Knife Grinding Shop, in the storeroom.
A pile of medicinal materials looking like garbage was piled behind the curtain at the door. Among the pile of medicinal materials were many precious medicines, such as 100-year ginseng, 50-year forged dragon bones, 60-year drunk fragrant bones, 10-year aged tiger bone wine...
Medicinal materials that could easily exchange for a family's comfort for decades were just piled up like garbage.
"Let me take a look at the pill formula!"
Du ke squatted in front of the pile of medicinal materials. With a thought, he took out the secret book of pill formulas from the Black Cauldron space.
The secret book, no bigger than a palm, recorded dozens of pill formulas. If any one of them spread out, it would be enough to stir up a new round of fighting among the martial artists Du ke had seen.
There's no other reason - pill masters are easy to find, but pill formulas are hard to obtain.
It may be very difficult to nurture a pill master, but creating a pill formula can be as difficult as reaching the heavens.
Because every existing pill formula is the result of generations of people's hard work and perseverance.
There may be great talents in the world who can open up new pill formulas, but such examples are too few.
How many great talents in history have lived a safe life?
After unfolding the secret book, Bai Mao found the formula for the Mercury Blood Silver Marrow Extreme Realm Pill and stared at the small print on the formula with frowning brows. Du ke couldn't help but blink.
"This Extreme Realm Pill actually involves one of the demons in the emperor-minister-assistant-demon system. How interesting!"
According to Du ke's understanding of pill refinement, the order of most pill refinements is only emperor-minister-assistant. But this Extreme Realm Pill contains a demon, which is really amazing.
Du ke studied the formula of this Mercury Blood Silver Marrow Extreme Realm Pill carefully. It not only recorded the medicinal materials needed, but also accurately labeled the amount of each medicinal material, the furnace temperature required, how strong the cauldron fire should be, when to put medicinal materials in, how to observe changes in properties of medicinal materials in cauldron, into what state of change, then determine when next medicinal material could be put in.
In addition to the above, it is also very important to know when forming pill, when pill comes out, success rate, how to determine quality of pill, how to determine success of refinement.
This is also why Du ke dared to give out medicinal materials needed for the formula instead of pretending to be profound, adding several nonexistent medicinal materials in formula to confuse vision and hearing.
With only a list of medicinal materials without other content in formula, even a pure talent would not be able to restore formula without decades of patient research.
And during research process, consumed medicinal materials would also be countless.
Who would be willing to spend huge effort just for an unproven formula?
In addition to above, how to determine potency of pill after successfully forming pill is also extremely important.
If general pill formula has no content on how to determine potency, then it would not be formula at all, because you would not know if what you refined could be consumed.
"Pill potency of three parts looks like white wax, six parts looks like white silver, nine parts more refined than silver..."
As Du ke read word for word, he continued to unfold pill book to look at later description.
These three sentences taught pill refiner clues on how to judge potency of pill. If refined pill looks like white wax, then it has potency of three parts. And so on, six parts potency looks like white silver, nine parts more refined than silver...
As for full ten parts potency, there was only simple one line description.
"Ten parts potency rarely seen, each mercury pill falls on jade tray."
Du ke, who put down secret pill book, swung his tail and stirred up dust, while looking towards pile of medicinal materials in front.
"Hmm, need to review again, can't have any mistakes!"
Du ke picked up secret pill book again and turned it back and forth to review content recorded in it.
To him, with Black Cauldron, no need to worry about practical pill refinement, just need to put in medicinal materials according to steps.
But before starting to refine pill, there are also various preparations that need to be made, such as how to sort medicinal materials, how to judge quality of materials, best time and weather for refining pill for highest success rate...
These are key points that need to be grasped before opening furnace.
After reading entire formula for Mercury Blood Silver Marrow Extreme Realm Pill from secret pill book front to back hundreds of times without missing anything, Du ke finally completely put down pill book.
Bai Mao in front of the cat closed his eyes and pondered, retrieving and combing information from memory.
It is said that after reading a book hundreds of times, its meaning becomes self-evident. After reading pill formula hundreds of times, Du ke may not be able to recite it verbatim, but he did remember it very clearly.
"First need to sort medicinal materials, divide them into five parts following order of emperor-minister-assistant-demon."
Du ke looked towards pile of medicinal materials, and began to dive into them, separating and sorting them into categories.
"There are three emperor medicines - Kunlun Bones, Bloody Stars, Heaven Uniting Gate.
Among them, Kunlun Bones looks like Kunlun jade, with delicate and smooth texture; Bloody Stars red throughout, fruit like stars, smells of rust... Found them, just Heaven Uniting Gate left... Oh, it was here originally."
Du ke talked to himself while picking out three emperor medicines into Black Cauldron space, grouped into one pile.
"Next is minister medicine, total of six types..."
As Bai Mao talked to himself, he rummaged through medicinal materials. This bizarre scene, if others saw it, would inevitably send chills down their spine and get goosebumps.
But in this small courtyard it looked perfectly normal.
An old man with unknown past, weighed down with secrets, shrouded in mysteries like clouds covering the moon; an arrogant cat who could exorcise ghosts and subdue demons; a silly dog full of caution towards the black cat, with simple mind devoted to cultivation and his cat...
And this cat cultivating martial arts, collecting spiritual rhyme to cultivate - even strangest things happening here would not seem out of place.
Du ke sorting medicinal materials kept him busy from morning till afternoon. Not until evening that he finally finished sorting all medicinal materials.
After all it was his first time, needing to search based on appearance of materials memorized, while silently reviewing their medicinal properties in heart - it would be weird if he could go fast.
"Finally done."
Du ke looked at the empty ground in front, and stretched lazily.
"Go eat something, then start refining pill."
Du ke who walked out of storeroom went straight to kitchen, randomly grabbed a few buns to fill his stomach.
He hadn't looked for blood and meat to refine Blood Food Pill yet. Most important now was still his own cultivation, other things could wait.
After hastily eating something, Du ke turned around and returned to storeroom.
As Bai Mao walked through courtyard, old Li watched him through window of his room, with deep unfathomable eyes seemingly thinking about something.
Too excited about refining pills, Du ke naturally had no mind to notice old man.
Gazing at Bai Mao who kicked open storeroom door vigorously before going in, old man also retracted his vision and muttered to himself: "Should I give it to him?"
"If I gave it to him..."
"Forget it, wait a little longer!"
Old man closed window, wavering lights also projected a lonely, desolate figure onto window.
...
Inside storeroom.
There was no sign of Du ke anymore, as if he had never entered storeroom.
But if Qian Sui was here, he would discover this sly cat used Bloodline Divine Ability to hide his figure, curled up in corner of storeroom, doing unknown things.
Du ke who used truly awakened Bloodline Divine Ability to conceal his figure had his consciousness completely immersed in Black Cauldron space.
In two-eared three-legged Black Cauldron, flame burned slowly with no reaction to outside world.
But if anything that could be used for pill refinement was put in, flame inside Black Cauldron would immediately become vigorous.
"Pill book records that best success rate for pill refinement requires full mooon with cauldron bathed in moonlight..."
Du ke looked at flames in cauldron, three portions of emperor medicines already floating, ready to be put into cauldron at any time.
"Although my Black Cauldron can't get moonlight, doesn't mean I don't have a way!"
As Du ke spoke, he also looked towards the space within the Black Cauldron, at the moonlight elixirs as numerous as the stars. Ever since figuring out the relationship between moonlight and the full moon, Du ke would refine moonlight elixirs every night until he was tired to the point of dozing off.
He didn't even know how many moonlight elixirs he had accumulated recently. In any case, there was more than enough to supply his cultivation and to give the puppy treats.
"Adding the moonlight elixirs may make up for the Black Cauldron's inability to be illuminated by moonlight."
"But how many should be added?"
As the thought flashed through his mind, several moonlight elixirs floated up as well.
"Let's start by adding one first, and see how things go for the rest!" the white cat muttered to himself. The moonlight elixir, mixed with the three sovereign medicines, fell into the Black Cauldron. The originally tepid cauldron flames suddenly soared, swallowing up the three sovereign medicines and moonlight elixir.
Under the roasting of the flames, the three sovereign medicines immediately refined into pure essence. Gazing at the medicinal essence wrapped in flames, Du ke did not dare to be negligent. He threw in the six ministerial medicines.
At the same time, two more moonlight elixirs.
As the ministerial medicines were added, they were enveloped by the flames. The moonlight elixirs also shattered, their pure moonlight essence fusing into the medicinal liquid.
With the addition of moonlight, the medicinal liquid also became as lustrous as a jade platter.
"I feel like something is off..."
Du ke paused adding medicines, staring at the medicinal liquid as he muttered to himself: "But everything seems normal. Whether it's the transformations of the medicines, or any other aspect, it's following the pill formula records without any issues."
"Oh well, let's continue. Qian Sui can just get me more ingredients if something goes wrong."
Du ke didn't think too hard. He mixed the remaining three categories of medicines with more moonlight elixirs and added them into the Black Cauldron.
As all the medicines and additional moonlight elixirs were added, the medicinal liquid within the black cauldron was quickly wrapped and squeezed by the flames, rapidly spinning and becoming as viscous and heavy as mercury.
"Divide into nine pills!"
As Du ke's thoughts moved once more, the essences within the medicinal liquid were compressed. With a tremor of the black cauldron, the pill fragrance crawled out like emerald smoke, lingering within the black cauldron's space. Nine pills that looked like beads of mercury flew out from the cauldron, embedded in the void of the black cauldron's space.
"So it's considered successfully formed?"
Gazing at the nine mercury-like silver shiny pills, Du ke blinked. "The pill manual said that the medicinal potency is extremely like 'tribute balls falling on a jade platter'."
"Although I can't find a jade platter, a normal ceramic one should still work."
Du ke immediately opened his eyes, exited the storeroom, and dug out a blue and white ceramic platter from the kitchen.
Bringing the ceramic platter back to the storeroom, Du ke took out a few Extreme Realm pills.
The still warm Extreme Realm pills directly landed on the ceramic platter, making a clear, melodious sound, like a pipa being plucked – big pearls and small pearls falling on a jade platter.
"Looks like it's a success."
Gazing at the pills in the platter, Du ke sank into contemplation once more.
"Although I expected this earlier, it feels unbelievable that I succeeded in pill refining on my first try."
"Looks like pill refining isn't that hard after all. To think I was so careful before."
"But to prevent accidents, I should refine it a second time to further purify the medicinal potency and increase its efficacy for me!"