33 Refining without a Flame (I)

*At-choo* Huan Meirong sneezed before rubbing her arms. She felt cold; she was wet from head to toe. When she had entered the space within the marquis-shaped black stone she was thinking of landing near the lake and it had worked but she had appeared so near to it that one of her feet had slipped with the earth of the lakeshore, making her fall into the water; it seemed that she also needed to think well the distance when coming in.

*Sigh*

"What a good timing! I just hope to not sneeze when I'm refining," she grumbled as she overlooked the black pill furnace she had taken from the second pedestal of the fourth floor of the Nine-Layered Pagoda after getting out of the lake.

'...' After having said her thoughts aloud she went into a deep contemplation where the more she thought the more she frowned as things had become more perilous to her than they already were.

Right now, she was just at the Martial Qi level which was the level were one just began to adjust their bodies to martial energy. Even though she was quite amazed as it had only passed two weeks and she was already a nine-stars Martial Qi cultivator, just a level below a Martial Fighter, she still couldn't ignite her flame as the attribute can only be used when a martial cultivator reach the Martial Master level as at that level one wouldn't have to worry about harming the flesh and bones.

Her immortal cultivation level was of no help either as she hadn't even been able to reach the early-stage of Spirit Qi. Therefore, she will have to rely solely on her soul force to do all the refinement.

*Sigh*

"At least, I don't have to cocoon pills and just some liquids and powders or else without a fire and the aid of wood, I might die from how straining I heard that could be," she said as she remembered many things.

Only the craziest of Alchemists will bet their lives while refining and such kind will always be looked with incomprehension from the majority of Alchemist as they thought they lacked the patience to be an Alchemist. But it was thanks to those impatient and crazy Alchemists that Alchemists were able to refine and cocoon pills with only using soul force. There was no way that such people will wait till they were a Martial Master or an Awakened immortal cultivator which was only the second level of immortal cultivation to begin to refine and make pills; they really had no patience.

At length, she slightly nodded her head, putting any worry away as it was only going to be some rank two liquids and powders.

Then, she dried her wet hair and clothes the most she could with her small pair of hands. She didn't use her soul for or any kind of energy to dry herself as she will better use it when refining; she didn't have the sparse strength to waste, after all.

Now, with her hair also tied by one of the bluish twin hairpins, she proceeded in taking out a bunch of yellowish leaves and she put them beside the black pill furnace that was in the peculiar circular table in the middle of the pavilion.

She stared at them with curiosity and picked up one to assess it better, thinking, 'Who would have thought that the commonly seen Warm Skin Flower Tree's leaves could be refined into a powder and used as an antidote against the Icy Bell Powder.

The information of the jade never lets me down when it comes to giving me random surprises. Moreover, it is just the first jade. Hmm…' No matter how unbelieving some of the contents seemed to her, she trusted the information displayed in the jade; there was no way it was fake because this place along with the pagoda also looked surreal to her but both were, in fact, so real.

*At-choo*

A sneeze broke her marvelled thoughts about the jade and its information. She put the yellow leaf back to the table and stared at the black pill furnace which was a second rank one. She had took the one that was in the middle of her capabilities in alchemy in her past life which also, by coincidence, was the pill furnace which products were the highest an Alchemist could refine when only using the soul force or at least that was the recommendation if you didn't want to cause an irreparable damage to the soul. Of course, there were always exceptions, a prodigious Alchemist could attempt to make a product above rank two without any danger but Huan Meirong didn't consider herself one.

"Alright, let´s get started, Meirong," she said as she began to manipulate her soul force through her hands; the jade said it was easier that way.