Chapter 194 Lotus Fire Pot
At this moment, Zhong Cai produced the elixir once again.
After the alchemy furnace hummed, six full pills could be taken out from it.
Among them, five were of the highest quality.
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Zhong Cai has already refined many batches of five top-grade pills, so he should be used to it by now.
But now, he looked overjoyed and glanced at Wu Shaogan beside him.
Zhong Cai happily held up all the pills and exclaimed joyfully, "Old Wu, look! There are finally five pills!"
Wu Shaogan looked at her with a gentle expression and smiled slightly, "Congratulations, A-Cai."
Zhong Cai laughed even more happily.
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It turns out that the elixir Zhong Cai refined this time was called the Soul-Returning Pill.
It is a healing pill that can treat the vast majority of external and internal injuries. As long as a cultivator still has a breath left, taking it will almost completely cure them.
However, it is very effective but not commonly used.
There are many types of level four healing pills, and the Soul Returning Pill is the finest of the fine, but very few cultivators possess the formula for it.
Even those who already possess these pills are extremely difficult to refine—very few alchemists can do it.
When Zhong Cai first learned how to make this kind of pill, it took him much longer than other pills. He even spent more effort refining it to the highest quality. He practically worked himself to death!
Why is Zhong Cai so determined to fight this battle?
This is because the Soul-Returning Pill spans levels four to eight, belonging to a series of pills.
If you can refine a Level 4 Soul-Returning Pill well enough now, it will be relatively easier to refine Soul-Returning Pills of each subsequent level.
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That said, when Zhong Cai usually refines Soul-Returning Pills, each batch yields about one to three top-grade pills. However, when he uses the Divine Pill Wood, he is probably more focused, or perhaps the Divine Pill Wood gives alchemists a sense of stability and security, so he consistently produces three top-grade pills each time.
After that, the Soul-Returning Pill was refined round after round, but the progress was slower than that of other pills.
This is the first time Zhong Cai has successfully refined five top-grade pills in this batch.
Of the forty-one types of level-four pills he knew, only four remained as top-grade specimens.
Zhong Cai was naturally happy and breathed a huge sigh of relief.
Wu Shaogan suggested from the side, "A-Cai, why don't you go feed them?"
Zhong Cai snapped out of her daze and fed all the Soul-Returning Pills to the Pill Godwood without hesitation.
In fact, apart from occasionally leaving some top-grade pills to restore Xuan power for Old Wu, he fed all the others to the Pill God Wood without exception—since they were all of good enough quality.
Unsurprisingly, a cyan light also flashed out.
Zhong Cai, as always, habitually reached her hand inside.
He's different now than he was when he couldn't wait to receive the gifts. Now he'll reach in and feel around inside, and sometimes he'll even reach in with both hands to see what it is.
Just like now, Zhong Cai's palm touched something cold and hard, and she touched it from both sides.
The Divine Wood is quite generous; if the treasure given is of a high level, the pressure emanating from it is completely concealed, and it will not harm people when touched—unless one actively infuses profound energy into it in an attempt to manipulate it.
Of course, there's nothing wrong with touching the appearance of the obtained resources.
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Zhong Cai fumbled around haphazardly, muttering to herself, "It feels a bit like a furnace. Could it be that they sent me another furnace? That's not impossible. But Dan Shenmu has already given me so many furnaces..."
That is indeed the case.
In the initial round, Dan Shenmu gave out level six and level eight alchemy furnaces respectively, which Zhong Cai prepared to give one to each of her master and herself.
After several more rounds, Zhong Cai never experienced a furnace explosion. The quality of each batch of pills was excellent, and the quality of the good items obtained remained consistently high—Dan Shen Mu was truly incredibly wealthy! Even with such high-level items being given, he still managed to keep supplying them!
Of course, the most abundant gifts from the Divine Pill Tree are various ancient formulas, rare medicinal herbs, alchemy techniques, ancient knowledge of alchemy, and the insights and experiences of ancient alchemists...
There are many different kinds of things, and they are very diverse.
These are all things that can enhance Zhong Caidan's foundation, and he will need to digest them slowly later.
In addition, they provided many level 5 and 6 alchemy furnaces.
These alchemy furnaces were not ordinary furnaces; they all had special uses—at least Zhong Cai himself recognized some that were suitable for refining pills of different attributes, such as ice-attribute furnaces, fire-attribute furnaces, and so on.
Honestly, using these furnaces to refine pills might make it easier for alchemists to remove impurities from medicinal herbs and increase the chances of producing top-grade pills. However, because they have a single attribute, putting other types of pills into them would also affect the success rate of pill formation.
It's not exactly useless, but it's more like... laziness?
Because a master alchemist can specialize in pills of a certain attribute, they will always use a furnace of the same attribute, and will spend less time on that type of pill than other alchemists of similar skill, producing pills of higher quality.
If a certain alchemist has furnaces with all sorts of attributes... that would be quite a display of wealth.
He could produce whatever furnace he needed, which, for a master alchemist, truly demonstrated his "profound knowledge and skills."
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The resources available to Wu Shaogan, a martial arts cultivator, were similar, including archery techniques for reference, combat experience of predecessors, combat footage of predecessors, and even some new archery techniques and ideas from predecessors.
Later, Wu Shaogan could absorb it all and make it his own, and he could use it in many subsequent realms.
There are also some rare and precious natural treasures that are not picky about who you are, some high-level mystical artifacts, some images of archery practitioners fighting against other types of practitioners, and some other types of cultivation methods and secret techniques.
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Zhong Cai took so many that they felt almost too hot to handle.
When he sacrificed himself, he did dozens of ten consecutive runs of the Golden Flame Pool, and the amount of level 7 or 8 resources he obtained was not as much as this time—even if it was mainly level 7 rare herbs, he could probably only gather enough level 7 medicinal materials for a few dozen sets and the main ingredients for some level 8 pill formulas, which was still a bit frightening.
After returning, organize everything. Plant what can be planted, and give the rest that are not needed for the time being to your master.
Zhong Cai secretly thought, "I'll ask my master to refine a few batches of top-grade seventh or eighth-level pills, then I'll take them as my collection, hehe..."
·
With her mind a jumble of thoughts, Zhong Cai reached out and took out what she was holding.
It's not very heavy, so it doesn't seem like an alchemy furnace anymore.
Zhong Cai took a few steps back and held up what he had obtained to examine it.
In an instant, he let out a low exclamation: "Old Wu, look at this!"
Wu Shaogan, who had been standing next to Zhong Cai, also took it in and showed a somewhat surprised expression.
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What appeared before the two of them was a jade pot, about a foot tall, shaped like a lotus flower formed from ice crystals...
The reason why Zhong Caigang felt it was like an alchemy furnace when he touched it was because he had only touched a small part of its outline and had not examined it in detail.
At this moment, the lotus-shaped jade pot bloomed, with faint flames adorning its petals, complementing the pot itself and creating a truly beautiful sight.
If you look closely, you'll find that the serene colors in the center of the lotus petals are precisely the colors of wood and fire!
Each type of wood fire has a different color, but the wood fire on each circle of petals has a similar hue; as you extend circle by circle toward the center, the color of the wood fire in the petals gradually deepens; until you reach the stamen, it really is a small pot cavity, inside which a cluster of flames leaps, already showing a fiery red!
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Zhong Cai gasped!
This thing! It's too, too...
Wu Shaogan patted Zhong Cai's shoulder, also finding it somewhat unbelievable.
Both of them were quite knowledgeable, because Zhong Cai's lineage had a special chapter on wood and fire, which listed many different levels of wood and fire forms, colors, and so on.
Now, they both realized it.
The Lotus Ice Curling has five layers.
The outermost layer has eighteen petals, each burning with a different type of similar-colored level four wood fire; the fourth ring has nine petals, each containing a different level five wood fire; the third ring has five petals, each containing a different level six wood fire; the second ring has three petals, each containing a different level seven wood fire; the innermost ring is no longer a ring, but a single wisp of level eight wood fire.
Zhong Cai and Wu Shaogan spoke almost simultaneously: "Fire kettle?"
Then, they looked at each other and both laughed.
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Most alchemists are lucky if they can obtain enough wood and fire to match their level in their lifetime. As their level increases, they have to spend a lot of effort to prepare new wood and fire for themselves. So they can only use one wisp of wood and fire in a long time.
However, there are still some wealthy alchemists who feel that different types of wood and fire have different textures, so they try to obtain more types of wood and fire and store them in mustard seed containers so they can use them anytime, anywhere.
Individual firewood pieces are stored in jade tubes. If there are too many different grades and types, it can be troublesome to store them.
This led to the development of a type of fire pot, each of which can simultaneously hold many strands of wood of different types and grades, allowing one to visually appreciate the beautiful sight of numerous wood fires gathered together.
Such fire pots are mostly shaped like flowers, leaves, bamboo, etc.
The lotus is a very common flower, and it is very popular because of its extreme beauty.
However, it is very rare for an alchemist to be able to store so much wood and fire, and there are not many weapon makers who study fire pots, so there are not many alchemists who possess this thing.
The fire pot itself is also a relatively rare type of storage artifact.
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The current situation is...
Dan Shenmu had previously given Zhong Cai a series of alchemy furnaces in several installments, but now he was giving Zhong Cai a whole package of wood and fire as a gift.
Generous! Generous!
Zhong Cai grinned broadly, handed the fire pot to Wu Shaogan, and said, "Old Wu, I'll never lack firewood again."
Wu Shao chuckled dryly as he put away the fire pot, saying, "The quality seems pretty good too?"
Zhong Cai exclaimed excitedly, "The quality is top-notch!"
This is wonderful!
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The resources that Dan Shenmu gave to Zhong Cai and Wu Shaogan were always of a high level. However, since Zhong Cai's level was consistently high and the tests seemed to be relatively easy, only when Zhong Cai's alchemy skills broke through some minor difficulties—for example, basically three pills in the previous round and basically four pills in the next round—would the treasures obtained after a certain batch of pills be upgraded by one or even several levels, or the number of items obtained in a single batch would increase by several.
This time, Zhong Cai overcame the difficulty of obtaining the Soul-Returning Pill, and the Pill God Wood directly provided a large amount of wood and fire... So, as usual, there won't be many other resources belonging to Zhong Cai.
As expected, Zhong Cai took out another level eight rare and precious material.
It has the fire attribute.
Zhong Cai's expression was a little subtle as she leaned over and whispered something to Wu Shaogan.
The kind that transmits sound.
[Old Wu, I strongly suspect that this thing was given to you by the Divine Wood so you could sell or give it away as you pleased.]
Wu Shaogan raised an eyebrow.
How to say it?
Zhong Cai chuckled.
[This is a fire-attribute body tempering technique! You're not fire-attribute! You definitely won't be able to use it!]
[But you'll definitely have a bright future, and you'll be undergoing a tribulation of lightning! Body tempering is very important! The nature of the Divine Pill Wood is such that it won't leave you with nothing to use, so it must know that we've both been consuming the Tai Sui Treasure Glass.]
Wu Shaogan's expression shifted slightly.
[A-Cai is right, Dan Shenmu probably really does know.]
Zhong Cai's eyebrows curved, and her smile was radiant.
[So, Old Wu, Dan Shenmu sees potential in you and wants to nurture you with something good, but since he can't find anything better or more suitable than the Tai Sui Treasure Glass, he naturally gives you this one, which can fetch a high price.]
Wu Shaogan nodded in agreement.
There are many fire-attribute cultivators, so this should sell well.
【but……】
Zhong Cai instantly understood Wu Shaogan's meaning and immediately transmitted her thoughts.
But we should still keep this thing; we can use it for that kid later.
Wu Shao nodded with a dry laugh.
Zhong Cai couldn't help but complain.
[I feel that the choice of the Dan Shenmu tree to send a fire-attribute cultivator might have been influenced by some unseen force. While there are indeed many fire-attribute cultivators, there are also quite a few of other attributes; choosing from multiple attributes, they just happened to pick fire!]
Although we might not necessarily give it to our son, it's rare to find such a good thing, and he's our nephew, so we shouldn't let the good stuff go to outsiders. Anyway, it's not like our son won't pay.
After making these comments, Zhong Cai's expression turned a bit strange.
That brat owes us a lot of Xuan Stones, and it'll probably take him quite a few years to pay it back. We'll give him this after he pays off his debts.
[He consumed the Fivefold Tribulation Fruit, and his body-refining ability stopped at the Palace Establishment stage. At level seven, he could find it himself, so at level eight, wouldn't that be a perfect transition?]
Wu Shaogan thought for a moment, then nodded, suppressing a laugh.
I remember that A-Cai once drew a level seven body-refining item when she offered it as a sacrifice.
Zhong Cai tried to hold back her laughter, but couldn't help but laugh.
[Back then, I was thinking of leaving it for my son, but now it's all good, and everything can be taken care of.]
The two communicated telepathically, and Zhong took out a mustard seed bag, stuffed the fire-attribute body-refining treasure into it, and handed it to Wu Shaogan.
Wu Shaogan skillfully put it away.
Very good. In addition to the two masters each having a mustard seed bag, Wu Dongxiao also has one.
However, what is given to the master is naturally a gift, while the protagonist... still needs to work hard on his own. There's no future in relying on one's parents.
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Zhong Cai reached into the blue luster again and took out a jade tablet.
Wu Shaogan had "seen" it; it was still an image of a battle from ancient times.
But this time it wasn't a fight between two people, or a fight between a person and a beast; it seemed to be a scene from a battlefield being filmed.
Countless cultivators, savage beasts, and rare beasts clashed in a fierce battle. The human forces were not on the same side, and each side commanded many rare beasts.
The situation is very complex.
On the human side, several powerful archers launched an attack, fiercely shooting down the enemy.
Their presence seemed to dictate the course of the battle, giving the human forces an overall advantage...
Those countless arrow shadows were truly terrifying.
Even though Wu Shaogan was prepared, he was almost captivated by the battle, which shows how terrifying it was.
Zhong Cai sensed the change in her husband's emotions, quickly grabbed his arm, squeezed it twice, and called out to him, "Old Wu?"
Wu Shaogan snapped out of his daze and said, "It's alright, it suits me perfectly."
Zhong Cai felt relieved after hearing him say that.
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The blue light disappeared after Zhong Cai took out the jade tablet.
This time there are only three gifts.
The total value on both sides is roughly the same, even with a rough estimate.
As time goes by, unless there are ten consecutive rounds where the difficulty of the wooden beast increases in the next round, Wu Shaogan's rewards will remain at roughly the same level.
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Zhong Cai saw Wu Shaogan put away the jade tablet and gave him a high five.
"Come on! Let's continue!"
Wu Shao chuckled dryly, "Alright!"
Without hesitation, the two immediately began a new round.
Zhong Cai pondered and, after careful consideration, selected the Whirlpool Pill.
The difficulty is manageable, consistently yielding five top-grade pills each time, which is a type of pill that cultivators of the Suspended Illumination Realm greatly appreciate...
Zhong Cai himself would be taking large quantities of these pills in the future, and since all the pills had reached a similar level, he decided that he would no longer refine them in rotation.
He's determined to fight the Whirlpool Pill to the death!
Even a single batch of perfectly refined pills produced through relentless effort is of the highest quality!
Zhong Cai was radiant and full of energy.
He can do it.
Wu Shaogan saw through Zhong Cai's thoughts and smiled.
He also believed that Acai could definitely do it.
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It has now been more than half a month since the beginning of the spring return.
While the advanced alchemists watched the numerous refining processes on the Alchemy God Wood, several alchemists also refined pills and sold them casually.
Many people envied the gifts that Zhong Cai and Wu Shaogan, these two younger brothers, had obtained from the Dan Shenmu tree in what could be described as a "plundering" operation.
Advanced alchemists are certainly not short of money, especially older ones, whose wealth far exceeds the sum of these gifts. However, most of their wealth is accumulated little by little, unlike Zhong Cai and Wu Shaogan, who acquired it simply by participating in a single Rejuvenation Day.
One alchemist exclaimed, "It's been many generations since we've seen such a grand spectacle. No wonder ancient texts record that those top alchemist geniuses who reached five hundred feet in height either suddenly amassed enormous power after the Rejuvenation Day, or the martial arts cultivators around them experienced a meteoric rise in strength, and some even instantly expanded their families dozens of times over..."
"Looking at what Master Zhong Xiaodan has gained now, one can imagine what those others gained back then. With such vast resources, it would be incredibly easy for them to share them with those around them."
Other advanced alchemists also agreed.
Another senior alchemist said with a subtle expression, "It's also recorded in the ancient books that one of the chosen ones fled for many years afterward..."
The other advanced alchemists paused for a moment, then nodded with amusement.
Geniuses like Zhong Xiaodan and Wu Shaogan can indeed eat their fill in one go, but it is precisely because they possess such enormous wealth that it seems to be blatantly displayed... Hurry up and grab it?
Even these wealthy high-level alchemists couldn't help but feel envious when they saw certain resources, let alone the many poorer martial arts cultivators and various forces lacking resources present.
Doesn't that mean they all want to just snatch Zhong Cai and Wu Shaogan away?
You can then eat your fill in one go.
but……
Many advanced alchemists glanced at Sang Yunchu and Jiang Chongguang beside him, then quickly looked away.
However, behind those two top geniuses are Sang Danwang and Jiang Chongguang, who are also top geniuses.
Behind these top-tier geniuses and their disciples lies the incredibly powerful Azure Dragon Academy and Nirvana Realm experts with terrifying combat strength!
The academy has mobilized so many alchemy disciples, along with many Spirit Transformation experts and even an eighth-level treasure ship!
If we want to seize them, then only those at the Tongtian Realm can intervene.
Nowadays, all the cultivators who have reached the Heavenly Realm on the Flying Star Continent are state lords, each of them incredibly wealthy, controlling a vast amount of wealth in their respective states. How could they possibly covet the fortune of a junior?
Moreover, with such top geniuses residing in Canglong Academy, even if some wild, unknown, and shameless experts were to try and harm them... Canglong Academy would definitely protect them, even if it required a great deal of its resources and the intervention of the state lord!
Therefore, both Zhong Xiaodan and Wu Shaogan have joined the right forces and can now live peacefully without worry.
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Seemingly noticing the gazes of many advanced alchemists, Sang Yunchu withdrew his gaze from his own disciples and smiled at everyone, saying, "Seeing you all refining pills just now, I'm a little itchy to try it myself. Please give me your guidance."
Upon hearing this, many senior alchemists turned to look and said, "Brother Sang, just start! We're looking forward to it! Let's exchange skills."
Sang Yunchu didn't waste any more words. He quickly took out his alchemy furnace and took out several kinds of eighth-grade rare medicines and various other medicinal materials.
The many advanced alchemists did not disturb him, but simply found a suitable spot nearby and sat down, looking in his direction.
Sang Yunchu circulated his profound energy, summoned his level eight wood fire, and quickly picked up a medicinal herb to process.
Every step was perfect, and every movement was swift and efficient, without any redundancy.
In an instant, the other advanced alchemists exchanged glances, and some even glanced at the Divine Pill Tree, and couldn't help but laugh.
Brother Sang taught this technique to his disciple, and it is truly identical.
Although the master and apprentice's approaches to alchemy are not quite the same, their rhythm is very similar. They truly are both top-tier talents!
In my opinion, if Brother Sang doesn't make any mistakes, he will probably finish refining it in the shortest possible time.
"Does that mean the pill will be produced in seven and a half days?"
[What seven and a half days! Brother Liu, have you forgotten? Brother Sang is still young and his cultivation level is not high; he is currently only a Spirit Transformation cultivator! Even at his fastest speed, it will still take him fifteen days to refine it.]
Upon arriving here, all thoughts of the soul suddenly ceased.
Advanced alchemists usually focus on alchemy and are not as perceptive about cultivation as martial arts practitioners. Therefore, they only labeled Sang Yunchu as an "eighth-level alchemy king" and did not pay much attention to his actual cultivation level.
Only then did they realize that Sang Yunchu... was indeed a Spirit Transformation cultivator.
Although Sang Yunchu is an eighth-level alchemist, it is not an achievement at the same level, but rather one that has transcended realms.
Every time he refines an eighth-level pill, it is considered a leapfrog pill refining.
Sang Yunchu's alchemy skills were even better than everyone had expected!
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