Chapter 199 - Scientific Pill Refinement
Not long after, Chen Chen returned to the courtyard he had just been assigned to.
There was a large medicinal field near the courtyard, in the middle of which there was a system alchemy cauldron. The entire courtyard was engulfed by the array and there was rich spiritual energy present as well.
Sensing the pile of meeting gifts in the storage ring, Chen Chen subconsciously sighed.
'I wonder if the new master also has a system. She actually took the eight most honest people in the Jade Tripod Alchemy Clan under her wing as her disciples.'
'If she doesn't have a system, then her alchemy talent is indeed amazingly terrifying. Not only can she see the medicinal properties of herbs, she can also see through human nature.'
When Chen Chen thought about his Senior Brothers and Senior Sisters who showed him concern, he felt sour.
'How can I have the cheek to cheat such honest people?'
'I can't.'
After all, humans had feelings, what more a kindhearted person like him.
"Forget it, I'll wait."
After muttering a couple of words, Chen Chen began to study alchemy.
Since he had come to the Jade Tripod Alchemy Clan, he had to learn some skills.
There was lots of kneeling at the foot of the mountain and he didn't want to be like those people.
He was now married and had a Dao partner, so he had to work hard. As long as he worked hard, Xia Xishuang wouldn't have to work as hard.
...
Late at night, Yuan Qingtian was already sleeping.
Chen Chen was still reading by the candlelight and there were already lots of drafts on the table in front of him.
In order to do a good job, one must first sharpen their tools.
Having lived for two lives, he had different perspectives when considering things. Hence, he didn't refine pills indiscriminately with the medicinal herbs he had. Instead, he carefully studied and deduced it.
Alchemy was extremely complicated and the most perfect pill would allow all the medicinal properties of the herb to be maximized. The medicinal properties would also complement each other perfectly.
However, all the pill formulas in the world were very simple.
"Add two Clear Spirit Herbs to a handful of spiritual spring water, boil over ordinary spirit fire for an hour."
However, when it comes to the operation, the medicinal properties of different Clear Spirit Herbs were different, and the spiritual energy contained in the spiritual spring was also different. Hence, it might result in the production of Spirit Gathering Elixirs of different qualities, or even a failure in refinement.
The alchemy cauldron and the intensity of spirit fire could be controlled and they could be treated as quantitative factors in Chen Chen's eyes.
The raw material for alchemy was the variable.
To him, this was a mathematical problem that's not too complicated to talk about.
To put it simply, he had to work out the amount of spiritual spring water to be combined with the two Clear Spirit Herbs that had 80% of their medicinal properties, in order to achieve perfect quality.
The refinement of Qi Gathering Pills only required two types of materials, which was rather simple. The difficult ones were the complex pills that required many kinds of medicinal herbs.
Once the medicinal properties of a certain raw material within such pills changes, then all the other medicinal materials would have to follow it in order to perfectly neutralize the medicinal properties and refine the best pills.
Chen Chen took a deep breath and then began to work out all sorts of mathematical calculations. Soon, he had created a long list of formulas.
...
Early the next morning, Yuan Qingtian looked at the piece of paper that was marked with lots of X's and Y's with a look of confusion.
'Isn't Senior Brother here to learn alchemy? Why did he start learning about talismans?'
Chen Chen ignored him, and went straight to look for Yu Huo.
However, as he walked, a smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.
When an elite begins to work hard, mortals can only tremble!
Late at night, Chen Chen continued his research.
This time, Yuan Qingtian stood silently at the back and watched.
"Xiao Ming has a 100-year-old red ginseng with 70% medicinal properties. Under the condition that the cauldron and spirit fire are kept constant, what kind of Clear Spirit Herb is needed... How can the medicinal properties be neutralized to refine the perfect Foundation-Building Elixir?"
"Xiao Qiang has an Earth Spirit root with 60% medicinal properties... What is needed to refine a perfect Foundation-Building Elixir?"
Looking at the contents of the papers, Yuan Qingtian became more and more puzzled.
'Who are Xiao Ming and Xiao Qiang? Why haven't I heard of them before?'
However, he didn't ask any questions because Chen Chen was studying attentively.
At the same time, he couldn't help but feel ashamed.
'No wonder Senior Brother is so outstanding, it turns out he doesn't sleep at all...'
'I'm really inferior compared to Senior Brother.'
At the thought of this, he quietly walked out of the courtyard, sat cross-legged, and began to cultivate.
...
In the blink of an eye, three days had passed.
For three days, Chen Chen did not sleep and Yuan Qingtian could not help but be heartbroken when he saw Chen Chen's bloodshot eyes.
Immortal cultivators wouldn't be affected much, even after neglecting sleep for days. However, Chen Chen was going overboard...
"Senior Brother, how about we take a break? Success in Alchemy cannot be achieved overnight..."
Yuan Qingtian couldn't help but console.
"No!"
Chen Chen roared, shocking Yuan Qingtian who shuddered and then hurriedly went outside to cultivate.
Chen Chen looked at the countless equations, exhausted beyond belief.
However, there was an image that kept replaying in his mind.
That was the scene of Xia Xishuang asking Yu Qiong for medicine.
"Senior Yu, Chen Chen isn't that good in bed, can you refine a special pill to help him solve this issue?"
Yu Qiong sneered and extended her hand.
Xia Xishuang had no choice but to give away the newly created Chen Shuang Sword.
...
"No!"
Chen Chen yelled and immediately started writing with great vigor and zeal.
'Begging... feels awful! It's better to rely on myself!'
...
"Senior Yu, Chen Chen may be infertile, is there a pill to solve this problem?"
Yu Qiong rubbed her hands.
"If we give birth to a child, is it still okay to join your clan?"
Yu Qiong nodded with an evil smile.
...
Chen Chen was suddenly jolted awake from his nightmare, his forehead covered in beads of sweat. He then began studying and researching hard again.
In the morning.
Chen Chen looked at the seven formulas in front of him with a smirk.
He was one formula short of figuring out the entire pill formula of the Foundation-Building Elixir.
'Why don't I take a break for a while?'
As soon as that thought came to mind, he thought of another scene.
It was that of him holding Xia Xishuang, whose soul was about to dissipate, while kneeling in front of Yu Qiong.
"Master, please also give us a powerful elixir to save my Dao partner!"
Hearing his words, Yu Qiong laughed ambiguously before extending her hand towards his collar.
He had no choice but to weep while feeling humiliated...
"No!"
Chen Chen jumped up violently, almost hitting his head on the beam of the room.
He then took a deep breath and began to calculate carefully again.
At this point, Yuan Qingtian who was outside the courtyard almost slipped into obsession.
After the past few days of observation, he had developed a phobia of alchemy.
Even his talented and ingenious Senior Brother was almost going berserk from the calculations. If he were in Chen Chen's place, he would have probably died.
Besides, Chen Chen hadn't touched the alchemy cauldron at all!
"Alchemy... is too scary, this is so inhumane!"
Yuan Qingtian shuddered and sealed his hearing ability with spiritual power before continuing to cultivate.
...
The sky was gradually turning bright and Chen Chen finally walked out of the courtyard at dawn.
At this moment, his eyes were bloodshot and his gait was unsteady, as if he would fall down at any time.
He walked towards the alchemy cauldron slowly and cast a ball of spirit flames. Soon, a fire broke out under the cauldron.
Looking at the blazing flames, Chen Chen took out a red ginseng from his storage ring.
"The 100-year-old red ginseng with 75% medicinal properties."
Looking at the red ginseng, the eight equations ran through Chen Chen's mind and he soon worked out the medicinal property standards needed for the other seven raw materials.
After using the system to find the corresponding materials from his medicinal herbs, Chen Chen tossed the eight medicinal herbs that could perfectly fuse their medicinal properties together, into the alchemy cauldron.
Two hours later, he saw a round Foundation-Building Elixir!
If others saw it, their jaws would probably drop. Who would have thought that there would be someone in the world who could succeed in refining such a difficult pill like the Foundation-Building Elixir, on the first try?!
"One ordinary Foundation-Building Elixir."
Seeing this, Chen Chen was not very satisfied. He quickly made another one.
However, this time, he increased the intensity of the flame a little.
"Excellent Foundation-Building Elixir +1"
Chen Chen was still not satisfied so he increased the flame a little more.
"Perfect Foundation-Building Elixir +1"
Looking at the Perfect Foundation-Building Elixir that was flickering with spiritual light in his hand, Chen Chen's laughter began to grow louder and louder. Finally, it turned into a maniacal laugh as he raised his head and faced the sky!
Astonished to see this scene, Yuan Qingtian hurried to Chen Chen's side to hold him down!
'Alchemy is really terrifying, Senior Brother went mad after doing it for one morning!'
"Senior Brother, calm down! Don't practice alchemy anymore, okay? Let's go back to the State of Zhou!"
Chen Chen pushed him away but he soon calmed down.
"Qingtian, I'm just venting my emotions, it's nothing too serious. Cultivate well while I go pretend to be impressive... Uh, I'm going to go study."
After he spoke, Chen Chen turned around to leave.
Staring at his Senior Brother's back, Yuan Qingtian was speechless. He was on the verge of losing his mind.
After Chen Chen was a little while away, he muttered out loud, "People in this immortal world know nothing about alchemy."