Translator: Silavin & Tia
Translation Checker: PewPewLazerGun
Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain & Dhael Ligerkeys
Needless to say, Yang Kai’s main reason was to buy more time so that he could observe and emulate Gao Xin Peng’s refining process.
Under normal circumstances, it was impossible to obtain the secrets of the pill recipe just by observing an Alchemist during the process of refining a pill; however, Yang Kai was not comparable with ordinary Alchemists. His profound attainments in the Alchemic Dao were his greatest capital.
Besides, he had partially deduced the pill recipe in his mind while buying the herbs. At this point, he already had several ideas in mind.
If there was a complete Ten Revolutions Clear Heart Pill in front of him right now to further supplement the information he received already, he was 60% confident that he could fully deduce the pill recipe. Naturally, this process would take a long time, possibly taking several months to several years to complete.
On the other side, Gao Xin Peng finished arranging and preparing his herbs. He activated his Spirit Qi and stimulated the Earth Fire; then, he skillfully placed herb after herb into the Alchemy Furnace to condense the medicinal liquid.
In the meantime, he also glanced over to see what Yang Kai was doing. When he saw that Yang Kai was still getting familiarised with the Earth Fire, he couldn’t help shaking his head slowly. He wondered whether he had been a little too hasty when he agreed to this competition as Yang Kai’s current performance was very disappointing.
It was not until Gao Xin Peng had tempered most of his medicinal liquid that Yang Kai finally made a move. Under Yang Kai’s instructions, Du Yu Yu opened the bag they brought and took out the herbs one by one.
Gao Xin Peng glanced over and couldn’t help being startled. Even the Earth Fire below his Alchemy Furnace flickered for a moment. It was obvious that his mental state had been affected quite badly. He panicked for a moment and quickly controlled the Alchemy Flame again.
The reason for his reaction was that he noticed the herbs Yang Kai brought were practically identical to what he took out earlier; moreover, even the quantities were similar.
This was very strange. Although the Ten Revolutions Clear Heart Pill could be refined as long as one was a Heaven Grade Alchemist in the Divine Armament World, the pill recipe owned by each Sect was bound to have subtle differences. The most obvious manifestation of these differences was the difference in the type of herbs. Naturally, the medicinal efficacies of different Ten Revolutions Clear Heart Pill also varied in strength.
As one of the current top ten Sects in the Divine Armament World today, Profound Pill Sect boasted an impressive heritage and long-standing inheritance. The pill recipe for their Ten Revolutions Clear Heart Pill had thus undergone countless generations of improvements and modifications. Even if they dared not claim to be the best in the world, they would still rank among the top three.
Hence, it was impossible for the pill recipe mastered by other people or other Alchemy Sects to be identical to that of Profound Pill Sect! That was why Gao Xin Peng was so shocked to see that the herbs Yang Kai brought out were almost identical to his own.
On the other hand, Yang Kai looked up and nodded lightly at Gao Xin Peng. He knew that Gao Xin Peng was feeling suspicious.
He had previously considered buying several extra portions of herbs to disguise his intentions. His main purpose in performing Alchemy today was to imitate Gao Xin Peng; by doing so, he could then deduce and perfect the pill recipe during the process. Those additional herbs would not only prove to be useless at the end of the refinement process, but they would also serve to highlight his guilty conscience instead. So, he decided against that method.
Fortunately, Gao Xin Peng said nothing even though he did not understand why the herbs that Yang Kai brought were so similar to his own. The only difference was in their quantities. He simply suppressed his doubts and decided to inquire about this matter after he finished the refinement process.
As time passed, Yang Kai formed various hand seals that changed constantly. His Spirit Qi fluctuated wildly, and the Earth Fire he controlled also became stronger and weaker accordingly.
Yang Kai looked like he had fully immersed himself in condensing his medicinal liquid, but in reality, he had separated a thread of his consciousness to observe Gao Xin Peng’s movements. He then mimicked all of Gao Xin Peng’s methods, though he did not copy everything exactly.
His own attainments in the Alchemic Dao were extremely deep, so even though he was imitating Gao Xin Peng’s refining process, the truth was that many different concepts would instantaneously appear in his head. This allowed Yang Kai to use his own special means to replace Gao Xin Peng’s secret Alchemy Techniques. Be that as it may, their Alchemy refining process looked extremely similar.
There was too little time and he needed to keep up with Gao Xin Peng’s various Alchemy processes, so Yang Kai could not afford the time to conceal his actions too much.
Even Miao Hong, who didn’t know anything about Alchemy, could tell that something was wrong from where he stood watching by the side. His gaze would flicker between Gao Xin Peng and Yang Kai from time to time with a puzzled expression.
With Miao Hong noticing something was off, there was obviously no fooling Gao Xin Peng. Even though Yang Kai had tried to change things up as much as possible, Gao Xin Peng could tell that Yang Kai’s movements when refining the Ten Revolutions Clear Heart Pill were performed at practically the same rhythm as himself, only slightly slower.
This realization made his expression change subtly.
At this point, Yang Kai could not be bothered to care so much anymore. Things had already progressed to this point, so he could only continue until the end. As long as he could completely observe and emulate Gao Xin Peng’s refining process, it would be a success!
As more and more medicinal liquid was condensed at a steady rate, the temperature in the Pill Room increased accordingly. Gao Xin Peng’s expression remained unchanged. For a Heaven Grade Alchemist like him, refining the Ten Revolutions Clear Heart Pill was not a difficult matter. All he needed to worry about was whether or not he could succeed in producing a pill at the end.
In contrast, Yang Kai was drenched in sweat and his complexion was pale. It looked like the process was consuming a lot of his energy.
He was not faking it either. Refining the Ten Revolutions Clear Heart Pill required a considerable amount of Spirit Qi and it was only now that he finally understood why Gao Xin Peng had said that it was impossible to refine this pill unless one was in the Heaven Realm. The Spirit Qi in the body of an Earth Realm cultivator could not satisfy this level of consumption.
Yang Kai was the only exception as his heritage was incomparable to ordinary Earth Realm cultivators. That was why he managed to persevere until now. If it had been any other Earth Realm cultivator, their Spirit Qi would have been exhausted long ago.
That was not all though as he also needed to keep an eye on Gao Xin Peng’s situation at all times and prevent the other party from finding any flaws in his performance. The mental consumption was not small.
Yang Kai was indeed rather tired, but his fatigue was not as severe as it seemed on the surface.
Half a day later, both of their refining processes reached the final stages.
Miao Hong’s expression was filled with shock and amazement. At this stage of the refining process, the pill was almost formed. He never imagined that Yang Kai might actually be a Heaven Grade Alchemist.
Even so, Yang Kai remained steady and did not make any mistakes. The only difference between him and Gao Xin Peng was that his complexion was so pale that it was frightening. It would seem that refining the Ten Revolutions Clear Heart Pill with a cultivation in the Earth Realm was still a little too much. Nevertheless, this was enough to showcase his attainments in Alchemy. All that was lacking was his cultivation.
An 18 year old young man who not only stood at the peak of the Earth Realm but was also very likely to be promoted to the Heaven Realm soon. Not to mention, he had the heritage of a Heaven Grade Alchemist, such a person was… absolutely terrifying!
Miao Hong felt that he needed to reassess his opinion of Yang Kai. The status of a Heaven Grade Alchemist was enough to leave even him behind in the dust, not to mention that Yang Kai’s cultivation was superb for his age as well.
At this moment, Gao Xin Peng suddenly reached his hand into his pocket and took out a clear bottle. The bottle contained an unknown substance that looked like some sort of viscous liquid. Opening the Alchemy Furnace, he uncorked the bottle and tipped the bottle slightly. A drop of amber liquid dripped into the Alchemy Furnace.
Yang Kai’s expression instantly became gloomy…
After all the effort he went through to reach this point, he never imagined that Gao Xin Peng would have a hidden ingredient! He had already figured out the necessary herbs and basic processes to refine the Ten Revolutions Clear Heart Pill.
[But, what is inside that bottle!?] It was fortunate that his mental strength was still strong; otherwise, his Alchemy Furnace could have exploded on the spot if he was not careful.
All he could do at this point was pray that the ingredient inside that bottle was not a necessary ingredient in the refining process; otherwise, his attempt to refine the Ten Revolutions Clear Heart Pill would end in a failure.
After Gao Xin Peng dripped a drop of the unknown medicinal liquid into the Alchemy Furnace, he quickly began condensing his pill. It didn’t take long before an unusual medicinal fragrance spilled out from within.
Miao Hong became excited. He knew that Gao Xin Peng was about to condense the pills. Success or failure would depend on this moment.
Gao Xin Peng was indeed worthy of being a veteran Heaven Grade Alchemist. Under the everchanging hand seals he used, he executed a Pill Condensing Technique and a soft sound immediately came from inside the Alchemy Furnace.
Taking a small breath, he was in no rush to open the furnace; instead, he looked up at Yang Kai and stared fixedly.
Similarly, Yang Kai was about to condense his pills. His tense nerves slowly relaxed. He discovered that even without the unknown medicinal liquid, the Ten Revolutions Clear Heart Pill he refined were not affected. It would seem that the medicinal liquid Gao Xin Peng added at the end was not a necessary one.
When he reached the final stage to condense his pills, Yang Kai did not use his Nine Heavens Profound Pill Method as this Pill Condensing Technique was far too powerful for the Divine Armament World. Hence, he only used another Pill Condensing Technique that was neither too good nor too bad.
A series of clanging sounds rang out soon after and the medicinal fragrance in the Pill Room became denser than ever.
Yang Kai’s complexion was so pale that it was frightening. Pretending as though he was about to die, he stumbled and collapsed face-first towards the ground. Fortunately, Du Yu Yu moved quickly and caught him before he fell, calling out anxiously, “Sir!”
Gao Xin Peng hurried over and stated, “He is suffering from overconsumption. It should have been impossible for an Earth Realm Master to refine a Heaven Grade pill in the first place. I can’t believe he actually did it. Hurry up and let him lie down!”
Du Yu Yu laid Yang Kai down as she was told. Then, Gao Xin Peng took out a pill and handed it to her and ordered, “Give this to him.”
She took the pill but hesitated slightly; on the other hand, Yang Kai just weakly said, “Many thanks, Alchemist Gao.”
Gao Xin Peng waved his hand dismissively, “Don’t talk. Just focus on recovering. There’s something I want to ask you after.”
Yang Kai sighed in his heart. He knew that Gao Xin Peng was very concerned about his performance earlier. Whether it was in terms of Alchemy ingredients or the refinement process, he was being suspected of imitating Gao Xin Peng. Anybody who encountered something like this would probably be unable to get over it so easily.
He secretly felt thankful that Gao Xin Peng was good-natured and did not kick up a fuss on the spot, but how was he supposed to explain this situation now?
The current Void Spirit Sword Sect could not afford to upset a Heaven Grade Alchemist. If he offended Gao Xin Peng here, he would probably suffer greatly in the future.
After being fed the pill by Du Yu Yu, Yang Kai’s Spirit Qi quickly recovered.
On the other side, Miao Hong walked over with two jade bottles in his hand and smilingly said, “This Miao has taken the initiative to collect the Ten Revolutions Clear Heart Pill that you two refined. This is what Brother Gao refined. There are four pills. Three of them are Mid-Rank pills and one of them is a Low-Rank pill.”
He handed one of the jade bottles to Gao Xin Peng. Gao Xin Peng accepted the bottle without reservation.
“This is what you refined, Little Brother.” Miao Hong’s eyes gleamed as he looked at Yang Kai, “You produced one Low-Rank pill!”