The Third-Ranked Pill
*There are a lot of medicine formulas around here. It seems like most of them are medicines that help in physical healing. Many formulas help improve physical strength too. This is a real place for alchemy indeed. But which ones I should choose to test? And I’ve never really made any medicines before. I think I know the mixing processes, but to really have to make it is something completely different.*
As Zheng-Fu was trying to choose the right formulas, his eyes stopped at three medicine formulas that he felt familiar with. They were the formulas for physical healing, muscle relaxant, and temporary muscle extension. All three formulas belonged to the first/second-ranked formulas that he had seen before from his clan’s Medical Tower. They were actually the three formulas that he modified and turned into the third-ranked medicines…
“Well, I’ll take these three formulas.” After Zheng-Fu made the decision, he grabbed those formula papers and left the board, and then headed right away to the medicine mixing bowl. He chose the bowl that was next to Lei Tian Lu because he prepared to ask Lei Tian Lu for some advice on the things that he did not know. He thought it would be alright to ask because the rule did not say that he could not…
Rustle!
“You’ve got the formulas you need?” Lei Tian Lu asked Zheng-Fu as Zheng-Fu chose to station next to Lei Tian Lu…
“Yes, brother. I’ve got my formulas,” Zheng-Fu answered as he put down the three formulas next to Lei Tian Lu, so he could see the formulas that he chose. When Lei Tian Lu saw Zheng-Fu’s chosen formulas, he could not help but smile because the formulas made him believe further that Zheng-Fu never actually produced any medicines before, otherwise, he would not pick the ones that belonged to the first-ranked skill…
It did not take long for Zheng-Fu to get all the ingredients that he needed. All three formulas mostly required similar ingredients. They were only different from each other by some different ingredients…
Zoom!
Whoosh!
As Zheng-Fu was studying the formulas, Lei Tian Lu went ahead and started to perform on his chosen formula. He gradually put in the ingredients according to the formula. He did not forget to project his Qi energy into the mixing bowl too. Alchemists needed to turn their Qi energy into heat flame first. And different alchemist levels produced different kinds of heat flames. The higher the rank of the alchemist, the stronger the heat flame could get…
The heat flame that Lei Tian Lu produced was greenish-blue. When he started to release the flame, Kong-Chang’s face turned pale out of awe instantly because he knew that different alchemist levels produced different flame colors. Kong-Chang himself could produce only red flame at this point in his life…
“I can’t believe that that young man from Lei Clan could produce such a greenish-blue flame successfully.”
“It shows that he is really capable and understands how to produce heat flame. That is as equal as the intermediate or advanced levels there.”
“If he started to produce a pure blue flame today, then he is deemed to be as equal as us.”
The three Elders that Zheng-Fu met earlier, including Ming-Wang, enjoyed checking out applicants performing in the second test room. They were hooked on Zheng-Fu’s performance in the first test, so they intended to witness it further in the second test. Ming-Wang would like to know how good Zheng-Fu would be when it came to making real medicine. However, the three Elders would not try to expect to see something extraordinary anyway because creating a heat flame was not something that easy. Even though Zheng-Fu was superb in the comprehension of herbal plants, it might be too hard for him to pass this test if he was unable to use and control his flame well…
And when they saw the greenish-blue flame that was produced by Lei Tian Lu, they all got stunned and stayed in that state of mind for a while. Then they started to let out big smiles because they were glad to see such a genius emerge within the Association of the Alchemists in In-See City. It had been such a long time now that the association could enjoy this kind of good news…
At the medicine mixing bowl that Zheng-Fu stationed…
*Master Sue-Wu taught me that an alchemist must turn his Qi energy into a heat flame. And then he must send that flame into a mixing bowl to initiate the distillation of the herbs in the bowl. Then the alchemist must keep giving the right control to that flame, otherwise, the attempt might not be successful.*
After recalling the lesson given by Master Sue-Wu, Zheng-Fu was ready to turn his Qi energy to heat flame. Even though Zheng-Fu had never done it before, his exceptional memory and wit on this subject that he obtained from watching Master Sue-Wu for a whole month helped him deliver the performance…
Whoosh!
There was a circulation of energy moved from Zheng-Fu’s Qi energy center onto his hands giving him a red flame that occurred gradually in front of him. Then the red flame turned into a green flame. The green flame then turned into a blue flame. And then the blue flame turned into a bluish-orange flame…
“A bluish-orange flame!”
Kong-Chang’s facial expression now turned stranger than ever when he saw the heat flame that Zheng-Fu produced. He almost had a heart attack from it. His heart did not beat normally now as if he got haunted by a ghost in broad daylight…
“I can’t believe that he could produce a bluish-orange flame like that. He got me surprised in the first test already and now, this. He is the real genius!” Ming-Wang admired Zheng-Fu loudly as soon as he saw the boy produce a bluish-orange flame…
The other two Elders were still in a state of shock. Their eyes and mouths were widened. They could not take their eyes off Zheng-Fu all the while. They could not believe that an 8-year-old boy could produce such a powerful bluish-orange flame like this. Now, everybody in the test room put down everything and turned to stare at Zheng-Fu with the same level of utmost astonishment. They all knew well what each heat flame color meant…
“That boy possesses a bluish-orange flame!”
“How could that be? How old is he? How come I have never seen him or heard of him before?”
Now everyone in the test room started to chat loudly about Zheng-Fu’s ability. Lei Tian Lu himself also could not help but felt surprised and it showed evidently in his facial expression. However, Lei Tian Lu did not stay shocked for very long. He could come back to his calm place while admiring Zheng-Fu quietly. He was kind of impressed by Zheng-Fu’s competence…
*How come this heat flame turns bluish-orange? Is it a lower-leveled heat flame? I normally see the red flame from Master Sue-Wu. And then there is a green one from brother Lei Tian Lu. What does it mean when the flame is orange?* Zheng-Fu did not know about the meaning of each heat flame color, so he thought that the one that he produced was of the lower level…
“Never mind! At least I could deliver a heat flame. I guess I should continue to the next step, mixing the ingredients.” After recapping the steps, Zheng-Fu started to work on the mixture according to each formula. He thought that if he could do exactly according to these three formulas, he would be able to produce the medicines successfully. But if he made even a tiny mistake, he would fail terribly…
Zoom!
Zoom!
The first formula that Zheng-Fu worked on was a first-ranked formula that was supposed to produce a medicine for physical healing. He was familiar with this formula because it was the formula that Master Sue-Wu usually made at the clan’s Medical Tower. This was actually why Zheng-Fu chose this formula. Zheng-Fu modified this formula too, but he did not have any chance to mix it because he did not have the needed ingredients. He merely had to do according to the original formula when he was with Master Sue-Wu…
Zheng-Fu’s mixing bowl was covered by bright light when his heat flame slowly circulated within the mixing bowl. He gently followed every step of the way. As he approached the last step, the bright light all of a sudden ceased itself and there was this black smoke floated from the bowl…
Boom!
“Hahaha!”
“I knew it. He is just a kid. It doesn’t help even though he could produce an orange heat flame!”
It turned out that Zheng-Fu’s first trial was a flop. He wasted all the ingredients in that first round. Zheng-Fu himself actually thought that he had four out of ten portions to succeed. He kind of thought that he was alright for the first time because it had not exploded since the very beginning…
“Don’t think too much about it, little Zheng-Fu. You did great for someone who never tried it before. You failed this time because you put too much force on your heat flame into the bowl. The extra force burnt the medicine that was being distilled.” Lei Tian Lu turned to tell Zheng-Fu why he did not succeed in the first trial with a smile on his face…
*So, that was why. Right. I have to say that I did not do my best to control the heat flame. That was why it wasn’t successful.*
“Thank you very much, brother Lei Tian Lu, for your suggestion. I’ll take your advice to improve myself.”
“It’s my pleasure. I’m glad that I can help. If there’s any part that you don’t understand at all, just let me know.” Lei Tian Lu said while pounding his chest to show his confidence in wanting to help Zheng-Fu…
“Thank you!”
“Alright. It looks like I have to skip this formula first because I only have one more set of ingredients left for it. I can’t afford to fail the next time.” After the first failed attempt, Zheng-Fu did not start to go back to make medicine right away. He wanted to take time to look at those three chosen formulas and contemplate the mixing process. He still could afford to let time pass by…
Within two shichens of the test time, Zheng-Fu calculated that with original formulas, he could produce up to 20 pills in the first-ranked medicine category. The second-ranked medicines consumed more time because of the more complex mixing process. So, he calculated that he could produce about five to six pills in the category. At that point, he thought that he should forget about making the third-ranked medicine…
To pass this exam, he either had to produce 10 pills of the first-ranked medicine or two pills of the second-ranked medicine. Or he could try producing one pill that belonged in the third rank. Zheng-Fu noticed that time started to fly. If he aimed to pass this test, he could also do one pill of the second-ranked medicine and five pills of the first rank…
“Well…These herbal plants have similar properties. I could replace something that showed in the formulas with something else instead. What if I mix everything and play with the mixing methods? What would happen?” Zheng-Fu rushed to lose himself in the world of medicine formula modification. And within no time, he could come up with a way to deal with the formulas. Then he eventually started to mix the medicine by putting everything in the bowl at the same time…
“What’s he doing!?” Ming-Wang could not help but want to know each step that Zheng-Fu took, so he tried to fix his eyes on Zheng-Fu on what he was doing…
“What does he think he’s doing? Why did he throw every ingredient in the mixing bowl? Is he trying to give up? Does he put everything in that bowl to kill time?”
“Yeah. It’s too bad that he did that. It’s like he doesn’t respect the science of alchemy at all. He shouldn’t have done that.”
The other two Elders started to feel disappointed in Zheng-Fu. They were not happy to see what Zheng-Fu did with the rest of the ingredients. They actually thought that Zheng-Fu wanted to give up. However, Ming-Wang did not think so. He still believed in Zheng-Fu. He could feel that Zheng-Fu did have something in his mind and aimed to deliver an extraordinary outcome again…
*What does he think he’s doing? Or is he going to quit the test? But then again, he shouldn’t have thrown everything in the mixing bowl like that.* Lei Tian Lu turned to look at Zheng-Fu and thought about the boy’s action at the same time…
Everyone seemed to think alike about Zheng-Fu’s action. They all started to judge him and mock him in so many ways. However, Kong-Chang thought differently. He thought in the way that Ming-Wang did. He thought that the kid in front of him would not throw everything away just like that. He thought that Zheng-Fu did not want to quit or fool around…
Right now, all the ingredients were in Zheng-Fu’s mixing bowl. Zheng-Fu started to release his Qi energy and turned it into a red heat flame. He continued to manage the color of the flame constantly. He kept on doing that until a shichen passed…
*I need to be careful and gradually stir in the heat flame little by little. Come to think about it, in any process of cooking up medicine, I need to warm things up in the beginning. And when the bowl started to get warm, I then need to heat things up until the medicine boils up. The last step would be to gradually cool it down.*
At that very moment, there was a cloud of white smoke coming out of Zheng-Fu’s mixing bowl. Once the white smoke floated up, an intense, but wonderful herbal smell was projected out. And all of a sudden, there was this bright pale-yellow light that occurred in Zheng-Fu’s mixing bowl. The light started to get brighter and brighter…
Vroom!
Boom!