Lord of the Demon Sect

In this way, Jiang Chen spent the duration of two incense sticks before pouring all the powdered herbs needed to refine the Jiangshi cultivation pill into the Qingpu Pill Furnace. After that, he placed the lid back on. This step was very normal; there were no mistakes, not even a speck of powder fell to the ground.

Next came the second step: heating and melting!

He watched as the bright red flames shooting from the pillar changed from thin to thick under Jiang Chen’s control, roasting the bottom of the pill furnace. The temperature on the surface of the Qingpu Pill Furnace rose higher and higher, even turning slightly red. Jiang Chen could feel the furnace trembling a bit in the flames.

As time passed slowly, a faint herbal fragrance wafted from the Qingpu Pill Furnace, lifting Jiang Chen’s spirits.

However, Jiang Chen knew from the “Introduction to Alchemy” that it was still far from the moment the pill would be formed; he had to wait at least another half hour. Moreover, before the pill could be produced, he needed to increase the heat dramatically to melt the powdered herbs into liquid, and then perform a quick condensation to form a true pill.

Thinking of this, Jiang Chen tightened his grip on the handle. The bright red flames before him became even more dazzling, casting a rosy glow on his handsome face, while the flame column had already grown to the width of a bowl, wrapping the entire Qingpu Pill Furnace in flames, which even licked over the top of the furnace.

From a distance, the Qingpu Pill Furnace looked like a large fireball, quite a sight to behold. At this moment, the aroma of the herbs inside the furnace grew even stronger.

Jiang Chen guessed that the herbal powder had completely melted and was about to begin forming the pill, so he focused intently on the pill furnace, using his spiritual sense to observe the changes inside.

But just then, a low explosion was heard from within the Qingpu Pill Furnace. Although the sound was not loud, it made Jiang Chen’s heart sink, and his expression turned grim. He had guessed it; it seemed the alchemy had failed, and the pill had not formed.

He sighed and had no choice but to rotate the handle to close it. Then, he opened the lid of the scorching hot furnace and leaned in to take a look.

Inside the Qingpu Pill Furnace, there was a large mass of green, glue-like solid-it was the failed Jiangshi cultivation pill!

Shaking his head, Jiang Chen picked up the furnace, disposed of the waste pill into a nearby trash bin, and then placed the furnace back over the flames. He returned to the meditation cushion to sit down again, intending to restore his physical and mental state to optimal levels before starting the alchemy process once more.

The same steps, the same powdered herbal materials, and the same flame control technique had brought about the same result… Unfortunately, his second attempt at refining the pill had failed again.

This time, Jiang Chen couldn’t help but feel a bit dejected, pondering whether the Holy Lord System had malfunctioned. Didn’t it clearly say it could increase pill refining success rates by thirty percent? How could he have failed twice without success?

However, complaints aside, he still needed to continue refining the pill. Jiang Chen had no choice but to sit down again and meditate, adjusting his state before starting the next round of alchemy.

Two days passed in the blink of an eye. Jiang Chen had attempted to refine pills five times, and all five attempts had failed, resulting in nothing but waste pills. Although the materials were not expensive, he had harvested them after traveling hundreds of miles, which left him feeling a bit pained.

He couldn’t help but contemplate whether the Holy Lord System was deceiving him. It claimed to provide a thirty percent increase in pill refinement success rates, meaning that if he refined ten pills, he should expect three successes. However, he had already attempted five times and hadn’t succeeded even once. This hardly resembled a thirty percent success rate!

With that thought, Jiang Chen decided to lie down in bed to rest, hoping to gather his energy and relax his mind.

Sure enough, a change occurred.

On the morning of the third day, when he began refining with the sixth batch of materials, he miraculously succeeded, producing a green pill that exuded a faint herbal fragrance.

“Could this be the legendary Jiangshi cultivation pill? I actually refined it!” Holding the pill, Jiang Chen couldn’t help but rejoice.

At that moment, Xiao Qian in the Jiangshi raising bag caught the scent of the pill and squeaked eagerly, conveying her desire to consume it.

“Ha, okay! I’ll let you out!” Jiang Chen opened the Jiangshi raising bag and released Xiao Qian. She immediately snatched the Jiangshi cultivation pill from his hand and swallowed it whole.

Before long, he noticed a glimmer of green light in Xiao Qian’s eyes, and her body began to tremble slightly…

As her master, Jiang Chen could certainly sense the changes within her; her aura seemed to have grown stronger.

“It seems this Jiangshi cultivation pill is indeed effective!” Jiang Chen felt greatly encouraged. After putting Xiao Qian back in the raising bag, he began to immerse himself in pill refining once again.

Indeed, with that successful experience, Jiang Chen’s chances of successfully condensing pills increased significantly. In his next four attempts, he succeeded twice! This meant that when he added it all up, out of ten attempts, he had three successes. It aligned with what the Holy Lord System had indicated regarding the thirty percent increase in pill refinement success rates.

After completing the pill refinement, Jiang Chen was overjoyed.

First, he had verified the reliability of the Holy Lord System; his success rate for refining pills was at least thirty percent, which was nearly equivalent to that of a senior alchemist. Moreover, a senior alchemist typically only achieved a thirty percent success rate with low-level pills; when attempting to refine high-level pills, it was likely they wouldn’t even reach that success rate. However, it seemed that Jiang Chen had at least a thirty percent chance with any type of pill he attempted, which was extremely exciting.

Secondly, he had validated the correctness of the Jiangshi cultivation pill recipe. It could indeed be made using ordinary materials to create pills that enhanced a Jiangshi’s cultivation level. Just from Xiao Qian, Jiang Chen could already sense the changes. According to the pill recipe, as long as he provided the Jiangshi with these pills daily, she could advance from the first layer of qi refinement to the second layer within a month, and within three years, she could successfully establish her foundation. Didn’t that mean he would immediately have a powerful ally?

With that thought, Jiang Chen felt an overwhelming sense of joy. He eagerly planned to go out and gather more materials for pill refinement.

As he stepped out of the alchemy workshop, the old man noticed Jiang Chen and squinted at him, saying, “Kid, how did it go? Failed your pill refinement again? Being an alchemist isn’t something just anyone can do. If it were that easy, even your senior brothers would have made it.”

“Ah, yeah! I wasted all my materials!” Jiang Chen deliberately put on a long face.

However, he then tightened his fist and declared, “But I will keep pushing forward! I must become an alchemist!”

With that, he swiftly took the waist token from the old man’s hands, having deducted two contribution points, and ran off quickly.

The old man shook his head in disbelief, muttering, “This kid… I don’t know which peak he comes from. So young, yet he doesn’t focus on cultivation and only dreams of unrealistic things. No wonder our Ghostly Slaughter Sect has been dwindling in talent…”