Chapter 140 of "New Urban Farmers" (10093): Pharmacological Conflict! The Arduous Alchemy Process! (Two chapters completed)

It was only when Zhang Guodong was ready to demonstrate his skills that he appeared. The situation was awkward because previously, alchemy required grinding medicinal herbs into powder and cutting them when they were slightly damp. But currently, they only had roots, branches, leaves, and flowers—where would they get the powder?

"My mistake!" Zhang Guodong's face flushed slightly. He had actually forgotten something so important. Elder Yi had said that when the cauldron was large enough and the firepower was strong enough, medicinal herbs could be added directly to the elixir without powder, but that was clearly not the case at present.

Putting aside the fact that this medicine cauldron is the Hundred Herbs Cauldron, which is quite special, the cauldron itself is also very small, so the amount of spiritual energy it can gather is very small, which naturally reduces the chance of successfully forming pills.

He was so focused on picking medicinal herbs that he didn't realize they contained a lot of moisture and couldn't be ground into powder.

It's impossible to turn it into powder right now, otherwise how could it be made into pills?

Big Black, Two Blacks, Four Little Greens, and the Big Silly couple watched Zhang Guodong from the side, wondering what their owner was doing. If they could talk, Zhang Guodong would probably want to crawl into a hole and disappear.

But how can this problem be solved now?

"How can a living person let themselves die from holding in their pee?" Zhang Guodong said resolutely after feeling ashamed.

Since I can't grind the herbs into powder, I'll crush them and use the juice as the raw material. However, this results in a significant loss of spiritual energy, which is somewhat frustrating.

Zhang Guodong went out of the bamboo hut and managed to find several stone slabs and a stone mallet. He put the medicinal herbs on them and started pounding them. He thought he should buy some mortars and pestles to pound the herbs next time.

Crushing medicinal herbs will cause a significant loss of spiritual energy, greatly affecting the formation of the pill. But does Zhang Guodong lack medicinal herbs? He has the right to waste them!

If it doesn't work the first time, you can try again!

Bang bang bang

In the Peach Blossom Spring of Time, the sound of mallets continued incessantly as all these medicinal herbs were pounded into powder and juice. This was no small task, as they could not be mixed together; otherwise, if even one ingredient was missing, the elixir would fail!

For half a day, from noon to evening, Zhang Guodong worked almost non-stop and finally crushed the necessary medicinal materials into a juice, although it was still far from being a powder. But at least there was a possibility of forming a pill.

"Has Boss Zhang not come out since noon?" Leopard, another of Liu Neng's men at Hongtan Mine, kept glancing at Zhang Guodong's bamboo hut.

During his second trip to the south, Liu Neng had told him that even if he went south to deliver goods this time, he must still take good care of Zhang Guodong. It was almost dinner time, and he was getting a little anxious.

The fact that there was no movement inside the bamboo house all afternoon led many people to speculate.

"No," the cutter shook his head. This was the twentyth time he'd been asked this question. His job was to cut the rough stone; once the stone no longer needed cutting, his work became much easier. The cutter was probably the most leisurely person in the Red Beach mine.

"Isn't Mr. Zhang hungry? He's locked himself in that bamboo hut all afternoon," Leopard muttered.

road.

Liu Neng treated the bodyguard like someone who served him his daily needs. It was truly a difficult situation for the leopard.

Chef Bian was stewing donkey meat and winter melon in a large pot, the steam rising and the aroma of meat filling the air. The workers around him had stopped working and gathered to prepare for their meal.

Leopard was feeling a bit annoyed, wondering whether he should knock on the door, but then he hesitated, remembering that Zhang Guodong didn't allow anyone to disturb him.

Just then, the bamboo house door creaked open!

Zhang Guodong stretched and walked out from inside!

"Huh, it's getting dark?"

No one responded to that, which was understandable, since everyone was waiting for lunch and the boss hadn't shown up. They had been hungry for quite some time before eating.

The leopard immediately went over, thinking to itself, "If you had come out any later, everyone would have gone hungry again."

"Mr. Zhang, you've gotten up at just the right time. Today we have donkey meat stew with winter melon, steamed buns, and rice. I wonder if that suits your taste?" Leopard said with a fawning smile.

Having followed Liu Neng for a long time, it's essential to know certain social etiquette.

"Donkey meat stew? And hunchback? Hehe, not bad, let's have this!"

Eating in a large pot, with big bowls and generous spoons, creates a wonderful atmosphere. And it tastes so much better! Zhang Guodong likes this way of eating; it's no fun when many people are gathered around one person!

"Alright, dinner's ready!" the leopard shouted. Everyone grabbed their bowls and chopsticks and headed towards the large pots, which were already brimming with the aroma of meat. There were three large pots and three fire pits burning. There was enough food for everyone to eat their fill.

Zhang Guodong spent the entire afternoon grinding medicinal herbs. It was incredibly tedious, and he'd even forgotten to eat lunch. But the aroma of meat made his mouth water. Without any hesitation, he ordered a large bowl of stewed donkey meat—it was overflowing with meat! He carried four large bowls, drawing attention from everyone.

Everyone thought to themselves, "Boss Zhang has a huge appetite!"

They've been toiling away all day, and two big steamed buns are enough to fill them up. Who knew rich people had such big appetites? You know, each steamed bun weighs four ounces!

Zhang Guodong was also ashamed.

He gets hungry quickly whenever he practices boxing. His body needs a lot of energy; if he doesn't eat, where will he get the strength? He's not a god; he can't fast!

After a hearty meal, Zhang Guodong finally let out a burp, having finished all four large bowls of food. Not a single bite of the donkey meat was left!

"Excellent, Chef Xu! Keep up the good work!" Zhang Guodong praised Chef Xu, the only chef. "Leopard, I'm going to sleep a little longer. Don't disturb me!"

Leopard immediately replied, "Don't worry!"

Zhang Guodong returned to Taoyuan once again.

The medicinal herbs were all prepared, and the table and cutting board were ready. Luckily, he had already separated each portion of the herbs, otherwise they would have been mixed up!

The five steps of alchemy.

The first step is to turn on the fire source with a "whoosh." Preheat the medicine furnace. Control the fire source so that it just covers the bottom of the Hundred Herbs Cauldron and gets slightly warm.

"Finish!"

The second step is to mix the ground medicinal powder according to the specified ratio. Zhang Guodong is going to refine the "Blood-Replenishing Pill", so he further mixes the auxiliary ingredients for the Blood-Replenishing Pill, roughly one part each, and so on, dividing them into twenty equal parts and storing them separately.

We've reached step three!

In the third step, Zhang Guodong took out the Purple Jade Sand. He took a small amount and threw it into the Hundred Herbs Cauldron. The spiritual energy expanded rapidly. He immediately added the mixed medicinal powder and then put the lid on.

Everything went smoothly!

The fourth step is to cover the container and continue heating. Under the influence of the purple jade sand, the medicinal powder will evaporate, and some excess moisture will spray out—this is unavoidable, as it will cause some spiritual energy to dissipate. Fortunately, after a while, the medicinal powder will begin to melt into liquid under the influence of the purple jade sand!

Zhang Guodong sensed the flow of spiritual energy within the Hundred Herbs Cauldron and judged what was being generated inside.

He felt a little uneasy. The fourth step had actually gone smoothly?!

I wiped the sweat from my brow; only the fifth step remained!

As long as the fifth step goes smoothly, the elixir will be made!

The fifth step is to master the heat and hope for divine intervention. One day, when the furnace starts humming, the elixir is complete! This process is the most important in the entire alchemy process.

Success or failure hinges on this moment!

At this moment, Zhang Guodong sensed that the Hundred Herbs Cauldron was absorbing spiritual energy at an unprecedentedly rapid pace, surging into the cauldron at the most crucial moment! The spiritual energy was more than sufficient.

But Zhang Guodong was still on tenterhooks.

"Pfft!" Just then, the Hundred Herbs Cauldron finished absorbing the spiritual energy and made a "poof" sound, followed by a burnt smell.

It failed!

Damn it! Zhang Guodong angrily clenched his fist and turned off the fire.

It failed at the most crucial moment? With such abundant spiritual energy, it still failed. If the room were outside, the outcome might have been even worse.

However, failing once is nothing to worry about. Last time, when he was refining the Serpent Spirit Pill at Elder Yi's place, he added spatial water, but there was still a possibility of failure.

Although no spatial water was added this time, the spiritual energy supply in the 100x zone is already sufficient. There's no need to add it!

Just because you fail once doesn't mean you'll fail again, right?

After cleaning the Hundred Herbs Cauldron, Zhang Guodong began the five steps of alchemy!

Keep refining the elixir!

Zhang Guodong became obsessed with this blood-replenishing pill and the Hundred Herbs Cauldron!

He didn't believe that the Hundred Herbs Cauldron could only refine the Hundred Herbs Rejuvenation Pill, as its original owner had said? And all other pills were unsuitable? This was in the Peach Blossom Spring, a region with a hundredfold increase in spiritual energy!

"puff!"

"puff!"

Then Zhang Guodong failed fourteen times and his expression turned grim. Was it really that difficult to refine? How exactly was the Hundred Herbs Cauldron made that it could interfere with the medicinal properties of the pills? Just how much medicinal property did this Hundred Herbs Cauldron absorb?

"The fifteenth time!" Zhang Guodong composed himself and cleaned the Hundred Herbs Cauldron again. He encouraged himself, thinking that although the Blood Replenishing Pill hadn't been successfully made, the Hundred Herbs Cauldron had withstood the test of the flames, so it should be usable for alchemy—that was a success!

Five steps to alchemy!

On this fifteenth attempt, Zhang Guodong experienced the agony of the first step going smoothly! The second step going smoothly! The third step going smoothly!

He managed his time very well.

The fourth step is to melt the medicinal powder into a liquid. This is a necessary step in the process of forming the elixir! Success!

In the fifth step, Zhang Guodong's heart was in his throat. The surrounding spiritual energy surged once more, gathering into the Hundred Herbs Cauldron. Zhang Guodong prayed, "Please don't ruin it! Amitabha! God! Protect the Infinite Heavenly Venerable!"

The spiritual energy surged wildly for a moment and then suddenly stopped. At that instant, Zhang Guodong tensed up, and then he heard a loud bang coming from the Hundred Herbs Cauldron!

It was a success?

It was a success!

Quickly turn off the heat source, then uncover and take out the pill!

A bright red, almost dripping pill appeared before my eyes. It emitted a strong, pleasant fragrance that soothed the senses.

Zhang Guodong felt like crying. "I tried fifteen times before I succeeded!"

"It's a low-grade pill!" Zhang Guodong immediately confirmed that he had refined a low-grade pill. "However, even a low-grade pill is fine!"

What I feared most was that failing to produce a pill would purely dampen people's enthusiasm and waste so many medicinal materials! Heaven had mercy, and it finally became a low-grade pill!

As the inscription on the Hundred Herbs Cauldron stated, it was virtually impossible to successfully produce other elixirs. After all, this was a region with a hundred times the spiritual energy of Peach Blossom Spring, and if this was the case, the chances of success would be even lower in the outside world, even in ancient times. Probably one in a thousand!

Zhang Guodong had witnessed firsthand the severity of the drug's adverse effects and the extremely low chance of successful pill formation!

Zhang Guodong carefully put the first "blood-replenishing pill" into the jade box.

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