Chapter 24 - Shen Dingxiang's Pill Making

As Shen Dingxiang prepared to start his Pill Making Process, a pure white flame appeared between his brows, his fire gentle, like rays of the morning sun.

He directed it through his finger, bringing it inside his cauldron.

"This is... the Gentle Sun Beast Flame!" A spectator exclaimed in amazement.

Another added: "This is the innate fire cultivated by the Gentle Sun Deer, a Spiritual Beast with a slither of Qilin Bloodline!!!"

"This flame perfectly matches with Young Master Shen's Soaring Qilin Cauldron!"

In order to refine Pills, Alchemists need powerful flames so as to extract the medicinal essence from spiritual herbs.

They refine these flames in their Sea of Consciousness located between the brows and manipulate them through their Soul Power, allowing for even better control due to the higher sensitivity of the Soul compared to that of the Body.

Hence, any respected and recognized Alchemist possesses a rare flame of his own.

At this moment, Shen Dingxiang's Gentle Sun Beast Flame burned brightly within the Soaring Qilin Cauldron, harmonizing with it.

The Qilin patterns on the cauldron's surface started to shine with a golden hue, reflecting the hint of gold which had began to blaze within the core of the Beast Flame.

Shen Dingxiang took one herb out of his set and threw it directly within the cauldron.

'The first step: Extratcing the Medicinal Essence!' He thought as he started to manipulate his Gentle Sun Beast Flame to swirl around the spiritual herb, wrapping around it like a slithering snake, ensnaring it tightly as if to grind it.

[Flame Embrace Extraction Method]

The Gentle Sun Beast Flame's warmth was soft, burning the herb gently to reveal a clear green liquid filled with life energy. The Medicinal Essence of the herb.

Through Shen Dingxiang's temperature control, only the herb itself was burned without wasting even a single drop of the medicinal essence;

He repeated the process with the four other spiritual herbs of the set, making the five small streams of liquid essence float within the cauldron.

"Young Master Shen's skills soared!"

"The rumor about him not being far from the Sky-Rank was true after all..."

Meanwhile, Shen Dingxiang started to concentrate on his next step: 'The second step: Washing the Medicinal Essence!'

As as Spiritual Herb grows within the environnement, it will absorb some of the impurities within the surrounding Heaven and Earth.

Some of these impurities will integrate themselves within the plant's medicinal essence, decreasing its effects and making it unsuitable for raw consumption.

This is why Alchemists are so respected: they can convert trash into gold, transform inedibe Spiritual Herbs into poweful Pills capable of raising one's cultivation.

Shen Dingxiang flashed a confident smile as he mobilized his Soul Power.

[Sun Purification Method]

The Gentle Sun Beast Flame rised within the cauldron, taking the shape of a sphere at its top, forming a small white divine sun shining its immaculate rays upon the five streams of medicinal essence.

'Impurities are Yin in nature. The Sun is Pure Yang, and its rays burn all that is Pure Yin, hence why Ghosts and Souls which are Yin spiritual entities are weakened or even killed by sunrays.' Shen Dingxiang thought.

'The principle of the Sun Purification Method is to construct a replica of the sun within the cauldron to burn the Yin impurities without destroying the medicinal essence.'

'This is one of the best Alchemy Techniques of the Crouching Dragon Domain!'

Under the Gentle Sun Beast Flame's artificial sunlight, the medicinal essence decreased in quantity, but its green colour became more refined and condensed, meaning the essence turned purer.

'The third step: Amalgamating the Medicinal Essences!' Shen Dingxiang exclaimed within his mind, using his Soul Power to guide the five streams of medicinal essence to merge, forming only one denser stream brimming with spiritual energy.

'Since the Qi Resplenishing Pill is only a Profound-Rank Pill, its concoction is not difficult.' Shen Dingxiang thought, reviewing his knowledge in order to prepare for the next steps of his pill refinements. 'Some steps are easy and require absolutely no technique to complete.'

'The fourth step: Shaping the Pill!' After having formed the single stream of medicinal essence, Shen Dingxiang didn't release his Soul Power, continuing to mobilize it to condense the medicinal liquid into a single point.

But suddenly, an etheral thought, flowed out from within Shen Dingxiang's Sea of Consciousness towards the slowly converging medicinal essence, helping it condense, perfecting the movements of his Soul Power and smoothening the whole process.

Yu Weiyuan's eyes widened in shock: "This is... Pill Intent!!!"

"The most suitable Intent for any Alchemist and one of the most difficult to attain, helping them condense any Pill and smoothening their breakthroughs in realms of Alchemy..."

He turned towards Li Moxue, his golden eyes filled with worry he didn't even realize he felt.

But when he saw her face staying as expressionless as always, he felt strangely reassured.

'This woman...'

Meanwhile, under the motions of Shen Dingxiang's Pill Intent, the medicinal essence had finished forming a small bead, the medicinal energy still flowing within.

'The fifth step: Congealing the Pill!' While keeping his hold of Soul Power onto the bead of medicinal energy, Shen Dingxiang carefully moved his Gentle Sun Beast Flame under it, never burning the bead directly, only increasing the heat akin to a divine furnace.

[Sun Furnace Method]

The Beast Flame burned slowly under the medicinal bead wrapped in Pill Intent which slowly transformed into a semi-solid state under the sun-like furnace.

'The sixth step: Solidifying the Pill!!!' Shen Dingxiang nearly roared within his mind as he prepared the completion of his Pill.

The solidification of a Pill is done in one fell swoop, being completed in one burst of flame after having prepared the pill beforehand by congealing it.

[Solar Star Explosion Method]

The Gentle Sun Beast Flame encircled directly the semi-solid bead of medicinal essence, as if to make it the core of the sun shape it had taken.

Then, Shen Dingxiang fiercely slapped the cauldron, urging the small white divine sun to condense into one point with the medicinal bead as its center, his Pill Intent converging with them until it completely exploded.

Bursts of white flame violently exited the Soaring Qilin Cauldron with a sky-tearing momentum, as if a star had completely blasted out, akin to a supernova.

After controlling his Gentle Sun Beast Flame to return to his Sea of Consciousness between his brows, Shen Dingxiang plunged his hand within the cauldron, retrieving a yellow pill shining with a luster of gold, brimming with pure energy.

"Qi Resplenishment Pill completed!"

With a wanton smile upon his face, he threw the completed Pill towards Mo Hua who hurriedly retrieved it from the air.

As she looked down to examine the pill, she flashed a bright smile before she gazed up only to see her lover's cheeky smirk.

'He's really, really not bad...' She thought as her heart skipped a slight beat.

Then, she smiled in glee as she raised the pill upwards.

"Peak-Grade, 97% Purity!"