Chapter 194

Chapter 194: Refining a Memory-Restoring Pill

The next day, Rong Shu, accompanied by Wu Hua, went to the competition area of the alchemy conference to collect the prizes.

When she tucked the Qingjue Six Spirit Flower she had wanted into her storage pouch, Rong Shu finally exhaled in relief.

Because the Qingjue Six Spirit Flower was a relatively niche medicinal herb and the first two alchemists had focused on claiming the famously precious ones, Rong Shu was able to secure it without trouble.

After receiving the herbs, Rong Shu and Wu Hua went to the residence hall of the Alchemists’ Guild branch to look for Xiao Zi An.

Though they had only been apart a single day, Xiao Zi An greeted the two of them with the same impeccable, kindly smile: “Little junior sister, congratulations.”

Rong Shu stepped forward to ask: “Fourth Senior Brother, did you find the eighth-grade spirit herb that was lost at the bottom of the ice lake?”

“Not yet,” Xiao Zi An said with a shake of his head, his tone a little dejected: “A bunch of good-for-nothings. They have searched for so long and still cannot find it.”

At that, Rong Shu took the Ice Crystal Glaze Lotus from her storage pouch and presented it to him: “Fourth Senior Brother, see if this is the herb.”

Xiao Zi An stared, momentarily stunned, and blurted the name before he could stop himself: “Ice Crystal Glaze Lotus?”

Rong Shu gave an apologetic smile and explained: “I found it in a demonic cultivator stronghold. Considering it is a high-grade ice-attribute herb guarded only by cultivators at the Foundation Establishment Stage, I guessed the demonic cultivators had stolen this from the ice lake and stashed it there for the moment.”

After a careful inspection, Xiao Zi An nodded with certainty: “It really is the Ice Crystal Glaze Lotus.”

“Though I have never seen it in person, it matches the description provided by the City Lord’s Manor.”

He looked up quickly to ask: “Little junior sister, which demonic cultivator stronghold was it, and where?”

Rong Shu then told Xiao Zi An the locations of the three demonic cultivator bases she knew.

Xiao Zi An rose at once, ruffled Rong Shu’s hair with a grin, and said: “All right then, your senior brother will go nab the demonic cultivators right now.”

With that, he pressed the Ice Crystal Glaze Lotus back into Rong Shu’s hand and added in a lower voice: “Take it, and do not mention this to anyone. Remember, the genuine Ice Crystal Glaze Lotus was stolen by demonic cultivators.”

“Eat this herb directly. The effect will not be as good as refining it into a pill, but it will prevent unforeseen trouble and keep anyone from holding this over you.”

He lowered his voice even more and arched a brow at her as he said the last part.

At his side, Wu Hua turned his head away, pretending he had not heard their little whispering.

Rong Shu blinked: “Fourth Senior Brother, but what if you cannot find—”

Xiao Zi An’s mouth quirked: “Any failure would be on the City Lord’s Manor. What has that to do with me?”

“Besides, the Ice Crystal Glaze Lotus has already been picked. We cannot just plant it back, can we? Take it. Your ice spiritual root was dug out once, so this will be good for you.”

“I’m off.”

After these instructions, Xiao Zi An departed in a flurry.

At last Rong Shu turned to Wu Hua: “Senior Brother…”

Wu Hua said: “Your fourth senior brother is wealthy. Do not waste your sympathy on him.”

Though he did not say it outright, he tacitly approved of Rong Shu accepting the Ice Crystal Glaze Lotus.

Strictly speaking, the Ice Crystal Glaze Lotus belonged to the Alchemists’ Guild branch, since their people had discovered it first.

As the young master of the Alchemists’ Guild, Xiao Zi An naturally had the right to dispose of his own guild’s property.

“Oh.” Rong Shu was a little surprised to hear Senior Brother Wu Hua say such a thing.

All along, her impression of Senior Brother Wu Hua had been that he was upright to the bone, a man who could not tolerate a grain of sand in his eye.

He had taught Rong Shu not to do evil for selfish desires; that true strength was not for bullying the weak with inflated power, but for restraining oneself and facing justice squarely.

He had also taught Rong Shu that kindness invites bullying; constant retreat and appeasement only wrong oneself and embolden the vicious. The correct approach was to use strength to deter all petty villains.

And now, Rong Shu felt that Senior Brother Wu Hua seemed a bit… different. [So Fourth Senior Brother’s slip of the tongue earlier was true; Senior Brother Wu Hua really does “bully” him.]

Wu Hua said: “You wanted to refine pills. Let us go.”

“Mm.”

And so, with a trip there and back, Rong Shu ended up, openly and legitimately, with an Ice Crystal Glaze Lotus in hand.

Back at the inn, Rong Shu immediately slipped into her room.

Knowing she was about to refine pills, Wu Hua did not disturb her.

Inside, Rong Shu looked at the Ice Crystal Glaze Lotus in her hand and then met the gaze of the Little Hamster perched on her shoulder: “We got the Qingjue Six Spirit Flower, and even picked up this extra one, hehe.”

Any Ice Crystal Glaze Lotus worth a demonic cultivator risking so much to steal was bound to be extraordinary.

But the most important task now was to refine a pill that could restore her memory.

At the conference, Rong Shu had received a total of twenty Qingjue Six Spirit Flowers.

According to the pill recipe, each attempt consumed two Qingjue Six Spirit Flowers. That gave Rong Shu ten tries.

She set the Little Hamster aside, summoned the fire spirit, and had it assist from the side.

Then she laid out the pill furnace, grinding tools, and the other medicinal ingredients.

Following the steps of the recipe, Rong Shu began the preliminary processing of the herbs.

During this time the pill furnace could not sit idle, so it needed to be fired and preheated.

Rong Shu summoned the Earthcore Fallen Lotus Flame to raise the temperature of the pill furnace.

“Fire spirit, watch the pill furnace for me,” she said.

“Hoh hoh!” the fire spirit answered.

“…”

A little later, Rong Shu placed the processed ingredients into the pill furnace one by one, in the prescribed order, and instructed the fire spirit: “Increase the flame by twenty percent.”

“Hoh!”

At the command, the fire spirit flashed into a mass of fire and plunged into the pill furnace.

Rong Shu projected her spiritual sense into the pill furnace, monitoring heat and extraction at every moment.

Drip, drip…

Bang!

A puff of black smoke billowed up. Quick as a blink, Rong Shu extinguished the flame, then sent out a ball of water to envelop the entire pill furnace, coating the outside of the water sphere with a faint metallic sheen.

The violently shuddering pill furnace fell silent within the sphere.

Rong Shu let out a slight breath, though she was a bit vexed: “Failed…”

[It’s fine; there are still nine sets of ingredients.]

Instead of rushing into the next attempt, she first sought out the cause of the blowout.

[The furnace fire was fine… the ground ingredients were fine… the order of addition was fine…]

[Wait, was that a six-hundred-year Qingjue Six Spirit Flower?]

She had found the reason.

The recipe called for five-hundred-year Qingjue Six Spirit Flowers, but one of the two she had just used was nearly six hundred years old. The potency had been too strong, causing the explosion.

[It must have just reached six hundred years, and the picker failed to notice and labeled it as five hundred…]

[Fourth Senior Brother knew I needed Qingjue Six Spirit Flowers. The ages in this batch are all on the high side…]

After repeated checking, Rong Shu selected two Qingjue Six Spirit Flowers that fit the five-hundred-year requirement.