Chapter 1742: Assisting in pill concoction
What drew Ling Han over was a herbal aroma.
As the Alchemy Emperor, he might not be considered an elite of alchemy at this moment, but was definitely at the level of a prodigy. He could detect the slightest smell, and be able to track it down.
This was a Celestial pill!
At first, he had only come here to have some food and drinks. Ling Han himself did not have much interest, but there was actually someone concocting a pill in this place, and this garnered his curiosity, and he wanted to meet the person who was concocting a pill.
Now that he had advanced into the Severing Mundane Tier, he was qualified to refine Celestial pills.
The Empress was proud, and thought that all beings in this world should become subjects for herself and Ling Han—even if they did not offer their allegiance now, they would do so in future. Thus, she naturally was completely unconcerned that Ling Han would be barging around carelessly like this.
In her eyes, this was only to be expected.
The Heavenly Phoenix Divine Maiden was slightly anxious, though. After all, this was the territory of the Fu Clan, and who knew how many elites were hidden here in this small world.
Ling Han pushed open all the doors he came across and entered. This courtyard was extremely quiet, so peaceful that there weren’t even any patrolling teams.
But true, this was a Spatial God Tool in the first place. Usually, no one would be entering at all, so what need was there to deliberately assign guards? And at present, everyone was heading towards that palace; who would become interested in this completely unremarkable courtyard?
Finally, Ling Han arrived at a massive room. It was very spacious, and there was a cauldron right in its center. The cauldron was 30 meters tall, and it did not look like a cauldron at all, but rather a tower!
Underneath the cauldron, flames blazed. An elder was presently circling continuously around the cauldron. For every circle he made, he would deliver a palm strike. The Regulation of Fire surged, and the cauldron would also react, multiple patterns appearing.
This elder ignored Ling Han and his group completely. His figure circled around quickly like a ghost.
Ling Han frowned, and exclaimed, “Oh no, it’s going to be ruined!”
When his words fell, the elder’s steps also slowed, and there were beads of sweat rolling down his forehead. The whole cauldron was also shaking slightly as if it was about to explode.
“Hurry and give me a hand!” the elder immediately called out.
How was he supposed to help?
Though Ling Han was a prodigy of alchemy, he had never concocted a Celestial pill before, so how was he to know how a Celestial pill should be concocted?
However, being able to lay claim to the name of Alchemy Emperor, Ling Han naturally was no fake. It was all right even if he did not know how to go about refining a Celestial pill. He only had to understand the movements of that elder.
In the end, pill refinement meant the grasp and control one had over flames.
Of course, pharmacology was also very important, but at present, it had no relation to Ling Han.
The changes of the cauldron’s fire would determine whether the pill would explode or otherwise. At present, it was the problem of a possibility of the cauldron exploding, and thus this was something that Ling Han could handle.
After only taking a few looks, he immediately moved.
Pa, pa, pa. He continued to strike the cauldron endlessly, the Nine Heavens Flame surging. This was the source of his confidence in daring to make a move.
At the beginning, his movements were slightly hesitant, but he immediately became proficient. Every single move showed his knowledge of the fundamentals.
This was the comprehension ability of the Alchemy Emperor.
Of course, he presently could only follow the elder’s movements. If the elder was not leading the way in front of him, he definitely would not be able to follow up.
The elder was very busy. Not only did he have to adjust the temperature of the flame, he had to weave together the medicinal traits of the ingredients at the same time. If he was all by himself, he would really be slightly strained. However, with Ling Han’s help now in controlling the temperature of the flames, he would be able to split out a portion of his concentration to soothe those medicinal ingredients that were about to turn violent.
Both of them, young and old, were focused, and the Empress and the Heavenly Phoenix Divine Maiden waited on the sidelines quietly. They only had to see Ling Han’s completely concentrated expression, and they would not have the slightest feeling of impatience.
And in this process, half a day’s time had passed.
Pa, pa, pa. The elder struck 72 times successively, and a whirring tremor was immediately emitted from the cauldron. The cauldron’s flames extinguished in an instant.
“Hahaha!” The elder laughed loudly, his beard shaking. “1.3 billion years, 1.3 billion years, and I have finally refined the Winds and Fires Nine Clouds Pill successfully! Old geezer Situ, I have finally surpassed you this time. Let’s see what else you have to say; just obediently bow your head in submission in front of me!”
He laughed for a while, and then turned towards Ling Han. His expression involuntarily became strange. “Who are you?”
Ling Han was amused, and said, “You don’t even know who I am, and you dared to have me help you?”
The elder suddenly gaped, and looked completely astonished. “I thought you were a helper that that girl sent over; could it be that you’re not?”
What girl?
Ling Han shook his head. “I’m not.”
The elder scratched his head, but then laughed. “This is a fortunate misunderstanding; I finally concocted the Winds and Fires Nine Clouds Pill! Brat, you have no idea how difficult it is to concoct this pill. Let me explain it to you.”
This dilemma had troubled him for 1.3 billion years, and now that it had finally been resolved successfully, the elder was naturally extremely ecstatic. Tugging Ling Han’s hand, and not caring whether he was interested or not, he began to blabber on and on.
As it turned out, this was an ancient pill recipe. Because it was too old, it was not very complete. When he had gotten hold of it, he tried various methods to restore it. 500,000,000 years ago, he had already confirmed this current pill recipe, but was not able to successfully concoct it before no matter what he tried.
His name was Xiang Yan, and there was another person that was restoring this pill recipe alongside him—Situ Tang. Both of them were originally good friends, but because they had a difference of opinion regarding the restoration of this ancient pill recipe, they had a few arguments, and a grudge began to grow between them. They each went their separate ways, both hoping that they could succeed, then show off in front of the other person, and enjoy the pleasure of watching the other person yielding and admitting that they were wrong in front of them.
It had to be admitted that this was very childish, but if they were not such weirdos, how could they possibly spend a few hundred million to a few billion years’ time on alchemy?
Xiang Yan was very excited. He actually explained every detail of the restored pill recipe to Ling Han. This kind of alchemical pill was used to heal injuries, and was very effective even for Immortal Palace Tier elites.
Thus, now that this pill recipe had been successfully restored, its significance was incredibly important. He would even be written down in history, and become a god to the innumerable alchemists in the future generations.
And in this manner, Ling Han learnt a new pill recipe completely, and this was also his first Celestial level pill recipe, which was incredibly valuable.
Seeing Xiang Yan was still blabbing endlessly there, seeming like he was completely capable of boasting for the rest of his life, Ling Han hurriedly called a halt, and dragging the two women with him, left like he was fleeing from something. Though Xiang Yan chased him for a few steps, he immediately ran back happily. At present, this cauldron was his treasure and he feared that if he left, the alchemical pill would be stolen.
Ling Han and his group exited the courtyard, and turned towards that palace. At this moment, the banquet had already begun, and the sound of music could be heard.
What was strange was that the actual banquet was not actually held within the palace; in fact, this could not be considered a banquet in the traditional sense of the word, because there weren’t multiple tables which people gathered around. Instead, at least 100 tables were joined together to form a long line, and various dishes were laid out on top.
The guests held plates, and they would help themselves to whatever food picked their fancy. There were plates at the side of each table, and one would occasionally see attendants replenishing those dishes that had been emptied.
This was quite interesting. Every single person held a plate. Some would be eating as they walked, and some would be gathered in small groups, conversing as they ate. At the side, there were musicians that were playing various musical instruments, and there were also beautiful women dancing elegantly.
Ling Han said, “You guys find a place to wait, I’ll go get us some food.”