Chapter 346: Refining Pills

"One hundred AK47s, one hundred Congreve Rockets, with the accompanying bullets and rockets, in exchange for one stalk each of four types of Spirit Medicine, and one piece each of the five elements Spirit Stone: gold, wood, water, fire, and earth," said Tan Qingyang.

Meng Yifan was overjoyed; AK47s were very cheap on Earth, and Congreve Rockets could be produced right in Luolong County at a low cost. Spirit Medicine, however, was a scarce resource on Earth that couldn't be bought for any price. As long as Tan Qingyang was willing to trade, Meng Yifan would always make a profit.

However, business requires asking for an exorbitant price and negotiating down. If Meng Yifan agreed too easily, Tan Qingyang would realize that the AK47s and rockets weren't worth much, and then it would be impossible to negotiate future deals.

Therefore, Meng Yifan put on a troubled look and said, "That won't work. I only have two hundred AK47s in total. At most, I can give you ten AK47s and twenty rockets. Each AK47 will come with two magazines and sixty bullets, and each rocket launcher will come with three rockets."

Tan Qingyang was also unsure, because AK47s and rockets were new weapons in the Great Wu Heavenly Dynasty, and it was difficult to determine exactly how much they were worth.

But since these two new weapons could allow an ordinary person to threaten a Third Grade Expert, they were considered very powerful weapons. Even at Meng Yifan's current asking price, Tan Qingyang could accept it.

In fact, even if Meng Yifan didn't provide the AK47s and rockets, as long as he truly fought the Demon Beast to the death, Tan Qingyang would still be willing to give him those four stalks of Spirit Medicine as payment for hiring Meng Yifan.

Tan Qingyang and Meng Yifan—one truly wanted to buy, and the other truly wanted to sell—so the trade had a foundation for success.

Tan Qingyang was the Inspector of Dongzhou Province, and Meng Yifan was a Fifth-grade Cultivator. At this moment, the two of them were like aunties haggling over vegetables at a market. They bargained over the price of the Spirit Medicine and finally concluded the deal: four stalks of Spirit Medicine and five Low-grade Spirit Stones in exchange for twenty AK47s, each with ninety bullets, and thirty rocket launchers, each with four rockets.

Afterwards, Tan Laosi made another trip, and Meng Yifan also began his preparations. First, he took Meng Dayong, Liu Zhongyong, and Lang Batian and left Luolong County without a sound.

Meng Dayong was Meng Yifan's Achilles' heel. If Ao Bi'an were to capture Meng Dayong to threaten Meng Yifan, just as Lang Batian had done in the past, it would be quite tricky for Meng Yifan to handle. Therefore, until Meng Dayong had enough strength to protect himself, it was not suitable for him to appear in public.

Meng Dayong knew that a powerful enemy was coming, yet he couldn't help his son and could only hide away. Since ancient times, the father had always been the one to shoulder the burden, but now the roles were reversed for this father and son; the son not only had to withstand the enemy's attacks but also protect his father's safety.

Watching Meng Yifan busy himself, Meng Dayong didn't say anything, but he felt very self-reproachful. During this time, he had been devouring Demon Beast Blood Essence and refining blood energy every day, and his strength had improved daily. He was now a Third Grade Peak vampire, but after all, his cultivation time had been short, and his strength was simply not worth mentioning in front of a Fifth-Grade Expert.

Liu Zhongyong was the key person for refining the cancer-treating medicine. Hiding him away in advance allowed him to begin preparing for the refinement, waiting only for the four stalks of Spirit Medicine to arrive to officially begin.

Furthermore, Ao Bi'an and Lang Batian did not yet know that Lang Batian had already acknowledged Meng Yifan as his master and followed his orders completely. This could be used to catch them off guard; at a critical moment, Lang Batian could suddenly appear and take Ao Bi'an by surprise.

One hundred kilometers southwest of Luolong County, there was a desolate valley. Meng Yifan led Meng Dayong, Liu Zhongyong, and Lang Batian there.

Working together, Meng Yifan and Lang Batian easily excavated a five-hundred-square-meter cave two hundred meters underground, using rock to partition it into three rooms for Meng Dayong, Lang Batian, and Liu Zhongyong to live in.

With a wave of Meng Yifan's right hand, beds, tables, chairs, washbasins, and other daily necessities appeared inside the cave. Moreover, Meng Yifan had brought enough food for the three of them to live there for a week.

Not only that, but Meng Yifan also set up a Concealment Array inside the cave. This way, unless Ao Bi'an searched inch by inch with his Spiritual Power, it would be impossible to discover the location of this underground cave.

Half a day later, the trade between Meng Yifan and Tan Qingyang was successfully completed, and Meng Yifan handed the four stalks of Spirit Medicine and the Spirit Stones to Liu Zhongyong.

"Lord Meng, if this medicine is refined using ordinary methods, it cannot fully exert its efficacy. There is about a seventy percent chance of curing a late-stage cancer patient. However, I know two special refining techniques: the Water Refining Method and the Fire Refining Method."

"The highest good is like water; the Water Refining Method uses Water-Type Spiritual Power to repeatedly wash the Spirit Medicine, allowing the impurities within the medicine to be washed away before fusing them into a Spirit Pill."

"The Fire Refining Method uses an Immortal Cultivator's True Fire to refine the impurities of the medicine. Depending on the characteristics of the different Spirit Medicines, one chooses between Gentle Fire for slow burning or Martial Fire for refining, ultimately forming the Spirit Pill."

"Whether it is water refining or fire refining, both methods can maximize the efficacy of the Spirit Medicine. According to my estimation, there should be a ninety percent chance of completely curing a late-stage cancer patient."

"However, I have no Spirit Power in my body and cannot use the Immortal Cultivator's Water Refining or Fire Refining methods to refine Spirit Pills," said Liu Zhongyong.

Meng Yifan was stunned for a moment, then laughed: "Uncle Liu, I have Water Element cultivation techniques. If you need me to assist you, just say so directly. I grew up under your watch; if you order me to work, would I dare not to?"

Liu Zhongyong smiled and said, "Haha, then let's get to work. Let's refine the cancer-specific medicine as soon as possible."

In the time that followed, Meng Yifan followed Liu Zhongyong's instructions, using Water Spiritual Power to repeatedly wash the Spirit Medicine. Similar to the Gentle Fire and Martial Fire of the Fire Refining Method, the key to the Water Refining Method lay in controlling the speed of the Water Spiritual Power's flow.

Sometimes it needed to be as gentle as a spring rain, slowly soaking the Water-Type Spiritual Energy into the interior of the Spirit Medicine, and at other times, it had to be like a raging sea, rapidly causing the Spirit Medicine to spin at high speed.

This alternation between fast and slow contained great knowledge. Without understanding the refining method, even with those four stalks of Spirit Medicine, one could never refine the correct Spirit Pill.

As Meng Yifan channeled his Water Spiritual Power to rotate the medicine, Liu Zhongyong focused intently, watching the changes in the Spirit Medicine inside the Pill Furnace. After half an hour, Liu Zhongyong said, "It's ready. Collect the pills."

Meng Yifan withdrew his Water Spiritual Power, and with a flick, three water-blue Spirit Pills appeared in his palm.

These three Spirit Pills were the size of broad beans and emitted an alluring fragrance that made one feel refreshed just by smelling it. Even more surprising was that two of the three pills had three water-wave patterns, while one had four water-wave patterns.

Meng Yifan gently shook the Spirit Pills, and the water-wave patterns on them swayed as well, as if the pills truly contained a clear spring inside.

"Four Spiritual Patterns—this is a Fourth-grade Pill. The other two are Third Grade Pills. Haha, this is wonderful! With the Third Grade Pills, I estimate a ninety percent chance of curing a late-stage cancer patient. If this Fourth-grade Pill is used, I guarantee the medicine will cure the illness, completely healing the late-stage cancer patient. Furthermore, the Water-Type Spiritual Power contained within the pill can nourish the patient's body, making them feel as if they have been reborn."

Liu Zhongyong was very satisfied with these three Spirit Pills. Among the four main ingredients, only the Red Fire Ginseng was a Fourth-grade Spirit Medicine, while the other three were only Third Grade. Since both Meng Yifan and Liu Zhongyong were refining for the first time, Liu Zhongyong felt that being able to refine Third Grade Pills was already quite good. He hadn't expected a Fourth-grade Pill to appear; this was truly an unexpected joy.