BTTH: DISCIPLE CASHBACK SYSTEM

Chapter 373: Begin Refining Pills!

Chapter 373: Begin Refining Pills!

The authentic prescription required using soul power to read it. Only by doing so could the reader quickly grasp any issues that might arise during the pill refining process. However, the contents recorded on this thin paper merely provided a rough outline of the refining method. All the other details had to be figured out by the individual, which undoubtedly increased the failure rate of refining the pill to an alarming degree.

At this moment, many alchemists present had expressions of concern on their faces.

Even the stronger individuals like Xiao Yan and Princess Yao Yue frowned slightly as they carefully read through the few key refining points noted on the thin paper.

The materials placed on each person’s stone platform were only enough to refine two portions of the pill. In other words, each person had only two chances to fail. If they exhausted the materials without successfully refining a pill, the result would be obvious: failure, and the consequence of failure was elimination.

However, while most were struggling with the prescription, Liu Ling quickly scanned the list of ingredients on the thin paper, tossed it aside, and closed his eyes to rest.

The pill required for this test was a second-tier pill called the "Bone-Growth Pill." As the name suggested, this pill was used to treat those with serious injuries. Generally, healing pills like this weren’t particularly valuable. On the market, a Bone-Growth Pill would probably only sell for a few hundred or at most a thousand gold coins, which paled in comparison to those pills that could enhance battle energy or serve other more useful purposes.

The refining process for the Bone-Growth Pill required six different medicinal ingredients. Among all second-tier pills, it wasn’t considered overly complicated. Furthermore, this specific Bone-Growth Pill was clearly a new type of healing medicine specially designed by the guild.

For someone like Liu Ling, with his experience and ability, understanding this was not difficult at all. After all, regardless of how varied and strange healing pills could be, they all followed similar principles. The refining paths for these types of pills weren’t too different from one another—only the complexity varied.

Moreover, the Bone-Growth Pill wasn’t particularly intricate. As long as one had some practical experience in pill refining, they could follow the clues to deduce the method for refining the pill.

Therefore, even though the prescription only gave a general overview of the points to watch out for, it would still be relatively easy to successfully refine the pill by following one’s intuition.

After Liu Ling set the prescription aside, Xiao Yan glanced over with some surprise.

"Strange, why did he put down the prescription after just a glance? Could it be that he’s come across this prescription before?" A trace of doubt arose in Xiao Yan’s heart, as most people were still engrossed in reading the thin paper, their faces showing various expressions of concentration, yet Liu Ling’s behavior seemed unusual.

"Never mind. Whether or not he’s seen this prescription before has nothing to do with me. This is just the first round of the test!" Xiao Yan thought to himself and focused his attention back on the thin paper like everyone else.

The quiet atmosphere lasted for nearly five minutes before a crisp bell rang across the square.

At the sound of the bell, all the contestants put down the items in their hands and, with a wave, summoned thousands of cauldrons of varying shapes and colors onto the stone platforms.

As the bell resounded, Fa Ma, who had been resting his eyes, slowly opened them. His gaze swept across the participants, and his calm voice echoed in everyone’s ears: "By now, I believe you’ve understood the situation. The task of this first round is to refine a pill based on this incomplete prescription. You each have two attempts. If you fail to refine the pill after both attempts, the jade mirror on the stone platform will automatically light up with a red glow, and you will be eliminated."

"On the opposite wall, there’s a large hourglass. If you fail to refine the pill before the sand runs out, you will also be considered as having failed."

"Is that clear?" Fa Ma asked with a smile.

"Yes!"

The thousand voices on the square echoed like thunder.

"In that case, the first round of the test begins now!" Fa Ma raised his hand slowly before swiftly slashing it down.

At that moment, a thousand flames suddenly burst forth on the enormous square, resembling a magnificent display of fireworks. The spectacular scene stirred everyone’s excitement.

Xiao Yan glanced around and saw that Liu Ling, the princess, and many others had already begun to light their fires and start refining the pills. Despite this, he remained calm, with no trace of nervousness in his heart.

Xiao Yan quietly held the thin sheet of paper, his brows slightly furrowed as he carefully studied the sparse information recorded on it.

He believed in the saying, "Sharpening the axe doesn't delay the cutting of wood." With only two chances, any small mistake could lead to failure.

After about four or five more minutes of reading, Xiao Yan finally set down the prescription. He then controlled the Dou Qi within his body to ignite a flame and began refining the first medicinal ingredient.

With his eyes closed and his brows furrowed, Xiao Yan used his soul perception to slowly extract the essence from the ingredient. When refining pills, the extraction of medicinal materials had to be precise. A slight variation, whether too pure or too impure, could result in failure. This was why authentic prescriptions were so crucial.

Traditional prescriptions clearly outlined the exact degree of purity required for each material.

Unfortunately, Xiao Yan did not have such a precise prescription, so he had to rely on his own perception to carefully experiment.

It took Xiao Yan a full ten minutes to extract the essence of a low-level ingredient.

Immediately after, he spent another ten minutes refining the second ingredient.

"Phew!"

Seeing that the two medicinal materials had been refined successfully, Xiao Yan let out a sigh of relief and prepared to move on to the third ingredient. However, at that moment, he unintentionally glanced at Liu Ling's stone platform.

With that one glance, Xiao Yan noticed that half of Liu Ling’s ingredients were already gone.

"What’s going on!" Xiao Yan exclaimed inwardly.

Each contestant had enough materials to refine the Bone-Growth Pill twice, but Liu Ling only had one portion left, which meant he had already finished refining all his ingredients.

"Xiao Yan, focus on your own work and don’t concern yourself with others!"

Just as Xiao Yan was feeling surprised, Yao Lao's ancient voice echoed in his mind.

As it turned out, Liu Ling’s terrifying speed in refining the ingredients had already been noticed by Yao Lao and a few sharp-eyed individuals in the VIP section, but they chose not to alarm the other contestants.

🌟 Unlock the World of Stories with Early Access on Patreon! 🌟

Hello, beloved readers and supporters!

I am thrilled to offer you an exclusive opportunity to dive deeper into our captivating stories before anyone else. By joining the Patreon community, you'll unlock a treasure trove of benefits, including:

📚 Early Access to 20 Chapters: Be the first to explore new chapters, experiencing the twists and turns of our tales well ahead of regular readers. Your journey through our stories doesn't have to wait!

💬 Connect with the Community: Join a vibrant, like-minded group of readers who share your passion. Engage in exciting discussions, share theories, and make new friends who love the stories as much as you do.

👏 Support the Creator: Your patronage directly contributes to the ongoing creation and improvement of the content you love. Be a vital part of the creative journey!