44. Alchemy

"Fire!"

Lin Miao lit the firewood under the furnace, added some coal to raise the temperature. Gradually, the furnace became extremely hot. Then, he proceeded step by step, throwing some medicinal materials into the furnace according to the proportion of the Blood-Increasing Pill recipe.

As time passed, the inside of the furnace became blazing red, and the raw materials of those medicinal materials gradually turned into a sticky liquid. At this point, it was up to the Qi cultivator or innate expert to take action.

Alchemy required controlling the temperature and the final condensation of the pill, which needed to be manually controlled. Innate martial artists could use their innate inner power to control it because it could be released to external. Likewise, Qi cultivators could also do the same by extending their spiritual power into the furnace.

As for Body Refining martial artists or acquired martial artists, they could only watch. Although acquired warriors had inner power, they could not release it externally, so they could not refine the pill.

Lin Miao urged his own spiritual power to extend into the furnace and began to protect the liquid medicine, even shielding it from the burning heat.

This was the control of temperature, knowing when to heat up and when to cool down, which required the skill of an alchemist.

As time passed, Lin Miao continued to maintain his spiritual power, but it was too weak, and he had not even reached the first level of Qi Condensation.

If he were to refine pills needed by Qi cultivators, it would be impossible. However, just refining the Blood-Increasing Pill was enough for Lin Miao's spiritual power to hold up.

After just a quarter of an hour, a strange fragrance floated out of the furnace.

"Has the pill been formed?" Lin Fei stared at the furnace intently.

"Hoo..." Lin Miao retracted his spiritual power and collapsed to the ground as if he were completely exhausted. "Young master, I... I'm exhausted. My spiritual power has been almost completely depleted and need a whole day to recover. So I can only refine the Blood-Increasing Pill once a day at most."

Lin Miao's voice was trembling, obviously pushed to the limit. Even the last bit of time was forced.

"Lin Miao, you've worked hard today." Lin Fei glanced at Lin Miao, then turned his attention to the furnace.

He had no confidence in whether or not the pill had formed.

"Open!" Lin Fei used a tool to open the lid of the furnace all at once, and the lid fell to the ground. A strong fragrance emanated, but there seemed to be a burnt smell mixed in with it.

Lin Fei approached the furnace and took a look. Inside the furnace was completely paste-like, black, and messy.

"Failed?" Lin Fei was disappointed.

Lin Miao struggled to get up and also looked disappointed when he saw the situation inside the furnace.

"Young master, My fault. I couldn't control the temperature properly, which caused the refining to fail." Lin Miao lowered his head.

"Not necessarily a failure," Lin Fei said as he took out his tools and began searching inside the furnace.

Finally, he found three pills among the black residue.

"You succeeded. Three Blood-Increasing Pills," Lin Fei said with a smile.

"However, I need to test them first," he added and swallowed one of the pills directly.

His massive blood qi quickly began to refine the Blood-Increasing Pill as a hot stream flowed through his body.

"Your Giant Whale Body Refining Technique has absorbed the effect of the Blood-Increasing Pill, and its progress has increased by one-thousandth."

The system's voice sounded in Lin Fei's mind.

"It works!" Lin Fei exclaimed, "But its effect on me is too small. One pill can only increase the progress of the Giant Whale Body Refining Technique by one thousandth. To reach the limit of body refining and acquire inner power, I would need to take at least one thousand pills."

Lin Fei calculated the cost. According to the price of the Nine Profound Sect's Blood-Increasing Pills, one pill required one thousand contribution points, and that was already a fifty percent discount for inner disciples. To obtain one thousand pills, he would need one million contribution points, equivalent to one million taels of silver!

This was an astronomical figure.

How many tasks would he need to complete to accumulate so many contribution points? Using Blood-Increasing Pills for the purpose of practicing the Giant Whale Body Refining Technique was too extravagant.

Without them, Lin Fei would have to endure the slow progress of the Giant Whale Body Refining Technique, which might take several days or even a month to improve by one percent.

It would take years, even more than ten years, to reach the acquired realm.

There were many disciples in the inner sect who took years to advance from the ninth level of Body Refining to the acquired realm.

Lin Fei couldn't bear such slow progress.

"The cost of the medicinal materials used in that furnace shouldn't exceed one hundred taels of silver, but Lin Miao still refined three Blood-Increasing Pills," Lin Fei murmured to himself. "At this rate, I could get one thousand Blood-Increasing Pills with no more than forty thousand taels of silver. What a huge profit!"

He was amazed by the incredible profitability of alchemy.

With only forty thousand taels of silver, he could refine one thousand Blood-Increasing Pills, while the Nine Profound Sect sold them for one million taels of silver.

Of course, there was an important reason for this price difference - the alchemist.

Which innate expert would spend all day refining Blood-Increasing Pills?

And which Qi Condensation cultivator would refine pills every day?

It would only hinder their own cultivation.

Only Lin Fei, who controlled Lin Miao, could make him refine Blood-Increasing Pills instead of cultivating himself.

Lin Fei couldn't help but feel grateful for his decision to keep Lin Miao alive.