materials currently available are not the most important ones, as the quantity is limited. The most crucial step, the extraction of the core of the nine-section green bamboo, has been reserved for last.
At this moment, Wei Jiangyuan's face was filled with solemnity. His soul power had already split into more than ten parts, precisely controlling all the herbs in the cauldron. His skillful techniques were extremely pleasing to the eye for those around him; this was the true ability of a master alchemist. To be able to make his alchemy process as perfect as art, Wei Jiangyuan, although still young, had already reached a high level of expertise in alchemy.
The others were protecting Wei Jiangyuan when Cao Ying suddenly smiled sweetly at Xiao Yan and asked, "Mr. Xiao Yan, could you have made this refining process even more perfect?"
Seeing this, Xiao Yan also fell into a moment of contemplation, but in the end he shook his head and said, "Perhaps there will be no significant improvement, but that's only because my flame is a different kind of flame. In terms of human skill, Wei Jiangyuan is far superior to me!"
This assessment was Xiao Yan's sincere opinion. Judging from Wei Jiangyuan's alchemy skills, he truly deserved to be invited by the Pill Tower as a savior. Xiao Yan even thought that it would be difficult to find someone among the high-ranking Dou Di descendants who could rival Wei Jiangyuan's talent.
Wei Jiangyuan's work in refining medicine was extremely meticulous, but his speed was equally impressive. After all, the second stage of the Pill Refining Competition had a time limit. They couldn't refine the pills however they wanted. Fortunately, his speed was incredibly fast, and Wei Jiangyuan handled it with ease.
After Wei Jiangyuan finished refining the materials and placed them aside, Xiao Yan noticed their special qualities and subconsciously exclaimed, "What a rich spiritual energy!"
Every eighth-grade alchemist possesses a Spirit Realm soul, which automatically imbues materials with a subtle spiritual energy during the refining process. This spiritual energy slightly influences the herbs and enhances the quality of the final pill. Wei Jiangyuan's soul has already reached the mid-stage of the Spirit Realm, so the amount of spiritual energy he can imbue with it is naturally greater than Xiao Yan's.
Moreover, Xiao Yan felt that Wei Jiangyuan's spiritual energy was definitely unique to him, and even ordinary people who had reached the mid-stage of the Spirit Realm were probably far inferior to him.
Perhaps for this reason, Wei Jiangyuan rejected Xiao Yan's suggestion from the beginning to refine herbs for him to save time. An excellent alchemy master must have complete control over every step of the pill-making process.
What Xiao Yan didn't know was that Wei Jiangyuan's teacher, the Elder Shennong, was an extremely picky person. Despite being famous for many years, he had never given up on anyone who wanted to become his disciple. Until he met Wei Jiangyuan, whose exceptional talent immediately impressed the Elder Shennong. At that time, the ninth-grade alchemist's evaluation of Wei Jiangyuan was: "An unparalleled genius in alchemy, destined to reach the ninth grade in this lifetime!"
……
Alchemy is a task that requires endurance, and with Wei Jiangyuan's efforts, four days passed quietly.
During this period, Wei Jiangyuan experienced a failure, which was acceptable to the group. After all, this was a completely new path they had embarked on, and it was perfectly normal for problems to arise.
Fortunately, after Wei Jiangyuan rested, he successfully refined all the materials for the second time. The most crucial element was an extremely pure golden-green liquid, which was the liquid obtained after refining the heart of the Nine-Section Green Bamboo.
Seeing this, Wei Jiangyuan also breathed a sigh of relief. He had completed the first step. Now, he needed to perfectly fuse these materials together, condense the prototype of the pill, and finally calcine it into a pill.
The first failure was also due to a slight incompatibility between the medicinal properties of the herbs, which caused a minor flaw in the fusion of the materials.
Now, refining pills is testing both Wei Jiangyuan's skills and his luck.
Wei Jiangyuan felt a rare moment of nervousness and subconsciously looked at Yao Qingyu. Although Yao Qingyu was still ill, she gave him an encouraging look.
Seeing this, Cao Ying chuckled and teased, "Tsk, what does Mr. Xiao Yan think of the relationship between these two?"
Xiao Yan wasn't stupid either; he was well aware of the strange relationship between Wei Jiangyuan and Yao Qingyu. He explained to Cao Ying, "The most important thing in this matter is their own feelings, and I have no right to say anything. All I need to do is ensure that my junior sister leaves the Pill Realm safely."
Wei Jiangyuan didn't rest for long before quickly regaining his composure. He took a deep breath of the already somewhat scorching air, and turned his solemn gaze to the medicine cauldron. With a thought, the emerald flames swirling inside the cauldron suddenly surged out, enveloping all the refined medicinal liquids!
The process of fusing medicinal power demands an extremely high level of control from the alchemist. Even the slightest mishap during this step can lead to the complete failure of the entire process! Therefore, this step is exceptionally important.
Wei Jiangyuan was well aware of this as well, so at this moment, his mind was focused to the extreme. Vast spiritual power filled every corner of the medicine cauldron, and any extremely subtle changes within it would be instantly fed back to his mind.