Chapter 683: Refining a Body
The Alchemist God and Hui Yue went from one end of the world to the other. They harvested a great number of herbs and dug into the ground, where they found veins of various metals that they also harvested.
Their round trip across the world took them a full three months, and during these three months, they did not stop at all to enjoy the scenery. Both were fully focused on harvesting plants and materials to refine bodies.
Huli, Sha Yun, and Little Green had joined them on their trip. At first, they had hoped for a romantic trip, but soon they understood that these two alchemist maniacs only had eyes for harvesting herbs, and so they also gave their all to harvest the herbs with them.
During their trip, they came across Tang Tian and Lu Jing who were also out harvesting herbs. Seeing his two good friends made Hui Yue smile and greet them warmly.
After the three months of harvesting herbs, they had gained everything they needed, so they returned jubilantly to the old worn-out sect.
Lan Feng, who had previously been cultivating diligently, was now incapable of staying still. His mindset was agitated, and he was incapable of focusing on anything other than the fact that his body was more and more likely to get formed soon.
While Hui Yue and the Alchemist God had traveled the world, Hui Yue had also contacted the Universe Box. The Universe Box had urged Hui Yue to find the Alchemist God previously, and now that he had done so, the spirit was elated.
The spirit had been by the Alchemist God's side for a very long time, and he was incredibly loyal. Knowing that its previous master was still well made it feel much better, and hearing that Hui Yue had been taken as the legacy apprentice of the Alchemist God also made the spirit much more content with the fact that he was Hui Yue's storage treasure.
Hui Yue now had access to everything within the Universe Box, and he found that the previous owners, both the unknown disciple that was within the Grave of the Unknown and other owners, had deposited things within and never taken them out again.
Hui Yue found so many wondrous items within the Universe Box. There were so many Worldpower Stones that he could build a large mountain out of them, and there were so many various herbs that he could rival the herb field that Little Green had tended to before.
There were so many armors and weapons of every kind that he could equip an army full of a thousand people.
He found many precious stones, metals, and alloys. He found so many materials that he knew that he would not run out of materials for many many years to come.
There were paintings which contained hints to the dao; there were artworks and sculptures which had no other purpose than that they looked beautiful.
He found jewelry en masse, so much so that he could gift his three women one a day for at least a millennium. He also found small figurines and jade ornaments.
The only thing he could not find within the Universe Box was other storage items. Considering how many storage treasures he had within the Universe Box, Hui Yue was quite surprised at first, but then he remembered that they were being consumed by the spirit of the Universe Box.
Although it was impossible to increase the size of the Universe Box by consuming other storage treasures, they were like a delicacy to the spirit, and he could also strengthen his own spirit by consuming them.
Hui Yue had paid no special attention to all the things he found within the Universe Box. He did not have the time to really look at all the items just yet because he was busy learning from the Alchemist God and later picking up herbs.
He was simply too eager to create bodies for Wang Ju Long and Lan Feng to really care about all the treasures that had suddenly dropped onto his lap.
He had only taken a look to see if he had enough metals to ensure that he would be able to create bodies for them, and luckily he had.
He had found complete veins of metals within the Universe Box, and he was elated to see that they did not have to dig for them in the world outside.
Although the materials were all present, it was much more time-consuming to dig and gather metals than it was to pick herbs.
As they finished picking all the materials, all of them returned to the ruins of the sect. As they returned, they greeted everyone who was back.
When they had left, no one had been in the sect, yet now that they had come back, more than half of their friends were present.
"Of course we are here," Wei said with a smile. "We knew that since you had gone out, it meant that you were gathering materials, which in turn means that we will soon see Lan Feng and Wang Ju Long."
"Although some of us have met them before others have not, and all of us are eager to meet them. I must say, I cannot wait to meet the last woman who has stolen your heart, not to mention the phoenix which has given up so much for you."
Hui Yue smiled but said nothing. He felt warm at heart knowing that these experts were not here because they wished to get a body for themselves, but because they wished to see Wang Ju Long and Lan Feng.
Xiao She was also present. She was pacing forth and back constantly muttering to herself. By her side was Sha Yun who had a wry smile on her face.
"You know he has been here this whole time," Sha Yun said to Xiao She. "Just because you cannot see him does not mean that he is not here. He has clearly seen you time and time again as he was present within Hui Yue's soul. Why be so worked up about the fact that he will get a body now?"
"It’s different!" Xiao She said slightly agitated. "I don't know how to face him. It has been so long. I know his feelings but can I truly return them? Back in the day, I was many times stronger than him, but now he is the strong one. Will I just become some princess he has to support?"
Hearing this Sha Yun just shook her head, "I am weaker than my Yue, but that does not mean that we are useless."
"Do you really think they would have taken us with them if we were truly useless? We are not just numbers to increase the fighting ability of the team; we are their comrades!"
"They give their backs to us, they trust in us and expect that we can back them up when needed! They do not expect us to do the impossible, they just want us to do what we are capable of, and more than anything, they want to be supported!"
"Now, behave like a woman and be happy that your man is finally becoming a real person again. Imagine all the torment he had to go through year after year without a body. All those years he was stuck within a hairpin. It is time for him to finally enjoy his freedom again, and he can only do so if you are supporting him!"
Xiao She's eyes became wider and wider the more Sha Yun spoke, and finally, she sighed while nodding her head. "I am glad to have a sister like you," she said from the heart. "I am truly happy that he will be free again, but I was too caught up in my own inferiority. I am sure he did not love me because of my strength, as I love him for who he is. It will work out in the end; I should just patiently wait for him to come back to me."
Sha Yun gently smiled as she nodded her head. She understood Xiao She's fears, but she also knew that Lan Feng would be hurt if his true love was ignoring him when he finally got his body back.
Hui Yue, on the other hand, had no time to consider anything dealing with emotions right now. He had cleared his head completely and was focused fully on the task at hand.
He was splitting all the herbs and metals into groups. One group of materials were equal to what was needed for one body. In total, they had found materials for more than a thousand refinements, but they only sorted out two hundred batches.
It was not that they needed two hundred bodies, but it was expected to go wrong quite a few times before he could get it right.
"I will show you how to do this," the Alchemist God explained as he sat down on the ground. He lifted his hand, and a deep golden flame appeared above his palm.
Lifting both hands he placed the flame in between both his hands and then moved his hands away, yet the flame was suspended in the air right in front of him.
Usually, an alchemist would place the flame within a cauldron, yet this was impossible when refining a body as the body was many times larger than a cauldron was, so it was important to have open air around it.
Unfortunately, this also meant that it was many times harder to control. Even a small gust of wind could destroy the refinement.
Still, there was no wind around them, and the Alchemist God slowly picked up one herb after another placing them within the suspended flame.
Hui Yue made sure to remember exactly which herb were placed in the flame by the Alchemist God at which time. He saw how the outer herb slowly crumbled and the inner medicinal properties and energy stayed within the flame slowly dying it multiple colors.
The more herbs and metals he added into the flame, the larger the flame became. At the start, the flame had been little more than the size of a hand, but now it was as large as one meter.
It continued to change color. It turned from red to green, from green to blue, and from blue to gold.
The reason that it was changing color was because of the medicinal ingredients that had been added to the flame. Normally a flame would never change color, but adding such a large amount of herbs and materials to a flame was simply unheard of before for Hui Yue.
Hui Yue had not known that it was possible to add so many herbs together, and he soon understood that it was only possible because it had been added in a specific order. If the order or the tempo were messed up, then it would prove to be disastrous.
He could also imagine that if something went wrong while refining a body, it was likely that he would sustain quite a few injuries.
But although this was the case, Hui Yue was not deterred from learning how to refine bodies. If anything Hui Yue felt an eagerness from deep within, and his eyes were open wide so that he did not miss even the slightest movement made by the Alchemist God. He had to catch everything if he wished to succeed.
The refinement process of the body that the Alchemist God was making took a full seven hours of watching the flame and adding in materials. He had been constantly refining ingredients, and the flame had reached the size of two meters tall before all ingredients had been used up.
As the last ingredient, a metal ore which Hui Yue did not even know the name of, had been added to the flame, the Alchemist God's hands suddenly went straight into the flame.
The flame was golden now, and inside of this golden flame was a massive amount of energy. The energy had melted together as it was refined and formed a two meter tall, one meter wide pillar.
It was this pillar that the Alchemist God gently started molding with his hands.