Chapter 67: Experiment Failed

From the main text of "Cultivating Immortality Starting from Scavenging," Chapter 67, Experiment Failed: After activating the pill furnace and observing it for the time it takes to burn a stick of incense, Xu Chen had basically grasped the arrays inside and the steps for pill refining. The next step was to actually operate it, get some herbs, and try refining a few batches to see the results.

Of course, he wouldn't dream of spirit pills; he could only start by getting some ordinary herbs to refine some mortal pills to practice his hand.

Currently, the herb garden was destroyed, and he certainly couldn't obtain the spirit medicines and spirit grasses needed to refine spirit pills in the mountains and fields near Taiyuan Sect, so Xu Chen put away the pill furnace and rode his sword down the mountain.

An hour later, he returned to the small cabin and poured out a pile of messy medicinal materials from his storage bag.

To a disciple of an Immortal Sect, these medicinal materials were nothing but the trash of trash, lacking even a shred of spirit Qi.

But if taken to the mortal realm, every single one of them would be worth a fortune.

Ten-year-old medicinal grass, twenty-year-old Mysterious Ginseng, thirty-year-old Blood Ganoderma, yellow essence over a hundred years old, and so on; additionally, there were various dangerous medicinal materials like poisonous insects and snakes that only grew on steep cliffs or were hidden deep in mountain caves.

These things were everywhere in the deep mountains and dense forests near Taiyuan Sect, but for ordinary mortals, one would have to face extreme danger, or even pay with their life, just to pick one.

Xu Chen compared them against the jade slip, slowly rummaged through to find seven types of medicinal materials, and laid them out one by one on a stone slab.

The mortal pills usually refined by the Immortal Sect were only of two types: first, Qingshui Pill, used for cleansing the marrow, and second, Peiyuan Pill, used for clearing meridians.

However, Peiyuan Pill already carried a trace of spirit pill aura, and one or two of its medicinal ingredients were not easy to find, so Xu Chen certainly couldn't gather them all at the moment and could only start by practicing with Qingshui Pill.

After the preparations were complete, Xu Chen activated the pill furnace again and carefully read the method for refining Qingshui Pill once more. Only then did he press one hand onto the furnace's vital energy channel, continuously inputting vital energy and using his Divine Sense to impact the Fire Gathering Array at the bottom of the furnace.

Soon, a wisp of scorching white flame began to burn fiercely inside the pill furnace. Once he felt the heat was about right, he followed the order of pill refining and tossed the collected medicinal materials into the pill furnace one by one.

There are two methods for refining pills: one is to use a cultivator's vital spirit energy to ignite the furnace fire for refining, and the other is to put in Spirit Stones as fuel.

Generally speaking, one would certainly use Spirit Stones when refining spirit pills, but this was merely a batch of mortal pills, so there was no need for that at all.

Xu Chen was confident that a batch of Qingshui Pill was a piece of cake for him.

As the several medicinal materials entered the pill furnace, the lid closed. Under the guidance of his Divine Sense, these materials were wrapped in different array light shadows according to their Five Elements attributes to be calcined and refined, ultimately burning their useless components into ash and leaving behind only the essence parts for synthesizing the pill.

Xu Chen felt the entire refining process was very easy. Even though he was a bit flustered in the middle and almost made a mistake, and even had to pick up the pill formula jade slip to read it halfway through, he ultimately succeeded in refining all the medicinal materials at once.

Next was the pill synthesis; this step was particularly critical. If a mistake were made, the entire batch of medicinal materials would be ruined in an instant.

And the more precisely the pill synthesis process was controlled, the more uniform and suitable the pill's composition would be, and the better the pill's effect would be.

Mortal pills did not have very precise requirements for pill synthesis; generally speaking, just "good enough" would do.

However, Xu Chen was still very careful; after all, it was his first time refining pills, and he was actually a little excited inside.

He hadn't even expected that he would succeed in refining all seven types of medicinal materials at once.

He had previously heard Jiu Shixiong talk about how hard pill refining was, how it consumed Divine Sense and vital energy, and how troublesome it was, especially during the refining stage, where so many medicinal materials all had to be roasted and refined one by one according to different methods using different arrays and temperatures, and one could not be the slightest bit careless or make mistakes in order to retain the maximum medicinal efficacy, and so on.

But looking at it today, it seemed Jiu Shixiong had somewhat exaggerated.

Xu Chen felt slightly dismissive inside, but in reality, he had forgotten that the reason he had become so relaxed was the powerful Divine Sense brought to him by the blue jade bead that had appeared in his head.

Things like mortal pills could be refined by cultivators who had just entered the Qi Refining stage; it was just a matter of success rate and the number of pills produced.

Only when reaching the late stage of the Kaiyuan Realm could one truly refine first-grade pills with relative ease, but for second-grade pills, it was still very strenuous.

Like Jiu Shixiong, although he had already reached the late stage of the Kaiyuan Realm, he had not yet properly mastered the skill of refining first-grade pills and could still only refine mortal pills like Qingshui Pill and Peiyuan Pill.

Additionally, he could refine Small Yuan Pill, but because the medicinal materials were precious, it was hard to refine them even a few times a year, and there was a high probability of ruining them during the process, so his pill refining level was naturally a mess and could not grow quickly.

If it were in a large Immortal Sect, where low-end spirit medicines were abundant, pill refining apprentices would naturally have a large amount of medicinal materials to practice with, and their pill refining level would grow very quickly; perhaps in half a year or a year, they would become a qualified First Grade Alchemist.

But for Taiyuan Sect, the growth of disciples was too difficult.

Rather than wasting time on pill refining, it was far better to meditate and cultivate, and even better to go down the mountain to gain experience and rob others.

This was also the reason why Jiu Shixiong was unwilling to refine pills on the mountain.

Xu Chen's Divine Sense was fully focused and immersed in the pill furnace; this was the critical moment for pill synthesis.

In the center of the pill furnace, accompanied by the appearance of a spiral-shaped array, a faint whirlwind of vital power began to howl and rotate. The seven types of already-refined medicinal materials fell into the whirlwind under the guidance of his Divine Sense and finally mixed together. After more than ten breaths, as he waited for the whirlwind to slowly stop, a mass of gray paste appeared in the center of the pill furnace. Then, his Divine Sense continued to activate the Dividing Pill Array, and soon the paste was decomposed into more than ten uniform mud balls. Then, the whirlwind rose again, and these mud balls rotated in the whirlwind, quickly turning into pellets the size of mung beans.

The final steps were pill nourishing and pill extraction.

However, for mortal pills, pill nourishing was basically skipped; this stuff would still be a mortal pill even if it were warmed in the furnace for a year, and it wouldn't have a shred of spirituality. Therefore, after Xu Chen drove the furnace fire to roast the pills until done, he tapped the pill furnace lightly, the lid popped open, and more than ten gray pills rose up along with a wisp of misty medicinal fragrance, which he rolled into his hand with his vital energy.

Xu Chen took the freshly baked pills and examined them carefully, finding them uniform in size and rich in medicinal fragrance; the color seemed even better than the Qingshui Pill Jiu Shixiong had used as travel expenses when going down the mountain, actually carrying a trace of grayish-white luster.

"Wu ya..."

Smelling the medicinal fragrance, Xiao Huli jumped onto Xu Chen's lap excitedly and called out.

Xu Chen directly pinched one and stuffed it into Xiao Huli's mouth, and he couldn't help but pop one himself. Then he smacked his lips, discovering that apart from a wisp of medicinal fragrance, there was no effect at all, not even as good as a sugar bean.

Xu Chen put the remaining Qingshui Pills into a small porcelain bottle with a face full of regret.

Then he began to refine the second batch.

This time, the pill refining process was much better and much faster than the first batch; it took no more than two quarters of an hour before it was time for pill synthesis again.

Xu Chen's original goal was to test whether he could integrate the white gas released by the jade bottle in his Sea of Consciousness into the pills. Therefore, during pill synthesis, he focused all his attention on using his Divine Sense to probe into the jade bottle to touch the jade bead, then released the thought of wanting to draw out the white gas.

Although he did not get any feeling of resistance or cooperation from the jade bead, under this touch of consciousness, Xu Chen actually felt that a wisp of white gas released from the mouth of the jade bottle really appeared in the pill furnace along with his Divine Sense.

Xu Chen was overjoyed, thinking to himself that it was indeed an immortal artifact, and that he could actually communicate with it using consciousness. Therefore, he used his Divine Sense to guide this wisp of white gas, trying to integrate it into the medicinal paste.

However, the moment the white gas integrated, the mass of gray paste that had already finished fusing was instantly ignited by the spirit fire, and in no more than two breaths, it was completely burned to ash.

Xu Chen was helpless and could only activate the array to clean the pill furnace. After discharging the medicinal ash from the bottom of the furnace, he proceeded with the third pill refining experiment.

However, for the next two consecutive times, he failed to refine the pills because he could not integrate the white gas during pill synthesis.

Thus, Xu Chen knew that perhaps it was because the mortal pill level was too low to fuse with the white gas.

Or perhaps this kind of white gas simply could not be integrated into pills.

However, he still wasn't quite willing to give up.

If mortal pills wouldn't work, maybe spirit pills would.

Therefore, he began to think about where to get some higher-grade medicinal materials to refine a batch of Small Yuan Pill to try.

Although Small Yuan Pill had not yet entered the ranks, it was, after all, a pill containing spirit Qi and could barely be considered a spirit pill, and the materials were not particularly precious; even if he ruined a batch or two, he could still afford it.

Just as Xu Chen was scratching his head trying to think of a way, a cyan escape light came from Zhaoyang Peak and landed in front of the small wooden house in an instant.

"Senior Sister, why are you here?" Watching Zhao Xuan put away her sword and land, Xu Chen hurriedly stood up to salute.

Zhao Xuan's cheeks flushed slightly, and she said coyly, "We aren't outsiders, Junior Brother, no need for such formalities!"

Xu Chen rubbed the back of his head and chuckled dryly: "I'm used to it; if I don't bow, it doesn't feel like a proper greeting."

"Hee hee, you're obviously just brushing me off!" Zhao Xuan covered her mouth, then sniffed the medicinal fragrance still drifting in the air and looked at the Pill Furnace on the ground, saying: "I just heard from Jiu Shixiong that you wanted to learn alchemy and took his Pill Furnace, so I came specifically to see what kind of pills you could refine."

Xu Chen's face twitched as he said: "It's true that I want to learn alchemy, but Jiu Shixiong forced that Pill Furnace on me!"

Zhao Xuan was stunned for a moment, then laughed so hard she couldn't straighten her back, her eyebrows curving as she said: "I just felt like something was wrong; so he wanted to dump the alchemy task onto you."

Xu Chen was also stunned, his face full of confusion as he asked: "What alchemy task?"

Zhao Xuan laughed: "You don't know yet? Jiu Shixiong already went to tell the Third Elder that you want to learn alchemy and that you will take his place at the Danyuan to refine pills under the Third Elder, so he can go down the mountain whenever he wants."

Xu Chen's face immediately darkened, but in the end, he could only smile bitterly: "It seems Jiu Shixiong has been waiting for this opportunity for a long time, and I'm the only one who walked right into the trap."

Zhao Xuan nodded with a giggle: "That's for sure, but it's not bad for you to learn alchemy, Junior Brother; I can help you as an assistant when the time comes. I'm actually quite interested in alchemy myself and occasionally go to the Danyuan to help the Third Elder organize medicinal herbs."

"That's perfect. Senior Sister, take a look; this is a batch of Qingshui Pill I refined today. It seems pretty good!"

Xu Chen handed over the Qingshui Pill he had placed on a stone. Zhao Xuan took the medicine bottle and curled her lip: "It's just a batch of Mortal Pill..."

However, when she poured out a pill to look at it, her expression instantly became incredibly surprised, and she said: "Junior Brother, did you just refine this?"

Xu Chen nodded and said: "Fresh out of the furnace, it's still warm!"

The smile on Zhao Xuan's face had become much more serious by now. Feeling the lingering warmth and medicinal fragrance emanating from the pill, she examined them one by one carefully and said: "Although the Qingshui Pill is a Mortal Pill, it is not easy to refine them with such good quality. I have refined some Qingshui Pill before, but they were far inferior to these of yours."

Xu Chen shook his head: "It's just a Mortal Pill, what's the use of it being good? Senior Sister, please find some time to help me collect some medicinal herbs for refining Small Yuan Pill; I want to give it a try."

Zhao Xuan nodded: "Alright, but although the Small Yuan Pill is also not ranked, the difficulty is much greater than that of a Mortal Pill. Among them, a few medicinal herbs are quite hard to find; it would be a pity if you wasted them in a failed attempt."

Xu Chen said helplessly: "What other choice is there? Since I want to learn, I have to practice no matter how difficult it is. Otherwise, like Jiu Shixiong, who hasn't been able to refine a single batch of Spirit Pill in years, it would be better not to learn at all."

Zhao Xuan covered her mouth and laughed: "Don't say that; Jiu Shixiong is probably hiding somewhere happy right now. I still have a few of the medicinal herbs for refining Small Yuan Pill; I'll go get them for you in a moment. Other senior brothers and sisters should also have some, more or less; maybe we can gather them all for you in a while."

Xu Chen's eyes immediately lit up: "Why didn't I think of that? Let's go find the other senior brothers and sisters right now."

Zhao Xuan nodded, then somewhat bashfully took out a thumb-sized green Jade Bottle from her bosom and handed it to Xu Chen: "Junior Brother, this bottle of Spirit Liquid is for you."

Xu Chen was stunned for a moment and shook his head: "How can I take this? The three of us divided it up back then..."

"Just take it. I can't go down the mountain now, and I might stay on the mountain to recuperate for several years. Keeping such a good thing is a waste on me. You already used yours at the Linghu Mine, and you'll need it when you go down the mountain in the future."

Looking at the Jade Bottle forcibly shoved into his hand and feeling the lingering warmth on it, Xu Chen thought for a moment before putting the Spirit Liquid into his Storage Bag: "That works too. When I get more Spirit Liquid next time, I'll return a big bottle to you, Senior Sister!"

Zhao Xuan's eyebrows immediately curved into a smile: "It's a promise! Don't forget when the time comes. Let's go!"

"Alright!"

As they spoke, the two of them simultaneously cast their Flying Sword, soared into the air, and headed toward the top of Zhaoyang Peak.