Chapter 191: Sword Dao Pill Refinement
Song Yan drew the qilin scales from his cosmos bag, then rummaged through the corners for a few pieces of cloud iron. Cloud iron was a common forging material used in crafting and repairing magical artifacts.
These supplies had all been purchased with the merit points remaining after he had exchanged everything for the Yangyang Pill during the Changping mission.
He cast a piece of cloud iron and a qilin scale into the fire pool.
The moment the cloud iron entered the pool, it dissolved at a speed visible to the naked eye.
It transformed into a seething stream of molten metal that flowed into the body of the Sword Spirit Linjun.
At the same time, a wisp of black impurity was precipitated from the sword’s tip.
The qilin scale melted more slowly, but some effect was already discernible.
Song Yan was both astonished and delighted.
This fire pool’s efficacy far exceeded his expectations. Not only could it repair damage to the sword, it could also automatically melt and refine forging materials.
He was no longer frugal. He took out all the cloud iron he had previously exchanged and cast it into the fire pool, one piece after another.
Cloud iron was commonplace. When it ran out, he could simply go buy more at the Artifact Refining Workshop.
But qilin scales could not be squandered.
However, judging by the current ratio of melting speed in the fire pool, the supply should prove sufficient.
To reforge the body of Sword Spirit Linjun…
If it could be entirely reforged with cloud iron, supplemented by two qilin scales, Sword Spirit Linjun would leap to become a superior-grade magical artifact.
Had he possessed any knowledge of artifact refining techniques, he might have incorporated additional forging materials, and perhaps even reached the might of a supreme-grade magical artifact.
“This Burning Ruin Karmic Fire—I chose well indeed.”
Rather than idly waiting through the forging process, Song Yan departed from the Twin Jade Realm.
Sword qi converged, and a streak of sword light flew from the case behind him, hovering before his eyes.
Unlike the solemn wind and thunder of before, this streak of sword light bore a trace of blazing spirit flame.
“Mm…”
Upon careful examination, compared to the wind-thunder essence, the Burning Ruin Karmic Fire seemed capable of enhancing the destructive power of the sword projection.
In terms of speed, however, it fell slightly short.
He casually dispersed the sword projection, and a vast emptiness surged through him.
Song Yan realized—with no certainty whether it was from refining the Burning Ruin Karmic Fire, or from using the fire pool within the Twin Jade Realm to forge his flying sword—
His spiritual energy and sword qi had now nearly run dry.
He hastily arranged a Minor Spirit Gathering Formation, drew out spirit stones, and slowly began to recover.
…
Several hours later, the spiritual qi within his body had recovered to roughly seventy or eighty percent.
Song Yan finally mustered the energy to begin studying the “Thousand Pill Formulas.”
The author of this text appeared to have been nothing more than a pill-tending boy in some immortal sect, assigned to watch over the pill furnace for a certain “senior.”
He called himself “Chen Yi,” and of the “senior” he served, he dared not record the name in his writings.
He said only that this senior’s alchemy was “unmatched under heaven.”
“What bold words…”
The longer Song Yan spent in the cultivation world, the more insignificant he felt.
Upon encountering such a description, he could only think that this “Chen Yi” gentleman rather underestimated the heroes of the world.
The path of alchemy was vast and profound. Without an enormous accumulation of resources, it was exceedingly difficult to achieve anything of note.
The Qi Nourishing Pills he had previously refined were, in truth, rather trivial affairs.
Now, intent upon genuinely resuming his study of the Dao of Pills, he naturally placed himself in the humblest of postures.
He would treat himself as though he had never learned alchemy at all.
Many factors influenced pill refinement.
But the three most critical were materials, pill fire, and divine sense. Each type of pill possessed its own formula—the crystallization of countless predecessors who had, through experimentation and exploration, come to understand the medicinal properties of spirit herbs.
Some materials of similar nature could be substituted for one another, though the resulting pills would differ subtly in effect.
The Awakening Spirit Pill and the Yangyang Pill, for instance, were both realm-breaking pills, yet their effects differed.
The distinction was considerable enough that they bore separate names entirely.
Divine sense influenced every facet of pill refinement. The control of fire intensity and timing could directly affect the success rate of pill formation.
All of this was bound to the strength of one’s divine sense.
In the foundational alchemy texts Song Yan had previously studied, the pill furnace and the flame were considered equally vital components.
Yet within the “Thousand Pill Formulas,” they were barely mentioned at all.
For this was, by its very nature, a treatise on unorthodox alchemy—a “heretical path.”
Senior Chen Yi wrote in his text: “When an alchemist has fully comprehended the medicinal properties, the proportions, and the principles of pill formation…”
“Then whether by means of fire, thunder, sword qi, or killing intent—”
“So long as one can strip away the impurities of the herbs and extract the essence required for pill refinement, then the greatest factor determining whether a pill forms, and the quality of that pill, is nothing other than divine sense.”
Setting aside methods involving thunder, water, and the like for the moment, Song Yan located the section on “sword qi alchemy” within the “Thousand Pill Formulas.”
To his surprise, this rather niche area of alchemical research constituted the largest portion of the entire text.
At the opening of this section was a brief anecdote.
It told of a certain sword cultivator friend of the senior whose alchemy was unmatched under heaven—a man who was himself a towering figure in the cultivation world.
For a time, this sword cultivator senior would visit the alchemist senior for casual conversation.
The sword cultivator mentioned that among his disciples, there was one who greatly desired to study the Dao of Pills. This disciple possessed powerful divine sense and remarkable cultivation talent.
Yet the flaw lay in the fact that she understood nothing whatsoever of medicinal properties and pharmacology.
No matter how she tried, she simply could not grasp it.
A cultivator of extraordinary talent and keen comprehension, when confronted with alchemy, was reduced to a stubborn blockhead.
The sword cultivator senior thought that since he happened to have a friend whose alchemy was renowned throughout the world, he might as well call upon him to inquire into the cause.
The alchemist senior said: “If her divine sense is not weak, then memorizing pharmacological principles should pose no difficulty.”
“However, most sword cultivators are rather single-minded. The problem may lie in the process of controlling pill fire with spiritual energy during refinement.”
“The means of controlling spiritual energy differ entirely from the means of wielding sword qi.”
The sword cultivator senior sighed softly: “It seems my disciple will find it difficult to become an alchemist.”
“Not necessarily.” The alchemist senior shook his head. “Perhaps we could try replacing spiritual energy entirely with sword qi for pill refinement.”
Thus was born the conception and discussion of “sword qi alchemy” between the two seniors.
Later, the disciple whom the sword cultivator senior had called the “alchemy blockhead” came to visit in person, and at the alchemist senior’s dwelling, she painstakingly devoted herself to mastering the method of sword qi alchemy.
“Chen Yi” took great interest in this as well, and the two of them studied and researched together.
From time to time, the alchemist senior would offer his guidance. After long and painstaking effort, they finally arrived at a relatively complete method.
Having confirmed that the technique would not mislead others, and having obtained the approval of both seniors, Chen Yi set brush to paper and compiled this “Thousand Pill Formulas.”
Song Yan had never imagined that within an alchemy text, he might catch a glimpse of the shadows of ancient sword cultivator seniors.
Yet upon reflection, it was not entirely coincidental.
After all, had he not been a sword cultivator himself, he would never have felt any interest in such a heterodox text.
Much less would he have squandered a precious opportunity to exchange for it from the fourth-floor collection.
(End of Chapter)