Chapter 305: Endurance
"Nine times is the maximum number of times that an herb can be tempered. Unfortunately, my best record is seven temperings." Hongzhu said and sighed.
However, she didn’t entertain any thoughts of giving up.
Just because she had never tempered an herb nine times didn’t mean she couldn’t do it.
After clearing her mind, Hongzhu wrapped the soul gathering herb essence with her soul power.
When that was done, she made a seal with her right hand and pushed it at the herb essence.
At the same time, her soul power infiltrated the herb essence and black smoke rose from it.
This smoke was herb impurities.
If the impurities were not removed, the soul replenishing pill could not be refined. Even if it could, the quality would be inferior and may even harm those who took it.
The black smoke rose continuously and finally dissipated after an incense stick of time.
This meant that the first tempering was successful and Hongzhu could move on to the next step.
However, after the first tempering, her brows were creased and her eyes were solemn.
"It’s more difficult than I expected." She said.
The difficulty of tempering herbs depended on their rank, grade, tempering method and a variety of other factors.
Since Hongzhu became an alchemist, she had refined many pills.
However, she had never come across an herb like the soul gathering herb.
In terms of other herbs she had previously refined, the first tempering of the soul gathering herb was comparable to the third or fourth tempering of other herbs.
’My soul power may not persist to the fifth tempering.’ She thought and wondered whether she should give up.
However, she decided against it.
Even if she wouldn’t succeed in tempering the herb, the experience was invaluable.
In this way, she could measure her level and understand the difficulties involved in tempering the soul gathering herb.
After figuring it out, Hongzhu began the second tempering.
Second tempering...
Third tempering...
Fourth tempering...
However, when she started the fifth tempering, she knew she couldn’t hold on to the end.
Her soul power was severely depleted and her head was starting to feel dizzy.
’I can’t force it. Otherwise, I will damage my soul. If that happens, the gain will not be worth the loss.’ She thought and resolutely stopped her hand seals.
Instantaneously, the soul gathering herb essence turned black and fell into the bowl.
"Waste." She said and was a little disappointed.
She originally didn’t expect to successfully temper the soul gathering herb on the first try.
However, it was a little disheartening that she couldn’t complete the fifth tempering.
’I need to improve my soul power before I try again.’ She thought and sighed lightly.
Fortunately, Yu Nianzhen and the rest discovered soul marrow.
Although the soul marrow was the lowest grade, it was enough to enhance her soul power significantly.
With a plan in mind, Hongzhu returned to her room and rested for three hours.
After she woke up, she checked on Li Futian and then returned to her alchemy room.
However, she didn’t go to the work table to continue preparing the herbs.
Instead, she sat in the middle of the room and removed a jade bottle from her storage ring.
This jade bottle contained two drops of soul marrow.
Originally, the soul marrow puddle contained thirteen drops of soul marrow.
If the drops were divided equally, everyone should have received two drops and one drop would be left over.
However, the division wasn’t clear-cut and some things had to be factored.
One of the factors was contribution and the other was need.
In terms of contribution, Yu Nianzhen and Jiang Yue defeated the soul beast. Because of this, they each received an extra drop and got three drops each.
Bing Lan also got three drops because Yang Xu gave up his share while the remaining four drops were divided equally between Xuan Ke and Hongzhu.
"I hope the soul marrow won’t disappoint me." Hongzhu said and opened the jade bottle.
.....
In their room, Yu Nianzhen and Jiang Yue absorbed the soul power in the soul beast core and fully replenished their soul power.
"We need more soul beast cores." Jiang Yue said excitedly.
Absorbing the beast core not only replenished his soul power but also increased his soul power by a little bit.
If he absorbed more soul beast cores, Jiang Yue felt he could successfully break through to the third level of soul refining.
"XiaoYue, do you feel a difference in your soul power?" Yu Nianzhen suddenly asked.
"You too? I thought I was imagining it." Jiang Yue said.
After replenishing his soul power, he felt that his soul and soul power had become a little more compact.
However, the change was so minute that he thought he was imagining it.
"It’s the same principle as qi utilisation. The more we use and replenish our soul power, the more compact it will become."
"As I thought, coming to the soul beast forest is a big opportunity for us."
"Hmmm." Yu Nianzhen said and nodded in agreement.
If they worked hard, their soul power would be transformed before they left the soul beast forest.
Technically, Yu Nianzhen and Jiang Yue could use soul attacks, but their mastery was barely passable.
With such little skill, their soul attacks could not be considered as trump cards.
However, after practising in the soul beast forest, they would become more proficient in soul attacks.
At that time, they would add another life-saving skill to their arsenal.
Other than being able to use soul attacks, there were other benefits of having a strong soul.
One of the benefits was a stronger divine sense. When their divine sense became more powerful, they could monitor large areas and discover more details with each search.
Another benefit lay in comprehending some masteries including formations, illusions, and alchemy amongst others.
With a stronger soul, Jiang Yue could use illusions more easily and he couldn’t help but feel a little excited.
"I want to refine the soul marrow." He said urgently.
After absorbing the soul power in the soul beast core, he was eager to refine the soul marrow.
He couldn’t calm himself and his heart was full of expectations.
"Okay." Yu Nianzhen said and rubbed Jiang Yue’s hair.
Although he didn’t show it on his face, he was also very excited.
He always pursued strength and the soul was a new direction he was eager to explore.
"Azhen, do you think we will find more soul marrow?"
"It’s possible." Yu Nianzhen said.
At ordinary times, finding soul marrow was almost impossible.
However, they were in an unexplored soul beast forest. If they were lucky, they would find more than soul marrow.
"It doesn’t matter if we don’t find more."
"Hmmm." Yu Nianzhen agreed.
Just the opportunity to train their soul power was enough to make the trip worthwhile.
After that, the two sat cross-legged and took out their bottles of soul marrow.
With a last look at Yu Nianzhen, Jiang Yue opened his bottle and closed his eyes to regulate his breathing.
A moment later, a small drop of soul marrow flew out of the jade bottle and entered between his eyebrows.
As soon as the drop entered his body, his body relaxed and his soul trembled in delight.
’It’s so comfortable.’ He thought but didn’t indulge in the comfort.
Instead, he used his soul power to divide the soul marrow into hairlike strands.
When that was done, the strands infiltrated his soul and Jiang Yue felt like he was being pricked by a thousand needles.
However, he forced himself to endure and patiently waited for his soul to absorb all the soul marrow.
’I underestimated the process.’ He thought but didn’t plan to give up.
At the same time, Yu Nianzhen had also absorbed a small drop of soul marrow.
Like Jiang Yue, he also experienced the uncomfortable pricking sensation.
However, he didn’t allow himself to dwell on it.
While he was refining the soul marrow, he began to think about the soul shield he hoped to derive from his soul sword technique.
If he wanted a simple soul shield, he could easily derive it from his soul sword.
However, Yu Nianzhen’s ambition was not low.
He didn’t want to create a simple technique that needed activation to protect the soul. What he wanted was a permanent shield around the soul.
In this way, the soul would be protected even if he was unconscious or injured.
Most importantly, he hoped to create a shield that could keep out souls that wanted to seize the body.
’This is not easy.’ He thought but was also a little excited.
However, he didn’t rush himself.
He allowed his mind to flow freely and explore the random thoughts that occurred to him.
Fortunately, his method was not in vain.
As his soul absorbed more soul marrow, his mind naturally filtered out his ideas and he finally came up with a plan.
