I Have Medicine

Chapter 597 - (Like a stunned rooster) Pill tribulation

Gu Zuo sighed silently.

After all, it was a Wei Yuan Pill, one that could allow a low-level inner energy pharmacist to refine a high-grade pill. It truly was a little difficult. He had tried several times, but the results were all failures—something that had never happened before.

The main issue was with the medicinal ingredients. The power within these primordial beast core was extremely violent. It was fine for slow extraction during cultivation, but if it needed to erupt all at once for pill refinement, it was quite troublesome.

However, if Gu Zuo wanted to secure a better position, merely refining a flawless profound-level pill might be good enough for others, but for him, it was far from sufficient.

What he wanted to do was to become a Pill King while still at the Atomic Realm!

That’s right, the current Gu Zuo also had a bit of ambition!

In the refinement of the Wei Yuan Pill, Gu Zuo made continuous mistakes, but he was not an ordinary person after all. After these consecutive failures, he was already correcting his approach with each attempt. After two or three more tries, he would definitely succeed. And because of the long period of trial and error, the moment he succeeded, he would be able to produce a high-quality pill!

He had absolute confidence in himself.

However, when the onlookers saw that Gu Zuo had already failed seven or eight times, even though each attempt took less than the time it takes for a cup of tea to brew, they started to lose confidence.

Many capable pharmacists had noticed that the failures were a result of the primordial beast cores exploding one after another, while Gu Zuo’s own technique was still impeccable. But they couldn’t help but think that Gu Zuo was a little impatient. Otherwise, why would he choose to refine such a clearly difficult and first-time pill in such a serious setting?

If he ran out of time and still hadn’t succeeded, wouldn’t all his previous tests have been for nothing? This Gu Zuo was truly lacking in judgment!

Just as many people were frowning and some who had been optimistic about Gu Zuo and wanted to befriend him were about to leave, someone suddenly gasped, “Hey, he succeeded?”

In an instant, those who had stopped now stood still, and those who were about to leave now watched intently. Their mood and reactions were completely different from before!

Gu Zuo’s movements were still incredibly fluid.

He gently brushed his fingers over the top of the pill furnace, and the furnace emitted an extremely clear, resonant chime. This was the chime of a pill, indicating that the pill inside was not only successful but also of excellent quality.

Before long, the pill furnace suddenly jumped, and two brilliant lights shot out from within, escaping rapidly in two different directions! The lights were extremely bright and seemed to carry a hint of spirituality. The rich pill fragrance filled the air, making people want to get closer, grab them, and swallow them.

Gu Zuo moved.

A faint glimmer flashed between his brows as a burst of psychic energy surged forth, materializing into a rapidly spinning silver wheel. The wheel had six sections, and from one of them, two large palms suddenly extended. With a left and a right motion, they each seized a pill, gripping it in their palms before swiftly pulling back.

At the same time, Gu Zuo also reached out and grabbed.

The two pills landed smoothly in his hand, and the silver wheel turned into a cloud of silver mist at a speed visible to the naked eye, returning to the center of his brow.

In this short time, Gu Zuo demonstrated his ability to retrieve a pill with his psyche power, a truly impressive move that captivated everyone.

Next, he spread his palm, revealing two snow-white pills. They were perfectly clean and flawless—truly flawless pills.

Seeing this, many people outside who had a look of appreciation on their faces breathed a sigh of relief.

Having watched him this far, they were now hoping to see that Gu Zuo also had great ability in pill refining, rather than feeling jealous and hoping for his failure.

The pills Gu Zuo had just refined was clearly the flawless profound-level pills. Such a level was truly remarkable; one could say he was an exceptionally outstanding Profound-Level Pharmacist—worthy of being courted and befriended.

There was still a little less than two hours remaining. These people thought Gu Zuo would immediately emerge from the transparent room, but to their surprise, Gu Zuo put one of the pills away and put the other into his mouth.

‘Huh, why is he eating this pill?’

‘This type of pill has never been seen before. What is it…?’

The next moment, everyone saw Gu Zuo move again.

This time, he took out several more herbs, along with some quite precious auxiliary herbs, and piled them on the table nearby… Some people who recognized them couldn’t help but feel a little hesitant: ‘If I’m not mistaken, these are the ingredients for refining an Earth-Level Pill, aren’t they?’

A sudden thought caused many people’s eyes to widen in shock.

“That can’t be! He’s going to refine an Earth-Grade Pill? His inner energy is not high enough!”

But a more clever person remembered that Gu Zuo had swallowed a pill earlier and couldn’t help but speculate: could it be that this pill has some miraculous ability?

The events that followed proved these speculations to be correct.

Gu Zuo swiftly swept his hand over the pill furnace, and a smoky mist of pill energy immediately emerged, carrying a refreshing fragrance as it continuously dissipated.

After a few breaths, the fragrance completely vanished, and the entire pill furnace returned to its original state, as if no pill had ever been refined in it before.

This was a pharmacist’s “cleansing” of the furnace, done to prevent any residual medicinal properties from affecting the subsequent refinement of a new pill. However, Gu Zuo’s cleansing was even simpler. Due to his exceptional skill, all of the ingredients had been completely refined, leaving no residue behind. The earlier residue had already been cleared; what was now being cleared and dispersed was just some of the pill’s fragrance, a step he took for perfection.

Seeing how serious Gu Zuo was, the onlookers continued to watch.

Next, Gu Zuo flicked his finger, and a herb flew out. In mid-air, it seemed to be kneaded by an invisible large hand, and soon all its liquid was extracted, forming a transparent liquid globule.

Then, the second herb, the third… all were dealt with in the same manner, suspended above the pill furnace, colorful and dazzling.

Gu Zuo’s movements were clearly much less practiced than before.

But despite his lack of practice, there was no hesitation in his every move. He was just a little less fluid as he meticulously organized those herbs, carefully refining them bit by bit.

This process was much slower than the previous one, and judging from Gu Zuo’s expression, his attitude was a lot more focused.

Immediately, everyone understood.

This Gu Zuo truly wanted to transcend his own realm and refine an Earth-Level Pill!

The pill he had swallowed earlier was likely a means to support him in refining an Earth-Grade Pill!

At the same time, everyone also realized that this was probably Gu Zuo’s first time refining a pill this way; he hadn’t even practiced it before. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have made so many mistakes earlier—they could see that while Gu Zuo’s previous attempts were failures, the progress he made after each one was incredibly astonishing!

Thinking of this, many people gasped in disbelief.

How incredibly bold he was, to attempt to transcend his realm and refine an Earth-Level Pill for the very first time at such a critical moment!

For a moment, everyone’s feelings were mixed.

If you said he was reckless, it might also be seen as courage. But if you called it courage, then… now, it all depended on whether he succeeded or failed.

Gu Zuo was completely unconcerned with the reactions of those outside. At this moment, his mind was focused, fully immersed in the refinement of the Earth-Level Pill. As expected of a pill with sentient nature, it was an entirely different realm compared to a Profound-Level Pill.

During the refining process, the silver wheel in his dantian constantly spun, emitting waves of pure psychic energy that manipulated the medicinal properties and continuously tempered the essence of the herbs.

When he pointed his fingers, the many liquid globules fell in unison, all merging into the pill furnace and rapidly fusing together! More psyche power burst forth, like many delicate fingers, gently manipulating the fusion to make it more thorough, reducing errors, and even eliminating them.

Gu Zuo expended an immense amount of inner energy.

Other than when he first began refining pills, he had never pushed himself this hard since his skills matured. As a result, fine beads of sweat appeared on his forehead.

Gongyi Tianheng watched from outside in quiet contemplation.

The slight smile on his face gradually turned into a look of solemn concentration.

Of course, it wasn’t because he lacked confidence in Gu Zuo.

It was just that when one holds someone dear in their heart, no matter how calm they are, they can’t help but worry, and that worry makes them cautious and serious.

Many people watched with intense concentration.

They wanted to know if Gu Zuo would succeed, and if he could…

Gu Zuo’s movements became faster and faster.

He had gone over the refining method for this Earth-Level Pill countless times in his mind. He had analyzed every step of the refining process and made a detailed plan for the simplest and fastest way to refine it.

If not for that, there’s no way he would have come to “shock everyone” at this moment—he wasn’t stupid.

So, amidst the tension of the others, Gu Zuo’s movements remained perfectly composed.

He fused the liquid globules, used his psyche power to purify and compress them, infused his inner energy, and then performed a dazzling array of hand seals, meticulously polishing them into a perfectly round shape, and letting them slowly solidify, until they finally became a pill!

After a soft pill chime, a wisp of psychic light emerged from the pill. Immediately, the pill was eager to jump out of the furnace, wanting to escape as quickly as possible!

Almost at the exact same moment, a bolt of lightning suddenly descended from the sky, aiming to strike the pill!

It was the Pill Tribulation!

Starting with Earth-Level pills, whenever a high-quality pill is refined, a Pill Tribulation will appear.

More people immediately held their breath.

But Gu Zuo was already prepared.

His brow swelled, and the silver wheel spun out at high speed!

The wheel spun extremely fast and was incomparably sharp. In a flash, it met the lightning head-on, and after another silver afterimage streaked by, the Pill Tribulation was already cut apart and shattered!

The next moment, two hands emerged from the silver wheel, clasped together, captured the Earth-Level pill, and delivered them to Gu Zuo’s hand before retreating, their task complete.

Gu Zuo looked down at the Earth-Level pill, and a smile couldn’t help but appear on his face.

Everyone in the audience was stunned.

He… he actually succeeded!