After successfully creating the Beautification Pill and gaining so confidence in his refining technique, John didn’t rest.
Instead, he returned to the alchemy table the very next morning with renewed determination in his eyes.
The blue stone fla flickered softly in the apothecary chamber as sunlight filtered faintly through the narrow chimney overhead.
He stared at the open page of the Stone Body Pill recipe, its ancient characters inked in bold black strokes.
"Grade Three Pill. Tempering bones, flesh, and muscles to the extre. No wonder it’s considered one of the best foundational body-enhancent pills in the Southern Wilds," he muttered under his breath.
His fingers drumd on the table beside the cauldron, tension building in his knuckles.
"I’ve read this formula a dozen tis. I know the herb combinations, the precise heat timings... but this is nothing like the Beautification Pill. This pill’s failure rate is higher than ninety percent for beginners."
He set the book aside and reached into his storage case. Ironroot Vine, Mountain Turtle Shell Powder, Fiery Ginseng, Bloodleaf Nectar, and Stone Lotus Core, he laid each ingredient out in a strict sequence, inhaling the pungent, mineral-heavy scent that lingered from them.
He activated his System Panel to check one last ti.
---
[System Panel — Updated]
Na: John Coral
Age: 25
Cultivation: Spirit Seed Realm (1040/3200)
Upgrade Slot: Twelve Circle Slashes (Level 2) (20/400)
Skills:
• ditation (Level 6 – Max)
• Breathing (Level 5 – Max)
• Spatial Awareness (Level 5)
• Slow Toad Breathing Skill (Level 10 – Max)
• Double Face Lizard Technique (Level 7 – Max)
• Basic Fla Control (Level 3)
• Alchemy (Level 4)
• Twelve Circle Slashes (Level 2)
---
"Alchemy Level Four. That’s enough to try, at least. Let’s hope I don’t waste these ingredients... I only have five sets."
With a steady hand, John began the first attempt.
The herbs were crushed, distilled, and added into the cauldron one by one in a spiral sequence.
His blue fla hovered, burning slow and steady.
Ten minutes passed.
Then fifteen.
Beads of sweat gathered on his forehead as he infused his Qi into the mix, wrapping around the mixture with surgical precision. But then...
Boom!
A sudden pop echoed in the chamber.
Acrid smoke puffed from the top of the cauldron.
The herbal scent soured into sothing burnt and bitter.
"Damn!" John cursed, backing away and coughing.
The cauldron hissed as he cut off the fla and looked inside.
The mixture had curdled into a black sludge.
Failure.
He stared into the ss, then slowly looked at the remaining four batches of ingredients.
"No. I’m not giving up. This is still within expectations."
He cleaned the cauldron thoroughly and spent a few hours reviewing his technique and adjusting the timing, especially the mont to initiate Qi fusion.
Then, as night settled in and the pale lamplight glowed above, he tried again.
The second attempt went smoother.
He stabilized the Qi spiral more carefully this ti, lowering the fla at just the right mont to prevent overheating.
Yet just when the pill embryo began to condense...
Crack!
The cauldron trembled slightly and released another hiss of failure.
This ti it didn’t explode, but the pill embryo collapsed on itself, turning into powder.
"Still no good," he exhaled, face tight with frustration. "But I’m getting closer."
With only three batches left, John ditated for half an hour to clear his mind.
He reviewed every step again using his Level 6 ditation, visualizing the timing, the heat adjustnts, and the precise mont of infusing Qi.
In his mind, he went over the entire process a dozen tis before standing up again.
"One more ti. This ti... no hesitation."
The third attempt began in silence.
He handled each herb like it was a precious treasure, adjusting the fla intensity every thirty seconds, and when it ca ti to bind the mixture, he guided his Qi in three overlapping waves, just like the manual said for stabilizing Grade Three pills.
Minute after minute passed. The cauldron trembled faintly... and then grew still.
A soft golden light began to glow from within.
John leaned over, sweat pouring from his brow, and carefully opened the lid.
Inside...
Two perfectly round, bronze-colored pills sat in the center of the cauldron, resting in a glowing herbal mist.
"I did it..." John whispered in disbelief.
He reached in and picked up one of the Stone Body Pills, feeling the dense weight and rich spiritual essence inside.
As soon as his fingers touched it, a surge of stabilizing power passed into his skin.
"These alone could sell for a few hundred spirit stones each in the open market," he thought with a grin.
With careful hands, he placed them in a small jade box and sealed it tight.
"Three attempts. Not bad at all," he chuckled. "But more than that... I now have proof I’m ready."
John leaned back, exhaustion setting in, but a smile remained fixed on his lips.
After two full days of nonstop alchemy practice inside the apothecary chamber, John had finally exhausted all the ingredients he had gathered.
Sweat dripped from his forehead as he looked at the rows of small jade bottles lined up on the stone table in front of him.
Each bottle held the results of his labor, and he couldn’t help but smile in satisfaction.
He had refined all five batches of Beautification Pills, and every single attempt had been a success.
Fifteen perfect pills glead faintly within their vials, the soft pink hue of the Beautification Pills radiating a gentle fragrance.
"These were the easiest," John murmured. "No wonder they’re often used as practice pills."
Next to them were twelve sky-blue Qi Gathering Pills, the result of five separate attempts.
One of the batches had failed, but the remaining four had yielded full results three pills each.
"Eighty percent success rate... not bad," he thought, nodding.
"These would sell well in the outer market too."
Finally, his gaze settled on a single small bottle containing just two dense, tallic-looking pills.
The Stone Body Pills. His toughest challenge yet.
Of the three batches he attempted, only one had succeeded, giving him just two pills.
"One out of three. That’s about a thirty-three percent success rate," he sighed.
"But to create even one successful Stone Body Pill as a beginner is already enough for sect qualification."
He packed the pills carefully, storing them in jade containers and placing them in his spatial bag.
His thoughts drifted to the examination. Only eleven days remained now.
---
[System Panel — Updated]
Na: John Coral
Age: 25
Cultivation: Spirit Seed Realm (1069/3200)
Upgrade Slot: Empty
Skills:
• ditation (Level 6 – Max)
• Breathing (Level 5 – Max)
• Spatial Awareness (Level 5)
• Slow Toad Breathing Skill (Level 10 – Max)
• Double Face Lizard Technique (Level 7 – Max)
• Basic Fla Control (Level 3)
• Alchemy (Level 4)
• Twelve Circle Slashes (Level 3)
---
"Only eleven days left now... and I finally got Twelve Circle Slashes to level three. I should test it properly."
John gathered his saber, one he had kept polished and sharp, and stepped out of the apothecary chamber.
The sun was shining bright above the Nine Sky Clan city, but John left the bustling streets behind as he made his way toward the outer wilderness, the trees swaying gently in the wind.
The forest greeted him with its usual chorus of birds, insects, and distant beast roars. John walked calmly, scanning his surroundings.
He encountered a few low-tier spirit beasts, spotted panthers, horned deer, and green-scaled boars, but he passed them without drawing his blade.
"They’re not strong enough to test my technique."
He ventured deeper until, suddenly, his Spatial Awareness pulsed.
From behind a cluster of massive boulders, a deep growl erged.
The ground shook faintly. John narrowed his eyes and quietly scaled a tree to get a better view.
A massive demonic bear, nearly three ters tall, its black fur rippling with dark spiritual energy, was chewing on a carcass.
A jagged scar ran down its shoulder, and a curved, bone-like horn sprouted from its forehead.
Its cultivation aura was Spirit Seed Realm, just like John’s.
John’s smile widened.
"Perfect."
He leapt down from the tree, unsheathing his saber.
The bear instantly snapped its head toward him, eyes flaring with bloodlust.
ROAR!
The bear surged forward with terrifying speed for its size, slashing its giant claw in a wide arc.
Whoosh!
John ducked just in ti, sliding across the leaves, then circled to the bear’s side.
"Let’s see if Twelve Circle Slashes is worth the hype!"
He slashed once, clean, sharp, and fast.
Clang!
The saber hit the bear’s thick hide but barely left a mark.
"Tough bastard..."
The bear retaliated with another furious roar and stomped the ground, sending up a shockwave.
John was forced back, dodging to the side and swinging his saber again, executing the second slash, a curved horizontal strike.
This ti, the saber dug in slightly.
"Better."
But the bear reared up and brought both paws down like twin hamrs.
"Too slow!" John grinned and used his Speed from Slow Toad Breathing Skill to blur away, dodging just before impact.
The earth split where the paws struck.
Third Slash, a vertical strike aid at the bear’s leg.
Blood splattered.
The bear howled.
"You felt that, didn’t you?"
The bear’s eyes turned more savage.
It suddenly opened its mouth and unleashed a beam of condensed spirit energy from its horn.
Boom!
The beam blasted through trees, exploding one right behind John.
He barely escaped the blast radius.
"That horn beam... not sothing to get hit by."
For the next fifteen minutes, it was a chaotic dance.
John dodged with inhuman agility, rolling, flipping, dashing through shadows and smoke as the bear swung wildly, each attack deadly enough to flatten boulders.
"Slash four! Slash five!" John whispered under his breath as he perford combo sequences from Twelve Circle Slashes.
Every attack added new bleeding wounds to the beast.
The bear lunged one final ti, trying to pin John with its massive body.
But John leapt upward, flipped mid-air, and brought his saber down in a glowing arc, the Twelfth Slash.
The air rippled around the blade.
CRACK!
The blade struck the bear’s neck with full force, severing a tendon and dropping the beast with a thunderous thud.
Blood gushed.
The forest trembled.
John landed softly beside the corpse, breathing slowly, not a single wound on him.
"You were a good test. Strong, fast, dangerous... but I’m faster."
He cleaned his saber, then knelt beside the corpse, carving out the Beast Core and storing it in his spatial bag.
He also took a few slabs of at, demonic beasts had dense spiritual energy in their flesh.
He sat beside the corpse, the forest falling into silence again, and stared up at the rustling canopy.
"Eleven days to go. I need to make sure I’m ready for both exams... strength and alchemy."
He took a bite of a dried ration and rested for a few minutes, satisfied and sharper than ever.
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