The 54th Hexagram of I Ching: Kui (Gradual Progress)

  Ye Qin immediately started preparing to refine the Dan after obtaining the formula and method of refining the Dew Drop Pill from Nan Tian Bao, in order to increase his cultivation speed.

  To be on the safe side, he didn't plan to refine the elixir in the medicine hall, it was too easy to be discovered by his fellow disciples. If someone found out that he was privately refining medicine, it would bring a lot of trouble.

  Of course, he didn't plan to go to the wilderness to find a place, it's easy to be accidentally seen by people, and it's not safe either. In the past, going to the wilderness to practice medicine was because there was no money in hand, and he had to run to the wilderness to make Qingxin Pill. Now that he has dozens of gold leaves exchanged from Huang Changlao of Zhenbao Gang with Qingxin Pill, he can completely choose a place in the county town and buy it as a safe haven.

  Ye Qin wore a black robe and a conical hat, in a remote place in the southeast of the county town, he spent more than ten gold leaves to buy a small courtyard from a declining rural squire as his temporary residence and alchemy place.

  The small courtyard is not large, surrounded by a one-meter-high earth wall on all sides. The deepest part of the courtyard is a separate blue-brick tile house. Because the young master usually does not live in the city, he is neglectful of the maintenance of the courtyard, and all kinds of weeds grow inside, somewhat messy.

  The neighboring houses of the small courtyard were all civilian homes, and these civilians had no knowledge and would not disturb him from refining elixirs.

  Ye Qin was quite satisfied with this small courtyard, such a secluded residence was very common in the southeastern part of the county town. People from the jianghu world would not come to such a humble place, and the more ordinary and unassuming it looked, the less likely anyone would pay attention to it. After all, he would often need to refine dan in the future, and hiding in a small earthen courtyard in a commoner's district was actually the best way to conceal himself and avoid being discovered.

  With this small courtyard as a foothold, Ye Qin began to prepare the necessary items for alchemy: main medicine, auxiliary medicine, alchemy furnace, and fire.

  Refining the Dew Drop Elixir requires one main medicine and up to a dozen or more secondary medicines. Although he already had the main medicine, Dew Drop Grass, in his hands, he still needed to spend time collecting the secondary medicines, which although not spiritual grasses, were also precious herbs.

  However, Ye Qin did not worry about these medicinal herbs, because in the large pharmacy set up by Cao Yao Tang in Zhujici County, there were many precious and expensive medicinal herbs for sale. As long as he spent a considerable amount of silver leaves, he could directly purchase the medicinal herbs he needed from the pharmacy. Even if he didn't go to the pharmacy of Cao Yao Tang, he could still go to the trading market, where there were also many scattered medicinal materials for sale, all collected by people in Jianghu during their daily lives.

  If it were in the past, Ye Qin would probably be at a loss for this large sum of silver leaves to buy medicine. Now, apart from buying a small house, he still has twenty gold leaves left over, enough for him to use for a short period of time.

  The main medicine and the secondary medicine are no problem, the most troublesome thing is still finding a Dan furnace.

  The method of alchemy and elixir refinement is completely different from the pharmaceutical methods used in the mortal world. The pharmaceutical methods used in the mortal world involve slicing, boiling, decocting, and pelletizing to manufacture powders and pills.

  And refining the spiritual elixir requires using a sealed crucible, where it is smelted in a closed environment.

  This thing is usually not worn by people, and it's almost impossible to find in shops, so it's a bit hard to find.

  Ye Qin searched all over the city and almost turned over every store in Zhujia County, before finally finding an iron tripod furnace in a grocery store.

  This iron tripod cauldron has a triangular base, a stout iron body, and the belly of the furnace is only the size of a gourd. On top is an iron lid that can seal the belly of the furnace. The outer shell of the cauldron is covered with a large amount of rust, weighing as much as 30-40 kilograms.

  Ye Qin looked at the clumsy and ugly appearance of the alchemy furnace and was very skeptical about whether it could be used for alchemy.

  The owner of the grocery store patted his chest to guarantee its absolute usefulness, saying that this iron-made alchemy furnace was a stove from a broken Taoist temple outside the county town, specifically used for alchemy. Later, after the old Taoist priest died, the Taoist children in the temple sold it to the grocery store.

  Leaf Qin will letter will doubt.

  He lifted the lid and sniffed, and indeed there was a strong smell of medicinal herbs inside, which was very unpleasant. He didn't know what kind of elixir this furnace had been used to refine before. He couldn't find any other furnaces, so he had no choice but to use this one temporarily.

  He paid ten silver leaves and Ye Qin carried an iron refining dan furnace back to his private courtyard.

  He bought back all the auxiliary medicines and everything was ready, so Ye Qin began to refine his first furnace of elixir.

  A medicinal herb consisting of one stalk of Dewdrop Grass and several supporting herbs can be refined into a single Dewdrop Pill.

  When refining the elixir, a single medicinal material can be refined in the furnace to produce one grain of spiritual elixir. Alternatively, multiple medicinal materials can be refined simultaneously to produce several grains of spiritual elixir. The requirements for refining this lowest-grade spiritual elixir are not high; apart from the main medicine being the extremely precious spiritual grass, all other auxiliary medicines used, as well as the fire and equipment, are ordinary objects.

  Just grind the various medicines into powder, add pure water from the stream, mash them into a medicinal liquid, pour it into the furnace, cover it with a lid, light a fire and simmer slowly.

  The most important thing in the initial stage of alchemy is to control the fire.

  Ye Qin sat stupidly beside the stove, slowly adding withered branches to the fire, carefully staring at the size of the flame, waiting for half a day.

  The fire must be extremely strict, and initially, a slightly larger fierce fire must be used to simmer for half an hour. The fire must be even, not suddenly large or small, otherwise the medicinal properties of the cauldron cannot be combined. Then use a small fire to nourish the elixir for an hour, condensing the elixir.

  Only by personally refining the elixir can one experience the difficulty of refining the elixir.

  The stove burned for as long as one or two hours, requiring the addition of firewood and reduction of ash, which inevitably caused the flame to be uneven in size. How could he maintain a consistent flame? This was what troubled Ye Qin.

  To make the fire burn evenly, he simply split a large pile of wood into small pieces about an inch in size and threw them into the fire one by one, trying to keep the flames balanced and lasting, which finally solved the problem of the fire.

  And finally, the last step, which is also the most crucial, is to grasp the timing of firing and producing the elixir, which is an extremely difficult thing.

  In the process of alchemy, the medicinal liquid in the alchemical furnace will automatically condense into a dan gradually.

  If the firing is done too early, the medicinal properties of the liquid have not been fully activated and the elixir has not fully condensed, it is a semi-finished product. At this time, the efficacy of the medicine is only 40% to 50%, or even as low as 20% to 30%. This results in severe waste due to insufficient medicinal effect.

  If the firing is delayed, the elixir is more likely to be carbonized in the furnace and become a waste pill with extremely high impurities and toxins. This waste pill cannot be eaten, and eating it not only does no good for cultivation but also causes great harm to the body, usually can only be discarded with pain.

  To master the firing time of Cong Dan coming out of the oven perfectly, one must go through a long period of Dan refining operation.

  Not to mention Ye Qin, a newcomer who finds it difficult to grasp the fire timing, even Nan Tianba, the patriarch of the Nan family, who has refined over a hundred furnaces of various elixirs and has "rich" experience, does not dare guarantee that his elixir production rate can reach 30% or higher.

  Ye Qin's first few days were spent in vain, with over a dozen furnaces of elixirs being wasted. Either the fire couldn't be controlled or the timing for opening the furnace was off, resulting in large quantities of semi-finished products and waste elixirs. As soon as he opened the elixir furnace, a strong smell of burnt offerings wafted out, making Ye Qin's eyes water profusely, almost unable to sit still in the room.

  It wasn't until several days later that he unexpectedly succeeded in refining a furnace of spiritual elixir. When the furnace was opened, a warm and refreshing fragrance of spiritual elixir wafted out, filling the entire room and intoxicating everyone to the point where they almost couldn't extricate themselves.

  Ye Qin was overjoyed, almost unable to contain himself as he jumped up, and the iron tripod's spiritual energy dispersed in all directions. A perfectly round and full yellow spiritual dan rolled out, and without regard for the heat, he picked it up in his hand.

  The hard work of these days has finally paid off, and a drop of dew pill has been refined. Let's see how its medicinal effect is.

  The method of taking the Low-Grade Spirit Pellet is simple, just swallow it directly and then sit in meditation for about half a day, slowly refining the Spirit Pellet in the abdomen, absorbing all its medicinal properties, transforming them into Xian family's primordial energy.

  Ye Qin sat cross-legged on the grass mat in front of the alchemy furnace, waiting for the spiritual elixir to cool down. After it had cooled, he directly swallowed the whole grain of spiritual elixir and began to absorb its medicinal properties.