Chapter 3
* knock - knock *
A knock brought An Ying from her contemplation and plans.
" Lady An Ying, can I come in ? "
" Yes, Su Ling. "
Su Ling opened the door and quickly reached inside and put all the herbal materials from her storage ring on the table and one thousand spirit stones.
" I brought everything you asked for, and I sold all the hunderd pills you have given me in the alchemy hall for ten spirit stone each. Do you need me for something else. " Su Ling asked with enthusiasm and a look that begged for a reward.
An Ying temporarily ignored her and looked at the stacks of herbal medicine in front of her.
She counted the number of stacks reaching one hundred twenty stacks for the white lotus pill, one hundred stacks for the tiger blood pill, and two hunderd stacks for the qi gathering pills.
" How much did everything cost ? " Asked An Ying after she finished counting the stacks.
" The first stack was 15 spirit stones the unit, the second stacks was just 12 spirit stones the unit while the last stack was 10 spirit stones the unit. The total of 1800 for the first 1200 for the second and 2000 for the last one for a total 5000 spirit stones. "
" Hm. " An Ying hummed in understanding before she took ten pills of level 2 qi gathering and gave them to her as a reward.
" You can move and wait for me. "
" Thank you, lady An Ying. "
Su Ling quickly took the pills in her hands and moved to the side with great flexibility, it obviously not the first time she set aside and observed An Ying, for Su Ling, it was always a big opportunity to watch her work and make pills.
An Ying brought out her pill claudron. It was a treasure that she refined herself through several materials of the second rank, namely the iron essence, red iron, and golden sand. All in order to give the claudron the ability to easily controling the Qi and drive heat. Thanks to that, she was able to quickly grow her understanding of pill refining.
An Ying's pill cauldron stood on the table, a high-grade second-rank marvel in craftsmanship. Its form was symmetrical, with a wide, cylindrical body adorned in intricate engravings. The cauldron's surface glimmered with a subtle golden hue, reflecting the precision and skill in its creation.
The handles on either side were fashioned like coiled dragons, their tails extending elegantly to meet the base. Runes and symbols, depicting the essence of fire and qi, were meticulously engraved along the cauldron's exterior. These enchantments, carefully inscribed with precision, contributed to its unique ability to control both heat and qi effortlessly.
As An Ying prepared for her alchemical endeavors, the cauldron's aura exuded a sense of refined power, a testament to the artistry and mastery infused into its very essence.
Soon, she took one stack of materials for the refinement of a white lotus pill.
The stack was composed of the main material, the white lotus, a rare herb that has a special type of qi that is both beneficial and poisonous, and three other secondary herbal materials.
Namely, the four leaves clover, a neutral herb that uses most pills to stabilize the form of the pill and keep the qi of the herbs.
The dark root used to purify the white lotus qi of its toxin by absorbing it and filtering it.
The silver chamomile, an herb that has calming effects on the mind, is mostly used in order to stop the qi from agitation while keeping most of it proprietary.
An Ying already understood the effects of each herbal medicine and had the formula for their uses. What she lacked is familiarity with the white lotus itself, such as how it react to fire, how it react to oder material, in what conditions can she extract the lost qi from the white lotus, how much can the other pieces of material take, etc...
All these questions enable her to have a deep understanding of the material itself and know what measures to take in order to fully exploit its potential.
For that, she took a little notebook that she had and took a new page, writing a bunch for information and then began one experiment after another. After a whole day of work and nearly 50 white lotus wasted, she had enough information.
' I will need to fill in these informations, let's see :
- Name of the herb : White lotus
- Effects : Beneficial and poisonous.
- Pill usages : The white lotus pill
- Heat effect ^Scale 1 - 10 ^ : In 1 no movement, 3 small movements, 7 high movement, 8 burned. The best is 7.7 peak movement.
- Time: for the 3 is 30 minutes, for 7 is 30 seconds, for 8 is 3 seconds. For 7.7 is 10 seconds.
- Qi quantity ^Scale 1 - 10 ^ : for 3 the quantity is 4, for 7 the quantity is 8, and for 8 the quantity is 0. For 7.7 is 9.8
- Qi quality ^Scale 1 - 10 ^ : for 3 the quality 2, for 7 the quality 7, for 8 is 0 and for 7.7 is 9.9
- Time of life inside the claudron : 1 min
Took a while to have all this information correct. Next is the pill concoction. I already know about all these three materials. Their information is quite different, but the best point for each of them is lower by one point to two point each than that of the white lotus. It's worth of being a higher grade medical herb.
Let's see, as of now, the white lotus' best point is 7.7 in heat, the four leaves clover is 6.5, the dark root is 6.0 , and the silver chamomile is 5.5.
In the pill formula, I will need to put the white lotus first, the dark root, the chamomile, and then the four leaves clover. As for the dark root, I may need more than one in order to purify the white lotus, which will also affect the numbers of silver chamomile and the four leaves clover. '
An Ying began another round of pill forging, she first cleaned her claudron than using her own qi, she heated it, once she saw its heat reaching 7.7, she put the white lotus inside, and waited for 10 seconds before she manipulated the qi in order to puch the herbal residu to one side of claudron while keeping the concerned part in the middle.
Next, she began lowering the amount of qi in her hand as the claudron's heat lowered at the same time she manipulated the heat control of the claudron to concentrate the heat in the middle part. Creating the central where the white lotus qi is with a heat of 7.7, and a side part where she can control the heat to go from 5 to 7 at her will.
15 seconds have passed since she put the white lotus, the side heat reached 6.0 and she immediately put two dark root, and waited for 5 seconds before she began to push it to toward the central part, at the same time, she manipulated the white lotus to go mix with it as she continued stirring everything in the middle, soon a black residue was being extract from the middle and pushed toward the side.
But An Ying was able to perceive a large part of the poison in the white lotus still existing in the middle.
She decided to put two more dark roots inside in order to purify the white lotus fully.
From the very beginning, 35 seconds have passed, and another 5 seconds for the dark roots to be used and another 5 for flushing, and yet the poison still exists.
An Ying gave up on this round of alchemy and started another set of pill refinements after cleaning her claudron.
This time, she quickly heated the claudron and refined the white lotus while keepinh the middle part at 7.7 and the side at 6.0, next she directly dumped 5 dark roots and ten seconds later her white lotus was free of all poison. She immediately lowered the amount of qi, keeping the middle at 7.7, and the sides are now at 5.5. Her time is 30 seconds.
With no hesitation, she decided to put 3 silver chamomile in and repeat the same process, they need 6 seconds as optimal time and after fusion she found out it was the right number, quickly raising the side heat to 6.5 and dumping 2 four leaves clover, three white lotus pills were formed before the 1 minutes life was over.
An Ying immediately checked her pills and found that the qi emanating from them had tripled.
She stopped for one second and used her proper version of a level 2 qi gathering pill, with two and half potency to recharge her batteries.
Taking her notebook, she mentioned every detail of the pill formation and all her insight about time management and fire control and heat control while also talking about the benefits in qi manipulation.
Su Ling watched in awe as Lady An Ying immersed herself in a world of alchemical mastery. The meticulous precision with which she recorded every detail in her notebook revealed a depth of understanding that surpassed ordinary practitioners.
When Su Ling presented the herbal materials and spirit stones, An Ying's focus on the task at hand overshadowed any immediate acknowledgment of Su Ling's efforts. The intensity of An Ying's concentration only hinted at the brilliance beneath the surface.
Observing An Ying's sophisticated pill cauldron, Su Ling marveled at the enchantments and craftsmanship. The coiled dragon handles and intricate engravings spoke of a profound connection between the alchemist and her tools.
As Lady An Ying began her experiments with the white lotus, Su Ling couldn't help but feel a mixture of curiosity and trepidation. The dedication to understanding the herb's nuances, from its reactions to heat and other materials to the intricate details of qi production, was nothing short of extraordinary.
Through the failures and successes, Su Ling grasped the depth of An Ying's genius. The way An Ying adjusted her approach, experimenting tirelessly with variations in timing and heat control, revealed not just skill but a profound intuition for the art of alchemy.
Su Ling's heart skipped a beat as she witnessed the culmination of An Ying's efforts. The flawless execution of the pill refining process, the calculated use of herbs, and the strategic manipulation of qi showcased An Ying's genius in its purest form. The tripling of qi emanating from the pills only solidified Su Ling's understanding—An Ying was a true prodigy.
As she waited outside, Su Ling couldn't shake the feeling that she was in the presence of a master, witnessing the birth of exceptional pills crafted by the hands of a true alchemical genius.
It wasn't like Su Ling doesn't know how to refine a pill, she learned how to do that after constantly watching An Ying, but her actions weren't just following a formula, but rather optimization of the formula, one single pill have a higher value compared with 3 pills, not only because of the qi intensity that it radiate but also because of the drug resistance that will be built up.