Chapter 54 second part, the great alchemist’s furnace

Chapter 54: 54 second part, the great alchemist’s furnace

54 THE GREAT ALCHEMIST’S FURNACE

The first herb was placed inside the furnace, causing the flame to increase slightly.

Yun Che controlled his spiritual energy as the impurities began to separate. Up to that point, everything had proceeded as expected.

He moved on to the second ingredient, and then the third. The essences began accumulating inside the furnace, and Yun Che narrowed his eyes.

The moment of fusion had arrived. He began controlling the flame as spiritual energy entered the furnace.

The three essences began moving closer together, and then one of them reacted. A slight vibration passed through the mixture.

Yun Che narrowed his eyes. Something was wrong. He slightly increased the pressure of his spiritual energy.

The reaction should have stabilized, but the exact opposite happened. The essence began to fluctuate.

Yun Che reduced the flame, causing the reaction to become even more violent. A small crack appeared in the core of the mixture.

Crack.

Yun Che tried to correct it again. He changed the circulation of his spiritual energy, and for an instant, it seemed to work.

BOOM!

An explosion occurred inside the furnace. Dark smoke poured out through the opening, and the medicinal essence disappeared.

The attempt had failed. Yun Che remained motionless. There was no frustration on his face, which was protected by a white mask.

Only analysis.

With that, he had lost much of his light. If he failed once more, he would be expelled from the mausoleum.

Around him, the other participants were also facing difficulties. A beautiful young Medusa attempted to increase the intensity of the flame, and her furnace shook violently.

Her spiritual light fluctuated before going out.

"Wait. I can still correct it!"

The child appeared beside her.

"You have failed, my noble Medusa."

The warrior tightened her grip on her spear.

"I haven’t completely destroyed the pill yet. Give me another chance."

The child pointed toward where the light above her head should have been.

"You have already received one chance. The light judged your execution and decided that it was insufficient. Not to mention, you failed too much on the lower floors."

The Medusa’s eyes widened.

"So that’s it? The mausoleum simply decides that we’re not good enough and expels us?"

The child calmly replied:

"It’s not a matter of being good or bad. You were given a task, made the wrong decision, and failed to recover the process. The mausoleum doesn’t need to wait until you destroy the entire furnace before making a decision."

The Medusa disappeared, and the hall fell silent. Meanwhile, the child simply continued walking.

"Next."

That simple word made everyone understand the true nature of this place once again. There was no room for hesitation.

Yun Che looked back at the destroyed furnace and the small pool of light above his head.

He knew exactly where he had failed, but he did not know how to correct it in practice.

The child appeared beside him, observed the furnace, and then looked at Yun Che.

"You know what you should do, don’t you? Your light is still shining, even if only faintly."

Yun Che remained silent as the child touched the side of the furnace.

"You know the ingredients. You know their properties. You know the approximate temperature required, and you even know the correct order in which they should be used."

The child paused briefly.

"But when the reaction deviated from what you expected, your hands didn’t know how to follow what your mind already knew."

Yun Che finally replied:

"Practical experience in directed execution."

The child smiled.

"Exactly."

She looked directly at him.

"Knowledge can tell you what should happen. Experience teaches you what to do when what should happen simply doesn’t."

Yun Che remained silent as the child continued:

"You know far more than someone your age should. That much is obvious. But knowing something doesn’t automatically turn your hands into the hands of an experienced alchemist."

She lightly tapped the furnace.

"That is why you failed."

Then she stepped away.

"Don’t worry. It’s an interesting failure."

Yun Che watched her disappear among the furnaces before closing his eyes.

System.

The interface appeared in his mind.

After finishing everything in the Great Alchemist’s mausoleum, he would have to practice Dual Cultivation to increase his Lust Points. This time, it would be better to practice Dual Cultivation with a powerful woman.

[Analyzing refinement process.]

[Failure detected.]

[Primary cause: incompatibility between fusion timing and spiritual pressure applied.]

Yun Che remained motionless.

The analysis continued.

[Recommended sequence identified.]

[Purification: First Stage.]

[Initial temperature: 420 spiritual units.]

[Purification time: 37 seconds.]

[Fusion temperature: 563 spiritual units.]

[Fusion order: Third ingredient → First ingredient → Second ingredient.]

[Spiritual control: Continuous flow for 2.4 seconds.]

[Stabilization: Gradually reduce the flame in three stages.]

Yun Che opened his eyes. There was an answer and an explanation. The System was not simply telling him what to do.

It was showing him where his execution had deviated. Yun Che placed new ingredients inside the furnace and waited. Unlike the previous attempt, he did not rush.

Thirty-seven seconds later, the first essence reached the required level of purity. He removed it and waited again.

The second ingredient entered when the flame increased and then decreased. It was then that he added the third.

Finally, he began the fusion. Inside the furnace, a small current of spiritual energy traveled through his fingers.

Yun Che carefully controlled it for several seconds before the essences began to merge.

He did not try to accelerate the process. Guided by the System, he simply followed the sequence. After 2.4 seconds, he changed the flame.

Yun Che reduced the temperature. The spiritual energy began forming the pill’s core, causing the medicinal essence to slowly rotate.

A small sphere began to take shape. The hall fell silent. Zhao Ming had stopped working and was watching Yun Che’s hands.

After several seconds, he spoke:

"He completely changed the way he’s controlling the flame."

Guo Han continued watching.

"I’ve never seen this method of flame control before."

Zhao Ming looked at him.

"Did you notice something?"

Guo Han replied:

"Could he have simply been testing it during the first attempt? Initially, he was reacting to problems after they appeared. Now he’s controlling every stage before the problem even appears."

Zhao Ming frowned.

"That means he already knew how to do it?"

"Probably."

Guo Han shook his head.

"Perhaps he deliberately made that mistake during the first attempt to familiarize himself with the process."

Zhao Ming became thoughtful.

"Then why would he go through the trouble?"

Guo Han looked at Yun Che again.

"I don’t know."

Su Meilin, who was standing several steps away, finally spoke:

"He learned something from his first failure."

Zhao Ming turned toward her.

"That’s obvious."

"Not exactly."

Su Meilin continued watching.

"Every alchemist learns when they fail. The difference is the speed."

Guo Han looked at her, and Su Meilin continued:

"During the first attempt, he was executing based on knowledge. After the failure, it didn’t take him long to completely reorganize his execution. He doesn’t seem like someone who is simply remembering a formula."