However, before Shun Long could open the lid of the cauldron, Liu Mei's worried voice sounded by his side a moment later, as Liu Mei asked
''Long-ge, are you alright?''
Even Xingyi and the others were concerned when they saw the pale look on Shun Long's face as he collapsed on the floor.
They could tell that this sort of pill refinement was extremely taxing to Shun Long.
At the same time, waves of gratitude filled everyone's hearts.
After all, Jiang Chen and the others knew that Shun Long was only doing this for them.
Neither he nor Liu Mei had a unique physique.
Nodding his head, Shun Long extended his hand and pulled Liu Mei into a hug before he said
''Mei'er, don't worry. I simply depleted my spiritual strength this time. This 'five-elements awakening pill' was truly hard to concoct. No wonder there aren't any 'five-elements awakening pill' for sale in the Holy sect or anywhere inside the Holy city. Most likely, even the second floor of the Golden Treasures Hall won't have more than 2 of them.''
As he said this, Shun Long turned his attention to the bronze cauldron in front of him with a curious look in his eyes.
Waving his hand, he then removed the heavy lid of the cauldron, causing it to slowly float upwards, before the same fragrant scent from before immediately erupted from the cauldron as it filled the entire room.
Liu Mei and the rest had all turned their eyes towards the cauldron as well.
Inside the cauldron, 4 colorful pills were lying next to each other, but the moment that Shun Long saw the 4 pills, the look in his eyes changed.
''Only a single top-grade pill.''
Shun Long sighed as he looked at the only pill that was emitting a five-colored light.
This was the only top-grade rank 6 'five-elements awakening pill' inside the bronze cauldron.
As for the other 3 pills, 2 of them were emitting a 4-colored light, making them high-grade rank 6 pills, while the last one was emitting a 3-colored light, making it obvious that it was just a middle-grade pill instead.
Hearing Shun Long's sigh, Liu Mei simply smiled, while Bai Longtian and the rest pursed their lips.
Even 1-star alchemists would struggle to refine middle-grade 'five-element awakening pills', while Shun Long was complaining about getting only a single top-grade pill.
Of course, Shun Long understood that the difference in price between a single high-grade and a top-grade 'five-elements awakening pill' was measured in the millions of middle-grade spirit stones.
Perhaps it could even exceed ten million middle-grade spirit stones.
Realizing that only one of them could take the top-grade pill while the others would have to take the high-grade pills instead, Jiang Chen looked at Shun Long and said seriously
''Brother, I don't need the top-grade pill. You can give it to junior sister Xie or to that buddhist idiot. Perhaps his strength would finally reach mine by then as well.''
Xie Xingyi and Bai Longtian were both stunned when they heard Jiang Chen's words, as they looked at him with eyes filled with surprise and disbelief.
Shun Long had already told them that every single person could only consume a single 'five-elements awakening pill' in their lives, but Jiang Chen was willing to give up the top-grade pill for them.
It was clear that the difference between a high-grade and a top-grade pill wouldn't be a small one.
Bai Longtian didn't even care about being called a buddhist idiot, as he shook his head firmly and was ready to reject, while Xingyi also did the same without any hesitation.
However, before Xingyi or Bai Longtian could reject Jiang Chen's offer, Shun Long was the first one to shake his head, as he took out 4 small pill bottles and stored the pills inside them, before he said seriously
''I will refine another batch of pills first. If there aren't 2 top-grade pills inside it, I will simply refine another one.''
Closing his eyes Shun Long started to meditate right away, replenishing his spent spiritual strength, leaving behind Jiang Chen and the rest who stared at him with baffled looks on their faces.
He was going to refine another one?
Putting the rest of the medicinal herbs aside, Jiang Chen and the rest were certain that Shun Long only had a single stalk of 'five-elements grass', which was the one he had taken from Wan Zu.
Without speaking, Bai Longtian and the others stared at Shun Long silently, waiting for him to replenish his spiritual strength.
Of course, there was no way that Shun Long was going to allow Xingyi and the rest to consume a middle-grade or a high-grade 'five-elements awakening pill'. After all, he clearly understood the difference between a high-grade and a top-grade pill.
After all, a person could only consume a single 'five-elements awakening pill' in their lives, while the difference between a high-grade and a top-grade pill was simply incomparable.
5 hours later, Shun Long had brought his spiritual strength back to its peak state, before he took out another batch of medicinal herbs from his herb garden, and spread them around him for the second time.
Thankfully, this time Shun Long was lucky, as the second furnace had 2 top-grade pills, 1 high-grade pill, and a single middle-grade 'five elements awakening pill'.
This time, neither Jiang Chen, Bai Longtian, or Xingyi refused, as they all accepted the top-grade pills, before their group left the Refinement Hall as everyone returned back to their own courtyard in the outer court.
After all, Xingyi and the rest had less than a month left to absorb the 'five-elements awakening pill' so they couldn't waste any time.
In the blink of an eye, a month soon passed, as the day of the Martial Roll of Honor tournament finally arrived.
Sitting cross-legged on his usual spot inside the foggy space in the 'Stone of Time', Shun Long finally opened his eyes and turned to look at the golden-colored token on the ground next to him, before his lips slowly curved up as he mumbled to himself with a smile on his face
''Let's see how strong I have become in these last 6 months.''
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Author's note: These are the first 5 chapters of the mass release for last month. The rest will all come in the next few days as well, so look forward to it.