Monarch Of Time

Chapter 31 - 31 Refining pills

Nevertheless, what others may consider as madness, to Shun Long it seemed completely logical after having understood every single aspect of these medicinal ingredients he was handling.

Shun Long added the ʼBlue stripped grassʼ first and he noticed that it instantly started to ʼwitherʼ. Before all of the essence had left the grass though, Shun Long threw in one leaf from the ʼ5-leafed flowerʼ.

The shocking result was that after throwing in the leaf, the ʼBlue stripped grassʼ had a reaction as the half-withered grass coiled itself around the leaf while it was being refined.

Shun Long smiled proudly as he said

ʼʼHa, I knew it that this was the correct way to refine the ʼBlue stripped grassʼ. By adding one leaf from the ʼ5-leafed flowerʼ the medicinal essence of the ʼBlue stripped grassʼ that would have been lost in the air is now all focused around the leaf. The refinement is faster and the efficacy of the ʼQi barrier-breakingʼ pill will be higher in the end. But I have to throw the rest of the flower inside soon or its quality will quickly drop after it has lost one of its leaves.ʼʼ

When he finished speaking, 5 breaths of time had already passed and Shun Long threw the rest of the ʼ5-leafed flowerʼ inside the cauldron.

When a medicinal ingredient was purified, a sizzling sound could be heard as its body would wither and it would leave behind its medicinal essence in liquid form.

The ʼ5-leafed flowerʼ was quickly being refined and Shun Long used his spiritual energy to lower the flameʼs temperature.

ʼʼThe ʼgrisly growing rootʼ has to be refined slower than the previous two ingredients or its essence would evaporate with only a very small amount remaining in the cauldron in the end.ʼʼ

However, even though Shun Long had already lowered the flameʼs temperature, when he threw in the ʼgrisly growing rootʼ, more than half of the rootʼs essence was instantly lost and his first attempt to refine the ʼQi barrier-breakingʼ pill was a failure.

ʼʼAhh, although the recipe was perfect, I should have adjusted the temperature of the flame even more. If I had lowered it just before the ʼ5-leafed flower had finished its refinement process then I wouldnʼt have failed like this.ʼʼ

Even though Shun Long had absolute knowledge regarding the materials he was currently using, alchemy was in the end a process of trial and error. Even if your theoretical knowledge was perfect, you still had to adapt to any sudden changes during the actual refinement of the pills.

Although Shun Long had failed, he wasnʼt demotivated in the least. Instead, he was eager to find out if his guess was correct this time.

He rested for an hour to recover the spiritual energy he had expended, before starting the refinement process again from the beginning.

This time Shun Long followed the same steps that he took during the first time, but he lowered the temperature of the flames before the ʼ5-leafed flowerʼ was completely turned into essence.

It took 20 breaths of time for the ʼgrisly growing rootʼ to be refined after he had thrown it in. Now there were 3 different colors moving inside the cauldron. Blue from the ʼBlue stripped grassʼ, light green from the ʼ5-leafed flowerʼ and a dark brown from the ʼgrisly growing rootʼ, each of them guided by Shun Longʼs spiritual strength to rotate inside the cauldron in a circular motion.

ʼʼAll I need to do now is extract the ʼHoney fruitʼsʼ juice before adding it inside the cauldron. Ah, I guess thatʼs why other alchemists need helpers. It really is a tricky situation since you canʼt remove the juice before you start the refinement process or the fruit will wither and die before a few breaths of time have even passed.ʼʼ

Shun Long was having a really hard time right now. If he stopped the refinement to extract the juice from the ʼHoney Fruitʼ, the rest of the essence inside the cauldron would become useless without the support from his qi flames and the support from his spiritual power, eventually dissipating in the air. If he didnʼt do this though, the entire refinement process will still go to waste eventually without the ʼHoney Fruitʼsʼ needed support to complete the pill.

ʼʼCan I perhaps..?ʼʼ

Shun Long had a crazy idea in his mind. And yet, although it sounded crazy, once it was stuck in his mind, he couldnʼt get rid of this feeling. It seemed like something inside him was pushing him to try this idea.

Shun Long took a deep breath, his eyes shining brightly. He circulated the qi inside him as he activated the ʼMonarchʼs Hourglassʼ. Then he shouted inside his mind

ʼMonarchʼs DOMAINʼ

The indistinct figure of an hourglass expanded from his body and covered the entire room as time went still.