Chapter 679 - 536: Superior Nourishing Yuan Pill

Han Yan very straightforwardly made a Daoist oath; for her, obtaining these top-grade spirit teas was extremely useful.

Moreover, building a good relationship with the other party would make purchasing spirit fruits more convenient.

She didn’t hope for a discount in price, only for the eligibility to purchase them.

Ji An took out several large porcelain jars, weighed enough tea leaves, and then took out a box of Bodhi Fruit and said:

"The resources given earlier support your travels, and these tea leaves are an advance payment—payment for five years. You just need to do some research when you have time."

The inability to utilize resources like the Bodhi Fruit made him feel quite regretful.

Although he didn’t know much about Buddhist Cultivation, to cross such a vast ocean and arrive on this continent, the Buddhist Cultivators must have a Great Cultivator at the Nascent Soul Level.

The Holy Tree of the Buddhist Cultivators must have uses that he couldn’t fathom.

"Rest assured, Ancestor, your payment won’t be given in vain."

Han Yan confidently patted her chest, making her loose Daoist robe sway slightly.

Ji An nodded slightly, "Drink some tea, then rest for a while, and we shall begin alchemy."

Han Yan downed the better part of a pot of tea and exhaled a long breath, sighing in her heart:

’Top-grade Jade Dew Golden Bud Tea is truly a good thing!’

The spiritual exhaustion accumulated from refining pills over the days had reduced by more than half; a good night’s sleep would completely restore her.

If she had enough spirit tea and soul incense provisions, she could refine pills year-round without any issue.

The two of them rode the clouds in a flying escape to the mountainside grotto mansion. Han Yan looked at the two resplendent Red Cloud Pines and praised:

"These two spirit pines look truly auspicious, giving a sense of great fortune. Friend, you will surely have great success refining Nourishing Yuan Pills."

"Haha, may your words come true."

Ji An cast a spell to unlock the Dharma Prohibition, and the two arrived at the Earth Fire Chamber.

He took out some herbs and then retrieved the Fire Crane Dan Yang Furnace.

The pill furnace was the size of a large clay pot, seemingly forged from congealed crimson blood, with dark gold patterns akin to fine scales covering its surface.

The belly of the furnace featured a relief of three bird beaks holding a fire essence, with feathers meticulously detailed.

Ji An cast a spell, causing the pill furnace to quickly expand to the size of a barrel, making the relief appear more vivid.

It spun a few rounds in mid-air, and then landed stably on its three legs.

Han Yan’s eyes lit up, and she smiled, saying:

"The pill furnace looks really good."

As an alchemist, seeing a good pill furnace would naturally make one fond of it.

"Indeed it is, very easy to use. In the future, I will order one of the same style."

Refining tier-three pills indeed required a better pill furnace; Ji An decided when the time came, he would custom-order a magical treasure pill furnace, provided he had enough resources.

This was a matter for the future; custom ordering would be done after leaving the sect and arriving at Central Continent.

Han Yan coughed slightly and began to explain the precautions for herb extraction, many little techniques she had learned over long years of refining pills to retain the medicinal properties to the greatest extent.

Don’t underestimate these techniques; they could help an alchemist refine more high-quality pills.

What are high-quality pills? They are pills with more potent effects and less pill poison.

If the method of processing herbs had flaws, even the best performance during pill refining would struggle to produce high-quality pills.

She didn’t hold back, understanding that such openness could earn more goodwill, which might come in handy at some point.

Ji An listened carefully, occasionally asking questions; these were experiential insights, and had he explored independently, who knows how much time he would have wasted.

This is the importance of guiding someone; perhaps a casual remark from the other party could help someone avoid many detours.

"I have finished speaking; you can begin extracting the divine essence now.

Everyone’s actual situation is different, and with each pill furnace having distinct characteristics, you need to explore the rhythm for yourself."

Han Yan said that she explained everything she could in theory, but in practice, one must gain their understanding.

"Alright."

Ji An quickly recapped the handling methods of the herbs, chanting the Warm Fire Technique of the Three Yang Pill Fire Technique, to warm the Dan Furnace with the Cyan Lotus Heart-Burning Fire.

The moment the three-colored flames appeared, Han Yan gasped softly, recognizing it as the Heaven and Earth Spirit Fire.

"You’ve succeeded!"

"Yes, recently, the Cyan Lotus Heart-Burning Fire matured, and I refined it into three fire seeds.

There are still two left; the Sect Leader believes in you. As long as your cultivation meets his expectations, you will surely receive a fire seed."

"The Sect Leader Ancestor spoke to me; I will strive to meet the requirements."

Han Yan understood the sect’s concerns well, as the fire seed would vanish upon the master’s death.

If the sect were more pragmatic, they would only hand over the fire seed after she broke through to the Golden Core Stage, which would completely eliminate the risk of futile efforts.

Upon comprehending the Five Elements Mutual Generation, they would then give her the fire seed, allowing it to be refined during the cultivation of Five Qi Chaoyuan, without delaying her breakthrough.

Ji An cast the Object Control Technique, lifting the lid carved with coiled dragons, placing a Ganoderma into the pill furnace.

The furnace temperature rapidly increased, the Fire Crane’s wings lighting up, as if ready to soar, drawing an interested gaze from Han Yan.

Owing to the powerful spirit soul and the great perfection level of the fire control technique, extracting the divine essence was made effortlessly.

Han Yan commented:

"Having such performance upon first contact with this type of herb, not bad.

If you can further lower the furnace temperature during the Spirit Medicine Liquid Transformation stage, that would be even better."

Next, Ji An cleans the Pill Furnace and continues to extract the Spirit Medicine Divine Essence.

Twelve kinds of herbs, not a single mistake, all extracted successfully. The flaw lies in several Essence Crystals where the medicinal properties are not well-retained, but it doesn’t affect the refining of Pill.

Han Yan continually praises, "Your control over Magical Power is incredibly strong."

Several times during the Essence extraction, the furnace temperature almost caused failure, but Ji An successfully averted the crises.

Such ability, even someone like Han Yan, with extensive experience in Nourishing Yuan Pill refining, finds difficult to accomplish.

Ji An calmly accepted the praise, saying:

"I’ve refined the Vermilion Bird Flame Grass Pill many times, so my mindset remains stable."

The implication is having extensive experience in extracting high-tier Spirit Medicine Divine Essence. Among the materials for Nourishing Yuan Pill, the herb with the longest age is Celestial Essence Ginseng, while the primary herb age for the Vermilion Bird Flame Grass Pill is eight hundred years.

"Very well, do you need a rest?"

"No, let’s continue! The consumption of Divine Sense for me isn’t significant."

Han Yan nodded, carefully explaining the upcoming alchemy steps, and finally said:

"One batch of materials can form three pills. I suggest dividing the Essence into thirds, refining three times."

For beginners, this approach provides more opportunities for practice; otherwise, no Alchemist can withstand too many failures.

"Good idea," Ji An accepted readily, using the Object Control Technique to grab the Incense Burner from the corner, lighting a Tier Two Top-Grade Soul Incense.

Multiple refinements of Pills significantly increase the consumption of Divine Sense, so early preparation is crucial.

The final refining tasks require higher experience, and despite Han Yan’s reminders beside him, he inevitably made mistakes.

The first batch was scorched.

The second batch produced one Formed Pill, but it was a Wasted Pill.

The third batch was also Wasted Pill.

Han Yan held up the black pill and said solemnly:

"Although it’s also a Wasted Pill, the quality of this one is slightly better than the previous."

Ji An chuckled, "No need to console me; a professional can immediately tell the amount of Pill Poison in such a Pill."

His mentality was very steady, because he still had one batch of material remaining, which meant three more opportunities.

Failure isn’t fearful; stepping on all the pitfalls to learn from them makes forming one pill not difficult.

After all, the Nourishing Yuan Pill is only a Tier Two Lower Grade pill; though challenging, a Golden Core Cultivator can completely grasp it.

He extinguished the Soul Incense in the Incense Burner, stood up, and said:

"It’s already Noon, let’s go to the Cold Pool and have lunch, then continue."

The two walked out of the Grotto Mansion and flew to the foot of the mountain. Zhang Xueling swiftly served Spiritual Food from the steamer.

Ji An ordered, "Bring a pot of Top-Grade Jade Dew Golden Bud Tea, as strong as this morning’s!"

The consumption of Divine Sense was quite severe, requiring a good recovery.

...

After lunch, Ji An and Han Yan returned to the Grotto Mansion, lighting the half-burnt Soul Incense, and resumed refining.

With practiced skill, he extracted the Spirit Medicine Divine Essence, and the quality was much better than in the morning.

Han Yan secretly marveled, his learning ability is truly too strong, most of the medicinal properties were retained.

If Ji An knew her thoughts, he wouldn’t feel proud.

To other Alchemists, even if they know all the critical points, accomplishing them is extremely challenging.

Ji An’s powerful Spirit Soul Power allows him to perform exceedingly delicate operations, enabling quick mastery upon understanding how to proceed.

He focused calmly, beginning the final refinement.

In the Fire Crane Dan Yang Furnace, golden symbols spin quickly like serpents, while red Spirit Light thin as smoke emanates from the dragon mouth on the furnace lid.

Compared to the morning’s awkwardness, his actions now are smooth, embodying a beauty of natural simplicity.

The Pill Liquid gathers into a mass, with blue, red, and white smoke inside the furnace transforming into three flying dragons. They coil tightly around the pill, swiftly moving, dropping impurities that turn to ash with each circle, rendering the pill’s color more crystalline.

The Cyan Lotus Heart-Burning Fire finally reveals the function of Heaven and Earth Spirit Fire, with fragrance wafting from the dragon mouth on the furnace lid.

No need for Han Yan’s instructions, Ji An immediately opens the lid as the rich aroma spreads outward like shockwaves.

He uses the Object Control Technique to grab the pill, spotting the three mist-like Pill Patterns on it, a smile curling up at the corner of his mouth.

"High-quality Pill, lucky me."

He tosses the Pill to Han Yan, uses the Small Cloud Rain Technique to clean the Pill Furnace, as cold rain cascades over the hot furnace, with steam rising and lingering like a fairyland.

Han Yan smiles broadly, yet her heart is mixed, not leaving this ’master’ any room.

Without discerning further, just from the Pill’s fragrance she could judge how abundant the efficacy of this Nourishing Yuan Pill was.

"If the ancestor were to oversee the Dan Ding Institute, the sect’s formation of high-tier elixirs would increase by at least twenty percent."

Ji An grinned toothily, thinking:

"You wish to be presumptuous; I cultivated to the Golden Core Stage, just to be a babysitter for Low-Tier Disciples?"

He quickly cleaned the Pill Furnace and began refining the second batch.