Chapter 11: Chapter 11: Pill Concoction

The elder went away for a while before coming back with many herbs in his hand.

“Haha, boy, this pile of herbs is what Elder Jing needs. Hurry up and deliver it to her so we don’t waste any more time.”

“Thank you, elder. Elder Jing would be delighted to know the Treasure Hall is extremely efficient.” Giving a light bow, Yang Wei took the herbs and walked out.

“Elder, who is that kid? He broke the rules yet there’s no punishment.”

“That’s right, we would report you for being biased and unfair.”

Once Yang Wei left the hall, all the disciples in line started complaining to the elder in charge for unfair treatment.

“Go ahead and report me but before that. Let me warn you. That kid is here on a mission by Elder Jing who is the person in charge of the pills. Offend her and you can say goodbye to your cultivation path.”

The elder disregarded the youth’s complaint and retorted to them instead.

‘I almost offended Elder Jing and luckily got out of the pit. Now you want to throw me back in the fire pit, dream on.’

The youths went completely silent when they heard that the person behind the kid was someone who controlled the pill distribution.

*Gulp*

Everyone swallowed their throat nervously since they were so close to offending a big shot for reporting their helper.

“Apologies Elder, we didn’t know any better.”

“Yes, we would line up diligently.”

The elder in charge nodded since they all knew their place and did not cause a riot for no reason.

Meanwhile, Yang Wei returned back to Elder Jing’s courtyard with the ingredients in his hand.

“Reporting to Elder Jing, this Yang Wei has completed the task with your ingredients.” Yang Wei said outside the door without entering.

“Stop wasting my time and hand me the ingredients already.” Elder Jing shouted when Yang Wei was wasting so many times that could allow her to concoct another pill.

Without wasting another time, Yang Wei enters and hands the ingredient over to Elder Jing.

Elder Jing quickly snatches it before activating a flame from her palm as she heats up the pill cauldron in the center of the room.

“I’m going to start concocting the pill so when I call for the ingredients, you’ll drop it to the cauldron.”

“But I don’t recognize these ingredients, Elder Jing.” Hearing about his duty, Yang Wei can’t help but reply in a nervous tone.

Although he had brought back the ingredients, Yang Wei could only recognize a little bit of these herbs.

Some of these herbs could be found in the forest when Yang Wei was still chopping woods up but most of them were completely new.

If he accidentally places the wrong ingredients into the cauldron, then the chances of him being kicked out are guaranteed.

“Tch, if you don’t recognize these ingredients then why did you even pick my mission? Were you looking for a beating?” Elder Jing said in an irritated tone.

“It was not my intention at all. I picked this mission because it stated that it wanted someone to help around without specific details.”

“So now it’s my fault for not specifying exactly what I want the person to do in the mission I post. This mission is worth 1000 contribution points and you think it’s something easy like cleaning my room?” Elder Jing was now enraged by Yang Wei’s reply.

Yang Wei wanted to explain but decided to keep his mouth shut. ‘When under one’s roof, no matter who is right, the wrong is definitely the outsider.’

If he continues to argue with Elder Jing then the one who will be at the disadvantage is him and not Elder Jing.

Seeing how Yang Wei stopped arguing with her, Elder Jing started arranging the ingredient in a line.

“Since it’s your first day here, I will arrange the ingredients from the beginning to the end so you’ll know which ingredients to pick.”

Elder Jing said while pointing her finger toward her desk and continued.

“Over there is where the herbs are detailed with description. You will take those home after today to study them and I expect you to memorize them for tomorrow otherwise, you can forget about coming back.”

Yang Wei nodded and said, “I will definitely memorize the herbs, Elder Jing.”

‘This is simply perfect, I can now get exposure to more herbs and study from Elder Jing’s alchemy skills.’

Once the ingredients are completely lined up, Elder Jing starts using her true qi and a strong temperature flame appears in the bottom of the pill cauldron.

The flame in the pill cauldron starts to heat up and it is being maintained at a certain temperature, no higher or less.

Yang Wei studied secretly how pill concocting is done and the first key is to have full control in the flame.

After another 15 minutes goes by, Elder Jing suddenly said to place the first ingredients inside the cauldron.

Yang Wei slowly picks up the herb and places it inside by opening the lid.

“Remember, we alchemists always shut the lid when heating the cauldron up. Only when the temperature is correct do we open the lid and place the first ingredient. The ingredient placement always goes from mild to the toxin one because toxin herb melts quickly.”

Yang Wei listens carefully since Elder Jing is giving him advice out of kindness since she didn’t need to explain anything to him.

When the first ingredient slowly melted where the impurities are being extracted from the herb where only the essence remains.

‘So we use fire to extract impurities out from the herb but to think such a big herb only has a tiny amount of essence whereas the rest is impurities.’

The first herb was around 5 inches but only a centimeter size of essence is left after the flame extinguishes many impurities, causing black dust to drop down in the cauldron.

This process takes forever and 2 hours passed but only a third of the ingredients were used.

“Alchemy is never easy and my speed is above average already. If it were a beginner alchemist, it would take more than 3 hours to even try and extract the impurities out. This is due to the amount of true qi and soul power needed to maintain the temperature and the harsh duration.”

Elder Jing said as sweat started to drip down from her forehead. Yang Wei was no different since the room’s temperature is constantly rising and there can be no distraction.

Yang Wei didn’t try to wipe his sweat to not make any unnecessary movement as he’s completely focused on the process while placing the next ingredient whenever it’s needed.

This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that he could get and if he decided to be lazy and missed this, there will be no place for regrets.

After some time, Elder Jing finally finished melting all the necessary ingredients where multiple essences are being combined.

“Pay close attention as this is the most crucial step. If this step is done incorrectly then all those hours spent are wasted. Do you see all those pure essences floating in the middle?”

“Yes, there is pure essence extracted from all those ingredients.” Yang Wei replied.

“Now do you know what’s the next step?”

“I believe the next step is to merge those pure essences together and form a sphere looking pill which shows the pill is a success.”

“Correct and this is exactly the hardest part. Although they are all pure essence, their concentration is completely different. You’ll need to know the exact control of your flame to condense them together to have good quality pills.” Elder Jing said as she suddenly increased the flame power.

The essences in the cauldron start vibrating quickly and shaking the cauldron. However, Elder Jing didn’t mind as she continued to increase the temperature and the essence is now being forcefully merged together.

*Thump* *Thump*

The cauldron continues to shake but the essence is now starting to become one and changing shape to a spherical one.

Yang Wei was watching intensively and admiring the beauty of how many different herbs can be condensed into a tiny sphere pill where it has many effects.

Different herbs being merged has different effects as their category could be varied.

Some pills are used to increase cultivation speed, some are used to increase prowess within a time limit, and some are used to heal injuries.

Such a pill is a miracle and life-saving for every cultivator that has to face many dangerous situations outside.

*Blink*

Inside the cauldron, the essence has finished merging and gave off a bright light.

At this time, Elder Jing gave a bright smile on her face as she waved her hand to dissipate the flame in the cauldron.

A sphere pill appears and it is almost completely white. But some black spots are noticeable in the pill.

“An 80% quality haha. After many weeks of experimenting, I have finally completed this pill from an incomplete formula.” Elder Jing said as she laughed wildly.

Yang Wei was amazed by Elder Jing’s skill for being able to concoct such a miracle and wonder when he could be like her.

“Congratulations to Elder Jing for achieving a fabulous result.” Yang Wei said in admiration and full of sincerity.