Getting Behind

Alex made preparation for the next day. Knowing that he was only going to have 15 hours to work, he needed to make the best of his time.

One thing he realized was that if he wasn't so extravagant with his Qi, he could extend it to 15 hours, given that he takes two pills with a 7-hour interval in between.

Next, since he was going to have to make more than just 6 pills this time around, Alex started having thoughts of making either 8 pills at once with 4 pills in 2 cauldrons, or 9 pills at once with 3 pills in 3 cauldrons. 

After a little thought, he realized that the second one was rather hard, so he had to stick to the first one.

"I should be able to reach about 700 if I did that," he thought. Of course, making 8 pills at once alone was hard too, but he had no choice.

Alex then ate a pill that improved his mind and waited until the elder arrived.