Chapter 78: 78. Pills and pills, get tired.
Nearly a quarter of an incense stick later, Lin Xuan slowly extinguished the spiritual flame beneath the furnace.
He did not continue with a fourth batch but instead, he quietly set the newly refined pills aside before letting out a slow breath.
During the first refinement, his entire focus had been devoted to controlling the furnace.
But by the time he finished the second batch, however, he had vaguely noticed that the spiritual qi within his dantian had already fallen below half.
Now, after completing the third batch, a wave of fatigue washed over him.
Although the refinement process itself had gone smoothly, the amount of spiritual qi required to continuously maintain precise control over the medicinal essences far exceeded that of refining Body Tempering Pills.
No wonder Qi Refinement Pills were so much more valuable.
It was not merely because of the ingredients.
The burden placed upon the alchemist was several times greater as well.
Lin Xuan gently rubbed the bridge of his nose.
There was no need to force himself as he still had an entire week to complete the system’s quest.
With that thought, Lin Xuan crossed his legs beside the alchemy furnace and slowly closed his eyes.
The surrounding spiritual qi gradually flowed toward him, entering his body through every pore before quietly replenishing the energy he had expended.
The courtyard soon fell silent once more.
Half an incense stick later, Lin Xuan slowly opened his eyes.
The spiritual qi within his dantian had already returned to its peak.
Lin Xuan could not help but nod in satisfaction.
The speed of his recovery was astonishing.
Even while sitting still, his Martial spirit continuously drew the surrounding spiritual qi into his body.
Recovering from depletion had become far easier than before.
"It seems I can refine another three batches before meditating to recover."
Having found the rhythm most suitable for himself, Lin Xuan wasted no further time.
He reignited the spiritual flame beneath the furnace and one batch after another, the refinement continued.
Whenever his spiritual qi fell below half, he would stop, meditate for roughly half an incense stick, then resume refining once his cultivation had fully recovered.
The days quietly slipped by.
The stockpile of ingredients gradually dwindled until, at last, the final set disappeared into the alchemy furnace.
Lin Xuan slowly opened the furnace and looked at the results.
A satisfied smile appeared on his face.
All one hundred sets of ingredients had been exhausted.
And in return, he had successfully refined eight hundred and fifty Pure Qi Refinement Pills.
One hundred and thirty pills had been completely ruined during condensation, turning into charred waste.
The remaining twenty, while they had failed to reach the Pure Grade, were still Peak Grade Qi Refinement Pills.
Even that result would have been enough to leave countless renowned alchemists speechless.
Lin Xuan quietly stored every jade bottle into his storage ring before sweeping the burnt pills aside.
Only then did he slowly straighten his back and stretch his stiff shoulders.
He didn’t know how many days had passed since he had begun on this vicious cycle of meditation and refinement.
The routine had continued day after day until even he had lost track of time.
After taking a few deep breaths, Lin Xuan decided to finally check the system.
During one of his refinement sessions, a system notification had suddenly appeared before his eyes.
The abrupt interruption had momentarily diverted his attention, causing that entire batch to fail and burn to ashes.
Fortunately, it had only happened once.
Afterward, there was no more interruptions and he could focused solely on finishing the remaining refinements.
Only now did he have the leisure to examine his reward.
With a thought, the familiar translucent screen appeared before him.
His gaze swept across it before settling on the system inventory.
Flowing Cloud Fan Art.
Lin Xuan’s gaze lingered on the words Flowing Cloud Fan Art for several moments.
A fan technique...
Was there even anyone within the Mystic Sky Sect who specialized in using a fan?
He searched through his memories but could not recall a single notable expert.
After pondering for a while, he shook his head.
"I’ll leave it for now."
There was little point forcing himself to comprehend a martial technique when he did not even possess a suitable weapon.
With a thought, he closed the system panel and turned his gaze upon the mountains of medicinal herbs he had exchanged from the treasury.
He still needed to refine another five hundred sets of Body Tempering Pills.
He let out a helpless sigh.
"Looks like I’ll be busy for a while longer."
From his talk Su Qinglan, he knew that the Zhao Family wished to purchase Pure Body Tempering Pills.
So if he refined the remaining Body Tempering Pills and entrusted Su Qinglan to sell a portion of them to the Zhao Family...
The Lin Family would benefit in more ways than one.
Not only would they earn a considerable profit from selling the pure quality body tempering pills but they could also further strengthen the working relationship between the two clans.
After all, pure quality pills was rare, rightfully so.
In fact, the Zhao family coming to ask to buy pure quality pills could even be considered a disrespect.
For any cultivation force, pills were among the most valuable cultivation resources imaginable.
To a certain extent, they could even compensate for a cultivator’s lack of talent.
Of course, that did not mean cultivators could consume them without restraint.
Excessive use inevitably led to pill poison accumulating within the body, gradually reducing the effectiveness of future pills and even hindering one’s cultivation.
It was precisely because of this that Pure Pills were regarded as priceless treasures.
With almost all impurities removed, they produced only negligible pill poison, making them treasures countless cultivators would fight over.
But of course, humans were an exceptionally resourceful species. In response, they had even created pills specifically designed to remove pill poison from the body.
There truly seemed to be no limit to how far humanity would go in its pursuit of shortcuts.
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