NOVPUBThis sentence completely changed the way the two old men looked at Zhang Menglong.
A plant that had gone extinct 1200 years ago, and he was actually growing it in his own medicinal garden? How was that possible?
You should know that these kinds of plants grow in extremely hot places, like the mouth of a volcano. Don't tell me you, Zhang Menglong, live on a volcano?
"This is impossible, where exactly did you find it? The last recorded sighting was during the Song Dynasty, when a medicine gatherer found it in a cave. It's simply not possible to cultivate it artificially!"
"Then you are really uninformed!" Zhang Menglong said, "We hired some psychics in our family who directly use their supernatural abilities to generate high temperatures to nurture these plants, so isn't that viable for cultivation?"
"That works?"
Everyone knew Zhang Menglong was rich, but to hire psychics to do this sort of thing for you—had you really reached that level of wealth?
"That's not all," Zhang Menglong continued, "The psychics in our family can also help me heat up hot springs, build ski resorts, manage landscaping, artificially induce rainfall, and so on."
"Since when have today's psychics become so lacking in scruples?" Master Bai muttered to himself. Could it be that psychics are short of money?
But his shock was far from over. Zhang Menglong was still taking out one plant after another from that delivery box.
In truth, Zhang Menglong didn't know exactly what was needed, so he had someone prepare one or two plants of everything that might come in handy.
Yet, what were quite ordinary things to him were almost mythical to others, even to the point of being so scarce that they had never even heard of them.
"Alright, the potency of these items should be sufficient," Zhang Menglong handed back the prescription to the two masters, "Study it carefully and learn as much as you can."
"You understand medicine refining?" Both masters were stunned. Those were the kinds of words they would normally say to their students, but when had it turned appropriate for a man in his early twenties to say that to them?
"Menglong, you know how to do this?"
"Is it that strange?" Zhang Menglong asked, "Did you think the elixir I gave you last time was stolen?"
"That was made by you?"
"What else?" Zhang Menglong said with a smile, "But what I'm learning isn't medicine refining, it's alchemy!"
"Alchemy!?"
The faces of the two masters became even more nuanced. To say that they were alchemists was actually an overstatement; they had only received a superficial inheritance of medicine refining, far from being true alchemists, merely slightly more advanced than doctors. 𝒏𝙤𝙫𝒑𝙪𝙗.𝙘𝒐𝙢
As for alchemists, in that distant era, they were considered superior to medicine refiners. The biggest difference between an alchemist and a medicine refiner was whether they could turn medicine into an elixir. The difference between an elixir and medicinal powders and liquids was very significant.
While medicinal powders and liquids could refine the essence of the medicine, they couldn't bring out its greatest effect, and often had just ten to twenty percent of the intended medicinal impact.
But elixirs, they were the stuff of legends, with Huaxia's legends suggesting that only immortals could concoct them.
If you said that there were still people who knew a bit about medicine refining in this era, as for alchemy, it had been completely extinct for hundreds of years!
"Young man, you can perform alchemy?" The attitude, tone, and address from the two old men towards Zhang Menglong underwent a huge change in an instant.
"It's a required skill in our family," Zhang Menglong explained, "Since I was a child, my parents would wield a rattan cane while making me learn. If I couldn't perform alchemy, I wasn't allowed to eat!"
"Menglong, are you confident?" Qin Feng asked worriedly.
"Asking me that question is like asking what one plus two equals, it's practically an insult to my intelligence."
"Then what do you need, I'll help you prepare it!" Qin Feng's hope was immediately ignited by Zhang Menglong's words.
"Alchemy does require some tools," Zhang Menglong added, "To be precise, I need a medicine cauldron. And not the kind used for sacrifices or for burning incense in worship."
"This..." Qin Feng's face showed a troubled look. Alchemy had been lost for so long, to say nothing of the medicine cauldron—where was he supposed to find one?
"Forget it, I knew you wouldn't have it, I never expected you to," Zhang Menglong rolled his eyes.
"Wait a minute, we have this!" the two masters quickly said, "In Longxia's warehouse, there's a medicine cauldron that was exported from an ancient tomb, probably crafted three or four thousand years ago. Will that do?"
"That will work!" Zhang Menglong nodded, "But it would take too long for you to go back and forth. I'll just make do with what's available here!"
Zhang Menglong started strolling around the courtyard.
"What's this place?" Zhang Menglong asked, pointing to a smoking area.
"That's the kitchen, with just one earthen stove. The old man is from back in those times, and he can't get used to modern appliances like rice cookers and pressure cookers, so he kept these things around," Qin Feng explained.
"Let's go, take a look over there!"
A group of people followed Zhang Menglong into the ancient kitchen. It was a very simple stove, with just one blackened pot on top and wood underneath. Even in rural areas, such things had become quite rare.
"Alright, we'll just use this as a substitute!"
"You're going to refine elixirs with this pot?" Both masters felt like their worldview was about to be overturned.
In ancient texts, the conditions for alchemy were extremely demanding. Not to mention the abilities the person needed, the materials, the alchemy furnace, and a high-quality flame were all indispensable!
Among these elements, the alchemy furnace was particularly important, as it involved whether the flame would be even, which in turn affected whether the elixir could be successfully refined.
And now you're telling me you're going to perform alchemy with a pot? How do you expect those ancient alchemists to react?
"Given the current situation, this is the best makeshift solution," Zhang Menglong walked up to the stove, and a purple flame started blazing fiercely underneath it.
"Zhang Menglong is indeed a psychic!"
The people around Old Zhou and Old Qin had suspected this, and today they finally had it confirmed.
"The temperature of this flame..." Both elders were Mythical Realm experts, and they could sense just how terrifyingly hot the flame was.
With their strength, they could also muster flames, but only about three to five hundred degrees at most, roughly the same as burning wood.
But Zhang Menglong's purple flame was likely at least a few thousand degrees. Even warriors from the Heavenly Origin Boundary couldn't conjure a flame of such intensity!
"What other secrets does he have?" Qin Feng stared blankly at Zhang Menglong. "This kid really knows how to keep a tight seal on things."
"I'm now wondering if his capture in South Africa was staged by those people," Old Zhou whispered. "I heard that the headquarters of the Supernaturals Alliance in America turned into ruins, likely the work of this brat."
"Zhang Menglong threw the materials into the pot, and the medicine immediately started decomposing and condensing under the high temperatures, turning into several highly concentrated drops of liquid."
"I've heard that some legendary alchemists can use fire as their furnace, without the need for a pill furnace at all. Has he reached that level?"
"Don't speak, just watch closely. This is an excellent learning opportunity for us!"
"Stop looking; you won't be able to learn it!" Zhang Menglong said, multitasking between refining and chatting with them.
This was the alchemy technique of the revered pharmacist Yao Chen. If they could learn it just by a glance, there wouldn't be much point to it!
Drop by drop, the medicine began to merge under the high temperature. The originally mottled tastes started exuding a fragrance, so much so that even an ordinary person like Qin Feng could feel the magic of a single droplet.
A few minutes later, a bright red pill slowly spun inside the pot.
"Is it done already?" Zhang Menglong started to harvest the pill, all within less than five minutes!
Damn, frying an egg doesn't even happen this fast! This gives off the false impression that anyone with hands can perform alchemy, you know?
"Mr... Zhang, it's ready?" The two masters watched him incredulously.
"What else? Isn't this elementary level stuff? Should it take hours?"
