Chapter 258 Successfully Developed!

Not only Zhong Cai, but all the alchemists were actively collecting "materials" and busy with their work.

Each alchemist has a different research method, but unlike the few alchemists on the Sky Ranking, some level 5 alchemists come with their companions.

The Alchemy Kings on the Sky Ranking are the cream of the crop among top geniuses. Their thinking is naturally very unconventional, making it difficult for them to cooperate with others. Other alchemists cannot keep up with their thinking, which in turn affects their research progress.

Some alchemists who come together are either from the same school or often discuss alchemy together... This allows them to complement each other, and especially when their ideas collide, they can spark even more brilliant insights.

At the same time, in order to have a quiet research environment and to replenish the "materials" they had used up in time, the alchemists voluntarily refrained from disturbing other alchemists.

Therefore, in Qingyu Town, alchemists often occupy their own territory on both sides of the same street, in a certain residential area, or in a certain mansion.

When a new alchemist finds that another alchemist has already arrived at a certain place, they will move to another place. Alchemists will only meet when they need certain special "materials" that are only available in a few places. Even then, they will not talk much with alchemists they are not familiar with, so as not to waste time.

Gradually, the number of Sky King Pill Masters who entered the town reached four, and there were also thirty or forty other Level 5 Pill Masters...

Most alchemists would first deduce all the ingredients before proceeding to the next step, but a few alchemists chose a different approach—continuously adding different medicinal materials to neutralize the toxicity. Once the neutralized medicinal properties no longer existed in the highly toxic substance, they would then take stock of the added medicinal materials, remove the cumbersome and redundant parts, and finally form a medicinal soup or other form of medicine.

Regardless of the method used, it requires constant trial and error, and consumes a great deal of "materials".

Even now, despite the best efforts of many alchemists, no antidote has been found.

The evil poison master Wei Li lived up to his ranking; the poison he produced was extremely complex and interconnected. Even the slightest mistake in the preparation would trigger a chain reaction of consequences...

Let's start over.

Let's start over!

·

While preparing the medicinal liquid in the basin in front of him, Zhong Cai exclaimed, "Oh dear! Old Wu, I can't leave here. Quickly, get me some more ingredients! The same as before!"

Upon hearing this, Wu Shaogan vanished in a flash.

Zhong Cai was very impatient, but her hands moved steadily and smoothly, dropping another drop of poisonous blood into the medicinal liquid, waiting for its reaction, and smoothly dodging the reaction, finally taking out a pinch of light blue powder.

Another medicinal herb corresponding to a component has been identified!

He glanced at the open boxes beside him; they were almost all empty. All he had left were the poisoned blood from one or two living corpses and a small amount of water from the underground river…

At this moment, Wu Shaogan slipped in again.

In the blink of an eye, the empty boxes around Zhong Cai disappeared, and new boxes filled with "materials" were placed in their places. The "materials" in each box and the empty box came from the same living corpse, or a living corpse with the same characteristics.

The "materials" have been replenished once again.

Yes, again.

Zhong Cai is very rigorous in her research. Even if she gets a result that seems to be fine, she will not make a judgment immediately. She will conduct repeated experiments and use different "materials" to confirm the results. She will not tolerate even the slightest deviation.

While his research process was generally smooth, it was not without its errors. One advantage he had was that he could react instantly when errors occurred without harming himself, thus avoiding the need to spend time recovering and reducing wasted time.

For various reasons, Zhong Cai will also consume a large amount of "materials".

then……

The quick-witted Wu Shaogan had already run errands for Zhong Cai several times.

Furthermore, because Wu Shaogan had already memorized Zhong Cai's every move when he accompanied Zhong Cai on his first "material gathering," the "materials" he collected on subsequent occasions were never wrong, making him Zhong Cai's capable assistant.

·

Working together like this, they consumed countless "materials" and wasted an immeasurable amount of energy.

For a talented alchemist like Zhong Cai, countless possible ways to refine this deadly poison would flash through his mind while constantly analyzing the ingredients. He would then gradually determine the ingredients, eliminate any inappropriate herbs, rule out illogical ideas, and rule out ideas that did not fit the deadly poison.

Following this line of thought, Zhong Cai would further refine and deduce the identified ingredients multiple times, narrowing down the scope of the proposed approach once again.

Zhong Cai finally identified a total of fifty-two components of that highly toxic substance!

but……

At this point, Zhong Cai encountered a bottleneck.

There was still a component missing; he couldn't find the most suitable medicinal material from his knowledge base, and therefore couldn't immediately use relevant medicinal materials to interact with and refine this component.

The remaining ingredients may have their medicinal effects derived from the same medicinal material, or perhaps from two or three different materials—but this cannot be identified at the moment.

This ingredient, along with the incense burned in the town, is likely responsible for the part of the function that causes the zombies to automatically "hang" themselves.

·

This wasn't the first time Zhong Cai had encountered a situation where he couldn't find any suitable medicinal herbs in the inheritance. However, as he acquired more and more inheritances and gained more and more knowledge, there were almost no medicinal herbs he couldn't recognize.

If something suddenly becomes difficult to distinguish, then there are multiple possibilities.

For example, there might be one that wasn't recorded in the lineage, a mutated one, or one that mutated to have multiple medicinal effects, or even something more complex...

It is not even possible to infer this from the quantity of the medicinal materials themselves.

Since this is a level-five poison, yet it poisoned cultivators at the first or second level, it must have been diluted beforehand to ensure the desired effect...

Think about it some more.

Zhong Cai remained calm.

It's normal to encounter difficulties during research. Although the situation is urgent, the more urgent it is, the less we can afford to make mistakes in the rush.

He had all the ideas, and he had also come up with many ways to reverse the process of detoxification, which corresponded one by one with the ideas of making the deadly poison. The medicinal materials to be used could also be adjusted and modified immediately.

It's just missing this last ingredient.

·

Zhong Cai stared blankly at the medicinal herbs, her eyes somewhat dazed.

Wu Shaogan rarely saw Zhong Cai like this, and stared at him with some concern for a while—noticing that his eyes would occasionally flicker and then he would concentrate on thinking, he felt relieved—A-Cai was just having a brainstorming session, and this time it might be more difficult, so the "storm" would last a little longer.

However, Wu Shaogan still checked the "materials" placed around him again to make sure that there were enough for him.

The next moment, Zhong Cai suddenly took out an even smaller box and a pair of small tweezers that he had made himself. He carefully picked out a piece of gray film from the box.

This is precisely the extract from "burning incense".

Zhong Cai had previously speculated that the reason why the townspeople were able to "hang themselves" so neatly was probably due to the effect of the combination of the burning incense and the deadly poison in the underground river water.

The townspeople must have received "orders".

In cases of poisoning, one must still follow instructions. This poison must also affect the soul. There should be no enlightened cultivators in Zhongzhen. However, in order to estimate the range of the medicine's effects, Zhong Cai had roughly scanned the area when he was "gathering materials" earlier. Indeed, there was not a single enlightened cultivator, let alone one who could condense a primordial soul at the fourth level of enlightenment.

There are several possibilities in this situation:

Or perhaps it wasn't blessed recently and is just temporarily staying in Qingyu Town;

Or perhaps the cultivator who underwent consecration was dealt with separately by the evil poison master and did not enter this so-called "exam"—then there is another possibility: if the cultivator who underwent consecration was also left as a living corpse, it would provide assistance to the alchemist who was researching the "exam".

Therefore, this kind of "manipulation" poison may not have no effect on the primordial soul, but it should have a more precise control over the divine soul.

After most of the townspeople were poisoned, they followed the instructions given by the "burning incense" to "contaminate" the townspeople who were not poisoned, and then acted together...

This allows us to make several inferences.

·

Zhong selected more than a dozen medicinal herbs, quickly mixed them, and then added the thin film extracted from the incense to it to carry out multiple reactions.

Determining the composition in this way is much easier.

The incense and the deadly poison in the dark river work together. The deadly poison in the dark river is only slightly different from the poison from the living corpses. Therefore, most of the materials used in the incense should not react with the deadly poison.

After numerous attempts, the composition of the incense was finally determined.

The subtle difference between incense and poison, when compared with the components of incense multiple times, allows us to isolate a medicinal effect from the last trace of the poison that it "did not have a corresponding reserve of".

Therefore, the scope was narrowed down again.

The remaining ingredients were already quite clear to Zhong Cai.

Although he still couldn't find a suitable medicinal material, Zhong Cai could choose to give up on matching and instead try to extract the components that would just neutralize the poison from the various medicinal materials he already knew... In this way, although it wouldn't completely replicate the refining process of the deadly poison, it wouldn't affect the development of the antidote.

At the very least, we should save the lives of the people in the town first.

As for whether Zhong Cai will look for those medicinal herbs that he doesn't know about yet, or whether he will create a truly poisonous formula... we'll see.

However, this poison formula was already quite despicable, and in reality, it wasn't as technically sophisticated as the Love Poison. It would have been enough to come up with an antidote; there was no need to create an exact replica.

Moreover, Zhong Cai had already gained a considerable understanding of the evil poison master's methods of poison concoction and had absorbed the essence of them...

These thoughts flashed through Zhong Cai's mind, but her hands remained nimble and efficient.

He quickly replicated the incense, then rapidly combined and formulated various medicinal herbs, extracting components that he couldn't match, and recombined them with the previously identified highly toxic ingredients to observe their toxicity...

Another round of repeated verification.

Zhong Cai was completely absorbed in her thoughts, focusing all her mental energy on the medicinal herbs in her hands.

He had a vague feeling about it.

He had previously overestimated the "credibility" of the evil poison master.

Although Zhong Cai had already guessed that the evil poison master's claim of "seven days before poisoning" was mostly false, the alchemists were likely already being tainted by the poison through contact with various highly toxic "materials." Moreover, due to differences in their individual constitutions and the defensive measures they used, the amount of poison absorbed varied, the effects they received differed, and the speed of poisoning also varied... It was possible that they would be completely poisoned in about six days.

But now it seems that we probably won't even wait until the sixth day.

Now, only three and a half days have passed, and Zhong Cai can already feel that the antidote stone has been eroded more, and the poisonous mist overflowing around him has gradually dulled his senses—although it is only a little, it is enough to prove that the speed of the poison's spread is accelerating.

To develop an antidote, one must constantly experiment with different "materials" for verification. No matter how many defensive measures one takes, one cannot avoid close contact with the deadly poison. The more anxious the alchemist is, the more "materials" he uses, and undoubtedly the faster he will be infected...

This is no child's play.

Zhong Cai continued to adjust the poison and medicine prescriptions in a steady manner, and verified the various ideas she had come up with based on the known matching methods of medicinal materials, and added, subtracted and refined various medicinal materials, etc.

Regarding the issue of the dyeing speed... Zhong Cai didn't think much about it.

All he needs to do now is get the antidote out as soon as possible, then it won't matter how much infection occurs.

·

Wu Shaogan stood guard at the door of the room, watching Zhong Cai study, and occasionally glancing at the situation outside.

As his spiritual senses swept across the area, he "saw" several people walking towards him, clearly about to knock on the door—

Wu Shaogan noticed that the expressions on the faces of these people were anxious.

Not wanting Ah Cai to be disturbed by the knocking, Wu Shaogan opened the door before the others could even raise their hands and slipped out.

The group was startled, and then paused in surprise upon seeing Wu Shaogan.

Third on the martial arts ranking?

These individuals are all Level 5 Alchemists and can all see the Level 5 Sky Ranking. Naturally, they have all paid attention to the appearance of this Dou Wang who has suddenly appeared at the top.

Now, they all recognized him at a glance.

At the same time, they realized that there should be a level 5 alchemist conducting research in the house behind the Third Dou King. Because they did not want to disturb him, Dou King Wu took the initiative to come out and stop them.

Several level-five alchemists felt somewhat ashamed, but their anxiety still prevailed.

One of them first bowed and apologized before saying, "I apologize for coming here, but I would like to ask your companion if you have any elixirs that can remove the power of the foreign species?"

Wu Shaogan knew that if it were A Cai, she would definitely offer her help, so he asked directly, "What kind of alien power are you trying to remove?"

What he actually possessed was an exorcism pill capable of removing any foreign power; his question was merely a way to gather information for A-Cai.

·

Upon hearing this, the alchemists were all delighted.

They originally came just to try their luck, since no one was sure if there was really a suitable medicine, but if they didn't find one, their companions would be in trouble.

Then the person who had spoken earlier volunteered, "It removes the energy of fire poison."

The so-called fire poison is not the poison of any medicinal material, but rather a kind of pill that is difficult to remove and can cause great damage to the body due to the excessive intensity of the fire element.

Typically, alchemists who suffer from this type of fire poisoning do so because they manipulate wood and fire too frequently and improperly, causing the wood and fire to occasionally go out of control and erupt in a frenzy. If, during this "frenzy," the wood and fire happen to encounter certain fire-attribute medicinal herbs, it often promotes a mutation in the fire energy within, which then seeps into the alchemist's flesh and blood, leading to an imbalance of energy within the alchemist's body…

If one encounters an environment filled with poisonous fog, the fog itself can already have a certain degree of contamination on alchemists. If the fire poison is not removed in time, the combination of the poisonous fog and the fire poison will have an immeasurable impact on the alchemist.

Therefore, after their companions were corrupted by the alien energy, these level-five alchemists would urgently seek help from other fellow practitioners—they might not have had time to refine that kind of pill, or they might not have a similar pill formula, or some might be busy refining pills, while others were scattered.

In short, we need to get the elixir as soon as possible.

·

Not wanting to waste too much time, Wu Shaogan quickly took out a bottle of exorcism pills after getting the information he wanted, and handed it out, saying, "Five pills. We're going into seclusion right away."

Although these words were brief and the tone was not very gentle, these alchemists all understood—when an alchemist is in an extreme research environment, even the slightest external interference can disrupt their train of thought. Once or twice might be prevented in advance, but if it happens repeatedly, even if Wu Shaogan takes the initiative to step forward, it will still cause some disturbance.

The level-five alchemists accepted the pill bottles, expressed their sincere gratitude, and then gave Wu Shaogan a sum of Xuan Stones sufficient to purchase these pills.

Then, they left quickly.

·

The Evil-Expelling Pill has an excellent ability to expel evil, but when the alchemist was expelling the fire poison, he suddenly discovered that the poison in the town was spreading extremely quickly!

To avoid being poisoned themselves, this alchemist, like many others, had to abandon their research and leave the town...

The other level-five alchemists were also immersed in their research, but as time went on, although not all of them were poisoned by fire, almost all of them gradually discovered some special symptoms and eventually found that they were not up to the task... so they had no choice but to leave one after another.

·

In total, only about four days have passed.

In the first two or three days, people arrived and entered the town, and tried their best to conduct research, but after a day or two, many alchemists had to leave.

Thus, the number of alchemists gradually increased, but quickly decreased.

There are only about a dozen alchemists still working hard in the town.

Then, all the alchemists raced against time to try to solve this problem.

·

Another half day has passed.

Inside the house, Zhong Cai, engrossed in a brainstorming session, moved her hands faster and faster, almost creating afterimages.

After each incense stick's time, Zhong Cai could confirm or reject one or two combinations and quickly switch to another method.

This happened repeatedly, over and over again.

He has an exceptional sensitivity to medicinal herbs, seemingly able to automatically combine them based entirely on instinct.

He had already made his choice naturally, without even thinking about it...

At this moment, Zhong Cai's face was slightly pale, and fine beads of sweat appeared on her forehead.

The bottleneck has passed, and the thinking is becoming clearer.

Four types remain...

Three kinds...

Two kinds...

Zhong Cai abandoned several ideas and discarded many medicinal herbs. The light in his eyes flickered, as if he had suddenly gained a lot of inspiration and turned it all into reality!

Finally, Zhong Cai suddenly woke up and exclaimed joyfully, "I did it!"

The basin in front of him now contains two liquids, arranged in a shape resembling a tai chi symbol.

The two liquids have distinct colors, as if they were two insoluble substances with completely opposite properties. But as Zhong Cai gently shook the basin, the two liquids seemed to be startled and quickly began to mix!

The mixing process is silent and incredibly smooth.

It's like they're infecting each other, yet there's no impact between them; they blend together so smoothly.

As they blend, the colors of the two liquids gradually fade, and the fading process is the same for both.

The more they were mixed, the more the two medicinal liquids seemed to be diluted... until finally, they turned into a basin of clear water!

Perhaps this isn't actually clean water.

But this can also be considered truly clean water.

The two medicinal liquids, when mixed together, neutralized all the medicinal properties, leaving a transparent liquid that was almost indistinguishable from water.

·

Upon hearing Zhong Cai's cheer, Wu Shaogan instantly appeared behind Zhong Cai and caught him.

Unsurprisingly, Zhong Cai leaned back instinctively and fell right into her husband Wu's arms, where she settled down for a comfortable rest.

...I didn't feel it while I was doing the research, but after I finished, exhaustion instantly overwhelmed me.

Wu Shaogan looked down at Zhong Cai and smiled, "Congratulations, Cai, on refining the antidote!"

Zhong Cai said smugly, "Don't you even know who I am! Heh!"

Wu Shaogan continued to praise, "A-Cai is indeed the most amazing!"

To date, no other alchemists have succeeded, otherwise there wouldn't still be no progress.

And his daughter, A-Cai, truly succeeded in her research, ahead of all the other alchemists!

·

However, simply finding a solution is not enough; time continues to pass, and the townspeople are still in imminent danger.

What Zhong Cai needs to do now is to select a few townspeople to try the antidote to confirm whether its effects are really as he thinks, and whether it can truly relieve them of the poison.

But, who to choose?

Wu Shaogan naturally wouldn't let Zhong Cai continue working. He quickly summoned an eighth-level puppet to stand guard beside Zhong Cai and said, "I'll go find a living corpse to try."

Zhong Cai had absolute trust in Wu Shaogan, and said with a grin, "Then I'll wait for news from Old Wu!"

Then, he explained to his old man, Lao Wu, in detail how to administer the antidote to the zombies and how to determine if it would actually have an effect.

Wu Shaogan listened very carefully, and the moment he understood, he flashed out with the antidote and made his choice from the nearest available source.

Zhong Cai lazily fell backward and lay directly on the ground.

tired.

I'm so tired.

He's done his best anyway, so let's wait for Old Wu to come back and tell him the result...

There shouldn't be any problems.

He needs to sleep for a while...