“The Medicinal Materials are almost ready, I need to find a Pill Furnace, and also this Alchemy method…”
Thinking of this, He Xiuyuan immediately rummaged through the Medicinal Field and dug out a ginseng.
Buying a Pill Furnace still required money, and this hundred-year-old ginseng should fetch a good price. Then, he could buy a Pill Furnace and start Alchemy.
With this thought, He Xiuyuan immediately called the Immortal Crane.
In terms of speed, the Immortal Crane was faster; otherwise, if He Xiuyuan were to travel by controlling water himself, the speed would be too slow and waste too much time.
The Immortal Crane heard He Xiuyuan's summons and, at first, did not know what was happening. After arriving and hearing He Xiuyuan's explanation, he slightly lowered his body, signaling He Xiuyuan to get on.
He Xiuyuan, seeing this, did not stand on ceremony and directly climbed onto the Immortal Crane's back, allowing the Immortal Crane to carry him out of the mountain.
The Immortal Crane also seemed to have understood that He Xiuyuan was only going out to buy something and would return shortly. This time, the Immortal Crane did not stop after bringing He Xiuyuan to Shi Fang Village but carried He Xiuyuan all the way outwards.
After flying for about an hour, the Immortal Crane saw a city in the distance and then flapped his wings to stop.
The Immortal Crane landed with He Xiuyuan by the roadside, and some of the surrounding mist was dispersed by the flapping of the Immortal Crane's wings.
“Crane Brother, please wait for me here for a moment. I will be back soon.”
He Xiuyuan was straightforward. After landing, he cupped his hands to the Immortal Crane and said this. Seeing the Immortal Crane nod slightly, he immediately strode forward.
After He Xiuyuan entered the city, he quickly sold the ginseng in his hand. The ginseng sold for five hundred taels of silver, which was somewhat beyond He Xiuyuan's expectation.
However, upon closer thought, it was reasonable for the ginseng to sell for such a price.
After all, the ginseng in He Xiuyuan's hand had excellent medicinal properties. As long as a person still had a breath, cutting a slice of this ginseng could sustain their life for a while without issue.
However, to fully cure the person would depend on the doctor's medical skills afterward. This ginseng could only forcefully prolong life for a moment; it could not directly save a life.
He Xiuyuan collected the money and quickly found a blacksmith, asking him to forge a Pill Furnace.
The blacksmith listened to He Xiuyuan's request and immediately started working for him. After spending most of the day, a brand new Pill Furnace was in He Xiuyuan's hands.
By this time, the sky was already dim. He Xiuyuan took the Pill Furnace and hurried out of the city.
The Immortal Crane was still waiting for He Xiuyuan outside.
Once He Xiuyuan sat on the Immortal Crane's back, the Immortal Crane carried He Xiuyuan directly back to Mount Shi Fang.
........
“Is this how it should be refined?”
On Seven Stars Mountain, He Xiuyuan looked down at the Pill Furnace in front of him, with some freshly dug Medicinal Materials beside it.
These Medicinal Materials had all been processed and were now neatly arranged beside He Xiuyuan.
He Xiuyuan read the explanation of the Dao of Alchemy in the book, and began to deduce in his mind, trying to understand the Dao of Alchemy.
When He Xiuyuan felt he had understood enough, he immediately lit a fire and began Alchemy.
As the flame rose within the Pill Furnace, He Xiuyuan successively put the processed Medicinal Materials into the Pill Furnace for refinement.
He Xiuyuan sat silently in front of the Pill Furnace, waiting for the Medicinal Pill inside to be refined.
As time passed little by little, He Xiuyuan's gaze remained fixed on the Pill Furnace in front of him.
After an unknown amount of time, He Xiuyuan's mind suddenly jolted, and his gaze quickly turned to the Pill Furnace in front of him. Then, seeming to realize something, he was about to open the Pill Furnace when, the next moment, a slight sound was heard.
“Bang!”
Along with this soft sound, when He Xiuyuan looked at the Pill Furnace in front of him again, he saw wisps of black smoke drifting out from the vent hole above.
Seeing this, He Xiuyuan quickly lifted the Pill Furnace lid and, upon closer inspection, saw only scattered, pitch-black Medicinal Pills left inside the Pill Furnace.
He Xiuyuan carefully took out the Medicinal Pills, examined them closely, and frowned.
This time, during Alchemy, it seemed that the heat had not been properly controlled before. Some parts of the Medicinal Pill were clearly overheated, while other parts were underheated.
Seeing this, He Xiuyuan shook his head, carefully recalled the Alchemy process this time, and then started Alchemy again.
In He Xiuyuan's opinion, no matter how difficult Alchemy was, with so many Medicinal Materials, he should be able to succeed a few times.
However, what He Xiuyuan did not expect was that in the subsequent few attempts, the difficulty of Alchemy far exceeded his imagination.
The immense difficulty of Alchemy completely surprised He Xiuyuan.
Every time He Xiuyuan started Alchemy, even if he had learned from the previous failure, other problems would still arise during the subsequent refinement.
After several such attempts, He Xiuyuan felt a great headache.
If this continued, even if he had these Medicinal Materials as raw Materials for refining Medicinal Pills, he would not be able to refine the Medicinal Pills.
“Bang!”
Accompanied by another muffled thud, seeing the black smoke rising again, He Xiuyuan couldn't help but rub his temples, his face full of helplessness.
“It's ruined again…”
Each of these Medicinal Materials was at least a hundred years old. If it weren't for He Xiuyuan knowing the Gathering Qi and Nurturing Spirit Technique, even more Medicinal Materials would likely not be enough for him to squander.
However, these Medicinal Pills were indeed too difficult to refine.
He Xiuyuan looked at the few remaining Medicinal Materials beside him, hesitated for a moment, and then packed them up, preparing to refine them next time.
He had spent several consecutive days focusing all his attention on Alchemy, but he still couldn't refine them.
In this situation, it was better to rest first, clear his mind, and then continue refining the Medicinal Pills.
After cleaning the Pill Furnace, He Xiuyuan tidied up the surroundings before getting up.
Seeing that the sky had not yet brightened, He Xiuyuan immediately sat cross-legged and began to Cultivate, while also gathering the Essence of the Sun and Moon.
By the time the Essence of the Sun and Moon was gathered, light appeared in the sky, and the sun broke through the clouds, its fiery red light shining into Mount Shi Fang, dispelling the morning mist.
On Seven Stars Mountain, the dozen or so chickens He Xiuyuan kept were now crowing loudly one after another, then stepping out to forage.
He Xiuyuan sensed everything around him, and when he saw that the Essence of the Sun and Moon in his hand was almost gathered, he immediately stopped his Cultivation and prepared to water the Medicinal Field.
However, at this moment, He Xiuyuan heard an extremely shrill chicken cry nearby.
The sound seemed very wrong. He Xiuyuan immediately turned his head to look, and this sight made He Xiuyuan laugh in spite of himself.
He saw that a rooster nearby had somehow walked to the rice. Perhaps the rice ears on the rice were too fragrant, and the rooster wanted to peck at them, but ended up being whipped by the rice stalks and running around.
For a time, the clucking of chickens on the mountain was incessant.