BXBX NOVEL Chapter 148 - 120, Alchemy, Departure
Returning to the Martial Academy without any hindrances, Lu Yun found it somewhat unbelievable.
He found everything was going too smoothly. There were no followers outside the auction house, no thieves trying to kill and rob him outside the city.
All of this made him feel as if his extra caution was really unnecessary.
“Anyway, it’s always better to be safe than sorry.”
After a sigh, Lu Yun went to the kitchen and took an Alchemy Furnace out of his Sumi Bag.
The Alchemy Furnace was quite small, only about three feet tall, and entirely red.
In the middle of the furnace, four toads were carved. The mouths of the toads, which were open wide, provided a passage from the furnace’s interior to the outside world.
At the top, there was a special lid with a special hole in it for adding alchemy materials.
Additionally, during the alchemy process, one could observe everything inside the furnace through this hole to better control the heat.
The surface of the Alchemy Furnace was also painted with various beautiful and lifelike patterns, which made it look quite exquisite.
“This is merely the most basic Alchemy Furnace, and yet it cost me fifty spirit crystals.”
Looking at the little Alchemy Furnace in front of him, Lu Yun was feeling a pang of regret.
Fifty spirit crystals were approximately equivalent to five thousand Contribution Points, which could be converted into several thousand units of energy value.
If he had invested all these in the Pure Yang Martial Arts Canon, he would have been able to complete the final refinement of the Pure Yang Aura.
“All the sacrifices I’m making now are for better improving my strength in the future.”
Slapping his cheeks, Lu Yun cleared his mind and took out a pile of spirit herbs from his storage ring.
As these were all materials for refining First Grade pills, they weren’t very expensive; Lu Yun spent just six spirit crystals and got a pile which was enough for him to get started with the alchemy process.
These were all the materials needed for refining the Energy Pills, approximately two hundred portions.
“With so many portions of materials, even a pig could make a complete pill.”
Looking at the various spirit herbs filling the kitchen, Lu Yun thought to himself.
“The medicinal herbs needed for making Energy Pills are…” Squinting slightly, Lu Yun ran through the names of all the herbs in his mind, and also recalled all of their properties and effects.
After thoroughly studying the pill recipe for nearly an hour, he started to put charcoal into the Alchemy Furnace and lit it.
“I need to be very careful for the first attempt.”
Then, he started to add the spirit herbs to the Alchemy Furnace one by one, according to the description in the recipe.
He slowly controlled the heat, allowing the herbs to gradually liquefy.
One of the most difficult steps in alchemy is refinement. After the herbs are melted into a liquid, they must be controlled with spiritual power. In general, the stronger the spiritual power, the better the control over the heat, and the higher the purity of the medicinal liquid.
In addition, different years of the same kind of herb require different levels of purification and thermal control. Higher-level or more experienced alchemists can control the heat well.
The more types of herbs used, the stricter the requirements for their individual purity and ratio and the level of heat control, and the higher the requirements for alchemy technique.
Another complicated step is pill condensation, which requires accurate timing.
Improper timing can not only waste time but also waste the spiritual power of the medicinal liquid, and may even risk explosion of the furnace, so it is particularly important to grasp the timing of pill condensation.
The grasp of the timing of pill condensation is also closely related to the strength of alchemy technique. The stronger the alchemy technique, the more accurate the judgment of timing.
The last complex and challenging step is to solidify the separated liquid into a pill. This step has a hard requirement on the intensity of soul interference.
Lu Yun carefully controlled the heat, slowly refining one portion of spirit herbs after another.
However, not long after, when Lu Yun began to refine an Ink Jade Grass, an irritating smell immediately emerged from the Alchemy Furnace due to slightly excessive heat.
The first portion of Energy Pill material was wasted like this.
“Keep at it!”
Scratching his nose, Lu Yun continued to put spirit herbs into the furnace.
This time, he was much more cautious, not only constantly controlling the heat, but also closely observing the situation inside the furnace through the hole in the lid.
However, he only managed to hold on a little longer than before when he smelled an unpleasant odor.
Undoubtedly, the second attempt at alchemy failed.
After two consecutive failures, Lu Yun’s face became more serious. Learning from the experience of the previous two times, he once again devoted himself wholeheartedly to alchemy.
Failure!
Failure!
Failure again!
Lu Yun, like an indestructible cockroach, was not discouraged at all. On the contrary, his fighting spirit was even stronger.
Two days later, he finally managed to complete the liquefaction process smoothly and started the refinement process.
However, due to his unfamiliarity, he applied too much force, causing the temperature of the heat to exceed his control and causing most of the spiritual liquid to evaporate.
Moreover, the process of refinement was even more challenging than liquefaction. It took three whole days to complete the refinement process of the medicinal liquid.
“Alchemy is not only a craft but also a physically demanding and financially draining endeavor.”
Wiping the sweat off his forehead, Lu Yun continued to work.
After many failures, he had mastered the two steps of liquefaction and refinement. Now the only thing keeping him from becoming an alchemist was the last step, pill condensation!
Failure after failure followed.
After ten days,
Lu Yun was fully focused on controlling the temperature in the Alchemy Furnace. At this moment, if the temperature was slightly higher, the medicinal liquid in the furnace would become a mass of charred mess and give off an irritating smell..