"Uncle Master Zhao, you’ve misunderstood my intentions," said Lin Chen.
Lin Chen had not anticipated such a strong reaction from Zhao Rushi.
But upon further thought, he realized that Zhao Rushi must have misunderstood him—did she think he was a fraud?
Zhao Rushi had originally intended to expel Lin Chen from the Alchemy Room, but at that moment, Wang Yilin stepped forward, placing herself between them.
As Zhao Rushi’s most cherished disciple, Wang Yilin understood her master’s temperament better than anyone.
Having shielded Lin Chen, she looked up at Zhao Rushi, knowing that her master’s unpleasant attitude was a result of frustration.
However, Wang Yilin didn’t know that Zhao Rushi’s irritation stemmed not only from her failure to refine the elixir but also from her concern that getting too close to Lin Chen might lead to being deceived by him.
"Master, please tell Lin Chen the pill recipe. He knows how to refine elixirs too," Wang Yilin said eagerly, trying to ease her master’s worries.
Upon hearing Wang Yilin’s words, Zhao Rushi was momentarily stunned, then she calmed down.
She had never heard that someone from Jade Bird Peak could also practice alchemy, and even if Lin Chen knew alchemy, he was merely a martial artist at the Seventh Level of the Spirit Gathering Realm—how much could he really know about the Way of Alchemy?
However, since Lin Chen had come all this way and Wang Yilin had spoken on his behalf, Zhao Rushi reluctantly relayed the pill recipe for the Taiqing Longwu Pill as well as the methods she had used in her previous two attempts to refine it.
Upon hearing this, Lin Chen combined it with his own insights and pointed out the flaws in Zhao Rushi’s previous attempts at refining the elixir.
Firstly, Zhao Rushi did not control the fire temperature properly when refining the herbal materials; secondly, her refining speed was too slow, causing some of the medicinal efficacy to dissipate and making it insufficient to form the core, resulting in the failure of the refinement process.
Zhao Rushi was shocked when Lin Chen pinpointed these errors and deficiencies in her alchemy. She looked at him with newfound respect.
She admitted that she had underestimated Lin Chen. By pointing out these mistakes in her alchemy, it was evident that Lin Chen’s proficiency in alchemy might not be inferior to hers.
When Lin Chen cultivated that day, he triggered a vision between heaven and earth, developing an Ancient Divine Body. Zhao Rushi knew that Lin Chen had a strong cultivation talent and that his physique was a rare find in a thousand years.
But she had not expected that Lin Chen would also possess such talent in alchemy.
"Ah, I was aware of the issues you mentioned, but controlling the temperature of the fire and managing the medicinal liquid during alchemy is not so simple. The process is full of changes. To eliminate impurities and quickly solidify the medicinal liquid to prevent the loss of medicinal efficacy is too difficult!" Zhao Rushi said, resting her head in her hands, expressing the difficulties of the alchemical process. Her ability was that of a Third Grade Pharmacist, and she was striving to refine a Fourth-Grade Elixir to detoxify Yang Yuemin; her capabilities were limited.
Lin Chen nodded in agreement after listening to Zhao Rushi. Even if he were to refine a Fourth-Grade Elixir, even with the help of the Pill Spirit Array, the success rate would probably not exceed ten percent, indicating the difficulty of refining a Fourth-Grade Elixir.
"Uncle Master, senior sister, please wait a moment for me. I have a way to increase the success rate of alchemy."
After pondering for a while, Lin Chen suddenly came up with an idea and hurried away.
A short while later, equal to the time it takes for one incense stick to burn, Lin Chen returned, taking various special stones and skeletal structures out of his Spatial Ring.
"Nephew, what are you planning to do?"
Zhao Rushi was completely perplexed upon seeing the items Lin Chen laid out, secretly wondering if this guy intended to occupy her alchemy room.
"I’m setting up a formation, using it to create favorable conditions to assist Uncle Master Zhao in alchemy." ɴᴇᴡ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀʀᴇ ᴘᴜʙʟɪsʜᴇᴅ ᴏɴ NoveI-Fire.ɴet
As Lin Chen spoke, he continued to arrange various materials.
Watching Lin Chen set up the materials for the formation with such finesse, Zhao Rushi was taken aback.
She had heard of formations that assisted in alchemy, a technique set up by Formation Masters that could help alchemists better control the flame during the pill refining process, and even high-grade formations that could create the necessary environment for forming pills.
Some high-grade elixirs have specific attributes, for example, the Lightning Avoidance Pill has a Wood Attribute, the Streaming Flame Burst Pill has a Fire Attribute, and the Wind Travel Pill has a Wind Attribute; these pills need to absorb the corresponding attributes when they take shape.
Hence, before refining elixirs, alchemists would look for a special environment suitable for pill formation; but in such environments, the alchemist’s safety could be compromised, which is where the formations set up by Formation Masters come into play.
Could it be that the formation Lin Chen is setting up is one of those?
The Taiqing Longwu Pill does not require any special attributes, and neither does Zhao Rushi currently need them. What she needs is to conserve her spiritual power, accelerate the extraction of herbal materials, remove impurities, speed up the maturation of the pills to retain their medicinal effect.
In plain terms, it means that Zhao Rushi’s alchemy skills are not enough, and she needs help in mastering the flame.
Typically, formations that assist in alchemy will inevitably have this effect.
But such formations are at least Second Tier, could it be that Lin Chen is also a Second-Rank Spirit Array Master?
While Zhao Rushi was in shock, Lin Chen had already finished setting up the formation.
This formation was not as complex as the Pill Spirit Array that Lin Chen had set up in his residence, so it was naturally much easier to arrange.
After arranging the Spiritual Formation, Lin Chen cast a glance toward Zhao Rushi.
Under the operation of the spirit stones, a beam of light spilled into the pill furnace.
"Uncle Master Zhao, please give it a try."
Lin Chen said, the Fire Control Array he had set up consumed a significant amount of spirit stones, and it could only enhance the alchemist’s fire control abilities by thirty percent, which was already the limit of the alchemy-assisting Spiritual Formation he could arrange at the moment.
Upon seeing this, Zhao Rushi raised her hand, and an Inner Flame blazed in the pill furnace.
Zhao Rushi briefly sensed it and her pupils suddenly widened, her face filled with disbelief. Under the effect of Lin Chen’s Fire Control Array, her ability to control fire had indeed increased by about thirty percent.
With this improvement, she could now be considered a mid-stage Third Grade Pharmacist in terms of fire control.
This greatly increased her confidence in successfully refining the Taiqing Longwu Pill.
Zhao Rushi was overjoyed; in the future, this Fire Control Array would allow her to refine many elixirs that she previously couldn’t due to insufficient skills.
"Lin Chen, where did you learn this formation? Are you also a Formation Master?"