Chapter 15: Refining the Lingshen Pill_1

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Having been in Qingfeng Town for three months, my cultivation level has broken through from the Fifth Level of Qi Refinement to the sixth after consuming four Lingshen Pills, and I still have sixteen more.

In such a thin Spiritual Energy environment, to be able to advance a level in just over three months, the role of elixirs was crucial.

Now, I, Lin Tianming, have a fair amount of Spiritual Medicine and elixirs, but they are not inexhaustible.

There is no need to be too frugal with cultivation resources now; I plan to consume two Lingshen Pills each month to advance my cultivation, and spend the rest of the time making elixirs.

With sixteen Lingshen Pills, consuming two a month, I can barely make it last for a year. However, if there are enough elixirs, I could completely afford to take four a month, which would significantly speed up my cultivation advancement.

The success rate and quantity of Fasting Pills have become very high, it's time to try crafting the First Order Medium Grade Spiritual Medicine, the Lingshen Pill.

With fifty-five sets of Lingshen Pill materials in hand, attempting to refine fifty-five batches should yield a successful portion.

That should help replenish some of the elixirs; if the quantity is substantial, I could increase the monthly consumption by one or two pills, accelerating the cultivation progress.

No sooner said than done, I immediately take out the Spiritual Medicine Materials for the Fasting Pills.

Before starting on the Lingshen Pills, I intend to get a feel for it with the Fasting Pills.

After all, the materials for the Lingshen Pill are precious, costing several times more, and the difficulty of making them is much higher. They can't be wasted easily.

As a matter of habit, I regulate my breathing for a quarter of an hour to reach my optimal state.

I take out the Pill Furnace and the Huo Yuan Bottle, consecutively casting multiple Law Decrees on both.

With practiced ease, I begin the alchemy for the Fasting Pills.

Half a day later, I have refined all the remaining four sets of Fasting Pill materials.

I yield fifty-six pills, which is fourteen more than the previous time I used one more set of Spiritual Medicine Materials.

The success rate has increased again, which pleases me, Lin Tianming, greatly.

Having refined all the Spiritual Medicine Materials for the Fasting Pills, I now have one hundred and thirty-six pills in hand, which should be exchangeable for a hundred and ten points of Shi Gong—a quite substantial fortune.

After completing the Fasting Pills, I continue with the plan to craft Lingshen Pills.

I take out the Alchemy Experience written by my grandfather Lin Shigong and the Jade Tube left by True Person Yuhua.

Although Grandfather Lin Shigong's alchemy skills are by no means comparable to those of True Person Yuhua, they still encompass the experiences of several generations of the Lin Family's alchemists, which are quite valuable.

It takes half a day, but I revisit the experiences of both alchemists, focusing on learning from our predecessors' alchemy knowledge.

I take out three sets of Lingshen Pill materials and place them on the stone table beside me.

After regulating my breath for an hour, I commence the alchemy for the Lingshen Pills.

This being my first time crafting a First Order Medium Grade elixir, I must be cautious.

I cycle my cultivation through a Grand Circulation, emitting several Law Decrees in orderly succession upon the Four Symbols Furnace.

One by one, I toss a set of Lingshen Pill materials into the Four Symbols Furnace, controlling the flame of the Huo Yuan Bottle, breaking down and refining the Spiritual Medicine.

I time my movements and layer several Law Decrees, injecting Spiritual Energy.

A few breaths pass.

"Solidify."

"Puff."

A strange sound emanates from the Four Symbols Furnace, accompanied by a slight tremor.

I, Lin Tianming, quickly open the furnace.

Inside, I see three fragmented, half-formed pills scattered at the bottom of the furnace.

Just as expected, the first batch of Lingshen Pills is a failure.

But I'm undeterred, I pick up the broken pieces of the pills and begin to ponder over them intently.

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He pulled out True Person Yuhua's Alchemy Experience and focused on analyzing the reasons for the failure.

After pondering over it several times, it seemed that the issue lay with the lack of precise control over the flame during the decomposition of the Spiritual Medicine, leading to impurities not being fully broken down, preventing the pill from solidifying.

There are over a dozen types of Spiritual Medicine used to refine the Lingshen Pill, each with different properties and medicinal characteristics, and each requires different intensities of flame to extract and decompose. The flame's strength must be controlled according to the properties of the Spiritual Medicine.

Otherwise, the Spiritual Medicine can easily be under-refined, or if the flame is too strong, the impurities can also be extracted and merge with the essence, making the pill difficult to form or causing the batch to be wasted.

Alchemy is an art that highly values one's state of mind; the control of the flame and the timing of opening the furnace are not fixed.

A high-order Alchemist will have a prediction for what kind of flame strength is needed for each type of Spiritual Medicine.

Different flames and different temperatures are required for refining different elixirs, and the needed strength of the fire and the refining duration vary significantly as well.

This judgment can also be prone to errors; therefore, an Alchemist will make on-the-fly adjustments to the flame strength and the timing of the pill's removal based on the changes during the refining process.

But even the most skilled alchemists can't guarantee their judgments are 100% accurate; even a slight mishap can cause a batch of elixirs to be ruined.

Thus, even experienced alchemist veterans can only maintain a certain success rate.

The failure of the first batch was an expected outcome; even with exceptional talent, in the million years of the Cultivation World, no cultivator has ever succeeded on their first attempt at alchemy.

Having deduced the reasons for his failure, Lin Tianming once again took out a set of Spirit Essence Pill Materials and redid all the preliminary preparations, step by step.

He was exceedingly careful with every detail.

In extracting each piece of Spiritual Medicine, he would use all of his Divine Sense to extract every bit of essence from them.

He sequentially completed the decomposition of the dozen types of Spiritual Medicine.

An hour later.

"Solidify."

A fragrant scent filled the entire secret chamber.

Two pill pellets hovered in the center of the Four Symbols Furnace.

Lin Tianming excitedly picked up one of the elixirs to examine if it was a complete Lingshen Pill.

He pulled out a Lingshen Pill given to him by his grandfather for comparison.

He placed the two Lingshen Pills side by side.

The Lingshen Pill his grandfather gave was of an ink-green color, with patterns of dark and light green, its surface shiny and smooth.

Comparing the colors, his own Lingshen Pill appeared almost identical.

The Lingshen Pill looked normal, but something felt off.

After careful comparison several times, he realized that his grandfather's Lingshen Pill had a small amount of Spiritual Energy circling around its surface, while the one he refined had none.

Recollecting the entire alchemy process, he realized that the step he lacked was the proper Infusion of Spirit; he had infused too much Spiritual Energy, exceeding the Lingshen Pill's limits and disrupting its balance.

This was the biggest reason for the failure of this attempt.

Over the course of five days, through repeated practice and analysis of failures,

he finally succeeded on the eighth attempt. During this period, he encountered various mistakes and issues; after repeatedly reviewing, checking, and comparing, and after multiple refining attempts, he finally succeeded.

He carefully compared and observed the successfully refined Lingshen Pill with his fingers, and it seemed almost identical, from the color, Spiritual Power, and scent, it was undoubtedly a genuine Lingshen Pill.

Lin Tianming breathed a sigh of relief. The materials for so many Spiritual Medicine Materials could have bought a significant number of elixirs.

The resources and time spent during this period were significant; had he not succeeded, he could hardly afford such an expenditure.

With a successful example at hand, all he needed to do next was practice more to improve the success rate and quantity of pills yielded.

That said, Lin Tianming delved into a frenzy of alchemy and cultivation.