"What’s wrong?"
Su Xuan quickly and discreetly returned the Dan Art to the secret compartnt, then nonchalantly questioned Xiao Yun.
"Master, he..."
Xiao Yun was supporting the Third Elder as they walked over. She was just about to explain when the Third Elder interrupted her.
"Xiao Yun, how many tis has Master taught you to constantly observe the Alchemical Fire? The mont you notice anything unusual, you must inform imdiately!" he chided, his voice explosive despite his depleted state. "But what did you do? Did you fall asleep? Or have your eyes beco unable to tell if the Alchemical Fire is normal?"
Seeing the situation, Su Xuan didn’t need to ask anymore; the pills had clearly not been refined.
Just as he suspected, the Third Elder pushed away Xiao Yun’s supporting hands, caught his breath, and said to Su Xuan, "Today seems to be a poor day for pill refining. We’ve had one mishap after another, wasting a great deal of herbs and ntal energy, yet not a single pill was made."
"Young Master Su, pill refining requires favorable timing and conditions. It truly seems today is not suitable," Xiao Yun added with an aggrieved expression.
"Hmm..." Su Xuan thought for a mont. "Is there any problem with the pill formula?"
"How could there be a problem with the pill formula?" Hearing Su Xuan question the formula he had perfected, the Third Elder reacted as if he’d been slapped, growing even angrier. "Do you have any idea how many tis I went over that formula after you left? I refined it to perfection! There’s absolutely no possibility of a mistake. In fact, I suspect there’s sothing wrong with the Blood Immortal Vine you brought back!"
"Hmm..." Su Xuan rubbed his chin. "The Blood Immortal Vines I gave you were all found in extrely dangerous places, so your suspicion is reasonable. Uh... Third Elder, could you let see the pill formula you’ve gone over countless tis?"
"You don’t understand pill refining, why do you want to see the pill formula?" the Third Elder glared. In his eyes, Su Xuan was a complete amateur. Su Xuan hadn’t even known what a Blood Immortal Vine looked like before; it was he who had taught him how to identify it.
"I didn’t understand before," Su Xuan said with an air of mystery, "but now, I know a thing or two."
"Young Master Su, this isn’t the ti for jokes," Xiao Yun pleaded. The Third Elder was already furious about the failures, and Su Xuan’s jesting seed dangerously flippant, only fanning the flas. What if the Third Elder refused to refine pills for him anymore?
"Are you mocking ?" The Third Elder’s face fell. I used to think Su Xuan was quite decent. Why does he seem so... impolite now?
"No." Su Xuan shook his head, then paused in thought. "To be honest, I had so fortuitous encounters on my trip to the Yu Xian Sect. During the trial in the Valley of Thousand Snakes, I inexplicably fell into a deep slumber. In my dream, an Immortal appeared and taught so of the secrets of Dan Art. When I awoke, I not only had an intuitive grasp of all kinds of Spirit Grass, but my Dan Art also seems to have beco extraordinary."
Isn’t this kind of story a common trope in martial arts novels from the world below the mountains?
The Third Elder and Xiao Yun both stared wide-eyed at Su Xuan, their expressions clearly saying, "Go on, keep making things up."
Losing his patience for arguing, Su Xuan simply extended his hand toward the Third Elder. "The pill formula."
The Third Elder’s mouth twitched. He pulled the pill formula from his robes and slapped it into Su Xuan’s hand. "Fine, look at it! But if you can’t point out a single thing, from now on, we..."
Xiao Yun frantically winked at the Third Elder. Su Xuan is a ruthless man! He killed Ge Yuzhe, the young master of the Hua Shui City’s Ge Family, without batting an eye! It’s not a good idea to speak so harshly.
The Third Elder’s lips moved, but he didn’t continue his threat.
Just a few seconds later, Su Xuan finished reading the pill formula. He then took out a Blood Immortal Vine and, with a flick of his wrist, a fla ignited in his palm, engulfing the vine!
This was not the Undying Earth Fire he often used, but an incomparably pure Alchemical Fire.
The instant they saw this Alchemical Fire, the Third Elder recoiled as if he had seen sothing terrifying. His pupils constricted, and he staggered back several steps. If Xiao Yun hadn’t caught him, he would have collapsed to the ground. Xiao Yun herself was trembling uncontrollably.
In that single mont, they both realized an unbelievable truth: Su Xuan had conjured a Heavenly Grade Pill Fla, sothing only a Heavenly-ranked Pill Master could produce! Moreover, the purity of the fla seed entirely natural, not sothing forged by human effort.
That’s right. Su Xuan had now joined the ranks of Heavenly-ranked Pill Masters.
A prerequisite for becoming a Heavenly-ranked Pill Master was reaching the Longevity Boundary’s Later Stage. After the previous night’s incident—where he annihilated General Shi Jia on his Blood Bat and was then intimidated by the old man on the giant crow—Su Xuan had broken through to the Longevity Boundary’s Later Stage. Although his cultivation progression wasn’t hindered by the sa bottlenecks as others, his breakthroughs still occurred amidst intense battles, not through smooth sailing.
His cultivation was at the Longevity Boundary’s Later Stage. Combined with the Alchemy Books, especially the mysterious Immortal Wild Dan Art, his ascension to a Heavenly-ranked Pill Master was a confluence of favorable timing, location, and allies—not to ntion his own efforts.
RUSTLE!
Within the Alchemical Fire, the Blood Immortal Vine turned to ash in an instant.
Su Xuan rubbed the ash between his fingers, brought it to his nose for a light sniff, and addressed the still-horrified Third Elder. "Your pill formula is indeed nearly perfect, but not completely. The Blood Immortal Vine is also problematic; the blood essence within it is far too potent. The formula’s Astragalus enriches the blood and vital energy, and you also added Return-to-Spirit Herb. This causes the blood essence to surge violently during refining, and the Centennial Ice Lotus in the formula is simply not strong enough to suppress it. It’s natural that no pill would form. In my opinion, it needs these modifications..."
The Third Elder and Xiao Yun stood with their mouths agape.
The Third Elder’s lips trembled. "What you said... it makes perfect sense! How should we change it?"
Su Xuan smiled. "The Centennial Ice Lotus can be replaced with a Millennial Ice Lotus. If you can’t find one right away, you can substitute it with the common Earth Bitter Lotus. However, the Earth Bitter Lotus is excessively cold and damp, which can harm the muscles and bones. You’ll need to add so Poria to counteract the damp coldness and achieve a balance between the blood essence’s hot and cold properties. But the exact quantity of each ingredient must be carefully re-evaluated to ensure success on the first attempt. Otherwise, there’s still a risk of failure."
Su Xuan’s explanation was simple and clear. The Third Elder understood it all and felt it was absolutely correct. However, he found it hard to accept Su Xuan’s claim that minor adjustnts could lead to success on the first try. Even if his own teacher, the Immortal Master whose Dan Art was unfathomably profound, were to climb out of his grave and refine this pill himself, he wouldn’t dare claim such a thing.
This wasn’t just refining an existing pill; this was creating an entirely new one. The techniques, heat control, timing for adding herbs... all these factors required endless trial and error to perfect.
"May I borrow your refining chamber?" Su Xuan asked, glancing at the room while holding the pill formula.
"Xiao Yun, relight the furnace!"
All traces of fatigue vanished from the Third Elder, who seed to have grown years younger. After calling out to Xiao Yun, he strode purposefully toward the refining chamber.
He couldn’t help but pinch his own thigh.
Damn it, am I dreaming? This feels so surreal!
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