Chapter 184: Recall of Failure; Yang Wei's Next Chapter in Pill Refinement. Grandmaster Lin Feng's Concerns; Protective Grandfather or Nosy Meddler?
Yang Wei stretched his arms to prepare himself.
"Alright, time to get to work."
The slime hopped off his head and onto the pill furnace, giving Yang Wei some space.
With a simple hand motion, Yang Wei conjured over seven blood swords and sent them flying in various directions. The swords sliced through the herbs he needed with precision before dispersing.
Then, with a flick of his fingers, Yang Wei sent a stream of flames into the Spirit-forging Cauldron, igniting it. The sudden blaze startled the slime, causing it to shout, "Piidi!" as it leaped off the furnace.
Yang Wei sighed, "I told you to be careful, Junior Slime. Pill refinement is serious business."
Slouching till it looked like a puddle, the slime frowned , looking remorseful, and uttered, "Pii... Piidi..." in apology.
Yang Wei crouched down, patting its head as he reassured, "It's fine. I know it was just a mistake."
"Piidi!" The slime seemed cheered up by his words.
Returning his focus to his task, Yang Wei performed a small upward motion with his hand, causing numerous plants to fly towards a cloud-like blood Qi vortex he had created.
"So, the basic formula for the Blood Strengthening Pill requires 5 kinds of medicinal plants. One of these medicinal plants, either the Moonlight Frost Crystal or the Solar Heart Ember, serves as a catalyst to expedite the reaction of the other five medicinal plants with the sixth ingredient, Dragon Blood Essence."
He started to coat each of the medicinal plants in layers of blood Qi by soaking them in the swirling cloud.
"However, this process consistently results in the production of a rudimentary fourth-grade to fifth-grade pill. In order to enhance the pill, I made some adjustments by infusing it with refined Soul Nectar, Timeless Sage Root, and Blood Lily Flower. Additionally, I increased the measurements for the other ingredients before balancing them out with surplus Harmony Roots.
This enabled me to refine a sixth-grade blood pill."
He spaced out the soaked plants from the dry ones by floating them aside.
"Now, if I'm gonna refine a Blood Strengthening Pill that can rival the Blood Dragon Strengthening Pill, I'll have to incorporate 13 more medicinal plants and, finally, add Celestial Dragon Blood Essence, which is essentially a purer extract of a celestial dragon's blood."
Yang Wei's arms moved with elegance and grace akin to the changing currents of a stream. With utmost care, he extracted the essence from the celestial dragon blood. Then, he purified and refined each of the 13 additional medicinal plants separately, ensuring their potency and compatibility with the celestial dragon essence.
The reason for coating them with blood Qi was to mitigate the corrosive effects of the celestial dragon blood's essence.
"Next... combine the the essence with the additional 13 medicinal herbs which have also been coated with blood Qi after individually having their spiritual auras properly ratioed using Harmony Sage Roots. Then, meld them together while controlling the temperature and spiritual resonance to prevent destabilization."
Finally, he threw in Solar Heart Ember and sent all of it in a stream of burning blood Qi into the Spirit-forging Cauldron for heating.
"Now, we wait."
"Piidi!"
...
After a few minutes of waiting, the pill finally emerged from the furnace and landed in Yang Wei's hand. He closely examined it, noting its charred black color. He didn't need anyone to tell him it was a failure.
Raising an eyebrow, Yang Wei scrutinized the pill closely with one wide eye; as though he were putting it under a microscope. "It's supposed to be vermillion in color."
The slime looked at the pill too and uttered, "Piidi?"
Yang Wei shook his head in disappointment. "Piidi indeed, piidi indeed," he sighed heavily, tossing the pill away. "This is going to be another dragon sword failure collage, isn't it?"
The slime nodded.
Placing his palms together in a gesture of prayer, Yang Wei muttered, "Save me, my beautiful goddesses - Mingyu, Lin'er, Xiao Yue, Big Sister Liu, Zhen'er, Yulian, Zirou."
As he began his prayers, the slime, nestled next to him, suddenly jumped out of Yang Wei's lap and sniffed around. It detected powerful traces of celestial energy emanating from the burnt pill Yang Wei had discarded. With burning curiosity, the slime went in search of the pill.
"Piidi? Piidi?"
After finding it, the slime consumed the burnt pill and began to glow brightly, emitting a shining yellow light from its body.
"Eh?" Yang Wei noticed the glow and turned back to look.
Upon seeing Yang Wei's gaze, the slime quickly stood upright to appear innocent.
Yang Wei asked, "Hmm, what was that?"
The slime innocently chirped, "Piidi?"
Yang Wei sighed, "Maybe I'm just on edge about going through another series of failure again." He then narrowed his eyes thoughtfully as he said, "Still, I do love a challenge." He adjusted his sitting position to face the pill furnace once more. "Back to pill refinement."
...
Meanwhile, at the Thunder Cloud Summit.
Grandmaster Lin Feng sat in an elegantly designed gazebo perched on a small mountaintop. Seated in a lotus position before a wide table of small height, he absentmindedly stroked his grey beard. "Hmm."
Fellow cultivator, Mu Zhihao, advised that this was the best approach if I wished to learn more about Yan'er's love life. She's an exceptionally beautiful young lady and quite talented as well. I wouldn't want her falling into the hands of someone like this Yang Wei, a supposed scumbag.
Mu Zhihao mentioned that his daughters made him spend several hundreds of thousands of mid-grade spirit stones to ensure Yang Wei received the gifts they desired for him.
Hmm...
I might face a similar situation if Yan'er starts making similar demands, such as wanting to take him as a disciple of our peak. Naturally, I could refuse her, but Fang'er wouldn't let me have peace of mind.
Liu Yan emerged and poured him some tea from the teapot.
"Here, Grandfather," she said respectfully as she handed him the teacup.
Lin Feng paused his beard-stroking and took a small sip from his teacup. "Excellently made as always, Yan'er."
Liu Yan bowed her head in gratitude. "Thank you, Grandfather," she replied before pouring herself a cup of tea.
As she lifted her teacup, she asked, "So, Grandfather, you wanted to speak with me..."
"Hm... yes," Lin Feng nodded slowly, taking another sip of tea. "It's about Yang Wei."
The moment he mentioned the name, an expression of familiarity briefly crossed Liu Yan's typically expressionless face, but it vanished as quickly as it appeared. However, that fleeting reaction was enough for Lin Feng to notice. He cleared his throat. "It seems you're quite familiar with this person."
Liu Yan simply replied, "Of course. He's a Star Disciple, and an arrogant one at that. There's no one in the sect or even in the Capital City who hasn't heard of him."
The peak chief nodded thoughtfully. "Interesting. So, does that mean all the rumors about him were true?"
"Most likely," Liu Yan gently nodded in confirmation. "Sometimes his talent may seem exaggerated, but he tends to live up to it."
"Interesting..." Methodically, Lin Feng blew on his tea, displaying little emotion and zero admiration for someone like Yang Wei. However, what did surprise him was that his granddaughter, Liu Yan, who typically refrained from praising anyone, had spoken highly of this Yang Wei. So, he asked, "Does that mean the rumors about you and him having a romantic relationship is also true?"
Upon hearing such an obnoxiously nosy question, Liu Yan's mood took a nosedive. She set her tea down, shooting her grandfather with a glare that could freeze lava. "What... did you just ask me?" her voice carried more authority than deference.
Lin Feng felt irritated by the way she glared at him, and he got defensive immediately. "Insolent child, I am your grandfather, I have every right to know whatever I choose to about you... yet you would dare stare at me so disrespectfully?!" his voice rumbled like thunder.
The landscape shook at the immense pressure of his 2nd Path cultivator aura. It was like a stormy sea that made the sky itself feel like it would collapse!
But Liu Yan wasn't having it. She remained composed, despite the rising tension. "Oh? Then I suppose I'll just tell Great Aunt Su about this as well," she spoke calmly.
The mere mention of that name seemed to deflate Lin Feng's bravado like a popped balloon, causing his imposing aura to dissipate instantly. "I... I apologize," he muttered sheepishly, retreating to quietly sip his tea. He mumbled something about not wanting to get his soul stabbed and healed for 3 days and 3 nights.
"Good," Liu Yan curtly replied.