The Saint Sect had ten great peaks, one of which was known as the Dan Ding Peak, a territory governed by Elder Yan Chen, the supreme elder of the sect.
Here, disciples of Dan Ding Peak cultivated medicinal pills, and both outer and inner sect disciples used the secluded chambers to refine medicines.
As Lin Fan stepped onto Dan Ding Peak, a chaotic blend of medicinal scents filled his nose. From row after row of sealed rooms came occasional cries of excitement or bitter laughter.
“I did it! I did it!”
As Lin Fan looked around, a disciple suddenly burst out of one of the rooms, his hair disheveled and eyes wild with excitement. He was clearly overexerted, his bloodshot eyes indicating he had pushed himself to the brink of collapse.
His loud shout intensified the already charged atmosphere. Despite spitting out a mouthful of blood, his ecstatic and frenzied inner state remained undeterred.
Lin Fan felt a pang of pity for him, shaking his head at the disciple’s apparent madness brought on by excessive pill refinement.
Then, Lin Fan casually found an unoccupied secluded chamber. The room wasn’t large, with a pill furnace standing in the center, and nothing else around it.
The air inside was rather stuffy, as if filled with the mixed scent of various herbs, creating an indescribable sensation.
Looking at the pill furnace, Lin Fan thought to himself – surely he could learn to refine pills just by touching it, just like when he learned forging, where simply holding the hammer allowed him to comprehend the skill.
This pill furnace was carved with many strange patterns, even displaying a faint glow. Clearly, it was no ordinary object, and the material must be special to be used for pill refinement.
Lin Fan crouched down and looked underneath. There was an opening at the bottom – that should be where the flame source was.
From the records, Lin Fan knew there was an ancient geothermal volcano beneath Dan Ding Peak. This volcanic flame was the perfect fire for refining pills, allowing the medicinal properties of herbs to blend perfectly.
Gently touching the pill furnace, Lin Fan silently called out in his mind.
“Come on, my little buddy.”
“Ding! Congratulations on learning pill refinement.”
“Ding! Pill refinement level 1.”
“Ding! The art of pill refinement – nothing is beyond your refining ability. You can freely combine ingredients and record pill formulas.”
…
It was that simple, that fast.
For Lin Fan, the question was never whether he could learn a skill or cultivation technique, but rather, after learning it, how long would it take to reach maximum level.
“Pill refinement.”
At this moment, within Lin Fan’s consciousness, a pill furnace radiated white light, surrounded by swirling mist. A fire dragon coiled around the furnace, spitting flames, looking extremely majestic.
Rubbing his chin, Lin Fan thought – since he had already started refining, wouldn’t it be a shame not to make something?
But now, the surroundings were completely empty. What was there to refine with?
At this moment, Lin Fan was at a loss, not knowing what to do. Wait, right! Wasn’t it about free combination? If he could refine even bricks into magical artifacts, what was there to worry about?
His gaze fell on the ground. He didn’t know what material the floor was made of, but it looked somewhat like soil, yet not quite.
But who cared anyway.
Lin Fan scooped up a handful of black soil. In his consciousness, the pill furnace’s lid rumbled open. He threw the black soil into the furnace, and the lid slammed shut with a bang.
The fire dragon, like summoning clouds and rain, began to spew flames.
The white pill furnace instantly began to shine with brilliant light, as if a world-shaking treasure was about to be born.
“Ding! Congratulations on successfully refining pills.”
“Su Yuan Pill x1.”
“Su Yuan Pill: Yellow Tier Lower Grade pill. When consumed, increases cultivation speed for one hour.”
“Su Yuan Pill Formula: Long Yan Cao (Dragon Flame Grass), Xiang Mu Zi (Fragrant Wood Seed).”
At this moment, a pill the size of a soybean, white and shining, lay quietly in Lin Fan’s palm, leaving him stunned.
“This is too damn fake, right? This black soil can actually replace two kinds of medicinal herbs?”
Lin Fan scooped up another handful.
“Ding! Congratulations on discovering Black Mud. This is ordinary black soil that has absorbed the medicinal essence from countless refining sessions over a long time, gradually developing medicinal properties.”
“What the hell!”
“This black mud has actually become spirit-infused… this… this…”
At a loss for words, Lin Fan realized that to other alchemists, this black mud was probably nothing more than ordinary dirt. Yet he had managed to refine it into pills.
At this moment, Lin Fan steadied himself. This was promising, very promising indeed.
When he refined the Su Yuan Pill, the formula had already been recorded in his mind. In the future, he could seek out these ingredients to refine more.
To test it out, Lin Fan scooped up another clump of dirt and threw it into the pill furnace.
“Boom! Boom!”
“Ding! Congratulations on successfully refining pills.”
“Su Yuan Pill x1.”
At the same time, Lin Fan noticed something – every time he successfully refined a pill, a strange current of energy flowed into his body, as if it were experience, enhancing his professional level.
Looking at the pill in his hand, Lin Fan wanted to test its effects, so he popped it into his mouth.
“Ding! Consuming Su Yuan Pill. Choose to convert into ten experience points or activate the cultivation speed-up effect.”
Lin Fan was even more astonished. After the system update, it had become increasingly user-friendly.
In the past, no matter what pill he took, it could only grant experience. Now he actually had a choice.
Good, very good. No wonder he had such a deep affection for this system.
“Convert to experience.”
After gaining ten experience points, Lin Fan already had an idea in mind. Plus, the pill was a bit sweet, tasting like candy.
Without hesitation, Lin Fan dove into work.
Earlier he had been scooping handfuls of black mud into the furnace, but now he was directly digging out large chunks and throwing them in.
“Boom! Boom!”
“Ding! Congratulations on successfully refining pills.”
“Su Yuan Pill x10.”
Excellent, excellent…
Lin Fan’s eyes sparkled. These black muds were treasures indeed.
Although the Su Yuan Pill was only a Yellow Tier Lower Grade pill, it was among the best of its tier.
For current cultivators, without pill enhancement, cultivation speed would be extremely slow.
Although the materials for Su Yuan Pill were nothing special, pill refinement had a failure rate. For ordinary alchemists, the failure rate was high – successfully refining one out of ten attempts already marked an excellent alchemist.
As for Lin Fan, with a 100% success rate, he had long surpassed the realm of words.
Soon, Lin Fan became immersed in digging, throwing entire chunks of black mud into the furnace.
“Ding! Congratulations on successfully refining pills.”
“Ding! Congratulations on successfully refining pills.”
“Ding! Pill refinement level has increased to level 2.”
…
Who knows how long had passed, Lin Fan was panting heavily, exhausted like a dog, sitting on the ground.
Looking at the surrounding ground, a huge pit had already been dug by him.
“I can’t keep digging. If I go any further, I’ll end up falling through the floor myself.”
Lin Fan checked his backpack. Five hundred Su Yuan Pills quietly lay there, shining brightly, so dazzling that one couldn’t bear to look directly at them.
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