32 Caldron

"Did the Middle Realm say anything or take action?"

"No, not yet. The existing part of the Meriandem is still safe, but the other part of it..."

Nodding in understanding while glancing multiple times at Xuanmei, Yu sighed in frustration.

"Do we send her to Harias Academy to receive the missing piece to reunite the Meriandem once and for all?"

"Do that. Make sure she doesn't interact with the Principal but do not observe her from a distance that's too close."

"Understood!"

As Yu jumped away from the girl, the cat laid there, watching.

Ming prowled around, searching for a low leveled spirit beast.

"Since you are my temporary master, I guess... This bronze caldron is yours."

Walking up to the caldron wordlessly, Xuanmei fiddled around with it.

"How..."

"To light the fire, first, imagine a red light descending upon you, before swirling around and entering through your temples."

Doing exactly as Blue Pheonix said, Xuanmei felt a warm presence immediately flood her head.

"You are now one with the caldron. If the caldron gets destroyed, your connection to the caldron will be too, and you will become foolish."

Xuanmei touched the caldron, lingering on the sides. Blue Pheonix followed with his eyes, his heart a literal caldron of anxiety and worry. (A: Aha, a CALDRON of calmness, get it? Caldron? No? Just me? Okay sorry bye.)

"The pill you are refining is kind of a 'secret recipe', well, kind of."

"The pill needs nothing, but life essence. Pour your life essence into the fire, and it provides you with a formula. Imagine your soul dropping a small droplet from your heart, forming whatever it is that you see, guiding it towards the fire. Simple enough, but this is not how everyone starts out. Lucky you."

Sitting silently in a meditative state, she did as told.

Not a long time later, the results came out.

"The formula is... A pheonix feather, a dragon's scales, gold plywood, a drop of silver dew, a silver-gray moonlight rose, and the tears of a goddess."

"Right, those are hard to get. Anyway, mix those six ingredients together and you'll get your mixture. Pour it into a pill mould to cool and you get your pill."

Xuanmei raised an eyebrow, "How am I supposed to get those ingredients?"

"The pagoda's storage has a silver-gray moonlight rose, a dragon's core and two dragon scales, along with ten drops of silver dew. All in the second floor."

Nodding, the girl went to take the ingredients from the assigned spots.

As the girl was picking out the ingredients, Blue Pheonix had already brought out a table, setting it next to the Caldron.

Piling into the main floor all the rare ingredients in the second floor, which were not many, as, well, they were all the rarer ingredients, Xuanmei realised that the previous owner, having not dabbled in pill making and medicine, just randomly piled all the pill making ingredients in the second floor, hanging a sign saying 'Rarer ingredients here' at the corner.