"I had no choice," Li Lin had already anticipated that he couldn't keep yesterday's events hidden from Uncle Jiang, so it wasn't a surprise to him.
"You need to be more cautious now. Don't get yourself killed in confusion and waste the time I've spent teaching you," Uncle Jiang glared at Li Lin, then left the secret chamber without further regard for him.
Li Lin watched Uncle Jiang's retreating figure, then sat down cross-legged with a slight smile in his heart, realizing that Uncle Jiang had specifically come to remind him to be careful.
He took out the Fire Dragon Cauldron from his storage ring, and with a buzzing sound, the cauldron appeared in the chamber, emitting an ancient aura.
Then, Li Lin took out two large bags of medicinal ingredients he had gotten on credit from Tianbao Gate. After some hesitation, he decided to refine the fifty Gantop Pills first, then move on to the Yuan Enhancing Pills.
The Yuan Enhancing Pill, a second-grade medicinal pill, was something Li Lin had no confidence in refining yet. He was unsure if he could successfully refine a second-grade pill, so he decided to refine the Gantop Pills first to get a feel for it, which he thought might help with the eventual refinement of the Yuan Enhancing Pills.
With a gesture, spiritual power flowed from his hand into the Fire Dragon Cauldron, instantly conjuring a tangible flame inside. Li Lin began by processing Three-Star Grass and Five-Leaf Lotus, followed by Vitality Grass, Dew Condense Powder, and other ingredients...
Refining Gantop Pills was becoming increasingly familiar to Li Lin, having successfully done so numerous times without any accidents since the initial mishap.
Even though he was very familiar with the process now, Li Lin remained extremely cautious. Pill refining did not tolerate even the slightest carelessness.
By this point, Li Lin could easily refine a Gantop Pill in one go, with the spiritual energy in the pill significantly stronger than when he first started.
The refining process had also become much faster. Each time he exhausted his energy and took time to recuperate, Li Lin could feel his spiritual energy becoming denser.
Approximately an hour and a half later, a pill exuding a rich fragrance flew out of the Fire Dragon Cauldron and was caught by Li Lin.
"Fifty gold coins secured, let's continue," Li Lin smiled satisfactorily and resumed refining Gantop Pills.
After refining the second Gantop Pill, Li Lin took time to recuperate due to the substantial consumption of his spiritual energy, then continued with the pill refinement.
As time passed slowly, life within the Li family remained as usual without much disturbance. However, the tales of the Li family's good-for-nothing young master had stirred up much discussion among the servants, surprising everyone and causing some to worry for themselves.
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Meanwhile, Li Lin continued refining pills in the secret chamber of the firewood room. Five days had passed in the blink of an eye, with the chamber heated intensely by the roaring flames, illuminating the space brightly.
"Bang!"
The lid of the cauldron was lifted, and another pill was collected by Li Lin, its rich medicinal fragrance filling the entire secret chamber, making one feel refreshed and delighted.
"The fiftieth pill, finally a success," Li Lin looked at the pill in his hand and smiled, saying that after five days of continuous refining, he had finally managed to produce fifty Gantop Pills.
Fifty Gantop Pills, two thousand five hundred gold coins. Subtracting the cost, he would make a substantial profit, but it was still far from enough to pay off his debt.
Li Lin gave a wry smile, then put away the Gantop Pills and took out the remaining two batches of ingredients needed for refining the Yuan Enhancing Pills. Now, it was time for him to attempt making a second-grade medicinal pill.
After taking a moment to regulate his breathing and prepare, Li Lin formed hand seals, and spiritual energy flowed into the Fire Dragon Cauldron. The energy instantly transformed into tangible flames, and the cauldron immediately roared with intense heat.
"Bai Zhu Grass, Seven Star Leaf." Li Lin meticulously added each herb into the Fire Dragon Cauldron, precisely controlling the refinement process with his acute sense of spiritual power.
Refining a second-grade medicinal pill was nerve-wracking for Li Lin. Second-grade pills were fundamentally different from first-grade ones and much more difficult to make.
As time slowly passed, Li Lin carefully added other ingredients for refinement, daring not to be careless. His hand seals constantly changed, transforming each herb into the spiritual liquid required for the Yuan Enhancing Pill.
This process required a massive amount of spiritual power. Li Lin's mind rapidly drained of spiritual energy, but fortunately, his spiritual power was no longer as weak as it once was.
Inside the Fire Dragon Cauldron, the herbs were incinerated into ashes by the flames, while the essence of the herbs turned into spiritual liquid and was collected to the side.
Li Lin controlled the intensity of the flames according to the jade slip instructions from Uncle Jiang. The temperature of the flames could not be too high or too low and had to be just right.
By now, Li Lin had become somewhat proficient in controlling the flames to achieve this.
"All ingredients have been refined." After finally completely refining the materials for the Yuan Enhancing Pill, Li Lin let out a breath, his Dantian sank as he felt the spiritual power in his mind, then a flash of brilliance shot from his eyes, and with a change of hand seals, the flames in the Fire Dragon Cauldron surged once more.
Inside the cauldron, nearly twenty types of herbal spiritual liquids slowly merged under the wrap of the flames.
During this fusion, Li Lin felt his spiritual power depleting at a terrifying rate. This blending required a precise control, a sensation Li Lin couldn't fully describe at the moment. It seemed to be a power transformed from spiritual energy, which his own Qi could also transform into, though not as massively as spiritual power.
Li Lin guessed that this sensing power might be his soul power, which seemed especially crucial in the fusion of the spiritual liquids.
Time passed again, and the medicinal fragrance within the Fire Dragon Cauldron became increasingly intense, while Li Lin's complexion grew paler, and beads of sweat the size of beans streamed down his forehead.
"Damn, this consumption is terrifying." Li Lin frowned, the expenditure of refining a second-grade medicinal pill was even more daunting than he had imagined, and he was beginning to feel overwhelmed.
If he didn't persevere now, the effort put into refining the Yuan Enhancing Pill would be wasted, something Li Lin was loath to see. Gritting his teeth, he formed the hand seals and directed the surge of spiritual power from his mind.