Chapter 161: During the Blood Moon?

He purified each ingredient ten times, removing every trace of impurity he could detect.

Only after everything was ready did he summon the amber fire spark.

Moon waited until the flame settled before dropping a single Frostheart Lotus petal inside. He guided a thin thread of spiritual qi around it, carefully controlling the heat.

Soft white mist rose from the petal and gradually condensed into a fine power at the bottom of the cauldron.

Next, the Three-Leaf Spirit Calming Grass.

He crushed the stalks between his fingers and let the green essence seep into the cauldron.

Its fresh scent filled the air as he slowly fused it with the frosty powder.

He kept the flame steady, adjusting it when needed. When the fusion was halfway complete, he drew out a thread of soul dew.

The cauldron began to hum.

The mixture spun faster, and Moon’s hand seals moved along with it.

He guided the spiritual energy in a circle, keeping all ingredients from separating as they gradually merged.

The mold turned a soft, pale green.

Moon’s brow tightened as he felt the energy fluctuate.

He immediately adjusted his hand seals, trying to keep the spiritual energy balanced.

The cauldron shuddered, sending a low vibration up his arms, and sweat gathered at his temples.

He guided the vortex and attempted to divide the pill mold into three parts.

’Form. Please form.’

Crack—

Fssssss...

The cauldron trembled violently.

A sudden crackle rang out, followed by a burst of black ash and burned material that splattered across the stone platform.

Moon’s face darkened.

One batch gone.

He sat there in silence, staring at the mess.

He didn’t bother cleaning up. Instead, he replayed every step in his mind, checking the timing of his hand seals and the flow of his spiritual energy.

What went wrong?

He had purified the ingredients carefully.

The flame had remained stable, and the fusion had proceeded without any obvious resistance. The only possible mistake he could identify was that he had drawn the soul dew a little too late.

Moon rubbed his forehead.

He cleaned the cauldron, replaced the ruined ingredients, and began preparing the second batch. This time, he drew the soul dew earlier, hoping it would stabilize the fusion before the spiritual energy began to fluctuate.

The process started smoothly.

The Frostheart Lotus essence merged with the Three-Leaf Spirit Calming Grass, and the mold gradually turned pale green.

Moon maintained the flame while his fingers moved through the hand seals.

But before he could even divide the mixture into three parts, the cauldron shook.

Bang!

Another cloud of black smoke rose from the cauldron.

Moon stared at the mess.

It had failed even faster.

His jaw tightened as he wiped the sweat from his forehead.

He wanted to curse, but he held it back. He took several deep breaths before beginning the third attempt.

This time, he changed his approach again. He purified the ingredients as before, fused them slowly, and carefully monitored every fluctuation in the mixture.

However, he held the soul dew until the very last moment.

The mixture spun inside the cauldron.

The pale green color deepened.

Moon focused his divine sense on the mold. His fingers moved flexibly. His hand seal become more smooth flawless and faster.

He divided the pills into three portions and guided his soul dew into each separately.

The spiritual energy surged, but this time, instead of scattering, it flowed through the little pills.

Soon the pills turned bright red from deep green.

Moon formed the final seal.

Ping!

Three round, red pills flew out of the cauldron. Moon collected them in a jade bottle instantly, as if the pills would fly away if he was late.

Moon let out the breath he had been holding for a long time.

He had succeeded.

It’s not even low grade.

He had refined mid-grade.

Moon’s lips curved into a smile.

He stored the bottle away and called Lupine out. He gave him the poison-removing pills with some nourishing pills for the poisoned guard.

"Aren’t you going to make a slave contract with them first?" Lupine asked.

"No, I don’t want to pressure my soul now. And I don’t want a slave either. Master, let’s find another way to make them obey." Moon knitted his brows.

"Hmm. Let’s see first what they do after removing the poison." Lupine agreed. He also hated the slave contract. In fact, he found all contracts a hateful agreement.

He called out to Ugo and left with the pills to take care of the guards.

.

.

.

After they left, Moon rested for a while and meditated until his spiritual energy recovered.

He took out the ingredients for the face-altering pill. He had gathered a few over time, and Ugo had collected the rest for him.

Mirror Shade Root and the Rainbow Flower Ugo found in the Lost Realm.

A small piece of Bone-Softening Crystal he had found among the treasures in Lupine Palace, and a drop of pure moonlight dew collected from the Starlily Sanctuary itself.

Moon spread his palm and looked at his ember spark flame.

So small.

After all those Earth-grade refinements, it still hadn’t grown much.

The face-altering pill was spirit-grade. He could also make an Earth-grade pill by lowering its quality, but he needed to refine a spirit-grade pill to break through his soul power barrier.

What’s more, the transformation pill he wanted to refine was high spirit-grade, even closer to Earth-grade.

This transformation pill couldn’t even transform a real spiritual beast into a human.

In his world, a real transformation pill was divine-grade, and not many alchemists could refine it.

That was why it was easier for high-level alchemists to get a spiritual beast. Beasts usually bonded with them to transform.

What Moon wanted to refine was something he had thought about himself.

A lesser transformation pill.

It could only stimulate hidden inner power.

It wouldn’t transform them but would stimulate what they already had. It was an experiment for him, but for that, he at least needed a spirit-grade pill.

Earth-grade pills were only for humans, not something related to the soul or spiritual power.

Moon looked at the flame, doubting whether it could handle refining a spirit-grade pill.

Nevertheless, he lit the fire again.

After purifying all the ingredients ten times and taking another rest, he finally started the main refining process.

Just after he mixed the Mirror Shade Root and Rainbow Flower, his flame started to flicker.

The powder inside was uneven, leaving behind many gritty lumps.

Moon ground and mixed them again and again, exhausting his flame, yet the powder remained coarse and inconsistent.

Moon tried hard before finally stopping.

If even the first two ingredients couldn’t fuse properly, why waste the others?

His mind drifted back to Leo again.

’Why does this wolf have to be a wolf when I need him most?’ he mused.

He had even considered making a move on him a few times.

[Make the soul bond first,] the Moon Goddess said in his mind.

"First?" Moon raised his brows. What did she mean by first? Could it be that she really thought he would fuck a wolf?

[It’s not like no one gets intimate with wolves. During the Blood Moon, the world becomes something you can’t imagine.]

’During the Blood Moon?’