"The origin of the alchemy technique still lies in Water Technique and Fire Technique, only it is much more profound!"
Su Mu continued to meticulously read. His strong comprehension played a role at this moment. Every time he read it, he gained new insights. "The Ten Elixir Herbs Manual" might not be a monumental work in Alchemy Dao, but every word in it clearly showed it was a work crafted with heart and soul by a Pill Master, containing Baili Ye’s decades of alchemy efforts.
After such a day and night of detailed reading, Su Mu finally closed the Pill Book and carefully returned it to the Sumeru Ring.
"Knowledge gained from books always feels shallow; true understanding requires practice!"
Su Mu planned to transform the theoretical knowledge from the Pill Book into practice. He was about to start alchemy.
The most core tool in alchemy is naturally the Alchemy Furnace. Nowadays, Su Mu already had the Three Flood Dragon Alchemy Furnace at hand. This Half-Step Sixth Grade artifact in Baili Ye’s hands could refine Sixth Grade Elixirs, which would be enough for Su Mu to use for quite some time.
The remaining alchemy tools were also prepared by Su Mu in the last two days. He transformed an empty room into an exclusive Alchemy Room for use.
"The Ten Elixir Herbs Manual" recorded nine Pill Formulas, including two Sixth Grade Pill Formulas, four Seventh Grade Pill Formulas, and three Eighth Grade Pill Formulas.
"Let’s start with the Eighth Grade Bone Strengthening Pill to practice."
The Bone Strengthening Pill is one of the nine elixirs, and its effect is to strengthen the bones and refine the bone marrow. In terms of medicinal effects, it’s considered an advanced elixir to the Jade Bone Pill, and it is exactly what Su Mu needs. With experience in refining the Jade Bone Pill, he planned to start with this.
"The Bone Strengthening Pill has a violent fire attribute. Let’s use the milder Fire Wolf Blood instead."
This period of medical practice gave Su Mu a deeper understanding of pharmacology. He immediately combined the theories from the Pill Book to construct the entire process and Demon Blood combination for the Bone Strengthening Pill in his mind.
Then he began to process the medicinal materials, diligently working for nearly three hours, ensuring all materials for the Bone Strengthening Pill were processed.
"Let’s begin."
Su Mu started the fire and slowly activated the Three Flood Dragon Pill Furnace. As the Gang Force infused it, the Three Dragons spewed blue flames, then turned cyan.
"The way of alchemy conceals the principles of heaven and earth... Five Elements Mutual Generation..."
The flames danced joyfully. Su Mu recited silently in his heart, following the alchemical principles in the Pill Book as he began to add ingredients to the Pill Furnace, successively incorporating nearly twenty kinds of materials according to the principles of mutual generation and suppression of the Five Elements.
Time swiftly passed in this process. All seemed extremely smooth until two hours later, an abnormal sound echoed from within the Pill Furnace, accompanied by the unpleasant smell of something burning.
He opened the Pill Furnace, and black fumes billowed out.
"Failed..."
Even a failure, whether refining a Qi and Blood Pill or a Bone Strengthening Pill, meant a loss of nearly hundred taels of silver. Su Mu’s expression remained calm. He wasn’t discouraged and patiently examined the failed batch of pills.
Inside the Pill Furnace was a lump of pitch-black sticky solid-liquid mixture. Su Mu took out a bit, crushed it, and examined it closely, black shadows flickering in his eyes. He immediately started to review and infer.
"The medicinal properties didn’t blend well... The timing was also an issue..."
"Continue!"
Su Mu’s eyes sparkled, as if he was back in the Forging Workshop, standing in the Forging room.
In the following days, the Alchemy Room’s door remained tightly closed. Only occasional wisps of acrid burnt smell seeped through the door cracks, sometimes followed by a muffled ’bang’ that shook dust off the eaves, and then curls of black smoke would surge out from door and window crevices.
Li Lu stood in the courtyard gripping a broom, gazing towards the Alchemy Room with a hint of worry.
Time moved into the third day.
At dawn, a waft of fragrance floated out from the tightly closed Alchemy Room, sweeping away the previous haze.
"Succeeded!"
----
At dawn, a waft of fragrance floated out from the tightly closed Alchemy Room, sweeping away the previous haze.
"Succeeded!"