Chapter Twenty: Refining Elixirs in the Back Mountain

  Xia Chen's heart skipped a beat as he suddenly felt an unsettling premonition rising up.

  He was originally very grateful to Han Dongyu and trusted him absolutely, but for some reason, after seeing Han Dongyu's fierce gaze, he suddenly felt a sense of unfamiliarity and vigilance.

  Han Dongyu also seemed to have noticed something unusual, the excitement in his eyes flashed and disappeared, and he immediately calmed down: "Xia Chen, I didn't expect your progress to be so fast, far exceeding my expectations. As a teacher, I am very pleased."

  "Thank you, Master! The progress I've made is all thanks to your guidance and nurturing!" Xia Chen calmed himself down, forcibly suppressing the unease in his heart.

  He couldn't help but blame himself, Master has been so good to you, yet you still want to guard against him, it's really not right.

  Han Dongyu said: "The yuanqi dan you refined is already very close to the finished product, lacking only true qi control. However, since you just broke through the third layer of the acquired realm, it's truly rare and precious that you can reach this level. From now on, for ordinary spiritual medicines in the medicine garden, you can pick them freely as needed, and if you need anything else, you can also ask me."

  "Yes, Master." Xia Chen was overjoyed. As long as Han Dongyu allowed him to refine the elixir, he could use the opportunity to cultivate and make rapid progress.

  Han Dongyu continued, "There's another thing, in more than half a month, it will be the Four Sects Gathering. At that time, the three major sects of Daliang Country, Donghua Sect, Yunling Sect, and Zhengyi Sect will all have divine transcendence cultivators bringing new disciples to attend. We will discuss important matters among ourselves, and the disciples will inevitably engage in a trial of skills. You can take this opportunity to see the world and show off your own style."

  Xia Chen nodded in agreement, and Han Dongyu gave a few more instructions before leaving.

  Xia Chen also returned to his own room and continued experimenting with the Alchemy Cauldron.

  However, after messing around for half a day, Xia Chen did not discover any other abilities of the Aggregation Basin except for creating objects and storing them. As for how the Aggregation Basin made him feel that strange sensation, allowing him to cultivate as smoothly as a fish in water, it was also a mystery.

  After repeated experimentation for nearly half a day, Xia Chen discovered that the Aggregation Basin's ability to create objects differed with different materials.

  For example, the finished product Yuanyi Dan and the infant product Yuanyi Dan have subtle differences in their creation speed. The creation of infant products is faster, while the creation of finished products is slightly slower.

  As for making silver coins and other daily necessities, it can be done almost instantly.

  Xia Chen seemed to have realized that the creation function of the聚宝盆 (Treasure Basin) also slows down as the level of the item increases, and it's not creating all items at the same speed.

  He put a large number of everyday items and some ordinary weapons into the聚宝盆, after all, the storage space is infinite, even if it's a mountain, it can be stored, who knows when it might come in handy someday.

  Three days later at noon, in the back mountain of Zhengyuan, Xia Chen stood in a rather secluded cave, with a tripod furnace that was only knee-high under his feet.

  This cave was found by Xia Chen after spending two days, only a dozen miles away from the Zhengyuan Sect. Although the environment cannot be compared with the Medicine Garden Cave Mansion, it has the advantage of being hidden, and alchemy will not be discovered here.

  Since the聚宝盆 can infinitely create objects, Xia Chen is equivalent to having infinite medicinal resources, and can freely refine pills without worrying about wasting spiritual medicine. However, refining pills in the medicine garden like this will definitely arouse Han Dongyu's suspicion, so Xia Chen thought of this method.

  Even if Han Dongyu treats him well, the secret of the聚宝盆 can only be kept in his heart.

  He is now under time pressure and must break through the divine realm within three years. Having only the Treasure Basin is not enough, he must also double his hard work and cannot slack off in the slightest.

  Took out dozens of medicinal materials from the storage space, evenly placed them next to the tripod furnace, these medicinal materials were all replicated using the聚宝盆, still refining Yuanyuanqi Dan.

  Before successfully refining the Yuanqi Dan, Xia Chen would not refine other elixirs. Greed will lead to trouble, and only by taking one step at a time can he make steady progress. This principle, Xia Chen still understands.

  He threw the medicinal materials into the cauldron and Xia Chen ignited the fire. Soon he was fully immersed in his cultivation.

  Three times in a row, although there was no failure, what was formed was still only the embryonic form of Yuanqi Dan.

  However, Xia Chen did not show any signs of disappointment. He was also using the alchemy to cultivate his true energy, and in the first three attempts at alchemy, he had only used less than an hour each time, but his true energy had increased extremely quickly.

  By refining the elixir to cultivate true energy, it is much faster than normal cultivation of true energy. This is common sense among cultivators, but few people do it because there are no extra medicinal materials available for cultivating true energy.

  It's like using money to start a fire, no matter how effective it is, nobody would do that. Spirit medicine is extremely precious for every cultivation sect. But for Xia Chen, with the Treasure Basin, these ordinary spirit medicines are as worthless as scrap paper, and even burning them by the handful wouldn't be a waste.

  The fourth medicinal material, the fifth medicinal material...

  Finally, when it came to the tenth medicinal material, Xia Chen opened the cauldron lid and took out the Yuanqi Dan. The pill was round and dark green, with no flaws on its surface, and it was a perfectly formed Yuanqi Dan!

  A huge sense of accomplishment surged up in Xiachen's heart. His hard work had finally paid off, and after many failures, he had successfully refined the Yuanqi Dan.

  After a moment, Xia Chen put away the Yuanqi Dan with satisfaction and continued to refine it. Although he had already refined the finished product, he still needed to stabilize it further.

  The afternoon passed quickly, and Xia Chen not only refined the yuanqi pill but also reached an unprecedented growth rate of true energy, almost equivalent to several days of normal cultivation.

  He put the tripod furnace into storage space, swept the cave clean until no traces were left, and then hurried away.

  Shortly after Xia Chen left, a faintly audible voice suddenly echoed in the cave.

  "Hmm? Someone has been here, have they discovered my trail? Maybe it's just a coincidence, but I'd better be on guard... let me take a look..."

  The voice was muttering to itself, but there was no one in sight, as if the sound was being transmitted from thin air.

  On the second day, Xia Chen came to the cave in the back mountain with great enthusiasm. Today he planned to refine a new elixir called Calcined Tendon Dan.

  Cui Jin Dan is also a basic dan medicine, which can assist in the cultivation of true qi and flesh body sinew, suitable for use in later heavenly three or four heavy repair.

  But Xia Chen didn't know that in the cave, a pair of invisible eyes were quietly watching him.

  Summer dust light vehicle familiar road, fill with medicinal materials, ignite furnace fire, close eyes cultivation, control flame...

  Watching Xia Chen's movements flow like clouds and water, the invisible gaze gradually filled with surprise, even a little unbelievable at the scene in front of him.

  "Looking at this young man, he should just be an ordinary disciple of the Orthodox Sect, at most only in the second or third realm of acquired cultivation. How can his true energy control ability be so strong! Controlling external fire is almost perfect, it's even more controlled than acquired true fire, no, it's even more controlled than innate true fire, how is this possible?"

  Xia Chen was naturally unaware of the peeping behind him, and he devoted himself wholeheartedly to his cultivation.

  He could feel the true energy inside his body increasing at a terrifying rate, and in just one day, he could clearly perceive his own progress.

  Not only is the triple refinement of the flesh realm more stable after the three days, but the true energy also permeates the entire body, and there is a tendency to develop towards the meridians throughout the body.

  "Perhaps he has an extremely high talent for alchemy, I don't have to be surprised! However, since he can perfectly control the fire timing, then under my guidance, it's possible that he can refine the Pure Yang Treasure Dan! If there is a Pure Yang Treasure Dan, my cultivation will at least recover several times faster. The only thing is whether this person can be trusted, unfortunately I can only use my divine sense to investigate, and my physical body can only warm up, otherwise I would have refined the dan myself long ago."

  That invisible gaze calmed down, and there was also a hint of contemplation in his eyes.

  At this time, a rich medicinal fragrance was emitted from the edge of the cauldron cover, and the Calcined Tendon Pill was about to take shape, everything was normal.

  Suddenly, Xia Chen's face changed, and he opened his eyes. He felt the medicinal energy start to uncontrollably dissipate. What was going on?

  Bang! A loud explosion came from the crucible, and the elixir failed to refine!

  Xia Chen opened the lid of the cauldron and looked at the charred medicinal powder inside, a bewildered expression flashing in his eyes.

  Just now he controlled the fire timing feeling didn't go wrong, how could it fail?

  Could it be that my control over the fire timing is still insufficient? Xia Chen pondered, sweeping the cauldron clean and then putting in the second batch of medicinal materials to start refining.

  But this time, it still failed when refining the tendons and gathering the dan.

  Xia Chen's face was solemn, and he thought carefully, recalling every detail, not letting any possible mistakes slip by.

  In the subsequent refining process, he was extremely meticulous, almost every detail was perfectly controlled.

  But the third time, the fourth time, the fifth time... all the way to the eighth time of refining the elixir, still failed.

  Looking at the black powder all over the ground, Xia Chen was about to go crazy!

  He has thought of all possible places, how can he still fail?

  Put the ninth medicine into the cauldron, but Xia Chen hesitated and didn't take action.

  It's not about wasting medicine now, but if the problem can't be found, no matter how many times it's refined, it will fail. Although it is said that refining Dan is used to cultivate true energy, the two are actually one body, and if there is a problem with refining Dan, cultivation will also be hindered.

  Xia Chen racked her brains thinking about it, even repeatedly grasping the medicine in her hand to examine it, but she still couldn't find where the problem lay!

  "Damn it, what's going on here?" Xia Chen muttered in frustration, listlessly preparing to pack up the cauldron and head back home. The problem was stuck here, so he had no choice but to go back and ask for Han Dongyu's advice.

  "Even if you control the fire perfectly, it's impossible to refine it successfully if there's a problem with the medicinal properties!"

  Suddenly, a woman's voice directly echoed in Xia Chen's heart.

  This sound is clear and cold, elegant and gentle, like the tinkling of pearls, falling into a plate, with an inexplicable musicality, but in this musicality, it also contains a noble quality that seems to be floating on cloud nine, making people feel as if they are about to look up in awe.

  "Who are you!" Xia Chen's sudden shock was no small matter, his whole body hair stood on end, and his mind was buzzing.

  Suddenly, a stranger's voice echoed in his mind, and this eerie event made Xia Chen's scalp almost explode.

  "You don't need to know who I am?" The woman's voice was faintly said, "Don't make any rash moves, otherwise, I can make you disappear in an instant!"

  Xia Chen's face turned pale, his heart racing wildly. What alchemy, what failure - all were instantly thrown to the farthest reaches of the nine heavens and clouds. The only thought in his mind was to leave this place quickly, to leave this strange and eerie place.

  He didn't say a word and took off running wildly towards the entrance of the cave.