Although Jiang Yun hadn't refined any Medicinal Pills for more than half a year, he was still proficient. In just half a day, he successfully refined a Tian Qing Dan, and it was even a Earth Grade Pill.
After tossing the Tian Qing Dan to Old Hei, Jiang Yun didn't rest. He immediately began attempting to refine the Tongtian Pill.
While Jiang Yun was indeed confident, it was his first time refining this Tongtian Pill. Additionally, the flames required for Alchemy were supplied by his own Spiritual Qi, leading to imprecise control over the heat when burning some Materials. Naturally, this resulted in continuous failures.
However, once he failed, Jiang Yun neither became discouraged nor rushed to refine it again immediately. Instead, he would first sit down, studying the discarded Material Slag in the stone pot while carefully recalling every step he took during the refining process, scrutinizing his mistakes, summarizing his experience, and only then would he begin his next attempt.
Just like that, half a month passed in a blink of an eye. Old Hei, who had been sitting silently by the side, finally stood up and blocked Jiang Yun, who was preparing to start a new round of Alchemy. He said, “Jiang Laodi, you should rest first! I don't just need one or two of these Tongtian Pills; I have plenty of time, there's no rush. Don't wear yourself out.”
For the past half month, Jiang Yun had been almost sleepless, only resting briefly when he was truly exhausted. Yet, after only a moment, he would sit up again and continue Alchemy. Although the Tongtian Pill had still not been successfully refined, Old Hei truly couldn't bear to watch any longer and had to speak up to stop him.
However, Jiang Yun refused Old Hei's kind offer, saying, “Big Brother Old Hei, I'm fine. When I was in the village, I often did this; I'm used to it. Besides, I have a feeling that this Tongtian Pill should be successfully refined soon.”
After speaking, Jiang Yun ignored Old Hei and continued to refine the Tongtian Pill in an orderly manner.
Old Hei had nothing more to say about this. He could only return to his original spot and sit down, watching Jiang Yun continue to busy himself. However, his favorable impression of Jiang Yun increased by a few points.
If it were anyone else, after so many failures, they would probably have given up or rested for a while before starting again. But Jiang Yun persisted throughout.
What was most commendable was that his mindset remained peaceful, neither arrogant nor impatient, neither too fast nor too slow, from beginning to end. This point greatly impressed Old Hei.
Another ten-plus days passed. When Jiang Yun finally handed a Tongtian Pill to Old Hei, a look of relief was clearly more prominent on Old Hei's face than one of joy.
He merely glanced at the Tongtian Pill before reaching out and gently pressing Jiang Yun down, saying, “Jiang Laodi, you've worked hard. You should rest now!”
Although a Cultivator's body is much stronger than a Mortal's, nearly a month of almost sleepless, continuous Alchemy would wear out even a person made of iron.
“Alright!”
This time, Jiang Yun didn't refuse. And as soon as his words fell, he collapsed to the ground, falling into a deep sleep.
To successfully refine this Tongtian Pill, his physical and mental endurance had indeed reached their limit.
Watching Jiang Yun sleep so trustingly in front of him, a rare, heartfelt smile appeared on Old Hei's withered face, and another figure gradually emerged in his mind.
“How long has it been since I've coexisted so peacefully with a human? That child should have achieved success by now, but I wonder if he still remembers me?”
As if guarding Jiang Yun, Old Hei silently sat beside him. From this moment on, in his heart, he truly recognized Jiang Yun, recognized this human child!
After gazing at Jiang Yun's slightly naive face for a long while, Old Hei finally withdrew his gaze, picked up the Tongtian Pill, and examined it carefully.
Just one look made his expression subtly change.
Old Hei was already shocked that Jiang Yun could successfully refine a third-grade Medicinal Pill within a month, but what he never expected was that this Tongtian Pill was actually a Human Grade Pill.
One must know that the higher the grade of the Medicinal Pill, the lower the probability of refining a high-grade one.
If the success rate for a third-grade Alchemist refining a third-grade Pill was one-tenth, then the probability of refining a Human Grade Pill was one percent, a Earth Grade Pill was one-thousandth, and as for a Heaven Grade Pill, it was only one ten-thousandth!
“A third-grade Human Grade Pill. If this were sold, it would be worth at least tens of thousands of third-grade Spirit Stones. Yet, I only gave this child a pile of first-grade Spirit Stones. No, I must find a way to compensate him.”
In truth, although Old Hei had intentionally misled Jiang Yun with first-grade Spirit Stones earlier, the two Pill Formulas he gave Jiang Yun were quite valuable, enough to offset the cost of Jiang Yun refining Pills for him.
However, now that he had recognized Jiang Yun in his heart, he naturally didn't want Jiang Yun to suffer a loss.
“But what should I compensate him with? I've been trapped here for hundreds of years, and I don't have many things left. Although I have a few decent items, he can't use them yet. Giving them to him would only bring him misfortune; it would harm him instead!”
While muttering to himself, Old Hei suddenly threw the Tongtian Pill in his hand behind him without looking back. In the Void Realm, a giant, furry claw appeared, grasping the Tongtian Pill, and then vanished without a trace.
A moment later, Old Hei's eyes lit up. “I've got it! Although Cultivators also cultivate spell techniques, when it comes to mastery of spell techniques, my Yao Race is second to none. How about…?”
Jiang Yun slept for a full day and night. When he opened his eyes, before he was fully awake, he suddenly discovered that the entire underground cave was completely enveloped in mist, which had appeared at some unknown time.
However, this mist was not the black color Old Hei transformed into, but the common white.
Under the hazy mist, even with Jiang Yun's eyesight, he couldn't see anything beyond a meter. But he could clearly feel that the surrounding air was filled with moisture, and even his own body was covered in water droplets.
Jiang Yun knew that this mist must be related to Old Hei, so he quickly sat up and called out, “Big Brother Old Hei?”
“I'm here!” Old Hei's voice indeed came from within the mist.
As his voice fell, a “whoosh” sound was heard, and the mist in the cave surged wildly, transforming into several mist Dragons, like myriad streams returning to the sea, rushing towards one direction.
In just an instant, all the mist had dissipated, revealing Old Hei's figure. In his palm, he held a spherical ball of mist.
Clearly, that mist ball was the condensed mist from just now.
Immediately after, Old Hei gently squeezed his palm, and the mist ball silently disintegrated, but it did not turn back into mist. Instead, it became a puddle of flowing water, streaming down through Old Hei's fingers.
However, the moment this flowing water touched the ground, every single water droplet suddenly exploded, turning back into mist and rising upwards.
In the blink of an eye, the cave was once again covered in thick mist.
And this time, the mist above was so dense that it condensed into a thick cloud. Although the mist below was slightly lighter, Jiang Yun could clearly feel that the ground beneath him had become much softer, as if he wasn't sitting on hard ground, but on the mist itself.
This series of changes made Jiang Yun dizzy, but he still couldn't figure out what Old Hei was doing.
Just then, Old Hei's figure walked out of the mist in front of Jiang Yun again. At this moment, he smiled and said, “Jiang Laodi, do you want to learn my Cloud Heaven Mist Earth Technique?”