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Chapter 211: Concocting His First Pill
After waiting for a while, Aldrian thought to himself.
"Let’s see if my Eyes of Heaven can work here like it did in blacksmithing."
With that thought, a screen suddenly appeared before his eyes, displaying numbers, steps, and instructions to achieve the most perfect result.
"Good," he smiled. He was not surprised that his Eyes of Heaven could do this much, as it wasn’t all that different from creating an artifact.
The screen displayed complete information: the precise temperature of the cauldron, the sequence in which the herbs needed to be added, and the methods he needed to use.
After the cauldron’s heat reached the temperature indicated on the screen, he immediately picked up one of the herbs and placed it inside.
Elaine, watching from the side, quickly realized from Aldrian’s movements that he had never handled a cauldron or anything related to alchemy before. His actions seemed rigid, unlike the fluid motions of the alchemists she had observed at the Association long ago.
She wondered what kind of result Aldrian would achieve. She wasn’t worried about him failing; at worst, he would end up with a burned pill.
He then added another spiritual herb into the cauldron. Each time he introduced a new ingredient, the temperature displayed on the screen changed accordingly. He extracted the essence of each herb in its liquefied form with the help of the cauldron’s heat.
At this moment, he finally realized that making a pill was far more delicate than crafting an artifact. Unlike the materials used for artifact creation, spiritual herbs were much more fragile and prone to burning. He had to adjust the fire’s temperature several times to accommodate the new mix of ingredients.
However, because he was already accustomed to playing with fire and could control it seamlessly, he still found the process manageable. He also had to ensure that each herb blended perfectly under his control.
It was only after doing the steps himself that he noticed the difference between the instructions from the alchemy books and those from the screen. To him, the guidance from his Eyes of Heaven was much easier to follow, as it provided precise details and directly directed him on how to proceed.
Elaine, who watched every step of Aldrian’s concoction process, was amazed. Perhaps it was because her young master was already an expert at controlling fire and had an understanding of spiritual herbs, he seemed to instinctively know how to proceed and handle each herb with precision.
She could feel and begin to smell the fragrance of the mixed ingredients. There was no hint of anything burning—just an aroma that seemed to affect the very spirit, invigorating and boosting one’s vigor.
Aldrian then added the final ingredient to the cauldron and finally came the most crucial part of the concoction process: hardening the mixture of ingredients into a pill.
He increased the heat and controlled the mixture with his energy, carefully trying to condense it. This was the moment of truth for any alchemist—would they succeed or fail?
Aldrian’s entire focus was on the mixture of ingredients, and he could feel the pill starting to take shape. A few more seconds, and he would succeed!
Elaine was left speechless. From her experience watching alchemists at work, she was certain Aldrian would succeed—and even achieve a satisfying result. The fragrance grew stronger with each passing second, and at that moment, she knew her young master had already succeeded.
After a few seconds, Aldrian finally dissipated the fire under the cauldron and opened the cauldron’s lid to inspect the result. As the lid opened, the strong fragrance of herbs hit their faces, revealing three white, milk-like pills. However, to Elaine’s shock and confusion, the pills had six stripes. Each of the three pills had six golden-colored stripes. She couldn’t understand—wasn’t five stripes considered the most perfect?
"As expected, there’s no one but the young master who could accomplish this," she thought.
For it to be his first time concocting a pill, and for him to succeed instantly while creating something she didn’t recognize, she believed this was the first time anyone had ever done such a thing.
Aldrian couldn’t understand the meaning of the six stripes, but from the looks of it, he had succeeded. He picked up the pills and examined them. As soon as he touched them, he could feel his spirit being affected—it was as if he wanted to run outside and deplete all his strength. These pills were also different from the usual supplement pills found in the market or described in books. They were white and milk-colored, rather than the typical brownish. He could make a guess as to why his pills were different.
In each concoction process, there is a certain level of impurity that affects the pill’s effectiveness and overall quality. During the process, the impurities of each spiritual herb are extracted, leaving only the pure composition.
However, it is not as easy as flipping a hand, because the impurities within the herbs are intertwined. Extracting them without damaging the herbs themselves is a challenging task. It requires precise control and focus. If the alchemist makes even a small mistake in their judgment or control, the herbs could be damaged, and even worse, the spiritual herbs could become unusable.
The purer the mixture of ingredients, the "cleaner" the color of the pills that the alchemist concocts. He didn’t understand the meaning of the six stripes, but on the Barisan continent, only five tiers of pills have been known since ancient times. These are marked by stripes on the surface of the pills, indicating their quality and effectiveness. The tiers are as follows: one stripe for Crude, two for Normal, three for Half Excellent, four for Excellent, and five for Unblemished.
The appearance of the six stripes was beyond his expectation. He would need to ask someone who understood this matter. Nevertheless, he was satisfied with the result and turned to Eleine.
"Eleine, eat this." Aldrian handed her one of the pills.
Eleine was stunned as she received the pill. She looked at it again and could feel the cool sensation in her hands. It was refreshing, and without hesitation, she swallowed it. If it were anyone else, she would have refused to become a pill tester, as there was much at stake. But because it was Aldrian, and the pills seemed perfect, she trusted him.
After she swallowed the pill, she suddenly felt a surge of power in her muscles. She felt rejuvenated, and even her soul felt refreshed. A cool sensation spread through her entire body, lifting her spirits. She felt as though she could run around the city several times without feeling tired. She was in shock, at her cultivation level she shouldn’t be able to experience such effects from a supplement pill, which is typically consumed by cultivators below the Baron stage.
"How is it?" she heard Aldrian ask.
Eleine looked at her young master with amazement.
"It’s amazing, young master. It’s the best feeling I’ve ever had from a supplement pill. It’s been so long since I last consumed one, and I can guarantee that there is no supplement pill with an effect like the one you concocted here."
Aldrian nodded in satisfaction. However...
BAM!
Suddenly, the door to their room burst open with a loud bang as an old alchemist with a white beard strode in, hurriedly stepping forward. His gaze was fixed on the pills in Aldrian’s hand, completely ignoring his surroundings. When he stood in front of them and examined the pills, his eyes trembled, and he spoke with a trembling voice.
"How can this be? How can such pills exist?" The old alchemist then looked at Aldrian.
"You... you concocted this?"
Aldrian, however, regarded the old man with interest. On his chest was a badge with 10 stars, the highest level an alchemist on this continent could attain. Aldrian checked his information, and true to the badge, the man was someone already famous within the Association—his name was known even across the continent.
"Marco Vilares."
He really did not expect that the one who took the bait would be him—the one often considered one of the top three alchemists on the continent. He, along with the other two alchemists, always competed with each other to become the best, so there was never a clear winner. Some said Marco was the best, while others claimed it was one of the others.
To be honest, everything was beyond his control and plan. He hadn’t expected to concoct a six-stripes pill, let alone attract someone like Marco. Initially, he had intended to practice here for a while, then take his cheap cauldron outside to create pills of at least the excellent tier, drawing attention to himself. As for an unblemished-tier pill, he hadn’t hoped for much. From the book he had studied, he knew how difficult it was for an alchemist to create a unblemished pill.
Basically, it was almost impossible, as each ingredient mixture would contain impurities, even if only a small part of it. To purify it, one would have to sacrifice some portion of the ingredients, which would damage the herbs and reduce the effectiveness of the pill. The last time a pill of unblemished tier was created was millions of years ago, when someone with cultivation above the Emperor stage concocted it.
With his ability, he was confident that he would attract the higher-ups of the Association, as he had managed to create a high-tier pill using only a cheap cauldron in his beginner phase as an alchemist. To think that he had created something beyond unblemished and attracted such a big shot—he was truly lucky!
