Chapter 39: Respect
Chen Xiang and the Southern Martial Empire’s Dan King were going to have an alchemy competition! Those tens of alchemists present were so surprised that their jaws were touching the ground. Chen Luzhong knew Chen Xiang’s talent was very high in alchemy, but thought he was still too tender to challenge a Dan King.
However, no matter what the bet offered by Chen Xiang was too enticing. In the mortal world, the Spirit Qi was relatively which was why spirit herbs were very rare. This was also why alchemists in the mortal world could not resist the temptation of rare and precious spirit herbs.
Meng Bo looked up and bursted into laughter. “Hahaha! With that being the case, this old man will gladly accompany you! If I lose, I’ll give you my Profound Yang alchemy furnace!”
Profound Yang alchemy furnace! This was a very famous furnace, rumor had it that Meng Bo chance upon it, said to be made completely up of the precious Profound Yang Stone, it was also said there was something mystical about this furnace, and Meng Bo had such great achievements in alchemy due this special furnace.
The gazes of these alchemists were full of envy as Meng Bo took out a fiery red alchemy furnace. This particular alchemy furnace was small and exquisite, seemingly like a beautifully polished crimson gem. There were many fine patterns and carvings on the outside, and one could tell just at a glance it was an extraordinary object and definitely not refined out by someone from the mortal world.
“If we are competing in dan rank, then I will absolutely lose. To be fair, the most I can refine is the High-Grade Mortal Level Aura Qi Dan!”
This was the only way Chen Xiang had any chance of winning. At the moment, he was only able to refine High-Grade Mortal Level Dans.
The Aura Qi Dan was a great help to those in the 6th level of the Mortal Martial Realm. As the 7th Level of the Mortal Martial Realm was the True Aura Realm. At this state, one was able to transform True Qi into Aura. After taking the Aura Qi Dan, it would help those in the 6th level of the Mortal Martial Realm by familiarizing themselves with the Qi Aura. Meanwhile, those in the 7th level of the Mortal Realm Realm would take in the energy to strengthen their True Qi, making it much quicker and smoother to transform their True Qi into Aura as well as quickly make themselves stronger.
“No problem, when do we begin?” Meng Bo readily agreed. In his eyes, regardless of how talented Chen Xiang was, he was still only a little devil. It was absolutely impossible for him to win. If his dan’s quality was better than Meng Bo’s, then he would be sincerely convinced about his defeat.
“We can start right now. Each of us is responsible for their own herbs. If you don’t have them, then I will wait for you get some so you will not fall behind.” Chen Xiang declared. For more than a month he had been constantly learning how to refine other dans. He had also refined the Aura Qi Dan several times. After a few failures at the start, he understood the essentials like the back of his hand and had yet to fail again.
“Of course I have the herbs, let’s begin! There are so many alchemists as the judge, so I think the final result would definitely be acceptable by all!” Meng Bo said. At the moment, he was very excited. He had been very jealous of Chen Xiang for possessing Metal Spirit Fruits. Because Meng Bo had owed the Yao Family a favour, he agreed to come here and cause a ruckus.
To Meng Bo’s surprise, Chen Xiang was a very young aggressive brat. He had even proposed a competition despite the large disparity in their strength. Meng Bo would definitely not pass up such an opportunity for a Metal Spirit Fruit.
Chen Luzhong and the other alchemists were also very thrilled because they would be able to personally witness how the famous Dan King refines dans, which was a very rare opportunity!
Most dan refining methods were similar, but each person’s way of processing the herbs were very different. Moreover, the nature of some herbs were very special. When dealing with these type of herbs, one had to be very cautious. Otherwise, it would lead to failure, and in the worst case scenario the alchemy furnace would explode. In this case, the herbs would also be lost. For Low-Grade Dans, it was bearable, but failure during the refinement of High-Grade Dans would make alchemists distressed over it for a very long time.
At this point, Chen Xiang and Meng Bo simultaneously poured flames into their respective furnaces. Creating an internal heat inside their respective furnaces while simultaneously controlling its temperature carefully. After reaching an optimal state, they placed the herbs inside.
Although the herbs required for the Aura Qi Dan were somewhat expensive. It was still available in the market. The primary herbs were the Yuan Spirit Mud, Earth Aura Grass-Root, Profound Spirit Ginseng and Hellfire Grass. Then, there were some auxiliary herbs such as ginseng older than 50 years of age, Spirit Grass, Shouwu, Earth Spirit Grass and other common spirit herbs.
The difficulty of the Aura Qi Dan lied in processing the Yuan Spirit Mud and the Earth Aura Grass-Root. The Yuan Spirit Mud was basically a sludge containing Spirit Qi, and because it was found in very special places, this kind of sludge was capable of absorbing the Spirit Qi on their own, and subsequently refining it. This grew into a type of Aura that closely resembled Spirit Qi. It was also difficult to bake the Yuan Spirit Mud into herbal powder and herbal Qi, the magnitude of the required flames were extremely high.
Earth Aura Grass-Root was a type of spirit herb grown inside the Yuan Spirit Mud, and its roots were deeply embedded inside the mud. After breeding, it produces 'Earth Aura'. As these kind of roots were very easily burned to nothing and that peculiar aura Qi was also very easily volatilized, thus it was necessary to use divine sense to control the flames and protect them simultaneously.
Chen Xiang in the beginning failed many times because of these two difficulties but afterwards as he grasped the subtle essentials, he was able to easily refine 'Aura Qi Dan'.
At this point, Chen Xiang had a relaxed look while he baked the herbs into herbal powder and herbal spirit Qi. Only by thoroughly refining it was it possible to actually drive out all the impurities otherwise, it would affect the dan quality. For this requirement, Chen Xiang was very strict on himself, so the dans he refined all turned out to be of superior quality.
Every time there were subtle changes in the temperature all around, Chen Luzhong and those alchemist were able to sense it. From time to time, black Qi also emerged from the alchemical furnace as the herbs impurities were released making everyone speechless with admiration. Even Meng Bo was sweating with his eyebrows closely knit together. In contrast, Chen Xiang had a somewhat relaxed look.
Obviously, Meng Bo had not refined the Aura Qi Dan for quite some time. As long as one was out of practice for some time, they would forget the feeling of subtle type of fire control, and will find it difficult to grasp the degree of heat required for each spirit herb.
Suddenly, that ruby like alchemical furnace of Meng Bo’s slightly shook, five or six different colour Spirit Qis rose from it! Meng Bo even made a mistake. Once Dan King actually failed during the refining of a Middle-Grade Mortal Level Dan, all alchemists present felt very disappointed and some even secretly despised this Dan King.
"Granduncle, give him a set of Aura Qi Dan herbs. He will restart his refining process, he still has time to catch-up!" Chen Xiang opened his eyes and lightly said.
Meng Bo was suddenly stunned, suddenly a hint of shame flashed through his eyes, only to see Chen Xiang smilingly say, "During alchemy, because herbs were insufficient, it will result in failure to analyze the deviations! This competition has to be fair as you lacked preparation."
Meng Bo slightly nodded his head. He knew Chen Xiang was slightly stepping down for him, after all, he was a famous alchemist. This error may very well result in tarnishing his reputation and he might even not be able to show his face in public, so he was secretly grateful in his heart.
At this point he understood Chen Xiang was not arrogant like the rumours had depicted. Whether it was people skills or subtlety, he was far better than Yao Tianhua whom Meng Bo had guided several times.
Chen Luzhong had soon brought the herbs. Meng Bo started refining again but this time, he had calmed himself down and no longer underestimated Chen Xiang, Meng Bo began to actually treat Chen Xiang as an opponent of similar skill!
A little time had passed. Though it had been very quiet, Chen Luzhong and the alchemists present knew that within these two alchemical furnace, very complicated processes were undergoing.
Half an hour passed. Finally it was time to cement the dan. At this moment, you could see Chen Xiang come up with some sort of green liquid as he dripped it into one of the openings of the alchemical furnace. This liquid was the Dragon Saliva which had been diluted with water. Su Meiyao told him that if the Dragon Saliva was added during the time of cementing the dan, it would help in improving the quality of the dan.
Chen Xiang opened his eyes and slightly took in a breath. At this time, Meng Bo wiped his forehead as he was also done.