Invincible Soul Emperor

Chapter 186: Chapter 186: Refining a Third-Grade Breakthrough Pill

Qin Yue was as meticulous as ever, considering matters that Ye Qingchen himself hadn’t even thought of. She understood that Ye Qingchen’s strength had improved rapidly in a short period of time. Even if his Alchemy had reached the level of a third-grade Alchemist, his skill definitely wouldn’t be too advanced. Although she wasn’t familiar with Alchemy, Qin Yue’s position in the Rising Sun Pavilion meant she naturally understood the value and difficulty of refining third-grade Breakthrough Pills.

Although her guess was slightly off, her words were perfectly timed.

Seeing Ye Qingchen agree, Qin Yue led him toward the Rising Sun Pavilion’s Alchemy Room. As a large merchant guild, the Rising Sun Pavilion naturally kept Alchemists on retainer, so its Alchemy Room was exquisitely constructed.

Upon entering the Alchemy Room, Ye Qingchen felt the dense wood and fire-attribute Spiritual Energy in the air. These two attributes were the ones Alchemists used most often when refining Spirit Pills.

The room was lined with two rows of Alchemy Furnaces, where several Alchemists were already busy at work. When Ye Qingchen and Qin Yue entered, not a single person looked up at them.

The pair didn’t linger. Following Qin Yue’s lead, they continued deeper, eventually stopping outside a secret room.

”The top-grade Alchemy Furnace is in here,” Qin Yue said, using a special key to open the door. ”This room is protected by a Formation, so you needn’t worry about being disturbed.”

As soon as he stepped inside, Ye Qingchen felt a wave of searing heat wash over him.

Ye Qingchen nodded and entered the secret room.

The environment was a bit much for Qin Yue. She said to Ye Qingchen, ”I’ll come for you in two days. Until then, just focus on your Alchemy.”

Ye Qingchen nodded. Qin Yue then shut the door and turned to leave.

Ye Qingchen scanned the secret room and was surprised to find a number of Low-grade Spirit Stones scattered about. Upon closer observation, he realized the Spirit Stones were arranged systematically, likely forming a Spirit Gathering Array. No wonder the Spiritual Energy inside this secret room was several times denser than outside.

However, Ye Qingchen didn’t understand Formations. After a brief glance, his gaze fell upon the Alchemy Furnace in the center of the room.

The Alchemy Furnace stood about two meters tall, its exterior carved with coiling dragons and soaring phoenixes that gave it an ancient air.

He tried channeling his Spiritual Energy into it. The Alchemy Furnace ignited instantly, and the temperature in the room soared even higher.

Not bad. It can actually amplify my Spiritual Energy. This truly is a top-grade Alchemy Furnace. With its help, my efficiency in refining medicinal herbs will increase dramatically!

He mused, taking the herbs for the third-grade Breakthrough Pill from his storage ring. He sorted and counted them, finding a total of twelve portions.

These twelve portions should be enough, right? he murmured uncertainly.

The difficulty of refining a third-grade Breakthrough Pill was the greatest of any Spirit Pill Ye Qingchen had ever encountered. Therefore, he took out the formula for the pill again and began to study it closely.

Even though he had read this formula countless times, he still reviewed it repeatedly, fearing any mishaps during the Alchemy process.

”Alright, let’s begin!”

An hour later, Ye Qingchen let out a soft breath and, following the order on the formula, began adding the herbs into the Alchemy Furnace one by one.

He activated his Dual Pupil Martial Soul from the very beginning, staring intently at everything inside the Alchemy Furnace. With the help of his Dual Pupil Martial Soul, Ye Qingchen could clearly see the medicinal herbs being refined, and his control over the flame also strengthened significantly.

As he added more herbs, sweat began to bead on his forehead. The increasing number of ingredients required even more precise control over the heat; the slightest slip-up would result in utter failure.

Another hour passed. Ye Qingchen couldn’t help but furrow his brow. Most of the herbs for the third-grade Breakthrough Pill had now been refined, but the remaining ones clashed with the properties of the medicinal liquid brewing in the Alchemy Furnace.

He had encountered this situation before while practicing Alchemy, but the Spirit Pills he was making back then were low-grade, so it hadn’t mattered much.

But the situation was different now. He had to precisely control the heat while also dividing his focus to envelop the already refined medicinal liquid with his Vitality Force. This was to prevent the herbs from reacting negatively during their refinement, which would cause the furnace to explode.

Ye Qingchen pushed his Dual Pupil Martial Soul to its limit. Sweat trickled from his forehead nearly to his lips, but he paid it no mind. Fortunately, everything proceeded according to plan, without any errors.

”The last one!” Ye Qingchen finally took a moment to wipe the sweat from his brow before adding the last ingredient, the Thousand-Year Peony Heart Grass, into the Alchemy Furnace.

BOOM!

The moment the Thousand-Year Peony Heart Grass entered the Alchemy Furnace, it triggered a reaction from the other herbs. The already refined medicinal liquid surged violently.

Despite his best efforts to control it, he ultimately failed.

Fortunately, he was using a top-grade Alchemy Furnace. Although the refinement failed, the furnace didn’t explode. Otherwise, standing so close, Ye Qingchen might have been injured.

His first attempt at refining a third-grade Breakthrough Pill had failed.

Ye Qingchen sighed but wasn’t discouraged. He had already braced himself for multiple failures.

He didn’t rush to begin again. Instead, he sat down cross-legged, took out the formula for the third-grade Breakthrough Pill to study it again, and replayed the entire process of his recent attempt in his mind.

Another hour went by. Ye Qingchen’s brow relaxed as he murmured to himself, ”I possess the Fen Tian Earth Fire. My speed when refining medicinal herbs is much faster than other Alchemists. If I rigidly follow the methods on the formula, failure is inevitable.”

However, Ye Qingchen was prepared for such a problem. After all, having possessed the Fen Tian Earth Fire for so long, his control over it had greatly improved.

After some contemplation, he recalled the details of his attempt to refine the third-grade Breakthrough Pill and began to modify the formula.

An hour later, Ye Qingchen approached the Alchemy Furnace again, confident for his second attempt.

This time, he smoothly reached the purification stage of the medicinal liquid, but the final purity was a meager forty percent. While this level of purity might be acceptable to other Alchemists, Ye Qingchen was not satisfied and increased the flame to purify it further.

BOOM!

Another loud noise echoed as this attempt at Alchemy also ended in failure.

”Where exactly did it go wrong?”

Once again, Ye Qingchen sat down cross-legged and began to study the formula.

With the enhancement from my Dual Pupil Martial Soul and the Fen Tian Earth Fire, how could I only achieve forty percent purity?

Ye Qingchen furrowed his brow and sank into deep thought.