Chapter 81: Getting a Bargain, Completing the Pill Formula

This page of the pill formula contained seven types of spiritual medicines. However, Xu Chuan only recognized two of them: hundred-year-old Yellow Essence and fifty-year-old Green Poria.

He had never heard of the rest, let alone knew their medicinal properties or elemental qi attributes.

"Young Friend Yiming."

"What instructions does Daoist Sansu have?"

"Does your Zhou family have any spiritual herb texts? This poor Daoist has shallow knowledge and doesn't recognize several spiritual herbs. Could you help me obtain them for research?"

"This..."

The young man outside the door hesitated somewhat, and his expression was even more astonished.

Looking at Xu Chuan's appearance, he seemed like someone who had cultivated for twenty or thirty years. Since he excelled in the pill Dao, he should naturally study various spiritual herbs regularly.

Yet he couldn't even fully recognize spiritual herbs?

He ran off to find the Zhou family alchemist responsible for the pharmacology examination.

"Uncle, that Daoist Sansu is truly strange. He can't even fully recognize the spiritual herbs on the pill formula and is asking to borrow our spiritual herb texts. Do you think we should lend them?"

"Oh?"

The Zhou family alchemist was also surprised.

The examination he conducted covered basic skills, mainly pharmacological changes, so he had chosen common medicinal herbs.

"This Daoist Sansu is the most skilled in the Dao of pharmacological changes among the four people on this trip. Just lend him the clan's 'Complete Collection of Spiritual Herbs.'"

"Alright, Uncle."

Before long, Zhou Yiming borrowed the "Complete Collection of Spiritual Herbs" from the Zhou family's library pavilion and handed it to Xu Chuan.

Xu Chuan had originally planned to go to the immortal cultivation market on this trip to look for some spiritual herb texts and pill formulas. He never expected to obtain them for free at the Zhou family.

Indeed, this trip to the Zhou family was an excellent opportunity.

Xu Chuan's soul power was already formidable, and his memory was astonishing. In recent days, he forgot to eat and sleep while studying this "Complete Collection of Spiritual Herbs."

Since it was collected by a Foundation Establishment family, it would naturally be superior to some common texts in the immortal cultivation market.

Half a month passed in the blink of an eye.

"Purple Origin Fruit, a first-rank spiritual fruit that mostly grows in secluded valleys near water sources. Fist-sized, entirely crystalline purple with white spots distributed across it. Its nature is mild and gentle, it stabilizes origin qi..."

"Thorn Fire Vine Flower, the spiritual flower blooming from the first-rank spiritual herb Thorn Fire Vine, mostly grows in hot regions. The stamen is white, the petals are sword-shaped angular leaves. Its nature belongs to fire, with explosive origin qi. If consumed raw, it can ignite magical power and help people break through bottlenecks, but..."

"If I'm not mistaken, this pill formula should be for breaking through realm bottlenecks."

"Among them are two spiritual medicines that promote magical power, two that break through bottlenecks, and three that stabilize foundations. There's a high probability it's for use by immortal cultivators in the mid to late Qi Refining stage."

"Thorn Fire Vine Flower and Cold Ice Grass, while both have the effect of breaking through bottlenecks, also both have certain aftereffects."

"According to the principles of pharmacological changes, there should be two more spiritual medicines to make up for the deficiencies, harmonize the medicinal properties, and make it truly effective for breaking through bottlenecks."

"One hot, one cold, two extremes colliding. Ordinary spiritual medicines simply cannot suppress them."

"Cold Flame Flower could work, but this is a rare second-rank spiritual herb with too high a value, more loss than gain, and moreover, its massive medicinal properties would destroy the properties of other spiritual medicines."

Even for Xu Chuan, trying to complete this kind of pill formula was truly difficult.

"Forget it, I'll first practice several times with the spiritual medicines currently on the pill formula and observe the pharmacological changes."

Xu Chuan immediately headed to the pill refinement room.

One room happened to be empty, and Zhou Yiming quietly stood to the side observing without disturbing him.

These young men were called medicine attendants, but they were actually monitors.

After three attempts, Xu Chuan made a discovery. Three of the spiritual medicines produced special changes during the refinement process, but ultimately, due to the eruption of the two fire and ice attributes, the pill refinement failed.

"If that's the case, the main ingredients of this pill formula are actually complete. What's missing is just one or two auxiliary ingredients to allow the pill to fully take shape."

"Blind experimentation won't work either. I'll go back and flip through the 'Complete Collection of Spiritual Herbs' again."

Every two or three days, Xu Chuan would go to the pill refinement room to test out his ideas.

A month and a half passed in the blink of an eye.

Among the recruited immortal cultivator alchemists, two gave up and left, and then another one came.

In numerous experiments, Xu Chuan had not succeeded in condensing a pill even once.

"It's truly extremely difficult."

Xu Chuan sighed. The Zhou family itself had an alchemist proficient in pharmacology, and there was also that Elder Zhou, whose pill refinement skills were certainly not ordinary.

Yet none of them had completed it, showing its difficulty.

"Moreover, the pill formula uses ice and fire extreme spiritual medicines as main ingredients, and the effects are extremely domineering. I'm afraid this isn't an ordinary pill formula for breaking through bottlenecks."

"Wait, since continuous suppression doesn't work, can I do the opposite?!"

"Using lesser yang and lesser yin auxiliary materials, first adding the Thorn Fire Vine Flower with lesser yin spiritual materials, then stabilizing the origin qi, then adding Cold Ice Grass with lesser yang materials..."

Xu Chuan's eyes burst with brilliant light, and he immediately began researching which two spiritual herbs would be best to choose.

"Young Friend Yiming, help me fetch these spiritual herbs and bring them to Pill Refinement Room A."

Zhou Yiming immediately went to fetch them. On the way, he glanced at the spiritual medicines. The first seven were the same as those on the pill formula.

"Jade Yang Grass and Water Origin Flower."

"There were already two fire and cold spiritual medicines, and now two more are being added. Can this form a pill?"

"Forget it, just do as told."

In Cave Residence A.

Xu Chuan placed the Thorn Fire Vine Flower and Water Origin Flower together and refined them into medicinal liquid. Next, he added the Purple Origin Fruit, and after refining it into medicinal liquid, it did not mix with the previous liquid.

Following that were the Cold Ice Grass and Jade Yang Grass.

Xu Chuan held his breath and concentrated, controlling four masses of azure medicinal liquid in the pill furnace with both palms.

His fingertips moved nimbly like a butterfly threading through flowers, magical power continuously flowing in, his mind divided into four parts, controlling the four masses of medicinal liquid to circulate without dispersing while approaching each other.

Soon, beads of sweat the size of beans seeped from the corners of his forehead, sliding down his temples.

"He actually looks quite competent. To persist for so long with undiminished magical power, he should be at fifth or sixth layer of Qi Refining layer."

Zhou Yiming himself was at the first layer of Qi Refining and couldn't see through Xu Chuan's realm. He thought to himself, "For a rogue cultivator to reach fifth or sixth layer of Qi Refining layer at such an age is also not easy."

The Xu family's martial path was completely opened, and they also had a cultivation method inheritance for entering the Dao through martial arts.

They would likely catch up to the Zhou family's Qi Refining realm clansmen's accumulation in just a few decades.

"It really can work."

Xu Chuan was overjoyed in his heart, but with his mental fluctuation, the medicinal liquid fluctuated violently.

"Not good!"

"Condense for me!"

Xu Chuan could only choose to suppress it with all his strength and speed up the pill condensation. However, the path of pills emphasizes yin-yang changes and subtle heat control, extremely strict, allowing not the slightest negligence. The smallest error would cause heaven and earth to invert.

In light cases, it affects the quality of the formed pill; in severe cases, it becomes a waste pill.

Poof~

Suddenly, a soft sound came from the pill furnace.

"Another wasted refinement. If this continues, what year and month will it end? Even if my Zhou family's foundation is deep, we can't withstand such consumption."

"But if we give up, wouldn't all previous efforts be in vain?"

As Zhou Yiming sighed inwardly, Xu Chuan's brows locked in frustration. With a light wave of his sleeve, four pill pellets suddenly flew out, falling into his palm like stars dropping onto a jade plate.

Among them, three had pill forms but were entirely jet black like lacquer, with black qi swirling and churning on their surfaces, clearly poisonous waste pills.

Observing their appearance, the fierce poisonous qi emanated through their bodies. Consuming them would likely harm the meridians.

Only one remained, half gray in tone and half lustrous white, with a subtle pill fragrance like an orchid first blooming, faintly flowing from the pill body, as different from the other three as clouds from mud.

"Mm, pill fragrance?"

As Zhou Yiming glanced sideways, his gaze suddenly froze, his eyes round as bells, his throat lightly rolling, his Adam's apple seemingly grasped by an invisible hand.

After a long moment, his trembling finger pointed at Xu Chuan, half a sound of shock and doubt leaking from between his teeth.

"A pill, it formed a pill?!"