Except for extenuating circumstances, such as Huyan Cang and Zuoqiu Haoyu demanding that Yi Yun refine pills in public, many alchemists forbade people from watching the refinement process. One reason for this was that they didn’t want to be disturbed, while the second reason was a fear that their hand seal techniques and alchemy secrets would end up being copied by others.
Dong Shaoqing had not made any such request, yet Yi Yun invited him to watch on his own. It could not be any better.
"Young Master Yi, won't I disturb you if I’m there on the side, watching?"
Yi Yun smiled and said, "If I’m afraid of being disturbed, aren’t I doomed to fail when I have to refine pills in public five days from now?"
"That is true." Dong Shaoqing was delighted. Although he wasn't certain of Yi Yun's skill, he was somewhat convinced by Yi Yun's confident response.
If Yi Yun truly had no skill, he would not have agreed to make a fool of himself in public.
Yi Yun led Dong Shaoqing into the alchemy lab and closed the door. Ru'er stayed by his side to tend to him, looking somewhat like a medicine child.
Typically, the amount of time alchemists took to refine pills ranged from several hours to several days. When the pill far exceeded the alchemist's level, they would need to set up a massive array and take years to refine it. It could even take hundreds of years. However, such an extensive setup could only be created by alchemist sages. Typical alchemists lacked that ability completely.
In the case of the Body Cleansing Pill, it would take about three or four days to refine.
If it were any other time, three or four days would be nothing to Dong Shaoqing. That was just a single round of meditation. But now, with his daughter's fate hanging in the balance, he was in no mood to meditate. He watched Yi Yun's refinement process intently.
Yi Yun took out a tiny gray cauldron that floated in mid-air. This was the Divine Alchemy Cauldron that had an incomplete array within.
"Phew–"
Yi Yun tapped his finger, causing the cauldron to ignite as he injected a wisp of the Heretical God Fire Seed.
The Heretical God Fire Seed had blended into the flame and remained inconspicuous. It entered into the Divine Alchemy Cauldron in the blink of an eye.
The Heretical God Fire Seed could penetrate the world. Typical cauldrons could not withstand it at all, but the Divine Alchemy Cauldron had accompanied the Heretical God Fire Seed for hundreds of millions of years, making it harmonize with the Heretical God Fire Seed as though they were one. When the Heretical God Fire Seed was injected into the Divine Alchemy Cauldron, it vanished completely. The cauldron's surface remained simple and unsophisticated as if no flame had been ignited.
Upon seeing this, Dong Shaoqing fell into a daze. He had seen alchemists refine pills before, but the scene in front of him was something different.
Yi Yun glanced at the materials beside him. He immediately grabbed a Yang Bizarre Flower and threw it into the Divine Alchemy Cauldron.
The Yang Bizarre Flower was immediately enveloped by flames.
Yi Yun's soul was presently only strong enough to control one tiny wisp of the Heretical God Fire Seed. He was already at his limit.
If he unleashed the Heretical God Fire Seed for pure destruction, such as burning down the Seven Star Dao Palace, Yi Yun could use the Heretical God Fire Seed to create an inferno sea. However, the refinement of medicine was completely different. It required extreme precision.
He could control one wisp of Heretical God Fire Seed easily. If he attempted two, it would be somewhat unstable.
The fire consumed the Yang Bizarre Flower, emitting the medicinal essence. The true extraction and collection of the medicinal essence did not rely on Yi Yun's mental strength, but on the Purple Crystal Origins.
The Purple Crystal Origins was Yi Yun's most precious divine treasure. It had helped Yi Yun survive the most difficult period when he first began practicing martial arts. And in the Primordial Empyrean Heaven and Azure Wood Great World, Yi Yun would not have fully gained insight into the Destruction concept or obtained the Azure Wood Divine Tree's recognition, granting him four nine-leaf Dao fruits, were it not for the Purple Crystal.
The Purple Crystal had absolute control over energy. It allowed Yi Yun to condense the Yang Bizarre Flower's medicinal essence in his hand without any effort.
This entire process took less than a minute.
After the Yang Bizarre Flower's medicinal essence was extracted, Yi Yun did not hesitate to throw the second herb—Glazed Interwoven Grass—into the Divine Alchemy Cauldron.
Similarly, in less than a minute, the Glazed Interwoven Grass's medicinal essence was extracted.
Following that, he threw one herb after another into the Divine Alchemy Cauldron. Yi Yun maintained a constant speed, but this only served to stun Dong Shaoqing, who was watching on the side.
Although Dong Shaoqing could not refine medicine, it did not mean he was completely unaware of what the refinement process was.
The extraction of medicinal essence from herbs was the most critical step for typical alchemists. All it took was one tiny mistake, and the herb would turn to ash.
Many alchemists would fail due to this. In actuality, the pill formation process was relatively easier.
Therefore, alchemists would be extremely cautious during the first step.
Dong Shaoqing had never heard, much less seen, someone work with Yi Yun's speed and accuracy.
Why is he so fast? It took just a minute for another herb to be thrown into the cauldron. It was like a farm girl washing vegetables.
Soon, the medicinal essence of every ingredient was extracted.
Following that, under Yi Yun's control, the medicinal essence began fusing together into a pill.
This process required Yi Yun to inject various Dao pattern seals.
He had already been practicing the Desolate Heaven technique since his days in the Ten Thousand Fey Empyrean Heaven. In addition to the Purple Crystal's absolute control over energy, it was not difficult for him to produce seals. Back at Empress Xuan's banquet, Yi Yun had been able to perfectly form seals, impressing Princess White Fox.
One seal after another was produced by Yi Yun without any errors. With the passage of time, the Body Cleansing Pill quickly took form.
Upon seeing this scene, Dong Shaoqing heaved a sigh of relief. Yi Yun's seals were not as ludicrous as his method of extracting medicinal essence, but he was still faster than the typical alchemist.
He estimated the time passed at about twelve hours. The refinement of the Body Cleansing Pill had reached the final stages.
What Dong Shaoqing did not know was that Yi Yun had deliberately slowed down and held back.
Fifteen minutes later, Yi Yun patted the Divine Alchemy Cauldron lightly, causing the lid to fly up as a green beam of light shot out and flew directly into Yi Yun's hand.
Yi Yun spread his palm open, and three exquisite green pills lay in the middle of his palm.
With sufficient ingredients, a typical alchemist would create a cauldron of several pills. However, the materials provided by Dong Shaoqing were limited. In addition to the fact that few Body Cleansing Pills were produced after formation, refining three pills was already near the maximum.
Upon seeing the three Body Cleansing Pills, Dong Shaoqing was overjoyed.
He had previously seen Body Cleansing Pills before. Just one look at the three pills, full in color with patterns shimmering on the surface, and he knew that they were definitely superior Body Cleansing Pills.
He would’ve already been satisfied if there was only one, pleasantly surprised if there were two. He never even thought of getting three.
"Take them all."
Yi Yun took out a jade box and placed the three pills into it.
"Young Master Yi, Grandmaster Yi…I just need one. The other two were refined from Grandmaster Yi's extraordinary alchemy technique. They should be left with you."
Dong Shaoqing was so excited that his form of address had also changed.
Yi Yun shook his head. Although the Body Cleansing Pill was of value to him, it wasn't that great. Furthermore, he had already received the Skydew Grass that was extremely rare. He felt that he had already taken advantage of Dong Shaoqing, so Yi Yun naturally did not want the excess Body Cleansing Pills.