1oo42 New Urban Farmers Chapter 89 Seeking Advice, Conflict

Drinking Moutai again, the national liquor, greatly lifted Mr. Yi's spirits. According to him, the last time he drank Moutai was fifty years ago. At that time, he had saved a People's Liberation Army officer who had been wounded in the lung by private armed forces during the anti-local tyrant campaign. Mr. Yi happened to be there and stepped in to help, and he was fortunate enough to drink a few sips then.

Fighting in the mountains at that time meant a shortage of clothing and medicine. If it weren't for Old Man Yi's ancestral medical skills, he would have certainly died. But after a month of recuperation, the officer was miraculously back to life!

This is largely thanks to Master Yi's amazing traditional Chinese medicine skills and herbal remedies!

Zhang Guodong listened with great interest.

Even Xiao Hu joined in the grilling, chatting with Old Yi on the side. Bu Hu found using a grill and seasonings for the first time very novel, so he happily accepted the grilling task, this time without taking any money from Zhang Guodong. The blackfish from Taoyuan was already considered extraordinary, and now Zhang Guodong had brought excellent butter and seasonings to coat the fish. The aroma of the grilled fish was so enticing that even Old Yi was impressed.

However, each person received a grilled fish, and there was also alcohol to drink. Bread, canned goods, and dairy products were also provided, and the elderly accepted them without hesitation.

Zhang Guodong's attention was piqued when the topic of alchemy came up.

"I'm actually quite new to alchemy. So far, I've only managed to refine the Serpent Spirit Pill; I haven't succeeded even once with any other pills. There are many reasons for this," Elder Yi explained in detail. "Firstly, the Serpent Spirit Pill has an ancestral recipe that requires eighteen medicinal herbs, each of which is very precious, but the quantity and variety are limited. It's worth a try, though. Over the past few decades, I've dug up quite a few Serpent Spirit Grasses, but fortunately, I've cultivated even more; otherwise, it wouldn't be enough for alchemy. "But as for other pills, firstly, there's the issue of the recipe. A general recipe isn't enough; many auxiliary herbs are needed. This requires trying them one by one, and the precious medicinal herbs required range from a few to hundreds of different kinds. Collecting them is a huge problem. In other words, the first step of collecting them is difficult enough, let alone having enough to experiment with hundreds or thousands of times to increase the success rate."

Zhang Guodong could also sense the difficulty of refining the elixir.

"If Elder Yi can solve the problem of medicinal materials, will he be able to successfully refine other elixirs?"

"Not enough. Sufficient medicinal materials and proficiency are only the minimum requirements. To refine the pill, two more necessary conditions must be met," Elder Yi said. "These are what my grandfather discovered, and my father also experimented with them. Adding these two conditions can prevent the medicinal materials from melting when heated. Otherwise, at a certain temperature, the medicinal materials would all burn to ashes, let alone be refined into a pill."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Guodong thought to himself, "That's right, medicinal herbs turn to ash when exposed to high temperatures."

"Grandpa, are you talking about the medicine furnace and the purple jade sand?" Little Tiger interjected.

"Purple Jade Sand?" Zhang Guodong was hearing the name for the first time. "Sand?" Elder Yi nodded and then paused slightly, his expression turning serious. Zhang Guodong's heart jumped. Could it be something magical? He quickly nodded.

It would be foolish not to agree now.

"Don't worry, Elder Yi. I know that if this precious item gets out, the mountains will be in turmoil, and the good stuff will be destroyed. That's why I will never pass it on to a second person!" Zhang Guodong said.

"My grandfather found this purple jade sand. He usually carries a little with him. Over time, it's very good for your health, keeps your mind clear, and can prolong your life," the old man nodded and carefully took out a small packet, about the size of a fingernail, from his rough pocket.

Zhang Guodong's heart skipped a beat when he saw it.

He had sensed a strong source of spiritual energy emanating from both the grandfather and grandson, twice as strong as the spiritual energy of the snake spirit grass! But he never expected it to be emanating from this small cloth bag, no bigger than a thumbnail?

Zhang Guodong carefully took it and saw that a refreshing aura emanated from it. The spiritual energy was indeed coming from it, but it was condensed and did not disperse. In fact, it was absorbing wisps of spiritual energy in the air, although this was extremely slow and negligible!

The contents of this small cloth bag feel like sand, but how could sand emanate such a strong spiritual energy fluctuation?

Is this a necessary condition for alchemy?

After a long pause, Zhang Guodong swallowed hard before saying, "It's good stuff!"

Old Yi chuckled and said, "This is because the key ingredient, the powdered medicinal herbs, are mixed together to prevent the medicine from..."

"But that's only a necessary condition; the most crucial thing is the medicine furnace!" Elder Yi said.

"A medicine furnace? Medicine furnaces can be custom-made. With today's craftsmanship, what kind of medicine furnace can't be made?" Zhang Guodong thought to himself. It seems that the purple jade sand is the most crucial element!

"Do you feel that the medicine furnace is easy to make?" Old Yi asked with a smile, as if he could read Zhang Guodong's mind.

Zhang Guodong blushed and realized he had been caught.

"Then you're wrong," the old man sighed. "The medicine furnace is the most important part of the entire alchemy process; otherwise, it's all just empty talk. My foot-tall medicine furnace took thirty years to make. Ordinary ceramic, metal, or stone medicine furnaces cannot be used for alchemy unless they contain special materials."

Zhang Guodong was astonished. Thirty years of accumulating materials to finally craft a medicine furnace?

Asking him to wait thirty years to build a medicine furnace? That's ridiculous! There's absolutely no way he could wait thirty years!

"What kind of material did you accumulate over thirty years, Elder Yi?" Zhang Guodong asked hurriedly. If it was a rare material, he was willing to pay a million, even tens of millions, to buy it; with money, anything is possible!

He was a little smug; money is a good thing. You can buy anything with it.

Elder Yi said, "The jade essence has only been accumulated enough for four medicine furnaces in thirty years. It is mainly due to its special effects that it can be successfully refined!"

"Jade essence? Elder Yi, I've never heard of this before?" Zhang Guodong was bewildered and a little dizzy. "What exactly is this?"

"You should know about jade. The jade essence I'm talking about is a special type of jade material. This material is very rare, but it can condense spiritual energy. I selected it from many jade stones," Elder Yi finally revealed. The spiritual energy Elder Yi spoke of was merely a feeling, a perception, not something Zhang Guodong could actually sense.

Was it extracted from jade? The jade essence says these three palms seem to be made from extremely precious jade.

"Jade essence is extremely rare, and you rarely encounter much of it. Those who understand it might treasure it, while those who don't might consider it waste. But it's hard to come by. I collected four pieces after thirty years of constant experimentation and comparison!"

What? Gathering spiritual energy?

Zhang Guodong didn't pay much attention to the rest! He wondered if the purple jade sand that Master Yi mentioned and the jade essence he named were both related to spiritual energy?

Zhang Guodong hurriedly asked, "Elder Yi, how much jade essence does that medicine furnace require?"

Looking at Zhang Guodong with surprise, the old man said, "Naturally, a bigger one is better. My foot-tall medicine furnace is too small. The most suitable medicine furnace needs to be 1.5 meters tall, which will require about 50 catties of jade essence."

This immediately ignited Zhang Guodong's passion.

It turns out it's a jade stone that has accumulated a lot of spiritual energy. That's good! He may not have other skills, but he has ways to deal with anything related to spiritual energy!

His face immediately broke into a silly grin, and he was practically drooling.

"Guodong, Guodong?" Old Yi looked at Zhang Guodong, who was lost in thought, and reminded him twice.

"Huh? What?" Zhang Guodong quickly came to his senses.

"The most crucial and difficult part is resolving the jade essence issue, so we need to collect a large amount of jade essence before we can refine elixirs!" Elder Yi continued.

"What about purple jade sand? Where can we find it? What kind of sand does it look like?" Zhang Guodong asked hurriedly.

"I can provide some purple jade sand, but that place isn't easy to find," Elder Yi said, without specifying the location. Elder Yi seemed to have some reservations.

But Zhang Guodong was already satisfied.

If he can solve the problems with Jade Essence and Purple Five and Sand One, then he can also try alchemy?

Medicinal herbs? Peach Blossom Spring is a top-quality medicinal herb cultivation base. Once the herbs are plentiful, he'll have enough to refine pills. Yes, he'll refine pills in Peach Blossom Spring!

Perhaps success is easier there because the spiritual energy is more abundant there?

"Thank you, Elder Yi, for crafting a medicine furnace for me. But I wonder who can craft this furnace and what the requirements are?"

"Grandpa, the fish is cooked, and there's some for you too!" Xiao Hu reminded the two people who were chatting enthusiastically as he flipped the fish over the grill.

Zhang Guodong then realized he had gotten too engrossed in the moment. He chuckled self-deprecatingly and shared the grilled fish and drinks with the grandfather and grandson, finding it quite enjoyable.

The construction of a medicine furnace indeed has very high requirements. Specifically, there are four points: First, the furnace lid must be of the right size—too big or too small is unacceptable. Second, there must be a medicine outlet at the bottom of the furnace. Third, the bottom of the furnace must be at least three inches thick, with five inches being suitable. The furnace walls can be slightly thinner, but in all places, the heat must be even; otherwise, uneven heating will affect the quality of the pills. Fourth, the furnace legs must be stable; otherwise, if the furnace leaks air, the entire batch of pills will be ruined.

This is based on experience.

This was based on Master Yi's experience in refining the Serpent Spirit Pill.

The requirements for crafting a medicine furnace are not high; Old Man Yi could do it, but so could someone from a jade processing factory outside the mountains. There's not much difference between them.

Zhang Guodong was relieved to hear that.

After eating grilled fish, it was already late at night. Li Ningguang and the other three had already gone into their tents to rest. Zhang Guodong also reluctantly went into his tent as well. He talked with Elder Yi about alchemy without feeling sleepy at all, but Xiao Hu was dozing off beside him, which he could only watch helplessly.

Old Man Yi and Little Tiger had brought sleeping bags, and Zhang Guodong offered them a two-person tent. They didn't refuse, since they would be interacting with each other again in the future.

Zhang Guodong thought to himself that once it was light, they would all set off together and head to Shiya Village so he could see the alchemy technique!

For a moment, only the crackling of firewood remained on Qingshuiping, followed by the sound of Old Qing, along with Liu Xiao and the sleepy bear couple, guarding the area in the surrounding woods below.

The night was silent.

The next morning, Zhang Guodong was still having a wonderful dream that he had concocted an elixir of immortality. One pill could extend a person's lifespan by twenty years!

He sleeps in a silly pose. Drooling is dripping from the corner of his mouth. It's clear how beautiful Zhang Guodong's dream is.

But his dream was soon shattered.

The noise outside continued. Zhang Guodong reluctantly opened his eyes. He'd overslept again, and his boxing practice was delayed once more!

"What happened?" Zhang Guodong, still fully clothed, stepped out of the tent and saw Du Wenqiang with bruises around his eyes and blood at the corner of his mouth, being pulled by Wang Zhen. He was facing off against Xiao Hu.

Old Yi and Li Ningguang were positioned on opposite sides. Were they about to fight?

Zhang Guodong was stunned.

What's going on? They started fighting as soon as they woke up this morning? He checked to see if Xiao Hu was injured, but Xiao Hu was unharmed, only his fists were clenched tightly as he glared at Du Wenqiang with hatred. He finally breathed a sigh of relief.

He said to Li Ningguang with dissatisfaction, "Brother Li, what exactly happened? Why did you get into a fight with Xiao Hu? Your subordinates are all adults, aren't they? Why are you arguing with a child?"

Thinking to myself, this situation is becoming clear: Du Wenqiang was actually beaten by Xiao Hu?

Little Tiger is that amazing? Hey!

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