The herbal pot of a pill refiner was as important as a sword to a warrior. Its quality would greatly affect
the success of the refining process.
Austin checked if there was any problem with the entrance for fire.
He put his right hand to the entrance and delicately touched it. Then he closed his eyes and summoned
the golden fire he had. A snap was heard then the fire suddenly appeared on his hand.
Austin controlled the fire and it quickly burst into the herbal pot. It entered the beast mouth as if it was
absorbed by the pot.
Austin was surprised when he saw the raging blaze that reached the inside of the herbal pot.
"Wow! I have never seen anything like this before. The fire I have condensed with my vital energy is
very weak regardless the long time I nurtured it. But it quickly strengthens after it goes into the herbal
pot.
A-ha! It seems that the herbal pot can help fuel the fire."
Austin realized that those small-sized arrays and runes inside the pot could nurture the fire. He thought
that the maker of the herbal pot must have put a lot of these which contributed to the success of pill
refining process.
Austin looked through the mirror and watched the fire burning for a while.
"I must watch closely to the whole process. But it seems like nothing is wrong about this herbal pot."
Austin let out a sigh of relief. He already finished the first step which was to examine the tool for the
process.
Then he kept the next step on his mind. It was to extract liquid essence from the medicinal herbs.
Austin chose the simplest formula in the Elixir Foundation as his practicing subject. It had the
knowledge of basic methods of fire control and the process of extracting different elements from herbs.
According to the book, the muscle-generating powder needed one muscle-generating herb, one vigor-
generating fruit, two blood-nourishing flowers, and one five-tail herb.
Austin already prepared all those herbs even before he began the process. Since it was a practice, he
prepared several dozen sets of ingredients for trials.
While he was checking the ingredients, Austin continued to control his vital energy and kept the fire
burning.
With the ingredients all ready, Austin picked up one muscle-generating herb from the floor and inserted
it inside the herbal pot through the hole in its lid.
This was Austin's first trial and he still wondered at the process. He kept on being careful and
observant as he did not want to miss any small detail.
His first trial was a failure. He was so nervous that he was not able to wear his best abilities.
Even before he realized it completely, the burning fire already swallowed the muscle-generating herb. It
quickly turned into black ashes and was ejected from the herbal pot.
Then a scorching smell came out of the herbal pot. It was a light one at first, but gradually dominated
the whole room with its burning odor.
Austin bitterly smiled at his first attempt. It was a failure but then he knew that he could make a success
out of his patience.
"Okay, I will try once more." Austin said to himself. He did not waste any time and began another trial.
He crossed his fingers as he dropped another muscle-generating herb into the pot. Even though how
much he tried to control the intensity of the fire, it still turned into ashes.
"It was surely because of the high temperature. I had a hard time controlling it."
He murmured as he wiped his sweat. Austin realized that pill refining was not an easy task. It was a
great profession since anyone could not be capable of producing great results.
He thought that it was not easy to become a pill refiner, but Austin continued his trials.
Hours had passed, and it took him to burn over twenty muscle-generating herbs before he found out
the approximate temperature for refining it.
Austin dropped another muscle-generating herb into the pot. He concentrated in controlling the
temperature of the fire as he watched closely to what was happening inside the pot. His eyes were
fixed on the herb burning on the fire.
After being heated seconds, the herb gradually turned dry, and the liquid essence in it was condensed
into a lump of white powder. This meant that Austin had finally extracted the essence from this herb
successfully!
He smiled proudly, but he knew he should not relax yet. He continued to observe every small change
he could see.
He closely watched the blazing flame through the ice-essence mirror. He could feel his sweat running
down his pale face. His legs were slightly numb and his back were intensely aching. Austin allotted the
whole day for this process alone. It had consumed him a lot of vital energy and vigor to keep refining
pills for such a long time.
Austin stayed in front of the herbal pot for several hours. Aside from the vital energy that he used for
the process, it also drained his physical and mental energy.
However, he still managed to take the white powder from the muscle-generating herb. Austin's eyes
sparkled as he watched the fruit of his labors. He was so satisfied with the result! He was so exhausted
yet pleased with his success. He muttered in a weak voice, "Okay, I need to take a break now. I can't
stand it any longer!"
Right after he finished his words, suddenly his shoulders dropped and his body collapsed right on to
the floor. He quickly gasped for air as his chest heavily breathed.
Austin cursed in his mind. He did not expect that pill refining would cost his body to surrender.
Controlling the right temperature of fire was one of the hardest parts of the process.
Before, he was complaining that pill refiners sold their pills at ridiculously high prices. But after he tried
doing it by himself, he understood the perspective of pill refiners and felt that their prices were
reasonable enough!
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