If Lu Heng hadn’t wanted to refine the “beast power pill,” he wouldn’t have bothered with it.
Fortunately, wood generates fire, and the speed at which Lu Heng’s Azure Wood Body absorbed Dou Zhi Qi was quite good.
After a good while, the ironwood root was slowly refined by the flames, and a black liquid gradually seeped out.
Step one, successfully refined the ironwood root!
However, this was only the beginning.
For the next five days, Lu Heng practically became a wild man.
Except for meals and necessary rest, he almost never left the side of the Medicine Cauldron.
Failure.
Failure.
Still failure.
Although his theoretical knowledge was perfect, the actual hands-on operation was far more difficult than Lu Heng had imagined.
The medicinal properties of the ironwood root were extremely violent; the slightest carelessness would cause the furnace to explode.
Although the explosion wasn’t powerful, the black smoke was very unpleasant for Lu Heng.
Furthermore, his total amount of Qi was simply too small.
Refining a single batch of pills required several instances of delicate flame manipulation in the middle of the process.
On the first day, he blew up the furnace three times, wasting three ironwood roots.
On the second day, he barely managed to extract the medicinal liquid, but the heat was too high during the Fusion stage, destroying the balance of the Medicinal Pill.
On the third day, Lu Heng’s brow was furrowed; the continuous failures were a test of his patience and a blow to his heart.
Seeing this, Ya Fei felt quite distressed and tried to persuade Lu Heng to take it slow several times.
But Lu Heng’s stubbornness had also flared up.
Since it was an Opportunity given by the Book of Destiny, there was no reason he couldn’t handle a mere first-grade pill!
Finally, it reached the evening of the fifth day.
The setting sun shone through the window onto the messy floor of the room.
Black medicinal dregs and dust were everywhere.
Lu Heng had a head of messy hair, and his face was streaked with black and white, looking just like a little miner who had just crawled out of a coal pit.
But his eyes were terrifyingly bright.
“Condense!”
With a low shout, Lu Heng slapped his hands together, and the flames inside the Medicine Cauldron changed once more, fiercely compressing the several clumps of medicinal liquid floating in the center.
At that moment, the Medicine Cauldron emitted a slight hum.
A medicinal fragrance that made one’s blood boil emanated from the Medicine Cauldron.
Lu Heng circulated his Qi, and the Medicine Cauldron opened instantly, with a dark red Medicinal Pill flying out from within.
He grabbed the beast power pill, feeling the violent energy within it ready to burst out, and the corners of his mouth finally curled up.
“I did it!”
“Just smelling this medicinal fragrance makes my blood boil.
If I were to consume it, it would definitely be powerful!”
Lu Heng grabbed a rag to wipe his face, carefully put the pill into a jade bottle, pushed open the door, and rushed out.
This good news must definitely be shared with Sister Ya Fei first!
…The second floor of the Mite’er Auction House was the core of power for the entire Auction House.
The spacious room was covered with thick red velvet carpet, and the air was filled with a faint, soothing incense.
Ya Fei leaned lazily against the back of her sandalwood chair, flipping through the account books from the past few weeks.
Her red lips parted slightly, very satisfied with the numbers on the ledger.
The situation in Wutan City had been quite interesting lately.
The Xiao Family’s prestige had surged because of that nine-year-old Genius, Xiao Yan, who was at the eighth stage of Dou Zhi Qi, faintly surpassing the Jia Lie Family and the Ao Ba Family.
However, Xiao Zhan acted uprightly; although his strength had increased, he hadn’t used any underhanded monopoly tactics in the business world, and the tripartite situation still maintained a delicate balance.
For the Mite’er Auction House, this was the best news.
As long as no one dominated, the Auction House could sit securely and play both sides.
Closing the ledger, Ya Fei stretched, her graceful curves fully revealed under her tight-fitting brocade robe.
But when her gaze swept across the cup of tea at the corner of the table that had already gone cold, those peach blossom eyes that were always smiling held a bit more worry.
“It’s been five days.”
Nearby, Gu Ni was identifying a batch of medicinal herbs that had just been collected.
Hearing this, he shook his head helplessly.
“Is Young Miss worried about Lu Heng?”
“That little fellow has locked himself in his room for five days, not even stepping out except to eat.”
Ya Fei sighed, her delicate brows slightly furrowed.
“The maid who delivered the food said the room was full of black smoke; I don’t know if he’s choking in there.
Uncle Gu Ni, do you think I’m letting him have his way too much?”
Gu Ni stroked his beard, recalling the scene he had witnessed in the refining room that day.
That nine-year-old boy’s unnervingly experienced way of handling medicinal herbs, and those eyes that were frighteningly steady.
“Young Miss, you are just letting your concern cloud your judgment.” Gu Ni smiled, his tone certain.
“That kid Lu Heng knows what he’s doing.
Looking at his ruthlessness and that focused expression, he’s definitely not the type to blindly run into a dead end.
Although a first-grade pill is difficult to refine, it won’t trap him.”
“And…”
Gu Ni paused and lamented,
“Geniuses are always a bit obsessive.
If he followed the rules, how could he have become a Dou Zhe at nine and even a First-Grade Alchemist?”
Hearing this, Ya Fei’s expression softened slightly, and she gave a self-deprecating laugh.
“True, I was too anxious.
It’s probably because I haven’t seen him for a few days, so I feel a bit empty inside.”
Just as she finished speaking, the heavy wooden door of the office was suddenly pushed open from the outside.
Bang!
The commotion was so loud that the medicinal herbs in Gu Ni’s hands almost dropped.
The two of them turned their heads together to look.
Only to see a young boy standing at the door.
Lu Heng’s current image was simply unbearable to look at; his originally clean brocade clothes were covered in black and gray medicinal dregs, and his messy hair looked like a bird’s nest.
That delicate little face was even blackened by smoke, leaving only a row of white teeth and those bright eyes.
“Sister Ya Fei!
Great Master Gu Ni!”
Lu Heng tightly gripped that white jade bottle as if he were holding some rare treasure, and dashed in, his voice trembling slightly with excitement:
“I’ve refined it!”
Ya Fei was stunned for a moment, then reacted.
She didn’t mind Lu Heng’s dirtiness at all, directly standing up from her chair and walking over to him in a few steps.
A scent mixed with burnt smell and sweat wafted over, but Ya Fei acted as if she couldn’t smell it, pulling a silk handkerchief embroidered with delicate orchids from her sleeve.
“Speak slowly, why are you running so fast?”
Ya Fei bent down, her movements gentle as she wiped the black ash from Lu Heng’s face.
The expensive silk handkerchief was instantly stained like a rag, yet she only carefully wiped around Lu Heng’s eyes and nose, her tone full of doting and distress:
“Look at this face full of ash; someone who didn’t know better would think you went to dig coal.”
Lu Heng let Ya Fei wipe his face, the faint fragrance from her body lingering at the tip of his nose, and the nerves that had been tense for five days instantly relaxed.
He chuckled and handed the jade bottle between the two of them.
“It’s worth it, Sister Ya Fei, look!”
Gu Ni had long been unable to contain his curiosity and leaned over, taking the jade bottle from Lu Heng’s hand.
He pulled the stopper.
A rich and violent medicinal fragrance instantly diffused, and the air in the entire office seemed to become a few degrees hotter.
“This scent…”
Gu Ni’s expression changed as he poured out a dark red Medicinal Pill into his palm.
The pill was round and full, its surface faintly gleaming; the feeling of blood surging it produced made even him, a Second-Grade Alchemist, feel startled.