Chapter 1822: Chapter 1822: The Expert’s Failure

Sikong Qinglan and several others’ mouths were open wide enough to fit a duck egg. It was clear they hadn’t anticipated the relic soul beads would be so valuable.

Behind them, Lin Xiu, who had come along with the group, clutched her chest. Initially, like Zhu Yulan, she too mistook the relic soul beads for glass beads and only accepted them insouciantly to spare Shen Yuhe’s feelings. It was only now she realized the weight of the gift she had received, feeling increasingly burdened with them on her person.

"Since these relic soul beads are so valuable, Family Head Gu doesn’t need to worry at all. You can confidently proceed with refining the Phoenix Nirvana Pill," Han Yan finally cleared away the series of dazzling numbers from her mind and spoke firmly to Gu Qingyang.

"Alright, I’ll give it another try then." Having come this far in the conversation, Gu Qingyang didn’t bother with further pleasantries.

Gu Qingyang first brought out a pill furnace almost a foot high and placed various medicinal herbs onto a long table, meticulously removing rotten leaves.

Han Yan observed closely. The pill furnace showed marks of refinement, but the technique was crude, barely qualifying as a magic artifact. Its quality was inferior to those she had seen at Long Yan Academy. The ingredients were quite complex, totaling thirty-four, but as per her understanding, while rare, they weren’t prohibitively expensive.

It seemed Gu Qingyang wasn’t wrong; the key to refining the Phoenix Nirvana Pill lay not in the pill furnace or the elixir recipe and ingredients, but in the alchemy techniques.

Han Yan wondered how complex Gu Qingyang’s alchemy technique really was.

Once preparations were complete, Gu Qingyang performed a series of hand gestures, and a line of fire shot straight from his hand, forming a cluster of flames at the base of the pill furnace.

This was the biggest difference between alchemy techniques on the Divine Continent and Holy Court Continent. Most alchemists on Holy Court Continent depended on charcoal fire to refine herbs, though a few secluded alchemy masters reportedly used magma or earth fire. However, unless one’s strength reached above Holy-grade, it was difficult to directly use the Power of Laws related to the Fire Law.

On the Divine Continent, due to the Power of Laws being more direct and pure, any priest with some strength could utilize the Power of Laws.

As the furnace temperature gradually rose, Gu Qingyang began adding the ingredients sequentially, and his hand gestures became more intricate. The flames underneath the furnace also changed continually as he performed the gestures.

Han Yan watched his hand gestures intently. Frankly, these gestures weren’t that complex for her. During her time at Long Yan Academy, the alchemy gestures she cultivated were even more complex. But considering Gu Qingyang’s cultivation was merely that of a Ninth-level Divine Priest, equivalent to a Ninth-Order Swordsman on Holy Court Continent, while she was already at the Sword Master Realm back then, she found it understandable.

It was evident that Gu Qingyang’s gestures consumed a lot of his divine sense. Before long, fine beads of sweat dotted his forehead, and his fingers began to tremble slightly.

Upon reaching his limit, Gu Qingyang placed a Fire Storage Stone beneath the pill furnace, continuing his gestures. This time, however, he didn’t release flames but used his divine sense to control the Fire Storage Stone directly.

The stone clearly red, yet under his control burnt with an eerie green flame, dancing gracefully, truly resembling the Chaos Heavenly Fire with a touch of spiritual essence.

Inside the furnace, the initial pure aroma of medicinal herbs gradually merged into a potent fragrance and then mellowed, leaving a lingering, enticing scent.

Instinctively, Han Yan probed with her divine sense, seeing through the furnace walls that the fused herb extracts were slowly coagulating, with a pill gradually taking shape, seemingly close to completion.

Gu Qingyang’s expression turned exceptionally grave. Getting to this point wasn’t difficult for him; every time he reached this stage, yet unexpected issues arose during the final core formation.

Nearby, Tang Family Master, Family Head Gu, and Gu Ming’an all grew tense. Whenever Gu Qingyang practiced alchemy, they served as protectors, knowing that the last step was crucial.

Finally, a lustrous pill appeared within Han Yan’s divine sense. By all accounts, the pill should be considered refined at this stage, yet Han Yan felt there was still something missing.

Gu Qingyang clearly understood this too and didn’t stop, continuing with his gestures, using divine sense to control the Fire Storage Stone to release flames. Despite his efforts, the pill lay quietly in the furnace without any change.

Sweat rolled down his face, and Gu Qingyang’s face turned pale.

Han Yan’s gaze intensified, thinking this step ought to be completed by now. But despite having formed, that pill still seemed lacking in some aspect—what was missing?

"Pfft!" Gu Qingyang suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood, his body almost collapsing, his face turning ghastly.

It was another failure, falling short at this final step once again.

"Family Head Gu!"

"Grandfather!" Several people stepped forward simultaneously to support Gu Qingyang, their expressions filled with despondence.

Even though they weren’t skilled in alchemy, they recognized that Gu Qingyang had failed once more.

"Yuhe, your grandfather is incompetent, showing you a joke." Although there were still Shen Yuhe’s relic soul beads as backup, preventing this failure from driving the Gu family into a corner, as an elder relying on juniors’ cultivation resources to save the family, he still felt uncomfortable.

Gu Qingyang looked apologetically at Shen Yuhe, only to find her unresponsive, staring blankly in the direction of the pill furnace.

Gu Qingyang turned his head and widened his eyes in shock.

Han Yan was calmly performing hand gestures, enveloping the Fire Storage Stone with a pure white flame, which danced joyfully with her gestures.

Could it be that the Master Priest also knew alchemy? Everyone was surprised as they watched Han Yan. Even though Gu Qingyang and others were unfamiliar with Han Yan, even those close like Shen Yuhe only knew her for her prowess in array formation, causing even Wen Gaoren to shamelessly pester her to be his mentor. However, regarding alchemy, even they didn’t know the Master Priest had such expertise.

Han Yan herself wasn’t entirely confident, otherwise, she would’ve assisted Gu Qingyang earlier. In truth, she simply couldn’t bear the thought of wasting those medicinal herbs. Having reached the final step, failing now was truly regrettable.

She could see that at this stage, Gu Qingyang’s gestures were no longer crucial; maintaining the pill fire was sufficient. The key lay in the pill missing something, a defect that needed correction to successfully refine the Phoenix Nirvana Pill. For the time being, unable to pinpoint the exact issue, she maintained the pill fire.

The Chaos Heavenly Fire burned merrily, with the Fire Storage Stone within turning bright red, slowly becoming translucent with an amber hue and increasingly transparent. Han Yan suddenly sensed something, a glimmer of delight in her eyes.

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