Chapter 22: The opportunity to upgrade the elixir comes with risks
Everyone at Cijian Peak was still a little skeptical, so Chen Tangyuan said, "Don't worry, I will protect her. If the furnace really explodes, I can keep her safe."
Qin Sangyue was the first to calm down and said, "Okay then, I'll leave my junior sister's safety to Senior Brother Shen."
Shen Tangyuan nodded slightly.
Everyone from Cijian Peak returned to the side, and several pairs of eyes looked worriedly at the obviously restless alchemy furnace in front of Nan Sining.
As an alchemist, Nan Sining knew best what had happened.
The situation at this time was the same as the last time when he took the top-grade Dahuan Dan, which was something Nan Sining had not expected.
The last time the Great Huan Dan was of high quality, it was not surprising that it absorbed spiritual energy crazily. This time the quality of the pill was much lower, so why did it still happen?
While Nan Sining tried to stabilize the situation in the furnace, he summoned the system and asked it what was going on.
After observing for a while, the system said, "Ningning, things are a bit complicated. The quality of your elixir is about to be upgraded."
Nan Si Ning: Huh?!
Not long after the system finished speaking, Chen Tangyuan outside the formation disk also said: "Junior Sister Nan is really... surprising and frightening."
Hua Shengqing hurriedly asked, "Brother Shen, what do you mean?"
Chen Tangyuan's eyes sparkled, and he said, "I will explain it to everyone."
As he spoke, he used his spiritual power to make his voice clearly reach the ears of everyone in the conference hall: "Junior brothers and sisters, when refining pills, the level of the pills will be upgraded. You should have read about this in the pharmacopoeia and various alchemy books and jade slips! But seeing is believing! When Junior Sister Nan was refining the pill, the level of the pill was upgraded. Please observe and learn carefully, and do your best to seize this opportunity provided by Junior Sister Nan, and strive to gain some understanding!"
When Chen Tangyuan finished speaking, the people at Cijian Peak were still confused, but the disciples at Yaowang City were furious:
"What?! Level up?!"
"Oh my God! Hit me now! Am I dreaming?"
"Upgrading? The elixir is actually upgrading? The legendary elixir upgrade!"
"Why is it Nan Si Ning? It should be the fifth senior brother!"
…
All the disciples looked crazy. Luo Qingyao wanted to find someone to ask what the pill upgrade meant, but no one could listen to her question calmly, let alone answer her.
The people at Cijian Peak were also confused and asked Chen Tangyuan, "What is the elixir upgrade? What's going on?"
Chen Tangyuan seemed a little excited, but much calmer than the other disciples. He explained to everyone, "The grade of a pill is determined by its difficulty and efficacy. The lower the grade, the easier it is to refine, while the higher the grade, the more difficult it is. However, the grade of a pill is not fixed. Above the best and divine grades, there is a super grade. As the name suggests, a pill that exceeds the original grade is considered a super grade."
Hua Shengqing's voice changed tone with anxiety: "You mean, Junior Sister, this time, you want to refine a pill that is higher than the original grade?!"
Chen Tangyuan smiled and nodded, "That's right! Pill upgrades are quite rare. I've only encountered them twice since I started practicing alchemy. Each time, they've greatly benefited my practice and allowed me to comprehend more of the fundamental principles of alchemy. Pill upgrades are a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."
Everyone at Cijian Peak looked at each other, not knowing whether it was a good thing or a bad thing.
Opportunities are rare and valuable, but seizing them requires a solid foundation! Although Junior Sister said she wanted to become an alchemist, she'd only bought a few books on basic alchemy recipes and methods, and hadn't even looked through them yet! Could she safely navigate this elixir upgrade?
After a while, Liang Xiao asked in a deep voice, "It's so rare to upgrade this elixir, what's the price?"
Sword cultivators tend to believe in the principle of "you get what you put in." Since the upgraded elixir is so helpful to the alchemist, the risks encountered will certainly increase exponentially.
After hearing Liang Xiao's words, all pairs of eyes looked at Shen Tangyuan eagerly, making Shen Tangyuan feel the pressure doubled.
"The upgrade of a pill requires luck and opportunity to trigger it. Whether one can safely pass through it is a test of the alchemist's character and the strength of his spiritual consciousness. Of course, those with poor character will find it difficult to trigger the pill's upgrade, so the most important thing is whether the spiritual consciousness can hold up."
Everyone's expressions were startled. Junior Sister had only regained consciousness about two weeks ago. Whether her spirit was stable, and whether her consciousness had been damaged, was unknown. Now, facing another challenge like this, the risk was probably much greater than that of an ordinary person.
Qin Sangyue asked anxiously, "Can the pill upgrade be stopped?"
Chen Tangyuan thought for a moment and said, "As far as I know, it can be aborted. In fact, upgrading a pill is a very difficult process to complete. Most of the time, it will fail midway, and the alchemist will also suffer a certain amount of backlash. This is when the alchemist is unable to complete it. As for passively aborting it, it will only cause more serious damage. I don't recommend that you do that."
Zhou Lixing's honest face was sweating with anxiety, and he muttered, "Is there no other way? As long as Junior Sister doesn't get hurt, losing the fight doesn't matter. A first-class guest room is not as important as Junior Sister!"
Hua Shengqing nodded repeatedly at the side, "As long as Junior Sister is fine, it doesn't matter if we lose the spirit stones."
Yuan Qing'an seemed much calmer. "Brother Shen, what do you think is the chance that my junior sister will successfully complete the elixir upgrade? If she can't complete it, how can we ensure her safety?"
Chen Tangyuan turned his head and glanced at Nan Si Ning, who seemed to be in a trance. After pondering for a long time, he carefully expressed his thoughts: "In my opinion, success and failure are about 50-50. If the pill fails to upgrade, it would be secondary if it turned into dregs. I am afraid that she will be immersed in her own illusions and unable to wake up. If I want her to be safe, the most important thing is to make her wake up."
After some consideration, Qin Sangyue solemnly said to Shen Tangyuan, "Brother Shen, you are the only one here who has experienced the upgrading of elixirs. I trust your decision and judgment. Please protect my little sister and do your best to keep her safe. We will reward you handsomely when we return to Cijian Peak!"
Zhou Lixing immediately said, "If Senior Brother Shen can protect my little sister, I will be at his disposal!"
Hua Shengqing also nodded heavily: "I will also let Senior Brother Shen send you!"
Chen Tangyuan was deeply moved as he looked at their faces. The leader of Cijian Peak had searched far and wide for treasures for this young disciple, even though there had been no news of her since. Yet, even after their master's disappearance, the people of Cijian Peak had faithfully followed their master's instructions, doing their utmost to care for this mentally challenged young disciple. No matter how others tried to persuade, ridicule, or confuse them, they remained unwavering.
This kind of affection between master and disciple is also a rare treasure in this world.
A sense of responsibility welled up in his heart, and he said, "These are all things for the future. Please rest assured, I will do my best to protect Junior Sister Nan!"
After saying that, Chen Tangyuan took out an even smaller but exquisite array plate from the storage ring. The array plate was covered with intricate and gorgeous array patterns. It looked mysterious, solemn and majestic. It was obvious at first glance that it was not an ordinary array plate.
This array plate was not activated by spiritual power. Shen Tangyuan simply opened his finger, squeezed out a drop of blood, and dripped it onto the array plate. The array pattern on the array plate seemed to come alive, flowing and rotating on its own. After a while, the entire array plate began to emit black smoke, which was like a living fog, enveloping Shen Tangyuan and Nan Si Ning.
*
As Nan Si Ning was trying to steady her alchemy furnace, she felt a strong suction coming from it, making her dizzy and almost unable to stay awake.
After a moment of distraction, she suddenly felt as if she was being burned in a raging fire. Every nerve was burned and roasted, as if she was going to be roasted into charcoal and every bit of her essence was squeezed out.
Nan Sining didn't know what was going on. She didn't even have the strength to call the system, so she could only try her best to hold on.
She didn't know how long it had been, but she felt herself being kneaded, stretched, and squeezed again, as if she were a piece of plasticine that could be continuously extended or condensed and pressed.
After a period of dizziness, Nan Sining suddenly understood that these feelings of his were the experiences of the spiritual plants when they turned into medicinal juice in the alchemy furnace and then condensed into pills.
She felt it carefully, as if she had really realized something mysterious.
Perhaps it was not what she thought. The elixir also had spirituality. This spirituality did not exist because of spiritual power. As for where it came from, Nan Sining could not explain it clearly. She could only be sure that it existed.
Whether the elixir can acquire spirituality depends mainly on whether the alchemist can understand and feel every bit and inch of the elixir.
Why is pill condensation the most critical step? It is because pill condensation is to harmoniously condense medicinal juices of different properties. Their medicinal properties must influence, infect, and react with each other... Finally, after thousands of changes, they can condense into a pill with unique medicinal properties.
Alchemy is to create this harmonious and perfect little world.
Nan Sining subconsciously "closed her eyes", although she didn't know where her eyes were, and then tried her best to feel the feelings at the moment and experience this process.
When Chen Tangyuan used his spiritual sense to "see" the stable ball of light, he couldn't help but show an expression of amazement. He didn't expect that Junior Sister Nan's comprehension was so good that she found the secret of upgrading the elixir so quickly.
With this level of understanding, it is even more difficult for my fifth junior brother to even compare to him.
Chen Tangyuan was standing by and didn't feel the passage of time. The people outside only saw the black fog rolling. It was really silent and they had no idea what was going on inside.
Hua Shengqing nervously grabbed Qin Sangyue's arm, and Qin Sangyue whispered to comfort her, "You must trust Senior Brother Shen."
But her own brows were also tightly furrowed, and it was obvious that she was not at all relieved.
After the disciples of Medicine King City recovered from their initial shock, they couldn't help but mutter, "They can't see anything!"
"Big Brother, let's see if we can comprehend something. How do we do that?"
"I don't know. Let's just wait and see! It's rare to see a pill upgrade."
…
Luo Qingyao watched this scene, and she vaguely guessed that Nan Si Ning had reached a critical moment again. If he could succeed, he would definitely gain a lot.
She secretly resented it. How could such a good thing happen to her just by a casual fight? She really wanted to explode immediately.
But when she looked at Chen Tangyuan's formation plate, she knew that it was not an ordinary magic weapon. If she attacked it, she would probably suffer backlash.
Luo Qingyao hesitated for a long time, but finally decided to give up.
Now that Nan Si Ning is possessed by luck, it is not so easy to kill her. Don't let Nan Si Ning be fine, but expose yourself instead and offend Yaowang City, which will not be worth it.
Luo Qingyao took great effort to suppress the murderous intent in her heart.
While everyone's attention was on Nan Sining, Xiao Jingwen had already quietly finished practicing the Qingxin Pill.
He bottled the Qingxin Pill and was about to give it to his senior brother for evaluation when he suddenly noticed a large cloud of black mist in front of him. He was startled and asked, "What's going on?"
Someone behind him immediately and quickly explained to him what had happened.
After hearing this, Xiao Jingwen's eyes almost popped out: "Nan Si Ning?! The pill is upgraded?!"
After receiving a positive answer, Xiao Jingwen felt like he was hit by a club. He had studied alchemy for more than 20 years and worked hard to become a second-grade alchemist. He was considered a leader among his peers.
I didn’t expect that Nan Si Ning only regained her intelligence and became a normal person half a month ago. After half a month, she can trigger the elixir to upgrade!
Is it true that hard work is worthless in the face of talent?
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