After mastering this time flow rate, Ye Qingcheng became even more proficient in pill refining. After completing each step, she would leave the Space for a while and then re-enter precisely on schedule.
However, as she progressed, the time required became longer, and the control over the heat was extremely strict—sometimes requiring a gentle flame, sometimes a fierce one, and the timing had to be perfectly precise.
Such demanding requirements truly meant that simply possessing an Alchemy Furnace and a Pill recipe was not enough to refine Pills.
Ye Qingcheng suddenly realized what an incredibly powerful cheat she possessed. This helped her overcome all the stringent requirements of refining; she only needed to add the Medicinal materials according to the timing. If she still couldn't succeed now, she might as well go herd cattle.
After going back and forth over a dozen times, she finally added the last Medicinal material. Once the final ingredient was added, the Smart Screen displayed that the furnace could be opened in forty-eight hours.
This meant the furnace could be opened in twenty-four minutes, indicating that this round of pill refining was about to conclude.
It hadn't even taken an hour in total; it was going to end this easily.
Ye Qingcheng calculated that if she were refining outside, ignoring all other demanding conditions, the time alone would consume several days.
For an ordinary person, being unable to sleep well for days would already cause exhaustion, and on top of that, they would need precise timing and exact heat control. This isn't a fantasy world where things like the True Fire of Samadhi exist; controlling the heat truly required adding firewood piece by piece—how could that be easy?
However, her smart Alchemy Furnace didn't require considering any of that; it didn't burn firewood, everything was intelligently operated, much like the difference between a traditional iron wok and an electric frying pan.
One requires burning wood, while the other uses electricity to adjust settings; the results are immediate.
After adding the last Medicinal material, she exited the Space. Opening the door, she smelled the aroma of Chicken meat and couldn't help but walk toward the kitchen.
The two little girls were busy, one tending the fire and the other chopping vegetables.
"Miss, are you hungry? It will be ready soon. Just let these potatoes cook a little longer and they can be served! This slave girl isn't very skilled at cooking, so the taste might be slightly off! But this slave girl will go learn later; I will definitely master it!" The Ugly Girl, who had been renamed Luoluo, saw Ye Qingcheng approaching and quickly started speaking with a small, eager mouth.
Ye Qingcheng could understand why her cooking skills were poor; where would a Little beggar learn to cook? Being able to cook food thoroughly to eat was already quite good for her.
"It's fine, take your time! I'm not hungry yet!" Although Ye Qingcheng said she wasn't hungry, her nose couldn't help but inhale; the aroma of Chicken meat seemed to grow stronger.
"Remember to cook plenty of rice! Enough for three people!" Ye Qingcheng emphasized once more before turning and leaving the kitchen.
The twenty-four minutes passed quickly. She didn't linger elsewhere, quickly returning to her room, locking the door, and entering the Space. Before long, the time was up.
She watched the Smart Screen without blinking, and with a ding, the System's voice sounded.
"This pill refining is complete! Welcome to use our services again!"
Following the sound, the lid of the Alchemy Furnace did not open; instead, the words "retrieve" on the Smart Screen were flashing yellow and blue.
Ye Qingcheng walked forward and pressed it directly. A slot resembling a square dark compartment next to the Smart Screen slid open.
Ye Qingcheng eagerly stepped forward to look, and then she couldn't take her eyes away.
The small dispensing port that popped out was a square drawer as smooth as white jade, inside which lay ten—one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten... ten skin-colored pearls.
They weren't very large, about the size of pomegranate seeds, round, glistening, skin-colored Meatballs. Ye Qingcheng counted them; there were exactly ten.
She immediately couldn't bear to part with them. This Muscle Regeneration Pill was too beautiful! It truly resembled pearls, and when she touched them, they had a hard texture.
After admiring them for a while, she turned around, found the box that had previously held the Ice Muscle Fruit, and dumped all ten Muscle Regeneration Pills into it before closing the lid.
After finishing all that, sounds came from the two little girls outside; it seemed the meal was ready.
Ye Qingcheng delayed no longer. Although she still had the Medicinal materials for the Bone Regeneration Pill, she didn't have time to refine now. She carefully placed the Muscle Regeneration Pills on her medicine rack and then exited the Space.
Indeed, the two little girls had come to call her for dinner. She opened the door and walked out.
The table was set with only one set of bowls and chopsticks and the dishes. Looking at the bowl, it seemed almost the entire Chicken had been served.
Ye Qingcheng walked over and sat down, and Luoluo quickly came forward to serve her rice.
The white rice cooked by the two of them was quite good. Ye Qingcheng nodded. Looking at the stewed Chicken, the color was also quite nice. She wasn't picky; given the circumstances, as long as she had meat to eat, she wouldn't fuss over the taste. Taoran Residence's food was delicious, but the price was high.
"You two go get your rice too! We'll eat together!" Ye Qingcheng looked at the two girls standing nearby.
"Miss, you eat first! We can just eat in the kitchen later!" Luoluo quickly replied.
Qingluo also nodded. She was naturally quiet, and having been beaten today, her body ached, making her even less inclined to speak.
"I told you to come eat, so come eat! There's no need to be so formal here! If we return to the Capital City later, it won't be too late to re-establish the rules! Go!" Ye Qingcheng was already drooling slightly and quickly issued a firm command.
"Thank you, Miss!" The two girls, with tears in their eyes, smiled and ran to the kitchen to get bowls and chopsticks, returning with a large bowl of potatoes.
Originally, this was meant for them to eat themselves; not a single piece of Chicken meat had been saved for them.
"Tomorrow you will follow me to town, and while we're there, we can send some food and drink to your younger sisters!" Ye Qingcheng worried that the two girls would keep thinking about the others and couldn't rest assured. She instructed them, then began eating, not forgetting to give the two girls pieces of meat.
Sometimes she was very carefree, and sometimes very thoughtful, especially good at reading people's expressions; it wasn't hard to see that beneath the joy of the two girls, there was a faint sadness.
That was undoubtedly worry for those little sprouts; they had no other family.
The two girls were extremely excited. They had been worried all afternoon about the six Little girls who chased the Carriage, wondering if they could take care of themselves.
Now that the Miss said they could go see them tomorrow and even bring them food and drink, it felt like a dream to the two of them.
The three of them ate dinner harmoniously, deeply moved.
Meanwhile, Jun Mochen's group was enduring wind and dew, rushing their journey, not even stopping at post stations.
"Master, can your Health withstand this? Perhaps we should rest for a bit?" Xiao Ye asked worriedly, riding his horse beside the dark purple Carriage and cupping his fist.
"It's fine! Hurry up and travel!" Jun Mochen spoke in a deep voice, devoid of any emotion.
One of the Seven Great Guards remained in the Great Northwest, and another was heavily injured in the Carriage behind. The remaining five were riding horses around Jun Mochen's Carriage.
The more than one hundred Elite Guards accompanying them followed at the rear of the procession.
Jun Mochen had left secretly when he departed, but he was returning openly and rushing the journey; no one knew what scheme he was plotting.