Chapter 156: The Great Achievement is Complete

  "After a few days of recuperation, the wound on Qing's abdomen had largely healed. Xia Yan entered the courtyard and exchanged a few simple words with Xiaoqing before rushing into the kitchen. Xiaoqing saw that Xia Yan was holding a dark purple brocade box in her hand, but didn't ask any questions."

  "Emperor Grandfather,"

  "Imperial Grandfather, hurry up and come out, I've prepared all the medicinal herbs!"

  Xia Yan entered the kitchen, closed the door, and took out all twenty-three medicinal materials, arranging them neatly. Among these were several high-grade medicinal materials that could be worth a fortune. However, these medicinal materials would soon be put to use.

  Although he had tried his best to control the excitement in his heart, Xia Yan's eyes still kept flashing with excited light.

  "Emperor Wu of Han"

  After making preparations, Xia Yan continuously shouted in his heart, knowing that the old Holy Emperor could hear him.

  "What's all the shouting about!" The old Holy Emperor gradually revealed his figure under Xia Yan's continuous shouts, "What's the hurry? Isn't it just a medicine to promote the growth of the Gathering Spirit Cave? Your road ahead is still long! Now, it's only just beginning!"

  As soon as he appeared, the Holy Emperor began to teach Qi Xiaoyu. In that case, the Holy Emperor was no longer just saying it once or twice.

  Xia Yan smiled and said, "Holy Emperor Grandfather, quickly teach me how to prepare this medicine. All the medicinal materials are ready!"

  At a glance, these twenty-three neatly arranged medicinal materials made Xia Yan's efforts worthwhile. Especially the last high-grade medicinal material, Xue Ling Cao, was hard to come by.

  "Hmm!" The old emperor nodded, his eyes also inspecting the various medicinal materials. Only then did he slowly say: "Preparing this medicine is not much easier than refining elixirs, you should prepare yourself first. I estimate that the preparation process will take about ten hours."

  "What? Ten hours?" Xia Yan was shocked in her heart.

  Although he had made some preparations, when he heard that the Holy Emperor needed ten hours of time, he was still shaken.

  Last time, it took only two hours to prepare the spiritual liquid. This time, however, it takes ten hours.

  "Right, you think concocting medicine is that simple? The old emperor's whiskers fluttered as he spoke, 'Let me tell you, if you can't focus your mind, when the time comes and there's even a slight mistake, the efficacy of the medicine will be greatly discounted, or it might not work at all.'"

  "At that time, all previous efforts will be in vain, don't blame me." The old emperor's words had a somewhat ominous tone.

  "Ten times know how?"

  Xia Yan furrowed his brow and muttered it over again.

  That is to say, from now on, it will probably take until tomorrow around noon to complete the preparation.

  During this period, there must be no slightest mistake. Once a slight error occurs, it is likely that all previous efforts will be in vain. These medicinal materials are hard to come by. It may take another half month or even longer to find them again.

  "Then I'll go and tell Xiao Qing!" Xia Yan said, and with that, he flung open the door and strode out.

  Xiao Qing was lost in thought under the purple tung tree in the courtyard, when she heard a noise behind her and turned to look. Seeing Xia Yan come out, a joyful expression suddenly appeared on her face. She quickly stood up.

  "Xiao Qing, I'm about to start my cultivation and it may not end until tomorrow noon. The kitchen will be temporarily unavailable, if you're hungry, go to the market. And remember, don't let anyone disturb me. If someone comes looking for me, tell them I'll come out at noon tomorrow." Xia Yan reminded Qing.

  Xiao Qing saw Xia Yan's serious expression and quickly nodded. "I know, Brother Xia Yan, I have some snacks in my room, when I'm hungry I can just eat those."

  "Alright, take care of yourself! I'll go cultivate now. When I come out, I'll bring you to the restaurant in the town to eat!" Xia Yan said with a smile to Xiao Qing.

  Xiao Qing patted Bai Zhan's hand and jumped up lightly, also happily saying: "Okay, Xiaoyan Gege!"

  After instructing Xiao Qing, Xia Yan felt at ease and returned to the kitchen again.

  "Emperor, I'm ready, let's begin." He repeated, his eyes fixed and firm as he spoke.

  "Good!" The old emperor's expression also turned serious, his eyes falling on all the medicinal materials. "First, grind the Ephedra sinica into powder, then burn it into ash. Note that it must be completely ground into a fine powder before starting to burn!"

  Ephedra, a dark green medicinal material, generally grows on steep cliffs, mid-level medicinal material, relatively common, and the price is not very high.

  As the old emperor said, Xia Yan began to operate step by step.

  Time is slowly passing by.

  Xia Yan did not notice that the kitchen had gradually darkened. After lighting the candles, Xia Yan did not stop and continued to work nervously.

  Twenty-three kinds of medicinal materials, each kind of medicinal material needs to undergo a series of meticulous operations.

  A hundred-year-old four-leaf lotus requires one of its plant veins to be completely pulled out without breaking, and it cannot be pulled out incompletely.

  It can be said that this is absolutely a meticulous task that requires extremely strong patience, and ordinary people simply cannot do it.

  But Xia Yan was proceeding in an orderly manner.

  Although it's already autumn and the air is cool, Xia Yan's forehead has been beaded with fine sweat that never seemed to disappear.

  "A hundred-year-old butterfly orchid is rubbed into a strip and then crushed to squeeze out its juice."

  Xia Yan, don't deviate a single thread from what this holy old emperor says.

  Sometimes, a sharp light flashes in his eyes, and sometimes, he reveals a dull and stupid expression. With this step, the villain doesn't even know its meaning, but he remembers it completely in his heart with a small mouth.

  The old emperor looked at Xia Yan who was busy and nodded from time to time, revealing a sense of relief. The old emperor seemed very satisfied with Xia Yan.

  There are absolutely not many people who can fully devote themselves to dispensing medication like Xia Yan! And Xia Yan is also extremely meticulous, so far, there has been no error at all.

  In this way, you will become a great alchemist in the future. Xia Yan can also achieve excellent results and has a great chance of promotion!

  It's worth noting that the rank of a Dan-making master is not easy to advance. Even if it's a strong Lingzong, it may stay at the primary level of Dan-making master forever. Wanting to refine high-grade elixirs isn't that easy either.

  Alchemist is a very patient profession.

  Of course, the control ability of alchemists over spiritual power is absolutely stronger than that of ordinary spiritual masters with similar strength.

  "Dried Gromwell herb, rubbed into a small ball, soaked in a small cup of white wine for an hour, ??". Xia Yan's eyes looked at the dried Gromwell herb.

  Now, Xia Yan has proceeded to the processing of the nineteenth medicinal material.

  There are four more medicinal materials that don't require manual operation. These four medicinal materials are all high-grade ones, including the extremely rare crimson blood ling grass.

  Sunlight pours in from the window and spills onto Xia Yan's body.

  Xia Yan slightly raised her hand to block the light, narrowing her eyes halfway. After a night of work, Xia Yan didn't feel tired, but was momentarily dazzled by the sunlight and felt somewhat uncomfortable.

  However, this was just a fleeting moment, and Xia Yan soon put his full attention back on the remaining few herbs.

  "Haha, there's only one last medicinal herb left, Blood Lingcao!"

  Xia Yan laughed heartily with excitement in her mind.

  After the operation of Xue Ling Cao is completed, the final preparation work can be carried out, and the great success is already not far away.

  With excitement suppressed, Xia Yan's gaze condensed and looked towards the crimson Blood Lingcao! For this Blood Lingcao, Xia Yan had delayed the preparation of the medicine for a whole week.

  "Blood Lingcao, the last medicinal herb that needs to be processed, and also the one that requires the most caution. Xia Yan, first place the Blood Lingcao in a clean jade plate." The Holy Emperor's face was solemn, his low voice speaking slowly.

  Xia Yan was busy for almost nine hours, and he also spoke non-stop for nearly nine hours.

  "Good!"

  Xia Yan took out a white jade plate from the cabinet and gently placed the Blood Lingcao on it.

  "With a wooden mallet, gently tap the Blood Ling Grass, be careful. Whatever you do, don't break the surface skin of the Blood Ling Grass, and absolutely cannot let the red juice flow out." The old Holy Emperor said with a serious tone.

  Picking up the mallet, Xia Yan focused his attention on the Blood Lingcao, controlling the force in his fingers to be as precise and delicate as possible.

  "Ding"

  "Ding zhōng" "Dīng"

  Xia Yan slowly began to quicken the movements of his hands. However, each strike's force was extremely light. Moreover, each strike had almost exactly the same amount of force!

  After about an incense stick's worth of time, the entire appearance of the Blood Ling Grass gradually changed to a pink color. It was no longer its original bright red color like fresh blood!

  "Now, Xia Yan, quickly, release the juice of the Blood Lingcao and mix it with the juice of the Ma Ti Da Er Tong!" The Holy Emperor suddenly opened his eyes wide and said urgently.

  Almost as a conditioned reflex, Xia Yan quickly crushed the Blood Lingcao and then merged the juice into the juice of Ma Ti Da Er Tong.

  "Gobble gobble"

  A puff of blue smoke emerged from the solution, and a strong medicinal smell suddenly spread out. Xia Yan covered her nose, almost unable to hold back a sneeze, but she forcibly restrained herself, excitedly watching the change in the liquid inside the instrument. The two liquids merged, and incredibly turned sky blue.

  "Put in,"

  At this time, the old emperor began to let Xia Yan put in the liquid, powder or ash and other medicinal materials that had been processed before according to the steps.

  When the last medicine was put in, the old emperor finally let out a sigh of relief, and Xia Yan also followed with a long breath from his chest.

  "Now, put the objects on low heat and simmer slowly! In about an hour, it will be a great success!" The old Holy Emperor nodded and said, with sparkling eyes.

  Obviously, he was also very worried.

  Xia Yan wiped the sweat from his forehead, his mouth twitched slightly, and he smiled happily. It turned out that preparing this medicine would indeed take ten hours. Xia Yan looked up through the window and saw that the sun was already high in the sky.

  "Emperor, is that all? After a quarter of an hour, the medicine will be ready?" Xia Yan couldn't help but exclaim excitedly.

  "Hmm!" The old emperor nodded slowly. "Should be no problem now! With this medicine, hehe. Xia Yan, your Linggathering Cave, can quickly expand in a short period of time. However, what it can ultimately achieve still depends on your own innate talent!"

  Medicines can assist in cultivation, but the cultivator's own innate conditions determine the efficacy of the medicines.

  It's exploded! Where is the monthly ticket? Hehe, tomorrow. Continue exploding!