Chapter 103: Simply Costing One's Life (7th Update)

Xu Chen had already refined several furnaces of Small Yuan Pill, so he was long since familiar with the process.

In less than a quarter of an hour, all eight medicinal ingredients were completely refined.

Then, the combining, dividing, and nourishing of the pills were all done in one continuous motion.

From start to finish, it took less than two quarters of an hour, and a furnace of twelve Small Yuan Pills came out piping hot.

The Third Elder sat to the side, watching in both surprise and excitement; he raised his hand to take the handful of Spirit Pills Xu Chen handed over, examined them one by one carefully, and nodded with great satisfaction:

"It seems your talent for pill refining is indeed very strong. This furnace of pills could be fully supported by your own origin energy alone, which shows your Divine Sense control is extremely outstanding. Not only is there little waste of medicinal power and a high yield, but the quality is also very good, fully reaching the superior grade."

After speaking, the Third Elder waved his hand, and more than ten types of Spirit Grass and Spirit Medicine rich in Spirit Qi appeared before Xu Chen.

"Since you are already familiar with the Small Yuan Pill, then continue and refine a furnace of Great Origin Pill for me to see!"

"I ask the Third Elder to bestow the pill formula!" Xu Chen said with some pleasant surprise.

"You haven't seen the Great Origin Pill formula yet?" The Third Elder was astonished.

Xu Chen nodded honestly: "Yes, the Disciple only received the Small Yuan Pill formula from Jiu Shixiong; I do not have the one for the Great Origin Pill."

The Third Elder stroked his beard and nodded: "Although Lu Yuan is flighty in temperament, he is not muddled when it comes to major matters. Very well, I will give you all the first-grade and second-grade pill formulas currently in the Taiyuan Sect; you can study them slowly when you have time!"

After speaking, the Third Elder waved his hand, and a handful of colorful Jade Slips floated before Xu Chen. Xu Chen scanned them with his Divine Sense, took out one, happily stored the rest into his Storage Bag, and then pressed the Jade Slip to his forehead, concentrating to watch it carefully.

The Great Origin Pill is already a proper first-grade Spirit Pill. Although it is the most common, not only does it require more than ten types of Spirit Medicine and Spirit Grass to refine, but the refining method is also much more complex. Furthermore, for every sect and every pill refiner, these pill formulas and the ratios, refining methods, and timing of the medicinal ingredients all differ to some extent; they are absolutely never exactly the same.

To put it plainly, refining pills is like cultivation; even with the same techniques and teachers, everyone's progress and process in cultivation will eventually be different, and the results will naturally vary greatly, which is mainly related to one's own aptitude.

The pill formula detailed all processes such as the medicinal properties, refining, combining, dividing, nourishing, finishing, and storage of various ingredients. The most complex among them is undoubtedly the refining stage, and this stage is also what tests a pill refiner's Divine Sense and Spirit Qi control ability the most.

The refining requirements for more than ten types of medicinal ingredients are each different. Any mistake in any one of them could lead to the destruction of the entire furnace of ingredients. Among these, the control of the Five Elements Array and the Spirit Fire's heat is the most important. The more mistakes made, the greater the loss of medicinal properties, and the lower the final yield and medicinal efficacy will be.

With the same ingredients and the same Pill Furnace, some people can produce seven, eight, or even nine tenths in one furnace, while others can only produce two or three tenths, or even have the whole batch destroyed.

Moreover, the refining time for a furnace of Spirit Pills is very long. The longer the time, the more it tests the pill refiner's Soul strength and the thickness of their origin energy. Any negligence during this period might lead to failure.

Although Xu Chen had the experience of refining Small Yuan Pills, this was his first time coming into contact with the Great Origin Pill, so he did not dare to be careless. He spent a full quarter of an hour reading the pill formula, then closed his eyes and repeatedly memorized and pondered it for the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, before finally opening his eyes to begin sorting the medicinal ingredients.

Zhao Xuan knelt to the side to help him organize them one by one and helped identify them.

Another half an incense stick of time passed. After Xu Chen had sorted and arranged all the medicinal ingredients according to the refining order, he took a deep breath, inserted a Spirit Stone into the furnace hearth, pressed both hands onto the Pill Furnace's origin energy channel, and cast his Divine Sense into the furnace to ignite the Spirit Fire and activate the Array.

Seeing Xu Chen's meticulous and serious attitude, the Third Elder stroked his beard and smiled, feeling very satisfied and pleased.

However, this was ultimately Xu Chen's first time refining the Great Origin Pill, so he still carefully reminded him of a few key points of pill refining. After hearing them, Xu Chen felt a sudden enlightenment and quickly made some adjustments according to the suggestions. The Spirit Fire and Array in the Pill Furnace soon appeared to become more harmonious.

"Mm, not bad, not bad. Chen'er has high comprehension, sharp Divine Sense, and strong control. It seems that learning to refine pills is indeed a good choice for you, and it will be very beneficial for your future cultivation!"

Xu Chen gave a dry laugh and said nothing. After adjusting the furnace fire and Array, he began to put in the medicinal ingredients to start refining.

In reality, there is not much difference in the refining process between the Great Origin Pill and the Small Yuan Pill. The difference lies in the fact that the number of medicinal ingredients is almost doubled, which leads to a longer time required for refining, and it also demands more refined origin energy reserves and Divine Sense control.

However, for the current Xu Chen, these were not problems.

His Divine Sense was now no worse than the Third Elder's, and with the support of the Spirit Stone, the consumption of origin energy was not great; his state in the middle-to-late stage of the Kaiyuan Realm was fully capable of supporting it.

Therefore, the Spirit Medicine was soon refined at a speed of one type every half cup of tea, but it still took nearly an hour from start to finish to refine all the medicinal ingredients.

Although Xu Chen did not feel very exhausted, such a long time of sitting still and concentrating still caused quite a bit of sweat to seep out on his forehead, flowing down his cheeks.

Zhao Xuan took out a fragrant handkerchief and gently and carefully helped him wipe away the sweat.

The Third Elder sat like an old monk with his complexion as usual, but he felt some emotion in his heart. He couldn't help but fix his gaze on Zhao Xuan, and his snow-white eyebrows couldn't help but twitch a few times.

He discovered that the aura on Zhao Xuan's body was actually much thicker, and even her damaged Meridians seemed to have completely healed.

Could it be that the Eldest Senior Brother helped her repair them?

But that is unlikely. A few days ago, when the three old fellows were drinking tea, Xuanchen Zhenjun was still somewhat depressed when mentioning this matter, stating that Zhao Xuan's injuries were quite tricky and might cause lifelong damage that could not be repaired.

However, the Third Elder soon put this matter aside for the time being.

Perhaps it is possible that during this Spirit Transformation Ceremony, Xuanchen Zhenjun obtained some Spirit Pill or Spirit Medicine that repairs Meridians.

Originally, he had considered using the Sanyuan Golden Lotus to refine a furnace of Three-Grade Spirit Pill to help repair Zhao Xuan's injuries, but it seemed unnecessary now.

Seeing Xu Chen preparing to start combining the pills, the Third Elder carefully gave a few more pointers on the experience and methods of combining pills. After hearing them, Xu Chen began to combine the arguments in the pill formula to make some subtle adjustments. Soon, the Combining Pill Array inside the Pill Furnace was activated, and the more than ten types of refined medicinal ingredients slowly flowed into the vortex of the Array in order. Suddenly, the light and shadow of the Array in the Pill Furnace flickered and rotated, and under the roasting of the Spirit Fire, faint, tiny electric sparks began to flash, and the entire Pill Furnace began to emit a crackling sound.

The combining time for the Great Origin Pill is much longer than that of the Small Yuan Pill. It took two full quarters of an hour to finally reach a state of complete fusion. Then, after the Combining Pill Array stopped, Xu Chen carefully controlled the temperature of the Spirit Fire to begin roasting and nourishing the pills.

This time lasted for another full half an hour before the fragrance of medicine began to drift out from the Pill Furnace.

After nourishing the pills for half an hour, the entire pill room was filled with a rich medicinal fragrance that made one's mouth water. Under the Third Elder's prompt, Xu Chen activated the Dividing Pill Array. Under his powerful, net-like Divine Sense control, the egg-sized mass of Spirit Medicine paste was finally cut into ten finger-sized doses, and after being rolled into a spin by the Array, they formed ten evenly sized pills.

Finally, after another quarter of an hour of roasting to set the shape, and waiting for the pill fragrance to gradually subside, Xu Chen gently patted the Pill Furnace with both hands. The lid vibrated open, and ten Spirit Pills sprayed out, wrapped in a burst of Spirit Fire pill energy. Xu Chen raised his hand to grab them, and his origin energy gathered the pills into his hand.

"Third Elder, please take a look, how is it?" Xu Chen respectfully presented the freshly made pills with both hands.

The Third Elder scanned them with his Divine Sense, then picked them up to examine them one by one in detail. Finally, he nodded with a face full of smiles and said: "Very good, almost no different from the ones I refine. From this, it can be seen that your talent for pill refining is indeed rare. The Taiyuan Sect is fortunate, and the Danyuan has a successor. Even if I die, I can close my eyes in peace!"

Xu Chen hurriedly laughed: "How could that be? The Third Elder is still vigorous in his old age; perhaps you will reach the Golden Core Realm before long. The Disciple only wanted to play around with pill refining. Sitting still in this Danyuan day after day, and at my age, it is not suitable. You should live well for hundreds or thousands of years and take good care of the Danyuan. You must not count on me."

"Haha, you have gone out a few times and have actually become glib. Mm, although my chances of reaching the Golden Core Realm are slim, if I can refine a furnace of Cloud-Ascending Golden Pill with the Sanyuan Golden Lotus I obtained this time to supplement my Soul and stabilize my realm, I still have a two or three-tenths chance; it just depends on fate. Let's not mention this. You refined two furnaces of pills in a row today, and both were very good. You must be tired now, so go back and rest. Come to my Danyuan tomorrow to officially start learning pill refining."

"Yes, this Disciple takes his leave!" Xu Chen scrambled up to bow.

"Mm, I have a few more atlases of Spirit Medicine and Spirit Pills here. Take them back together and study them carefully to familiarize yourself with and identify the medicinal properties of various common Spirit Medicines and Spirit Pills. These are the most basic knowledge for a pill refiner. Do not swallow them whole; you must memorize them proficiently. I will test you in a few days!"

"Uh, this Disciple obeys!"

Xu Chen grabbed the seven or eight Jade Slips the Third Elder threw over with a bitter face, put away the Pill Furnace, and took his leave with Zhao Xuan.

Walking out of the Danyuan, he couldn't help but look up to the sky and sigh: "I finally know why Jiu Shixiong doesn't like refining pills. This reading and taking exams is simply going to cost me my life."

Zhao Xuan covered her mouth and giggled: "How old are you, talking about your life costing you your life day after day? Didn't you say you didn't want to go down the mountain or go out? Refining pills allows you to stay on the mountain every day; there is really no danger at all, and the entire sect will treat you like a treasure."

Xu Chen said with a bitter face: "But I only want immortality, not to suffer. How will I live these days from now on? One furnace of pills took half a day. In the future, when refining second-grade or third-grade pills, refining one furnace for ten days or half a month will worry me to death."

Hearing this, Zhao Xuan nodded: "That is indeed very boring. However, when the time comes, getting a good Pill Furnace that can automatically refine and roast according to the pill formula will be much easier. But these kinds of Pill Furnaces are very expensive and require a lot of Spirit Stones. I heard that Yuqing Hall has an Earth Dragon Cloud Fire Furnace, which is a fourth-grade Pill Furnace. Refining pills only requires simple supervision; there is no need to sit still and guard it every day like this."

Xu Chen almost vomited blood and said gloomily: "A fourth-grade Pill Furnace? I'm afraid that even if we sold all our senior brothers and sisters in the Taiyuan Sect, we couldn't afford it. Senior Sister, don't comfort me. I'm afraid I won't be able to afford it in this lifetime; I can only be a furnace stoker. Senior Sister, if you have time in the future, come and talk to me more. Sigh, this life is truly unbearable. Let's go, come with me to find Jiu Shixiong for some compensation."

"Hee hee, I agree with that!"

In his sadness and gloom, Xu Chen went to find Jiu Shixiong, and Zhao Xuan also followed along happily to watch the fun.

(End of this chapter)