47:

Xiao Feng observed intently as Lianhua poured the vial full of thick, silver liquid onto the metal plate that isolated the interior of the pill furnace from the outside world.

He had expected Lianhua to turn the handle, but instead she reached for a vial encasing a pinkish-red liquid that Xiao Feng was familiar with.

“Wait,” Xiao Feng muttered. “Are you going to mix the two ingredients before they’re inside the pill furnace?” He asked, a hint of concern audible in his voice, for he knew just how powerful the bone marrow of the Stoneback Ursine and the blood extract of a Lesser Shadow Wyrm were as ingredients.

“Why not?” Lianhua challenged, before gesturing to the inert amethyst dragonstone burner. “Until I turn that on, these are just materials that happen to be exceptionally dense in Qi. If that alone were enough to set off a reaction, then the both of us would not be sitting this close to each other,” She replied, a hint of a smile playing upon her lips.

Did she just smile? Xiao Feng wondered, finding no hint of amusement left on Lianhua’s visage as she poured the pinkish-red liquid onto the silver marrow, watching as the color of the new mixture turned a dark orange.

“Hm, that is quite a dark hue,” Lianhua muttered before leaning in and taking in the pungent aroma of the newly formed mixture.

“Is that bad?” Xiao Feng asked.

“Quite the opposite, in fact. These two ingredients are quite high quality. That is not good,” Lianhua analyzed.

“Not good?” Xiao Feng repeated, the question in his tone self-evident.

“The concentration of Qi being higher than the norm will only make this more difficult for me. Do not worry though, I am not so easily deterred,” She declared, before twisting the pill furnace’s handle counter-clockwise.

A gurgling noise followed as the dark orange mixture likely settled at the bottom of the cauldron that made up the lower half of the pill furnace.

“I trust you will be able to defend yourself in case things go catastrophically awry?” Lianhua asked him, as her right hand wrapped around the amethyst dragonstone burner’s knob.

“Don’t worry about me,” Xiao Feng gave her a reassuring nod, to which Lianhua nodded. His accomplishments on the battlefield spoke for themselves.

There’s no way I’m moving an inch from this spot, Xiao Feng thought, knowing the weight of the opportunity that was being offered to him.

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“Do not be startled by minor flares in Qi. Even if the refinement fails, a pill furnace is designed to insulate the fallout across hundreds of attempts. Though this number is admittedly influenced by the ingredients involved in the refinement process,” Lianhua explained, before she finally channeled her Qi through the burner’s metal piping.

Xiao Feng watched the amethyst dragonstone crackled to life. The deep-violet flames that ensconced the stone in an instant captured his attention, but he found himself leaning away a moment later as an astonishing heat crawled up his features.

Jeez, that’s hot, He thought, noting that Lianhua hadn’t exaggerated about the amethyst dragonstone’s increased efficacy.

Xiao Feng shook his head, refocusing his gaze on the pill cauldron the sides of which Lianhua held with cupped hands.

His essence cultivation art revealed the Wind Qi Lianhua was channeling, both to protect herself from the heat conducted by the metal pill furnace and to direct the refinement process.

It took Xiao Feng a few moments to place what he was seeing.

At the bottom of the pill furnace’s cauldron, there were patches of bright Qi abutting each other, only a slight difference in luminescence between the two intensities he managed to identify.

Hovering above it was a faint, but distinctly visible whirlwind of Qi.

Minutes ticked by and Xiao Feng watched as the heat emanating from the amethyst dragonstone burner melted away the abutting boundaries between two different intensities, what he suspected to be the bone marrow and the blood essence. However, the process was not perfect, as lumps of concentrated Qi formed in regions where the flame’s heat fell upon unequally.

Oh, Xiao Feng thought, as the gentle whirlwind of Wind Qi impacted the circumference of the pill furnace. She’s actually kneading the mixture, He thought, struggling to contain the awe as Lianhua gradually decreased the diameter of the gentle whirlwind, scattering most of the lumps that had been formed without disturbing the mixture beyond surface level.

“It is natural for a fire source to be imperfect in refining ingredients,” Lianhua began explanation, not knowing that Xiao Feng already understood her method. “What I am doing is using my Wind Qi to break down concentrations of Qi that might have formed. Do you know why consistency in the refined mixture is important?” Lianhua asked, even as the whirlwind was reduced to a gust of wind near the center, before slowly expanding outwards in the opposite sequence.

“Inconsistencies, or rather, lumps in the mixture might destabilize the entire refinement,” Xiao Feng replied, having seen first hand why that was the case. Trying to force a lumpy mixture into a pill would only result in a powerful explosion.

“Good answer,” Lianhua replied, as sweat beaded her forehead.

Xiao Feng knew that it was not the strain on her Qi that was eating at her stamina, but the focus demanded by the refining process. Unlike him, Lianhua could not see the reactions taking place in real time, she could only try her utmost to sense them.

Five or so minutes later, Xiao Feng watched the whirlwind dissipate, as she deemed the refined mixture ready for the next step. While he was not surprised to find that the refined mixture was cleared of lumps and now flawless, it was still impressive.

Lianhua reached for a Pearl Orchid next, allowing her hands to leave the sides of the pill furnace after adjusting the heat to a far more mellower intensity.

She plucked the Pearl Orchid’s bulb with practiced efficiency, discarding the rest of the flower to the side.

“Now, watch carefully. Every ingredient I add from here on out has a chance of destabilizing the refinement and it only gets progressively harder. A good alchemist must not only act in the way he has been taught, but more importantly, react when things inevitably go awry.”