Chapter 274: A Child Wielding a Heavy Sword
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
First, Chen Fei handed over the first furnace’s three Snow Spirit Pills and received a new batch of Snow Spirit Grass.
After the routine inspection of the Snow Spirit Grass, which revealed no issues, Chen Fei began to contemplate how to refine a furnace of five Snow Spirit Pills without affecting their efficacy, in order to meet the mission’s requirements.
Numerous ideas kept popping up in his mind, only to be rejected one by one by Chen Fei. It took nearly the time of burning an incense stick before he finally settled on the method of refining.
It was only because Chen Fei had raised his proficiency in refining Snow Spirit Pills to the level of Great Completion that he had the ability to adjust the quantity of pills produced without compromising their quality, fully understanding all the details and changes in medicinal properties.
For other alchemists, the number of pills produced in a single furnace depended entirely on their refining state, and it wasn’t a matter of producing as many pills as one desired. This was far from reality.
As the fire blazed beneath the furnace, vigorous flames illuminated Chen Fei’s face. Once the furnace reached the appropriate temperature, Chen Fei added the Snow Spirit Grass one by one into the furnace.
Chen Fei concentrated all his core soul energy on the furnace, carefully observing and adjusting every subtle change within it.
Previously, when Chen Fei was refining pills, he didn’t need to exert himself like this. Many times, he instinctively reacted to the adjustments needed for conflicting medicinal properties, without expending much core soul energy.
That’s why he could refine so many pills in a single day. Otherwise, if he were as cautious as other alchemists, he would be completely drained.
However, now that he was attempting to produce five pills in one furnace for the first time, Chen Fei naturally had to go all out to ensure that every detail he envisioned was realized within the furnace.
Only in this way could he possibly complete a furnace of five Snow Spirit Pills without affecting the mission’s requirements.
As time flowed slowly, the fragrance emanating from the pill furnace gradually became richer. Everything was proceeding smoothly, and with his Great Completion proficiency in refining Snow Spirit Pills, Chen Fei’s process remained as silky as ever.
Even though he had made slight alterations to the pill recipe’s techniques and it was his first attempt, it didn’t affect the success rate of the alchemy.
“A thud!”
Half an hour passed in an instant. With a muffled sound, the lid of the furnace was lifted, and the fragrance in the pill chamber reached its peak. It was an ethereal scent that made anyone who smelled it feel as if they were in a celestial realm.
Calmly, Chen Fei removed the five Snow Spirit Pills from the furnace one by one. When he had completed the alchemy, he already knew the exact quantity of pills produced. Now, what mattered was whether each Snow Spirit Pill met the mission’s requirements.
Chen Fei picked up one Snow Spirit Pill with his right hand and examined every detail of the pill before him. After a moment, a faint smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.
The color, fragrance, and roundness of the Snow Spirit Pill before him couldn’t be considered outstanding; it fell into the category of relatively average quality, similar to the ones sold in pharmacies.
Compared to the batch of four pills he had previously refined, this one was certainly slightly inferior, but it unquestionably met the mission’s requirements. That’s because for most alchemists, the quality of the pills they produced would likely be at this level.
“These pills, when consumed, will have average efficacy, and the resistance to their effects will accumulate relatively quickly,” Chen Fei thought to himself.
Such pills were suitable for consumption when there were no other options. After all, they all contributed to cultivation progress, and nobody worried about resistance at this stage.
To accumulate resistance to the point where it became unbearable, one would need to consume a substantial quantity of pills each month.
Ordinary cultivators at the Aperture Tempering Realm wouldn’t have the financial means to consume so many spirit pills each month. You should know that the resources provided by the Primordial Sword Sect are only one Snow Spirit Pill per month.
In the past, even a powerful sect like the Immortal Cloud Sword Sect, had never heard of anyone developing resistance to a specific spirit pill due to excessive consumption.
Resistance to the effects of pills was a concern reserved for the wealthy. Regular martial practitioners didn’t need to worry about it.
The few pills they consumed each month were already absorbed and transformed directly by their bodies. Any toxins or issues related to pills would have been expelled long ago.
Developing resistance should not be a concern, and those who faced this problem had likely switched to different pills.
“I can also consume these pills. Although the efficacy is slightly weaker, I can compensate for the slight difference by increasing the quantity,” Chen Fei thought.
He looked at the Snow Spirit Pill in front of him. Chen Fei was already consuming a substantial quantity of Snow Spirit Pills each month, which would normally lead to the development of resistance.
However, due to the influence of the Suppressing Dragon Elephant technique, Chen Fei’s body had a far superior ability to metabolize any toxins from the pills compared to other martial practitioners. Therefore, he didn’t have the issue of developing resistance.
“Let’s start with three pills from this batch and see the effects of Snow Spirit Pills with Pill Veins. I’ll decide how to consume them later,” Chen Fei contemplated. He put away two Snow Spirit Pills and handed over the remaining three to the Alchemist Alliance.
The next morning, Chen Fei arrived at the Alchemist Alliance as usual. He was in luck today and received a task to refine four furnaces of Snow Spirit Pills.
In recent months, there were still many tasks related to refining various spirit pills, but the overall quantity had slightly decreased, reaching a balance.
It was a balance between the resources provided by the Immortal Cloud Sword Sect, the speed of alchemist’s pill production, and the efficiency of the sect’s disciples in consuming the pills.
The fire was lit, and one by one, the spirit herbs were placed into the pill furnace.
Before coming, Chen Fei had already envisioned several refining methods. One furnace producing three pills posed some difficulty, but for the current Chen Fei, it wasn’t a significant challenge.
However, what Chen Fei was more interested in trying was whether he could further compress the output of each furnace. This compression meant that the potency of the pills would directly increase.
Having Pill Veins was a given; the issue was how many Pill Veins there would be. Consuming Snow Spirit Pills with these Pill Veins would undoubtedly enhance one’s cultivation more than regular Snow Spirit Pills.
However, the extent of improvement was a matter that needed measurement. Chen Fei wanted to figure out how to refine and consume the pills to maximize the value of Snow Spirit Pills. After all, these represented money, and a substantial amount of it.
Soon, the first furnace of Snow Spirit Pills was completed. Chen Fei had refined a batch of five pills, as he needed to accumulate enough to meet the quantity required for the task.
Two consecutive furnaces, all of them producing five Snow Spirit Pills each. Adding the two from yesterday that he kept and subtracting the ones he handed over, Chen Fei now had six regular Snow Spirit Pills in his possession.
Even if the next two attempts at the new version failed, Chen Fei had enough Snow Spirit Pills to fulfill the task’s requirements.
Today, when refining this five-pill version of Snow Spirit Pills, Chen Fei didn’t need to go all out. The details of the pill formula had already been recorded in his memory. Just like when he refined pills in the past, it had become a subconscious response.
This was the extraordinary effect of having a perfect mastery level in the pill formula.
For the third furnace of Snow Spirit Pills, Chen Fei’s casual gaze became focused. Inside the pill furnace, the conflicts between the medicinal properties gradually intensified, far stronger than the five-pill version.
Because what Chen Fei was doing now was compression.
Compression inevitably led to more intense reactions between the medicinal properties. Chen Fei’s technical prowess was crucial; otherwise, other alchemists facing such a situation might have their furnaces explode.
Many alchemists fail to refine pills because they can’t control the conflicts between medicinal properties. Their minds can’t keep up with the changes in medicinal properties, leading to chaos, and ultimately, the furnace exploding.
Chen Fei was fully focused, skillfully detaching the points of conflict between the medicinal properties, allowing them to blend together better.
As time passed, the initially strong medicinal fragrance gradually became faint, to the point of being barely perceptible.
With a muffled sound, the furnace lid opened, revealing three Snow Spirit Pills lying quietly at the bottom of the furnace, with the pill veins clearly visible on the pills.
Snow Spirit Pills with pill veins like these were rarely seen on the market, as most of them were absorbed internally. Because these pills were easier to refine and had better effects, their effectiveness was most apparent during breakthroughs.
Chen Fei first put away two of the pills, then took one Snow Spirit Pill and swallowed it.
The Snow Spirit Pill melted in his mouth and, although it was supposed to be relatively mild, it felt like a ball of flames burning directly inside Chen Fei’s body. However, this burning sensation wasn’t the agonizing kind of flames; instead, it carried a tingling sensation.
Upon closer observation, one could see that under this burning sensation, the physical body was gradually strengthening.
Half an hour later, Chen Fei slowly opened his eyes and exhaled a breath of stale air.
ii
It has over sixty percent more potency than regular Snow Spirit Pills,” Chen Fei contemplated. Despite going from five pills to three pills, each pill’s effectiveness increased by over sixty percent. Overall, the potency didn’t undergo significant changes.
But Snow Spirit Pills with pill veins had an additional characteristic that set them apart from regular Snow Spirit Pills: they could significantly enhance the physical body.
While the primary function of Snow Spirit Pills was to accumulate elemental energy, open more acupoints, and strengthen the physical body to some extent, this effect wasn’t particularly pronounced.
However, with the emergence of Snow Spirit Pills with pill veins, this secondary benefit suddenly became apparent. Despite the similar medicinal potency, Snow Spirit Pills with pill veins could noticeably enhance the physical body. The choice between them seemed less complicated now.
“Let’s see if we can compress a furnace of Snow Spirit Pills into two!”
With the successful production of the three-pill version, Chen Fei naturally wanted to continue experimenting with further compression. If the pill veins of Snow Spirit Pills could be increased further, the effect of enhancing the physical body would undoubtedly become stronger, perhaps even yielding additional properties.
For instance, enhancing core soul energy?
the Aperture Tempering Realm, the emphasis lies in cultivating one’s apertures. However, in reality, cultivating the spirit is equally crucial. In the Body Refining Realm, the value of any mystical ingredients related to core soul energy is extremely exaggerated.
And when it comes to the Aperture Tempering Realm, this situation remains unchanged.
Within the Alchemist Alliance, there were many tasks involving the production of spirit pills that could enhance elemental energy. However, those pills which could augment core soul energy were rarely seen.
There were two primary reasons for this scarcity. First, such rare herbs were difficult to come by. The second reason was that these specific tasks had already been monopolized by the Immortal Cloud Sword Sect’s own alchemists.
Chen Fei’s current proficiency in core soul energy allowed him to effortlessly control his own acupoints. This situation would persist until he had accumulated over a dozen acupoints.
By that time, if Chen Fei wanted to progress quickly, the growth of his core soul energy would have to keep pace with the rate at which he opened acupoints. Otherwise, even if he had an abundance of Snow Spirit Pills, absorbing them would be of no benefit.
Because if core soul energy wasn’t sufficient to control the acupoints, the more acupoints one had, the greater the burden on the entire body. It was akin to a child wielding a heavy sword; not only would they be unable to harm others, but they might also end up injuring themselves..